April 20, 1976: Phillies’ Jim Kaat zips through ‘Lumber Company’ Pirates for first National League win

When the Philadelphia Phillies traded for Jim Kaat before the 1976 season, the 37-year-old left-hander led all active major-league pitchers with 235 career wins—all attained in the American League. Kaat recorded his first National League victory in his third start with Philadelphia, as he stymied the two-time defending division champion Pittsburgh Pirates’ “Lumber Company” lineup with a fast-paced six-hitter and clubbed a game-breaking two-run double in the Phillies’ 5-1 win at Three Rivers Stadium on April 20.

Kaat’s 15-season tenure with his original organization, the Minnesota Twins,1 had ended when the Twins placed him on waivers in August 1973. The Chicago White Sox claimed him, and the move led to Kaat’s rejuvenation and eventual induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. Aided by pitching coach Johnny Sain’s emphasis on working at a faster tempo, utilizing a quicker delivery, and challenging batters with strikes,2 Kaat had two of the best seasons of his career in 1974 and 1975, winning a total of 41 games and finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 1975.

Bob Gibson (251 career wins) retired after the 1975 season, leaving Kaat first in victories among active pitchers.3 The White Sox were looking to cut salary4 and the Phillies, whose second-place finish to the Pirates in 1975 continued a four-season trend of getting progressively closer to the top of the NL East Division standings, wanted to bolster their rotation.5 Philadelphia’s starters had a 4.11 ERA in 1975, 10th in the 12-club NL. In December 1975, general manager Paul Owens sent three younger players to Chicago for Kaat.6

“I fell in love with him 4-5 years ago,” Owens said. “He’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Jim Bunning since Bunning was 31 years old, that smart, that good a pitcher.”7

Kaat made his NL debut on Opening Day; he gave up two earned runs in seven innings in Pittsburgh’s 11-inning win on April 10.8 Five days later, he held the Montreal Expos hitless into the fourth inning—and then allowed five straight baserunners to trigger a game-deciding six-run inning.

Kaat’s next start was in the opener of a two-game mid-week series against the Pirates. The Phillies had spent the weekend slugging at Wrigley Field, racking up 26 runs in a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Third baseman Mike Schmidt bashed four home runs in a 10-inning, 18-16 comeback win on April 17, then added another homer in the next day’s game.

On the morning of Tuesday’s 12:35 PM “Businessman’s Special” game at Three Rivers Stadium, however, several Phillies woke up feeling sick—“possibly from food poisoning,” according to the Philadelphia Daily News.9 Ailing right fielder Jay Johnstone was already expected to sit out against lefty John Candelaria.10 Potentially more pivotal were the reported “weak and nauseous” feelings of shortstop Larry Bowa and Schmidt.11

Bowa departed for the clubhouse during infield practice, and manager Danny Ozark had outfielder Jerry Martin take ground balls at third, in case both Bowa and Schmidt had to miss the game.12 Schmidt turned out to be able to play and Terry Hamon filled in for Bowa at short.13

Candelaria, almost exactly 15 years younger than Kaat, had a sensational debut season in 1975, outdueling superstar Tom Seaver for his first big-league win on June 20, securing a rotation spot on the NL East champions’ roster, and setting a postseason rookie record by striking out 14 Cincinnati Reds in Game Three of the NL Championship Series.14 The 6-foot-7 Candelaria had not pitched since an April 6 exhibition—mostly because the Pirates were idle for three of the schedule’s first 10 days.15

A pair of two-out walks were the only baserunners against Candelaria in the first two innings, but former Pirate Dave Cash singled with one out in the third and took third on Garry Maddox’s double into the right-field corner.16 An intentional walk of Ollie Brown loaded the bases, and Cash scored on Greg Luzinski’s warning-track sacrifice fly to center.17

Pittsburgh had averaged nearly seven runs per game in early season play, and the club’s marketing campaign had labeled the potent Pirates lineup, “The Lumber Company.”18 But through three innings, the sole Pirate hit was Richie Zisk’s one-out single in the second. Tommy Helms—starting at third base with Richie Hebner sidelined with a virus19—also reached on Schmidt’s error to begin the Pittsburgh third. Kaat induced five groundouts in the first three innings to quash any potential threats.

