War Memorial Stadium... "The Rockpile" by Bob Gaver located in Buffalo New York Former home of the Buffalo Bisons! |
"Despite a 66-74 record and a third straight year of missing the playoffs, the 50th
anniversary and farewell season for War Memorial Stadium was a huge success.
A mammoth stadium birthday party was held in August, honoring athletic greats
from all the sports that had used the Rockpile. The final home game, a 7-5 loss
to Nashville on Aug. 30 was a festive and memorable occasion, attracting a crowd
of 25,412. Overall attendance came to a record-shattering 497,760 with the
Beach Boys again setting the single-game record with 38,211 in the house for the
July 26 game with Denver. The season started in disastrous fashion as Buffalo
lost its first six games, and only got worse as the Herd gave up 37 runs in back-to-back
April losses to Oklahoma City (22-6 and 15-3) in the Rockpile. On May
27 with the team 13-28 and 11 1/2 games out of first place, the parent Indians
fired manager Orlando Gomez and replaced him with former big-league catcher Steve
Swisher. The Bisons won their first four games under Swisher and 13 of their
first 18, eventually pulling within two games of .500 before falling out of
the playoff race. The Rockpile finale was typical of the season as Buffalo built
a 4-0 lead that the pitching staff couldn't hold and turned into a 7-5 loss.
Strangely enough, Tonawanda native Billy Scherrer earned the win for Nashville,
a Cincinnati affiliate. Outfielder Dave Clark led the Buffalo attack with a .340
batting average, the best by a Bison since Frank Carswell's .344 in 1952. Clark
also had 30 homers and 80 RBIs, one of several big years from a Buffalo hitter.
Third baseman Eddie Williams (.291-22-85), outfielder Rod Allen (.302-17-92),
first baseman Don Lovell (.292-19-69) and shortstop Jay Bell (.260-17-60) all
thrived at the plate. The pitching staff, however, was brutal with a 5.58 team
ERA. Bryan Oelkers had a staff-high 11 wins, a figure not nearly as impressive
when you consider his 6.28 ERA. It was a one-year trip to Buffalo for the Indians.
The Bisons announced a working agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates that
would commence in 1988 with the opening of Pilot Field." *Buffalo Bisons. The
Bisons would go on to become the most successful Triple-A team in history at the
new ballpark, breaking the all time record for attendance over and over again. |