Cal Koonce: 1969 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1967-1970)
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Trivia: Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry & his brother Jim Perry also attended Campbell University
In 1961 Koonce signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Koonce was in the major leagues the next season, making relief appearances in his first two outings.
On April 27th, 1962he made his first start, pitching a complete game one run victory in St. Louis against the Cards.
He pitched well in the first half of the season, finding himself at 9-3 with a 3.63 ERA at the end of August & looking like a future super star.
In 1967 after 34 games, he was 2-2 with two saves, posting a 4.59 ERA. That August his contract was purchased by the New York Mets.
Complete Game Win: On August 12th Koonce was given a start at Shea Stadium against the Pirates. He tossed a one run complete game victory striking out five.
On August 16th he made a second start in Philadelphia, where he pitched into the seventh inning, allowing three runs but earned his second Mets win , helped out by Ron Swoboda's muti-three RBI game.
1968: In 1968 things began to change around Shea Stadium when Gil Hodges took over as manager. Koonce would become one of Gil Hodges & pitching coach Rube Walker's top relievers out of the Met bullpen. Koonce thrived under Hodges later saying the success he had in New York was due to the coaching of the three former catchers Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano & Yogi Berra.
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From the start of the season thru May 30th, Koonce would not allow a run in his first 13 appearances in 20 innings. In May, he earned his first three saves & was credited with a hold.
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From August 4th through August 9th, he won three straight games in relief over six days. In those games he pitched 7.1 scoreless innings finishing off two extra inning wins in Houston & Los Angeles.
The Sweat ball: Koonce admitted to throwing an occasional wet baseball, about a half dozen every game. He said his secret weapon was the sweat ball from perspiration on his wrist or hands.
On opening day at Shea Stadium in 1969, Koonce was the losing pitcher of record in the first game played by the expansion Montreal Expos.
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On July 13th, in a doubleheader sweep over the Expos at Shea, the Expos tied the game on Koonce on Rusty Staub's RBI grounded out. But the Mets came back with RBI singles from Art Shamsky & Wayne Garrett to get him the victory & reach .500 at 3-3.
On August 1st, he put in his longest outing of the year with a 6.1 inning one run performance in Atlanta earning the win giving him his fifth victory.
From September 3rd on, he made just two more appearances on year, both in Mets losses.
In 1969, Koonce went 6-3 with seven saves, as the third best reliever on the staff. He struck out 48 batters walking 42, posting a 4.99 ERA. He allowed 53 runs (46 earned) in 83 innings of work. That season Cal gave up eight HRs which was more than he had given up in the two previous seasons.
After the Championship: After enjoying the success of being a World Champion in the off
season, Koonce returned to the Mets staff in 1970.
Complete Game Win: On September 3rd, he pitched a complete game one run three hitter to beat the Tigers at Fenway Park.
At bat he hit .100 (24-239) with eight RBIs.
Retirement: After his playing days, he coached baseball returning to his alma-mater in North Carolina at Campbell University (1980-1986). Koonce then became the first general manager of the Fayetteville Generals minor league baseball team.
Passing: In1993 after spending four years battling lymphoma cancer, Koonce passed away
Koonce was in the major leagues the next season, making relief appearances in his first two outings.
On April 27th, 1962he made his first start, pitching a complete game one run victory in St. Louis against the Cards.
One Hitter: On July 13th he pitched the best game of his career, it came at Wrigley Field against the Cincinnati Reds. In the 4th innings he allowed a base hit to the Reds; Don Blasingame, but he then retired the next 17 batters in a row, finishing off a one hit shutout.
But then he struggled, losing seven of his last eight decisions, finishing up at the year at 10-10 with a 3.97 ERA. He would spend some time in the minors and pitch six seasons in Chicago with the Cubs. He would never again reach double figures in wins again, ending up at 29-35 in his Cubs years, posting an ERA of around 4.00.
Quotes- Cal Koonce: "I had always told my wife Peggy, that if I ever got traded or sold, New York was the one place I did not want to live. Of Course when we visited we were always downtown. I never got to see the residential areas, but once we moved there & settled down I fell in love with it. We lived in Roslyn Heights out on Long Island & there it was just like it felt back home."
Mets Career: On August 6th, 1967, Koonce debuted for the Mets pitching in relief in the first game of a double header loss to the San Francisco Giants at Shea.
Complete Game Win: On August 12th Koonce was given a start at Shea Stadium against the Pirates. He tossed a one run complete game victory striking out five.
Complete Game Shut Out: On August 29th, Koonce threw his second Mets complete game a 2-0 five hit shutout over the Cards & Dick Hughes in St. Louis. Ed Kranepool & Ron Swoboda provided the two runs with solo HRs.
Koonce lost his next two starts then finished the season in the bullpen.
After arriving in New York, Koonce pitched in 11 games, going 3-3 with a 2.80 ERA
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On June 1st at Shea Stadium, he gave up a 10th inning HR to the Cardinals Mike Shannon taking his first loss. On June 9th, Cal gave up a walk off single to Willie Mays in a loss at San Francisco. He then took another loss to the Giants the next week at Shea.
By mid-July Koonce was 0-4 but had seven saves to his credit with a fine 1.54 ERA.
From June 17th thru the end of the season, Koonce went 6-0 with four saves & one hold to his credit with a 3.45 ERA.
