Silver Seasons and a New Frontier: The Story of the Rochester Red Wings, Second Edition

11 A Successful Blend

11 A Successful Blend When I look back 011 my time managing the Red Wings, / smile. I've been a lot o{ places in this game, but those are some ofthe happiest momC/lts ofmy life. -Joe Altobelli, March 1995 Altobelli would manage five more seasons in Rochester, winning another Governors' Cup title and twice finishing with better records than his '71 dub. But nothing could duplicate the feeling of that first championship season. "The mher five years all blend together," he said. "I remember people, certain moments and incidents. But I remember everything about 1971:' The key members of the Junior World Series champs-Grieh, Baylor , Harrison, Crowley, Oates, Beene, and Scon-were gone in '72. Only Richie Coggins and Sam Parrilla returned to the starting lineup, to be joined by Don FaZIO when school let out in mid-June. Pitchers Bill Kirkpatrick , George Manz, and Wayne Garland also were back. Replacing Baylor in left field was Jim Fuller, a burly slugger from Bethesda, Maryland , who had slammed 33 homers and driven in 110 runs for Class A Miami in 1971. Six weeks inro the season, Coggins was forced out of the lineup when he was spiked in the hand during a play at second base. His replacement was a speedy outfielder named Alonza Bumbry, who was hirring .363 with twelve steals for Asheville of the Southern League. The move was supposed to be juSt temporary, but Bumbry was hitting .333 when Coggins returned two weeks later, and the two formed a lightning- "6 SUCCESSFUL BLEND 157 quick tandem ar rhe top of the Red Wings lineup. Bumbry was small (five-foor-eight) and old (twenty-five) for a rookie, but rhe left-handed hitter was one of the fastest men in baseball. "Of all rhe dudes I've seen," said his roommate, Enos Cabell, "he's the fastest dude." Bumbry, one of ten children, grew up in Virginia and attended Virginia State on a basketball scholarship. Nicknamed "Bumblebee," he spent tWO years in the army as a first lieutenant in the reserves and blamed that experience for whar scouts labeled a weak throwing arm. "I didn't throw for tWO years," he said. "We did have one glove and one ball, bur being in the jungle IVietnam] for 11 months, we had only 40 or 50 feet to play catch." Bumbry did morc than stay with the Red Wings in 1972. He won the International League batting title, finishing at .345 in 108 games. He also was named rhe league's Rookie of the Year and joined Wings third baseman Tom Matchick as a member of the postseason IL all-star team and Silver Glove recipient. Thc Wings played slightly better than .500 ball and entered the final day of thc season tied with Toledo for the last playoff SpOt. Kirkpatrick pitched a fivc-hittcr as Rochcstcr won 2-1 at Syracusc, finishing 7668 , while Louisville won the pennant and eliminated Toledo with a 1-0 win. The Wings had squeezed into the playoffs, but their hopes of repeating as Governors' Cup champions ended when they lost rhe finale of a three-game playoff series with Louisville in extra innings. The International League split into two four-team divisions in 1973, with Rochestcr joining Syracuse, Toledo, and the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, franchise (rransplanted from Louisville) in the American League Division. Tidewatcr , Richmond, Pcninsula, and Charleston formcd thc National League Division. Kirkpatrick and Garland headed the starting sraff, and outfielder Tommy Shopay returned after rwo seasons in Baltimore. Fuller also was back aftcr hitting cleven homers in forty-ninc games the season beforc, and third base was manned by a rookie namcd Doug DeCinces, who was being groomed to replace the lcgcndary Brooks Robinson in Baltimore. There were other changes at Silver Stadium in 1973: the bullpen behind the left-field fence, where fire barrels had kept idle pitchers warm on chilly nights, gave way to the simplicity of pracrice pitching mounds down both lincs. And pitchcrs werc no longcr part of the rcgular lineup, having been replaced by the new designated hitter rule, which had been used only as an experimcnt in the 1969 International League. Onc Rcd Wing dominated all season, for better or worse. At sixfoot -three, 220 pounds, and wirh sideburns as wide as home platc, Jim Fuller was Paul Bunyan with a baseball bat. Only rwenty-rwo, the first 158 SILVER SEASONS...