Joe Moeller
Not sure if I sent this story that Jim Smiley did. So nice of him because I forget about some of things that went on in the 60s/70s. He has a great Facebook page, Cooperstown Expert, that has articles/stories going back to early 1900s.
From: James Smiley <jsmiley@gusd.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 7:13 AM
To: Joe Moeller <moe25joe@gmail.com>
Subject: 1966 rotation
Good morning, Joe. I was cleaning up my email inbox and came across an exchange where you were talking about the 1966 rotation. Combining a few of your emails, I jotted down a letter you could cut and paste and save for your family. If there’s anything you want to change, let me know and I’ll go through it again.
If it’s easy, I’d really appreciate having a copy of the letter signed by you. I’d like to write a story and publish it on my website with the letter featured.
Anyway, here’s the letter…
The Dodger franchise is the most pitching-rich team in baseball history. When the Cy Young Award was first created, it was my old friend Don Newcombe who received the honor in 1956.
Since then Don Drysdale (1962), Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965, 1966), Mike Marshall (1974), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Orel Hershiser (1988), Eric Gagne (2003) and Clayton Kershaw (2011, 2013, 2014) have claimed the honor. No other team comes close.
In 1966 I had the good fortune of pitching in one of baseball’s greatest five-man rotations. Sandy led the way with 27 wins in the last of his three Cy Young campaigns.
The #2 man was Big D – Don Drysdale – who had 8 All Star appearances and 209 wins of his own. Don Sutton was the third Hall of Famer in that rotation. A rookie at the time, his 324 wins are the most of any teammate I pitched with.
A player many forget was also in the rotation, Claude Osteen. “Gomer” was a teammate for 7 seasons. He represented the Dodgers in two All Star Games and won 147 games in LA. He was tough.
The four of them started 154 of our 162 games in ’66. I was just 23 years old and made the other 8 starts. The five of us started every single game that year. You’d never see that today.
We won 95 games and beat the Giants to win the pennant. Though we got swept by a great Baltimore team with Frank Robinson, it’s a year I’ll never forget. Pitching in the World Series was a dream come true.
Joe Moeller
—
Jim Smiley
Psychology/Sociology
World History Teacher
Crescenta Valley High School
