had dropped to .135, and Smith had four quality outfielders in Willie Horton, Jim Northrup, Al Kaline, and Mickey Stanley that he wanted in the lineup for every World Series game. Stanley had not played the shortstop position before the 1968 season, but was a talented athlete with a good glove. Oyler did not have an official at bat in the 1968 World Series, but he did appear in all four Detroit victories as a defensive replacement and had a sacrifice bunt. In its "The End of the Century" series, ESPN rated Smith's decision to move Stanley to shortstop for the World Series as one of the 10 greatest coaching decisions of the century. Stanley returned to play 59 games at shortstop the next year, while Oyler was allowed to be drafted by the expansion Seattle Pilots. The Ray Oyler "S.O.C. I.T. T.O. M.E. .300 Club" in Seattle (1969) Oyler was left unprotected in the expansion draft after the 1968 season and was the third player drafted by the Seattle Pilots. Before the Pilots even played their first game in 1969, Seattle radio disc jockey Robert E. Lee "Bob" Hardwick looked over the list of players drafted by the Pilots, discovered Oyler's batting average and created the "Ray Oyler Fan Club," initially as a radio bit on his radio show. Grabbing onto the popularity of the late 1960s Laugh-In show's "Sock it to Me" catchphrase, the fan club was called the Ray Oyler "S.O.C. I.T. T.O. M.E. .300" Club, meaning "Slugger Oyler Can, In Time, Top Our Manager's Estimate" and hit .300. Some 15,000 baseball-starved fans signed up, and former Pilots relief pitcher Jack Aker recalled that the Ray Oyler Fan Club was out in great number at Sick's Stadium on the Pilots Opening Day. The fan club even gave Oyler a car and an apartment to use. When Oyler came to bat for the first time on Opening Day, the Oyler Fan Club went wild. "He got cheers, horns blew, confetti filled the air in his first time at bat." In April 1969, Jim Campanis of the Kansas City Royals punched Oyler during a game. The Ray Oyler Fan Club sent a telegram to Royals general manager Cedric Tallis, protesting Campanis' actions and saying: "Please do not misinterpret our motto 'Sock it to Ray Oyler', as this is an expression of encouragement." The Oyler Fan Club also developed and