La Salle College High School Football: in Retrospect
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La Salle College High School Football: In Retrospect NOTE: This is the twenty-first of, I hope, many retrospectives highlighting some unique history of the football program at La Salle. The topics to discuss seem endless at this time. Hope you enjoy these. Bill Wasylenko, ‘69 Issue Number Twenty One: 1964 – The Year Of The Blue (and Gold) Snow As an eighth grader in the fall of 1964, I had met my first love, as had many of my peers. My first love wasn’t named Donna, Linda, or Mary Anne, it was the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, which was unexpectedly and inexplicably riding high in first place in the powerful National League. It was “The Year Of The Blue Snow”, as coined by Phillies catcher Gus Triandos, to denote a once-in-a-lifetime MIKE TOS occurrence. Though the team had shown promise and progress the last few years, no one gave these castoffs much of a chance to win a pennant in 1964 against a lot of great teams like the Dodgers, Giants, Reds, Braves, and Cardinals. The Whiz Kids of 1950 had become long in the tooth, and the farm system was barren in the late 50’s. Many prospects were instead suspects, and by 1961, the Phils were the league doormat. Young Gene Mauch took over the helm in 1961, and labored through a 47-107 season, featuring a lovely 23-game losing streak. But there was some promise in youngsters like Johnny Callison, Tony Taylor, and Tony Gonzalez, all acquired in trades, and farmhands like catcher Clay Dalrymple and shortstop Bobby Wine were able to claim starting spots. Jack Baldschun and his screwball landed in the bullpen, and he became the first Phillies closer of renown since Jim Konstanty in 1950. Meanwhile, the La Salle football team in Wyndmoor was still on top of its game, coming off a City Championship in 1960, and falling just short of a Catholic League Championship in 1961 with a loss to Monsignor Bonner. They were still on a great run that extended back from 1954, and the Catholic League Championships of 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960 were still fresh, warm memories. This, my friends, is the story of how these two teams shared a common L experience in the fall of 1964, the Year Of The Blue and Gold Snow. Gene Mauch was a stern taskmaster, the “Little General” who built up his team from scratch, emphasizing the fundamentals, and using “small ball” like the bunt, hit-and-run, and suicide squeeze to get an early lead. In hindsight, he may have been a lot like Coach Jim Gallagher, who took over the Explorers in 1951 after an 0-10-0 season, and flipped that record around in 1955 with a City Championship. Mauch took advantage of expansion in 1962, as his Phillies compiled a combined 31-5 record against the fledgling Houston Colt 45s and the New York Mets on their way to an 81-80 record. The Philadelphia Catholic League was also undergoing an expansion, as the imminent entry of the Three Bishops (Egan, McDevitt, and Kenrick) led to the formation of divisions in 1963, and all three new schools were placed in the Northern Division, along with relatively new schools Cardinal Dougherty and Father Judge, joining old hands North Catholic and La Salle. In 1962, the last year of one-division play, La Salle had a solid 6-2-0 league record (8-2-0) overall, but early losses to West Catholic and Dougherty kept them one game away from the top of the league. But the vaunted La Salle defense was stellar in 1962, giving up only 68 points in their 10 John “Tex” Flannery games. The Phillies of 1963 improved to an 87-75 record, again feasting on the expansion teams, as young pitchers Chris Short, Art Mahaffey, and Ray Culp anchored a respectable staff. They were just missing a few vital cogs to contend for the pennant, won in 1963 by the Los Angeles Dodgers of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, and Tommy Davis. La Salle’s first foray into divisional play in 1963 had them fall short of “new kid on the block” Bishop Egan by a half a game. Their 4-1-1 league record was only spoiled by an 8-6 loss to Egan, and a scoreless tie to newbie Bishop McDevitt. If you don’t count an aberrational 34-0 inter-divisional loss to West Catholic, the Explorers gave up only 26 points in their other 8 games! And now, my friends, this story brings us to 1964, a four-digit number that still sends chills up the spines of old Phillies fans. The Phillies made two significant moves to bolster