Dizzy Dean picked up the Tris Speaker Award at the 1967 Houston Baseball Dinner. Around the same time, he came to Houston for an Old-timers Game, where he is shown here, signing a ball for Jimmy Wynn, one of his player-fans.
At last, the news sneaks into print. The 7th Annual Houston Baseball Dinner on January 24, 1967 was still open and affordable by the general public at $12.50 a ticket and still being held at the Shamrock-Hilton Hotel on South Main in Houston. Here’s how the Baytown Sun offered us the best identifiable coverage this morning as an upcoming event in their early coverage story of January 22, 1967:
______________________________
Dizzy Dean Heads All Star List at Houston (Baseball) Dinner
Houston (Sp) – Houston becomes the baseball capital of the world Tuesday night (Jan. 24, 1967) – (at) the seventh annual major league baseball dinner at the Shamrock-Hilton Hotel.
The inimitable Dizzy Dean, one of baseball’s greats in his playing days and still one of the games most colorful personalities, will be honored by the Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, as will six of baseball’s top performers in 1966.
Others to receive awards will be Frank Robinson, Joe Torre, Gaylord Perry, Chris Pelekoudas, and Clarence Gaston.
The dinner is open to the public and tickets still are available at the Baytown Sun. Tickets, including free cocktails, are priced at $12.50 per person.
Many of the Astros are expecting to be there too, including Manager Grady Hatton, newcomer Eddie Mathews, Joe Morgan, Larry Dierker, Jimmy Wynn, Bob Aspromonte, Bob Lillis, and Dick Farrell.
DIZZY DEAN
1967 WINNER
TRIS SPEAKER AWARD
Dean, a Hall of Famer and star pitcher of the ’30’s, is to be (given) the Tris Speaker Award for “long and meritorious service to baseball.”
FRANK ROBINSON
1967 WINNER
ROGERS HORNSBY AWARD
Robinson, hero f the Baltimore Orioles’ American League and World Series championships and the League’s most valuable player, will receive the Rogers Hornsby Award as “Player of the Year.”
JOE TORRE
1967 WINNER
EDDIE DYER AWARD
Joe Torre, the Atlanta Braves catcher, (and) regarded as the best in the majors today, will receive the Eddie Dyer Award for “outstanding courage and determination.”
GAYLORD PERRY
1967 WINNER
DICKIE KERR AWARD
Perry, first 20-game winner in the majors last year and All Star game winner, will receive the Dickie Kerr Award as “pitcher of the year.”
RUSTY STAUB
1967 WINNER
JIM UMRICHT AWARD
Staub, who led the Astros last year with 81 runs batted in, had 13 home runs and had 13 assists in the outfield, will receive the Jim Umbricht Award as the baseball writers have named him the “Astros most valuable player in 1966.”
CHRIS PELEKOUDAS
1967 WINNER
BILL KLEM AWARD
Pelekoudas, one of the hardest working, most popular umpires since he came to the majors in 1960, will get the Bill Klem Award as “Umpire of the Year” for his service to baseball.
CLARENCE GASTON
1967 WINNER
JIMMY DELMAR AWARD
Gaston, 22, a native of San Antonio, and a rising star as an outfielder in the Atlanta Braves organization, will receive the Jimmy Delmar Award as “The Texas Born Minor League Player Most Likely to Succeed.”
Fred Hartman, chairman of the Houston Chapter of the association, will bring greetings (at the dinner); Morris Frank will be master of ceremonies and Judge Roy Hofheinz will give the official welcome.
Special guest will be Ernie Terrell and Mohammad Ali, who are in Houston training for their world’s heavyweight championship bout Monday, February 6, in the Astrodome.
~ Baytown Sun, Sunday, January 22, 1967, Page 8.
_____________________________
The awards continue to change in meaning and name. The Eddie Dyer Award disappeared this year, but Jimmy Delmar got one added in his name.
By Year 7, the ticket prices remain affordable and Hall of Fame quality inductees continue to bless the Houston Baseball Dinner with their low cost attendance and ticket-selling power. It was a different era.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 8, 2014 at 1:48 pm |
I was listening to the Astros radio broadcast sometime in the late ’60s or early ’70s, when Dizzy Dean joined Gene Elston and Loel Passe in the booth. Raplh Garr hit a pitch off Don Wilson (if I remember correctly)–a towering fly ball to right that just went foul. Diz said, “It looked like he threw his “woosh” pitch up there.” When Elson asked him what he meant, Diz said, “That’s one of them where you throw it up there and “woosh” you hadn’t.”
August 8, 2014 at 2:27 pm |
Gotta love it, Tom! – Thank you so much.
Good Ole Diz! – “Woosh” he were still around to ‘slud” a few new old sayings through the cracks of our daily more humdrum ways of thinking about the little things that happen, and don’t happen, in life.
August 8, 2014 at 10:21 pm |
Interesting to see the younger versions of all the players honored that year!
Also interesting to realize how many changes Houston Baseball has undergone since that time.
I had a chance to reminisce about our Yankee years (when Bill managed
them) this morning with Marty Appel, who was in PR at that time. Tal Smith was there during that time also.
Thanks for always “piquing” our interest
in our favorite game!