“It’s like pregame practice,” Schmidt said of Kaat’s fast pace and contact-heavy approach. “One pitch, another pitch, another pitch, ground ball, ground ball, ground ball. Go in, game’s over.”20

Schmidt made it a 2-0 game by driving Candelaria’s first pitch of the fourth inning deep into the left-field seats.21 His 100th career home run22 gave him six in three games, tying five other players for the National and American League record.23

“I imagine that if I hit another home run tomorrow it’ll be another record to talk about, but I don’t have any idea what the records are,” Schmidt said after the game.

“Those are for reporters and spectators and collectors and Hall of Famers and all that. Let them worry about the records. I’m not concerned about them at all.”24

Bob Boone followed Schmidt with a double, and Harmon sacrificed Boone to third, with Kaat up next. Kaat swung and missed at a pitch, then took a ball. Ozark called for a squeeze, but Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillén anticipated it with a pitchout. Boone was trapped and tagged out.25

“I think I tipped it off with my answer sign,” Kaat said. “I should have thrown the bat at the ball anyway.”26

Back-to-back walks to begin the fifth—including Maddox after a two-strike count—finished Candelaria’s afternoon. Reliever Kent Tekulve escaped with no runs scoring, aided by Zisk’s grab of Luzinski’s low liner to left and throw to double Maddox off second.27

In the Philadelphia sixth, however, Kaat gave himself some breathing room. Catcher Boone surprised Helms with a one-out bunt single and took second on Harmon’s looping single to right.28

Kaat—who had batted just once from 1973 through 1975 because of the AL’s adoption of the designated hitter—sliced the first pitch he saw from Tekulve off the base of the wall in left center for a two-run double.29 One out later, Maddox doubled home Kaat to make it 5-0.

On the mound, Kaat continued his dash through the Pirates. Willie Stargell singled with one out in the fourth and Frank Taveras singled to lead off the sixth, but no subsequent Pittsburgh hitter hit a ball beyond the infield in either inning.

Kaat put up a three-up, three-down seventh, and sent down the first two Pirates in the eighth. Schmidt, headed for the first of his 10 career Gold Gloves, turned a diving, backhand stop of Rennie Stennett’s leadoff grounder into an out.30

At that point, Pittsburgh finally broke the shutout. Pinch-hitter Duffy Dyer doubled and scored on Taveras’ single, cutting the deficit to 5-1. Another groundout, this time by Sanguillén, made sure that the Pirates’ rally did not extend any further.

In the bottom of the ninth, former Phillie Bill Robinson flied out to begin the inning. Kaat, who threw only 26 balls in 92 pitches, then missed the strike zone on four straight pitches to Stargell for his only walk of the game.31 Dave Parker’s two-out single sent Stargell to third, but Stennett flied to right to end the game in 1 hour and 47 minutes.

“Kaat tells us he likes to get things over with in 90 minutes,” Schmidt said. “We’re all for that.”32

“I enjoy challenging a team like the Pirates because they’re so aggressive,” Kaat added.33

“He pitches like he had a roast on,” Helms quipped.34

In the next day’s game, two more Philadelphia left-handers, starter Tom Underwood and reliever Tug McGraw, blanked Pittsburgh on seven hits.35 The Phillies went on to win the NL East by nine games over the Pirates.

For the first half of the 1976 season, Kaat lived up to expectations. Through July 21, he had a 10-4 record and 2.63 ERA. But he declined after that, losing 10 of his next 11 decisions and posting a 4.93 ERA for the rest of the season. With the Phillies facing elimination in Game Three of the NL Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Kaat took a 3-0 lead into the seventh, but Ozark removed him after the first two Reds reached base, and Cincinnati rallied to close out the sweep.

Ozark used Kaat more sporadically for Philadelphia’s NL East champions in 1977 and 1978. Kaat remained the active wins king until Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres passed him with his 260th career win in August 1978. Kaat’s Phillies tenure ended when he was sold to the New York Yankees in May 1979, and he spent the remainder of his career mainly working in relief for the Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Victoria Monte and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: Jim Kaat, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference, Retrosheet, and Stathead for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197604200.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1976/B04200PIT1976.htm

Notes

1 Kaat reached the majors with the Washington Senators in 1959 and remained with the franchise when it moved to Minnesota and rebranded as the Twins after the 1960 season.

2 Jim Kaat with Douglas Lyons, Good as Gold: My Eight Decades in Baseball (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2022), 87-89.

3 Juan Marichal (243 career wins) had retired during the 1975 season. Gaylord Perry was second to Kaat among active pitchers with 216 wins.

