Rain washed away the Friday-night opener and two games were played on Saturday night, June 24, under threatening skies. The twin bill was watched by 28,190 fans and the pitching matchups foretold that there would not be much in the way of offense. The teams combined for seven runs in splitting the two games, and the Tigers maintained their one-game lead over the Orioles.

In the opener, won by Baltimore 3-1, the Orioles’ Dave McNally was up against fellow southpaw Mickey Lolich of the Tigers. They were the respective aces of their teams. McNally was coming off four consecutive 20-win seasons. Lolich the season before had led the American League in wins (25), complete games (29), and strikeouts (308). McNally’s first pitch came at 5:35 P.M.

The Tigers took the early lead. Veteran Tony Taylor singled to open the game. With one out, Al Kaline, who had first played at Memorial Stadium as a high-school sophomore in 1951, walked. Runners were on first and second with two outs when Willie Horton singled to short left field and an adventure of sorts ensued. Taylor navigated the wet track, slipping as he rounded third base, and continued home as Baltimore shortstop Mark Belanger took a tumble while fielding the ball in the outfield.

The Orioles knotted the score in the bottom of the inning. After Merv Rettenmund walked, Belanger laid down a bunt. As Detroit catcher Bill Freehan chased the ball down on the wet infield surface, Belanger outran the ball and arrived safely at first base. A walk to Don Baylor filled the bases with one out, and Brooks Robinson brought Rettenmund from third with a fly ball to center field. Lolich worked his way out of the inning, striking out Bobby Grich.

Lolich yielded two solo home runs as Baltimore pulled away to a 3-1 lead. Andy Etchebarren homered in the second inning with one out, his first home run of the season, for the eventual game-winner, and Paul Blair completed the scoring with a blast with one out in the eighth inning. Those two homers were among the 29 that Lolich gave up in 1972 to lead the American League.

“He’s got some kind of guts. Even I tried to rub out the soreness in between innings. But nothing really worked. He just kept going out there and finessing them.” – Orioles manager Earl Weaver referring to the effort of Dave McNally2

“I didn’t have a thing after the second inning – nothing. I couldn’t throw anything. No fastball. No curve. Nothing. I just threw the ball to the plate and hoped they wouldn’t hit it.” – Dave McNally, July 24, 19723

For the Orioles, starter Dave McNally pitched much of the game in pain. He had pulled a muscle in his back while pitching to Tony Taylor to record the final out in the second inning, and between innings for the duration of his time in the game he was tended to by the Orioles trainer, Ralph Falvon.

The skies opened up to the point where play was suspended for 22 minutes after the end of the sixth inning. When play resumed, Baltimore manager Earl Weaver removed the suffering McNally from the game. McNally had allowed only three hits in the four innings he pitched after sustaining the injury. The closest the Tigers got to mounting a rally was in the fifth inning when singles by Taylor and Kaline put runners on the corners with two outs. That threat was snuffed out when Freehan grounded out to second base.

Rookie pitcher Roric Harrison entered the game in the seventh inning and allowed only one hit during the final three innings to pick up his first career save. McNally earned the win, the 143rd of his career. Lolich pitched the entire game for the Tigers and took the loss, bringing his season’s record to 11-5.

The nightcap, which began at 8:42, was a matchup between Joe Coleman of Detroit and Mike Cuellar of Baltimore, and it was another game with little in the way of scoring. Not a runner crossed the plate in the first six innings. In those six innings, Cuellar allowed only two hits, both doubles. Mickey Stanley doubled with two out in the second inning and was stranded when Cuellar struck out Aurelio Rodriguez. Al Kaline led off the fourth inning with a double for the Tigers but was left stranded when Cuellar retired the next three batters.

With one out in the seventh, Bill Freehan singled for Detroit and advanced to second on a swinging bunt by Ike Brown. An RBI single by Stanley gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Coleman, who had allowed a harmless leadoff single to Don Buford in the first inning, didn’t allow his second hit until Paul Blair singled in the eighth inning. (He was subsequently caught stealing.) The Orioles tied it in the bottom of the ninth when Coleman had a short control lapse. With two outs he walked Rettenmund on four pitches. Terry Crowley’s bloop double down the left-field line eluded Wayne Comer and allowed Rettenmund to score the tying run.

The game went into extra innings. By the 12th inning the hands on the clock made it apparent that the midnight curfew could cause a stoppage in play if the game weren’t decided within the next two innings. Doyle Alexander had relieved Cuellar in the ninth inning and was in his fourth inning of relief.

“At 37, (Norm) Cash is not the world’s fastest human. In fact, with his red neck and face working on a mouthful of chew, he looks more like an enraged turtle.” — Charles Flowers, Detroit Free Press, June 25, 19724

Norm Cash led off the top of the 12th inning for Detroit with a single. The next batter, Mickey Stanley, bunted to advance Cash. Alexander fielded the bunt and unleashed a throw that sailed into right field. With runners on second and third, Weaver elected to have Alexander walk Aurelio Rodriguez to fill the bases. Ed Brinkman sent a fly ball to right field. Cash tagged up and the “enraged turtle” just beat the throw from right fielder Rettenmund.

Chuck Seelbach replaced Coleman on the mound in the bottom of the 12th inning. Coleman had allowed only one run and four hits in 11 innings, the last being Don Buford’s second single of the game, in the 11th inning. Coleman had left for a pinch-hitter, Jim Northrup, in the top of the 12th. After the Tigers took the lead, Seelbach retired the Orioles in order, striking out Blair at 11:45 P.M. to secure his fifth save of the season. Coleman was credited with the win, bringing his record to 9-5 and reducing his ERA for the season to 1.75. His great start in 1972 resulted in his being named to the All-Star Team for the only time in his career.

Al Kaline, with hits in each game, brought his career total to 2,725. He would finish the season with a team-leading .313 batting average. He played two more seasons, corralling his 3,000th hit late in the 1974 season. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

Tigers catcher Bill Freehan and outfielder Willie Horton had first been on the same major-league playing field 12 years earlier when on July 12, 1960, as teenagers, they participated in a youth all-star competition at Briggs Stadium. Freehan was an 11-time All-Star at the big-league level and Horton was a four-time All-Star who banged out 325 homers in 18 major-league seasons.

Joe Coleman, whose career began on the Boston sandlots, had come to Detroit from the Washington Senators before the 1971 season in an eight-player deal that sent Denny McLain and three other players to Washington. Coleman went 20-9 in 1971 and in 1972 would finish at 19-14 with a 2.80 ERA. In his time with the Tigers, which ended when he was sold to the Cubs on June 8, 1976, he went 88-73.

Dave McNally, who won the opener, wound up the season at 13-17 and three years later gained lasting fame when he joined with pitcher Andy Messersmith to successfully challenge the reserve clause. His first-game opponent, Mickey Lolich, finished the season at 22-14. It was the second and last time that he would win 20 or more games in a season.

Billy Martin was in his second year as manager of the Tigers. Detroit was the second of five teams managed by Martin. He had led the Twins to a division championship in 1969 and would win a pennant with the Yankees in 1976 and a World Series with New York in 1977.

Earl Weaver was in his fourth full year at the helm of the Orioles, having taken over for Hank Bauer midway through the 1968 season. His teams had been to the postseason in each of the prior three years, winning the World Series in 1970. His teams went to the postseason in five of his first six full seasons as manager, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Tigers and Orioles would contend for the balance of 1972. The games lost to the strike at the beginning of the year were never made up and, playing an uneven schedule, the Tigers won the AL East in 1972, edging the Boston Red Sox by a half-game. The Tigers were stopped in their attempt to return to the World Series when they lost in the ALCS to the Oakland A’s. The Orioles, after occupying first place as late as September 4, won only 11 of their last 25 games and finished in third place, five games behind the Tigers.

The Orioles’ Brooks Robinson won his 13th consecutive Gold Glove award, and Paul Blair won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove. Ed Brinkman won his only career Gold Glove at shortstop. The Tigers would not return to postseason play until 1984, when they won the World Series. By then, manager Billy Martin had been fired by the Tigers, A’s, Rangers, and Yankees (three times). The Orioles were in the midst of an 18-year stretch (1968-1985) in which they finished above .500 in each season. The 1972 season broke a three-year string of World Series appearances. They would be back to the Series in 1973 and 1974.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes and Baseball-Reference.com, the author used:

Hawkins, Jim. “Coleman Gives Tigers a Split,” Detroit Free Press, June 25, 1972: F-1.

Notes

1 The strike began on April 1, during spring training, and ended on April 13. The 86 scheduled games that were canceled were not played, and the teams played an uneven schedule.

