TTM Report: June 2018
Time for the ol’ TTM report! It’s a short one this month, folks. That’s mainly due to the fact that I haven’t done a lot of writing in the past few months, although I anticipated getting a little more back than this. It is a new signature for my Astro-graphs collection, however.
Don Arlich: 2/1, 9 days.
Yep, this is it for the entire month. I suppose you could call June a one-hit wonder, which is a bit apropos given Arlich’s short career. Don made his debut late in 1965 – on October 2nd, actually, in the 161st game of the season. He started that game, and went 6 innings against the Cardinals, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk. Not bad, but not good enough to get the win as Houston went down 6-3. Don would earn a midseason call-up in 1966, getting into 7 more games. Unfortunately, his promising start didn’t carry through, and in a relief role he only pitched in a total of 4 innings and gave up 9 runs on 11 hits and 4 walks. Don’s big-league career was over after that, with one solitary strikeout. He’d come into a game against the Phillies on July 20th, tasked with finishing the 4th inning after Ron Taylor left with 2 outs and the bases loaded, with Houston up 5-4. Don struck out Tony Taylor to finish the fourth – but not until he’d allowed a pair of singles to Cookie Rojas and Clay Dalrymple, giving up 3 runs. He pitched a clean 5th, but gave up another run in the 6th and another in the 7th. When he was relieved in the middle of the 7th by Claude Raymond, the score was 9-8 Philadelphia. The Phillies would win 13-9.
All told, Don had a 9-year career in pro baseball. He’s got a card in the Fritsch One-Year Wonders set, where he’s listed as a member of the Astros but depicted in the minor league uniform of the Richmond Braves, where he spent his final two seasons. Finding a picture of Arlich in an Astros uniform has proved impossible, so after much searching I finally just settled on this found 1965 style custom, even if it shows Don in a Colt .45s uniform. The image was probably from Spring Training, and has been colorized. All told, I’m happy to add another “Astros” card to the Astro-graph collection.
Hopefully July will provide a few more returns! So far I’m busted, though.
