Now, the Mets and Cubs traveled to Japan — where baseball is the national pastime — to open their season. They would each play exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the season with a two-game series.

Many of the players were concerned about the 16-hour flight’s impact on the start of their season. Mets pitcher Mike Hampton told reporters, “Japan’s going to be a tough trip. I just hope everybody adapts all right and gets through it. It’s going to be exciting to go over there and play, but it’s going to be tough. It could take its toll. Hopefully, the effects aren’t too severe and it doesn’t affect us the first week or two weeks.”1

Several members of both teams had spent time on Japanese teams in the past, most notably Mets manager Bobby Valentine. He had managed the Chiba Lotte Marines to a second-place finish in Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League in 1995. When he was released after the season, he returned to the United States to become the Mets manager.

Pat Mahomes of the Mets pitched for the Yokohama BayStars in 1997 and 1998. Cubs pitcher Brian Williams spent a year with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 1998 and Cubs outfielder Damon Buford lived there when his father, Don, played for the Taiheiyo Club Lions from 1973 to 1975 and the Nankai Hawks in 1976.

The unusual season opener on March 29 drew 55,000 fans to the Tokyo Dome. As the two teams warmed up, “a sumo wrestler waddled to his seat and Crown Prince Naruhito sat in the Royal Box. Fans snacked on sushi with chopsticks, and some even wore surgical masks (since it was high pollen season).” In an Opening Day salute to both teams, “five women in colorful kimonos presented flowers to both teams and the umpires.”2 The only thing missing was the drums and horns that usually add noise to Japanese games.

The Mets were chosen to be the home team for the first game. Hampton, who had arrived in a five-player trade with the Houston Astros three months earlier, started for the Mets. The left-hander tried to take the unique playing environment in stride, saying “It’s baseball, whether we play in the US or Japan. The field is the same. We’ll be playing a talented Cubs team. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”3

Hampton, who led the National League with 22 wins in 1999, started shakily. His first pitch to Eric Young Sr. — delivered shortly after 7 P.M. Tokyo time, which was 5 A.M. in New York City — was a strike, but he missed with the next four pitches for a walk.4 Young stole second three pitches later. Buford’s single brought Young home, giving the Cubs the lead before Hampton could get the first out. Although Hampton struggled with his control, hitting the next batter, Mark Grace, he was able to get through the inning with no further damage when Sammy Sosa grounded into a double play and Henry Rodriguez flied out.

Hampton’s control continued to elude him in the next three innings. He walked another batter in the second and three straight in the third. But the third-inning walks came with two outs and he was able to keep the Cubs from scoring when Rodriguez popped out to the shortstop.

Hampton worked out of trouble again in the fourth when he surrendered two leadoff singles and threw a wild pitch that left two runners in scoring position to start the frame. Another walk loaded the bases. But a strikeout, Hampton’s first of the game, and another double play kept the Cubs from increasing their lead.

For Chicago, Jon Lieber opposed Hampton. The southpaw had a 10-11 record in 1999, his first season with the Cubs after a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lieber pitched as though he wanted 2000 to bring him a change in his luck. He allowed the Mets just one run and five hits over seven innings. That run came in the third when Rey Ordoñez led off with a single and moved to second on Hampton’s sacrifice. Ordoñez reached third on Rickey Henderson’s single and came home on Darryl Hamilton’s sacrifice fly to tie the game.

The Mets had some difficulty with traction in the batter’s box. Robin Ventura grounded out in the second but got stuck in the soft dirt outside in the basepath and almost injured himself. Hamilton looked as if he might be sinking into the batter’s-box dirt when he grounded out in the fifth.

Stadium officials could not seem to remedy the problem. “They pounded and pounded it. But the problem is that they don’t have any clay. Guys start digging and sinking and end up hitting uphill. That changes the angle of the swing. I’d rather guys hit off a mat,” said Don Baylor, debuting as Cubs manager.5

As Lieber shut down the Mets, Hampton continued to struggle. The Cubs regained the lead in the fifth. Buford led off with a single. Two walks loaded the bases and a third walk, Hampton’s ninth of the game, sent Buford across the plate to give the Cubs the lead, 2-1.

