|
Jim
Northrup
Exclusive
interview by Harold
Friend
Website: Suite101
Editor's Note: Joe Gillespie from
NbO
Baseball has been kind
enough to help us get in touch
with some of baseball's greatest
players. This month we talk to
Mr. Jim Northrup who won the 1968
World Series with one of the
biggest triples in Detroit
Tigers' history.
|
|
Name:
Jim
Northrup
Position:
Outfield,
First Base
Born:
November
24, 1939 in
Breckenridge, MI
Career
span: 1964-1975
Teams:
Tigers
(1964-1974), Expos
(1974), Orioles
(1974-1975)
Career
highlights:
In their
1968 World Championship
season, Northrup led the
Tigers with 153 hits and
90 RBIs. He also hit
four grand slams that
year. Two came in
consecutive at-bats on
June 24, and he added
another on June 29 for
three in one week, a ML
record. He hit yet
another off the
Cardinals' Larry Jaster
in Game Six of the World
Series. On August 28,
1969 against Oakland, he
became the first Tiger
since Ty Cobb to go
six-for-six, finishing
the game with a
13th-inning home run
over the Tiger Stadium
roof. In 1973, he had a
second eight-RBI game,
against Texas, and hit a
career-high .307.
(Bio
source:
BaseballLibrary)
Click
here for complete
Baseball-Almanac.com
bio.
|
JIM
NORTHRUP was a fine clutch
hitter and an excellent
outfielder for the Detroit Tigers
most of his career, which ended
with short stints in Montreal and
Baltimore. He hit the famous
World Series triple against Bob
Gibson and the St. Louis
Cardinals to win the 1968 World
Series and once hit grand slam
home runs in consecutive at bats.
Mr. Northrup is an extremely
knowledgeable individual who has
many interesting insights about
baseball, his career, his
teammates, and his
opponents.
I remember you as
a dangerous hitter and an
excellent fielder but you also
pitched in college and could
really throw hard. Why did you
become an outfielder instead of a
pitcher?
I
attended a small college with
only about 550-575 students and
the baseball team needed everyone
to do as much as possible. I
could throw really hard when I
was in Little League and still
threw pretty hard in college so I
pitched and played wherever the
team needed me, but I was a
center fielder first. Like a lot
of hard throwers, I had some
control problems but I pitched
two no hitters.
The Tigers
offered you a contract to play
baseball but the Bears and Titans
wanted you to play football for
them. Why did you choose
baseball?
There were no
guarantees from football. The
Titans, who became the Jets,
offered me the same as I would
get in baseball but I had to make
the team to get the money. I told
them if there were no guarantees,
I wouldn't sign. I had led the
nation in total offense and I
deserved a better
offer.
You were a fine
college student but it is on the
record that it took you 40 years
to graduate. That's kind of slow.
What happened?
I
graduated in absentia because I
was involved with baseball the
day of my graduation from Alma
College but I always wanted to
attend the ceremony and
eventually I did. An education is
important because you need it
when you finish your
career.
How were rookies
treated when you joined the
Tigers in 1964?
Not
too bad. There wasn't much hazing
and a lot of us came up at about
the same time. We were not a
veteran club. There were some
practical jokes, but that was
about it. Things changed a little
from the past when the veterans
didn't help the rookies because
they didn't want to help someone
get their job.
Al
Kaline, who was one of the
veterans, told us never to take a
toe hold against an established
pitcher. Well, we were playing
the White Sox. I forget who was
pitching but I made myself
comfortable and before I knew it,
I got hit. Kaline really gave it
to me. He said, "You jerk. I told
you not to take a toe hold
against this guy."
Once
I beat Mudcat Grant with a hit in
the ninth inning. We played the
Twins again the next week and I
felt really comfortable against
him even though he was a great
pitcher. Well, he really decked
me. Later, we spoke and he said
he wasn't throwing at me. I said
to him, "C'mon Mudcat, we both
know what you did." We both
laughed because that was part of
the game.
The Tigers were
becoming a pennant contender by
1966. Who were some of the young
players on that team?
There was Don
Wert, Gates Brown, Bill Freehan,
Mickey Lolich, Denny McLain, John
Hiller, Dick McCaulffe and Earl
Wilson. We got Wilson in a trade
with the Red Sox, which was a
great for us. We sent Don Demeter
and another player I don't
remember to Boston for Wilson and
Joe Christopher. Earl won a lot
of games for us.
I guess the Red
Sox have a history of trading
away good pitchers. There were
Babe Ruth, Sparky Lyle, and
Wilson, who won 22 for you in
1967. Anyway, you were involved
in one of the all time classic
pennant races in 1967. Please
tell us about it.
I'm
surprised that no one has written
a book about it. There were four
teams tied for first with about
30 days left in the season.
That's four teams with identical
records and the same number of
game left to be played. Every day
a new team was on top and that
was happening for three weeks.
The White Sox were knocked out by
Kansas City when they scored one
run in four games. We had to win
three out of four to tie and four
out four to win. We won two,
Minnesota blew it, and the Red
Sox won. We knew that we were
going to win it next
year.