2 Joe Falls, “McNally ‘Didn’t Have a Thing’ After His Back Popped,” Detroit Free Press, June 25, 1972: F-2.

3 Falls, F-1.

4 Charles Flowers, “Stormin’ Norman’s Tricks for Covering First Base,” Detroit Free Press Magazine, June 25, 1972: 20.

By the start of June, the A’s were still in fifth place, but only six games behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox. The A’s 7-1 win over the White Sox in Chicago on June 22 put them in a tie for third place with Kansas City, one game behind the White Sox. Minnesota held second place, a half-game behind the White Sox. It could be argued that the Athletics’ trouncing of the White Sox on June 23, which put them in a virtual tie for first place (for the first time in the season), was the turning point in their quest for a third consecutive West Division title.

A crowd of 15,984 showed up on the 23rd in Comiskey Park. It turned out to be a rainy day that incurred two brief interruptions during the game.

With third baseman Bill Melton and center fielder Ken Henderson out with injuries, the White Sox fielded a makeshift lineup that had rookie Bill Sharp in center and utility infielder Hank Allen playing third base in his first start of the season. Jorge Orta was returning to the lineup even though he was still hobbling.

White Sox first baseman Dick Allen, Hank’s brother, had been the American League MVP in 1972. In 1973 he picked up where he left off, blistering the ball until a 12-game stretch without a home run beginning on June 9. Yet he still had an impressive slash line of .329/.409/.658 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs going into the game.

Veteran knuckleball pitcher Eddie Fisher got the start for White Sox manager Chuck Tanner. Catfish Hunter, with nine wins already to his credit, drew the starting assignment for the A’s. Their offense was headlined by Reggie Jackson, who was batting .298 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs.

The A’s wasted no time in attacking Fisher in the top of the first. He faced only five batters, retiring just one, as Oakland scored three runs on two singles, a walk, a hit batsman, two stolen bases, and a passed ball. Steve Kealey replaced Fisher and stopped the bleeding temporarily.

The White Sox’ attempt to get back into the game yielded a run in the bottom of the inning on Pat Kelly’s leadoff triple, followed by Orta’s sacrifice fly.

But Kealey wasn’t any more effective than Fisher in containing the A’s offense in the second inning. After leadoff singles by Dick Green and Bert Campaneris, a sacrifice bunt by Bill North and a sacrifice fly by Sal Bando plated Green. Jackson’s single scored Campaneris. After Jackson got his second stolen base of the game and Deron Johnson walked, Gene Tenace’s double tallied both, making the score 7-1.

The A’s relied on “small ball” again in the third inning, when they scored three more runs on two hits, two walks, a sacrifice fly, and a fielder’s choice. Denny O’Toole replaced Kealey after the first run of the frame, but all three runs were charged to Kealey.

Orta tagged Hunter with a double, the White Sox’ third extra-base hit of the game, in the bottom of the third, scoring Kelly, who had walked.

O’Toole held the A’s scoreless in the fourth, but with two outs in the fifth inning, Bando singled and Jackson and Johnson hit back-to-back doubles for two more runs.

With the outcome of the game seemingly in hand with a 12-2 lead, the A’s began making substitutions in the bottom of the fifth inning, replacing Tenace, Bando, and Jackson.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rick Reichardt’s double was followed by an RBI single by Tony Muser for the third White Sox run.

The A’s added runs in the eighth inning on Green’s single and in the ninth on North’s solo home run for a final score of 14-3. Six of the White Sox’ eight hits off Hunter went for extra bases, including Hank Allen’s first hit (a double) of the season. Hunter’s explanation: His back had stiffened from the time he warmed up before the game to when he first took the mound after the long first inning. “I couldn’t get my pitches down,” he said.2

Every A’s starter got at least one hit in the team’s 19-hit barrage. Ninth-place hitter Green, who had collected three hits the day before, had another outburst with three singles and a double against the battered White Sox staff. Green’s two productive games came after he had been benched for 13 days. He was sarcastic about his recent performance: “I’ve always hit well in spring training, which might prove I might need a rest every now and then. Heck, play me one week and rest me three.”3

The heart of the A’s lineup accounted for 10 RBIs, with Johnson and Jackson each driving in three and Bando and Tenace each having two.

The teams combined for 10 doubles and a triple. The only home run of the game was hit by North, who was not normally regarded as a power hitter. It was his second of the season, and apparently he wasn’t expecting this one either. A recent convert to switch-hitting, North knocked the homer into the right-field seats as he batted left-handed. “When I hit it, I had no idea it was going out,” he said. “I thought maybe it would be a triple or something. I was running so hard I lost my batting helmet.”4

At the end of the day, the White Sox, A’s, and Royals were in a virtual tie for first place, separated by only .005 percentage points, and the Twins and Angels were only a half-game out of first.

As a sidelight to the game, a White Sox security guard added injury to insult for the local team when he accidentally shot himself after the game while removing his revolver from its holster in the locker room.5

The A’s took sole possession of first place six days later. In a close division race with Kansas City, they wound up holding first place for the almost all of the rest of the season. The A’s took the division title and ultimately claimed their second consecutive World Series championship. They would accomplish a rare “three-peat” in 1974.

Hunter won 21 games for the third consecutive season. The future Hall of Famer was one of three A’s hurlers with 20 or more wins in 1973. (Vida Blue won 20 and Ken Holtzman won 21).

Jackson, another future Hall of Fame inductee, was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player for 1973, on the strength of his league-leading stats for runs (99), home runs (32), RBIs (117), and slugging (.531).

Dick Allen went on the injured list after June 28 with a hairline fracture in his right leg and missed most of the rest of the season. His absence severely hindered the White Sox’ ability to remain in contention. They finished 17 games behind the A’s.

Postscript

The 1973 National SABR Convention was held in Chicago June 22-24, 1973. Attendance at the A’s-White Sox game was one of the activities. The convention took place at the Sheraton-Chicago Hotel with 23 or, depending on the source, 26 attendees. The cost was $15 for a single room and $20 for a double. Negro Leaguer Dave Malarcher was the guest speaker.6

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and Dozer, Richard. “Oakland Pummels Sox pitching 14-3,” Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1973: 3, 1.

Notes

1 The A’s were in fifth place with a 9-11 record at the end of April, scoring a meager total of 73 runs.

2 Ron Bergman, “Thundering A’s .004 Out,” Oakland Tribune, June 24, 1973: 21.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 “Sox Lose; Park Guard Shoots Self,” Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1973: 3, 10.

6 SABR National Conventions. sabr.org/about/history/5. Accessed July 29, 2019.

Wayne Garrett led off the game with a single to center off Ron Schueler, and was sacrificed to second by Felix Millan.3 However, Rusty Staub grounded out to second to end the inning. The Phillies scored early and often against Harry Parker. Larry Bowa singled to center with one out in the bottom of the first and went to third on Del Unser’s double to center. Mike Schmidt’s triple to center scored both runners.4 Tom Hutton’s groundout to second scored Schmidt. “You can pitch differently with a run like that,” Schueler said. “You can challenge hitters.”5

In the second the Phillies picked up where they left off in the first. Willie Montanez’s single to center led off the inning. Schueler sacrificed Montanez to second. Dave Cash’s single to left scored Montanez and Bowa’s single to center advanced Cash to third.6 Parker was replaced Ray Sadecki after Bowa’s hit.7

Montanez led off the inning with a double to center and Bob Boone’s single to center scored Montanez. Boone was thrown out at second, Dave Schneck to John Milner to Garrett.8

The Mets scored their only runs in the sixth. Garrett’s single led off the inning. Millan reached on a force-play grounder to third. Schueler “then watched Mike Anderson soar high above the right-field warning track to make a phenomenal backhanded catch that robbed Cleon Jones of extra bases. But it was not enough to preserve his shutout. He followed by throwing a Rusty Staub an off-speed pitch on a 1-2 count and Staub bounced it over the right-field fair-foul pole his 11th home run of the season.”9

After Staub’s home run, Schueler “found his ‘A’ curve ball, ‘the best one I’ve have had all year.’ He struck out the next four Mets and allowed just one more hit the rest of the way in recording his fourth victory of the season.”10 Schueler’s win broke multiple personal losing streaks.11 He also continued his career success against the Mets.12

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bruce Keidan wrote, “No one worked harder than Schueler. A week earlier, he was on the brink of asking to be removed from the starting rotation. ‘The first thing (manager Danny Ozark) said to me was that he believed in me. He said, “I’m sticking with you,” After that, there was nothing for me to do but try to live up to his confidence in me.’”13

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author referred to Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for box scores, play-by-plays, and other pertinent information.

Notes

1 The Phillies were a half-game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals entering the doubleheader.

2 The Mets had been in sole possession of last place since June 16. They were also in last place for one game on April 24. The Mets had yet to finish the season in last since divisional play began in 1969. They previously finished in last in 1967 (61-101).

