This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons
.com for more sports history. On April 12, 1966,
the Kansas City Athletics faced the Minnesota
Twins at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis
for the opening day of the 1966 season. The A's
were managed by Al Dark, who was in his first
game as skipper of the team. Dark had previously
led the Giants to four consecutive winning seasons,
including an NL pennant as manager from 1961
to 64. The Twins, managed by Sam Mell in his
seventh year, were coming off a 102 -win season
and an AL pennant in 1965, although they lost
to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.
This audio recording is from the Kansas City
Radio broadcast, featuring announcers Monty Moore
and Lynn Ferris. Two years, Tony Oliva. Tony
batted 321 to win the batting championship in
a close down to the last week race with Carl
Jastrzemski, the newly elected... Team captain
of the Boston Red Sox. Tony Oliva, left -handed
batter, and quite a player he is. Tony won the
American League batting championship in his very
first year in the big leagues as a rookie. Nobody
down in the first inning. No score. He's a bitch.
There's a drive to center field. Jose Charneval
moving after the ball, and he has got it. That
retires the Twins. So on the first inning for
Minnesota, no runs, hits or errors. Nobody left
on after one full inning of play. It's the A's
nothing, the Twins nothing. Hi, fans. This is
Lynn Ferris. It's a red -letter day. Today marking
the beginning of another great athletics baseball
season, and thanks to the friendly folks at GFC,
we're here to bring you the A's 1966 game. So
remember, for lots of baseball fun and excitement
every day, tune in here on KCMO for the A's game.
Brought to you by the Kansas City area offices
of the GFC Loan Company. Twelve conveniently
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You can't beat the GFC brand of friendliness
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from $25 ,000 to $2 ,000, call Friendly Bob Adams,
Grand 15373. GFC Loan Company. Four offices in
Kansas. One is located in Overland Park and one
in Mission in the Mission Shopping Center. Leading
off with the Athletics, in the top half of the
second inning, the A's catcher Bill Bryant. Manny
Jimenez, whom we mentioned a little while ago,
has not come to financial terms with the Athletics
front office, is sitting with A's owner Charlie
Finley in a box seat. Charlie has made him an
offer, and... Manny says I have to think it over,
so Jimenez is not in uniform today in the most
startling development of opening day of 1966.
Here's the pitch to Bryant. Sharp breaking curve
is inside a low ball one. Bill Bryant, who will
be playing behind the plate and at first base
for the Athletics this year, is catching today.
Bill has really hit the ball solidly all spring.
The pitch. pop -up on the left side of the infield.
The shortstop, Versailles, is calling for the
ball. Now Val Espino runs him off coming in towards
the infield and Sandy makes the catch. One away.
With Versailles going out and Val Espino coming
in and both owning tremendous speed, they're
going to cover a lot of ground out of that area
this year. One down in the second, here is the
A's first baseman, Ken Harrelson, who led the
Athletics in home runs and runs batted in last
year. Ken had five home runs to lead the A's
in home runs this spring. The pitch doing. Fastball,
strike, it's called. Veteran American League
umpire and one of the best ball and strike umpires
in pro baseball, Larry Knapp, is working behind
the plate this afternoon. Here's the best curveball
pitches outside. and Hunter, we are seeing two
of the fastest working pitchers in the American
League this afternoon. They're fast for several
reasons. They like to get the ball and throw
it, and they also usually throw strikes pretty
consistently. There's a curve fouled off. One
ball, two strikes. Fielding the ball over in
foul territory, the A's third base coach, Luke
Epling, who was our pregame warm -up show guest
today. Luke would like to have $100 for every
professional season opener he's ever seen. Played
with the White Sox 20 years. Here's a one -and
-two pitch. Curveball to Harrelson. Misses low.
It's two -and -two now. Well, it's been a long,
hard grind since the late part of February for
these baseball players in spring training. They
took it fairly slowly and finished fast and are
in top shape. Here's a pitch. Curve. Strike three
is called. Harrelson goes down. Another two away
is Mudcat Grant. Just broke off a major league
curveball over the outside corner. Here's left
-handed swinging Larry Stahl, the A's left fielder,
who has made one great play already. With the
big league season underway and not yet an inning
and a half old, we have already seen two spectacular
defensive plays. Larry Stahl has pretty good
power. Here's the pitch. Low and away ball one.
He has hit seven big league home runs. Five of
them have been hit against the Minnesota Twins.
He has played very little in the big leagues,
so his home run production is really an outstanding
thing. Here's a pitch, curve ball high. Two balls
and a strike. The Athletics will open their 1966
season at home at Municipal Stadium next Tuesday
night against these same twins. Here's a 2 -0
pitch. Low and a wave all three. On deck for
Kansas City, Dick Green. Three balls, one strike.
Grant got a late start. In spring training, he
was a holdout. He and Kyle Griffith really had
a battle on their hands before they came together.
On contract terms, 3 -1 pitch. Stahl hits it
up in the air down the third baseline. Foul territory.
Harmon Killebrew runs Luke Affleck out of the
coaching box and makes the catch. And that retires
the Appotics here in the second inning of play.
Let's get Grant. has mowed down the first six
Kansas City batters after an inning and a half.
The score, the A's nothing, the Twins nothing.
Well, let's check in on scores of other games.
In the American League, after three innings of
play, the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees,
no score. That's Mickey Lulich dueling Whitey
Ford. Boston Red Sox have taken a 3 -2 lead over
Baltimore after three full innings. Barber versus
Wilson. Brooks Robinson homered in the first,
nobody on. The California Angels and Chicago
White Sox scoreless after one. That's Dean Chance
versus Tommy John. In case you missed it yesterday,
Cleveland Indians, using their pitch -hitting
strike off the bench, beat Washington Senators
5 -2. McDowell over Pete Rickard. Frank Howard
hit his first homer of the year. In the National
League, the Mets and Cincinnati already have
been rained out for the second day in a row.
Nothing in yet on the Cubs, San Francisco, Pittsburgh,
Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Houston
and Los Angeles. All will be playing tonight.
So one rain out and three night games. Here's
Harmon Killebrew to lead off now for the Minnesota
Twins. Harmon had quite a year last year. He
had 269. 125 home runs, knocked in 75 runs. He's
a right -handed batter. Jimmy Hunter throws a
fastball right by a swinging Killebrew strike
one. Well, there's no excitement, I don't think,
outside of maybe the World Series or the All
-Star Game, like opening day of the baseball
season every year. Here's the 0 -1 bet. Hunter
tries a fastball again, and he bets it inside,
trying to jam Harmon. It's one ball and one strike.
Mencher and Hall are scheduled for the Twins
here in the second. No score in our game. Hunter's
pitch. Inside. Ball two. He has thrown three
straight fastballs to Killebrew. Going to really
take a blast to hit a home run into the left
field seats here today. Here's the bench. Curve.
Over the plate with Lowe. Ball three. Hunter
and Bryant. is the coach at third for the twins,
and Bob Lemon at first. Hatter gets the side
from Bryant. Swings into action. Here's the bench.
Curveball bounced on the ground to the left side,
causing a shortstop hazard. There's his throw
to Harrelson in the dirt, but Kenny digs it out,
and there's one away. The batter now is Don Mincher,
who hit 251 for the twins last year with 22 home
runs. Big Don knocks in 65 runs. His emergence
as a consistent hitter against both right and
left -handed pitching allows the Twins to move
Killebrew off first and put him at third base.
Here's a pitch. High and outside, ball one. Boy,
it's great to see those Major League scoreboards
again all lit up indicating scores of other games
around the country. and just in general to get
the baseball season underway, here's the bench
outside Ball 2. Lynn and I will be traveling
right with the athletics through 162 games starting
today, broadcasting every day on the same radio
station throughout Mid -America, and we're so
happy that you've decided to join us today. Be
sure to let all your friends know the stations
that are carrying the A's games and to which
you are listening. We'll have a lot of fun this
summer. Here's the 2 -0 pitch. Curveball. Double
for Don Venture. So Don Venture hits a drive
between Carnival and Hershberger in right center
field for a two -base hit, the first hit of the
1966 season. And now here's Jimmy Hall, who hit
two... .285 for average last year for the Twins.
Jimmy had 20 homers, knocked in 86 runs. He had
a great year. The A's infield swung around a
bit to the right. Tarnable playing over in right
center field from his regular center field spot.
Hunter's pitch on the way. Outside. Ball one.
at second base. One out. Last half of the second
inning. No score between the A's and the Twins.
Hunter pitches. A strike on the outside corner.
One ball and one strike. The wind is definitely
a factor in this game today. It has already made
some easy plays rather tough. The wind blew that
ball away from Tarnable just then as he chased
it into right center field. Mentor hit it hard.
There's no doubt about it, but Tarnable was being
hindered by that wind. Here's a pitch. Way out
to that ball, too. The same two teams play right
here again tomorrow afternoon, and pitching for
Kansas City will be Raleigh Sheldon and pitching
for the Twins, Camilo Pascual. Our airtime for
our baseball warm -up show, 115 on many of these
same stations, and for the broadcast itself,
125. Hunters 2 -1 pitch coming. Hunter, who is
basically a control -type pitcher, has been at
the 3 -1 level on two different batters here
in the setting. Killebrew, who went for a curveball
on 3 -1 and crowded out. And out of Jimmy Hall.
Bryant calls for a pitch. Hunter acknowledges.
