Friday, March 22, 2013

#181 Senators Rookie Stars: Don Loun and Joe McCabe

#181 Senators Rookie Stars: Don Loun and Joe McCabe photo wsrookies_zpsaf500dce.jpg
Ah, here it is. As we keep checking off "lasts" for The Great 1965 Topps Project, we finally reach the last multi-player card in the set. Of course, after recently writing up two consecutive four-player rookie cards, a mere two-player shot should be a piece of cake, right?

Fun facts about Don Loun:

-Don was born and raised in Frederick, MD, west of Baltimore. He signed with the Senators as an amateur free agent in 1961, when he was 20 years old.

-Despite spending his first two years in Class D ball with Pensacola, Loun was bumped up to Class A in 1963. Pitching for the Peninsula Senators, he went 11-10 with a 3.32 ERA.

-Don continued his sudden rise in 1964, beginning the season at AA York and finishing it with the Senators. After pitching to a 2.14 ERA in 25 games split between York and AAA Toronto, he got a September promotion to the big leagues.

-The young lefty made his debut on September 23, 1964, and it was a dandy. He five-hit the Red Sox for a 1-0 victory, walking none and striking out a pair. Fellow rookie Pete Charton was the hard-luck loser, undone by a second inning in which he gave up three singles and saw the lone run against him score on a double-play grounder. As of this writing, Loun is one of only 44 pitchers to toss a complete game shutout in their first career game.

-His first strikeout victim was future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.

-Don's second start was not nearly so auspicious. Facing the Red Sox again on October 3 - this time in Fenway Park - he was pulled for a pinch hitter after allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks in four innings. He was tagged with the loss as Bill Monbouquette scattered seven hits to top Washington 7-0.

-As fate would have it, those were the only two games of Don Loun's major league career. He was left with a lifetime record of 1-1 and a 2.08 ERA.

-Loun did pitch in the minors through the 1969 season, finishing with a career mark of 52-62 and a 3.99 ERA.

Fun facts about Joe McCabe:

-A native of Indianapolis, IN, Joe attended Purdue University before signing with the original Senators franchise in 1960.

-In his first exposure to AAA, he hit .309 and slugged .509 in 59 games for the Vancouver Mounties in 1962.

-McCabe made it to the major leagues with the Twins (who had moved from Washington to Minnesota) in 1964 and spent the first few months of the season on their roster. He debuted on April 18, entering the game for Earl Battey in the fourth inning and hitting a sacrifice fly in his only plate appearance. He was removed for pinch hitter Jimmie Hall in the eighth inning.

-His first multi-hit game was on May 24 against Milt Pappas and the Orioles. That day, Joe went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run scored, but the O's outlasted the Twins 7-6.

-In his first taste of the majors, McCabe batted .158 (3-for-19) with two RBI in 14 games.

-Joe was traded to the new(er) Senators in October of 1964 for Ken Retzer, another catcher.

-Once again, he started the 1965 season in the big leagues. But once again, he only saw action in 14 games. On the plus side, the backstop did hit his one and only career home run on May 2. It was a solo shot off of Jack Kralick, and gave the Senators a 1-0 lead in a game they pulled out by a 3-2 final.

-McCabe's second (and as it happened, final) big league batting line was .185/.281/.296 with a home run and five RBI.

-He had a cumulative batting average of .174 with a homer and seven RBI over two partial seasons.
#181 Senators Rookie Stars: Don Loun and Joe McCabe (back) photo wsrookiesb_zpsb17ca112.jpg

1 comment:

  1. Again it begs the question, especially pertaining to the rookie cards of this set, why do some of the players shots look like paintings ( airbrushed?) than photos?

    ReplyDelete