I have asked many
great players, including Bob
Gibson, Tom Seaver, Amos Otis,
Frank Thomas, and Virgil Trucks
whether is it better to win the
pennant and lose the World Series
or not win the pennant at all if
it means losing the World Series.
What is your opinion?
You
never know beforehand but the
main reason to play is to win. I
felt sorry for Eddie Brinkman,
who was the Washington shortstop.
He used to say that if they
didn't win on opening day they
would never have a winning record
anytime during the season. I
would hate to play for a last
place team. All I ever wanted is
to play for a team that has a
chance to win. The playoffs were
not fair because they were the
best three out five. It's tough
for a team that's down two games
to none to come back. Four out of
seven is better because even if
you're down three games to one,
you're still alive and can win
three straight.
The Tigers won
the World Series in 1968 after
losing 3 of the first 4 games to
the Cardinals. What was the
players' attitude going into Game
5?
When
Lou Brock didn't slide into home
and Bill Freehan tagged him out,
we knew we were going to win. We
were down 3-2 and won 5-3. They
let us back and we thought that
we would win it and we did. No
one, especially the reporters,
gave us a chance once we were
down three games to one. They
told everyone that we couldn't
win. The only thing is they
forgot to tell us.
You had a really
great year in 1968 and capped it
off with a triple in the seventh
inning of the seventh game. With
no score and two outs in the top
of the seventh inning, Norm Cash
singled to right and Willie
Horton followed with a single to
left, bringing you to the plate.
What were you thinking as you
were getting ready to face
Gibson?
Gibson was tough.
I hit a deep fly ball to center
field. Flood slipped but that
didn't make a difference because
the ball was about 20 or 30 feet
over his head. He was playing me
to pull and I hit the ball almost
straight away. Two runs scored,
Lolich, on two days rest, was
great, and we won the game and
the World Series.
One of the great
things about interviewing players
is that I learn things that are
unusual. You hit an amazing three
grand slams in a week beginning
June 24, including two grand
slams in consecutive plate
appearances. Tell us about
that.
We
were in Cleveland. I had been in
a slump but I was hitting the
ball well. I wasn't suppose to
play but I told Wally Moses, who
was one of our coaches, to tell
Mayo Smith I wanted to play. I
said, "Are we in first? Do I play
good defense? I want to play.
Tell Mayo I want to
play."
Wally came back a
few minutes later and told me I
was playing. I came up in the
first inning with the bases
loaded and struck out. I came up
in the fifth inning with the
bases loaded and hit a home run.
The next inning I came up with
the bases loaded again and hit
another home run for two grand
slams in two innings.
On
June 29, at home against the
White Sox, I hit another grand
slam, this time off Francisco
Carlos. We won 5-2. I had also
hit a grand slam on May 17 in the
bottom of the ninth to beat the
Senators.
Which was a
greater thrill, hitting the grand
slams, going 6 for 6 and winning
the game with a home run over the
Tiger Stadium roof in 1969, or
hitting your triple in Game 7
against Mr. Gibson? Bet I know
the answer.
Nothing is better
than winning. The triple against
Gibson that helped beat the
Cardinals was my greatest thrill.
The grand slams were great but
winning the World Series is the
best.
You faced many
great pitchers in your career.
How do today's pitchers compare?
You
really can't compare eras. Every
twenty to thirty year period is
different. With expansion, you
have thirty teams. There are
about 750 players today compared
to 400 when there were sixteen
teams, which means there are
about 140 more pitchers now which
is why good pitchers are so
valuable.
We
had two great pitchers in Lolich
and McLain. Lolich probably had
better stuff but McLain knew how
to pitch. He could set up a
hitter as well as anyone. Lolich
was fantastic and did one of the
great jobs of all time in the
1968 World Series. McLain won 31
in 1968 and followed that with 24
the next year.
Players change
teams today so much more than in
the past that it's unusual for a
player to spend his entire career
with one team but in the old
days, players had no choice. Were
the players more loyal to a team
in the past?
I
think so. The main thing is a
player has to hustle all the time
and always try hard. He owes it
to his teammates and to his club.
It's wrong for players to be
selfish. They make a tremendous
amount of money but that doesn't
mean they don't have to try.
Pedro Martinez makes a lot of
money but he acts like a thirteen
year old. I wouldn't want to play
with him or with Manny. And Nomar
got so upset when his team went
after another shortstop. He
should have sucked it up and
should stop pouting. Winning is
the main thing and money becomes
irrelevant.
You loved Mayo
Smith but Billy Martin is
considered a great manager by
many Yankees fans as well as many
in the media. Why do you think
they are wrong about
Martin?
To
me, Martin was the worst manager
of all. The media loved what they
called "Billy Ball" but it was
"Billy Garbage." He took a team
down because he took all the fun
out of the game. Everything was
about him. We should have won in
1972 against Oakland. I had a hit
against Vida Blue in that game
but Martin pinch hit for me in
the ninth with Cash on first, one
out, and us trailing by a run. We
never should have lost that
series.
Well, it has been
really great speaking with you. I
enjoyed listening to you and
hearing about things I lived
through as a fan and you lived
through as a player. Thank you
for the many insights to things
we thought we knew about.
You're very
welcome. Feel free to talk
anytime.
| 