3 Garrett entered the doubleheader with the worst batting average (.178) and third worst on-base percentage (.273) in the NL.

4 Schmidt was making his first career start batting cleanup and his second appearance overall. (He previously batted cleanup on August 2 1973.) Schmidt went on to bat cleanup in 1,027 games, more than any other spot in the lineup. He entered the doubleheader third in slugging percentage (.591) and tied for fourth in the NL with 50 RBIs.

5 Bruce Keidan, “Schueler, Twitchell Beat Mets,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 1974: 1-F.

6 Cash’s 22 singles against the Mets were the most among all 1974 opponents.

7 Parker’s 1⅔ innings pitched tied for his shortest start of the season. He also pitched 1⅔ innings against the Atlanta Braves on June 17.

8 After Sadecki allowed a two-out, fourth-inning single to Cash, he and Jack Aker combined to allow two hits over the remaining 4⅓ innings. Sadecki’s 5⅓ relief innings pitched were a season high.

9 Kiedan, “Schueler, Twitchell Beat Mets.” Staub’s five home runs against the Phillies in 1974 were more than any other opponent.

10 Ibid.

11 Schueler’s victory broke a career-worst five-game losing streak, and broke a six-game team losing streak when he started a game. Schueler and the Phillies previously won 7-1 at the St. Louis Cardinals on May 22. He and the Phillies previously won at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 3 by a 2-1 score.

12 His six career wins against the Mets were more than any other opponent. Schueler’s career batting line of .193/.271/.323 against the Mets were the best of any pitcher with 100 or more plate appearances. He limited the Mets to a 2.91 ERA in 55⅓ innings pitched in eight career starts (three complete games).

13 Kiedan, “Schueler, Twitchell Beat Mets.”

The Mets struck first in the second inning. Milner walked with one out and Ken Boswell “hammered a 1-2 pitch down the right-field line for his first home run of the season.”4

The Phillies answered, facing George Stone in the bottom of the second. Bill Robinson “led off by blasting a 1-0 pitch into the lower deck in left field.”5 Montanez singled to center with one out and Larry Cox’s fielder’s choice groundout to shortstop forced Montanez at second. Twitchell helped himself with a two-out single to right, moving Cox to second. Cash’s double to left scored Cox and sent Twitchell to third. Bowa’s single to right scored Twitchell and Cash to finish off the scoring in the inning.6

The second inning was also interrupted by loud noises and golf balls. A cherry bomb exploded in the Mets bullpen, below the left-field stands – and this followed a similar explosion in the visitors’ bullpen during the opening game of the twi-nighter.7 At the behest of the umpires, the public-address informed the crowd that “any further firecracker incidents would force the umpires to stop the game and award the Mets a forfeit victory.”8 Between innings the umpres’ crew chief, Ed Vargo, recommended to Mets manager Yogi Berra that everyone should leave the Mets bullpen. Vargo said New York relief pitchers would have “unlimited warmup throws” when they entered the game.9 The New York Times’s Parton Keese wrote: “So the Mets’ pitchers and catchers in the bull pen marched in single file and deployed to their dugout. When golf balls start bouncing around him, Kranepool decided to wear his batting helmet in left field.”10

Schmidt walked to lead off the Phillies’ fourth and Stone was replaced by Bob Apodaca.11 The Phillies broke the game open in the fifth when the first four batters reached base. Schmidt led off with a double to center and scored on Robinson’s single to center. Robinson stole second and took third on Anderson’s single to center. With Montanez batting, Apodaca balked and Robinson scored. Montanez’s single to center scored Anderson. Two outs later, Cash’s single scored Montanez. The Phillies’ four runs gave them an 8-2 lead after five.

In the next inning the Mets cut into the Phillies’ lead. Milner led off with his 12th home run of the season. After a one-out walk to Don Hahn, Ozark lifted Twitchell and replaced him with Jesus Hernaiz.12 He was making his fifth appearance in 10 games.13 Hernaiz walked Duffy Dyer, the first batter he faced. Pinch-hitter Ron Hodges’ single to left scored Hahn.

An explosion occurred when Jack Aker was warming up in the seventh. “Another cherry bomb exploded on the left field AstroTurf,” Keidan reported. “Vargo wheeled from his third-base post and glared toward the stands, but allowed the game to continue.”14

The Mets got closer to the Phillies in the eighth. Hernaiz retired the first two hitters on groundouts. Pinch-hitter Dave Schneck reached on Hernaiz’s error. Garrett’s single to right moved Schneck to second. Millan doubled to left. Schneck scored, “but Bowa’s relay throw to catcher Larry Cox cut down Garrett trying to score on the play, and the Mets were finished for the night.”15

A fourth explosion occurred while Hernaiz warmed up in the ninth, but Vargo permitted the game to continue. The Mets, down by three runs, tried to rally one more time. Ed Kranepool led off with a walk and took second on Milner’s single to right. But Hernaiz retired Boswell on a fly to right and a Hahn grounder to Bowa to end the game and sweep the doubleheader.16 Twitchell got credit for his first win as a starting pitcher since August 28, 1973, versus the San Francisco Giants. Hernaiz pitched 3⅔ innings, allowing an unearned run, for his first career save.17 He walked three, gave up four hits, and allowed an inherited runner to score.18 Hernaiz was the third Phillies pitcher to collect a save in the season.19 The attendance, 51,197, was the largest of the season at Veterans Stadium.20

The sweep combined with the St. Louis Cardinals’ 4-3 win over the Montreal Expos, kept the Phillies in first place, by one game over the Cardinals.21

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author referred to Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for box scores, play-by-plays, and other pertinent information.

Notes

1 Frank Dolson, “For Twitchell, It’s Real Thing at Last,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 1974: 1-F.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Keidan, “Schueler, Twitchell Beat Mets.” It was Boswell’s only home run at Veterans Stadium.

5 Ibid. It was Robinson’s third home run of the season.

6 Bowa’s 1974 batting line of .324/.342/.459 versus the Mets was his highest against any team.

7 Bruce Keidan, “Phils Nearly Bombed Out of First Place,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 1974: 3-F.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 Parton Keese, “New York Vacates Bull Pen as Fans Toss Fireworks,” New York Times, June 23, 1974: 4.

11 Stone did not pitch well against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. He allowed 12 runs in 12⅔ innings on 24 hits in three starts. Apodaca was also making his first career appearance against the Phillies.

12 Hernaiz made his major-league debut on June 14 and was making his fifth appearance and getting his first save opportunity. He was called up from Triple-A Toledo (International) when the Phillies optioned catcher Jim Essian.

13 Hernaiz pitched 25 times in the Phillies’ 63 games between June 14 and August 19, but only twice in the final 40 games (both in September and none after September 13). However, Hernaiz’s last nine appearances (August 4 through September 13) were when the game was tied (three) or the Phillies were behind (five).

14 Keidan, “Phils Nearly Bombed Out of First Place.”

15 Keidan, “Schueler, Twitchell Beat Mets.”

16 The Phillies played 12 doubleheaders in 1974, three of them at home. They swept all four home doubleheaders, including two against the Mets. Altogether the Phillies, swept six, were swept twice, and split four. They swept all three of their doubleheaders versus the Mets.

17 The 18 batters faced by Hernaiz were a career best. He had three more save opportunities: July 16 at San Diego (blown save and loss), July 28 versus Pittsburgh (blown save), and July 30 versus St. Louis (blown save and loss). Unofficially, he also had five holds: June 17 and June 19 versus Houston, July 14 (Game One) at San Francisco, July 18 at San Diego, and July 27 (Game One) versus Pittsburgh.

18 Hernaiz was not scored upon in seven of his first 10 major-league appearances (June 14 through July 14 [Game One]) and had a 1.56 ERA in 17⅓ innings pitched. He held opponents to a batting line of .274/.343/.355. However, he was scored upon in 11 of his 17 remaining appearances and had a 9.00 ERA in 24 innings pitched. Opponents posted a batting line of .353/.450/.598. The 1974 season was Hernaiz’s only one in the major leagues. He returned to the minors in 1975 and remained there until 1983 at the age of 38. (He did not play in 1980 and 1981.)

19 The Phillies were 19 (eighth in the NL) out of 24 (15th) in saves in 1974. Six pitchers (Larry Christenson, Gene Garber, Herniaz, Mac Scarce, Schueler, and Eddie Watt) had at least one save. Three others had save opportunities but no saves. The Phillies acquired Tug McGraw as part of a six-player trade from the Mets on December 3, 1974.

20 The Phillies’ eight runs in the second game were a season high for them against the Mets. The home attendance of 51,197 was a season-high and a Veterans Stadium record for a doubleheader at the time. Both marks were eclipsed by the 55,066 in a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 27.

