July 5, 1953: Tigers catcher Johnny Bucha hits, and gets hit, in victory over Browns

In the spring of 1953, 28-year-old catcher Johnny Bucha (pronounced Boo-ka) was new to the Detroit Tigers. He had spent the previous 10 seasons in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system. And although he had excelled in the minors, he was buried in the organizational depth chart and given few chances at the major-league level.1 When the Tigers selected him in the Rule 5 draft in December 1952, he welcomed the opportunity.2

Bucha received little playing time on the Tigers at the start of the 1953 season, stuck behind catchers Matt Batts and Joe Ginsberg. After Ginsberg was traded to the Cleveland Indians in an eight-player deal on June 15, Bucha became the second-string catcher behind Batts. In doubleheaders, Bucha started the first game and Batts the second game.

In one such doubleheader, on Sunday, July 5, 1953, the Tigers played the St. Louis Browns at Busch Stadium—formerly known as Sportsman’s Park3—in St. Louis. Bucha was the catcher in the first game. This is the story of that game, surely one of the most memorable games of his career.

In 1952, the Tigers and Browns were the doormats of the American League, finishing last and second-to-last, respectively. And through games of July 4, 1953, they were again last and second-to-last in the standings, the Tigers with a 23-51 record and the Browns at 27-49.

Among the players acquired by the Tigers in the Ginsburg trade were third baseman Ray Boone and pitcher Dick Weik. Detroit manager Fred Hutchinson chose Weik to start the first game of the July 5 doubleheader. A 25-year-old right-hander, Weik had missed the previous two seasons due to military service, and this was his first major-league start in nearly three years.

Browns manager Marty Marion went with rookie starter Don Larsen, a 23-year-old right-hander who was making his 11th start of the season. Like Weik, Larsen had served in the military in 1951 and 1952.

It was a sweltering day in St. Louis, with the temperature about 100 degrees. Nonetheless, 5,417 fans turned out for the twin bill.4

The first two innings were scoreless. Bucha led off the top of the third with a single to center field. He moved to second base on Weik’s sacrifice and advanced to third on Harvey Kuenn’s double to right field. Johnny Pesky flied out to Johnny Groth in center field, and Bucha tagged up and headed for home. This is where it got ugly.

Groth’s throw was on target to catcher Clint Courtney and arrived ahead of Bucha. Courtney slapped the tag on him, and umpire Art Passarella called him out. The play was over, but as Bucha lay on the ground at home plate, Courtney repeatedly slugged him in the cheek with the ball, until Passarella pulled Courtney away.

The benches instantly cleared. Bucha bounded up, ready to fight Courtney, and had to be restrained by his teammates. Larsen came to assist Courtney but was intercepted by the Tigers’ big first baseman, Walt Dropo, who wrestled the pitcher to the ground. There were no further punches, and order was soon restored.

Did Bucha instigate this melee? The St. Louis Globe-Democrat said he had slid hard into Courtney, whereas the Detroit Free Press described it as a routine feet-first slide. Passarella ejected Courtney from the game—Les Moss took over as the Browns catcher5—and Bucha remained in the contest.

Play resumed in the bottom of the third inning with Larsen leading off. Unruffled by Dropo’s takedown, Larsen drove the ball into the left-center field bleachers for his first major-league home run and a 1-0 Browns lead.6 Bucha, too, was none the worse for wear. In this inning, he threw out Vic Wertz attempting to steal second base.

The Tigers scored three runs in the top of the fifth. Singles by Don Lund and Pesky; doubles by Bucha, Weik, and Boone; and an error by Wertz in right field fueled the rally. It was a 3-1 game.

After throwing two pitches in the bottom of the fifth, Weik could go no more in the oppressive heat. He was replaced by veteran left-hander Hal Newhouser. The Browns scored one run off Newhouser in this inning, with singles by Bobby Young, Neil Berry, and Don Lenhardt.

In the top of the sixth, the Tigers rallied for six more runs. Jim Delsing reached on an error by rookie shortstop Billy Hunter and scored on Bud Souchock’s triple to center field. Larsen gave Bucha a base on balls and was relieved by Marlin Stuart, a 34-year-old right-hander.

The bases were loaded after Newhouser’s bunt single. Kuenn, who went on to lead the AL with 209 hits as a 22-year-old rookie, drove in two runs with his second double of the game. Pesky’s single scored Newhouser and Kuenn, and a single by Boone brought Pesky home with the sixth run of the inning. The third out was made after Stuart was relieved by rookie Mike Blyzka.