4 Kaat with Lyons, 92.

5 Frank Dolson, “Kaat Has Phillies Rallying ‘Round the Flag,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 11, 1975: 1-C. The 1972 Phillies were in sixth place in the NL East, 37½ games behind the division-winning Pirates. The 1973 Phillies also finished sixth, but only 11½ games behind the first-place New York Mets. In 1974 the Phillies were third, eight games back of Pittsburgh, and they came in second, 6½ games out, in 1975.

6 The White Sox received pitchers Dick Ruthven and Roy Thomas and utilityman Alan Bannister. They traded Ruthven to the Atlanta Braves two days later. Frank Dolson, “Phillies Acquire Kaat for Ruthven, 2 Others: Bannister, Thomas Go to Chisox,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 11, 1975: 1-C.

7 Bunning, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, pitched for the Phillies from 1964 through 1967 and 1970 through 1971. Bill Conlin, “Ozark Dreams on His New Kaat,” Philadelphia Daily News, December 11, 1975: 88.

8 Manager Danny Ozark suggested that he had selected Kaat over Steve Carlton, the Phillies’ Opening Day starter since his arrival in Philadelphia in 1972, to take pressure off Carlton. In his three Opening Day starts from 1973 through 1975, Carlton had been recorded two losses and a no-decision. “Kaat Choice for Opener,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1976: 1-D.

9 Bill Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day,” Philadelphia Daily News, April 21, 1976: 82.

10 Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day.” Ozark had been starting the left-handed batting Johnstone against right-handed pitchers and righty-swinging Ollie Brown against lefty pitchers.

11 Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day.”

12 Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day.”

13 Martin never appeared at third in his 14-season professional career.

14 As of 2026, Liván Hernández holds the rookie record of 15 strikeouts in a postseason game, set as a member of the Florida Marlins against the Atlanta Braves in 1997.

15 Charley Feeney, “Phils’ Kaat Had Roast on: Pirates Well Done in 1:47,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 21, 1976: 22.

16 Associated Press, “Schmidt Ties Homer Record; Kaat Wins,” Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Standard-Speaker, April 21, 1976: 28.

17 Associated Press, “Schmidt Ties Homer Record; Kaat Wins.”

18 “The Lumber Co.,” Pittsburgh Press, April 11, 1976: D-9.

19 Feeney, “Phils’ Kaat Had Roast on.”

20 Gary Mihoces, Associated Press, “Schmidt Homers to Tie Record: Kaat Disposes of Pirates in Rapid Fashion,” Clearfield (Pennsylvania) Progress, April 21, 1976: 13.

21 Mihoces, “Schmidt Homers to Tie Record.”

22 Nearly 11 years to the day later, on April 18, 1987, Schmidt hit his 500th career home run at Three Rivers Stadium, a game-winning ninth-inning blast against Pittsburgh’s Don Robinson.

23 As of 2026, the record for home runs in a three-game span is seven, set by Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers in May 2002.

24 Pohla Smith, United Press International, “Schmidt Ties HR Record, But He’s Not Concerned,” Latrobe (Pennsylvania) Bulletin, April 21, 1976: 20.

25 Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day.”

26 Conlin, “Schmidt and Kaat Save a Sickening Day.”

27 Feeney, “Phils’ Kaat Had Roast on.”

28 Russ Franke, “Phillies’ Pitching Spikes Pirates Again, 3-0: Schmidt Hits 4th Home Run in 4 Games,” Pittsburgh Press, April 21, 1976: 53; Allen Lewis, “Kaat Checks Pirates with 6 Hits, Schmidt Homers as Phils Win, 5-1,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 21, 1976: 1-D.

29 Lewis, “Kaat Checks Pirates with 6 Hits, Schmidt Homers as Phils Win, 5-1.” For his career, Kaat hit .185 with 65 extra-base hits, including 16 home runs, and 106 RBIs in 1,251 at-bats.

30 Feeney, “Phils’ Kaat Had Roast on.”

31 Lewis, “Kaat Checks Pirates with 6 Hits, Schmidt Homers as Phils Win, 5-1.”

32 Jed Weisberger, “Phils ‘Kaat’ to Be Good,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette, April 21, 1976: 19.

33 Weisberger, “Phils ‘Kaat’ to Be Good.”

34 Feeney, “Phils’ Kaat Had Roast on.”

35 Schmidt homered again in the game, giving him seven in four games. As of 2026, Ralph Kiner’s eight homers for the 1947 Pirates remained the major-league record for a four-game span. Schmidt hit 38 home runs in 1976 and picked up his third consecutive homer title.