their chances in 1964: they brought up super-prospect Richie Allen from the minors to become their third baseman, and they traded for Detroit Tigers pitcher Jim Bunning, also acquiring his teammate, catcher Gus Triandos, in the same trade. Bunning was an earlier version of Roy Halladay, a veteran starting pitcher whose workmanlike professionalism rubbed off on the young staff. And Richie Allen was unlike anyone the Phils JIM BUNNING ever had, a young, black, burgeoning superstar whose spindly waist, large shoulders, strong wrists, and buggywhip swing sent home run balls into the night over the left field roof at Connie Mack Stadium. My vivid imagination assumed that those balls never came down. Mauch’s charges got off to a great start, going 10-2, as Bunning won his first three games. They were 36-23, heading into a Father’s Day RICHIE ALLEN twinbill against the Mets at brand new Shea Stadium. In the opener, Bunning, father of 7, pitched the first perfect game in over 40 years, striking out Johnny Stephenson to end the game, 6-0. Of almost equal significance, 18-year old Rick Wise won his first major-league game in the nightcap, 8-2, as the Phillies went 15 games over .500 for the first time since August 31, 1953. Phillies fever was engulfing the Delaware Valley, and when Johnny Callison won the All-Star game with a 3-run homer against Dick Radatz in JOHNNY CALLISON Shea Stadium on July 7, it certainly seemed to be the Year of the Blue Snow. BUNNING’S FINAL OUT CALLISON’S ALL-STAR HR Sluggers The Phils expanded their lead in the Wes National League, and were 30 games Covington, over .500 on September 7 after a Frank Labor Day split of a doubleheader Thomas, against the Dodgers, and were 88-57 Richie on September 15 after a win over the Allen, Colt 45s. Johnny Callison Meanwhile, La Salle was preparing for its 1964 season, holding training camp in Wyomissing between September 1 and September 10. A scrimmage against West Scranton indicated that the defense would be as Wyomissing Chowtime strong as ever, and they headed back to Cheltenham Avenue to start the school year and the season. On Friday night September 18, the Phillies lost a 4-3 nailbiter to the Dodgers, defending World Series champs who had fallen out of the race in 1964. La Salle headed up to Playwicki Field (not yet called Harry Franks Stadium, or “Heartbreak Ridge”) in Langhorne for a night game against the Neshaminy Redskins, the “New York Yankees” of their day, in the midst of a 51- game unbeaten streak. Bob Logan scampers away from Redskins Before about 10,000 fans, the Explorers acquitted themselves well, but a fumbled punt in the second quarter led to one touchdown, and the Redskins scored again before half, and hung on to a 13-0 win. The defense was strong, but the offense had a tough time moving the ball against the large Neshaminy line. On Monday night, September 21, the Phillies were 6 ½ games ahead, with only 12 more to play. It was to be one of the darkest nights in Phillies history. Art Mahaffey was locked up in a pitchers’ duel with Reds RUIZ STEALS HOME righthander John Tsitouris in the sixth inning at Connie Mack Stadium. The Reds had a runner on third with two out, and their great slugger Frank Robinson was at the plate with two strikes. Incredibly, Chico Ruiz, the runner on third, broke for home as Mahaffey wound up for his next pitch. Mahaffey’s pitch sailed wide of the catcher Dalrymple, and the Reds went on to win, 1-0, as the Phils left 8 men on base. It was the beginning of the end. The Phillies lost the remaining two games of the series with the Reds, but panic didn’t set in until they lost the first three games of a four-game home series with the Braves. On Sunday morning, September 27, the Phillies had lost 6 games in a row, and were now just ½ game ahead of the surging Reds, with the also-hot Cardinals gaining ground at 1 ½ games back. On that Sunday afternoon, La Salle traveled down to Bartram High School to take on their Brothers, the Burrs of West Catholic, in what now was a non-divisional game. The Explorers bested the Burrs, 8-6, avenging the previous season’s 34-0 trouncing, and winning for the first time since 1958 in this long-standing rivalry. West scored a fluke touchdown in the second quarter on the return of a fumble after a La Salle interception, and maintained a 6-0 lead into the fourth quarter. But quarterback Joe Sheehan’s sneak tied the score, and then Sheehan swept around left tackle for the two-point conversion that gave La Salle the victory.