LOS ANGELES 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk. Frank Quilici was 1-for-3 with a double.
Pitching stars: Jim Merritt retired all four batters he faced. Johnny Klippstein struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Al Worthington pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk.
Opposition stars: Sandy Koufax struck out ten in a complete game shutout, allowing three hits and three walks. Johnny Roseboro was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Lou Johnson was 1-for-4 with a home run.
The game: Both runs were scored in the fourth inning. Johnson led off with a home run. Ron Fairly then doubled and scored on a single by Wes Parker. Both runs were scored off Twins started Jim Kaat, who was pulled after the Parker single. Twins relievers pitched six shutout innings, but to no avail. The Twins threatened in the first on two-out walks to Tony Oliva and Killebrew, but Earl Battey struck out to end the threat. They had another threat in the fifth, when Quilici hit a one-out double and pinch-hitter Rich Rollins walked, but a pair of ground outs ended the inning. The Twins did not get another man on until the ninth, when Killebrew hit a one-out single. The game and the series ended with consecutive strikeouts of Battey and Bob Allison.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4. Joe Nossek was 0-for-4. Oliva was 0-for-3 with a walk. Kaat pitched three innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins lost the series to Los Angeles, four games to three.
Notes: Nossek once again started in place of Jimmie Hall. Nossek started five of the seven World Series games and hit .200/.200/.200. It's hard to imagine that Hall would have done worse. On the other hand, it might not have made any difference, as it's doubtful anyone was going to hit Koufax on this day...In the two games Sandy Valdespino started in place of Allison, he was 2-for-8 with a double...Both Kaat and Koufax started on two days' rest. The difference, of course, is that Koufax had pitched a complete game in Game Five, while Kaat had pitched only 2.1 innings...For the World Series, Koufax was 2-1, 0.38, 0.75 WHIP with 29 strikeouts in 24 innings.
Here's what appears to be the full game:
If Jim Kaat beat Sandy Koufax in Game 7, would he be a Hall of Famer today? (Jack Morris argument: Game 7! Plus, he was the best fielding pitcher of his generation!!!!!1!!!!!one!!)
It certainly would've helped. My opinion is that Kaat ought to be in anyway, but that's just me.
Possibly, but it would probably have to be a game similar to Morris's, not just a win but a 1-0 or 2-0 shutout. I think if Kaat's career spanned the same years as Morris's he could also make a good case to be in the Hall of Fame. He certainly compares well with Morris with a longer career and better ERA+ even when including the years at the end of his career when Kaat was a reliever. Another interesting thought is would Koufax be in the Hall of Fame, or at least so easily, if he had not pitched on 2 days rest and dominated a great Twins lineup?
I think he would have. Game Seven obviously helped, but Koufax was considered the most dominant pitcher in baseball even in a pitcher's era. There were others, like Gibson and Marichal and Drysdale, who were really good, but at the time Koufax was considered to be in a class by himself.
Right. If you are using a 1-0 or 2-0 shutout to decide on Kaat's conjectural eligibility, then you have to use a 1-0 or 2-0 loss to decide on Koufax's, and that's no embarrassment. I don't see how that would have hurt his chances, as he was an animal.