June 8, 1969...GAME 51 (SEA 5, BAL 1)

Cuellar was tossing a shutout until the top of the 7th when the Pilot bats exploded for 3 runs. Tommy Davis led off the inning with a homer to knot it at 1. Comer and Mincher both made out and it looked like Cuellar was back in cruise control mode until Kennedy tripled. McNertney walked and Larry Haney, pinch hitting for Oyler, singled home the second run of the inning to put the Pilots on top 2-1. To finish it off Cuellar grooved one to Gus Gil who doubled down the right field line to make it 3-1. The Pilots followed up with 2 more runs in the 8th to put the game out of reach as Mincher homered off of reliever Dick Hall. 5 Pilot pitchers combined to allow the mighty Orioles only 1 run. Barber went 5 and gave up that one run, which was a solo shot to Boog Powell in the bottom of the second. Barber's arm tightened up and he was gone after 5 innings of good work. Brabender pitched one inning to get the win and Bouton, O'D and Segui held down the fort as Seattle took 2 of 3 from a 1st place team.

Bouton Bites: Today was the day for the clinic at DC Stadium, which was going to be rededicated RFK Stadium. The Pilots contingent of Joe Schultz, Don Mincher, Mike Marshall, Marty Pattin and Bouton headed out on a bus from Baltimore to D.C. When they got to the hotel staging area, to find out which ghetto neighborhood they were to work at both Schultz and Mincher bailed and jumped a cab back to Baltimore. Mike Marshall said he could see it coming. "Joe couldn't cope with the situation. he wasn't in charge. he was forced to follow along. It was frustrating to him not to know what the plan was and he's neither intelligent nor competent enough to be at ease with the unknown. That's why he surrounds himself with other people, coaches, who are as narrow as he is. He wants to rule out anyone who might bring up new things to cope with. He wants to lay down some simple rules---keep your hat on straight, pull your socks up, make sure everybody has the same color sweatshirt---and live by them."Joe Schultz tidbit: Marshall and the Pilots just blew a game yet Schultz was as happy as a lark in the clubhouse. Marshall thought it was strange until he heard Schultz saying, "Lou Brock stole his 25th base tonight. That's 25 out of 25." At that moment Marshall thought, "My God. The man's living in a dream world. He still thinks he's with the Cardinals."

June 7, 1969...GAME 50 (SEA 4, BAL 3)

Reverse the score and give the Pilots the win this time. Brabender went 7 and gave up only 3 and Segui came on to toss 2 scoreless innings of relief to beat the mighty O's. With the score tied at 1 the Pilots posted a 3 spot in the top of the 6th to go ahead for good. Brabender led off an Palmer struck him out looking. Harper singled and stole second. Palmer must have been rattled by Harper, because he walked Hegan on 4 pitches. Tommy Davis singled home Harper and Mincher brought in Hegan. Jim Palmer didn't have it, giving up 4 in 7 innings. Eddie Watt relieved, and didn't allow a run.

Bouton Bites: The players were discussing the aborted player strike during the exhibition season. The topic came to Carl Yastrzemski because he ignored the strike. Gary Bell (former teammate of his in BOS) said, "Didn't surprise me. Carl Yastrzemski is for himself first and second and the hell with everybody else." Bouton: "Gee, Gary, Carl Yastrzemski ?" During the so-called strike Yaz called several superstars in an attempt to form a separate committee and settle things without the Players' Association. Fortunately they told him to take a hike, son.

June 6, 1969...GAME 49 (BAL 4, SEA 3)

The Pilots lost a heartbreaker to the league leading Orioles. Up 3-2 the Pilots surrendered 2 to Baltimore in the bottom of the 6th and that was it. Gary (Bell) went 7 strong innings and only yielded 4 runs to the mighty O's. Gelnar and O'D finished out the 8th. McNally gave up 3 runs in 5 inning to Seattle and looked shaky. Unfortunately Marcelino Lopez looked like a vintage McNally in 3 innings of 1 hit work. Pete Richert, the lefty who does better vs righties, came on to notch his 3rd save. The Orioles scored 2 in the 6th as Brooks Robinson doubled home Frank Robby and Boog Powell.

Bouton Bite: "And why is it, I ask myself, that baseball players are allowed to smoke during a game and that it's all right to sneak a smoke in the runway or even to go back into the clubhouse for a goddam cigarette, but if you take a candy bar out to the bullpen you get all kinds of static."

