Where Were They Then? Part Four
In the 1950's, no American League team had the core that the Yankees did. All teams could do was take their best chance loading up for the season, and hope the Yankees stumbled just a little. A team like the White Sox put themselves in such a good position, not only did they take advantage of a big Yankees stumble in 1959, but they were still staffed from within to stay in the running when the Yankees juggernaut finally ran out of gas in the mid-60's.
Today's look at the Top 10 List of White Sox Prospects in 1959 examines the careers of two pitchers who the White Sox hung onto for the bulk of their careers, and a slugging first baseman many don't realize came up through Chicago's farm system. The two pitchers would lead a competitive pitching staff to the end of the next decade. As a side note, I have leaned heavily upon SABR's player biographies for this series. Our own Mark Liptak is cited generously in their Joe Horlen writeup.
5. Gary Peters was a lefty-hitting, lefty-throwing first baseman playing semipro ball in Grove City, Pa., north of Pittsburgh, when a scout brought him to Chicago for a look-see after he graduated high school. The Sox signed him to a contract after a walk-up tryout. When assigned to Class-D Holdrege of the Nebraska State League, he found that J.C. Martin already had first base nailed down. After trying left field for a bit, Peters decided to pitch.
While Peters moved up the minor league ladder steadily, the joke was it took him eight seasons to become an overnight star. Peters would pitch a couple major league innings each year, starting in 1959, but that was the extent of his opportunity. He was out of options by the spring of 1963, and not looking like he'd stick on the roster when reductions were coming. He made a spot start for an ailing Juan Pizarro, and dominated. He continued to post 60-plus game scores for most of that summer, and became a mainstay in the Sox rotation for the rest of their competitive run in the 1960's.
Peters was moved to the Red Sox before the 1970 season for Syd O'Brien, a utility infielder who was way over his head as the 1970 starting third baseman, but for some reason, later inspired the Angels to cough up Tom Bradley and Jay Johnstone for a package that also included injured centerfielder Ken Berry. Peters tried out for the Royals in 1973 after receiving his release from the Red Sox, and retired when he didn't make the team. 124 wins, 1420 strikeouts and 22.3 bWAR are his career numbers.
4. Don Mincher The White Sox had no shortage of playable bats in the minors in the late 50's. Don Mincher was yet another making his way through the lower levels of their system. Mincher had just banged out an insane season for the Class-B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa league. As Davenport's starting first baseman, he collected 23 HRs, 29 doubles, and produced a line of .330/.427/.544. He would spend 1959 doing similar things at Class-A Charleston. With other options for first base and left field ahead of him at the onset of the 1960 season, Mincher was packaged with catcher Earl Battey and $150,000 at the end of spring training and sent to the Washington Senators for first baseman Roy Sievers. Sievers would put up twin 3.6 bWAR seasons for the White Sox before being moved after the 1961 season to the Phillies for pitcher John Buzhardt.
Mincher wound up as the Opening Day first baseman for the Senators, anyway, in 1960, but a lack of pop got him sent to Triple-A by the middle of May. By 1964, Mincher had worked his way into starting most Twins games at 1B. Mincher holds notoriety as the only player on both Senator rosters that moved out of Washington, D.C. He's also known as one of the nicer characters in Jim Bouton's Ball Four. Mincher retired in 1972 after winning the World Series with the A's, collecting an even 200 HR and 23.1 bWAR for his career.
3. Joe Horlen Along with Peters, Joe Horlen is one of the few prospects on this list to actually play the bulk of their career with the White Sox. While Horlen was coveted by most of the league in 1959, the White Sox finally reeled him in with a $30,000 signing bonus. Horlen helped lead Oklahoma State University to the national championship in the College World Series, then reported to Lincoln, NE to throw 91 innings for the Sox' B-level minor league team. 1961 was his "coming out" season, when he threw 197 innings for the San Diego Triple-A club, 17 innings in four September starts on the parent club — then threw another 186 innings in winter ball in Mayaguez!
Horlen would weather whispers of low stamina for not logging 15-20 complete games a season. He wasn't really alone on the staff, as Al Lopez and Eddie Stanky were known for the quick hook in favor of a regularly strong bullpen. In his 11 seasons on the Sox, he cleared 200 innings six times from 1964-69. In 1972, the White sox released him during the players' strike in spring training after he took on the role of team union representative. Charlie Finley signed him as the strike ended. Horlen ended his career after a one-year stint in Oakland, pitching in one game of the World Series. Over the course of his career, Horlen amassed 116 wins, and 25.5 bWAR.
Next up: the cream of the 1959 prospect crop.
Recommended Reading
Where Were They Then? Part One
Where Were They Then? Part Two
Where Were They Then? Part Three