In his major-league debut, on July 25 against Seattle, the 6-foot-5 left-handed slugger struck out and grounded into a double play in his first two at-bats. But in his third, facing lefty Stan Clarke with the score tied 5-5, Horn hammered a two-run homer over the left-field wall to propel the Red Sox to an 11-5 win.1 The next night he pounded out three hits, including a solo homer, and drove in three runs.

After batting .370 (10-for-27) with three doubles and three homers during an eight-game road trip, Horn returned to Fenway Park as a cult hero. He homered 10 times in his first 31 games – the second fastest Red Sox player to reach double figures, behind George Scott.2 Horn finished the season with 14 homers and 34 RBIs in 46 games.

But Horn could not sustain his early success. His defensive deficiencies – combined with Jim Rice’s move to DH to make room for 24-year-old Mike Greenwell3 in left field – limited him to just 24 games as a DH and pinch-hitter in 1988. He hit just .148 with two homers before being sent back to Triple A.

Horn was back with Boston to start the 1989 season but played sparingly; he was sent down in early June after hitting .114 with no homers in 44 at-bats. He returned in September, serving mainly as a pinch-hitter in 10 games.

Released after the season, Horn signed a minor-league contract with the Baltimore Orioles on February 20, 1990. With spring training closed because of the owners’ lockout, he started with Triple-A Rochester, where he hit five homers in 32 at-bats in minor-league exhibition play.4

That outburst earned Horn a tryout when the lockout ended.5 Four days later, he was with the big club in Kansas City for Opening Day.6

Both teams entered the season hoping to contend for a division title. The previous season Baltimore had dropped two of three to Toronto in the final series to finish second, two games back of the Blue Jays. Kansas City had won 92 games but finished seven games back of Oakland in the AL West.

The Royals started Bret Saberhagen; he had posted a 23-6 record and led the league with 2.16 ERA the previous season to win AL Cy Young Award.7

Saberhagen set the Orioles down in order in the first but allowed singles to Mickey Tettleton and Randy Milligan to start the second. Horn followed with a homer in his first at-bat that splashed in the fountain8 in right-center and gave his new club a 3-0 lead.

Baltimore starter Bob Milacki held Kansas City hitless through three innings, though he issued leadoff walks to Gerald Perry in the first and Bo Jackson in the second. In the fourth, he retired the first two before walking Jackson again. Danny Tartabull collected Kansas City’s first hit – a homer to left to cut the Baltimore lead to 3-2.

In the fifth, singles by Kurt Stillwell and Perry put runners at the corners for Kansas City with two outs, but Milacki got Kevin Seitzer to line to third.

After Horn’s home run, Saberhagen retired 10 of 11 batters before surrendering singles to Billy Ripken and Phil Bradley in the fifth, but he worked out of the jam by retiring Joe Orsulak and Cal Ripken Jr. The next inning, he worked around two-out singles by Horn and Craig Worthington.

In the bottom of the sixth, veteran Joe Price9 relieved Milacki. With one out, Jackson and Tartabull singled. One out later, Stillwell grounded a double to left to give Kansas City a 4-3 lead. Then Royals second baseman Frank White blasted a full-count pitch to left for a homer. Kansas City had scored four runs to lead 6-3.10

“I’m thinking in that situation, I’ve got two outs and a full count, just throw the ball hard and see what happens,” said Price after the game. That would be OK in spring training, but when the season starts, I’ve got to make a better pitch than that.”11

Steve Farr, in relief of Saberhagen, pitched a perfect seventh inning but ran into trouble in the eighth. He plunked Cal Ripken Jr. and, one out later, allowed a single to Milligan. After a wild pitch moved the runners up, Horn blasted a homer deep into the right-field bullpen to tie the game. He was the first Oriole with two homers on Opening Day since Brooks Robinson in 1973.12 He set a club record with six RBIs on Opening Day.13

“The only ability of mine that was in doubt was the ability to get in the lineup,” said Horn afterward, referring to his Boston days. “I never had a chance to get in there on an everyday basis. I don’t know why. I got my chance here. Opportunity knocked twice, and I was there to open the door.”14

After the game, Horn thought about his mother, who was recovering from a stroke suffered on April 1. “I wanted to dedicate this game and the season to my mom,” he said. “I just hope she is able to see the highlights.”15

Baltimore manager Frank Robinson joked, “He’s spoiled me now. Anything less than that, and he’s gone.”16

Jay Aldrich17 shut the Royals out in the eighth, giving up just a single to White. Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth for Kansas City and survived a two-out double by Orsulak.

The Royals had a chance to win in their last at-bat. With two outs, George Brett reached on an error by first baseman Milligan; Jackson singled to third but Tartabull struck out to send the game to extra innings.

Each team had a baserunner in the 10th, but Montgomery and Aldrich kept the game tied 6-6.

Leading off the 11th, Billy Ripken drew a walk against Montgomery. Brady Anderson entered to pinch-run. Anderson advanced to second on Bradley’s sacrifice but was caught stealing third for the second out.

But Orsulak singled to second to put the tiebreaking run on again. Cal Ripken Jr. lined a single to right. Tartabull fumbled the ball for an error and second baseman Steve Jeltz – who had entered in the ninth after the Royals pinch-ran for White – incorrectly lined up between first and second for the cutoff throw.

By the time Tartabull located his cutoff, third-base coach Cal Ripken Sr. waved Orsulak home; he was safe on a close play.

“Jeltz should have been down the line,” said Royals manager John Wathan. “Forget about the guy going to second. He doesn’t mean anything.”18

“I had in my mind if [Orsulak] rounded third too far, I could nail him,” explained Jeltz.19 “The last time I looked – I just had a chance for a quick glance – he was two-thirds the way to third. When I got the ball, I pumped and looked, he was halfway home. It was too late.”20

“Cal gambled and won,” said Robinson after the game. “He was very aggressive. I wouldn’t second-guess him on that.”21

Gregg Olson retired the Royals in order to preserve the win.22 The final out came on a high chopper off the bat of Brett. Olson tripped while fielding the ball behind the mound but managed to make a side-arm throw from his knees.23

Manager Robinson remarked later, “I know there are 161 [games] to go, but I don’t care. That will rate as one of the best plays of the year.”24

At the end of the season, preseason expectations had not been met. Baltimore finished 76-85, in fifth place in the AL East, 11½ games behind Boston. The Royals ended up 75-86, in fifth place in the AL West, 27½ games back of Oakland.

Horn finished with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs in 79 games. The next season would be his best in the majors; he slammed 23 homers and drove in 61 runs in 121 games.25

After the 1992 season, when he homered five times in 63 games,26 he was granted free agency and signed with Cleveland. After hitting 38 homers and knocking in 96 runs for Triple-A Charlotte, Horn was called up and hit .455 (15-for-33) with four homers in 12 games in 1993.

He spent 1994 in Triple A with the Yankees and then signed with Texas. He had one more brief stint in the majors in 1995, batting 1-for-9 in 11 games.

But despite a short stay in Boston, Horn had left his mark in the minds of Red Sox fans. His memory lives on today in the form of a popular Red Sox fans’ message board named in his honor, Sons of Sam Horn.27

Author’s Note

The author skipped his classes at the University of Arkansas to make the 3½-hour drive with some college buddies to sit in the left-field bleachers. It was his first Opening Day game.

Sources

In addition to the references cited in the Notes, the author consulted data from Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA199004090.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B04090KCA1990.htm

Notes

1 Before facing Clarke, Horn was in the on-deck circle and heard Red Sox manager John McNamara calling to him from the dugout. Fearing he was about to be removed for a pinch-hitter, Horn ignored the call and never looked over. Finally, the batboy tapped Horn, who looked over to the dugout to see McNamara give him the thumbs-up and wish him good luck. Ian Browne, “HRs, Compassion Made Horn a Sox Cult Hero,” MLB.com, December 5, 2019. https://www.mlb.com/news/sam-horn-red-sox-cult-hero.

2 Browne.

3 Greenwell finished second in the AL MVP voting in 1988 after hitting .325 with 22 homers and 119 RBIs.

4 Peter Schmuck, “Orioles Magic ’90: Looking a Lot Like ’89,” Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1990: 5B.

5 Horn’s tryout was delayed three days while he made a trip to see his mother in San Diego after she suffered a stroke on April 1.

6 After the lockout ended, the season began one week later than scheduled.

7 In the offseason, the Royals had signed Mark Davis, who had won the NL Cy Young Award in 1989. This made them the first major-league team to have both reigning winners on their staff. Davis had signed a four-year deal for $13 million, making him the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball history. Interestingly, Royals manager Wathan chose not to use the left-handed Davis against the left-handed-hitting Horn with two on in the eighth. Davis would record the last out of the 11th inning in this game – after the Orioles had taken the lead.

8 Schmuck.

9 The 33-year-old left-hander was making his first appearance as an Oriole. It was his final major-league season.

10 White would play in 81 more games in the final year of his 18-year career – all with the Royals – but homered just once more, on July 4.

11 Peter Schmuck, “Price Struggles as Middle Man,” Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1990: 3B.

12 Schmuck, “Orioles Magic ’90: Looking a Lot Like ’89.”

13 “Orioles Magic ’90: Looking a Lot Like ’89.”

14 Mike Litwinn, “Slammin’ Sammy’s Debut Packs the Stuff of Legends,” Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1990: 1B.

15 “Orioles Newcomer Horn Hits High Note vs. Royals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 1990: 3C.

16 Litwinn.

17 The 29-year-old right-hander was making his first appearance as an Oriole. He would appear in just seven games and give up 11 earned runs in 12 innings. He received the win in this game. It was the last of his six career wins.

18 Schmuck.

19 This was his first game with Kansas City. In his previous seven years with Philadelphia, Jeltz was primarily a shortstop. He had played just 27 games at second base, starting in only ten of them.

20 “Orioles Magic.”

21 “Orioles Magic.”

22 This was Olson’s 22nd consecutive decision and ran his scoreless streak to 27⅔ innings. Schmuck, “Orioles Magic.”

23 Baltimore GM Roland Hemond called it “one of the greatest fielding plays I’ve ever seen a pitcher make.” Kent Baker, “Olson Goes to His Knees to Bring Royals to Theirs,” Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1990: B1.

24 Baker.

25 On July 17, 1991, Horn became the fifth nonpitcher to strike out six times in one game, the first since Cecil Cooper in 1974.

26 Horn scored the first run in the first game at Camden Yards on April 6, 1992, in the Orioles’ 2-0 win over Cleveland.

27 For the story of how it came to be named after Horn and his involvement in the site, see Ian Browne’s https://www.mlb.com/news/sam-horn-red-sox-cult-hero.

It was the final Opening Day at Comiskey Park, kicking off the last of 81 seasons there. Sorrow for the storied park was somewhat tempered by the new one taking shape across the street. After the White Sox narrowly averted a move to Florida in 1988,2 the shiny new ballpark ensured that the team was staying put at the corner of 35th and Shields.

Still, this would be a season for nostalgia at the oldest ballpark in the major leagues. 

“There’s a lot of tradition in this place,” said White Sox manager Jeff Torborg the day before. “I’m kind of a romantic anyway. … The guys here now may not be thinking of the history. They’re thinking about whether we’re going to win tomorrow. But it’s nice to be a part of something. In some ways, it’s sad. But in other ways, it’s progress.”3

Not all of the 40,008 fans in attendance on Opening Day were as even-handed. “The last true Sox opener,” read a banner hanging from the left-field upper deck.4

Opening Day was set to be a rare double feature in Chicago. For the first time in modern major-league history, both Chicago teams opened their season at home on the same day.5 The nightcap came at Wrigley Field, its first evening opener since lights were installed less than two years ago.6

The White Sox were up first. Their game “matches two clubs in very different situations,” wrote the Chicago Tribune.7 After finishing at an even 81-81 the year before, the Milwaukee Brewers were aiming for an AL East crown in manager Tom Trebelhorn’s fourth full season, re-signing reigning AL MVP Robin Yount and adding free-agent slugger Dave Parker.8 Meanwhile, “the Sox were expected to mature more than contend in the tough AL West, and nothing happened in spring training to change that,” the Tribune stated.9 Torborg’s young team tallied just 69 wins the year before, and a season of patience seemed to be in store.10 Comiskey Park itself would be the star attraction this year.