June 4, 1969...GAME 48 (CLE 6, SEA 0)

Marshall was the sacrificial lamb being sent to the slaughter as Sudden Sam McDowell threw a 2 hitter and recorded 11 strikeout. After 2 straight games filled with offensive fireworks the Pilots were grounded tonight. Dick Simpson and Wayne Comer had both hits. Talbot relieved Marshall and threw 3 scoreless innings. He also mentioned to Joe and Sal that his arm feels real good and he's ready to start anytime the need him. Great, a lobbyist !

June 3, 1969...GAME 47 (SEA 10, CLE 1)

The Pilots scored 9 runs off of El Tiante', who is having a down year (1-7, 4.52). Marty Pattin again got pulled early, even though he was tossing a shutout. Looks like Joe and Sal saw Marty laboring and didn't want to risk that 9 run lead. The recipient of the "gimme" win was Bouton, who did throw 4 innings of 1 run / 1 hit ball. Of course that run turned out to be a homer by Lee Maye. Bouton notched his 4th win of the season against 1 defeat. Steve Whitaker had 3 hits and 2 RBI's and Mincher had 4 RBI's. Both homered. Gosger got in again as a pinch hitter and walked which did not help his .063 average. Gut feeling here is that he is not going to be around much longer with numbers like those. Oyler finally got a hit to boost his average to .164. Good thing he's got a great glove.

June 2, 1969...GAME 46 (SEA 13, CLE 5)

An almost 90 minute rain delay coupled with a 13 run offensive explosion by the Pilots combined to make the evening both enjoyable and frustrating. Seattle spotted Cleveland 5 runs in the first. By the time the rain hit in the third the score was 5-1 and most fans, not that there were a lot attending, decided to not return when the clouds cleared. What they missed was one of the finest offensive explosions the Pilots put together all year. 3 runs in both the fourth and fifth innings respectively gave the Pilots a 2 run lead that was never challenged. 1 run in the sixth helped out and 5 in the 8th made it a laugher. Both Mincher, and Rich Rollins had 3 hits apiece. Rollins and Whitaker had 4 RBI's each. Not wanting to risk hurting Barber's sore arm, Joe Schultz removed him from the game and Brabender took the hill after the rain ended. Newcomer John Gelnar tossed 4 innings of 1 hit ball to notch the "W" and Talbot handled the mop up duties in the 9th.

Bouton Bits: (Fred) Talbot is in rare form these days. Like he was telling us how it used to be in the sheet-metal shop of the industrial school he went to. When they were taught how to weld, the first thing they did was weld the door shut when the teacher left the room. the next thing they did was weld every tool in the place onto a metal tractor, which was kept in the center of the room. And for kicks, they heat a steel bar until it was red hot, let the color cool out of it and then ask the new boy to bring over the metal bar. All it would cost was the skin off his hand.

Why Baseball Didn't Make it in Seattle: The team agreed (against Bouton's suggestions) that they accept nothing less than $100 for personal appearances and autograph sessions. They also agreed to stand by the MLB rule that states that players should not sign autographs while in uniform and on the field. Bouton makes the case that they need to be more fan friendly and that the lesser known players should charge less or they would not receive any invites for personal appearances. In a related story the team was asked to participate in a clinic for underprivileged kids in D.C. Bouton said sarcastically, "Well, isn't there some way we can get these kids to kick in their lunch money or something to us ?" Surprisingly almost everyone laughed !

June 1, 1969...GAME 45 (DET 13, SEA 6)

Second bad outing in a row for Brabender, who gave up 11 runs in 4 innings worth of work. On the bright side, only 8 were earned. The fielding has been less than stellar as of late. The offense came to life, as it seems to do one out of every three games...but the pitching (sorry Gene) and the fielding took the night off vs the defending World Champs. Norm Cash again came to work. Tonight he went 3 for 4 and hit a solo shot in the 5th to help chase Brabender. Fred Talbot again got some work, throwing 5 innings and giving up 2. Seems the newcomer is already ahead of the Bulldog on the depth charts.

Beaver Shooting Tale: Jim Gosger, hiding in a closet to shoot a little beaver while his roommate made out on the bed with some local talent. Nothing sneaky about it, the roommate even provided the towel for Gosger to bite on in case he was moved to laughter. At the height of the activity on the bed, local talent, moaning, says, "Oh darling, I've never done it that way before," Whereupon Gosper sticks his head out, drawls "Yeah, surrrre," and retreats into the closet. "Yeah surrre" is now the official watchword on the club.