Turk Wendell replaced Hampton in the sixth. Wendell struggled to get through the inning. Joe Girardi led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. When Wendell walked Buford, Valentine pulled the plug on him and brought in Dennis Cook.

Cook got the final out of the sixth but the Cubs got the better of him in the seventh. Sosa led off with a single. Two batters later, Shane Andrews hit a homer over the left-field wall to give the Cubs a three-run lead. With Rich Rodriguez on the mound in the eighth, Grace hit his first home run of the season and the Cubs were up 5-1.

Baylor replaced Lieber with Brian Williams in the eighth. Williams walked Edgardo Alfonzo to start the frame. Then Mike Piazza worked the count full before sending ball over the right-field wall. His 450-foot blast brought the Mets to within two runs at 5-3. Williams regrouped and shut down the Mets, getting the next three batters out on groundouts.

Former Met Rick Aguilera took over mound duties in the ninth to close out the game for Chicago. Baylor also made a defensive replacement, putting Jeff Huson in at shortstop in place of Jose Nieves. But when Valentine looked at his lineup card, he couldn’t find Huson on it. After checking with his coaches, Valentine headed out to home plate to question the change.

Valentine asked home-plate umpire Randy Marsh about the change; Baylor noted that he had submitted a lineup card with backup catcher Jeff Reed’s name listed twice. Baylor, according to Valentine, also told the home-plate umpire that Jose Molina was not on the roster. The game continued.

As Aguilera worked toward a save, Valentine checked with his general manager and learned that Molina was on the roster. In other words, the Cubs had 26 players on their 25-man roster. With two outs and Matt Franco at the plate, Valentine “waited until Aguilera had a 1-and-2 count before protesting the game.” He said later, “I didn’t want to protest this silly thing. I figured better be safe than sorry.”6

Aguilera was clearly annoyed by Valentine’s move and began to walk toward home but Girardi settled him back down. “Bobby was trying to distract the pitcher, which was probably the right thing to do,” Baylor said later. “You have to understand Bobby, which I try to do.”7 But Aguilera, a 38-year-old veteran in his 16th major-league season, regained his composure and struck out Franco on the next pitch to give the Cubs the win.

Valentine defended his gamesmanship afterward, saying, “I really didn’t want to do that, believe me. But a game is a major investment for a team and a win is a win and if they were playing with 26 men we had to file a protest. I just waited until there were two outs and figured I’d better protect my interests. Better to be safe than sorry and research it after the game.”8

The Mets manager did not spend much time contemplating his actions. He rescinded the protest immediately after the game and then met with Crown Prince Naruhito in the royal box. Mets general manager Steve Phillips could only say of the game, “High drama in Metsville.”9 New York earned a split of the series a day later, when Benny Agbayani’s pinch-hit grand slam broke an 11th-inning tie and lifted the Mets to a 5-1 win.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, I used the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites for box-score, player, team, and season pages, pitching and batting logs, and other pertinent material.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200003290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B03290NYN2000.htm

Notes

1 Tyler Kepner, “The Mets Begin Their Journey as Time Travelers,” New York Times, March 24, 2000: D4

2 Associated Press, “Cubs Beat Mets, 5-3, IrontonTribune.com, March 29, 2000.

3 George Vescey, “Mets-Cubs Game in Japan Will Be an Unusual Eye-Opener,” New York Times, March 28, 2000: D3.

4 Rafael Hermoso, “Hampton Debut No Walk in the Park, New York Daily News, March 30, 2000: 84.

5 Teddy Greenstein, “Right Out of the Box a Problem — No Clay,” Chicago Tribune, March 30, 2000: 49.

6 Hermoso.

7 Teddy Greenstein, “It’s Not Valentine’s Day — Protest Proves Meaningless,” Chicago Tribune, March 30, 2000: 49.

8 Greenstein.

9 Lisa Olson, “Tokyo Woes for Bobby,” New York Daily News, March 30, 2000: 82.

Griffey Jr.’s major-league career started when he was a 19-year-old in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners, and he immediately made his mark in the sport as a gifted athlete. After finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, he ran off a string of 10 All-Star seasons that included an American League MVP Award in 1997 as well as four other top five finishes.

