Word: hoak
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Phillies, too, should be counted on to improve. Blessed with an outfield of .300 hitters, Tony Gonzales, Johnny Callison and Don Demeter, an infield that suddenly includes Don Hoak, the Phils now have pitching, too: Art Mahaffey, Chris Short, Dennis Bennett, Dallas Green, bullpen ace, Jack Baldschun, and veteran Cal McLish...
...Phils don't nudge the Pirates out of the first division many will be surprised. Pittsburgh discarded most of its 1960 championship infield this winter, trading Dick Groat, Stuart, and Hoak. Big Donn Clendenon is ready to take over at first, but it seems unlikely that Julio Gotay and Dick Schofield can replace Groat. Rookie Bob Bailey will have a similarly hard time filling Hoak's role at third. But a good year by new-comers Don Schwall and Don Cardwell might make the winter's commerce worth-while...
...Pirates need maximum performance from everyone to pull through; at present they are great more in terms of publicity than performance. Mazeroski, for example, whose homer felled the Yankees, may be capable of hitting .300, but he is just as likely to bat .250. The same holds for Hoak, Stuart, Cimoli, and Hal Smith...
...stuff, and keeps his hairy hands off the Pirates. Murtaugh realizes full well that overmanaging would cramp the egos-and crimp the play-of the bunch of oddly assorted personalities he has nursed to maturity as ballplayers: Pitcher Vernon Law (19-8), a pious Mormon elder; Third Baseman Don Hoak (.277), a sulphur-mouthed ex-Marine and ex-middleweight boxer; Shortstop Dick Groat, the intense, introspective team captain (now sidelined by a broken left wrist); and Right Fielder Roberto Clemente (.320), a showboating Puerto Rican. "They're all major leaguers," says Murtaugh. "I give 'em plenty of leeway...
...comedian: "Dan never pushes the panic button." With little raw power in his lineup, Murtaugh has revived an oldfashioned, single-slapping brand of baseball, leniently lets his players flash the sign for the hit-and-run whenever they see a chance. "Murtaugh lets us use our own judgment," says Hoak, "until it proves to be bad judgment. For instance, this guy Ashburn on the Cubs gives me fits. I play him close to the line and he hits through the hole. I move over and he hits down the line...