May 31, 1969...GAME 44 (DET 8, SEA 2)

Gary (Bell) didn't have it from the beginning and Joe Schultz left him out to dry to take one for the team. 8 runs (5 earned) over 5 innings helped drop his record to 3-4 and balloon his ERA to 4.28. Talbot came in to throw 2 scoreless innings of relief and so did Bouton, who isn't thrilled about mop up work. Norm cash had a big 4-5 day. The Pilots whole team had just 4 hits. Joe Sparma won the game for the Tigers and increased his record to 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA. Is he really that good ?

Bouton Bits: Tony Kubek and Mickey Mantle were here to do the TV broadcast for NBC and before the game Mickey was down in the clubhouse. With me (Bouton) standing right there, Joe Schultz says, "Mickey, what do you think of a guy who comes to a ballpark fifteen minutes before the game starts?" Mickey shook his head sadly. "I know he's got some strange ideas," he said.

May 30, 1969...GAME 43 (DET 5, SEA 2)

Chuck Hiller of all people holds Seattle to 2 runs over 7 innings. Patting had a shutout going for 5 innings then was removed a pinch hitter (Rich Rollins), who promptly got out. Seattle brass told the press that Pattin's arm seized up. Pattin had no comment. New arrival (from the Yankees) Fred Talbot surrendered all 5 runs in two innings worth of work as Detroit won 5-2. Dick Simpson went 3-4 with a key RBI for the Pilots. Simpson was acquired from New York for Jose Vidal.

Bouton Bits: Never assume that since it's Friday that you are playing a night game. That kind of logic almost got Bouton in trouble. At 1:30pm Gary Bell called his house to find out where in the hell he was. The clever Bouton replied, "where the hell are you?". Thankfully the Bouton clan pitched together to get Jim out the door. A standing ovation awaited him as he entered the clubhouse. Back in his Yankee days he came late for a World Series game that he wasn't starting. The team had a meeting, which he missed, and boy did he hear it. Of course if he showed up early, but hungover that would be ok (I wonder what former superstar he was referring to ?)

May 28, 1969...GAME 42 (BAL 8, SEA 5)

Dave McNally couldn't find his control and was gone by the 4th inning. Marcellino Lopez gave up 3 runs in 3 innings of work, but it didn't matter as the Pilots lost 8-5 to the dominating O's. Boog Powell hit 2 more homers, one off of starter Mike Marshall and one off of this burgeoning author named Bouton. The knuckleball didn't knuckle and when it doesn't knuckle fans in the bleachers need to take cover. Bouton gave up 3 runs in only 2 innings of work and saw his ERA rise to 2.00. Funny how management notices one poor outing, yet forgets all of the other really good one's. Frontrunning at its finest !

Bouton Bite: Jim Pagliaroni joined the club tonight and is going to be a welcome addition. He was describing a girl that one of the ballplayers had been out with and said, "It's hard to say exactly what she looked like. She was kind of a Joe Torre with tits." This joke can only be explained with a picture of Joe Torre. But I'm not sure any exist. He dissolves camera lenses.

May 27, 1969...GAME 41 (BAL 7, SEA 5)

The Orioles are in town, and boy are they dominating the AL East. 31-15 is their record, but you still have to hope that you can beat them, especially after coming off a 7-0 domination of the Tribe. The game went to extra innings and the O's scored 2 in the top of the 9th to win it, because they are a great team, and great teams win these types of games. Brabender went 9 and gave up 5 (4 earned) and kept the Pilots in it even though he didn't have his best stuff (does anyone on this staff have their best stuff anymore ?). Earl Weaver, aka Paul Johnson, used 5 pitchers, with Dick Hall (3 innings) going the longest. Starter Tom Phoebus had nothing and didn't stick around after he surrendered 4 in the first 2 innings. Ellie Hendricks, who had only 1 hit in 6 trips to the plate singled home Don Bufford and Paul Blair off of John O'Donoghue. Harper and McNertney had 2 hits apiece. Boog Powell hit a tape measure 2 run shot off of Brabender in the 1st.