Lacking a bonafide ace, the White Sox handed the ball to Melido Perez, coming off an uninspiring 1989 season in which he went 11-14 with an ERA of 5.01. The Brewers had their ace, Chris Bosio, who had the sixth best ERA in the American League in 1989 (2.95) and tied for fourth in both strikeouts (173) and complete games (eight).

After waiting over a half-hour for a drizzly rain to subside, the White Sox led off with a nod to history, sending out Chuck Comiskey to throw the ceremonial first pitch.11 It was his grandfather Charles who built the ballpark, calling it “The Baseball Palace of the World.”

The first pitch that counted marked another milestone. When White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk caught the opening pitch from Perez to Brewers leadoff batter Gary Sheffield, it marked the fourth decade in which Fisk had played in the major leagues. He became the 18th major leaguer to achieve that milestone, and the ball was removed to be displayed in the team’s Hall of Fame in the new stadium.12 Then, in his first at-bat of the season, in the second inning against Bosio, the ageless Fisk knocked a double down the left-field line.

But the Brewers scored first the following inning. Edgar Diaz singled, advanced on a bunt, and came home on a ground-rule double by B.J. Surhoff. The White Sox tied the game in the fifth inning when Ozzie Guillen led off with a triple down the right-field line and scored on a wild pitch by Bosio. 

That was about it for offense for most of the afternoon. Perez cruised through six innings, collecting six strikeouts with just one walk and four hits. “Perez had the best tempo I’ve ever seen from him,” said White Sox pitching coach Sammy Ellis.13 But wanting to ease his starter into the new season, Torborg pulled him for Scott Radinsky, making his major-league debut, to start the seventh. After one batter and one out, Barry Jones came on to finish the inning.

The White Sox took control of the game in the bottom of the seventh. After Robin Ventura drew a leadoff walk from Brewers reliever Tony Fossas, Sammy Sosa laid a bunt down the first-base line. First baseman Greg Brock charged and fired to second, but not in time to get Ventura.14 Guillen came up and bunted, but Surhoff came out from behind the plate to field it and fire to third to force out Ventura. Then Lance Johnson loaded the bases with what the Tribune called “a 43-foot single that died barely along the third-base line.”15 Scott Fletcher hit a sacrifice fly to right field that sent Sosa home. The White Sox had scored a run on a walk, two bunts, a meek infield single, and a sacrifice fly, to take the lead, 2-1.

After five straight outs from Jones, Torborg brought in Wayne Edwards in the ninth to face Parker in a lefty-lefty matchup, and Edwards got him swinging. Then in came Bobby Thigpen, and he struck out Rob Deer and got Brock to fly out to Ivan Calderon in foul territory in left. The White Sox were victors on Opening Day.

“This is one 40,008 people will treasure long after old Comiskey Park is turned to memory and dust,” wrote the Tribune.

So did Edwards, whose one retired batter was enough to make his mark on Comiskey Park history.

“I wanted to get in on Opening Day,” Edwards said afterward. “It’s nice to be a part of history.”16

Sources

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

Notes

1 This description is based on a photo by Chris Walker on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. It appeared under Phil Hersh, “Opening Day Twice Blessed — and Doused,” Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1990: 1.

2 The White Sox were poised to move to St. Petersburg before the Illinois legislature approved funding for a new stadium at midnight on June 30, 1988. Bob Verdi, “A most fantastic dream come true,” Chicago Tribune, February 8, 1990: 49.

3 Alan Solomon, “Historic Opening for Sox,” Chicago Tribune, April 9, 1990: 25.

4 “Opening Day twice blessed — and doused.”

5 Ibid.

6 The rain would have other plans, washing out the Cubs game after two innings.

7 “Historic opening for Sox.”

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 In reality, the Brewers would plunge to sixth in the East in 1990, at 74-88, while the surprising White Sox would surge to 94 wins and a strong second-place showing in the AL West behind the mighty Oakland A’s, and Torborg would be named AL Manager of the Year.

11 “Opening Day twice blessed — and doused.”

12 Bill Jauss, “With the Game’s First Pitch, Fisk Makes It 4 Decades,” Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1990: 53.

13 Bill Jauss, “Pitchers Give Sox 5 Reasons to Smile,” Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1990: 46.

14 Alan Solomon, “White Sox, History Winners at Comiskey,” Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1990: 43.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

All of these elements were at work in early April of 1990 when the hometown Oakland Athletics took on the Minnesota Twins in what would have been a relatively uneventful affair apart from the highly unlikely reappearance of Bay Area native son and one-time A’s star pitcher Mike Norris after over six years removed from the major leagues.

Michael Kelvin Norris began his career as the picture of a local kid made good, drafted by the A’s in the first round out of City College of San Francisco, eight miles across San Francisco Bay, in 1973. He quickly made his way through stints at Class A (Burlington, Iowa) and Double A (Birmingham, Alabama), and while Mike dominated that competition, he encountered deep racism in his travels across the rural Midwest and Deep South over the next two seasons. In a 2015 interview, Norris said, “When I signed that contract, I was taught that I had to be twice as good as any of those white guys, or I wasn’t going to make it. I digested that, but didn’t keep it in the front of my mind — that wasn’t good motivation. Had it not been for my roommates Claudell Washington and Derek Bryant, I don’t know if I would’ve survived.”1

Norris did survive, though, and earned a spot with the A’s in 1975, shutting out the Chicago White Sox in his debut while facing just 32 batters. He saw limited action that year but joined the starting rotation permanently in ’76. He was often injured and struggled during his initial four seasons as the team underwent annual overhaul of its coaching staff. When the Walter Haas family succeeded Charlie Finley as the team’s new owners in 1980, they changed course dramatically by coaxing Berkeley, California, native and World Series-winning manager Billy Martin to the helm. This proved to be a boon for the franchise and ushered in a magical season for Norris.

Relying heavily on a deceptive screwball, Norris surged to a 22-9 record in 1980, along with a 2.53 ERA and 1.048 WHIP, while winning a Gold Glove and leading the league with just 6.8 hits allowed per nine innings. He pitched nine complete games in which he allowed four or fewer hits.2 The 22 wins tied Norris with Tommy John for second-most in the AL, topped only by Cy Young Award winner Steve Stone, and had Mike in the middle of a promising young pitching rotation that also included Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, and Matt Keough. The next season, 1981, he won another Gold Glove and was named to his only All-Star Game in a strike-shortened season. At that point, Norris’s heavy workload over almost a decade was showing noticeable physical impact, and he admittedly did not stay in optimum playing shape during the layoff. He required offseason surgery to repair nerve damage in his shoulder, and the prolonged hiatus proved to be his downfall, not solely because of the injury but also due to an accompanying battle he had been waging for years that finally got the best of him.

Norris had come of age during a time when a significant number of professional athletes were using cocaine recreationally, and he was no exception. By the time he was rehabbing from surgery, he was heavily involved with the drug and was arrested twice. He had seemingly fallen out of baseball apart from brief minor-league stints, in between which he was in a downward spiral leading up to New Year’s Day 1986. After consuming $300 worth of cocaine the night before, Norris decided that morning that he was finished with drug abuse. He insists he has never relapsed.3 While most of his circle of influence had abandoned him at that point, he met a Bay Area-based flight attendant named Lenise Patrick in the spring of ’86, and as of 2020 the two have been together ever since. He credits her as his primary influences in fully recovering from his addiction. Norris told Ross Newhan, “There are three things you can look forward to with cocaine: hospitalization, incarceration, and death. I’d done two of the three. The only thing left was death. It was the next step. The only way out of the misery. The madness.”4

Norris made a final comeback attempt in 1989 with the A’s Triple-A Tacoma farm team. His 6-6 record and 3.18 ERA earned him a relief role on Oakland’s 40-man roster in 1990 as a 35-year-old, but he needed his manager’s confidence to make the final Opening Day roster. “The need for pitching is so important, so Norris will be there,” said A’s manager Tony La Russa. “He has a lot of composure, plus a lot of different pitches. He’ll help us. He won’t be affected by numbers as long as he plays.”5 The miracle was within reach.

On April 11, 1990, 15 years and a day from shutting out the White Sox in his debut, Norris found himself on the mound back in Oakland to start the eighth inning in front of 27,775 admiring and surely curious fans, on the cusp of deliverance from what he called “the closest thing to the devil on earth.”6 He dealt effortlessly, setting the side down in order on 14 pitches. He started again with ease in the ninth, getting Kirby Puckett to ground weakly to third and Kent Hrbek to pop to short center before allowing a single and walk. La Russa had a reputation for holding short leashes on his pitchers, but stuck with Norris for one last batter, Greg Gagne. Gagne drove a ball hard to the left-center-field gap, but Dave Henderson clasped it to close the historic two-inning shutout relief appearance. Just like old times, only better.

While Norris was released by the A’s later in 1990, he had gained an inestimable second lease on life. He leveraged his experiences to help underprivileged youth in the Bay Area flourish in life. “I really love helping these kids,” Norris told the Richmond (California) Standard in 2020. “I grew up in the projects in the Western Addition. I know what poverty is, what poor is, and I wasn’t even in as bad a situation as some who grew up in my neighborhood. I had clothes and a baseball glove.”7 On the Board of Directors for the San Pablo Baseball Association, he sought to implement such initiatives as finance literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classes as part of the Mike Norris Baseball Academy, a league he started to help almost a dozen underserved local communities and anchored by a local Boys and Girls Club chapter.

In the spring of 2007, Norris returned to the Coliseum to be honored as one of the 13 “Black Aces” of baseball, a nod to the 13 African-American pitchers who have won 20 games in a major-league season. Norris and three of the others — Dave Stewart, Vida Blue, and Mudcat Grant– all hurled for the A’s. He suffers from a compressed spinal cord condition called cervical myelopathy, which has partially paralyzed his legs. At the Coliseum he referred to the inspiration given him by his then 9-year daughter. “It’s not what keeps me clean, but that’s what keeps me going. She’s been able to put another 10 years on my life,” he told the San Jose Mercury News. “What I took off in the midst of my drug intake, she’s given back.”8

Norris’s life had become an astounding saga of collapse and resurgence.

Sources

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

Notes

1 Owen Watson, “Mike Norris and the Moral Winter,” The Hardball Times, March 5, 2015, tht.fangraphs.com/mike-norris-and-the-moral-winter/.

2 Ross Newhan, “Norris’ Road Back Full of Self Discovery,” Washington Post, April 18, 1990. washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1990/04/18/norriss-road-back-full-of-self-discovery/b8529fad-44e2-4889-9d9d-8b9113d13b69/.

3 Newhan.

4 Newhan.

5 “Oakland’s Mike Norris Gets an ‘A’ From Fans for Comeback Effort,” Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1900. latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-12-sp-1802-story.html.

6 Newhan.

7 “Former Oakland A’s Great Mike Norris Joins San Pablo Baseball Association,” Richmond Standard, January 28, 2020. richmondstandard.com/beyond-richmond/2020/01/28/former-oakland-as-great-mike-norris-joins-san-pablo-baseball-association/.

8 Daniel Brown, “Black Aces: A’s Mike Norris Battling Back,” San Jose Mercury-News, May 31, 2007. mercurynews.com/2007/05/31/black-aces-as-mike-norris-battling-back/.

