Tag: Al Hoisington

December 8, 1960

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Despite his team’s elimination from the championship hunt, Eddie Erdelatz still had personnel choices to make. After the release of Al Hoisington, Charlie Hardy was having to play virtually the entire game at receiver as the team had no designated backup at his position. As a remedy, Erdelatz planned to use John Harris on offense for the first time this year. Harris would still get his snaps in on defense but would spell Hardy periodically in the last two games of the season.

The Raider coach also said he was reducing practice time to an hour each day. “The players are in great physical shape and they know the plays backward and forward by this time, so I can’t see any reason for lengthy practices.”

In the front office, rumors of discord among the owners continued to brew. The latest topic was ticket prices for 1961. Chet Soda acknowledged that the team had discussed reducing prices for next year, though he said, “I personally do not think it’s necessary.” Addressing talk that there would be a change at general manager, he added, “It’s been mostly palaver up to now. There’s been a lot of talk and no changes yet, you’ll notice.” So far, the other owners had continued to refer all questions about the running of the team to Soda.

Soda also weighed in on Joe Foss’s decision yesterday regarding Al Bansavage. “It was a positive infraction,” he said, “What the penalty should be, I don’t know. But it should be a really stiff one to teach everyone in the league, ourselves included, that we can’t just go ahead and do as we please.”

Soda had good things to say about the team’s first experience at Candlestick Park. “The main thing we were concerned with was the wind factor,” he said, “but that doesn’t appear to be a problem this time of year. I think Candlestick is a very, very good place to play football. The visibility was outstanding. It certainly is a better spot than Kezar.” As far as continuing there next year, he said, “That decision has not definitely been made but we don’t have much choice.” The only negative that had appeared so far was a number of players complaining about burns they received from the lime used to mark the lines on the field.

Hayward Daily Review
Oakland Tribune

November 14, 1960

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The Raiders waived end Al Hoisington today. He had joined the team a few days after the season opener against Houston but had played sparingly as a backup to tight end Gene Prebola, catching just a handful of passes in eight games. With Doug Asad getting more work, Hoisington looked increasingly like the odd man out. That left the team with 34 players on the roster. Eddie Erdelatz was vague when asked if they would add another player to take his spot.

The players still on the team were enjoying the first of three consecutive days off.

Hayward Daily Review
Oakland Tribune

October 28, 1960

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Final statistics

On a rainy Friday night in the Big Apple, the Raiders staged a ten-point comeback in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Titans, 28-27, before 10,000 spectators at the Polo Grounds. The Raiders entered the game coming off their worst loss ever, a 38-9 beating at the hands of the Bills. At 3-4, they had fallen back to the pack after challenging the Broncos for the Western Division lead just a week ago. They did come into the game mostly healthy, though. Larry Barnes, Tom Flores, and Charley Powell had all been suffering from various forms of mild illness in recent days but would be ready to go at game time. Read more “October 28, 1960”

October 20, 1960

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Billy Lott, victim of a pulled hamstring a couple of days ago, began to test it in practice today with some light jogging exercises. He was still considered doubtful for Sunday’s game. Joining him on the injured list was receiver Al Hoisington who caught a Babe Parilli pass right in the eye, giving him a shiner. Eddie Erdelatz’s response: “Nobody can say our quarterbacks aren’t hitting their targets.”

Oakland Tribune
San Mateo Times

October 16, 1960

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Final statistics

 

The Patriots hadn’t lost a game on the road and the Raiders hadn’t won at home, but that was all out the window at the end. It was probably the Raiders’ best game to date, but they were also lucky to get away with a 27-14 win over the Patriots on an unseasonably warm afternoon at Kezar Stadium.

Almost immediately, things began to go Oakland’s way. On the second play from scrimmage at the Raider 13, Jack Larscheid, starting in place of Tony Teresa, took a pitch from Tom Flores and took it 87 yards for a score. And if that weren’t a rousing enough start, Ron Burton fumbled on Boston’s first offensive play and Carmen Cavalli recovered for Oakland at the Patriot 31. Flores couldn’t move his team much closer and the score stayed 7-0 when Larry Barnes’s 40-yard field goal attempt came up short.

Most of the rest of the quarter was a punting duel. The Patriots did get close enough to give Gino Cappelletti a chance to kick one from 47 yards out, but his attempt was short, too. Frustrated with Flores’s inability to move his team after the first drive, Eddie Erdelatz put in Babe Parilli late in the quarter, but on his second play Bob Soltis picked him off and returned it back to the Raider 9. Three plays later, Alan Miller took it in to score from the 2, but Riley Morris, in the game despite numerous reports saying he wouldn’t play, blocked Cappelletti’s extra point attempt and the Raiders kept the lead. Read more “October 16, 1960”

September 15, 1960

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Talk about the Raiders continued to center around their financial health. Specifically, whether they could draw enough fans to stay solvent and stay in the Bay Area, or even the league. Chet Soda gave voice to the issue. “I’m a bit concerned over our attendance and income,” he said, “We hoped to do better. Maybe things will improve. All we can do is hope.”

The coaching staff believed things had improved on the field with the recent roster additions, most notably, Al Hoisington and Paul Oglesby. Eddie Erdelatz said Oglesby, a tackle replacing Don Churchwell, “has fine moves and I’m sure he will help us.”

Hoisington, a flanker, noted for his speed and size, had performed well in Texans camp, showing a knack for losing defenders in coverage, and had looked good in his first Raider practice as well.

Assistant coach Ernie Jorge was encouraged by what he’d seen from the whole team during their short week of practice following their disappointing loss to the Oilers. “We think we have things patched up,” he said, “and while we realize that Dallas is as tough as anybody in the league, we’ll make a lot better showing this week than last.”

Those same Texans had arrived in town for Friday night’s game looking to avenge a loss of their own, a discouraging 21-20 loss to the Chargers. They had led at the half, 20-7, but much like the Raiders, second half mistakes and missed opportunities had doomed their efforts.

Hayward Daily Review
Oakland Tribune
San Mateo Times