Cleveland's Finest. Vince McKee
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immortality. He was on the verge of pitching only the tenth perfect game in major league baseball history. He was no longer the hard-throwing righty that the Texas Rangers had sent away after early control problems: Barker was a man on a mission and no one was going to stop him from achieving it. He was so focused that he didn’t think of the possibility of Toronto laying down a bunt in the ninth inning, “It didn’t cross my mind. I had a no-hitter going against the White Sox once when their leadoff hitter bunted to reach base to start the seventh inning. The next time he came to bat, I drilled him. That is part of baseball.”
Bosetti completed his 0–3 night with a foul ball pop out to the left side of the infield to start the ninth. Desperate to try anything to break up the no hitter, Blue Jays manager Bobby Mattick chose pinch hitter Al Woods to bat for Danny Ainge. The move proved futile—Woods also struck out swinging, giving Barker his 11th strikeout of the game. When Mattick then substituted Buck Martinez for Ernie Whitt, it was his last move. The tension in the crowd and the fans watching at home was thick. Barker had come so far and everyone knew they were just seconds away from witnessing history. Barker forced Whitt to fly out to center fielder (and current Indians television broadcaster) Rick Manning. The perfect game was complete, and the city of Cleveland erupted in joy and pride for their beloved starter.
Vince with perfect-game hurler Lenny Barker
The crowd went wild with excitement after the last out of the perfect game. Barker had just pitched only the tenth perfect game in Major League Baseball history. His teammates stormed the field to greet him in celebration. How did the perfect-gamer celebrate? Barker described it as a pretty low-key affair: “We went back to my condo back in Parma and we celebrated for a while. We were on the game of the week the next day, which was an early day game, so some of us celebrated longer than others.” It took a few days for the great accomplishment of the game to sink in for Barker: “It pretty much set in a couple of days later when I started thinking about it. Everyone was waiting to see if I could do it again. It was never in the back of my mind, as I believe the next game I threw a three hitter only to lose 3–0 because all three hits were solo home runs. So it was back to reality real quick because that is what the major leagues does to you.” Out of the 104 pitches that Barker threw that perfect night, 84 of them were strikes:
I always had a good curveball and threw it hard, but that night I was able to throw it over the plate with ease. I just had such good control over it, and Hassey and I were able to realize it quickly. That night we threw more curveballs, as I would normally throw mostly fastballs. It was just knowing that when you get something working well that you don’t change it. They were trying to hit the ball because every strikeout was swinging. My concentration was unbelievable that night, and my confidence was high from having a good season thus far. The whole staff was having a great year until the work stoppage. That night belonged to my curveball because I could throw it anywhere and they weren’t hitting it.
Barker only made one adjustment to his pitching during the game, stating, “I threw one changeup that Mayberry hit for a line drive out, so we got rid of that pitch and stuck to the fastball and curve.” After Rick Manning caught the last out and Barker had achieved the perfect game, he described the feeling in detail:
All the air was sucked out of my body as I took a big sigh of relief that it was over. I felt like a 1,000-pound weight was lifted off my shoulders. It was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life, besides having my children. It was a tremendous feeling having all my teammates celebrate with me. In the clubhouse, they rolled out a whole lane of towels leading up to my locker filled with Champagne. It was a great feeling not just for me but for my teammates as we all celebrated. Everyone was so much a part of it back then because of the loyalty from the city and players. Cleveland had so many negative things said about them that it was nice to have our team in first place and then have the perfect game to go along with it. It was something that hadn’t been done in a long time, and for it to happen in Cleveland was great for the city and for everyone as we all shared in it. It wasn’t just my game, it was everyone’s!
CHAPTER FIVE
The Orange and Blue Era
“Show people how to have success and then you can push their expectations up.”
—Lenny Wilkens
The Gund brothers now owned Richfield Coliseum, so it seemed like a natural move for them to also purchase the venue’s main revenue producer, the Cleveland Cavaliers. It didn’t take long for the Gund brothers to shake things up by changing the team’s colors from wine and gold to orange and blue. They also replaced the swordsman mascot to the word Cavs, with the V as a net. Theses changes, although small, made a huge impact on the direction of the franchise for years to come. It was a new era in Cleveland basketball, one that would provide fans with hope once again.
The Gunds were new to the world of professional basketball, but it didn’t take them long to place an NBA veteran in their front office to build the team: Wayne Embry. He was chosen to assemble a team that could make a quick turnaround and once again make the Cavaliers a playoff contender. Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1937, Embry attended and played basketball for Tecumseh High School and from there went on to play basketball at Miami University of Ohio. The St. Louis Hawks drafted him in 1958 before he was traded to the Cincinnati Royals. His pro career covered eleven years playing for the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. After a lot of behind-the-scenes front-office work while playing in Milwaukee, Embry eventually became the first African American general manager of an NBA team after retirement as a player. The Milwaukee Bucks made history by having Embry as their GM for seven seasons. After his seven-year run in Milwaukee, Embry decided that it was time to take a break, and he stepped away from the game for a few years. In 1986, the Gund brothers brought Embry back to the Cleveland Cavaliers headquarters to begin building a dynasty.
Embry’s first move was to bring in a coach to help guide the team. His choice was Lenny Wilkens, a man who would eventually go down as one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. Wilkens was born on October 28, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York. Wilkens graduated from Providence College, where he was a two-time All-American who led his team to its first appearance in the NIT tournament. His time playing at the school was so impressive that years later, in 1996, they decided to retire his number 14 jersey. At the time of his graduation, he was the second all-time leading scorer in school history.
Lenny followed up an impressive college career with an even better professional stint in the NBA. He was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1960 and went on to play eight seasons for them. In his rookie year with the Hawks, the team made the championship round, losing to the Boston Celtics. For the next seven years in Boston, they made the playoffs routinely but never again returned to the championship. Perhaps his most impressive season was in 1967–68, when he finished second to the great Wilt Chamberlain in the season’s MVP voting.
In a surprising move, the Hawks dealt Wilkens to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1968 for Walt Hazzard. Wilkens was named head coach while still playing for the SuperSonics prior to the 1969–1970 season. He was able to perform well, even with the added pressure of coaching, making the All-Star team three more times during his days with Seattle. Not only did the team’s record improve under the direction of Wilkens, but he also managed to average more than 20 points, over 6 rebounds, and 8 assists per game during his playing days there. Those statistics would be great for any player, let alone one who was also focusing his time on coaching. Wilkens was traded from Seattle to Cleveland in 1972 and spent two seasons with the Cavaliers before finishing his career with the Portland Trail Blazers. He retired as a Trail Blazer after the 1974–75 season and then went on to coach with them for the 1976 season.
When Wilkens’s playing career was finished, it would be considered one of the best of all time. He was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 for his playing career. He was a nine-time All-Star and the league’s MVP in the 1971 All-Star game. He was masterful at both scoring and assists. He showed how he was an unselfish teammate by leading the league in assists for the 1969–1970 season. The Seattle SuperSonics retired his jersey number, 19, and he was also voted into