The 18-0 drubbing the Brewers gave the hometown team made for a disappointing Patriots Day for Red Sox fans. The Red Sox left for Chicago and lost 2-1 to the White Sox on April 17. Eventually they found their offense and righted their season.

Led by a pitching staff of Roger Clemens, Mike Boddicker, and Tom Bolton and five batters in the usual lineup hitting .287 or better, the Red Sox were good at producing and preventing runs. They scored 699 runs and gave up 664, yielding a Pythagorean prediction of 85 wins, three games less than their actual record.

On April 16 Mike Boddicker took the mound for the Red Sox with Teddy Higuera pitching for the visiting Brewers. The game took 3:14 to complete, a function of the offensive explosion of the Brewers.

After a scoreless first inning, the Brewers erupted for four runs in top of the second. Dave Parker doubled and scored on another double by Greg Brock. A walk to Edgar Diaz and an HBP on Dale Sveum loaded the bases. Mike Felder hit a bunt single to plate Brock and Gary Sheffield got a ground-rule double to score two more.

Boston went meekly in the bottom of the second and the Brewers resumed their hitting in the top of the third. Boddicker was removed after 2⅓ innings after giving up a single to Parker and another double to Brock. Dennis Lamp walked Greg Vaughn to load the bases and two runs scored on a single by Edgar Diaz.

A 6-0 score was looking pretty safe but the Brewers continued scoring in the top of the fourth inning. A walk to B.J. Surhoff, a double by Parker, a single by Brock, and a double by Vaughn tacked three more runs onto the lead and sent Lamp to the showers.

Dana Kiecker quieted the Brewer bats through the fifth inning but Higuera was masterful against the Red Sox, giving up only two hits in his 6⅓-inning stint.

The Brewers figured Kiecker out in the sixth inning. Surhoff reached on an error, Robin Yount was hit by a pitch, and Surhoff scored on Dave Parker’s third double of the day. Brock singled Yount home. Glenn Braggs ran for Parker and scored on a double by Vaughn to make four runs in the inning.

The seventh inning was scoreless. With the game well in hand, Higuera was pulled after one out in the seventh.

Milwaukee added five more runs in the top of the eighth to complete the scoring for the day. Vaughn and Diaz each singled and moved up a base on a wild pitch by pitcher Mike Rochford. A walk to Sveum loaded the bases and Vaughn scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Felder. Sheffield doubled in Diaz, and then two more runs scored on Surhoff’s triple. A single by Darryl Hamilton plated Surhoff for the final run of the day.

The Brewers finished the day with 18 runs and 20 hits but not a single home run, leading to caustic comments directed at the home team in the Boston Globe. “This was no ordinary mugging,” wrote Larry Whiteside. “It was one of total embarrassment … the worst Red Sox shutout loss in 35 years.”1 Milwaukee had nine doubles and a triple in the game to keep the line moving. Milwaukee was very efficient, leaving only nine men on base.

The Red Sox’ performance disappointed the Patriots Day crowd. The Red Sox managed only three hits and four walks. They left seven men on base. In their three losses to date, the Red Sox had given up 38 runs on 45 hits, leading to skepticism about the strength of their starting pitching.2 The beatdown was the worst shutout loss for the Red Sox in 35 years.3

Terry Francona replaced Greg Vaughn at first base late in the game. Who would have suspected that Francona would become a Red Sox icon starting in 2004, when he steered the team to its first World Series championship since 1918?

The Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays vied for the division lead during the first half of the season. The Red Sox were tied for the division lead on July 21 and hardly ever relinquished it, finishing with a record of 88-74, two games ahead of the Jays.

The Red Sox met the same fate they did in 1988, losing to the Oakland A’s (103-59) in the American League Championship Series. Still, it was a successful season. The Red Sox were scarcely bothered by the Patriots Day slaughter.

Sources

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

Notes

1 Larry Whiteside, “Red Sox Dismantled by Brewers,” Boston Globe, April 17, 1990: 65.

2 Dan Shaughnessy, “Brewers Only Ones to Show Up for Early Wake-Up Call,” Boston Globe, April 17, 1990: 65.

3 Whiteside.

In May 1989 the cash-strapped Seattle Mariners shipped Mark Langston, their best pitcher and an impending free agent, and another player to the Montreal Expos in exchange for three pitching prospects. Although the trade netted the Mariners a raw and wild future Hall of Famer in Randy Johnson, the most polished of the three was Brian Holman.2

Holman, the Expos’ first-round draft pick (16th overall) in 1983, started 22 games for the 1989 Mariners and impressed with an 8-10 won-lost record, a team-leading six complete games, two shutouts, and a 3.44 ERA. It led to the Mariners’ Opening Day start in 1990, and the 25-year-old was the winning pitcher against the California Angels in Anaheim on April 9. Six days later, he pitched a quality start but lost 3-0 to Bob Welch and the defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics in Seattle.

His third start of the season, on Friday night, April 20, was a rematch against Welch and the A’s in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Seattle entered the contest with a 2-8 record. Its starting nine included nascent homegrown superstars Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. The Mariners had been shut out three times, including a combined no-hitter by former teammate Langston (who had left Montreal and signed with California) and Mike Witt on April 11. By contrast, Oakland had won eight of nine, with half of its victories coming against the Mariners. The A’s lineup featured fearsome sluggers José Canseco and Mark McGwire, the so-called Bash Brothers, and Rickey Henderson, who had already amassed enough credentials to warrant consideration for induction into Cooperstown.

Nearly 45,000 fans packed the Coliseum on a cool spring night. Cablevision subscribers watched from home via the Bay Area SportsChannel. Viewers from the Seattle area tuned into KSTW-TV Channel 11. No one likely expected the drama that was about to unfold.

Welch, a 33-year-old right-hander in his 13th big-league season, had had a dreadful spring. When the regular season began, however, the Michigan native found his groove and entered the game with a 2-0 record and a 0.77 ERA. He struck out leadoff batter Harold Reynolds. First baseman Alvin Davis rapped a two-out single, but was stranded when left fielder Jeffrey Leonard lined out sharply to second.

“I was terrible in the warmup in the bullpen,” Holman said later.3 Mariners pitcher Keith Comstock told Holman afterward that he looked so bad the relievers were taking bets on when he’d be knocked out of the game.4 Holman retired Henderson, always a leadoff home-run threat, on a hard-hit ball to right and struck out Stan Javier. On a 3-and-2 count, Holman whiffed Canseco on a fastball that exploded away, ending the bottom of the first.

Welch walked the leadoff batter in each of the next two innings but pitched out of trouble. Holman set down the A’s one-two-three in the second, third, and fourth. “My arm loosened,” he recalled. “After the second inning, I couldn’t miss a spot.”5

Both starters entered the fifth inning with shutouts intact. Welch easily retired the first two Mariners. Suddenly, the Mariners received power production from three unlikely sources. Light-hitting shortstop Mike Brumley, the nine-hole hitter, lined a triple to right field. Reynolds plated Brumley with another three-bagger. Greg Briley doubled to score Reynolds, putting the Mariners up 2-0.

Holman faced McGwire to open the bottom of the fifth. In Holman’s previous start against the A’s, on April 15, McGwire yanked Holman’s 2-and-0 pitch into the Kingdome seats for a two-run homer.6 The prolific slugger took ball one, then belted a fly to deep center that Griffey Jr. caught on the warning track. The cool night air might have kept the drive in the ballpark. Holman retired the next two batters to keep his perfect game intact.

Welch set Seattle down in order in the top of the sixth. Holman returned the favor in the bottom of the inning. The young right-hander had now gone deeper in a game without allowing a baserunner than at any previous time in his major-league career.7

Welch dispatched the Mariners again in the seventh and Holman faced the top of the A’s lineup for the third time. “I thought if he could get Rickey, Javier, and Canseco, that was the key,” catcher Dave Valle surmised about the prospect of a perfect game.8 Henderson flied out to Griffey Jr. and Javier rolled over an easy grounder to Reynolds at second.

Canseco ran the count full, then lashed a fastball down the third-base line that just missed being a fair ball. Unruffled, Holman elected to challenge the 1988 American League Most Valuable Player with another heater. His seventh pitch of the at-bat bore in at the letters and Canseco took a mighty cut but came up empty. “I should have hit [that pitch] all the way to China,” the Cuban-born slugger lamented after the game.9

Holman returned to the dugout. “I sat down and everyone got away from me. I looked up at the scoreboard and saw zeros all the way.”10 Only then did Holman realize what was happening.

Tension continued to build. ESPN, in its first season of broadcasting major-league baseball, cut away from its national game to join the contest. Seattle club owner Jeff Smulyan tuned in from his home in Indianapolis.11 “Be diving for anything, huh?” 20-year-old Griffey Jr. implored the veteran outfielder Leonard on the bench.12

Mike Norris relieved Welch and retired the Mariners to keep the score at 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth. Seattle manager Jim Lefebvre made a defensive move, replacing Davis at first base with slick-fielding designated hitter Pete O’Brien. It meant giving up the DH, but with Davis’s spot in the order due up seventh the next inning, there seemed little likelihood that Holman would come to bat.

“Pound the ball in and don’t throw a hanging breaking ball to anyone,” Holman reminded himself.13 McGwire flied out to right, Ron Hassey struck out looking, and Terry Steinbach grounded out to short. His entire repertoire – fastball, curveball, changeup, and slider – kept working to perfection.

Holman hoped for a quick half-inning in the top of the ninth, but the Mariners’ bats unexpectedly came alive. O’Brien and Martinez opened with base hits. Valle’s bunt moved the runners up. Both scored on Brumley’s sacrifice fly and Reynolds’s two-out single. A’s manager Tony La Russa summoned southpaw Dave Otto to face Briley. Lefebvre countered with righthanded pinch-hitter Henry Cotto.

Holman came out to the on-deck circle and begged Cotto to strike out. “I am literally mouthing the words to Henry, ‘Strike Out!’” he pleaded.14 But Otto couldn’t find his control and walked Cotto. Holman, a career .111 hitter from his days in the National League, came to bat and punched a grounder to second that Mike Gallego booted for an error. Leonard singled to score Reynolds and Cotto, forcing Holman to jog to second. Griffey Jr. grounded out to end the half-inning.

Holman returned to the slab with a 6-0 lead. Many of the partisan A’s fans began to cheer on the Mariners hurler with every pitch. Holman struck out pinch-hitter Félix José and the Coliseum crowd went wild. “I pitched a no-hitter in high school,” the Wichita North graduate reflected afterward, “but it was nothing like this.”15

Walt Weiss grounded to second. Holman stepped off the mound, one out away from tossing just the 13th perfect game in major-league history.16 “I’m going to be in the Hall of Fame,” he fantasized in a moment of hubris. “They’re going to want my hat, shirt, jock, and underwear. Put it up in a fake locker in Cooperstown.”17 What befell Holman next was akin to classic Greek tragedy.

Lefty-swinging pinch-hitter Ken Phelps strode to the plate. The 35-year-old entered the season averaging one home run in every 14.2 at-bats. He had been loosening up in the A’s locker room since the sixth inning.

Valle called for a first-pitch fastball. Holman left his 99th pitch of the game up in the zone. Phelps launched a missile over the right-field fence, clapped his hands once as he rounded second base, jumped on home plate with both feet, and patted umpire Drew Coble playfully on the rear. “I was looking for a fastball. It was probably one of the only mistakes he made tonight,” Phelps mused afterward.18

The Seattle native and ex-Mariner spoiled a perfect game, a no-hitter, and a shutout with one swing. As of 2023, it was the only time a perfect game had been broken up by a home run with two outs in the ninth inning.19

Holman regrouped and struck out Henderson on five pitches to secure the 6-1 victory. The promising young right-hander won 37 major-league games, tore his rotator cuff at the end of the 1991 season, and never pitched again. Phelps’s shot was his only homer in 120 at-bats split between Oakland and Cleveland and the last of his career. Welch won 27 games and the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, Henderson was voted American League MVP, and Oakland advanced to its third consecutive World Series.