He walks in to all four. in a second inning.
And that plays to the plate. Earl Batty, right
-handed batting catcher who hit just short of
300 last year. Earl hit 297, and I'll tell you,
it's a big 297 when Batty hits it because of
this. He is very slow, possibly one of the slowest
runners in the American League, which means he
doesn't get many infield hits during the course
of the year. Earl has to hit that ball between
fielders and infielders. Mighty fine player.
This guy knocked in 60 runs last year. Hunter
pitches. Fastball hit on the ground to Wayne
Cozy. He's got it down the green for one out.
Over to first base. An easy double play and that
retires the side. Fanny. An easy double play,
Mark, if he hits the ball on the ground with
anybody else on. In the second inning. No runs.
One hit. No errors. One man left on base. After
two innings at the Met Stadium in the Twin Cities
to score, Kansas City nothing, Minnesota nothing.
Now, KCMO Confidential. 60 seconds inside a great
radio station. It's 5 a .m. at KCMO Radio. A
slight figure hunched against the morning breeze
enters the front door. In the background, the
faint screams of flattened struts. Splendid old
special can be heard as the all -night milk dickie
show fades slowly into limbo. The studio door.
A brief gaze at the material is plunged carefully
under the chair. A coat draped over what appears
to be an empty, gluttonous handlebar. A body
slumps into the chair with a sigh. And suddenly...
Good morning, world! The day takes on a bright
new sheen on the Jack Elliott Show. Five hours
of fun and fun. Special features of the Jack
Elliott Show include agri -news, sports, weather,
and the important news. 981 PCMO for Jack Elliott.
This has been KCMO Confidential. 60 seconds inside
a great radio station. Kansas City Athletics
to lead off the third inning. Here's Dick Green,
the second baseman. He'll be followed by Ed Charles
and the pitcher, Jimmy Hunter. Green last year
for Kansas City batted .232. He hit 15 home runs,
knocked in 55 runs. Grant pitches. Green takes
a look at a strike. It cost him. The ball's one
strike. We're underway in the third inning of
the first game of the 1966 season. In the fourth
inning, Boston leads Baltimore 3 -2. The Yankees
and Detroit scoreless in the fourth. Bouncing
ball hit by Green to Armand Killebrew. The Twins'
third baseman throws him out. Went away. Mudcat
Grant, who did not get his first start for the
Twins last season until three weeks into the
season, is the opening day pitcher here in 1966.
And he feels that he won 21 games last year,
not starting until three weeks after the season
got underway. This should give him about three
or four extra starts, and he might be a 25 -game
winner this year. Here's a pitch to Charles.
And the A's third baseman takes a curve outside.
Ball one. The California Angels and the Chicago
White Sox playing today in Chicago. No score
in the third inning. The bench. Again, a curve
ball misses outside. Kansas City nothing, Minnesota
nothing. One out, third inning. Today at the
Big Cats, one newspaper bill this day. The pitch.
High fly ball. Hits behind the plate. Earl Batty
coming back. May have a play on it right in front
of the screen. It hits on the screen, protecting
the stand behind the plate. So Ed Charles is
still alive. The count, two balls and one strike.
Yes, the papers were saying it's a battle between
cats. Mudcat. And Catfish. And to continue along
the veins of nicknames, Mudcat Grant has a brother
by the name of Swampfire Grant, who used to be
a pitcher. Do one pitch. Knocks him down, ball
three. Good to see some colorful names back in
baseball for a while. Baseball became a little
bit staid in that respect. As you and I were
growing up, most of us used to remember quite
well the nicknames. Here's a bit. Charles takes
it inside and high in the eighth half there.
First baserunner of the afternoon. As Ed Charles
works Mudcat Grant for a walk. The eighth pitcher,
Jimmy Hunter, comes up. Quite a story this young
fella has given the baseball world. Baseball
scouts had given up on him because part of his
foot had been shot off. Here's the pitch. He
busts it right out in front of the plate. It
kicks off foul to the first base side. Hunter
still to this day has quite a few fuck shots
in his foot despite an operation that removed
some 27 of them. That's the Mayo Clinic up here
in Minnesota, by the way, right after he signed
the contract with the Athletics. Charles leads
off first. Here's the bench. He busts the ball
hard out towards the mound, and it's bobbled
momentarily by Grant. He hustles, picks it up,
throws the first. He got his man on a flat, scrambling
play. That Grant is quite an athlete. He went
over to his left that time, trying to pick up
a funny ball by Hunter. The ball bounced off
his glove. He fell down, but scrambled it while
still on his knees. Through the first base, to
Bernie Allen's covering, and he got Hunter. But
Ed Charles advances to second on the sacrifice,
and back to the top of the A's order we go for
Jose Tarnable. Base hit now could give the Athletics
the lead in the ballgame, as Charles is at second
base. Tarnable, skied out to right field his
first trip. There's a curveball, bounced out
towards first base. Fair territory, fielded by
Mitchell, he steps on the bag, and the A's don't
score this inning. No runs are hit, the man left
on, and after two and a half innings, the score...
Well, baseball in the air and on the air. What
a treat it is for Monty and me to be here in
the home of the 1965 American League champions.
And fans, the important thing you want to remember
is that we'll be facing this same ball club back
at beautiful Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.
And we hope you'll be with us in person, 7 o
'clock starting time, April 19th. Why don't you
get your tickets at the Plaza, 4628 Werno, Townhouse,
Kansas City, Kansas, Macy's Downtown, the Blue
Ridge Mall, Center Office, and the Caps Drug
Stores, North Kansas City, 1914 Swift. And 75th
and Metcalf. Now, both of those cash drugstores
have tickets all day, every day, seven days a
week. So get your tickets and be on hand with
us and welcome the athletics back to Kansas City,
won't you? Against these same twins. We start
the last of the third inning. Bernie Allen, the
Twins' second baseman who made a spectacular
play robbing Wayne Causey of a base hit. Here's
the leadoff banner against Jimmy Hunter. Here's
the bench. Inside at half -all -one. Bernie last
year was about ready to give up baseball. He
had had a knee operation the year before. The
Twins, after spring training, sent him to the
minor leagues to Denver, and he decided to give
up baseball. Here's the ball hit foul out of
play. But the Twins front office talked him into
staying in the game and playing for a while at
Denver, seeing if he could get his knee into
shape. He never did really get back in top shape
last year. Bernie had a great year with the Twins,
his rookie season in 1962. He hit .269 that year.
The one -on -one bench, curveball, rips into
the right field corner, a base hit. Herzberger
chasing the ball and goes. Hands on here in the
third inning. The pitcher, Grant, is at the plate
now. He's looking for the bunt. Grant does not
bunt. He hits the ball foul. Out of play. The
Twins have had two base hits so far in the ballgame.
Nobody down here in the third. The bench. There's
the button. Down the first baseline and it stays
right over the chalk line. Picked up by Harrelson.
He tags his man out as he goes by. But Grant
moves out and over to third base with only one
away. Back to zone oversize. Both pitchers have
been called upon to sacrifice runners down and
they've both successfully done so. popped up
to third base this first trip. And now we're
getting a first look of the official 1966 season
at the Kansas City Athletics. Defensive infield
pulled in on the grass in the early innings to
try to cut off a run. Al Dark plans to do this
a lot. Hunter winding. Here's the pitch to Versailles.
The curveball hit right back towards the mound.
Hunter's got it. Holds the runner at third. Throws
the first. He got it. What a curveball Hunter
threw. Let's pause right here for station identification.
This is the Kansas City A's baseball network.
This is KCMO Radio Dial 81, Kansas City, Missouri.
Currently 44 degrees with light rain and haze
in Kansas City. Four minutes past two. At the
Met Stadium in Minneapolis, St. Paul, this is
Monty Moore with Lynn Ferris. Happy to have you
join us today, and we hope that you'll make it
a regular habit to keep your radio dial set right
where it is throughout. The 1966 baseball season.
Here's Sandy Valespino with two down. The infield
can go back now, except for Ed Charles, the third
baseman, who will play right about the line.
An attempted bluff down the line by Bernie Allen
as Hunter went into a full windup. And Hunter
threw the ball and was fouled off. It looked
for a moment as if Bernie Allen might be coming
towards the plate. Ed Charles is over talking
with Hunter now on the mound as Ed had tried
to fluff the runner back into third base with
a couple of slaps of the glove. Ernie has always
been quite fast. I don't know if he's that fast
that he could steal home with two down like this.
Now the 0 -1 pitch. Hit the ball right by Ed
Charles. It actually hit Charles' glove. As Charles
made a dive to his right. So Val Despino gets
credit for a base hit, a run batted in. The Twins
lead 1 -0, 2 down, and here's Tony Oliva. The
runner at first gets the lead. Ryder steps off
the rubber and drives him back in. The Twins,
defending American League champions, not being
picked by many of the riders or broadcasters
to repeat. There's a bench. Foul out of play.
Strike one. But here in the Twin Cities area,
all their broadcasters and riders think the Twins
can do it again. And the Twins players do a man
feel they have a better ball club this year than
the club that won the pennant last year. We'll
see lots of them in the next week or so. The
throw to first. Val Espino is back in. Our first
11 games of the 1966 season will be with the
teams who finished first and second last year.