21 The Phillies remained in sole possession of first place until June 24. They were back alone in first place on July 14 and remained there until July 30. Altogether, they spent 70 days (including offdays) in first place (including ties). This was the longest stretch they had spent in first (including offdays and ties) since 1964 (132).

It was just before the All-Star break and the Rangers and Red Sox were teams heading in different directions. On June 10, the Rangers had a record of 28-27 and were five games out of first place in the AL West. They won just 13 of their next 33 games and fell to 41-47, 13½ games behind the Oakland A’s. The Red Sox, however, had started on a tear. They had muddled along, splitting 30 games from June 11 through July 6. Then they won five straight and scored 40 runs in the process. They were 3½ games ahead of the Brewers and Yankees for first place in the AL East.

The game was also memorable because of the excellent pitching matchup. Ferguson Jenkins started for Texas and Luis Tiant for Boston. Jenkins gained fame in the late ’60’s with the Chicago Cubs. In the six seasons from 1967 through 1972, he won 20 or more games each season. Tiant made his mark with the Cleveland Indians in 1968 when he won 21 games and led the American League in ERA. He also led the league in ERA in 1972 with the Red Sox.

Although Jenkins won 55 more games in his career than Tiant, 284 to 229, in rate statistics, they were more evenly matched. Tiant’s won-lost percentage was .571 and his ERA 3.30, 14 percent better than average when park-adjusted. Jenkins’ figures were .557, 3.34, and 15 percent. Jenkins was inducted to the Hall of Fame in his third year of eligibility (1991) with 75.4 percent of the vote.2 Tiant never achieved more than 31 percent.

On this day, Tiant was the better pitcher. After he retired the Rangers in order in the top of the first, the Red Sox went to work on Jenkins. Bernie Carbo led off with a double that plopped into a puddle in front of center fielder Lenny Randle. Denny Doyle sacrificed Carbo to third. Carl Yastrzemski then hit a grounder to second baseman Mike Cubbage, whose throw home was too late to get Carbo. After Fred Lynn singled to center and Jim Rice struck out, Cecil Cooper drove in Yastrzemski with a double. Carlton Fisk flied out to end the inning and the Red Sox led 2-0. At that point, the 33-minute rain delay began.

When the contest resumed, the Red Sox added to their lead in the third. Doyle started by hitting a double. Yastrzemski followed with another double to drive in Doyle. After Lynn flied out and Rice struck out, Cooper was intentionally walked, because first base was open, Cooper was a left-handed batter, and the right-handed Fisk was up next. Also, Cooper was red-hot. In his previous 62 at-bats, he had 26 hits (.419) and an OPS of 1.147. The streak raised his batting average for the season to .345, which, if he’d had enough at-bats, would have been second in the AL to Rod Carew’s .372.

Although the tactic seemed well thought out, it failed. Fisk drove in Yastrzemski with a single to left. A wild pitch advanced Cooper to third and Fisk to second. But Rick Burleson popped to third and the inning was over. The lead was now 4-0.

Entering the fourth, Tiant had still not allowed a baserunner. But his modest bid for a perfect game ended when Cesar Tovar led off with a single to left. Toby Harrah reached on an infield hit. After Jim Spencer popped out to second, Jeff Burroughs grounded to third baseman Bob Heise, who stepped on third for the force, but threw wildly to first. On the error, Burroughs and Harrah moved to second and third. With two outs, Mike Hargrove came to bat. He drove in both runners with a single to right. Randle struck out for the third out and the Rangers had cut the lead in half at 4-2.

The Red Sox went down in order in the fourth and the Rangers did the same in the fifth. But in the Red Sox fifth, they struck again. After a 37-minute rain delay, Rice walloped his 14th home run over the screen atop the left-field wall to increase Boston’s lead to 5-2.

The Red Sox broke the game open in the sixth. Fisk led off with a walk and Burleson sacrificed him to second. Jenkins hit Heise with a pitch, then Carbo’s single to right scored Fisk and sent Heise to third. At that point, Rangers manager Billy Martin replaced Jenkins with rookie reliever Jim Umbarger. That created a lefty-lefty matchup with Doyle. Right-hand-hitting Doug Griffin batted for Doyle and doubled to center, his third clutch pinch hit of the week. That drove in Heise and Carbo. Harrah’s relay throw to the plate was not only late but also wild, and Griffin wound up on third. (Apparently, losing a second chess match did not enhance Martin’s job security. He was fired six games later.) Yastrzemski hit a fly to center deep enough to score Griffin. The inning ended when Lynn grounded to second, but the damage was done. The Red Sox lead was up to 9-2.

Boston tacked on its final run in the seventh. Steve Foucault came in for Umbarger and walked Rice. Cooper followed with a single to center. Fisk struck out looking and Burleson flied to right. Rico Petrocelli, who had replaced Heise at third base, singled to right to drive in Rice. The inning ended when Cooper was thrown out trying to go to third on the play. Score: Red Sox 10, Rangers 2.

Tiant had allowed only a walk and a single over the previous three innings, but ran into some trouble in the eighth. He walked the first two batters, Jim Sundberg and Cesar Tovar, then got Harrah to pop out to first. With one out and runners on first and second, Spencer singled to center. Sundberg, who would have stopped at third, scored when Lynn bobbled the ball. Then Burroughs’ fly to right advanced Tovar to third. After Hargrove’s single scored Tovar, Randle popped to second for the third out. The two runs made the score 10-4.

Roy Howell and Cubbage singled to start the ninth. Tiant retired the next three batters, Sundberg, Tovar, and Harrah, to end the game. That gave Tiant a complete game and his 12th win of the season, second only to Jim Palmer’s 13. With the loss, Jenkins’ record fell to 10-10.

In the eighth inning, designated hitter Cecil Cooper had replaced Yastrzemski at first base. So Boston lost the DH, which forced Tiant to bat in Yastrzemski’s spot in the lineup. Tiant bet teammates he would hit a home run and, with the Texas dugout laughing uproariously, Martin jokingly threatened to throw at Tiant. He flied out to right to end the inning. About his effort, Tiant said with a laugh, “Weak, very weak.”3

Boston’s 11 hits were spread across nine players. Carbo and Cooper each had a double and single and Yastrzemski had three RBIs. On a day of rain delays, Mike “The Human Rain Delay”4 Hargrove led the Rangers with two singles and three RBIs. His 2-for-4 raised his batting average to .342.

The Rangers had split their 18 games in April and their 28 in May. They played worse in June and July, winning only 25 games and losing 33. That put them in fourth place on July 31, 18½ games out of first, and ended any hopes they had for a division title. They finished 79-83 (.488), 19 games behind the A’s.

The Red Sox, however, were in the midst of a 10-game winning streak. They went 52-28 in their final 80 games and finished first in the AL East with a record of 95-65 (.594), 4½ games ahead of the Orioles. They swept the A’s in the ALCS, breaking Oakland’s streak of three consecutive World Series championships. The Red Sox then faced the powerful Big Red Machine of Cincinnati in the World Series. It was closely fought, with five games decided by one run. Cincinnati won it, beating the Red Sox in the seventh game, 4-3.

For the Rangers, Hargrove and Harrah were All-Stars and Jon Matlack was named the All-Star Game MVP.

Fred Lynn won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, a Gold Glove Award, and the Most Valuable Player Award and had the highest slugging percentage in the AL. Lynn and Yastrzemski made the AL All-Star Team.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Peter Gammons, “Stinging in the Rain – Sox 10, Rangers 4,” Boston Globe, July 13, 1975: 69.

2 To be inducted, a candidate must receive at least 75 percent of the vote.

3 Peter Gammons, “Day Belonged to El Tiante,” Boston Globe, July 13, 1975: 76.

4 Hargrove earned the nickname with his seemingly incessant fidgeting between pitches when he was at bat.

The Mets were three years removed from their World Series loss to the Oakland Athletics. Milner had been the starting first baseman on that team, contributing 23 home runs and 72 RBIs. In 1976 the Mets were briefly in contention for first place during the early part of the season, but by May 19 they were in third place, where they would remain for the rest of the season.

It had been 31 years since the Cubs had participated in postseason play. The 1976 season would be no different, as the Cubs were in fourth place coming into the game, already 18 games back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

Jerry Koosman drew the Mets’ starting assignment from rookie manager Joe Frazier. The left-hander was part of the Mets’ starting rotation that included stalwarts Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, and Mickey Lolich. It had been a roller-coaster season to date for Koosman, who was coming off five consecutive wins preceded by five consecutive losses.

Cubs manager Jim Marshall had taken over the club in late July 1974, but he had yet to record a winning record. He went with Bill Bonham as his starter. Bonham was in his sixth season with the team, having lost 37 games in the prior two seasons. With a 6-3 record and 3.39 ERA coming into the game, it appeared he was emerging as a reliable starter.