Griffey’s performance peaked with an average of 52 home runs and 142 RBIs per year from 1996 to 1999. He had accumulated 398 career home runs by age 29 and was arguably the best player in baseball.

The 2000 season was Griffey’s first with the Reds. His acquisition had been one of the top stories during the offseason. In early November 1999, he let it be known that he wanted to be traded from Seattle after rejecting the Mariners’ offer of $135 million over eight years. Because he had been in the major leagues for 10 years and with the same team for five years, he had the right to reject any trade. He initially gave the Mariners a list of four clubs (Braves, Mets, Astros, and Reds) he would consider going to. Mariners GM Pat Gillick was able to put together a deal with the Mets, which Griffey vetoed.1

Griffey suddenly narrowed down the list to only the Reds, which left Gillick in an untenable situation with regard to getting comparable value in return. Through no fault of Gillick, the Mariners wound up trading Griffey to the Reds for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Perez, and Jake Meyer on February 10, 2000, in what was deemed one of the most lopsided baseball deals ever.2However, Griffey was literally going home to Cincinnati, where his father had started his career as a member of the Big Red Machine in the 1970s and where Junior spent his childhood.

The game on April 10 was Opening Day at Coors Field in Denver, pitting the Colorado Rockies against Griffey’s Reds. The Rockies had gone 2-4 on the road, while the Reds had three wins in their first seven contests of the season.

The Rockies were coming off a 72-90 season and fifth-place finish in the National League West Division in 1999 under manager Jim Leyland. Leyland had been replaced by Buddy Bell.

The Rockies’ Opening Day roster contained only six players from the Rockies’ roster on Opening Day in 1999. At the time, the 19-player turnover was believed to be the most in major-league history. The 1997-98 Florida Marlins had seven players remaining.3

The Reds were managed by Jack McKeon, who had led the team to a second-place finish (96-67) in the National League Central Division the year before. Griffey was being counted on to lead them to their first division title since 1995.

The Rockies having led the National League in attendance every year since their inaugural season in 1993, the huge crowd of 48,094 at the Monday afternoon game at Coors Field came as no surprise. Bell gave the starting pitcher’s job to Rolando Arrojo, who had been in the baseball headlines in 1997 when he defected from Cuba, eventually signing with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 6-foot-4 righty was in his first season with the Rockies and had pitched 5⅔innings in a no-decision game against the Atlanta Braves on April 4.

Right-hander Steve Parrisdrew the starting assignment for the Reds. The four-year major-league veteran was coming off his best season in 1999 when he posted an 11-4 record and 3.50 ERA for the Reds. He had taken the loss against the Milwaukee Brewers in the April 5 game in Cincinnati.

The Rockies got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning when Darren Bragg doubled in Jeff Cirillo, who had led off with a double.

The Reds tied the score in the top of the fourth inning with Griffey’s historic 400th home run, with the bases empty. It was his fourth career home run off Arrojo.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Rockies broke the tie with four runs. Arrojo led off the inning with a single in only his third major-league game as a batter. Tom Goodwin followed with a line drive triple to deep center field that scored Arrojo. Mike Lansing then hit a home run to make the score 3-1.

After a single by 1998-99 National League batting champion Larry Walker and a walk to Cirillo, Reds pitcher Parris was replaced by Hector Mercado. Todd Helton flied out for the first out, and then Walker was caught trying to steal home. Bragg singled in Cirillo for his second RBI of the game and the Reds’ fourth run of the inning.

In the top of the sixth, the Reds recorded three straight singles by Alex Ochoa, Chris Stynes, and Barry Larkin. Griffey hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Ochoa, but the rally was killed when Dante Bichette, who had been traded from the Rockies in the offseason, grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Helton added to the 5-2 Rockies lead with a homer off Reds reliever Scott Sullivan with Cirillo on base in the bottom of the seventh.

