In retrospect, it was nice to hear an old Milwaukee Braves name dropped last night

[CrewDood]

I mentioned it in the chatroom and later Rock dropped the name of Tony Cloninger a pitcher for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the mid 60's who also nailed 2 grand slams in SF in '66, the teams first year removed from Milwaukee. TC had 9 ribs in that one with another hit. They intentionally walked to get to him both times he had the homeruns.

 

According to wikipedia: He compiled a career .192 batting average with 67 runs batted in and 11 home runs, including five in 1966. On July 3, 1966, in a Braves 17-3 victory against the Giants at Candlestick Park, Cloninger helped himself with the bat when he hit two grand slams and drove in nine runs. He became the first player in the National League and the first pitcher ever to hit two slams in the same game, also setting a major league record for pitchers with his nine RBI.

[bamberger]

I don't think he knew (before he was born) that Tony was a fireballing, wild, power hitting pitcher.

[JohnBriggs12]

Cloninger was one of my favorite players of all time for the simple reason that he nearly pitched the Milwaukee Braves into what I was praying for in 1965. I believed that only a World Series would sufficiently shine the light on the plight of Milwaukee's impending loss of the Braves to Atlanta. Imagine the World Series which at the time was the single biggest event in sports in this country being held in a market that was about to be abandoned less than a decade after setting attendance records by ownership that had lied through it's teeth.

 

Unfortunately, despite Tony's heroic efforts (he won 24 games in 1965) and great efforts from the likes of young Wade Blasingame and a lineup that produced 6 guys with 20 or more HR, the Braves management did everything it could to make sure this team, which was within a game on or about August 25th, would not be able to keep up with the pitching rich Dodgers. They badly needed another starter to go with Cloninger, Blasingame and Ken Johnson, but made no effort to acquire one. Eventually Blasingame, who was something like 22 at the time, faded under the weight of a ton of innings. But the 25 year old Cloninger posted one of the finest years of any starter in Milwaukee baseball history.