Baseball historical item at THT notes that today is the 40th anniversary of a great clutch performance by Mickey Lolich, as fanned 15 in a game the Tigers needed to help claim the AL East title.

It's also the 35th anniversary of reputedly the first high-five. One of the guys involved in it is still prominent in baseball today. Can you name that then-Dodger before clicking on the link to see who it is?

This is not a very good Birthday Team.

C: Matt Walbeck
1B: Bob Robertson
2B: Greg Pryor
3B: Ernie Riles
SS/Manager: Maury Wills
LF: Mike Dorgan
RF: Eddie Murphy

SP: Earl Wilson
SP/CF: Scott Stratton
SP: Spec Shea
SP: Kid Madden
SP: Scott Schoeneweis
RP: Eddie Guardado

Sad Story, Impressive Comeback: Andre Robertson
Paul White Mancrush: Hector Villanueva
Spanish for "Mike of the Hoz": Mike de la Hoz

Bob Robertson! I was a Pirates fan, briefly, after the Senators moved....great '71 Series.

Plus I had Mike dela Hoz's 1964 Topps card.

Dag: Dusty Baker?

Two realizations I had while compiling today's Birthday Team:

First, and I mean no disrespect to Andre Robertson when I say this, but the conventional narrative on him seems to have been that his accident destroyed a potentially great career. I don't think that's even remotely true. Pre-wreck, he had never even on-based .300 for an entire season anywhere in pro ball. He may have been a terrific defensive shortstop before the accident, and certainly his 1983 numbers are impressive, but if you can't even get on base in the minors, you're not going to have a great career.

Second, I remember Ernie Riles having a great rookie season and a monster half-season in San Francisco, but that's also not true. He had a pretty good rookie year and two good half-seasons as a Giant, but even at his very best, he was never all that great.

I'm gettin' a GoDaddy page when I enter " www.bbtf.org "

but the conventional narrative on him seems to have been that his accident destroyed a potentially great career.
really?

Yeah, really. From the New York Daily News article I linked to above:

For Robertson, the loss was not mobility, of course, but of his big-league career, his promise and millions of dollars.

And the New York Times:

Robertson was then the starting shortstop for the Yankees, depicted by some observers as the next Phil Rizzuto.
...
Robertson was batting .248 at the time of the accident, and his potential seemed great.

Certainly these are overly optimistic assertions made in articles about overcoming adversity, and it's a much less interesting story if you write that he was destined to be the next Horace Clarke.

But still, that's what the narrative has become in a lot of cases.

I remember the story of the first high-five from a Radiolab episode. I know it involved that gay guy who was on the Dodgers, and some other guy.

First high five: Oh, Tommy LaSorda knows who it was...
(coke to crispix)

Mind you, there's not universal agreement that he was first (Darrell Griffin, basketball, UofL is one of many others cited) - but he does seem to be the guy mentioned most often. (Burke, not Baker - I don't normally hear people mention Baker.)

Bob Robertson! I was a Pirates fan, briefly, after the Senators moved....great '71 Series.

Robertson had two homers in the series, but was spectacular with four (in four games) against the Giants in the playoffs.

Nonetheless, my favorite memory of Robertson is from the final game of the 1974 season, which the Pirates needed to win to clinch the division. Robertson struck out to end the game, but the ball eluded the Cubs' catcher. Robertson, always slow and now hobbled with two of the worst knees in the game, waddled down to first for all he was worth. The catcher's throw hit him on the back of the helmet and the ball careened down the line, Robertson ended up on second and the tying run scored on the play. The Pirates went on to win in extras.

I just noticed that the Brewers have 5 of the top 11 guys in NL HBP. That's funny, they must have really worked on that in spring training.

The various races for 100 losses are all now clinched: The Cubs chalked up loss no. 100 (to the Astros!) last night, while the Rockies beat the Diamondbacks in 13 innings (and I imagine we'll see that game later on today in an Eric J post) for their 63rd win of the season. So this year's 100-loss teams will be only the Cubs and Astros.

Brewer pitchers struck out eight yesterday. They now need 19 in the final two games to break the 2003 Cubs' record.

Plus I had Mike dela Hoz's 1964 Topps card.

Back in the early '80s, Sporting News had him on the list of players whose current whereabouts were unknown to his former teams and MLB. Dunno if he was located in the threee decades since, but don't see any postcareer references on Google.

Robertson struck out to end the game, but the ball eluded the Cubs' catcher.

Nick Swisher's dad, who made a lot of enemies that day in St. Louis, many of whom didn't forgive him even when he later played for the Cardinals.

I just noticed that the Brewers have 5 of the top 11 guys in NL HBP. That's funny, they must have really worked on that in spring training.

Yes, coach Ernie Pantusso had them working hard on that.

Mind you, there's not universal agreement that he was first (Darrell Griffin, basketball, UofL is one of many others cited) - but he does seem to be the guy mentioned most often. (Burke, not Baker - I don't normally hear people mention Baker.)