The Twins and the White Sox. The A's have their
work cut out for them. Pitch. Bounce right back
to the mound on one hop. Hunter's got it. Throw.
the first and down go the twins. In the third
inning, one run, two hits, one big error, and
one left on. After three innings of play at the
Met Stadium, the score, Minnesota 1, Kansas City
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a division of KCMO Broadcasting. The leadoff
batter for the Athletics in the top half of the
fourth inning, Mike Hershberger, who grounded
out to the first base with his first trap. Grant
starts him off with a ball in the dirt. One ball
and 0 strikes the count. Well, Cleveland and
Washington got the baseball season underway yesterday,
and the Indians rallied for four runs in the
ninth inning to beat Washington 5 -2. Batting
heroes of that game yesterday, Calavito had three
hits for the Indians. Ball two to Hershberger.
Max Alves had three hits. And Sam McDowell was
the winning pitcher in that game. He led the
American League in strikeouts last year and started
off pretty strongly again this year. by striking
out nine yesterday. And Lynn has a note here
on that Baltimore -Boston ball game about the
Robinson guys. To steal a phrase from Batman,
Marty, the Robinson dynamic duo has struck. Brooks
homered in the first, nobody on. And Frank Robinson
has just homered in the fifth, nobody on. Those
guys are going to score lots of runs this year,
Baltimore. They're being picked by a lot of people.
It's ball three to Mike Hershberger. Frank Robinson,
a great new star in the American League. Long
time, great in the National League. Here's a
pitch. Strike to Hershberger, 3 -1. Mike was
taking all the way. Three balls, one strike count.
The Twins 1 -0. Hershberger gets back into the
plate. Ball hit deep in the right center field.
Way back goes Tony Oliva. He's at the fence.
He can't get it. It's off the fence. Hershberger
on the way to second. He's digging around second,
going to third. Here comes a throw across the
infield, and Hershberger is in there with a triple.
Tony Oliva crashed hard into the fence in right
field. He got up off the ground, chased the carom,
and made a strong throw all the way to third
base. But Hershberger is in there. the year for
the Kansas City Athletics. And here's Wayne Causey.
The Twins center fielder Jimmy Hall was just
over talking with Oliva, and their manager Sam
Neely stood up on the top step of the dugout
to find out if Tony O were okay, and he is. So
we'll continue now. The Twins in field will play
halfway. They will not come in. The early innings
to try to cut off the tying run. Here's the pitch
to cause it. Foul ball. It's out of play. The
Twins, of course, have all the mashers. They
can hit the long ball. They're expected to score
a lot of runs. Alvin Dark thinks it's foolish
for a club that he doesn't think will score a
lot of runs this year to give up runs easily
in the early innings, which has long been something
that many of us have wondered about. to Causey.
One ball and one strike. So many times you'll
see a club early in the innings when a runner
gets a third base do as the twins are doing.
Back up, of course, they're trying to cut off
what could be a big inning and they'll give up
the one run. 1 -1 fetch. Causey takes it high.
Ball two. And Hershberger might be bothering
Mudcat Grant a little bit with a mad dash about
40 feet down the foul line as Grant goes into
the windup. Wayne Causey. In a number of years,
played with the Kansas City A's, the veteran
of the ball club. 2 -1 pitch. Grab ball hit out
towards the shortstop. Versailles picks it up.
Holds Hershberger at third and throws it out.
So Causey is out at first base, and Hershberger
did have to hold on because the ball was hit
to the left side of the infield. Though their
infield was playing, not shallow, they were not
playing too deep either, and of course Versailles
has that great arm. Now here's Bill Bryant. a
fly ball to the shortstop his first trip. Went
leading 1 -0. The A's have Hershberger at third.
Brad Wise pitches to Bryan inside and high. He
really cut that one loose. Ball one. Mudcat Grant
gets the sign from Batty. Throws. Bryant looks
at a strike over the outside corner. One ball
and one strike. A well -placed pitch by Mudcat
Grant. Joe Pepitone has just hit a home run for
the New York Yankees in the fifth inning with
nobody on. So the score there is at least the
Yankees 1 and the Tigers nothing. Pitch to Bryant.
sideline, I think, and a rather surprising one,
I think, within the last couple of days developed
in the Yankee camp when Mickey Mantle announced
as the Yankees broke spring training camp that
he was going to be the starting center fielder
for the Yankees. He said, I'm ready after his
operation, and he is in the starting lineup for
the Yankees today. Fetch to Bryant, way outside,
ball three. And Grant is obviously trying to
keep that ball away from Bill Bryant's pulling
car. Wind is a favoring wind for a left -handed
batter today. If Bryant could get one up into
the air, it could carry deep enough in right
field easily to knock in Hershberger from third.
3 -1 pitch. Changeup. Bryant swings a miss and
he had a good kind of a changeup. A mighty fine
pitch for Mudcat Grant. He threw a straight change
off his fastball when Bryant had to be looking
for a fastball right now. Now Mudcat Grant really
needs a strikeout. Bryant digs in. Here's the
pitch. Bounce ball out to the first base side.
That's going to knock in Hershberger. Bryant
is out as Mincher steps on the bag at first.
But the ball game is all tied up at one and one.
And Bill Bryant gets a run batted in. So Bill
hung in there against Mudcat Grant. And knocked
in the run. Here's Ken Harrelson who was called
out on strikes his first trip to the plate. the
fourth inning of this ball game between the A's
and the Twins. Last year we had a lot of great
games with Minnesota. The pitch to Harrelson,
a snap curveball. A little high ball one. The
Twins, who won the championship last year, only
beat the A's ten times. We beat them eight times.
So we played the pennant winners pretty closely
last year. Here's one offense. Inside to the
Hawks. Ball two. The A's under new manager Al
Dark. A highly spirited group as they left spring
training with 14 victories this year. Two offense.
Curveball to Harrelson is high. Ball three. Larry
Stahl on deck. There are two down here in the
fourth. And the A's return home next Tuesday.
Tuesday night to play these same Minnesota Twins.
Game time, 7 o 'clock. Debbie Bryant, Miss America,
will be there to throw out the first ball for
the A's. Three -0 pitch. Ground ball hit in the
hole between third and short. Cut off nicely
by Killebrew. Great play. Throws him out. In
the fourth inning, the A's get one run. One hit.
In the middle of the fourth, the score, the A's
won and the Twins won. Opening day for the 1966
baseball season. A day filled with all the excitement
and pageantry that is baseball. For our Kansas
City A's, it isn't quite the same as opening
day at Municipal Stadium, but nonetheless, it
is the first game. And in addition to those of
you listening to this broadcast presented by
Ham's Beer, there are plenty of A's fans right
here at Metropolitan Stadium. It is fitting that
this first game is played here because Met Stadium
is in the heart of the land of Sky Blue Waters
because today's game and every A's game is brought
to you by Ham's Beer, brewed in the land of Sky
Blue Waters. From waters best for brewing, lots
of fans across the country call Ham's the baseball
beer. Ham's also presents the play -by -play
of all Minnesota Twins games. On the West Coast,
San Francisco fans gather around bottles of Ham's
to follow the action of all the Giants games.
Ham's is the baseball beer, but the reason you
should try Ham's is because you'll like Ham's.
It refreshes you best. Mighty fine words, Len
Farris, and certainly that's true. We are right
here in the heart of America, where the Ham's
Beer Main Brewery is located. Just a few miles
from the ballpark. Ready to go now with Harmon
Killebrew. Last half of the fourth inning. Harmon
grounded out Dwayne Causey. His first trip to
the plate. Jimmy Catfish Hunter throws a fastball.
Swinging track one. He threw his sinker that
time. Jimmy holds his fastball differently when
he wants it to sail and when he wants it to sink.
He can turn that ball over when he wishes to.
Here's the old one bench. Outside. One ball,
one strike. The A's won and the Twins won. There's
the curve to Killebrew and it's fouled off. Strike
two. Tomorrow, Raleigh Sheldon will pitch for
Kansas City and on Thursday against the Twins,
Brett Talbot. Camilo Pascual tomorrow for the
Twins and Jim Cotton on Thursday. Andrew hits
a sharp ground ball to Wayne Causey. Wayne throws
him out. One away in the fourth inning. Here's
Don Mincher, who doubled his first trip to the
plate. The A's have some new ticket locations
this year and certainly some very well -placed
ticket locations for the convenience of our fans
all around the greater Kansas City area. We'll
give you the locations where you can buy tickets
to all future Kansas City A's games. One of our
new ticket offices is on the Blue Ridge Mall,
the center office number 55. Out in the Independence
area, here's a fit to venture. Fastball tails
off away from him, ball one. The A's have a ticket
outlet in the Cat's Drugstore in North Kansas
City at 1914 Swift Avenue. Open regular hours.
You can buy A's tickets there almost any hour.
Here's a fit. Outside, ball two. Another catch
drugstore with a great big A's ticket -selling
sign out on their billboard. 75th and Metcalf.
More of the people in the Johnson County area.
Here are the two old vets. Metcher takes a whack
at it and hits it up into the air behind the
shortstop position. The wind is bringing it back
out of the dirt part of the infield, and Causey
stays right with it to make the catch. So there
are two out in the fourth, and here's Jimmy Hall.