Milner had been angry with Frazier during the previous game, lifting him for a pinch-runner because he failed to reach second base on a dropped popup. But Milner’s one-on-one meeting with Frazier, at teammate Joe Torre’s urging, cleared the air before the game.1 He made an emphatic return to the lineup with the third grand slam of his career and the first of three in 1976.

The Cubs put up the first score when outfielder Rick Monday led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run off Koosman.

Bonham retired the Mets in order in the first two innings, but he ran into trouble in the top of the third. After a single by Jerry Grote, Bonham walked Koosman and Mike Phillips to load the bases. Grote then scored the Mets’ first run on a single by Felix Millan. Milner put a nail in the Cubs’ coffin early when he cleared the bases with a grand slam, his ninth homer of the season. Dave Kingman immediately followed with his 25th home run of the season off a Bonham curve that made its way onto Waveland Avenue to make the score 6-1. Bonham was lifted with one out, giving way to Paul Reuschel. Cubs catcher Steve Swisher attributed Bonham’s poor showing that inning to starting to aim the ball. Marshall said of Bonham’s short stint, “It was his first bad outing in a while.”2

The Mets loaded the bases off Reuschel in the top of the fifth inning. Rookie Bruce Sutter entered the game in relief for the seventh consecutive game and served up a single to Ed Kranepool that plated Phillips and Millan.

Koosman gave up his second hit in the bottom of the fifth, and then allowed his second run in the sixth on a walk to Monday, a single by Jose Cardenal and a sacrifice fly by George Mitterwald.

The Mets added their ninth run in the seventh inning when Kranepool singled and Del Unser tripled off Mike Garman.

Koosman loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on three walks and was replaced by Bob Apodaca, who struck out Monday looking to end the inning. After the game, Frazier explained, “It was hot out there and I thought Jerry was getting a little weak. No use abusing him. And besides, Apa’s been steadily getting better all the time.”3

Oscar Zamora pitched in the eighth for the Cubs and yielded the final Mets run on a solo home run by Phillips, who had hit for the cycle the day before. The final score was 10-2.

The Mets collected 13 hits in the game. Every position player recorded at least one hit; Millan led the way with three.

Koosman held the Cubs to three hits while recording his seventh win of the season. The roller-coaster ride would continue for him, as his victory was the start of another personal five-game winning streak. He finished with 21 wins and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres. Koosman headlined the Mets’ pitching staff that led the league in ERA (2.94) and WHIP (1.150).

Five days after the Cubs rout, Milner hit another grand slam, against St. Louis, and added his third of the year on September 27 against the Montreal Expos. He had one of the best seasons of his career, with 15 home runs and a career-high 78 RBIs while posting a slash line of .271/.362/.447.

Kingman’s 37 HRs for the season ranked him second in the National League.

The Mets’ victory over the Cubs came during a 10-game winning streak. The streak improved their standing in the NL East Division by only two games. They finished the season in third place, 15 games behind first-place Philadelphia. The Phillies lost to Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the National League Championship Series.

The Cubs finished fourth in the division, 26 games behind the Phillies, and Marshall was replaced after the season with Herman Franks. The team’s futility continued until 1984, when they won the division title and appeared in the postseason for the first time since 1945.

Postscript

The 1976 SABR Convention was held in Chicago on June 25-27. Attendance at the Mets-Cubs game was one of its activities. Forty-five members attended the convention, held at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge. The convention committee was led by Emil Rothe and Bob Soderman with assistance from Eddie Gold, Bill Loughman, and Stan Grosshandler. Former major leaguer Lew Fonseca was the banquet speaker, and the treasurer’s report listed the SABR’s assets at $1,150 at convention time.4

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Richard Dozer. “Mets Slam Cubs 10-2,” Chicago Tribune, June 27, 1976: Section 3, 2.

2 Dozer.

3 Paul L. Montgomery. “Mets Top Cubs; Grand Slam for Milner,” New York Times, June 27, 1976: 148.

4 SABR National Conventions. sabr.org/about/history/5. Accessed July 29, 2019.

Prologue

In 1877, the Columbus (Ohio) Buckeyes joined with six other teams to form the International Association, as a rival to the National League. The Buckeyes played more games, 20, than any other IA team, but managed only a 9-11 record. Two other professional leagues operated in 1877 – the League Alliance and the New England Association – but they lasted only a single season.

Along with the Guelph Maple Leafs, the Columbus club dropped out of the circuit at the end of the 1877 season. Eight more teams joined the International Association for 1878, the 13 clubs playing from 12 to 37 games each, hardly a model of stability. Even though the International Association teams considered themselves to be on a par with the already established National League, in reality they were not. Prior to the 1879 season, the National League annexed both the Buffalo and Syracuse teams, effectively dissolving the International Association.1

Even though the term “minor league” was not used at the time, in hindsight these leagues and teams are now recognized as such, and 1877 is regarded as the first minor-league season.

Columbus operated in the pro ranks sporadically between 1883 and 1898, including clubs in the major-league American Association (1883-84 and 1889-91), and then continuously from 1902 through 1970.

Red Bird Stadium was built in 1931, and served the Columbus franchise through the 1970 season. By that time, the ballpark was in need of major repairs, but IRS regulations prohibited the team, as a nonprofit organization, from using profits to make the improvements. Consequently, the team relocated to Charleston, West Virginia, in 1971. The ballpark sat unused until the Franklin County government purchased it in the mid-1970s and made the needed repairs and other major upgrades, renaming the park Franklin County Stadium. As a result, the Pirates moved their Triple-A team from Charleston back to the Ohio capital for the 1977 season, taking the new name Columbus Clippers.2

To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of minor-league baseball, SABR chose Columbus as the site of its 1977 convention.

SABR 7, held at the Columbus Holiday Inn Downtown June 24-26, was attended by 74 SABR members. It was the group’s largest-attended convention to date, and marked the first time the convention was held in a minor-league city.

Future SABR President Kit Crissey organized a get-together of 28 former major- and minor-league players to be special guests for the weekend. Their names will be listed here for posterity, since this list has never before been published. The years shown are the years that each player was active in professional baseball, in either the majors or minors, as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of minor-league baseball.

• Walter Huntzinger (1923-28)
• Roy Hughes (1933-51)
• Al Flair (1937-1951)
• Johnny Blatnik (1939-56)
• Eddie Funk (1939-40)
• George Sisler Jr. (1939-42)
• Larry File (1940-46)
• Johnny Lipon (1941-92)
• Ben Steiner (1941-51)
• Rocky Nelson (1942-62)
• Stan Partenheimer (1942-47)
• Bob Addis (1943-56)
• Johnny Bucha (1943-60)
• Dick Hoover (1943-55)
• Lloyd Gearhart (1944-68)
• Frank Verdi (1946-95)
• George Spencer (1948-66)
• Jim Fridley (1948-61)
• Maury Fisher (1949-56)
• Danny Kravitz (1949-63)
• John Romonosky (1949-61)
• Jim Waugh (1951-56)
• Ron Nischwitz (1958-66)
• Frank Bork (1960-67)
• Mickey McGuire (1960-74)
• Dave Bakenhaster (1963-70)
• Jon Warden (1966-71)
• Jim Geddes (1971-75)

All told, the careers of these SABR guests spanned the years from 1923, when Walt Huntzinger was a member of the National League champion New York Giants, through 1995, when Frank Verdi closed out his 22-season minor-league managerial career. Twenty-six of the 28 guests had major-league experience, the exceptions being Eddie Funk and George Sisler Jr. Eddie had pitched in the low minors before World War II and then became an important hurler for the 7th Army Air Force Flyers, based at Hickam Field, Oahu Island, Hawaii, during the war. That team boasted such players as Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Jerry Priddy, and Ferris Fain. George Sisler Jr., son of Hall of Famer George Sisler, followed a four-year minor-league career with many years as a minor-league executive, including 11 years as president of the International League. He was general manager of the Columbus Clippers from 1977 through 1989.

Did these players have a lot of stories to tell? Yes, they did, and they told them very well, during the luncheon and Saturday afternoon convention, before moving to Franklin County Stadium to continue the festivities. For the first and only time ever, convention-goers were treated to a SABR-sponsored old timers’ game, as well as a regularly scheduled professional contest.

Details of the old timers’ game are lacking. They were divided into two teams, one of players who had been members of National League teams, and the other of American League alumni. The umpires for the game were all SABR conventioneers – Tom Zamorski behind the plate, Troy Soos at first base, and Al Payson at third. Evidently, there was no official scorer for this game, and we have been unable to find any SABR member who even attempted to keep a scorecard. We don’t remember for sure who started on the mound for the National League team, but it may well have been local police Sergeant Dick Hoover, who, in the last of his two big-league appearances with the Braves, surrendered a home run to Hoyt Wilhelm, in the knuckler’s first major-league at-bat. Fifty-eight-year-old Eddie Funk started for the American League team; he had played in the Philadelphia Athletics’ farm system.