The Tigers held a commanding 9-2 lead, but the Browns came back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Groth drew a walk from Newhouser and Hunter singled. Roy Sievers pinch-hit for Blyzka and singled to left field, scoring Groth.

Newhouser was replaced by 33-year-old rookie right-hander Hal Erickson, who was ineffective. Without recording an out, Erickson gave up consecutive run-scoring singles to Young, Berry, and Wertz. Ray Herbert, a 23-year-old right-hander and Detroit native, replaced Erickson and got the final two outs of the inning. The score was now Tigers 9, Browns 6.

Famous right-hander Satchel Paige came on to pitch for the Browns. Taking the mound two days before his 47th birthday, Paige was twice the age of Herbert. Paige held the Tigers scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing only one hit, a single by Bucha.

Consecutive singles by Young, Berry, and Wertz in the eighth inning produced another run for the Browns. In the top of the ninth, facing Lou Kretlow, the Browns’ fifth pitcher of the game, Bucha drove in a run with a double to left field. It was his fourth hit of the game.

Herbert retired the Browns in order in the bottom of the ninth. The final score was Tigers 10, Browns 7. The teams combined for 31 hits. Young matched Bucha with four hits. Herbert was the winning pitcher, and Larsen was the loser.

Between games of the doubleheader, the fans were entertained by acrobat and comedian Jackie Price. Courtney was booed when he stepped onto the field during the halftime show.

The Tigers won the second game of the twin bill, 7-1. Detroit’s Ted Gray pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and fanning nine. The catchers were Batts for Detroit and Moss for St. Louis.

Courtney was ruled ineligible to play in the second game by AL president Will Harridge, who rendered his decision by phone after learning of the incident in the first game. This amounted to a one-game suspension, as Courtney was permitted to play the following day. He was also fined $100.7

Hutchinson had this to say about the Bucha-Courtney clash:

“Courtney’s a good kid. He plays hard, but he seems to have an idea that some players are trying to give him the works. I don’t think there’s any truth in that, but maybe Clint believes it. Bucha plays hard, too. He’s a catcher, and he knows that a catcher who blocks the plate can expect to be jolted pretty hard. He gets hit just the same as he hit Courtney, but he doesn’t lose his head.”8

Bucha appeared in 60 games for the Tigers in 1953. It was the final season of his big-league career, but he remained active in the minors through the 1960 season.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Sources

“2 Tiger Wins Serve Eviction Notice on 7th Place Brownies,” Detroit Times, July 6, 1953: 17.

Greene, Sam.  “Two Victories Help to Make Tigers Tolerant of Courtney,” Detroit News, July 6, 1953: 21.

McSkimming, Dent.  “Courtney’s Hard Tag on Bucha Touches Off Another Rhubarb,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 6, 1953: 4B.

Middlesworth, Hal.  “Tigers Sweep Pair; First Since 1951,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 1953: 25.

Mitauer, Harry.  “Tigers Chew Up Browns in Pair,” St. Louis Globe Democrat, July 6, 1953: 2B.

Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet, accessed August 2026.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA195307051.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1953/B07051SLA1953.htm

Image: Johnny Bucha baseball card issued by Glendale Meats in 1953.

Notes

1 Bucha had appeared in a total of 24 games for the Cardinals in 1948 and 1950.

2 “Rookie John Bucha Competing with Ginsburg, Batts for Tigers’ First String Backstop Job,” Scranton (Pennsylvania) Tribune, March 20, 1953: 24.

3 Browns owner Bill Veeck had sold Sportsman’s Park to Anheuser-Busch, the Cardinals’ new owners, in April 1953, and Anheuser-Busch president August Busch Jr. renamed the ballpark after himself.

4 For both teams, it was the second doubleheader in as many days. The Tigers had split a July 4 doubleheader with the Indians; the Browns had been swept by the Chicago White Sox on Independence Day.

5 Moss later served as a manager in the Tigers’ minor-league system for several seasons and managed the major-league Tigers for 53 games in 1979, before being fired when the club hired Sparky Anderson.

6 It was the first of three homers for Larsen in 1953. He hit 14 in his 14-season major-league career.

7 “Courtney Fined $100 for Bucha Run-in,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 7, 1953: 15.

8 Dent McSkimming, “Courtney’s Hard Tag on Bucha Touches Off Another Rhubarb,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 6, 1953: 4B.