Acknowledgments

SABR members John Fredland, Gary Belleville, and Kurt Blumenau provided insightful comments and review on an earlier version of this article.

This article was fact-checked by Madison McEntire and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

The author reviewed the Oakland Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Times, and Tacoma News Tribune newspapers for game coverage.

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199004200.shtml.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B04200OAK1990.htm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HG69Pv7f7A&ab_channel=PaulHoover.

Finnigan, Bob. “Almost Perfect, Holman Loses Bid With 1 Out to Go,” Seattle Times, April 21, 1990: B1.

Notes

1 Brian Holman (as told to Jim Street), “The Night Holman Was Nearly Perfect,” golferswest.com, February 2, 2018.

2 The trade on May 25 had Montreal sending Holman, Johnson, and Gene Harris to Seattle for Langston and a player to be named later. Montreal received Mike Campbell on July 31 to complete the trade.

3 Danny Gallagher, “Expo Ex Holman Talks the Talk,” canadianbaseballnetwork.com, April 21, 2015.

4 “The Night Holman Was Nearly Perfect.”

5 Larry Stone, “Not a Perfect World,” Seattle Times, April 16, 2010: C1.

6 Jim Street, “M’s Get Goose Eggs for Easter,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 16, 1990: D-1.

7 Holman threw five perfect innings before surrendering a hit en route to a three-hit shutout over the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium on July 14, 1989.

8 Associated Press, “One Pitch Kept Holman From Perfect Game,” Tampa Bay Times, April 22, 1990, https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/04/22/one-pitch-kept-holman-from-perfect-game/.

9 Jim Street, “Bang! Holman Perfecto Gone,” The Sporting News, April 30, 1990: 20.

10 Larry Stone, “Not a Perfect World.”

11 Larry LaRue, “A Perfect Shame,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 21, 1990: C1.

12 Larry LaRue, “A Perfect Shame.”

13 “The Night Holman Was Nearly Perfect.”

14 Shannon Drayer, “Joe Saunders’ Rare At-Bat Brings to Mind Brian Holman,” sports.mynorthwest.com, July 1, 2013.

15 Jim Street, “Holman Close to Perfection,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 21, 1990: D1.

16 It would have been the Mariners’ first no-hitter/perfect game. Six weeks later, on June 2, Randy Johnson threw the team’s first no-hitter; Félix Hernández the first perfect game on August 15, 2012.

17 Larry Stone, “Not a Perfect World.”

18 Dave Newhouse, “It Took One Pitch from Phelps to End Holman’s Dream Game,” Oakland Tribune, April 21, 1990: C-6.

19 Stew Thornley, “Lost in the Ninth: No-Hitters Broken Up in the Ninth Inning Since 1961,” MilkeesPress.com, accessed October 25, 2023, https://milkeespress.com/lostninth.html.

Tim Wallach

The power surge from their star third baseman was exactly what the Expos needed after they dropped the first two games of their West Coast road trip in San Diego. Their starting pitcher in the series finale, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd (1-2, 5.86 ERA), was still trying to get his season on track. Boyd had been signed as a free agent by the Expos in December of 1989 after eight tumultuous years with the Boston Red Sox. Montreal general manager David Dombrowski was counting on him to bolster the rotation after the free-agent defections of Mark Langston, Pascual Pérez, and Bryn Smith. Dombrowski was no doubt concerned when the mercurial right-hander, who had a history of circulation problems, was forced to miss his previous scheduled start, on May 8, due to numbness in the middle finger of his pitching hand.

The Padres countered with 34-year-old Eric Show, the winningest pitcher in their history.2 Show was trying to rebound from back surgery on a bulging disc that forced him to miss the last half of the 1989 season. In addition to the back pain, a variety of personal issues had rendered him a mere shell of his former self on the mound, and the struggling right-hander entered the game with an 0-4 record and an unsightly 6.23 ERA.3

The Expos struck quickly in the top of the first inning, with both Marquis Grissom and Tim Raines reaching on one-out singles. After Andrés Galarraga struck out, Wallach took ball one before launching a three-run home run to left field to stake the Expos to an early lead.

Although he struck out the side after giving up a leadoff double to Mike Fitzgerald in the top of the second, Show ran into more trouble in the third inning, and Wallach came to the plate once again with Grissom and Raines on the basepaths. Much to the chagrin of the Padres fans in attendance, Wallach drove a 3-and-1 pitch over the left-center-field wall for his second three-run shot of the afternoon. The very next pitch from Show was lined into left field for a base hit by rookie right fielder Larry Walker. Padres manager Jack McKeon had seen enough, and Show exited the game to a chorus of boos after recording only seven outs.4 Two batters later, shortstop Spike Owen singled off Calvin Schiraldi to knock in Walker, who had stolen second base, to make the score 7-0.

In the fourth inning, Wallach plated Raines for the third time in the game with a single to shallow right field. Walker followed that up by pulling a Schiraldi offering over the right-field wall for Montreal’s third three-run homer of the game, and the Expos were up 11-0.

Montreal pushed another run across in the seventh inning when Fitzgerald scored on Boyd’s groundball off reliever Mark Grant. The Padres then brought in journeyman left-hander Pat Clements to mop up the final two innings. With two outs in the eighth, Wallach doubled to deep center field to bring home Mike Aldrete and register his eighth run batted in of the day. RBI singles by Fitzgerald and Tom Foley extended the lead to 15-0 later in the inning.

Boyd, meanwhile, showed no ill effects of his missed start, and he cruised through the first five innings on the hill, surrendering only three hits and one walk. He ran into difficulties in the sixth and eighth innings, although he kept the shutout intact both times by getting Joe Carter to hit into double plays that were started by Wallach. Boyd finished the game off in style by retiring the Padres in order in the ninth inning to preserve the victory.

It was Boyd’s seventh career shutout and his first in almost five years. After the game, Boyd revealed that he had reverted to his old routine of talking to himself while pitching. “I always have to tell myself, ‘Keep the ball down, move the ball around,’” he said. “When I can actually hear these things, I respond better.”5 The game marked the beginning of his resurgence in Montreal. Two starts later, he threw a five-hit shutout against those same Padres at Olympic Stadium. He went on to post a career-low 2.93 ERA in 190⅔ innings pitched. Boyd was more relaxed in Montreal than he was in Boston’s charged racial environment, a fact that helped him bounce back from three disappointing seasons in a row with the Red Sox. “It was the best time I ever had playing baseball,” Boyd said of his days in Montreal.6

Wallach’s eight runs batted in tied the Expos record for the most RBIs in a game, which was set by Chris Speier on September 22, 1982, and equaled by Andre Dawson on September 24, 1985.7 Wallach was the only major-league player to knock in eight (or more) runs during the entire 1990 season. To put his feat in perspective, no National Leaguer had driven in more runs in a game since Atlanta Braves pitcher Tony Cloninger hit two grand slams and collected nine RBIs against the San Francisco Giants almost 24 years earlier. “This was my best game ever,” said the 32-year-old Wallach. “Those weren’t bad pitches I hit, either. The first one was on the inner part of the plate, and the second wasn’t terrible.”8

Wallach continued to hit at a torrid pace for the remainder of May, putting up a .324 average with 9 home runs and 25 RBIs in the month. “I’ve never had a homer streak like this,” he said. “I’m seeing the ball well and meeting it well. I don’t remember as much power in my stroke.”9

Alas, 1990 was Wallach’s last great season on the baseball diamond. He made his fifth All-Star Game appearance and won his third Gold Glove Award that year, receiving both honors for the final time in his career. After subpar performances in 1991 and 1992, the popular Expo was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he spent his final four years playing for the Dodgers and Angels. Generally regarded as the best third baseman in Expos history, Wallach holds team records in several categories, including most hits (1,694), doubles (260), and, of course, RBIs (905).10

Sources

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

Notes

1 Michel Lajeunesse, “Les Expos Matraquent les Padres 15-0,” Le Devoir, May 14, 1990: 11.

2 As of the end of the 2018 season, Eric Show, who compiled a record of 100-87 with San Diego, remained the winningest pitcher in Padres history.

3 Tom Friend, “The tortured life of Eric Show,” ESPN, September 11, 2010, espn.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5543839, accessed January 16, 2019.

4 Bob Wolf, “Early Curtain for Show, Padres,” Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1990, articles.latimes.com/1990-05-14/sports/sp-52_1_tim-wallach, accessed January 16, 2019.

5 United Press International, “Wallach Has Week’s Work in One Day with 2 Homers, 8 RBI,” Sandusky (Ohio) Register, May 14, 1990: 8.

6 Bill Nowlin, “Oil Can Boyd,” SABR BioProject, sabr.org/bioproj/person/be8db9c4, accessed January 16, 2019.

7 The trio of Chris Speier, Andre Dawson, and Tim Wallach still shared the Montreal Expos record for the most RBIs in a game when the team relocated to Washington after the 2004 season.

8 Wolf, “Early Curtain for Show, Padres.”

9 “N.L. East Notebook,” The Sporting News, June 4, 1990: 8.

10 Tim Wallach no longer holds the Expos/Nationals franchise record for most hits, doubles, or RBIs. However, as of the end of the 2018 season, he still held the franchise record for most games (1,767) and at-bats (6,529).

Despite this uneventful performance, Reds skipper Lou Piniella had a plan to handle Dawson in Tuesday’s matinee. After all, the Hawk had just been named National League Player of the Week following a torrid span in which he hit .429 (12-for-28), with three doubles, five home runs, and 15 RBIs.1 His hot start in 1990 was made all the more surprising in that Dawson had undergone a fourth surgery on his left knee after the 1989 season. In fact, Cubs manager Don Zimmer had expected Dawson to start the 1990 season on the disabled list.2   

The May 22 game was scheduled for a 1:20 p.m. start. The wind howled in from Lake Michigan, determined to play havoc with well-struck baseballs. The 29,860 fans on hand were about to witness a long, historic affair.

In the top of the first, Cubs starter Mike Bielecki hit the second batter of the game, Billy Hatcher, but regained his composure and escaped without allowing a run. Tom Browning started for the Reds and gave up a single to the Cubs’ leadoff hitter, Jerome Walton. After a pair of outs on the bases, Mark Grace stood on second base with Dawson at the plate. Lou Piniella called for an early intentional pass. Lloyd McClendon flied out to deep center to end the threat.

Dawson led off the fourth and grounded out to his former Cubs teammate Luis Quinones at shortstop. With a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Dawson lined out to left field. The game remained a scoreless tie.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cincinnati walked Cubs catcher Rick Wrona intentionally to bring Bielecki to the plate with two outs. Bielecki swung at strike three to end the inning.

Ryne Sandberg doubled with one out in the eighth and took third on Grace’s groundout. With first base open, Dawson was walked intentionally for the second time. McClendon grounded out, stranding both runners. Both teams went down in order in the ninth; the scoreless tie had been played to the end of regulation in just two hours.3

Browning’s day came to an end when Barry Larkin pinch-hit for him in the top of the 10th. Browning had turned in a masterful performance — nine shutout innings with four strikeouts and three walks, two of which were intentional. Bielecki pitched the 10th for Chicago and was able to wriggle out of a jam, stranding pinch-runner Herm Winningham at third by fanning Larkin and inducing a Chris Sabo groundout. Bielecki was lifted for Mitch Williams after 10 shutout innings.    

The Cubs threatened in the bottom of the 11th when Grace reached on an error and Dawson singled. Grace and Dawson then pulled off a double steal, giving the Cubs runners at second and third with no outs. Norm Charlton got McClendon to chase strike three and issued an intentional walk to Luis Salazar to load the bases. Rob Dibble entered and struck out Shawon Dunston and pinch-hitter Dwight Smith on eight pitches to keep the Reds’ hopes alive.