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From August 4th through August 9th, he won three straight games in relief over six days. In those games he pitched 7.1 scoreless innings finishing off two extra inning wins in Houston & Los Angeles.On August 13th at Shea, Koonce earned his ninth save, coming in to get the last two outs of a 2-0 game with two men striking out Ken Boyer & getting Bob Baily to ground out.
On August 29th, Cal made his first start of the year. collecting his fifth win as he shut out the Reds into the 7th inning in a 2-0 win.
Koonce would have finished the year with an ERA under two, but in his last game of the year he gave up five runs to the Phillies in a 10-3 Mets loss. In that game Dick Allen hit three HRs one off of Koonce.
On the year Koonce was 6-4 with 11 saves in 55 appearances (both second on the club to Ron
Taylor). Koonce posted the bull pen’s best ERA (2.41) & was s second to Ron Taylor in saves (11) & appearances (55). He posted a 2.42 ERA (Fourth best on the club) with 50 strike outs & 32 walks in 96 innings.
Taylor). Koonce posted the bull pen’s best ERA (2.41) & was s second to Ron Taylor in saves (11) & appearances (55). He posted a 2.42 ERA (Fourth best on the club) with 50 strike outs & 32 walks in 96 innings.
1969 Championship Season: With the emergence of Tug McGraw out of the bullpen, the Mets had a fine quality of relievers. Gil Hodges never had to overuse any of his bullpen pitchers because there was always another ready to fill the role.
Koonce noted that was one of the biggest differences of pitching in New York as opposed to Chicago. If he pitched a game, he knew he would have ample rest before his next outing. He stated this is why the Mets relievers were rested by the end of the season during the pennant race.
Old Man of the Staff: At age 28 Koonce was seen as the aged old man of the young staff. He was a respected veteran presence that the players looked up to & was known as a good guy. Teammate Art Shamsky later said that he never heard Koonce say a bad word about anyone.
On opening day at Shea Stadium in 1969, Koonce was the losing pitcher of record in the first game played by the expansion Montreal Expos. Koonce came in to relieve Tom Seaver in the 6th inning with the Mets leading 6-4. He gave up a two run double to Mack Jones & then an RBI single to Maury Wills, as the Expos went on to win the game 11-10.
Koonce was credited with three saves through the first month of the season but gave up seven runs & saw his ERA reach 8.12 then having hard time getting down all year. On April 27th he came into a game with the Mets leading the Chicago Cubs 6-3, but he gave up five runs including a two run HR to Randy Hundley to take the loss.
From May 11th to May 16th he won two games in the with wins over the Houston Astros & Cincinnati Reds.
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On July 13th, in a doubleheader sweep over the Expos at Shea, the Expos tied the game on Koonce on Rusty Staub's RBI grounded out. But the Mets came back with RBI singles from Art Shamsky & Wayne Garrett to get him the victory & reach .500 at 3-3. On July 16th at Wrigley Field, Cal pitched five shut out innings of shutout relief over the first place Cubs. He earned the win that day over Fergie Jenkins bringing the Mets within four games of first place.
On August 1st, he put in his longest outing of the year with a 6.1 inning one run performance in Atlanta earning the win giving him his fifth victory.
As the season went on the veteran Koonce saw less action, with the clubs main closer Ron Taylor & up coming Tug McGraw saw more action.
On August 24th Koonce earned his final win of the year (6) a three-inning shutout over the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. Then on September 1st, Koonce would get pounded by those Dodgers in L.A. as he relieved Jerry Koosman in the 1st inning. The Dodgers collected five runs on ten hits on him into the 7th inning.
From September 3rd on, he made just two more appearances on year, both in Mets losses.In 1969, Koonce went 6-3 with seven saves, as the third best reliever on the staff. He struck out 48 batters walking 42, posting a 4.99 ERA. He allowed 53 runs (46 earned) in 83 innings of work. That season Cal gave up eight HRs which was more than he had given up in the two previous seasons.
1969 Post Season: Koonce did not appear in any post season games. After the Mets won the Championship, Koonce appeared with the Mets team on the Ed Sullivan Show that Sunday night.
season, Koonce returned to the Mets staff in 1970.
In 1970 he started out taking a loss to the Pirates. Then on May 3rd he gave up a walk off single to Cito Gaston in San Diego taking his second loss. In early June, after 13 appearances his contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox.
Mets Career Stats: Koonce was 15-12 with 18 saves in 119 appearances, posting a 3.43 ERA striking out 132 batters in 246 innings pitched.
Post Mets Career: In Boston, Cal was 3-4 in 23 appearances, making eight starts.
In August 1971, after 13 appearances, he was released ending his career just before his 30th birthday.
Career Stats: Overall in a ten-year career Koonce was 47-49 with 24 saves & a 3.78 ERA. In 334 games he struck out 504 batters with 368 walks in 971 innings. Koonce made 90 starts & finished off 106 games.
At bat he hit .100 (24-239) with eight RBIs.
Retirement: After his playing days, he coached baseball returning to his alma-mater in North Carolina at Campbell University (1980-1986). Koonce then became the first general manager of the Fayetteville Generals minor league baseball team.
Family: Cal & his wife Peggy had four children.
at just 52 years old. He is buried in Lafayette Memorial Park in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
In 1997 the North Carolina General Assemble passed a resolution to honor him thirty days to the day he debuted with the Mets.