In 15 minor league seasons, he posted a 107-74 record with a 3.26 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. He never got much of a look at the big league level though. In 23 big league appearances spread out over four seasons, he was 0-3 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. But he’s a fixture in Omaha Royals’ history.
As Omaha’s 2010 season was winding to a close, I caught up with Cram and had a brief conversation with him at the 1970 Team Championship Dinner at Rosenblatt Stadium.
What do you remember about the 1970 championship season?
We won the championship in ’69. It was my first chance to play in Triple-A. I almost made the big league club that year and then having to come back was like, “Okay, work hard, do this, do that,” but we had such a great bunch of guys and whenever you can win something back to back, no matter where you’re at – it was a great accomplishment.
What do you remember about Rosenblatt Stadium?
Shakey’s Banjo Band played between innings and there’s not going to be too many people who remember that part of it.
But it wasn’t built up. It was just the one section. The ball still kind of flew out of here. Left-handed hitters struggled to hit balls out of here. You could never hit a ball to straightaway centerfield. It was definitely a pitcher’s park, but we played a very, very good brand of baseball.
Jack McKeon [who was the manager at the time] was just talking about how you guys struggled to hit .500 in 1970, and how, after you finally hit that, your team took off. Do you remember that stretch of games where you got to .500 and took off?
Well, there’s been a lot of games since then. I probably don’t remember that stretch. But that’s usually what happens. When a team wins, say 10 games in a row, then it kind of catapults you right on by and you just keep right on going.
Talk about the group of guys you played with in 1970 and the influence they had on your career.
I played with a lot of older guys and I learned a lot of things from them. We didn’t have coaches. We just had McKeon as the manager. We didn’t have a hitting guy. We didn’t have a pitching guy who stayed with us like they have today.