The Athletics have a ticket office in downtown
Kansas City. If you happen to be in that area,
we'd like to buy tickets for opening night next
Tuesday at Macy's. And out in Kansas City, Kansas
at the Townhouse Hotel. And the Plaza ticket
office at 4628 Warnall Road. As well as the ticket
office at the stadium. Oh, it's a fly ball. Foul
territory. Here are the A's dugout. Ed Charles,
A's third baseman over there. He's got it. And
the signage retired in order here in the fourth
inning of the ballgame. So the Twins don't score,
and it remains the same. Kansas City 1, Minnesota
1. Well, Monty, let's once again check in on
our A scoreboard. In the American League, after
five innings, the New York Yankees lead the Detroit
Tigers 1 -0 on Joe Pepitone's home run at Ford
against Lulich. Baltimore and Boston now after
six is tied up. 3 -3. Barber versus Wilson. The
Robinson boys have struck. Brooks in the first
with nobody on. Frank hitting a fifth inning
homer. No, no. California -Chicago. No score
after three and a half. Chance fueling John.
Yesterday, Cleveland bested Washington 5 -2.
McDowell over Rickert, Frank Howard a home run.
In the National League, there's only one game
that will be played this afternoon. The Cubs
in San Francisco, Brolio versus Marichal, Houston,
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Philadelphia,
St. Louis, all will play tonight. Jack Fisher
and Milt Pappas will have to wait another day.
The Mets in Cincinnati have been rained out for
the second time now, and it's the first time
since the year 1913 Cincinnati has been rained
out. for the athletics here in the fifth inning
of the ballgame. If you'd like to know more about
Larry Stahl, a rookie with the A's this year,
and all the other Kansas City A's players, a
reminder that the A's yearbook is off the presses
now, and fans who have ordered these books by
mail should be receiving them this week. Here's
a pitch to Larry Stahl, and it's a strike from
Mudcat Draft. If you fans have not ordered as
yet, do so soon by sending your check or money
order for 75 cents to yearbook, Kansas City A's
Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri. Dark
breaking curveball, swung on and missed by Stahl.
No balls, two strikes. That yearbook this year
is a dandy. Got some new features in it that
you've never seen in an A's yearbook before,
plus lots of pictures of the A's players and
families, complete backgrounds of all the Kansas
City players. The 0 -2 pitch, wasted outside
ball one. Fifth inning on a beautiful day in
Minnesota. I say beautiful, it's clear, it is
cold. The high is forecast 50 degrees. 1 -2 pitch,
curve. High ball two. The A's worked out here
in Minnesota yesterday in temperature 42 degrees.
They had a short batting practice. Two -two pitch.
Larry hits a drive to right field. Right straight
at Tony Oliva, who makes the grab. One away.
A's second baseman Dick Green comes up now. Twins
1 and the Athletics 1. Twins flying the pennant
of the American League champions. Green at the
sharp ground ball past third base. Foul. Strike
one. American League President Joe Cronin is
here today. He was here to help with the pennant
raising ceremonies. Somewhere in the neighborhood
of 20 ,000 fans. The Twins have never had a crowd
opening the season of over 24 ,000. Of course.
And it will be played this afternoon. The Cubs
in San Francisco, Brolio versus Marichal, Houston,
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Philadelphia,
St. Louis, all will play tonight. Jack Fisher
and Milk Pappas will have to wait another day.
The Mets in Cincinnati have been rained off for
the second time now, and it's the first time
since the year 1913 Cincinnati has been rained
off. leads off for the Athletics here in the
fifth inning of the ballgame. If you'd like to
know more about Larry Stahl, a rookie with the
A's this year, and all the other Kansas City
A's players, a reminder that the A's yearbook
is off the presses now, and fans who have ordered
these books by Mayo should be receiving them
this week. Here's a pic to Larry Stahl, and it's
a strike from Mudcat Grass. If you fans have
not ordered as yet, do so soon by sending your
check or money order for 75 cents to yearbook.
Kansas City A's Municipal Stadium, Kansas City,
Missouri. Sharp, breaking curveball, one run
and missed by Stahl. No balls, two strikes. That
yearbook this year is a dandy. It's got some
new features in it that you've never seen in
an A's yearbook before, plus lots of pictures
of the A's players and families, complete backgrounds
of all the Kansas City players. The 0 -2 pitch,
wasted outside ball one. It's a beautiful day
in Minnesota. I say beautiful, it's clear. It
is cold. The high is forecast 50 degrees. One
-two pitch, curve high, ball two. The A's worked
out here in Minnesota yesterday in temperature
42 degrees. They had a short batting practice.
Two -two pitch. Larry hits a drive to right field.
Right straight at Tony Oliva, who makes the grab.
One away. A second baseman, Dick Green, comes
up now. Wins one and the Athletics won. Twins
flying the pennant of the American League champions.
Green hits a sharp ground ball past third base.
Foul. Strike one. American League President Joe
Cronin is here today. He was here to help with
the pennant raising ceremonies. Somewhere in
the neighborhood of 20 ,000 fans. The Twins have
never had a crowd opening the season of over
24 ,000. Of course, that's highly attributable
to the bad weather they ordinarily have up here
this time of year. Before the year's over, they'll
make up for what they don't have on opening day.
One strike pitch to Green, shortened up on the
bat, faked a bun, and took it outside. One and
one now. We're certainly highly encouraged about
the great ticket sale we had in Kansas City for
our athletics, and the A's will be coming home
to start a series against the Twins and another
against the White Sox next Tuesday night. 1 -1
pitch. Fly ball hit on the infield to the right
side. First baseman Don Metcher calling for it
as it comes down about five feet from first base.
Two away. And that brings to the plate third
baseman Ed Charles. The Athletics have had only
one base hit. Got tripled by Hershberger in the
fourth inning. He was knocked in by Bill Bryant
who grounded out the first base. The Twins have
had only three hits, so the pitchers have taken
over here this afternoon. Here's a pitch. Charles
hits one high up into the air in a short right
center field. Tony Oliva calling for it. Having
to move to his left now. He's got it. So the
first half of the ball game is over. And the
score in the middle of the fifth inning. The
age one and the twins one. And now, fans, just
for a moment, why don't you close your eyes and
wrap your hand around a cold hams beer and bend
an ear to this. Listen. The land of sky blue
waters is calling. From the land of sky blue
waters comes the water best for brewing hams
beer, refreshing hams beer. The beer that's brewed
with water best. Tastes best, refreshes you best.
Only Ham's has that refreshing sky blue waters
flavor. Every Ham's has it. Glass after glass
after glass. The one right beer for those who
want another. Ham's tastes so right, it bears
repeating. the first ball game of the 1966 season,
and the guy is going to give you lots of pleasure
doing lots of home stretches this year, our new
baseball broadcasting partner, a mighty fine
fellow from down in New Orleans recently, Chicago
originally, but let's turn him loose right now.
Here's Len Ferris. Thank you very much, Monty.
Hello again, everybody. Earl Fatty will lead
off. I guess my cat, our cat fish hunter, takes
a ball. I knew we were going to get those fish
mixed up. Press making quite a bit of a fish
element here. Catfish versus Mudcat. Batty has
been up one time and hit into the only double
play in the game. Next pitch. Smashing the ground
in a hole. Foggy backhand and he's going to have
a long throw. He got him. What a scoop out of
the dirt by our first -place win, Haroldson.
Because he made an outstanding play. And it was
a tough one from the well. And in fairness to
the Twins, perhaps a faster man. But the outs
always look good, don't they? One gone. Ernie
Allen will come up to the plate now. One gone
of a 1 -1 ball game. Allen is one for one. Here's
the pitch. There's a drive and a little center
field in the alley. This could be real trouble.
Tartable running to his right and gloves it.
Fine running grab by Jose Tartable as the A's
continue to show that speed and defensive ability.
And Alvin Dark has been so emphatic on starting
back in spring training from the very first day.
It was Allen who started the little uprising
there in the third inning when he got a swing
on the right field. When Hershberger let it go
by for an error, Allen went to second. It was
sacrificed to third by Grant after Versailles
grounded off Al Espino, brought him in with a
swing on the left, and the Twins led 1 -0. And
Villiers tied it up on the fourth on a triple
by Hershberger. And an infield out by Bryan.
Now the batter is Whatcat Grant. Takes a called
strike. Nice breaking pitch right at the knees.
A's won. And the Twins won. The curtain raiser
of 1966. Youngster is all ready. He deals. Called
strike again. Outside corner. Temperature 52
degrees at game time. The wind out of the east
at 13 miles per hour. Now Hunter is ready. The
pitch, low. The wind is coming out of the left
field corner, blowing over the double deck stands
and left. It's changed a little bit since before
game time. Curve hit on the ground towards third.
Scooped up nicely by Charles. The throw, in time.
And the A's shut down the Twins. Hunter now has
retired seven in a row. Three up, three down.
Nothing a cause. And the score after five full
innings of play remains. Minnesota Twins won.
The Kansas City A's won. Now. KCMO Confidential.
60 seconds inside a great radio station. It's
early afternoon. The morning has melted away.
Where does the time go? The neighbor lady drops
in for coffee. A phone call from the cub master
pleading for den mothers. A 45 -minute conversation
with an old high school chum just passing through
town who you never liked in the first place.
A visit from your minister asking you to take
over the entire vacation church school. A trucker
unloads a cord of wood ordered in the dead of
winter on your newly planted tomato bushes and
it's 70 degrees. And your husband has just called
and said he's bringing the boss home for dinner
and the house still needs... and you're frantic
and you don't know how you're going to make it
through the day. Hi, welcome to the Dan Ronald
Show. Ah, there's help. Dan Ronald and his velvet
voice from 2 to 5 every afternoon. This has been
KCMO Confidential. 60 seconds inside a great
radio station. Next inning, we'll pause 10 seconds
for station identification. This is the Kansas
City Athletics Baseball Network. This is KCMO
Radio 81, Kansas City, Missouri. Mid -America's
important news station. 44 degrees, now 231.