The Reds did not score in their 12th inning against Williams, but the Cubs threatened a walk-off again in the bottom half. After drawing a one-out walk, Walton stole second, Sandberg struck out, and Grace followed with a walk of his own. With two outs and runners on first and second, Piniella called for another intentional pass to Dawson, his third of the game. With the winning run now just 90 feet away for the second consecutive inning, McClendon grounded to shortstop for the third out, having stranded nine runners in his six at-bats.

Chris Sabo faced new Cubs hurler Jeff Pico in the top of the 13th. Sabo drove Pico’s second offering into the left-field stands, a solo shot that scored the first run of the game. Hatcher struck out, Paul O’Neill was caught stealing after reaching on a single, and Eric Davis grounded out. But the Reds led 1-0.

Closer Randy Myers, who had earned a save for Cincinnati the night before, was called upon to preserve the win. But Salazar tied the ballgame with a solo leadoff home run. The Cubs threatened no further in the half-inning and the game remained tied, 1-1.

In the 14th Ken Griffey Sr., the Reds’ last available position player, grounded out with runners on first and third to end the inning. In a rare treat, Harry Caray entertained the fans with an encore performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in honor of the second seventh-inning stretch of the game.4

In the bottom of the 14th, new Reds twirler Scott Scudder issued a one-out walk to Sandberg, Grace flied out, and Sandberg advanced to second on a wild pitch with Dawson batting. With a runner now in scoring position, two outs, and first base open, Piniella called for yet another intentional walk — Dawson’s fourth of the game. It worked. Dave Clark hit for McClendon and struck out.     

Neither team scored in the 15th inning, as the Cubs used their final position player, Domingo Ramos, to pinch-hit with two outs and Salazar on second base.5 Ramos drove a ball to deep right-center field that on a calmer day might have dropped in for a game-ending double. Instead, it was caught for the third out.   

The Cubs came to bat in the bottom of the 16th with the score still knotted, 1-1. Walton struck out to begin the frame. Sandberg singled. Grace then reached on an error when Quinones booted a potential inning-ending double-play grounder, allowing Sandberg to advance to third. With one out and first base occupied, Piniella ordered a fifth intentional walk to Dawson. As Dawson jogged down to first base he glanced at Piniella in the Reds’ dugout. Piniella smiled and responded, “It’s not my fault the guys in front of you keep getting on.”6

With the bases loaded and one out, Clark smacked a single, allowing Sandberg to trot home for the walk-off win. It was an unlikely victory on an afternoon in which the Cubs stranded 20 runners and had gone 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position before Clark’s single.7

In his eight plate appearances, Dawson was 1-for-3, with five intentional walks. The reigning NL Player of the Week pondered, “What did I do to deserve that?”8 He added in jest, “[Piniella] managed like it was the last game of the World Series.”9

“Hey,” Piniella stated after the game, “I don’t need to tell you that [Dawson’s] been hot … and it’s not like this is the first time the guy’s been on fire. So I figured, if somebody is going to beat us, fine, but not him.” Other National League managers reacted similarly — Dawson and Eddie Murray of the Dodgers tied for the 1990 major-league lead with 21 intentional walks each.

Dawson’s five intentional passes in a game set a record. The previous record of four was shared by Garry Templeton, Roger Maris, Ted Kluszewski, Bill Baker, and Jeff Heath. The Cubs’ seven total intentional walks tied a record for the most issued to a team in a single game, the seventh such occasion. As of 2020 it remained the most recent occurrence.

But Cincinnati got the last laugh in 1990. The Reds won the National League pennant and swept the Oakland A’s in the World Series. Lou Piniella called for just one intentional walk in the Series — to Harold Baines in the first inning of Game Four.

Author’s note

I skipped class to attend this game as my senior year of high school was winding down. I watched Andre Dawson’s historic performance from Aisle 240, Row 17, Seat 4 — a ticket that cost just $7. It was only recently, however, that I discovered the historic significance of the game. Previously, my memory was limited to the excitement of the extra-innings walk-off win and getting to see and hear Harry Caray sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” twice.    

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used the Baseball-Reference.com website for player and team pages and other data and reviewed the following box scores:

baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199005220.shtml

retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B05220CHN1990.htm

Notes

1 Michael Paolercio, “Reds Die Slow Death, 2-1,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 23, 1990: 13. Dawson’s award-winning production covered seven games from May 14 through May 20.

2 Jim Litke, “Reds Game Becomes a Walk in the Park for Andre Dawson,” Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1990: 170.

3 Andrew Bagnato, “Cubs Trip Reds in the Long Run,” Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1990: 47.

4 Paolercio.

5 Bagnato.

6 Litke.

7 Bagnato. The Reds stranded 12 runners and were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

8 Bagnato, “Reds Take Pass on Pitching to Dawson,” Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1990: 49.

9 Bagnato, “Reds Take Pass.”

The Oakland area has a proud tradition of producing quality baseball players including Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, Curt Flood, and many others.3

When Henderson and Stewart were kids, who would have predicted that decades later, they would both take the field as big-leaguers for their hometown team? And not for just any ballgame, but for a game where one of them would break a 62-year-old record held by one of the game’s all-time greats, that would all but guarantee enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Tuesday, May 29, 1990, was the day after Memorial Day and Rickey was growing impatient. On May 26 he tied Ty Cobb’s American League career stolen-base record with steal number 892.4 Henderson wanted to break the record in Oakland, preferably in front of big crowds over the Memorial Day weekend, but after getting a hit and swiping the record-tying bag on Saturday, he had gone 0-for-5.5 There was talk that rain might cancel Wednesday’s contest, and on Thursday the Athletics would begin a seven-game road trip. Henderson wanted to steal his 893rd base in Tuesday night’s game, making him the AL steals king.

“I was starting to put a little pressure on myself because I wanted to do it in front of my home fans, especially in front of my mother,” Henderson said.6

Tuesday’s game featured a pitching matchup between Oakland’s Stewart,7 the 1989 World Series MVP, against the Toronto Blue Jays’ David Wells, who finished the previous season with a 2.40 ERA. The A’s had beaten the Blue Jays in the 1989 AL Championship Series, on their way to sweeping the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Both clubs were in first place in their respective divisions early on in 1990.

A crowd of 25,255 filed into the Oakland Coliseum looking for a win against the Blue Jays, and hoping to see Henderson make history.

With Rickey being Rickey,8 there was also the possibility of more than just baseball to enjoy: showmanship might be on the docket for this evening as well.

“There isn’t enough mustard to put on that hot dog,” said teammate and fellow Oakland-area product9 Dennis Eckersley, “I loved that swagger. [Rickey] let you know he was good.”10

“Yes, I’m a hot dog. Yes, I’m a showman, but remember this is baseball,” Henderson said. “This is entertainment. I’m an entertainer. Baseball was made to be fun.”11

About an hour before sundown, Stewart, the big right-hander, took the mound for Oakland. He yielded a leadoff walk to Tony Fernández. Mookie Wilson grounded into a fielder’s choice when Fernández was forced out at second. Stewart got out of the inning when Kelly Gruber hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Henderson led off the first with a fly to deep center, but it was caught by Wilson. Wells, the Jays’ lefty, retired the side in order.

In the second, Toronto’s Fred McGriff laced a line-drive single to center. With two outs, Stewart walked Greg Myers. Nelson Liriano hit a fly ball to A’s right fielder Lance Blankenship, who was starting his first game in over two weeks. Blankenship lost his footing and stumbled, getting a glove on the ball, but dropping it.12 McGriff scored an unearned run on the error. Junior Félix grounded out to end the inning. Blue Jays 1, A’s 0.

In the bottom of the second, Wells had another one-two-three inning, striking out Mark McGwire and Dave Henderson, while Terry Steinbach lined out to center.

In his second at-bat, Henderson fouled out to right in the third inning.

After five innings, the score remained 1-0, Blue Jays. Wells had yielded just a walk and a single. Stewart had given up two walks, a single, and a double.

In the top of the sixth, the Jays took a 2-0 lead. Mookie Wilson led off with a single, stole second base, and was knocked in when McGriff hit a line single to deep right field.

In the bottom of the sixth, in his third at-bat, Henderson smacked a two-out double to the left-field corner off Wells.

While standing on second base, and when leading off in his trademark crouch, Rickey looked hungry and ready to pounce. The crowd rustled in their seats. Wells threw two balls to right-handed hitter Carney Lansford. On the third pitch, Henderson got a great jump and took off. Blue Jays catcher Myers reeled in the high and inside pitch but wasn’t able to make a throw. Rickey slid headfirst into third.

When he realized he was safe, he quickly pulled the base out of the ground and held it over his head in triumph.13 The crowd got what they came to see; the lengthy standing ovation was thunderous. The Man of Steal handed the base to A’s equipment manager Frank Ciensczyk, to be presented later to Milwaukee Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn. Trebelhorn was Henderson’s first pro manager in the minors. Rickey credited Trebelhorn with taking him under his wing as a teenager and teaching him many fine points about baseball, reading pitchers, and stealing bases.14

Henderson blew a kiss to his mother, Bobbie, who was sitting near the Oakland dugout.15

Rickey was then led to the on-deck circle near the A’s dugout where a brief presentation was made. A’s manager Tony La Russa unveiled a glass-enclosed display that included three silhouette-like action photos of Henderson, a pair of white spikes, and a base with the number 893 printed on it.16

Cobb’s record had been eclipsed. Cobb needed 24 seasons to set his record. Henderson broke it with less than 12 seasons in the majors.17

Lansford grounded out to end the sixth inning. For the seventh, Blue Jays reliever Duane Ward replaced Wells. The seventh and eighth innings were uneventful with Ward and Stewart each yielding a single and no walks.

In the top of the ninth, Stewart gave up a leadoff single to George Bell and threw a wild pitch to John Olerud that allowed Bell to advance to second, but Stewart escaped without further damage.18

Entering the bottom of the ninth, the score remained 2-0 Blue Jays. Ken Phelps, batting for Blankenship, struck out swinging. In his fourth at-bat, Rickey hit a line drive up the left-field line. Even though his hit was to left, the speedy Henderson turned it into a triple. Bell stumbled while retrieving the ball in the left-field corner, but there was no error on the play. The next batter, Lansford, hit a hard grounder between third and short for a single, scoring Henderson. Ward was replaced on the mound by Tom Henke, who finished off the A’s by fanning the “Bash Brothers” – José Canseco19 and McGwire. Final score: Blue Jays 2, A’s 1.

Despite pitching well, Stewart was the losing pitcher. Wells picked up the win. This was his first win as a starter; Wells had been a relief pitcher until recently.

“That’s an intimidating lineup,” said Wells. “But I was calm out there tonight.”20

Despite Oakland’s loss, this was Rickey’s day. He got two of the A’s five hits, scored Oakland’s only run and made history with his record-breaking steal.21

The 1990 season was a banner year for the A’s and The Town.22 Oakland finished with a 103-59 record and went to its third consecutive World Series.23

Henderson was named the 1990 AL MVP. Rickey led the league in runs (119), stolen bases (65), on-base percentage (.439), and OPS (1.016).24

Rickey had his sights on the major-league all-time steals record of 938 swipes, set by Lou Brock. Henderson finished the 1990 season just two steals short with 936. He dealt with injuries early in the 1991 season, but broke Brock’s record on May 1, 1991.25

In 2003 Henderson finished his 25-year big-league career with a staggering 1,406 stolen bases, about 50 percent more than the second-place Brock. He is the all-time leader in runs scored with 2,295, 50 runs more than second-place Cobb.26 He has the most games led off with a home run (81). He has the second-most career walks (2,190).27 Henderson also had a career .401 on-base percentage and compiled 3,055 hits. In 1982 he set the major-league record for stolen bases in a single season with 130, breaking Brock’s mark of 118.