May 25, 1969...GAME 40 (SEA 7, CLE 0)

The losing streak is over !!! The Pilots just don't end losing streaks they end them in grandiose fashion. This time the offense came alive like Oyler on a bumpy bus ride to the tune of a 7-0 shutout of "the Tribe". After Marty Pattin tired before he could finish 5 innings Jim Bouton came on to throw two scoreless frames and notch his 3rd win of the season. Mike Marshall came out of the pen to throw 3 scoreless innings to get credited with a "meaningless save". Most curious was the fact that the Pilots scored their 7 runs on only 4 hits. Shouldn't it have been 4 runs on 7 hits ? Quick...run and hide and take the win before the official scorer reverses that too ! Rumor has it that Pattin was not happy about being removed after 4 innings of shutout ball and having his "lay up" win go to Bouton.

May 24, 1969...GAME 39 (CLE 5, SEA 2)

6th loss in a row. Just what the offense needed, Sudden Sam McDowell. Rumor has it Sam can tie one on with the best of him, but his "heat" is not a rumor. Sam can flat out bring it as he struck out 8. Barber had one of his better games (for him). He matched McDowell in the strikeout department, but not in the runs allowed as the Pilots lost by 3. Dick Simpson had the "Golden Sombrero", which means he K'd 4 straight time in embarrassing fashion. Batting averages around here are dropping faster than Nixon's approval rating.

Bullpen Chatter: Steve "sore armed" Barber left the game in the 6th when his arm stiffened up. This was cause for immediate conversation in the pen:

Gary Bell: His (Barber's) next start will probably come next July.

O'Donoghue: Or Later

Bouton: Depending on how his arm feels.

May 23, 1969...GAME 38 (CLE 3, SEA 2)

Marshall had the lowly Indians (7-27) shutout until the 6th when they posted 3 runs. Marshall went the distance and didn't allow another run. Unfortunately for him the Pilots only scored 2 on four lousy hits. Max Alvis had 3 hits and a key RBI in that inning. When Marshall pitches well we don't score, when he pitches poorly the Pilots score just enough to lose a close one.

Key Bouton Observastion: Flying into Cleveland last night I thought about lif in this gret American city and decided that if you were going to crash on a cleveland flight it would be better if it was an inbound flight.

May 22, 1969...GAME 32 (WAS 9, SEA 8)

"Ole Roomie" Gary Bell got torched for 8 runs (7 earned) in just over 3 innings of work, but Bouton got the loss since the team rallied to tie it. Jimbo gave up 1 unearned run in the 5th as Cox and Knowles blanked the Pilots for the final 5 stanzas. John Kennedy and Mike Hegan had key errors in the 5th to help give away the game. Mincher hit his 5th on the season, but the Pilots got swept by the Senators and now are riding a 3 game losing streak. Two big revelations occurred:Maglie and Bouton fought again about how many pitches he threw warming up in the pen (180) and Ray Oyler got discovered an errection in the back of the bus. Joe Schultz said he'd talk to Maglie and Oyler promptly offered to buy the bus.

May 21, 1969...GAME 36 (WAS 8, SEA 2)

Improvement !!! Washington scored 1 less run and Seattle posted one additonal one. All kidding aside, this was not good at all. Brabender got knocked out after 2, because he gave up 6 and was virtually throwing BP. Every Senator had a hit. Joe Coleman went 7 and gave up only 2 to improve his record to 6-2. Fred Talbot arrived on the scene. Former Yankee and former adversary of Bouton. Talbot immediately got the ball and pitched the final 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs. Fred's got the potential to be one of the good "ole" boys.

Coaching today at it's finest: Eddie O'Brien (aka Mr. Small) made a major announcement "Gentlemen, from now on we an ll run with our hats off. It's really silly for us to run with our hats on, because the band gets all sweaty and ruins the hat. Bouton of course had to respond by saying, "How come you weren't able to think about this a few weeks ago ?"O'B: "Well, it wasn't as warm then and we weren't sweating at the same rate as we are now"JIM: "Oh..."

Joe Schultz got thrown out of the game for offering the home plate ump his glasses after an obvious blown HR call. At least he's keeping the squad loose.