At Metropolitan Stadium in the Twin Cities, this
is Lynn Ferris with Marty Moore. Hopefully you're
enjoying our broadcast, fans, wherever you are,
whatever you're doing. This game and all athletics
games are brought to you by Ham's Beer. Have
a ham. Pitcher versus pitcher. Catfish Hunter
pops one up on the left side of the infield.
Versailles is there. He's got it. So Hunter,
who had sacrificed his only previous trip in
the third inning, is the first out here in the
top of the sixth. And this ball game is really
sailing. Out of the top of the batting order,
Jose Tartavale. 0 for 2. He's flying to center
and grounded out. The A's have one hit, but it
was a big one, a triple by Hershberger, who came
in on an infield out by Bill Bryan. 1 -1 ball
game. The speedster, Tartable, at the plate.
Fans here seeing an outstanding pitcher's duel.
There's a called strike on the outside corner,
says Larry Knapp, calling the balls and strikes.
John Rice at first base, Al Salerno at second,
Jim Odom at third. Those are your American League
umpires for this series. Outside and wall ball.
Killebrew at third, Versailles at short, Allen
at second, Mincher at first, Val Espino at left,
Paul in center, Oliva in right, Earl batting
back of the plate, and Grant on the mound. The
pitch curve is going on, and a liner down the
right field line, fair ball! And it's going into
the corner, look at Tartable go around first.
Ball fielded by Oliva, and Jose has a double.
He goes in standing up, and that's only the second
hit of Mudcat Grant. Tartable laced up beauty,
just inside the line. Don't expect to hear too
many cheers when the A's do something outstanding.
I don't have to tell you the rabid followers
here in the Twin Cities. Now the batter, Mike
Hershberger. He owns the only other hit off Graham.
Pitch is swung on and a pop foul. Back of first
out of play. Landis Hershberger has really had
a fine spring with the bat. He has taken it very
slowly with his arm. He has, of course, not extended
it any since he did have the operation on the
winter on his throwing elbow. But he has really
had a great swing down there. And, you know,
some have said that maybe his protecting his
arm a little bit has made him cut down on his
swing and develop a better swing at the plate.
Grant steps off the slab, and Hershberger is
tired of waiting. Action here in the same ballpark
tomorrow and on Thursday. Friday is an off day,
and then the A's invade White Sox Park, Chicago.
Single game Saturday, a twin bill on Sunday.
Now here's Hershberger with a chance to drive
and a run. The pitch. There's a bouncer towards
short. Versailles is going to his right. Juggles
the ball, and Hershberger is on. It's a base
hit. Part of all. Did not try to lead second,
and I think Versailles took his eye off the ball.
He was very concerned about Pardable at second
base. And in so doing, juggled the baseball,
but they ruled it a base hit. Since it went into
the hole, and the shortstop had to go to his
right. Runners at first and second now, hit number
three off Grant, and Wayne Crossey's at the plate,
0 for 2. Takes a strike call to the knee. Grant
peers in to get his sign from Batting. Deals.
Low of all. The count is 1 -1. One man out. The
game is tied 1 -1. We're playing in the top half
of the sixth inning. Hayes did very well against
this ball club last year. Better than Minnesota's
fans would like to recall. Here's the stretch
and the pitch. There's a low liner towards short.
Grabbed by Versailles. It's over to second. Out
back into the first inning. And the stepping
double play gets the Twins out of trouble here.
Oh, the A's in the top of the sixth. No run.
Two hits. No errors. One left. The score after
five and a half innings of play remains Kansas
City A's one, the Minnesota Twins one. When your
thirst sends out a call for real refreshment,
answer it with a call for refreshing hands beer,
like this. The call to flavor refreshing from
the land of sky blue water. From the land of
sky blue water, comes the water best for brewing.
And the beer refreshing, and the beer refreshing.
The beer that's brewed with water best for brewing,
tastes best, refreshes you best, glass after
glass. Only Hans beer has that sky blue water's
flavor. Every Hans has it. Glass after glass.
That's why Ham's is the one right beer for those
who want another. Tastes so right, it bears repeating.
Capturing for you the coolness of blue lakes
and sunset breezes. Ham's a beer refreshing.
Ham's a beer refreshing. Well, to the bottom
half of the sixth inning now. Wayne Causey hitting
into that inning -ending double play. And the
A's had a chance to score. Each side now has
three hits in the ballgame. Top of the batting
order, Versailles is up to a slow inside of all.
He'll be followed by Val Espino and Tony Oliva.
Hits in this game for the twins owned by Val
Espino, Mincher, and Allen. Hunter has already
deals a curve. A little low roller back to the
mound over the first he got him. A's hits, double
by Tartable, the triple, and single by Hershberger.
Now Val Despino comes up. He flies to left field.
That was a great catch, Larry Stormy. Gee, that
was a beauty. And he's made so many of them in
spring training. I can't recall him dropping
one yet throughout spring training. And a sensational
catch today. Al Despino is one for two. Takes
low, a ball. It was his single that brought in
Allen with the first run of the ball game in
the third inning. It's one and one. Here are
the Twin Cities in the sixth. Ryan flashes the
sign. Here comes the pitch. Fly ball. Left field.
Stahl is there, drifting to his right. He has
it. Two gone will bring up Tony Oliva, who has
flied to center and grounded out. The Mo Drabowski,
former Kansas City A's pitcher, who was drafted
by Baltimore over the winter, has just gone into
the ballgame in the eighth inning for Agbar Baltimore
Orioles in relief against Boston. Now Hunter
taking his time. It's all set. Wines and deals.
Swing and a miss. Catfish says the only way to
pitch to Oliva is just throw the ball and hope.
He says you've got to move it around on this
guy. American League batting champion of 1965.
He hit .262 against Kansas City pitching last
year. Fifteen runs batted in. And four homers.
The pitch on the way. Hot smash on the ground.
What a stop by Green as he goes to his knees.
Over to first. He got it. Three up and three
down. And the 20 -year -old youngster continues
to sail along. He's now retired the last ten
minutes of whom he's faced. The score after six
full innings of play remains Kansas City A's
one and the Minnesota Twins one. The first game
of the season. No matter how many baseball games
you watch or listen to, there's something special
about opening day. Everybody starts all even
again, and hope runs high for players and fans
alike. Today, our good friends at Traders National
Bank welcome the A's in baseball back to action.
During the season, we'll be bringing you regular
messages from Traders, so we hope all you fans
will get acquainted real soon with Traders National,
the service bank of Kansas City, Grand at 12.
For fans of Kansas City Athletics, return back
home to Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. We'll
play these Twins at 7 o 'clock next Tuesday night.
Plenty of good choice seats are available. We'd
love to have that ballpark completely filled
up to start off our season. The show days will
be behind them all the way. We'll play the Twins
again on Wednesday night, the 20th. Then the
Chicago White Sox are in town for a weekend series
on Friday night, the 22nd, Saturday night, the
23rd, and Sunday afternoon, the 24th. Here are
the six -inning totals on the ballgame. The Kansas
City A's have one run on three hits. They've
committed one error and left two men on base.
The Minnesota Twins, one run, three hits, no
errors. They've left two men on base. You know,
talking about Oliva as we were a moment ago,
it's interesting to note... But he had a rough
time against Kansas City pitching. There's only
one ball club against which he had a worse time,
and that was the California Angels. He hit just
.228 against them and .262 against the A's. First
pitch is on its way, a called strike. And the
batter is Bill Bryant. He's 0 for 2. He drove
in a run. And that's unusual because the year
before, Tony's first year in the American League,
he hit right at .500. I think it was .484 or
.485 against us for the year. Next pitch, lower
ball. Well, you know, Marty, he hit the Boston
Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and
the New York Yankees and Senators like he owned
them. That is 4 -0 -3 against Boston. Now the
1 -1 pitch to Bryant. Swing and a miss! He'll
be followed to the plate by Harrelson and Larry
Stahl. One and one here in the Twin Cities. Bryan
is 0 for 2, but he drove in an important run
in the fourth after Hershberger had tripled.
Now Grant is ready. He delivers. There's a bouncer
hit into the hole, and on the right side, Mincher
cuts it off over to the pitcher on a nice play.
They got him. Allen started for the ball. Mincher
cut in front of him and made the play. One out,
Ken Harrelson has struck out and grounded out.
Grant was beaten twice last year by the Athletics.
He was able to win only once, and that was in
Kansas City when he beat John O'Donoghue 3 -1
on July 2nd. Catch on his way, low ball. Both
of the games he lost was right here. Boswell
and Ragenberg working in the bullpen for the
Twins. There's a ball. It's the outside corner,
just below the knees. The A's have activity out
there now. That bullpen is in deep right center,
behind the fence, and just in front of the scoreboard.
Dixon and Lindblad are throwing. Or Dodson, that
is. That's Chuck Dodson. Pop -up foul territory
between third and... And home. Killebrew's there.
