And the following year against the Pirates when he had 4 20 game winners in Palmer, McNally, Cuellar and Dobson. And yes, those teams were excellent defensively and could hit some too. I never did, however, buy into Earl's seemingly complete disdain for hit and runs and stealing bases. But he was 1 colorful SOB.
It was pretty cool being a kid who was a huge sports fan in Balmur in the 1970s. Plenty of idols - Brooks, Frank, Palmer, McNally, Boog (then Eddie), Unitas (then Bert Jones), Bubba, Curtis.... And I had granddads who would take me to occasional Os and Colts games - my favorite thing in the world as a kid - most memorable was the ghost to the post playoff loss to the Raiders. Also used to listen to games on the radio (not every game was televised back in pre-cable days), and both the Os and Colts had Chuck Thompson doing play by play. Before my time, they had Artie Donovan doing color for Colts games, but after hearing Thompson talk about some of what Donovan said on air, Artie prolly became a legal liability after a while.
As for Stan the Man Unusual, yeah, that man was maddening to watch, but he usually got it done.