By Phil Ellenbecker
A major reason why the Kansas City Royals became so good so quickly -- a second-place American League West finish in their third year of existence in 1971 -- was a series of swindles general manager Cedric Tallis executed -- trades that netted them such fixtures as Lou Piniella, Amos Otis, Cookie Rojas, Fred Patek, John Mayberry and Hal McRae. In each case the Royals got a lot more than they gave up, even when it looked
like the other team night be getting something in return.
A major case in point was the deal that netted them McRae from Cincinnati. The Reds thought they were getting a solid pitcher in Roger Nelson, who was coming off a 11-6 season with a 2.08 ERA, tied for fifth best in the major leagues.
And helping him toward that sparkling final ledger was the game he pitched July 31 at Anaheim Stadium. Nelson spun a three-hitter with one walk in a 1-0 whitewashing of California, tying his low-hit game at the time, to be exceeded by a one-hitter and two-hitter later in the year.
But this was perhaps Nelson's most notable performance considering who it came against -- no less than future all-time great Nolan Ryan, in the sixth year of a record 27-season career and his first with the Angels.
And this just happened to be a night when Ryan made his first serious bid at what would be a stupendous record seven no-hitters. Ryan took a no-no into the eighth inning and gave up one hit before leaving for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth.
It took a steal of home by Otis in the fourth inning to make the difference in this game. It came with two out, and it took an error on a pickoff attempt by Ryan at first base after Otis' leadoff walk to make it possible. Otis, who flew out to the warning track in Ryan's first no-hitter on May 15, 1973, took third on Ryan's errant throw, then watched Ed Kirkpatrick strike out and held as Piniella grounded back to Ryan. Otis then took off and beat Ryan and catcher John Stephenson with Mayberry at bat.
Ryan, in the first of six seasons leading the American League in walks in the 1970s, had all kinds of control problems this night, and not just at home plate. Besides walking six batters, he committed three errors on pickoff attempts at first -- besides the fateful one in the fourth, also after a walk to Otis in the first and after Patek reached on an error in the fifth. Each advanced to second but no farther, and those were the Royals' only ventures into scoring territory against Ryan besides the fourth.
Steve Hovley spoiled Ryan's no-hitter with a single leading off the eighth and was stranded there.
The Royals wasted an opportunity to pad their lead in the ninth. Piniella started the inning with a double, and stayed there when Paul Schaal's fly to Leroy Stanton in right fell for a double with one out. Patek was intentionally walked, loading the bases, but Piniella was retired at home on Nelson's bunt to Ryan. Hovley ended the threat with a ground out.
Nelson then polished off his gem by getting Vada Pinson and Leo Cardenas to fly out, then striking out Andy Kosco batting for No. 3 hitter Ken Berry.
(Berry, a lifetime .255 hitter with never more than 12 homers in a season, was hitting No. 3 for one of five times this season. He was usually the Angels' No. 2 hitter.)
Nelson's 1-2-3 ninth capped a perfect final five innings, as he set down the final 15 batters he faced after Ken McMullen's leadoff double in the fifth. Nelson recovered from that by fanning Billy Parker and Ryan around a ground out by Sandy Alomar.
Nelson finished with nine strikeouts, tying an earlier outing in 1972 for his second-best career strikeout game behind one of 13 he had in his fourth major league start, in 1968 while with Baltimore.
So he nearly matched the all-time K king K for K, as Ryan, who dropped to 12-9, finished with 11 strikeouts.
Except for McMullen in the fifth, Nelson allowed only one other Angel in scoring position. Pinson singled and stole second with two out in the second. Pinson had the Angels' other hit off Nelson with a leadoff single in the first.
Nelson's shutout, which evened his record at 4-4, came on top of a four-hit 3-0 blanking of Chicago four days earlier. It was his eighth start of the season, not seeing his first start until July 4. He'd had to scramble to make the team in spring training after being limited to 44 innings the previous two seasons because of shoulder problems. He didn't get his first win until June 25. But by the end of the year he'd tossed a team-record six shutouts, good for fourth in the AL. His 2.08 ERA also set a team record, and his marks for shutouts and ERA still top the Royals' single-season lists. His walks plus hits per nine innings (WHIP) of .871 led the AL.
On Aug. 23 against Boston, Nelson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Ben Oglivie broke it up with a two-out single. He settled for a one-hitter in a 3-0 win and struck out nine.
To top off the year, Nelson two-hit Texas on Oct. 4 in the final game the Royals played at Municipal Stadium, won by the Royals 4-0. That's fitting because Nelson, whom the Royals had picked No. 1 overall in the 1968 expansion draft, had been the Royals' starting pitcher in their second game played at Municipal, in their inaugural season of 1969. Nelson took a no-decision that night in a game won by the Royals over Minnesota 4-3 in 17 innings.
So Nelson, who finished with 173 innings, did plenty to make up for lost time after not entering the 1972 starting rotation until three months into the season.
"For those three months in the summer of 1972, Roger Nelson was as good as any Kansas City pitcher has ever been," Bradford Lee wrote in an article for the Royals Review website, speaking of the way Nelson finished up the season.
Alas, Nelson couldn't keep it up when he joined Cincinnati. The arm woes that had hindered him in '70 and '72 returned, and after his career year in 1972, he won only seven more the rest of his career, bowing out after 1976 with a 29-32 record and 3.06 ERA over nine seasons. He was 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA with the Reds in 1972. He finished up with three appearances for the Royals in 1976.
Besides 1972, the only other season he logged more than 100 innings was 1969, when he went 7-13 with a 3.31 ERA in 193 innings.
But as his lifetime ERA of 3.06 attests, when Nelson could pitch, he could really pitch. Especially in 1972.
And because of that, Nelson made a great contribution to the Royals' success of the latter half of the 1970s and early 1980s -- seven division titles, two World Series appearances, one World Series title -- by getting himself traded for Hal McRae.
Sources
Box score, play-by-play: https://www.
Roger Nelson biographical info: https://www.