So is Batty. Batty has it. So Harrelson popped
foul. We're on number two. And it will bring
up Larry Stahl. He's over two. He's lined to
right. And popped out to Killebrew. Both of those
games, Grant lost to the A's last year. We're
right here in this ballpark. He started four
games against Kansas City, was able to complete
only one. There's a line drive down the right
field line. Curving foul. Stahl laid the wood
to it. Kansas City marksman tagged Grant for
24 hits in 23 innings. Better than a hit in any.
And they nailed him for a three -home run. Now
the one -strike pitch outside, 1 -1. Score of
the ball game. Nobody on, two away. We're in
the top of the seventh. Wind up in the pitch
outside. Camilo Pascual, 9 -3 last year. Slater
to go tomorrow against Raleigh Sheldon, who is
10 -8. And on Thursday, expected to be 18 -game
winner Jim Cott against Fred Talbot, who is 10
-12. And a miss and a let -up curveball. Grant
gave him a lot of motion. The count is 2 -2.
Brisk wind continues to blow across the field
left to right. Here it comes. Outside. That is
3 -2. Mudcat Grant, native of Ohio, offers the
3 -2 pitch. It's fouled off to the left. The
pitcher of the year, 1965, 21 wins, 7 losses.
Six of those 21 victories were shutouts. The
3 -2 pitch again. Inside! He walked in. We have
a delay in the ballgame. Let's pause for half
a minute. Need a truck or van for a day or so?
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If you want guaranteed service and low cost,
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Drive Yourself, 3626 Main and 500 West 4th. Dick
Green is the batter. Here comes the pitch. Inside
and high. Ball one. Larry Stoll at first base.
Two men out here in the top of the seventh inning.
1 -0, the count on Green. That walk to stall
was the second. The hard -throwing right -hander
is issued. Here it comes. It's up high again.
And now the shortstop, Versailles, trots in toward
the mound to say a few words to his pitcher.
You know, the only guys able to beat this fella
last year were Cleveland's Teot, the Yankees'
Whitey Ford, Kansas City's Diego Segui, and Catfish
Hunter, Yankees' Mel Stottlemyre. John Buzzhart
of the White Sox and Aubrey Gatewood of the Angels.
2 -0 the Cops. Stahl is an important man over
there at first base. Ran into the stretch. Here
it comes. Swung on and a drive into left center
field. Val Espino going to his left. Paul to
his right. It falls in. A base hit. Stahl around
second. Turing for third. And he goes in standing
up. The pro comes in. And it's cut off just back
of the mound. Boy, talk about the reinforcement.
Batty was there. Grant. Boy, talk about the reinforcement.
Batty was there. Grant was there. Minter there.
Of course, that's Minter's position. Come in
and cover on that play. That's only the fourth
hit. The A's take the lead in that category.
The Twins have just three hits off Hunter. Now
the A's have runners at first and third, and
it brings up Ed Charles who has walked and flied
to right. Charles waits at the plate. Here's
the 50. Started to go and held up a ball. Ed
batted .245 against this ball club last year.
He has 13 hits and 53 trips. One homer and eight
RBIs. Grant has slowed up a little bit now. He's
moving around in that mound. Taking a little
more time. Peers in for a sign. Deal. Smash on
the ground. Sort short. Versailles has it over
the second for the fourth play. So an opportunity
is lost in the top of the seventh. No run score.
One hit. No error. and two are left. And after
six and a half innings of play, the score, Minnesota
Twins won, the Kansas City A's won. In an action
-packed game like baseball, it takes only seconds
for the ball to leave the bat and swiftly wing
its way over the outfield fence. It takes you
only seconds to reach into your refrigerator
for another hands beer. Have a hands right now
before play gets underway. Hands is the one right
beer for those who want another. And that's because
hands is drooled from water that's for brewing.
So go ahead, have a hand, and how about a little
music to wing you on the way to the kitchen?
From the land of sky blue waters, comes the water
that's for brewing. Hands up here refreshing,
hands up here refreshing. Capturing for you the
coolness of the length and touch that breathes.
Well, the fans here in the Twin Cities getting
a big kick out of the musical accompaniment from
the organ. And they're foot stomping. And Harmon
Killebrew, Don Minter, and Jimmy Hall face...
20 -year -old catfish hunter. The youngster has
been most impressive today. Here's a fish outside
in the wall. We talked a lot in Florida about
his opening night assignment, about which he
knew, oh, some two and a half weeks ago. He was
eagerly awaiting it. Here it comes, outside the
F .C. Curve. A guy like Chillebrew, that's the
way you've got to pitch him or try to jam him.
The count is 2 -0. 1 -1 ball game. We're in the
seventh. Here it comes. Oh, right. Nice curveball.
Boy, he's had a great curveball today, Larry.
It has really been his savior. He's had a good
fastball, but he's had that curveball. Breaking
so sharply several times, they've hit it right
off the end of the pad, right back to him. He's
really had a break. Now Hunter is set, and the
2 -1 pitch is on its way. Foul back against the
green. Al Espino, Mincher, and Allen own the
only three bases off the native North Carolinians.
It was retired the last ten men whom he's based.
The 2 -2 pitch. Bouncer foul on the third baseline.
Billy Martin made a half -hearted effort to stop
it. Decided he wouldn't take a chance on injuries
to his knuckles, so he just let it sail by. Metropolitan
Stadium today is Gailey decked out in red, white,
and blue punting. Here's a 2 -2 pitch. He got
him! A pretty curveball letter high, and Killebrew
knew it. That breaking pitch again, just not
thrown hard on the half -speed variety. Laney
really caught him looking that time. That's the
first time today Catfish has dropped down sidearm.
And he went sidearm and Killebrew went back on
his heels. That was through on the bench and
knew it. That's his first track out of the game,
but it was a big one. Yes, and he picked a good
spot. Forget it. Minter, one for two. At the
plate now. Back left -handed. It's a fly ball
into left center field. Going to his left is
Stahl, waiting. He has it. Two gone. And it will
bring to the plate Jimmy Hall, who has walked
and fouled out. Checking the Kansas City A's
American League scoreboard, the Detroit Tiger
-New York Yankee game is still tied up 1 -1 after
six and a half. Pepitone is homered for the Bombers,
Ford versus Woolwich. Baltimore -Boston knotted
up a 3 -3 at the end of seven. Barber against
Wilson, the Robinson boys are homered. Here's
the pitch. Blow a ball. He started to go, checked
his swing. Drabowski is in relief of Barber.
Angels got a run in the fifth. They lead the
White Sox 1 -0. That came on Adcock's homer.
Now, wait a minute. Adcock has homered in the
sixth with nobody on, so California leads by
at least 2 -0. The Vets foul back against the
screen. Cleveland, Washington have the day off.
In the National, Houston and the Dodgers, Pittsburgh,
Atlanta, Phillies and the Cardinals playing at
night. The Mets and Cincinnati have been rained
on for the second day in a row. Only the Cubs
and Giants are playing the San Fernando. Now
the 1 -1 pitch. There's a drive and it's deep
right center field. Hershberger going way back
and so is Pardable and Jose's got it on the warning
pass. All tied well. Now nothing across. And
the score after seven full innings for Maine,
Kansas City A's won, and Minnesota Twins won.
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at Baltimore 1 -1515 for Muzak. Well, we're ready
to go for action in the top half of the eighth
inning. Hunter, Tartable, and Hershberger will
lead away against one Chad Grant. Mentioning
that rainout Cincinnati had. I said earlier it's
the first time since they've been rained out,
or the first time since the year 1913 I've met,
of course, on opening day. And now they've got
another one today. Here's the first pitch. Inside
and all of all. Yes, indeed, 19 -13. Sits in.
There's a drive into right center field. It's
falling in, a base hit. And Catfish Hunter helps
his own cause, getting a base hit, which is number
five off Grant. So we'll bring up Jose Tarnable
as the A's have another opportunity here now
in the eighth inning. Boy, what a pitcher's duel
this is. The leader of the twin bullpen has just
gotten up and gone to work for the first time.
Lutkamp did not go this far in any spring game,
so since he did get down there a couple of weeks
late, he may be tiring a little. Now Tarnable
at the plate drives a buck. It goes far off to
the left. Strike one. And Hunter, who now has
donned his green jacket, was all the way to second.
Jose is one for three in the game. I might point
out, talking about that Cincinnati game, it was
not a regularly scheduled game. It was rescheduled
from yesterday. Those Mets and Reds will play
tomorrow night. Take over the first base. It's
close. He got it. Hunter was diving back in.
Al Vincent hollering about it the first base.
One step on the, or one foot on the dugout steps
is not moving. And that's a big play, Monty.
A pickoff, a runner by Jim Grant. Grant has about
as good a motion as any right -hander, but I'll
tell you this, it is, just as you said, a mighty
big play. One strike count on Tartable. Pitch
is one out and far, a lot to the left. You've
got a psych ball game like this in a very close
picture to you all. And those plays become the
big ones because they can open things up. Speaking
of opening things up, fans, how about having
a Hans? For that frosty, cool, sky -blue water
flavor. Remember, Hans is brewed with water,
best for brewing. Your host for all these games
at Home and Away. The pitch is outside and low
a ball. The count is one and two on Pardable.
One out. Eighth inning, one -one game. There's
a liner towards short and grabbed by Versailles.