May 20, 1969...GAME 35 (WAS 9, SEA 1)

4 runs in the 1st and 3 runs in the 3rd tells the whole story. 3 hits off of Hannan further defines it. Pattin gave up 7 runs in 5 innings, but to his defense 3 were unearned. Washington hit back to back to back homers in the 3rd. Frank "Capital Punisher" Howard, Mike Epstein and Ken McMullen had the honors. Teddy "MF" Ballgame was seen smiling ear to ear in the home dugout. Surely Pattin's performance backs up his feeling that pitchers are dumb. Tommy Harper's solo shot in the 6th was all the offense Seattle could muster. Big news of the day, The Yankees ship Fred Talbot over here for Jack Aker, who was dying a slow death. Aker, who was targeted as the Pilots closer, closed the door on his Seattle career with an ERA higher than Jimi Hendrix. Talbot wasn't doing much better in New York. Chalk this one up to "a change of scenery might do them both some good".Since he's been pitching real well Bouton was interviewed by the local media the day before. Fans, media and especially coaches are frontrunners. The media asks stupid questions like "what are you doing different?" The great Johnny Sain says, "The world doesn't want to hear about labor pains, it only wants to see the baby".

Two "big" trades were made today: Jose Vidal / Jack Aker to the Yanks for Dick Simpson / Fred Talbot.

May 18, 1969...GAME 34 (BOS 7, SEA 2)

Mike Marshall had nothing and by the 6th he was gone and the Pilots were facing down a 3 run deficit. Ray Culp also went 6, but he only yielded 2 runs en route to his 8th win on the season against zero losses. Marshall seemed ok until the 4th when the Bosox posted 5 runs. Both Mike Andrews and Reggie Smith hammered out 3 hits for the Sox. Steve Whitaker, in a rare start in right went 3 for 5 himself, but never touched home. Jack Aker came on in the 8th for mop up duty and yielded a run. His ERA is so high that 1 run in 1 2/3 innings actually helped lower it. Bouton got to thinking about God and sports today. Like many of us he begins to wonder about athletes who are interviewed and credit God or Jesus with their success. He even feels tempted to go out of his way to say "God didn't help me". Sometimes I wonder what happens to the losers ? Did God omit them from his success list today ? I respect everyone's right to believe in what they believe it, but come on guys it just might be your skill and maybe God has bigger things to worry about in this world than who wins a dumb kids game.

May 17, 1969...GAME 33 (SEA 3, BOS 2)

Nobody wanted this win more than Gary "Ding Dong" Bell. Beating the team that cast you off is the goal of any expansion team player. Bell was brilliant for almost 8 innings, but the Pilots could not score for him. Jack Aker started the ninth and could not protect another lead. His ERA has ballooned to 15.00 and rumor has it Marvin Milkes is looking to find him a change of scenery. The Pilots scored in the top of the 10th and Diego Segui came on board to get one out and notch his 6th save on the season. Don Mincher hit a homer off of Romo to put the Pilots ahead. Aker blamed the 35 minute rain delay in the 9th for his shoulder stiffening up. One curious observer said, "but he wasn't even in the game at that point".

Bouton and Maglie went at it again. Maglie again is clinging to the idea that a pitcher can not get by with just one pitch, aka the knuckleball. When asked about throwing it all the time Sal responded:

SAL: Well, you can do that if it's breaking

JIM: Fine, Then I can throw it all the time

SAL: But they start looking for the damn thing, and if it doesn't break you got nothing else.

JIM: What about (Hoyt) Wilhelm ? They wait for his knuckleball.

SAL: He throws that slider of his once in a while.

JIM: sure, but they don't look for his slider. They look for his knuckleball. He throws that slider of his once in a while. And what about when you threw the curve ball ?

SAL: When I was pitching they always looked for the curve (said with huge pride).

JIM: But you threw other pitches, didn't you ?

SAL: Oh, yeah !

JIM: But they always looked for your curve, right ?

SAL: Yeah, but they just couldn't hit. They tried, but they couldn't.

JIM: (thinking to himself) Even after all that he wouldn't admit that it didn't matter if the hitter was looking for it as long as the pitch was good enough. It all goes back to not wanting to contradict what he said in spring training.

May 16, 1969...GAME 32 (SEA 5, BOS 4)

Wayne Comer hit two homers and knocked in all 5 of Seattle's runs. Boston's manager, Dick Williams, was heard mumbling, "Comer hits 2 in one game ? He didn't even hit 2 in his career". Sour grapes, no...just an accurate assement regarding the former Tiger castoff. The big clout was the grand slam he hit off of Sonny Siebert in the 1st. Marty Pattin got the win, but he did give up 3 runs in only 5 innings of work. Bouton went 3 and gave up 1 and Diego Segui got the save.