It is remembered that Jon Warden, a reliever on the 1968 Tigers and the only eligible member of either team who did not get into a game in that year’s World Series, manned one of the outfield positions for the American League club. Both of the current managers for the regularly scheduled minor-league game, Johnny Lipon of the hometown Columbus Clippers and Frank Verdi of the Tidewater Tides, made appearances in the game. Home plate umpire Tom Zamorski remembered calling Verdi out on strikes, with the Tides skipper throwing the bat away in disgust!

The Columbus Dispatch immortalized the game in the next day’s edition with an action photo captioned “Old Timers Play at Stadium – Two teams of ‘Old Timers’ squared off before the International League baseball game between the Columbus Clippers and Tidewater Tides Saturday night. Former Columbus and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Frank Bork, of 725 Fairway Blvd. dives into home for a run as catcher Danny Kravitz, a former Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City A’s player awaits the throw.” That may have been the first – and last – time that a player’s home address was ever included in a game description!3

*****

The Game

Once the excitement of the old timers’ game began to wear down, and the younger fellows finished their warmups, the announced crowd of 5,038 settled in for the night’s main attraction – Columbus vs. Tidewater. Tidewater, representing Norfolk, Virginia, was the Triple-A farm team of the New York Mets, and brought a 31-32 record into the game, good for fifth place in the eight-team league. The Columbus Clippers, farmhands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, were firmly in last place, with a 23-42 mark. The Clippers had won only two of nine previous contests against Tidewater so far in 1977, and sent Bob Johnson to the mound, facing the Tides’ Paul Siebert. Both pitchers were trying to make good impressions, having just recently joined their respective teams. Johnson had been released two weeks earlier by the Atlanta Braves, and Siebert had been traded 10 days previously, along with Bobby Valentine, by the San Diego Padres to the Mets in exchange for Dave Kingman.

The Tides jumped off to a 1-0 lead on first baseman Ed Kurpiel’s two-out home run, his eighth of the season, in the first inning. They added single runs in the fourth on Rich Miller’s double and a two-out single by shortstop Leo Foster, and in the fifth on a single and stolen base by second baseman Ken Perry, followed by Roy Staiger’s line-drive single, to make it 3-0.

Siebert was hit hard, giving up five hits including a double by Bob Oliver, through the Clippers’ first four innings, but hadn’t yet given up a run. His luck changed in the fifth, however. Outfielder-first-baseman Ron Mitchell, playing his ninth season in the Pirates system, pinch-hit for hurler Johnson and delivered a single past third. He moved to second on Mike Edwards’ second single of the game, advanced to third on Gary Hargis’s fly out to center field, and came home on a sacrifice fly by right-fielder Mike Easler. Edwards then got his 32nd stolen base of the season, and scored on a single by cleanup hitter Ken Macha, bringing the score to 3-2.

The next batter, Bob Oliver, launched a 3-and-2 pitch over the left-field fence for his third hit of the game, putting the Clippers up, 4-3. Columbus third baseman Dale Berra followed with a long drive to almost the same spot as Oliver’s blast, but Tidewater left fielder Rich Miller reached above the fence to snag the would-be homer.

Reliever Jim Sadowski took over on the mound for Columbus in the top of the sixth, allowing a one-out triple off the center-field fence by Leo Foster and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Randy Trapp, to tie the score at 4-4.

Ruben Cruz replaced Paul Siebert for the Tides to start the bottom of the sixth, retiring the side in order. In the seventh, however, Mike Edwards led off with his third homer of the season, putting the Clippers back on top, 5-4.

Sadowski breezed through the seventh and eighth innings before giving up a one-out double in the ninth to Tides center fielder Dan Norman and giving way to Fred Scherman. Scherman, who had been an effective reliever in stints with the Tigers, Astros, and Expos, closed out the game to preserve the win for Jim Sadowski.

That Sadowski and Siebert got to work on Old Timers night was appropriate, as they both grew up listening to stories of the good old days in their own families. Sadowski’s three uncles – Ed, Ted, and Bob – all played in the majors and Siebert’s dad, Dick, was a big-league first baseman-outfielder for 11 seasons, after which he coached the University of Minnesota baseball team for 31 years.

Every player who appeared in this game ended his career with at least some major-league service except Ruben Cruz, Ed Kurpiel, Rich Miller, Ken Perry, and Randy Trapp of the Tides and Ron Mitchell of the Clippers. Of the available players who did not participate in this game, the one who went on to the longest career in the big leagues was Tides catcher Ned Yost. At the 1977 Winter Meetings, Yost was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 draft from the New York Mets and went on to a 33-year career as a major-league player, coach, and manager.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites. The author wishes to thank Kit Crissey and Rick Huhn for their memories and assistance on this project.

Photo credits

1977 Columbus Clippers game ticket and program, autographed by Clippers manager Frank Verdi and infielder Roy Staiger. (Courtesy of Tom Hufford)

Notes

1 Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, eds. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd Edition, (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007), 132-133.

2 ohioexploration.com/structures/cooperstadium/.

3 Columbus Dispatch, June 26, 1977: E1.

After all other dignitaries had been announced, Frank Messer turned the microphone over to the public address announcer, Bob Shepherd, for “two very special announcements.” Shepherd warmed up the crowd with the following: “Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. The Yankees announce today that Bob Lemon agreed to a contract to continue as manager of the Yankees through the 1978 and 1979 seasons.” The boos grew louder. And signs of “Billy Will Always Be No. 1” and “Bring Billy Back” appeared in the crowd. Shepherd told the crowd that Lemon would become general manager of the Yankees in 1980, then said, “And the Yankees would like to announce at this time and introduce the manager of the Yankees in 1980 and hopefully for many years after that will be Number One, Billy Martin.”1

Yankees icon Joe DiMaggio summed it up best with one simple word: “unbelievable.”2

Even with all the buzz about the rehiring of Martin, there was still a ballgame to play. New York entered the game in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 55-45, eight games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox. Minnesota was in fifth place in the American League West with a record of 44-54, 12½ games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals.

Lemon chose Ken Clay to start the game, his fifth start of the season. The second-year pro entered the game with a record of 1-3 and a 5.58 ERA. Twins skipper Gene Mauch picked rookie Darrell Jackson (3-3, 3.28 ERA) to face the Yankees.

In the first inning for Minnesota, Hosken Powell and Roy Smalley opened with singles. After Powell advanced to third base on a fly ball to center field by Rod Carew, Mike Cubbage grounded out to shortstop Fred Stanley, allowing Powell to score the first run of the game. Clay got Rich Chiles on a fly ball to end the half-inning.

New York got to Jackson in its half of the inning, beginning with a one-out walk to Willie Randolph. Consecutive singles by Thurman Munson, Lou Piniella, and  Chris Chambliss gave New York a 2-1 lead. The inning ended when a passed ball on a strikeout of Reggie Jackson resulted in a double play when Lou Piniella was out trying to score from third base.

The Yankees added two runs in the second inning. Graig Nettles singled to lead off the inning and made it to third on a groundout by Mike Heath. Nettles scored on Stanley’s bunt single; Stanley scored when Mickey Rivers doubled, and New York had a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees threatened in the third on consecutive one-out singles by Reggie Jackson and Nettles, but the Twins got out of the inning on a double-play grounder by Heath.

Minnesota threatened in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs, but a foul out by Powell ended the threat.

The Yankees scored two more in the fourth on consecutive singles by Stanley, Rivers, and Randolph and a double by Munson that made the score 6-1. Reggie Jackson singled in the bottom of the sixth to score Randolph with the Yankees’ seventh run.

Through six innings Clay allowed seven hits and one run. He walked two and had no strikeouts. Ron Davis came on in relief to start the seventh inning. He walked two batters and gave up a single, and Lemon replaced him with Goose Gossage, who gave up two runs on two groundouts. Gossage got Rich Chiles on a flyout to center field to end the inning.

Just one batter reached base the rest of the game, when the Twins’ Willie Norwood walked in the eighth, and New York had a 7-3 victory on this day of celebration and surprise.

A Minneapolis journalist wrote, “Indeed, the tumult of the pre-game ceremonies, in which Martin made his return, so dulled the Yankee Stadium crowd, they forgot to boo Reggie Jackson, the Yankee villain. … Jackson reminded them, however, when he struck out to kill the Yankee rally in the first inning.”3

Postscript: After the victory the Yankees’ record was 56-45 and they stood in fourth place in the American League East, trailing the Red Sox by eight games. On the strength of Ron Guidry’s spectacular season (25-3, 1.74 ERA, and a Cy Young Award), they ended the 162-game season tied with the Boston. Then, in a tiebreaker, Dent hit his epic home run at Fenway Park and the Yankees defeated the Red Sox for the American League East title. They went on to win their 22nd World Series championship in six games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Twins ended the season with a record of 73-89, in fourth place in the AL West, 19 games behind the Royals. First baseman Rod Carew finished the season with a league-best .333 batting average.