Two out. We'll bring up Hirschberger, who's two
for three with a single and a triple. He scored
the eighth only run in the fourth inning when
Bryant brought him in on an infield out. The
pickoff play changes the whole complexion of
the inning. Charlevoix was all out going to try
to sacrifice. Of course, Jimmy got caught cheating
a little bit trying to get a little head start
on the punt and just got shot down. Changes the
strategy, as you point out. Every batsman coming
up now has to do things differently. That's fouled
back into the screen. Strike one. I'll be on
following this game, fans. With a complete wrap
-up of the scores of all the other games in both
the National and American League. That's high,
a ball. Don't forget that every A's ball game
is preceded by Monty's pregame show. Today, he
had on the Georgia Peach, Lucius Luke Appling.
I bet you could have talked with him for five
hours, Monty. You could have listened that long.
Outside and low ball on a slow -breaking pitch.
Boy, this guy has stories. 10 ,000 miles long,
it seems, and they're all colorful. 2 -1 the
Cubs. H -1, the Twins won. We're playing in the
eighth inning. The pitch, a drive hit out on
the left center field. Could be trouble. Val
Luchino going to his left. Reaches up and down.
Kansas City A's won, and the Minnesota Twins
won. Now here's the story of a land of magic
enchantment, a land where refreshment rules supreme.
The town sounds echoing, tell you, a sky blue
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they're bringing cool refreshment to you. Come
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best. And only Ham's has that sky -blue water's
flavor. Every Ham's has it, glass after glass.
That's why it wins one. We're playing in the
eighth inning. The pitch, a drive hit out on
the left center field. Could be troubled. Now
the speed is going to his left. First burger
gets robbed. And a fine running grab by Val Espino.
No runs, not one hit. No errors and one left.
And the score after seven and a half innings
remains Kansas City A's one and the Minnesota
Twins one. Now here's the story of a land of
magic enchantment. A land where refreshment rules
supreme. From the land of sky blue waters, comes
the water that's... Refreshing Ham's Beer. The
beer that's brewed with water best for brewing.
Tastes best, refreshes you best. And only Ham's
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has it. Glass after glass. That's why Ham's is
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Tastes so right, it bears repeating. From the
land of sky blue water comes the water best for
brewing. of the eighth inning. And it will be
Earl Batty, Bernie Allen, Mudcat Grant. You're
up. We could get a pinch hitter for him. Batty
has hit into a double play and grounded out.
He's 0 for 2. Hunter looks him over. Deal. Wow.
Back against the screen. Strike one. You possibly
heard that. Today's paid attendance here at Metropolitan
Stadium for the home opener, 21 ,658. Next pitch
is low. Sakata's 1 -1. That's an outstanding
crowd. As I recall, the record here for a home
opener is 24 ,000. So that's just three short
for our A's here to open the season. Now the
1 -1 pitch inside. Gee, this has been a tight
ball game. The A's are ahead in hits. They have
five off Grant, including two for extra bases,
the double by Tarnable, the triple by Hershberger.
Hunter has allowed just three hits to the Twins.
Now the 2 -1 offering. Way inside. Hunter has
retired 13 men in a row. The last man to get
on base was Valdez -Spino in the third inning.
Here's the 3 -1 pitch. There's a bouncing court
short. It's grabbed by Fonzie, the peg. He got
it. Now we'll pause 10 seconds for station identification.
This is the Kansas City Athletics baseball network.
This is KCMO Radio 81, Kansas City, Missouri.
Now four minutes past 3 o 'clock, 45 degrees
under cloudy skies. The batter is Bernie Allen.
He scored Minnesota's only run. He's one for
two. Here's the pitch. Called strike to the left
-handed batter. They're making the announcement
that this is the third largest crowd for opening
day in Twins history. What up? Allen at the plate.
The pitch. There's O 'Neal. Look out. A drive
and a deep right center. Way, way back. Hershberger
going back. He's got it. in the first inning
and gone to second when Hershberger let that
ball get by him for an error. Mike Kane through
this time. Two gone. Grant is due up. He will
bat. 1 -1 ball game. Pitcher faces pitcher. Here
it comes. Call strike it on a Jesus Hunter. He
has been tremendous today. Well, we hope you're
enjoying the broadcast, wherever you are, whatever
you're doing this afternoon. Now the next pitch,
foul off to the right. Remember that we'll be
home on April 19th to open against these same
Minnesota Swans. We hope you'll plan to be with
us at Municipal Stadium. The A's have... Charles
at third, Causey at short, Green at second, Harrelson
at first. Stahl in left, Carnival in center,
Hershberger in right, Bill Bryant back at the
plate, and 20 -year -old Jim Hunter on the mound.
All nine men started, and they're in there now.
I can't think of any better idea right now than
to have a hand from the land of sky -blue waters.
Side arms him outside. You know, in a tense ball
game like this or at any other time of the year,
day or night, hands refreshes you best. Here's
the one -two pitch outside. Hunter's coming in
with that great big curveball. For those of you
who joined us late, we've made mention of this
a couple of times. We don't want to jinx this
boy, but the Twins have never beaten Hunter.
The pitch. He got him on a called strike three.
And that strikeout number two. Sixteen men in
a row. He's now retired. Three up, three down,
nothing across. After eight full innings of play,
the score, Twins won the A's one. No. MCMO Confidential.
60 seconds inside a great radio station. You're
in your car. All day long, you've been at work,
out of touch. Traffic is terrible. You're wondering
what's been going on. How are things in Vietnam?
What's the latest quotation on your stock? The
score of last night's big game. If you find the
time, how's the fishing? What's going on in Kansas
City News? These questions are driving you insane.
What to do? Suddenly, there's relief. Blessed
and comforting relief. Has the deep tones of
Dan Lott whacked from your car radio? KCMO Buzzer
to Buzzer News Time, 4 .55. John Flynn, KCMO
News Service. Financial Edition, Don Johnson,
KCMO News Service. Sportsbook with Bruce Wright.
5 .30, here's Harold Inslee. Hi again, everybody.
Isn't it good to know? Someone cares. This has
been KCMO Confidential. 60 seconds inside a great
radio station. Ready to go in the top half of
the ninth inning. The plot thickens in its pitcher's
duel. Vin Ferris with Monty Moore. An opening
day of 1966. Wayne Crosby, Bill Bryan, and Ken
Harrelson face Mudcat Grant. Here's the first
pitch. Strike call. Causey has not been able
to get the ball up in the air today. He's grounded
out three times, once for a double play. Each
side has a twin killing. Grant looks him over
and delivers. There's a liner to center field.
Face hit. Grabbed on one hop by Hall. Well, Monty,
there's a case where people say, you say things
like he's retired the last 16 men in a row and
the 17th man gets a base hit, you jinx them.
You can do that from up here. Let me know. We
can use you this spring. There's going to be
some times when we want to jinx somebody. Well,
Wayne hasn't been able to get a ball up in the
air or out of the infield, and he just now did,
and it's hit number six. Bob Grant, the A's allowed
hit this ball club 6 -3, but the score is tied
1 -1. Bill Bryan at the plate, he's driven in,
the A's only run. Infield in tight. Grant stretches
and deals. Bunt, fouled off to the right. 21
,658. The plate attendance, and it was 52 degrees
at game time. So the twins come up with just
that, a twin killing, and it's their second of
the afternoon. The A's have had men on base now
in every inning except the fifth. from the fourth
inning on. In other words, the fourth, sixth,
seventh, eighth, and here are the ninths. Batter
is Harrelson. Pop fouls one off to the right.
It's going out of play. But the opportunity in
the sixth was won out after Carnival's double
and Hershberger's single was erased by Crosby's
hitting into the double play. There's another
pop file off to the right, and they won't be
able to get this one. That was two gone and a
seventh stall walked in green single, but Charles
entered the inning, hitting into a forced play.
Hunter led off the eighth with a single, but
got picked off at first. Here in the ninth, causey
single, but Brian hits into the double play.
Maybe we'd like to have those fellas driving
those ham trucks down in Mid -America to work
a little harder today. We have some supervisors
from the brewery right here with us. That pitch
is in the dirt. Come on. And Len Johnson, director
of marketing, is here with us to say hello today.
And Bill Bandy of the Campbell -Mattoon Agency
and Frank Rolfes and John Callahan are all here
with us. And I want to pass along hello to everybody
back in Mid -America on those big ham trucks.
There's a bouncer toward short. Versailles charging
his back. Hands it over to first. He got it.
A great play by Versailles on a tough ball. and
a frank scoop up by Minter. No runs, one hit.
No errors, none left. After eight and a half
innings of play, the score, the Twins won, the
Athletics won. This message is for men who don't
smoke. You've read the news stories. You know
the facts. You know that you have a better chance
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pages under Farmer's Insurance Group. Have a
nice day. And Oliva up to face Gaffish Hunter.
And you really have to admire this youngster.
What a job he's done this afternoon. For science
is 0 for 3. Here's the lineup and the pitch.
Low of all. Hunter has retired the last 16 men
in a row. Here's the next pitch. Curve misses,
breaking too soon to the right -handed batter.
It's 2 -0. Hayes had good fortune against Versailles
last year. He hit just 2 -10 in 18 ballgames
against Kansas City pitching. That's a little
bit low outside for ball three. Three balls,
no strikes. One, one ball game. Bottom half of
the ninth inning. Ryan gives the sign and here
it comes. Way inside. He walked him on four pitches.
So Versailles becomes the first man to get on
base since Val Despino back in the third inning.
And that's only the second walk by Hunter. Jim
Hall working for a base on balls in the second.
