Word: leftfielders
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...vagabond during most of his eleven years in organized baseball. Somehow San Francisco's crisp weather seems just right for Jones's aging right arm (he claims that it shrinks two inches every game). Somehow the stiff wind that blows in from Candlestick Park's leftfield now seems to make his curve ball more effective, though as a minor-leaguer he once vowed: "I'll never pitch in this windy city again...
...only persons with reservations about Candlestick were the ballplayers. Candlestick was apparently contrived to make the worst of San Francisco's constant winds. Said the Giants' Willie Mays, after clouting two monumental drives during practice and seeing them land, wind-slowed, just short of the 397-ft. leftfield fence: "This park is too big. Somebody's gonna get some salary cuts around here." Said Giant First Baseman Willie McCovey, after his initial experience with wind-blown debris from the stands: "The peanut shells kept getting in my eyes...
...Victoria last year in the Class AA Texas League, Howard hit one ball that was finally tracked to a neighboring golf course-some 600 ft. from the plate. With the Dodgers last week, Howard reached out one-handed for a wild pitch, knocked it 360 ft. over the leftfield wall. But First Baseman-Outfielder Howard may not even be with the Dodgers after the roster is slashed: he lacks polish, still has trouble with change-up pitches, goes after bad balls, is a tanglefoot in the field. And the World Champion Dodgers can ill afford the sort of mistakes Howard...
Part of the blame could be put on the horrendous playing conditions of the Los Angeles Coliseum, a converted football stadium that permitted the biggest crowds in World Series history (277,750 in three games) but nearly ruined both teams in the process. The cozy screen in leftfield (251 ft. at the foul line) clanged like a Chinese gong under the impact of balls that would have been easy outs in other parks. On occasion, outfielders staggered about mazily as flies descended out of the sun. Batters strained to pick out the ball from the backdrop of shirtsleeved bleacherites...
...Burdette, hurling for the Braves, gave up 12 hits but didn't allow a run either. In the 13th, Pirate third baseman Don Hoak fumbled an easy grounder, ruining Haddix' perfect game, and Milwaukee's Joe Adcock took care of the rest with a blast over the leftfield fence...