Sources 

In addition to the game story and box-score sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA197807290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B07290NYA1978.htm

Notes

1 Phil Pepe, “Billy’s Biggest Day,” New York Daily News, July 30, 1978: 9.

2 Ibid.

3 Howard Gelfand, “Martin News Overshadows Twins Loss,” Star Tribune (Minneapolis), July 30, 1978: 25.

The Phillies started well. They had winning streaks of six and seven games. On May 10 Philadelphia’s record was 21-7 and they led the division by 1½ games. Over the next month, however, they won only 9 and lost 20. On June 10, they stood at 30-27. Thereafter the Phillies played better, posting an 8-9 record, but still fell to 6½ games out of first place.

The Cardinals began unexceptionally. At the end of April their record was 9-10. Between then and June 11, St. Louis won 23, lost 12 and had a seven-game winning streak. They improved their record to 32-22, which tied them for first place with the Montreal Expos. Then the Cardinals hit their first bad spell. In the 15 games before this, they had won only 4 and lost 11.

The starting pitchers for the June 30 game were John Fulgham for the Cardinals and future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton for the Phillies. It looked like a mismatch. Carlton had 215 career wins; Fulgham had one. But Fulgham outpitched Carlton and, with two outs in the ninth, it appeared that Fulgham and the Cardinals would be winners.

After Fulgham set down the Phillies in order in the top of the first, the Cardinals threatened against Carlton. With two outs, Keith Hernandez smacked a double to right-center. George Hendrick followed with an infield single, moving Hernandez to third. Next Tony Scott walked and the bases were loaded. But Ken Reitz grounded to third and the inning was over.

Mike Schmidt led off the second with a home run to left field and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead. From then until the bottom of the sixth, only three batters reached base for each team and no runs were scored. Fulgham retired the Phils 1-2-3 in the third, fourth, and sixth. Carlton did the same to the Cards in the third and fifth.

In the sixth, though, Carlton fell apart. Hernandez led off with his second double of the game. Hendrick followed with a single to center, scoring Hernandez, and tying the game, 1-1. Hendrick took second on the throw to the plate. After Scott popped out, Carlton intentionally walked Reitz. With Steve Swisher at bat, the runners advanced to second and third when Carlton flung a wild pitch.

After Swisher struck out looking for the second out, Mike Tyson was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring the pitcher to bat. Fulgham foiled the strategy when, on an 0-and-2 pitch, he bounced a single up the middle.1 Hendrick scored, the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead, and the bases remained loaded.

The rally continued when Garry Templeton ripped a double to left. Reitz and Tyson scored, the lead increased to 4-1, and Carlton’s evening was over. When Phillies manager Danny Ozark came to the mound, Carlton didn’t hand Ozark the ball, but swept past him and spiked the ball on the Astroturf.2

Ozark made light of Carlton’s outburst. “I did that one time,” he said. “Only I threw the ball over the fence. I had to pay the league president $2.50.”3 Warren Brusstar relieved Carlton and struck out Jerry Mumphrey to end the inning.

Neither team scored in the seventh or eighth, although the Cardinals threatened in the seventh. Hernandez and Hendrick started the inning with singles, giving St. Louis runners on first and second, but with Scott at bat, Hernandez wandered too far from second and was picked off by catcher Dave Rader. Scott then grounded into a third-to-second-to-first double play, killing what was left of the rally.

Fulgham allowed only one baserunner in the seventh and eighth and had allowed only four hits and no walks as the Phillies came to bat in the ninth. He retired Pete Rose and Schmidt on hard-hit fly balls and the Cards were one out from victory. Fulgham got ahead of Greg Luzinski, 1-and-2, and was one strike from a win. Then the bottom fell out.

Luzinski smashed the next pitch over the 386-foot sign in left-center and cut the deficit to 4-2. Garry Maddox followed with a single to center. It was time, Cardinals manager Ken Boyer thought, to replace Fulgham with right-hander George Frazier.

Boyer explained that Fulgham had thrown 120 pitches and he felt the pitcher’s slider was about to become ineffective. Plus, Frazier had a sinking fastball that Boyer hoped would induce a harmless grounder.4

Del Unser, a left-handed hitter, batted for Manny Trillo to create a matchup favorable to the Phillies. Afterward, Unser said, “I wanted to just hit the ball.”5 Hit the ball he did. Unser drilled Frazier’s first pitch 400 feet for a game-tying home run.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals got men on first and second with one out. Up came Hendrick, who already had three hits, with a chance to win the game. But he grounded into an inning-ending double play. The game went to extra innings in a 4-4 tie.

Greg Gross singled leading off the top of the 10th. Batting for Ron Reed, who had relieved Brusstar in the eighth, Jose Cardenal struck out. Then Larry Bowa dribbled a grounder to the right of the mound. Second baseman Mike Tyson charged the ball, but first baseman Hernandez cut in front of him. By the time Hernandez caught the ball, he had no play at second, then threw much too late to Frazier covering first.

Shoddy defense continued when Rose hit a groundball to Tyson. The Cards would have to hurry to turn an inning-ending double play. They got the force at second, but Bowa’s slide caused Templeton to jump as he tried to make the relay to first. In doing so, Templeton fumbled the ball and it rolled into short center field. Gross scored from second and the Phillies took the lead.

“Write in the paper that I messed up,” said Templeton. “I messed it up.” However, rival shortstop Bowa excused Templeton: “That’s not (his) fault. I’m bearing down on him. I’ve been there before. It’s a scary situation.”6

Next Schmidt singled Rose to third. Luzinski followed with another clutch hit. His single to center drove in Rose and made the score 6-4. Buddy Schultz then replaced Frazier and retired Maddox to retire the side.

In the bottom of the 10th, Tug McGraw came in to pitch and set the Cardinals down in order. The Phillies had an exhilarating win, the Cardinals, a frustrating loss. (In the end, the Cardinals exacted a small measure of revenge. They finished third in the NL East, just ahead of the Phillies.)

Reed got the win, McGraw the save, and Frazier the loss. Schmidt and Luzinski each had a homer and a single for the Phillies. Templeton, Hernandez, and Hendrick each had three hits for the Cardinals.

Although the Phillies won the game, dissension tore at the team. Several Phillies felt Ozark wasn’t tough enough and players lacked respect for him. Carlton’s tantrum was an example. “The trouble with Lefty (Carlton),” a teammate complained, “he’s never had discipline (from previous managers). The young guys – Randy Lerch, Larry Christenson – they (hang out with) Lefty and all they hear is what an idiot Ozark is. They listen. They believe it.”7

Before the game, Bowa noticed St. Louis pitchers running in the outfield, working hard to stay in shape, even on a hot day. Bowa felt Phillies pitchers lacked the same commitment. “I just don’t think guys are hungry enough,” he said, “You’ve got to want it, want it bad and you’ve got to have discipline.”

Bowa continued, “If (pitching coach) Herm Starrette says, ‘I want the pitchers to run,’ all 12 pitchers should run. If Danny says, ‘Be in uniform by 4,’ be in uniform by 4, not at 20 minutes after 4. Until somebody comes in and does that here, this team is in trouble.”8

Ozark was fired at the end of August and the Phillies finished the season a mediocre 84-78. The next year, with taskmaster Dallas Green as manager, they won the World Series. Maybe Bowa was right.

Postscript

After a seven-game winning streak ended on August 10, the Cardinals were only five games behind, still in fourth place with a record of 59-53. They remained in fourth place nearly the entire month of August. They went 16-4 from August 17 through September 7 and moved up to third place with a record of 76-62. But the Cardinals won only two of their next 10 and fell 12 games behind with only 14 to play. Their final record was 86-76, third in the NL East, 12 games behind the Pirates.

Keith Hernandez shared the MVP Award with Willie Stargell. Hernandez had the highest batting average in the NL (.344) and led the league in runs scored (116) and doubles (48). He finished second (210) in hits, one behind league leader Garry Templeton.

Hernandez also won a Gold Glove and made the All-Star Team. Other All-Stars from the Cardinals were Ted Simmons, Templeton, and Lou Brock.

Whitey Herzog became general manager on August 28, 1980, and manager in 1981. That set the stage for the excellent Cardinals teams of the ’80s. From 1981 through 1987, the Cardinals won the AL East four times, went to the World Series three times, and won it once, in 1982.

At the All-Star break, the Phillies got to 50-41, in third place, only three games out of first. But they won only 15 of their next 41 games and, by August 29 had fallen to fifth place, 12½ games out. A strong September raised their final record to 84-78. They finished in fourth place, 14 games behind.