Well, the wind speed right now can start to show,
Lynn. They're right in the part of their batting
order where they can do some things with the
men they have. Versailles, for instance, is one
of their best base runners. Val Espino is an
excellent runner. And with the number three hitter
Oliva coming up, they can operate here in the
ninth inning. And this is the kind of work that
manager Sam Mealy last year won a lot of ballgames
with. John Wyatt's going to work out in our bullpen,
too, by the way. I was just about to say to the
real fan who follows this great game, this is
the type of situation that gives you goosebumps
when a leadoff man in the ninth. Get down. Particularly
with a walk. Here's a pitch. Call. Strike. The
whole infield. Pull in. Charles was almost close
enough to shake the hand of Al Espino. Harrelson
wasn't more than a 15 -foot punt shot. One strike
count. Versailles at first. He can fly. He's
anticipating that punt now. A pitch on its way.
Mustard foul off the plate comes back and hits
him in the left leg. And now Hunter is out front.
A lot of things can happen in this situation
with the infield being broken up like that. Val
Espino has all kinds of room to shoot a bouncer
through the infield if he elects to swing. I
don't think they'll crash with that suicide defense
now with two strikes as they have been, but they
still have to guard against the button. A concerned
Alvin Dark. With his foot on the dugout steps.
Here's a pitch. Throws it away. It's way outside.
And here goes Versailles racing around second.
He's going to hold up. Ryan retrieves the ball.
And it's a wild pitch. Now the A's have trouble.
Waste one, and waste one he did. The pitch got
away from him. It was outside and high to Brian's
left. 1 -1 ballgame. Nobody out. 9th and 8th.
Runner at second base. Brian gives the all -important
sign. The 1 -2 pitch. And it's a great win for
the Minnesota Twins, and it's always great to
start off your home season, particularly when
you're American League champions with a victory.
So Val Espino wins the ballgame with a shot in
the right field, which is only the fourth hit
of Hunter. No outs in the ninth inning as Versailles
scores the winning run. A 2 -1 ballgame, Minnesota
winning. following the game. Once again, here's
Monty. caused the athletics infield to have to
start moving around a little bit, and that was
with two strikes on Val Espino. Catfish threw
a fastball high and away. The ball actually hit
the mitt of Bill Bryant, and it looked as if
he might have been able to catch the ball or
at least knock it down, but he went on back to
the screen. That allowed Versailles to go into
second base, and then Val Espino got the two
-strike pitch and drilled it into right field.
The Twins had taken a 1 -0 lead in this ballgame
in the third inning, scoring an unearned... When
Richie Allen got a single, was sacrificed to
second by Grant. Then a ball was hit by Val Despino
into right field. It was mishandled by Mike Hershberger,
and the runner came in to score. That made it
a 1 -0 game. The A's tied it up in the fourth
inning when Hershberger came back to get a triple
and scored on the ground out. by Bill Bryan.
That's all the scoring the A's could do, though
they did threaten several times against Mudcat
Grant. In the sixth inning, Causey hit into a
double play with Tartable and Hershberger on
to end the rally. And in the ninth inning, Bill
Bryan hit into a double play with Wayne Causey
on as a leadoff batter here in the ninth. The
last score for the game for the winning twins,
two runs, four hits, and no errors, for the Kansas
City Athletics, one run, six hits, and one error.
The winning pitcher, Mudcat Grant, who takes
a... right where he left off last year, getting
a victory. He is 1 -0 now, and Catfish Hunter
is no wins, one loss. Both pitchers went all
the way for outstanding performances here on
opening day 1966 before 21 ,658 fans. So the
final score again, the Twins 2 and the A's 1.
This broadcast was authorized under rights granted
by the Kansas City Athletics solely for the enjoyment
of our listening audience. Any publication, rebroadcast,
or other use of the descriptions and accounts
of this game without the consent of the Kansas
City Athletics is prohibited. Hope you'll join
us again tomorrow at 115 for the warm -up show
and at 125 for the game when our A's once again
beat the Minnesota Twins. Until then, Monty Moore
with Lynn Ferris speaking, saying so long, everybody.
This game came to you on the Kansas City Athletics
baseball network. Today's game between the Kansas
City A's and the Minnesota Twins is brought to
you in part by Ham's, the beer refreshing from
the land of sky blue waters. The beer that brings
you the A's on radio and television. Ham's, the
beer that bears repeating. And by friendly Bob
Adams and your 12 GFC loan company offices of
the Kansas City area. This has been a sports
presentation of KCMO Radio 81, Mid -America's
all -time big -time sports station. This is Bob
Richards. I'd like you to hear one of the most
powerful sounds in nature. Ocean surf. That's
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power comes from the raw forces of nature. From
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of champions. This is KCMO Radio, dial 81, Kansas
City, Missouri. Hello from the ballpark once
again, everybody. It's time now for Baseball
Scoreboard, a wrap -up of all the scores and
highlights from both major leagues. Baseball
Scoreboard is heard after every Kansas City A's
game on KCMO Radio 81, Mid -America's all -time
big -time sports station. Now, with all the scores
and highlights of today's major league games,
here's Len Farris. And everybody, Lynn Ferris
back at Metropolitan Stadium in the Twin Cities
with our scoreboard and our first one of the
1966 season. Here's the way games are shaping
up now in the American League. At Yankee Stadium
in New York, the Detroit Tigers have gotten a
run in the ninth inning and have taken a 2 -1
lead over the New York Yankees. Lulich is on
for the Tigers. Ford has been relieved by Pedro
Ramos in the ninth inning. The Bombers now are
batting. Joe Pepitone, Homer, in the fifth with
nobody on. So Detroit leads 2 -1 with New York
batting in the ninth. At Fenway Park in Boston,
the Orioles have gotten a go -ahead run. Check
it. They've been able to tie it up. It's a 4
-4 ballgame now with Boston batting in the bottom
of the ninth. Wilson started against Barber.
But several changes since then. Drabowski now
pitching for Baltimore in the eighth inning.
Raddatz relieved Wilson in the ninth. Grilly
came on for Raddatz, and Osinski now is in action.
Homers in the ballgame, the Robinson boys struck.
Brooks in the first with nobody on. Frank in
the fifth, none on. Two homers by the dynamic
duos are being called. At White Sox Park in Chicago,
the Angels lead 2 -0 after six and a half innings.
Tommy Agee has homered in the seventh with one
on just now, so that means it's tied up. It's
a 2 -2 game. Chance started against John. Locker
now is in relief for the White Sox. Adcock homered
in the sixth with nobody on with the second California
run of the game. That was the only activity in
the American League this afternoon. Yesterday,
of course, Cleveland and Washington got things
underway with the Indians' pinch -hitting strength
showing in a 5 -2 victory over the Senators.
McDowell got the victory over Rickert by Coward
-Homer. Now I'll be back in just one minute with
scores of games played today in the National
League. USA being fun, move our country along.
USA being fun, keep America strong. It's a star
-spangled way to a saving plan. To keep our country
secure for each and every man. So bye. The Star
Spangled Savings Plan for all Americans. United
States Savings Fund. Clever card, keeping our
country strong, secure, and free. Now and in
the years ahead. And when you buy U .S. Savings
Fund, you'll be building a strong financial future
for yourself and your family. Buy U .S. Savings
Fund. The Star Spangled Savings Plan for all
Americans. U .S. saving funds help build our
country. So buy saving funds and keep your America
free. There's only one game being played in the
National League this afternoon. It's not yet
underway, and that's at Candlestick Park, where
the Chicago Cubs go with Jackson against 22 -game
winner Marichal. And that one, as I said, not
yet underway. The Mets and Cincinnati Reds got
rained out for the second day in a row, and that
rainout was a rescheduled game from yesterday.
It's the first time since the year 1913 that
the Reds have not been able to play a home opener.
Pittsburgh plays Atlanta tonight. In the Georgia
capital, it's the first major league game in
history, a regular season game in Atlanta. Veal,
a 17 -game winner, goes for the Pirates, and
24 -game victor, Tony Cloninger, for the Braves.
Philadelphia's Phillies will shoot 19 -game winner
Jim Bunning against the St. Louis Cardinals at
Busch Stadium. Bob Gibson, a 20 -game victor,
goes for the Redbirds. And at Chavez Ravine,
ageless Robin Roberts will hurl for the Houston
Astros. He was 5 -2 last year. And Claude Osteen
for the Dodgers, a 15 -game winner. That's the
National League scoreboard. Here at Metropolitan
Stadium today, the American League champions
got off with a flying victory. For them, a heartbreaking
loss for Catfish Hunter. He deserved a better
fate. With two out in the third inning, from
that point on, he retired 16 men in a row. Allowed
only four hits in eight full innings, walked
two, and stuck out two. Jim Grant went all the
way for the victory. The 1 -1 game broken up
in the ninth inning when Versailles walked. Only
the second pass given. since in the ballgame
by Hunter, he walked Hall in the second. Versailles
went to second on a wild pitch, and Val Espino
singled a right field to bring him in. A's run
came in the fourth when Hershberger tripled and
brought in by a Bill Bryan infield out. Be with
us tomorrow now at 125 for the game between the
Kansas City Athletics and the Minnesota Twins.
Lynn Ferris saying so long, everybody. Lynn Ferris
and the Baseball Scoreboard is a KCMO radio sports
presentation following every Kansas City A's
game. Be listening for the next scoreboard brought
to you by your friendly, helpful, silenced paint
dealers who sell Satin Tone, the latex easy paints.