These impressive statistics resulted in his being voted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2009. But stats alone don’t define someone like Rickey. He transformed the leadoff position, combining speed, power, intelligence,28 and much more.

“What Rickey did for the hitter and what he did to defenses, you couldn’t quantify the disruption,” said Joe Maddon. “Who knows how many home runs were hit because of what he was doing to the pitcher? Who knows how many errors were caused because the defense was thinking about him and not the situation?”29

La Russa, who managed with and against Henderson, said: “For the period of time that I’ve been around, I think the most dangerous player is Rickey. In our time, Rickey worried you in more ways than anyone.”30

“The style, the flair. It was always there, even when we were kids,” said Stewart. “When the game started, Rickey was going to let you know who he was.”31

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin. The author thanks Meg Gregory for her editing assistance.

Sources and Photo Credit

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for general player, team, and season data.

Photo credit: Rickey Henderson, Trading Card Database.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199005290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B05290OAK1990.htm

Notes

1 Howard Bryant, Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original (New York: Mariner Books, 2022), 26, 222.

2 Stewart grew up in East Oakland, a few blocks from the Oakland Coliseum. Years later, he made a bid to buy a portion of the Coliseum property in an attempt to keep the A’s in Oakland and revitalize the area, but the A’s ownership decided the Coliseum site had run its course. Bryant, 372-373.

3 Joe Trezza, “Who Are the Top 5 All-Time Players from Oakland,” mlb.com, February 2, 2017, https://www.mlb.com/news/the-top-5-all-time-players-with-oakland-roots-c214982672. Others who were born and/or raised in the Oakland area include Bud Black, Brandon Crawford, Jermaine Dye, Lefty Gomez, Chick Hafey, Bud Harrelson, Harry Hooper, Rupert Jones, Ernie Lombardi, Billy Martin, Willie McGee, Tug McGraw, Vada Pinson, Bill Plummer, Bip Roberts, Jimmy Rollins, Marcus Semien, Chris Speier, Claudell Washington, Dontrelle Willis, and Bryan Woo.

4 “American League Roundup: Henderson Picks His Spot and Ties Cobb,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1990, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-27-sp-392-story.html. The record-tying stolen base came in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians in Oakland. With one out, Henderson singled to left off Sergio Valdez. The next batter, Carney Lansford, singled to right, advancing Henderson to second. On a 1-and-1 pitch to José Canseco, Rickey stole third base to tie Cobb for the AL stolen-base record. Cleveland catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. was unable to make a throw. “The ball hit me on the thumb,” Alomar said. “But I don’t think I would’ve got him anyway. If you throw him out one out of 10 times, you’re doing good.” Henderson tipped his hat to the crowd while receiving a standing ovation. He gave third base to his mother, Bobbie Earl Henderson. Oakland won, 6-3. Bob Welch was the winning pitcher and Dennis Eckersley got the save.

5 David Bush, “Henderson Slides Past Cobb – A’s Highlight in 2-1 Loss: Steal No. 893,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 1990: D1.  

6 John Shea, “Henderson Happy with AL Record,” USA Today, May 31, 1990: 4C. 

7 Coming into the game, Stewart was leading the AL in wins (8) and was second in ERA (1.90).

8 Henderson has a penchant for referring to himself in the third person instead of using first-person pronouns. Fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, who played first base against Henderson over many seasons, said this: “At first base, some guys talk to you and some guys don’t. He definitely was one of those guys who would talk at first base. ‘Rickey’s going to leave now.’ He would tell you he was going to go. It didn’t matter. There was nothing you could do.” Jim Baumbach, “There’s No One Like Rickey/Quirky Henderson, Transformed the Leadoff Position,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), July 26, 2009: C5.

9 Along with Eckersley, Henderson, and Stewart, the 1990 A’s included seven other Northern California-bred players: Willie McGee (San Francisco, Richmond), Dave Henderson (Merced), Carney Lansford (San Jose, Santa Clara), Lance Blankenship (Concord), Steve Howard (Oakland), Darren Lewis (Berkeley, Hayward) and Reggie Harris (San Francisco).

10 Bryant, 113, 202-203.

11 Devon Mason, “Rickey Henderson Left Ty Cobb in the Dust 31 Years Ago,” Black in the Day, May 29, 2021, https://mlbbro.com/2021/05/29/rickey-henderson-left-ty-cobb-in-the-dust-31-years-ago/.

Henderson was well known for his bravado, charisma and eccentricities:

• As part of a publicity stunt while in the minors, he competed in a race with a quarter horse in Modesto. (The horse won.)
• Rickey became known for making occasional “snatch catches” where he’d quickly swing his glove downward in an arc to his side while making the catch and slapping the glove on his hip. In true showmanship fashion, he did this maneuver for the first time on the final out of a no-hitter.
• Henderson got frostbite in the summer when he fell asleep while icing his left ankle. He missed three games as a result.
• Rickey signed a contract that included a $1 million bonus. “I took the million-dollar check and put it on the wall. So, each and every day, I passed by that wall and it reminded myself, I am a millionaire,” Rickey said. “I had the check up for about a year. The A’s called me, they were trying to do their books and they were coming up short a million dollars. … They told me to go to the bank, cash it, get a copy of it and put the copy on the wall.”

Bryant, 48, 122-123, 277; Baumbach, “There’s No One Like Rickey Quirky Henderson/Transformed the Leadoff Position.”

12 “A’s Slide, but Rickey Steals the Show,” Sacramento Bee, May 30, 1990: D1.

13 Bush, “Henderson Slides Past Cobb – A’s Highlight in 2-1 Loss: Steal No. 893.”

14 Shea, “Henderson Happy with AL Record.”

15 William D. Murray (United Press International), “Stewart Always Knew Henderson Was Special,” May 30, 1990.

16 “A’s Slide, but Rickey Steals the Show.” Conventional baseball wisdom says stealing third base when your team is down 2-0 with two outs is not a good idea. But Rickey was not a conventional player and his basestealing skills were arguably the best ever in baseball. La Russa said he did not question the decision to steal because the opportunity was there for Henderson to take.

17 Years later, five more stolen bases were discovered by statisticians, bringing Cobb’s total to 897. Gary Gillette and Lyle Spatz, “Not Chiseled in Stone: Baseball’s Enduring Records and the SABR Era,” Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (2011), 7-11, https://sabr.org/journal/article/not-chiseled-in-stone-baseballs-enduring-records-and-the-sabr-era/. Henderson recorded his 897th career steal against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Stadium on June 7. His 898th steal was a day later against the Kansas City Royals in Oakland.

18 This was Stewart’s first complete game of the season.

19 Canseco was leading the majors with 47 RBIs coming into the game. He was tied with Cecil Fielder for the major-league lead in homers (18).

20 Tom Slater, “Jays Steal Rickey’s Show, Henderson Sets Record but Wells Handcuffs A’s,” Toronto Star, May 30, 1990, C1. This was Wells’ first career win as a starter. (It was just his fourth career start.) The May 29, 1990, game was an important one for his career trajectory and his transition from the bullpen to being a successful starting pitcher.

21 Henderson broke two other records previously held by Cobb: In 1980, he became first AL player to steal 100 bases in a single season, breaking Cobb’s record of 96 steals in 1915. During his 2001 season with the San Diego Padres, Rickey broke Cobb’s record of 2,245 career runs.

22 In the Bay Area, Oakland is called The Town and San Francisco is known as The City.

23 The 1990 A’s won the AL West Division by a nine-game margin over the Chicago White Sox. They swept the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series in four games, giving the A’s 10 postseason victories in a row. Stewart was the ALCS MVP. (He also won the ’90 Roberto Clemente Award.) Oakland was favored to win the World Series, but was swept by the Cincinnati Reds, losing two of the four games by one run. The 1990 season had many highlights for the A’s: The otherworldly Eckersley had a 0.61 ERA and 48 saves, with more saves than hits allowed (41). He struck out 73 batters in 73 innings pitched, while walking only 5. Right-handed pitcher Welch won the Cy Young Award with a 2.95 ERA and a major-league-leading 27 wins. Stewart was the team leader in innings pitched (267), ERA (2.56), and strikeouts (166); he also no-hit the Blue Jays in June and won 20 or more games for the fourth straight season. McGwire led the team with 108 RBIs and 39 home runs, Canseco was second in homers with 37, Rickey was third with 28. Additionally, Catfish Hunter’s number 27 was retired that year. Some A’s fans look back at the 1988 through 1990 seasons with disappointment because of the crushing World Series losses in ’88 and ’90, sandwiched by a lone World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants that is remembered more for an earthquake than baseball. It is important to note that the A’s won an astounding 306 regular-season games during the ’88, ’89, and ’90 seasons (a .630 winning percentage). During those seasons, in typical Oakland workmanlike fashion, they plugged away week after week, playing exceptional baseball while capturing three consecutive AL pennants.

24 In the MVP voting, Henderson beat the Detroit Tigers’ Cecil Fielder by 31 points, 317 to 286. Rickey’s 65 steals were his lowest total to date in a full season, but still 22 more than Steve Sax of the New York Yankees. Henderson’s 1990 slugging percentage (.577) was the second-best in the league. He had the second-highest AL batting average with a mark of .325, losing out to the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett on the final day of the season.

25 After passing Brock, Rickey wasn’t done breaking stolen-base records. On, June 16, 1993, he set the world stolen-base record by stealing his 1,066th base, breaking Japanese outfielder Yutaka Fukumoto’s record.

26 “You can’t win if you can’t score,” said Henderson. “So, I’d say [the runs scored record] is my greatest accomplishment.” Craig Muder, “Henderson Named 1990 AL MVP,” baseballhall.org. Accessed October 3, 2024, https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/henderson-wins-1990-AL-MVP.

27 During his 2001 season with the Padres, Henderson broke Babe Ruth’s record of 2,062 career walks. The career walk record was broken again by Barry Bonds in 2004.

28 “He spoke in Rickey-isms, but sit down and listen to him talk baseball,” said Buck Showalter, who coached and managed against Henderson. “Listen to the way Rickey could break down situations, the way he talked about pitchers, the way he read pitchers, the way he used his legs for leverage to take off. Let me tell you, Rickey was a sharp baseball thinker.” Bryant, 334.

29 Bryant, 308-309.

30 Muder, “Henderson Named 1990 AL MVP.”

31 Bryant, 78.

During the previous season, the Montreal Expos, Johnson’s original major-league organization, had packaged him with two other players in a trade for Seattle’s ace, Mark Langston.3 Initially, the trade was unpopular with Mariners players and fans and Seattle sportswriters. Langston, a 28-year-old All-Star, had led the American League in strikeouts in 1986 and 1987. The Mariners said the Expos coming to Seattle had a lot of potential. Over the years, Mariners fans had heard enough about “potential.” There had been too many disappointing teams, players, and trades in Mariners history. The fans were impatient for on-field success.4

On Saturday, June 2, 1990, the Detroit Tigers were in Seattle for the second game of a three-game series. The Tigers were in sixth place in the AL East Division with a 21-29 record. The Mariners were 23-27 and held fifth place in the AL West.