Somebody had to be on the other end. While Burke is often credited with "inventing it," I thought it was pretty well established that Baker was the other player with his hand raised.

Somebody had to be on the other end. While Burke is often credited with "inventing it," I thought it was pretty well established that Baker was the other player with his hand raised.

Joe Piscopo showed that clip in a pregame show before the 1983 Dodgers/Phillies NLCS, but reported that it was not the first. He then showed a high five from Zero Mostel in The Producers (released in 1968) and claimed that Zero had the first recorded high five.

while the Rockies beat the Diamondbacks in 13 innings (and I imagine we'll see that game later on today in an Eric J post)

Drat! I've become predictable! Time to do something completely unexpected, like picking the hideous Yankees-Red Sox game...

Game of the day (yesterday): Rockies 7, D'Backs 5 (13).

Or I could not subject myself to that particular recap, and instead go with an actual very good game.

Arizona's Wade Miley struck out two Rockies in the first inning and allowed only one hit. Colorado's Drew Pomeranz did the same - but the hit he allowed was a solo homer by Aaron Hill. Both starters then went into shutdown mode; Pomeranz struck out two of the three Arizona hitters in the second, while Miley fanned one Rockie in the second and all three of them in the third. Pomeranz gave up a leadoff hit to John McDonald in the bottom of the third and walked Miguel Montero with two outs in the fourth, while Miley kept retiring every Rockie in sight until Charlie Blackmon doubled with two outs in the fifth. In the bottom of that inning, Gerardo Parra led off with a home run, putting Arizona ahead 2-0.

Miley worked a perfect sixth. Being a starter for the Rockies, Pomeranz was pulled after five, and reliever Adam Ottavino retired all three Diamondbacks in his first inning of work. Wilin Rosario finally produced Colorado's first run of the day in the seventh with a solo homer, and Ottavino worked another spotless inning in the bottom half.

In the eighth, the Rockies finally produced the game's first non-solo homer tallies. Blackmon led off with a single, and took second on a bunt. Jordan Pacheco struck out, but Josh Rutledge and Tyler Colvin hit consecutive two-out doubles to put Colorado ahead for the first time in the game. Matt Belisle worked a perfect eighth, Brad Ziegler a scoreless ninth, and Rafael Betancourt came on for the save... opportunity.

Having been absent from the game for all of two and a half innings, the home run came back with a vengeance, as Paul Goldschmidt used it to tie the game. Betancourt recovered to send the game into extra innings, and the pitching settled down again, at least temporarily. Jonathan Herrera reached on a one-out infield hit in the top of the tenth, and Chris Young also singled with one away in the bottom of the inning, but JJ Putz and Rex Brothers managed to leave them on base. In the top of the eleventh, Chris Nelson doubled with one out, but Bryan Shaw worked out of the jam with an intentional walk and a double play. Edgmer Escalona was perfect in the bottom of the inning.

Shaw remained in the game for the top of the twelfth, and allowed a single to Blackmon and a walk to Herrera with one out. Hitting for himself, Escalona bunted the runners over, and Shaw fanned Rutledge to preserve the tie. McDonald singled with two away in the bottom of the inning, and Escalona was pulled for Josh Outman, who whiffed Jason Kubel to extend the game.

The totals so far: Twelve innings, six runs.

In the thirteenth, Colvin led off with a double against new pitcher Brad Bergesen. Nelson singled Colvin home; Rosario struck out, but a wild pitch and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out. Mike Zagurski took Bergesen's place, and did not improve on his results; Blackmon singled in one run, Herrera hit into a fielder's bad choice (as all the runners were safe) to score another, and after Outman struck out, a wild pitch to Rutledge brought in the inning's fourth run.

Having been handed the game's largest lead, Outman started the bottom of the thirteenth by walking AJ Pollock. Hill struck out, but Justin Upton walked, putting two runners on. Josh Roenicke took Outman's place and allowed a Goldschmidt single to load the bases, walked Konrad Schmidt to force in one run, and allowed a sac fly to Chris Johnson that brought in a second. Parra then mercifully struck out on four pitches to end the game (and, as Tom noted above, the chances that Colorado would lose 100 this year).

So that makes twelve innings, six runs, followed by one inning, six runs. It also makes another one of those games that's solidly more exciting if you can invert the linescore, as the unsuccessful extra-inning comeback would have been a successful one, which is way more fun.

Still and all, the 45th-best game of the year is not a bad place to end up.

Robertson, always slow and now hobbled with two of the worst knees in the game, waddled down to first for all he was worth. The catcher's throw hit him on the back of the helmet and the ball careened down the line, Robertson ended up on second and the tying run scored on the play. The Pirates went on to win in extras.

He was always a team player.

Here's an article Mike de la Hoz wrote in 2009 about his experiences in the Cuban League

http://www.terrenodepelota.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14621&Itemid=9

And a couple of places around the web place him in Miami. So found and sounds like he's still in touch with his old Cuban League buddies at least.