Header - Baseball by the Letters

Astrodome

Cardinal Jim Lindeman Relives First HR

by
1987 post-season?
“…kind of a blur.”

Jim Lindeman seemed like a working-class player. Not a hit-in-your-sleep kind of guy, but someone who’d use brains and determination to defy the odds.

I’m grateful for the insightful letter he shared. Here’s his memories:

Q: Your first career homer came off Jim Deshaies Sept. 5, 1986. What do you recall of that hit?

A: The HR off Deshaies was a high fastball and I hit it into the first few rows of left field in the Astrodome.

I still remember the crack of the bat.

Q: You racked up nine post-season hits in 1987. What moments stand out for you?

A: The 1987 post-season is kind of a blur. It all went so fast and it is hard to recall anything. I do remember Jeffrey Leonard and the ‘one flap down’ stuff and the intensity of the NL playoffs.

There was much less pressure in the World Series.

Q: You became a clutch pinch-hitter. Is one pinch-hit you’re proudest of?

A: I don’t have a particular hit in mind, but the 1991 season with the Phillies was my most successful pinch-hitting season.

Coming Friday: a Virgil Trucks birthday update!

Al Spangler Recalls Leo Durocher, 2 HR Day

by
Snapped At Shea Stadium (?)
before Spangler’s
Atlanta blasts!

Outfielder Al Spangler sounded like he could have been a contestant on the TV reality show Survivor. As an original Houston Colt .45 (and a leading hitter), I asked him about the elements. The weather was nothing like in Milwaukee, when he debuted with the Braves. I asked him about the humidity and mosquitoes.

“Not being used to those elements, it was difficult to adjust but something we had to do. Also, we knew that in three years, we would be playing indoors when the Astrodome was completed.”

Thanks to http://www.retrosheet.org/, I discovered a rare fit of power for the contact hitter. Spangler spanked the Braves for two homers and four RBI on June 12, 1969. Did the Cub recall his fireworks display?

“Remember the game and also remember that some of my teammates were passed out in the dugout after the second homer.”

Was that one detail that Cub broadcaster Jack Brickhouse may have missed?

Spangler’s tenure with Chicago may be remarkable, in that he could be one of the few team members who doesn’t recall manager Leo Durocher’s explosive personality. Spangler noted:

“I enjoyed my years with Leo. My one regret was that he was near the end of his career and I would have enjoyed seeing him operate in his early years.”