Johnson was the starter for the Mariners, slightly more than a year to the day after the trade from Montreal. Coming into this game, he had a 3-3 record and a 4.73 ERA. In his previous start, he had been roughed up by the Toronto Blue Jays, yielding five earned runs before being pulled after 5 2/3 innings.5

As part of his game preparation, Johnson practiced on a new drum set, playing along to songs by Rush. The quirky California native had also put yellow tape across his locker printed with “Police Line – Do Not Cross.”6

A crowd of 20,014 settled in at the Kingdome.7 Johnson, a southpaw, took the mound. The leadoff batter, second baseman Tony Phillips, a switch-hitter, struck out swinging on four pitches. Alan Trammell grounded out to short. Gary Ward sent one to deep center; it was caught right in front of the warning track by Ken Griffey Jr.8

Detroit’s starter, right-hander Jeff Robinson, had a 4-4 record and an ERA of 6.09 entering the game. In the bottom of the first, leadoff batter Harold Reynolds walked on a full count.9 One out later. Alvin Davis walked, bringing up cleanup batter Jeffrey Leonard. The runners advanced on a wild pitch, then Leonard’s groundout to third scored Reynolds. Griffey was intentionally walked, but third baseman Edgar Martínez – emerging as a major-league regular with a .333 average at age 27 – reached on catcher’s interference, loading the bases.

With two outs, Jay Buhner stepped into the batter’s box. The day before, in his first at-bat of the season after a spring-training ankle injury, he had hit a first-inning grand slam off Jack Morris. Now, the Mariners’ faithful hoped for a repeat performance from the 25-year-old right fielder, who had bounced between the majors and Triple A for the past three seasons. But it wasn’t in the cards; Buhner lined out to left. Seattle 1, Detroit 0.

The second and third innings were uneventful, other than a 6-4-3 double play turned by the Mariners in the top of second; and in the bottom of that inning, Reynolds stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Tigers catcher Mike Heath. Through three innings, neither pitcher had surrendered a hit. Johnson had walked two, and Robinson surrendered six bases on balls (one intentional).

In the fourth, with one out, Detroit’s Ward reached on an error when Mariners shortstop Mike Brumley bobbled a grounder. Johnson fanned Cecil Fielder (who had hit a grand slam of his own a day earlier, his 19th homer of the season since returning from a year in Japan) and Chet Lemon grounded out to third. In the bottom of the inning, Brumley ripped a liner up the left-field line for a double. While facing Reynolds, Robinson threw another wild pitch, advancing Brumley to third, from which he scored on Reynolds’ sacrifice fly to left. Mariners 2, Tigers 0.

Going into the sixth, the fans and broadcasters sensed that Johnson might have a shot at a no-hitter. Although three Tigers had reached base on walks and an error, Johnson hadn’t given up a hit. The Big Unit seemed to wobble in the sixth, walking Phillips, Ward, and Fielder to load the bases. Owing to the team’s mediocre history, Mariners fans in 1990 were all too familiar with disappointment. But Johnson got out of the inning when Lemon went down swinging for the third out.

The top of the seventh featured a close call when Detroit’s Tracy Jones hit a grounder to Martínez, who had tied the AL record for third basemen on May 6 with four errors in a game. Martinez’s throw pulled Davis off first, but he tagged Jones on the head – just in time.

During the seventh-inning stretch, “Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen was played instead of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” For the first time in Mariners history, the traditional song was not played for the stretch.10

After seven innings, Robinson was replaced by reliever Paul Gibson. Robinson finished with 115 pitches, three hits and two earned runs given up, six walks, three strikeouts, and two wild pitches. In the bottom of the eighth, Gibson gave up a single to Leonard, but got out of the inning with the score remaining 2-0, Seattle.

With Johnson only three outs from a no-hitter, the crowd was buzzing entering the top of the ninth. While some fans stood for the past couple of innings, everyone was getting on their feet now. The Big Unit struck out Fielder on three pitches.11 Lemon worked the count to 3-and-2 but fouled out to the first-base side.

Only one batter remained who could spoil Johnson’s no-no: Mike Heath. Johnson got ahead with two strikes.

Here’s the final call by Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus:

“A man all alone with himself, but not all alone here. As [over 20,000] rabid Mariners fans are looking for that final strike that will set Mariner history. Here comes the left-hander’s wind, the 0-2 pitch on the way … SWING! IT’S OVER! HE HAS DONE IT! High fastball. Randy Johnson being mobbed by Scott Bradley. Down to greet him is the entire Mariners team. Here on the second of June, it ends at 9:51 Pacific Daylight Time. Randy Johnson with the first Mariner no-hitter in history,12 and they are going crazy. Everybody saluting the tallest man to ever put on a uniform in the history of baseball. Randy Johnson has done it. He has no-hit the Detroit Tigers tonight, 2-0. My oh my!”13

“He just went from being a guy with all the potential in the world to being a part of baseball history,” said Mariners manager Jim Lefebvre. “Not just Mariners history – baseball history. I’m so damned excited for him I don’t know what to say.”14

“Toward the end of the game, I felt like I could throw my pitches exactly where I wanted to and, for me, that’s saying a lot,” said Johnson.15

“I played [drums] for about an hour and a half [this morning],” said the Big Unit, who has always marched to his own drummer. “In about the seventh inning, to get my mind off the no-hitter, I started tapping the drum beats I’d been practicing. … Getting my mind off the game really helped. … I’m going to talk to [Lefebvre] about taking those drums on the road.”16

Johnson said this about his batterymate: “Scott Bradley called an unreal game. I just felt we were in a groove all night. I had my slider grip and he would call for a slider. … I had my grip on the pitch and he would call it. We were that in sync.”17

With persistence, hard work, and good coaching, Johnson improved the control issues he had as a young player. He transformed into a complete pitcher who dominated over many years, playing in the big leagues till age 46. He won the Cy Young Award five times18 and the ERA title four times,19 and was a 10-time All-Star. In 2001 he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win their first World Series championship and was the Series co-MVP. In 2015 Johnson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.20

In 2004, as a 40-year-old with the Diamondbacks, Johnson threw his second no-hitter: the 17th perfect game in major-league history.21 In doing so, he became just the fifth big-leaguer to pitch a no-hitter in each league, and the first pitcher to throw the first no-hitters for two franchises.

Johnson’s first no-hitter – and his 1990 season – was a turning point. He gained self-assurance, becoming a first-time All-Star in 1990.22 The Mariner faithful gained confidence as well. After the no-hitter, many fans stopped griping about the Langston trade and began to adopt Johnson as their favorite Mariners pitcher. During Johnson’s no-hit game, fans saw his star power beginning to shine through, and they got a glimpse of a brighter future.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Troy Olszewski and copy-edited by Len Levin. The author thanks John Fredland for his assistance.

Sources and Photo Credits

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org for general player, team and season data.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA199006020.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B06020SEA1990.htm

The Randy Johnson baseball card image was downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 The nickname’s origin stems from an event in 1988: Johnson’s Montreal Expos teammate Tim Raines collided with him during batting practice. The 5-foot-8-inch Raines said, “You’re a big unit.” Joseph Wancho, “Randy Johnson,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, accessed February 5, 2025, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-18-2004-randy-johnson-pitches-a-perfect-game-at-age-40/.

2 Andrew Simon, “#TBT: Big Unit Throws Mariners’ First No-Hitter,” mlb.com, June 1, 2016, https://www.mlb.com/news/mariners-randy-johnson-threw-first-no-hitter-c181624666. Entering this game, Johnson had these career stats over 43 games: a walk-rate of 5.0 over nine innings and an ERA of 4.54. For the 1990 season, he led the majors with 120 walks.

3 Along with Johnson, the Mariners received two other pitchers from the Expos: Brian Holman and Gene Harris. The Expos received Langston and a player to be named later. The trade was executed on May 25, 1989, and completed on July 31, 1989, when pitcher Mike Campbell was selected by Montreal as the player to be named later. The Seattle-born-and-raised Campbell was sent to the Expos’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.

4 Many previous trades had been frustrating for Seattleites. All too often, players traded by the Mariners went on to flourish with their new teams. Instead of the Mariners reaping the rewards, fans got used to seeing former Mariners doing spectacular things on the nightly highlight reels.

5 He had also surrendered 12 homers so far in the season, the most in the majors.

6 The Canadian band Rush was well known for playing hard rock that featured impressive percussion by their drummer, Neil Peart. Regarding the police barrier tape, Johnson said, “I just put it up there and didn’t think anything about it. … People think I’m a flake, or something. But there’s really no story behind it, or anything. I just did it.” Steve Kelley, “Wild Man! – Flake? Naw, Johnson Just Plays to a Different Beat,” Seattle Times, June 4, 1990: C1.

7 The Kingdome was a multipurpose indoor stadium that opened in 1976 for NFL football (Seattle Seahawks) and soccer (Seattle Sounders). Known as “The Tomb,” the concrete dome had a cavernous and dreary interior that was not esthetically pleasing for baseball, but at least there were no rainouts. It was home of the Mariners from 1977 until partway through the 1999 season, when the club moved to Safeco Field, a new, retractable-roof ballpark. The Kingdome was demolished via controlled implosion in 2000. “Remembering the Kingdome: 24 Years Since Iconic Seattle Stadium’s Implosion,” fox13seattle.com, March 26, 2024, https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/kingdome-24-years-implosion.

8 Associated Press, “Mariner Fires 1st No-Hitter,” Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, June 3, 1990: C1. In 1990, 20-year-old center fielder Griffey was a first time All-Star and won a Gold Glove. In August his father, Ken Griffey Sr., came to the Mariners and the father-son duo played for 51 games until Griffey Sr. retired during the 1991 season at age 41. They were the first father and son to play together on the same major-league team.

9 Second baseman Reynolds won a Gold Glove in 1990 and finished the season with the most plate appearances (737) and at-bats (642) in the major leagues.

10 Bob Finnigan, “Johnson No-Hits Tigers – Detroit’s Free Swinging Contributes to M’s Cause,” Seattle Times, June 3, 1990: C1. It’s not clear if the songs were switched to set the tone for something new at the Kingdome, such as a no-hitter. Regardless, the upbeat “Louie, Louie” is a longtime Pacific Northwest favorite. The song was originally composed and recorded in the 1950s by Richard Berry and was made famous as a hit by the Portland, Oregon-based Kingsmen in 1963.

11 In this game, Johnson struck out Fielder twice and walked him twice. Fielder entered the game with a major-league-leading 19 homers (tied with the Oakland Athletics’ Jose Canseco) and an OPS of 1.111. He went on to be the runner-up for the 1990 AL MVP Award (Oakland’s Rickey Henderson was that year’s MVP). Fielder finished the 1990 season with the most homers (51) and RBIs (182) in the majors.

12 This was the first no-hitter in 2,101 Mariners games, dating to 1977. Johnson’s no-hitter was also the first no-hit game in the Kingdome by any major-league team. Johnson had never had a big-league shutout and had pitched only three complete games prior to his no-hitter. Of the 136 pitches he threw (87 strikes, 49 balls), 50 were at 94 mph or higher. The last pitch of the game was his fastest (97 mph). Johnson threw sliders with lots of movement, but mostly fastballs. He also mixed in three changeups. John Lowe, “Johnson’s Hard-and-Fast Rule Finished No-Hitter vs. Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, June 4, 1990, 1D.  This was the 12th no-hitter pitched against Detroit and the first since Nolan Ryan no-hit the Tigers on July 15, 1973. During the 1990 season, there were seven major-league no-hitters, including two on the same day: On June 29, Dave Stewart of the Oakland A’s no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodger Fernando Valenzuela crafted a no-no over the St. Louis Cardinals. Prior to Johnson’s no-hitter, four one-hitters had been thrown by Mariners: Jim Beattie in 1983, Mike Trujillo in 1986, Mark Langston in 1988, and Brian Holman on April 20, 1990, when the Oakland A’s pinch-hitter Ken Phelps homered with two outs in the ninth inning to spoil a perfect game.