All-Stars for the Phillies were Carlton, Bowa, Schmidt, Rose, and Bob Boone. They also had four Gold Glove winners: Boone, Trillo, Maddox, and Schmidt.

In the 43 years from 1919 through 1961, the Phillies finished first just once. They finished last 20 times. From 1969 through 1973, they finished last or next-to-last each year. But in 1974 they began to improve and won the NL East three consecutive years from 1976 through 1978 and also in 1980 and 1983. In 1980 the Phillies won their first pennant since 1950 and their first World Series ever.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also relied on Baseball-Reference.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197906300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1979/B06300SLN1979.htm

Notes

1 “How They Scored,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 1979: 4E; Jayson Stark, “Phils Nail Cards in 10th,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 1979: 1E.

2 Jayson Stark, “Phillies Rally to Drop Cards, 6-4,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 1979: 7E.

3 Frank Dolson, “Is Ozark Mean Enough to Discipline Phils?,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 1979: 1E.

4 Rick Hummel, “Cardinals Lose After Being 1 Out from Win,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 1, 1979: 1C.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Dolson.   

8 Ibid.

Notwithstanding the records, in spring training Billy Martin declared that his A’s would beat the Angels and win the division. But looking at the records approaching the All-Star break, barring divine intervention, the 38-46 A’s were not winning the division. They were, however, beating the Angels (30-50) on a regular basis: The A’s had triumphed in eight of their 10 meetings so far in 1980.

Neither looked as if they’d make the postseason: The A’s were fifth in the division, 12 games behind the Kansas City Royals, and the Angels were bringing up the rear at 18 games back.1

Before the regularly scheduled game, the Angels hosted an Old Timer’s game including a number of the original players from the original 1961 team. Those included Jim Fregosi, the current Angels manager. Hopefully he realized that Gene Autry (the original Angels owner) was kidding when he suggested that the players should stick around after the regular game: “Because if Fregosi can’t win tonight, there may be a new manager.”2 

Dave Lemanczyk (3-8, 5.06 ERA) took the hill for the Angels. He had been traded from the Toronto Blue Jays at the beginning of June and had finally gotten his first win in an Angels uniform in his previous outing. His average innings per start in 1980 were less than five, compared with over eight innings per start for the A’s Mike Norris (10-6, 2.54 ERA).

Lemanczyk’s outing did not start well: He walked Rickey Henderson, who immediately stole second. He was erased at third when Dwayne Murphy grounded into a 4-5-6-4-1 fielder’s choice. He stayed in the rundown long enough for Murphy to make it to second. Murphy advanced to third on Dave Revering’s groundout, but was left there when Wayne Gross grounded out as well.

After Larry Harlow lined out in the bottom of the first, Carney Lansford walked, then advanced to second on Rod Carew’s groundout. That set up the first score of the game: Don Baylor singled to left and Lansford scored, but Baylor was called out trying to take second. Fregosi came out to argue the call with umpire Dan Morrison, kicked Baylor’s batting helmet, and got tossed.3 Third-base coach Bobby Knoop was at his daughter’s wedding, so that left pitching coach Larry Sherry managing the game for the Angels.4

Lemanczyk’s second inning went more smoothly: He allowed a double to Jeff Newman and nothing else. Norris ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the frame: After Jason Thompson singled, he got two quick outs without allowing Thompson to advance. But then Freddie Patek doubled, putting runners on second and third. Norris escaped when Tom Donohue grounded out.

The A’s tied it up in the top of the third. After Jeff Cox grounded out, Henderson walked again and stole second again. He could have stayed put: Murphy walked as well. Revering singled, scoring Henderson and sending Murphy to third. Gross tried for a sacrifice fly to center but Larry Harlow threw out Murphy at the plate for the final out of the half-inning. Norris worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the third leaving the score tied, 1-1.

In the top of the fourth Lemanczyk allowed only a single to Mitchell Page. Norris was not so lucky in the home half. Thompson hit a one-out solo homer into the second deck to put the Angels ahead again. Bobby Grich hit a two-out double and advanced to third on Patek’s single. But he was left there when Donohue struck out.

Cox opened the fifth by reaching on an error by shortstop Patek, but no runner advanced beyond first: Two force outs at second and a fly out kept the score 2-1, Angels. In the bottom of the fifth, Norris also got two groundouts and a fly out for a 1-2-3 inning.

The A’s took the lead for good in the top of the sixth. Gross walked, then Tony Armas hit his 17th home run out to left, putting Oakland ahead 3-2. After that, Sherry replaced Lemanczyk with Dave LaRoche, who got the necessary three outs without putting a man on base. In the bottom of the sixth, Norris allowed two singles but got out of the inning on a 5-4-3 double play.

LaRoche continued pitching in the top of the seventh (he was frequently called on as a multiple-inning reliever). After Cox struck out, Henderson singled … and stole second. It was his third steal of the game and his league-leading 40th of the year.5 Murphy bunted,6 LaRoche got the ball – but no one covered first, so Murphy was safe and Henderson was on third.7 Revering grounded out to first, but Henderson scored and Murphy moved to second. Gross followed with a single to right, scoring Murphy. That was all for LaRoche: John Montague came in to face Armas and got a groundball to end the half-inning with the score 5-2, A’s. The Angels were unable to answer in the bottom of the frame: Donohue reached on an error, but that was all.

Page opened the eighth with a triple but the A’s were unable to capitalize. Two pop flies and a groundout left him stranded. Norris had a rocky bottom of the eighth. Carew grounded back to him, but first he had trouble getting a grip on the ball and then his throw was too low,8 so Carew ended up on second when first baseman Revering couldn’t quite corral the ball. Carew stayed put when Baylor grounded out to second but he was able to score on Thompson’s double to right field. Joe Rudi popped out to shortstop but Grich singled to right, scoring Thompson. That ended Norris’s day with the score 5-4, A’s. Norris was glad to be pulled, even though it broke his streak of six complete games.9 He admitted, “I was tired out there.”10 There was a good reason for that: The bullpen had recorded only six saves all year, and only two since May.11 Jeff Jones got Patek to fly out for the final out of the eighth.

Mark Clear pitched the ninth for the Angels. Henderson opened with a single – and did not steal second. He did get there on Revering’s single after Murphy flied out. But Clear struck out Dave McKay and induced a groundout from Armas to hold the deficit at one.

Jones continued pitching for the A’s in the bottom of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Dickie Thon grounded out, but Harlow singled to left. After Lansford grounded into a force play at second, Martin decided to bring in recently recalled Craig Minetto12 to face Carew, looking for the lefty-lefty matchup. Minetto caught Carew looking to end the game with the final score 5-4, A’s.

With the win, the Athletics were 11 games behind the Royals. That was as close as they’d get, despite their 47-34 second half. The Royals went 50-32 after the All-Star break, so the A’s finished second in the division, 14 games back. But they did beat the Angels frequently in 1980: 10 games to three, so Billy Martin was half-right.13

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198007120.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1980/B07120CAL1980.htm

Notes

1 The A’s actually rallied to finish second in the AL West at 83-79, but that was 14 games back of the Royals. The Angels finished sixth at 65-95, despite All-Stars Rod Carew and Bobby Grich

2 Jim Schulte, “Where Have You Gone, Joe Koppe?,” San Bernardino County Sun, July 13, 1980: D1.

3 John Hillyer, “Relievers, Armas, Glitter in A’s Victory,” San Francisco Examiner, July 13, 1980: C1.

4 Pete Donovan, “First Half Has Familiar Ending for Angels,” Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1980: 3:1.

5 This was only Henderson’s second year in the majors, and he was already on his way to the all-time record of 1,406 stolen bases over his 25-year career. He finished the 1980 season with 100 stolen bases, the major-league record. In 1980 he also made the first of his 10 All-Star Game appearances.

6 Murphy, in addition to his 1980 Gold Glove, ended up leading the league in sacrifice bunts with 22.

7 Donovan.

8 Fielding errors were not typical for Norris: He won a 1980 Gold Glove, as well as coming in second in the AL Cy Young Award vote.

9 That streak started on June 11 with a 14-inning complete game.

10 Jim Schulte, “Angels Continue to Make the A’s Feel at Home,” San Bernardino County Sun, July 13, 1980: D1.

11 Ross Newhan, “The Lack of Relief Could Finish Oakland Starters,” Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1980: III: 8.

12 Hillyer. Minetto’s previous game was June 21 for the Ogden A’s of the Pacific Coast League. His 1980 stint in the majors was seven appearances over two months.

13 Under new ownership in 1981, Martin’s prognosticating was proven accurate: The A’s won their division. Due to his divorce, Charlie Finley agreed to sell the club to Walter A. Haas Jr. on August 23, 1980.