13 “Classic Mariners Games: Randy Johnson’s No-Hitter,” marinersblog.mlblogs.com, April 3, 2020, https://marinersblog.mlblogs.com/classic-mariners-games-randy-johnsons-no-hitter-43173f17f75a. Johnson threw both of his arms in the air immediately after the final out. After he went to the dugout, the crowd continued a standing ovation for almost two minutes until Johnson came out and tipped his hat (in a big, upward thrust) to the delight of the fans. Johnson struck out eight batters and walked six. Johnson finished strong: Of the last 11 batters he faced, he struck-out five.

14 “Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners Pitches the First No-Hitter in the History of the Franchise,” thisdayinbaseball.com, accessed January 22, 2025, https://thisdayinbaseball.com/randy-johnson-of-the-seattle-mariners-pitches-the-first-no-hitter-in-the-history-of-the-franchise/.

15 Steve Kelley, “Wild Man! – Flake? Naw, Johnson Just Plays to a Different Beat,” Seattle Times, June 4, 1990: C1.

16 Kelley, “Wild Man! – Flake? Naw, Johnson Just Plays to a Different Beat.”

17 “Classic Mariners Games: Randy Johnson’s No-Hitter,” marinersblog.mlblogs.com. “He pitched backwards,” said Detroit’s Tony Phillips. “He threw fastballs in breaking-ball situations and breaking balls in fastball situations.” Tom Gage, “For Mike Heath, It Was the Loneliest Feeling in the World,” USA Today / Detroit News, June 3, 1990.

18 Johnson’s first Cy Young Award was as a Mariner, in 1995. He won four consecutive NL Cy Young Awards with the Arizona Diamondbacks, 1999 through 2002. He came in second in Cy Young Award voting three times.

19 He won the AL ERA title in 1995 (2.48). He won the senior circuit title three times: in 1999 (2.48), 2001 (2.49, which was the best in both leagues), and 2002 (2.32). He also was first in his league in WAR for pitchers over six seasons, and was a league leader for strikeouts over nine seasons.

20 In the 2001 World Series, Johnson shared the Series MVP with teammate and fellow starting pitcher Curt Schilling. Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot with 97.27 percent of the vote. Other future Hall of Famers who played in this game include Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Alan Trammell. The Tigers’ manager, Sparky Anderson’ is also a Hall of Fame inductee. Johnson’s career stats: 303 wins and 166 losses (.646), a 3.29 ERA, 603 starts in 618 games, 100 complete games, 37 shutouts, 1.17 WHIP, 4,135 1/3 innings pitched, and 4,875 strikeouts. His strikeout total is the most by a lefty and put him in second place after Nolan Ryan, who fanned with 5,714. In, 2002, as an Arizona Diamondback, Johnson won the NL pitching Triple Crown (24 wins, 334 strikeouts, 2.32 ERA).

21 Johnson also threw a perfect game in his final start with Livermore (California) High School.

22 “Classic Mariners Games: Randy Johnson’s No-Hitter.” After the no-hitter, Johnson won his next five outings. For the remainder of the 1990 season, he had an 11-8 record and an ERA of 3.25 over 23 starts. As his confidence and pitching prowess grew, he won the AL strikeout crown in four consecutive years (1992 through 1995), leading both leagues for the last three of those seasons.

During the first two years of this run, Oakland’s AL West rival Kansas City had two pitchers who had proved to be a thorn in the side of the A’s. Bret Saberhagen was 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts. His teammate Mark Gubicza was 3-1 with a 0.28 ERA in 32 innings over four starts.1

Despite the success of their two right-handers against the A’s, the Royals had not challenged Oakland for the division crown the previous two seasons. They had finished third in 1988 – 19½ games behind the A’s – and despite winning 92 games the next season, they finished seven games back in 1989.

Kansas City hoped to wrestle the title away from Oakland in 1990, but a 2-12 stretch beginning on April 20 had dropped them into last place in the division. When the A’s arrived at Royals Stadium on May 31, they won the first two games of the four-game series to increase their lead over the Royals to 13 games.

In the third game, on June 2, Saberhagen led the Royals to a 10-4 win to improve Kansas City’s record to 21-27 and drop Oakland to 33-15.

When Gubicza took the mound for the final game of the series in front of a Sunday afternoon crowd of 40,022, he was just 2-5 with a 5.28 ERA in 10 starts. But he may have felt confident because the calendar had just turned to June – in the previous two Junes Gubicza was 9-1 with a 1.84 ERA and had been named the AL pitcher of the month both times.2

Gubicza’s mound opponent was Oakland ace Dave Stewart – baseball’s winningest pitcher since the start of the 1988 season3 – who was 8-2 in 1990 with a league-leading 1.79 ERA. He had walked just 19 batters in 75⅓ innings.

Eleven months earlier, on July 3, 1989, the duo had battled in Oakland; each hurled eight innings with Gubicza suffering a 1-0 complete-game loss on a third-inning unearned run.

Doug Jennings led off the 1990 rematch with a single to right field, but Gubicza retired the next six A’s, including strikeouts of Jose Canseco and Dave Henderson.

In the third, Walt Weiss bunted off Gubicza’s glove for a hit and scored when Willie Randolph followed with a hit-and-run groundball double to left.4 It was the first earned run Oakland had scored against Gubicza since September 11, 1988 – a span of 38 innings.

Gubicza stranded Randolph at second by striking out Jennings, getting Carney Lansford on a grounder to the shortstop, and fanning Canseco.

Despite his recent success against the A’s and the experience of his previous battle against Stewart, Gubicza chose not to watch Stewart work in this game; he retired to the Royals clubhouse after recording the final out each inning and waited out Stewart’s turns on the mound.5

“Dave Stewart has done so well, I didn’t just want to sit there and watch him,” Gubicza said. “I just sat up here in the clubhouse and waited until I heard the music and the crowd and knew the inning was over, then I went back out to pitch.”6

Had Gubicza been watching from the dugout, he would have seen that Stewart didn’t have his good stuff or his usual control.

Stewart allowed just two runners in the first three innings – walks to Kurt Stillwell and Jim Eisenreich – but the Royals got to him in the bottom of the fourth.

Gerald Perry led off with a walk. He scored when George Brett lined a double to right. After Bo Jackson lined out to second, Eisenreich belted a wind-aided home run to right to put the Royals up 3-1.

Willie Wilson started another rally with a single to right and went to third on Frank White’s two-out single; Kevin Seitzer laced a double to left to bring in Wilson and put Kansas City up 4-1. Stillwell grounded to first to end the inning.

Kansas City stranded two more in the fifth when Jackson singled with two outs and Eisenreich walked. Stewart worked out of that jam, but he wouldn’t get through the sixth inning.

Mike Macfarlane and White drew walks to start the sixth and moved up on Seitzer’s sacrifice. Stillwell ripped a double to left give the Royals a 6-1 lead and knock Stewart from the game.

Joe Klink relieved but allowed an RBI double to Perry. After retiring Brett on a fly to center, Klink walked Jackson and Eisenreich to fill the bases; another walk to Wilson forced in Perry to make the score 8-2. Macfarlane flied to center, leaving the bases loaded.

After Randolph’s hit in the third inning, Gubicza cruised through the Oakland lineup. He retired 15 consecutive batters until Terry Steinbach lined a ball to center to start the top of the eighth. Wilson made a diving attempt7 but the ball got past him for a triple;8 one out later Steinbach scored on Randolph’s grounder to second.

Gubicza had just thrown 83 pitches, but Royals manager John Wathan brought in Royals reliever Jeff Montgomery for the ninth to get him some work.9

Montgomery pitched a perfect ninth, striking out Lansford, Canseco,10 and Mark McGwire.

Stewart had allowed seven runs on seven hits and six walks and saw his ERA jump from 1.79 to 2.45. The loss was his second in a row, and the third in his last five outings, after a 6-0 start.

“Everything took a vacation today,” he said. “Wild fastball. No breaking ball. No forkball, nothing.”11

“Early on, it’s tough to tell how your day’s going to be,” he added. “I didn’t get real wild until the fourth or fifth. Normally, I come out of it. But I just couldn’t make any adjustments.”12

Stewart refused to blame the stiff wind blowing out to right field, saying, “The wind didn’t have anything to do with it. No excuses. I was just wild. Everything I threw was up.”13

Gubicza finished with two earned runs on four hits. He struck out eight and didn’t allow a walk.

The outing was especially meaningful to him because a shoulder injury ended his 1989 season on September 12.14 “I can’t lie about that,” he said. “All winter I didn’t know what was going to happen. My goal this year was just to be able to pitch, period.”15

“They told me I only threw 83 pitches,” he remarked. “I usually get that many in four or five innings. I had a good slider and my fastball was working and moving well.”16

Regarding his success in June, Gubicza said, “I guess it’s the warm weather. I’ve always felt comfortable in June, my whole career.”17

Despite Gubicza’s success against them in the past, the A’s noticed a different approach from him in this outing.

“He pitched considerably different today,” Steinbach said. “Before, he showed us the hard, hard fastball in and the hard, hard slider away. Today he didn’t have a good sinker down and in, and he used that mostly for show and threw more breaking balls away and fastballs away.”

“You always try to keep an open mind about a pitcher, but he really made some adjustments today. He got me in my first at-bat [a bouncer up the middle] on a changeup, and I said, ‘Hey, where’d that come from?’”18

Gubicza won just one more game in 1990; on July 11 he was placed on the disabled list with a torn rotator cuff. He ended with a 4-7 record with a 4.50 ERA in 16 starts.

Stewart finished the season 22-11 while leading the AL with 11 complete games, 4 shutouts, and 267 innings pitched. He finished third in the Cy Young Award voting behind his teammate Bob Welch19 and Boston’s Roger Clemens.

Gubicza’s gem moved the Royals back to where they started the series – 11 games behind Oakland. It was as close as they would get; they lost their next eight games, including three at Oakland.

Kansas City finished the season sixth in the AL West at 75-86 and 27½ games back of the A’s, who won 103 games. Oakland swept the Boston Red Sox in the ACLS before being swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.

Author’s Note

The author attended this game with some college buddies while taking summer classes at the University of Arkansas.

Sources

In addition to the references cited in the Notes, the author consulted data from Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA199006030.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B06030KCA1990.htm

Notes

1 Gubicza entered this game 9-4 lifetime against Oakland with a 2.56 ERA in 112⅔ innings in 16 games.

2 Mike DeArmond, “Gubicza Finds His Usual June Form,” Kansas City Star, June 4, 1990: C3.

3 Stewart was 50-23 since the beginning of the 1988 season.

4 Susan Fornoff, “Gubicza Masters the A’s,” Santa Rosa (California) Press Democrat, June 4, 1990: C1.

5 Kim Boatman, “Gubicza Can’t Watch, A’s Can’t Beat Royals,” Modesto (California) Bee, June 4, 1990: C1.

6 Fornoff.

7 Dick Kaegel, “Royals Rough Up Stewart, Belt A’s,” Kansas City Star, June 4, 1990: C1.

8 The hit ended an 0-23 slump for Steinbach.

9 DeArmond, “Gubicza Finds His Usual June Form.”

10 This was Canseco’s fourth strikeout of the game. Although he was hitting .326, he was on pace for 198 strikeouts. Susan Fornoff, “Storm Clears the Air with A’s,” Santa Rosa (California) Press Democrat, June 4, 1990: C3. Canseco finished the season hitting .274 with 158 strikeouts.

11 Associated Press, “KC Takes Advantage of Stewart’s Off Day,” Manhattan (Kansas) Mercury, June 4, 1990: B1.

12 Associated Press.

13 Kaegel.

14 DeArmond.

15 DeArmond.

16 Associated Press, “KC Takes Advantage of Stewart’s Off Day.”

17 Associated Press, “Gubicza Silences Athletics,” Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader, June 4, 1990: C1.

18 Susan Fornoff, “Gubicza Masters the A’s.”

19 Welch won 27 games for Oakland in 1990, still the most in a season since Detroit’s Denny McLain won 31 in 1968.