Trailing 7-2, the Reds tried to mount a comeback in the top of the ninth, but fell short. Rockies reliever David Lee started the inning. With two outs, rookie D.T. Cromer hit a home run with Ed Taubensee and Aaron Boone on base. It was Cromer’s first major-league home run after he spent the previous eight seasons in the minors.

Ochoa reached base on an error by Lee, who was then replaced by former Reds reliever Stan Belinda. Belinda struck out Stynes to record a save in the Rockies’ 7-5 win.

Arrojo, who gave up two earned runs on six hits in six innings pitched, got credit for the win. Parris took his second loss in as many games by yielding five earned runs on eight hits in four innings.

Cirillo hit two doubles and scored three of the Rockies’ runs. He and Helton would become the first pair of National League teammates to hit 50 or more doubles in the same season.4

After the game, Griffey retrieved the home-run ball from the spectator who caught it by swapping his fielder’s glove for it. Griffey wanted the ball so much he was prepared to also give up an autographed bat and a warm-up jacket. He said, “I can get another glove. I can’t get another 400.” He presented the ball to his father, who proudly displayed it while strolling through the clubhouse after the game.5

The previous record holder for youngest player to reach 400 career home runs was Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years and 248 days old, while Griffey was 30 years and 141 days old.6Griffey’s home run moved him into 30th place on the career home-run list, passing Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline.7

Griffey finished the season with 40 home runs. His career was on a trajectory to potentially surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time home-run leader. However, he suffered several injury-plagued seasons that affected his power output during the second half of his career. Consequently, he fell considerably short of Aaron, finishing his career in 2010 with 630 home runs.8

Griffey hit home runs on his father’s birthday on three other occasions, including the first one of his career in his 1989 major-league debut.9The father-son duo shared another memorable home-run moment when they both hit round-trippers in the same game as teammates with the Seattle Mariners in 1990. But the historic one in 2000 also had to rank among the most unforgettable for the family.

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker. To read more articles from this book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted:

Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org

Hawks, Emily. “Ken Griffey Jr.,” SABR BioProject, sabr.org/bioproj/person/3e8e7034.

2000 Colorado Rockies Information Guide.

Notes

1Michael Knisley, “Griffey Leaves Seattle Red-Faced,” The Sporting News, February 21, 2000: 44.

2Ibid.

32001 Colorado Rockies Information Guide, 199.

42001 Colorado Rockies Information Guide, 198.

5Chris Haft, “A Birthday Gift for Dad,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11, 2000: A4.

6Haft: A1.

7Haft: A4.

8As of 2018, Griffey is sixth on the all-time list of home-run leaders behind Barry Bonds (762), Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Alex Rodriguez (696), and Willie Mays (660). At the end of the 2017 season, Albert Pujols trailed Griffey by only 16 home runs.

9Haft: A1.

Ripken was raised in Aberdeen, Maryland, and starred in both baseball and soccer at Aberdeen High School. He was exposed to professional baseball from an early age because his father, Cal Ripken Sr., was a longtime coach and manager in the Orioles organization.1 Baltimore selected Ripken in the second round of the 1978 draft. He made his major-league debut in 1981, shifted from third base to shortstop in 1982, and remained an Oriole until his retirement in 2001.2

A 1991 Sports Illustrated cover story during Ripken’s second MVP season reported that Gene Mauch, who had managed against him in the 1980s, “said Ripken has the worst swing of any great player he had ever seen.”3 Regardless of its aesthetics or mechanics, Ripken’s righty swing was a consistent weapon for Baltimore. He averaged 169 hits per season for 17 seasons (1982 to 1998) and finished his career with 603 doubles, 17th on the all-time list as of 2022.

Ripken reached 1,000 career hits with a bases-loaded, two-run single in his 894th game, on June 16, 1987. As Ripken continued to appear in the lineup, day in and day out, it took 993 more games to get to 2,000 hits.4 He reached that milestone with an RBI double off Wilson Álvarez of the Chicago White Sox on July 10, 1993.

Ripken voluntarily ended his extraordinary consecutive games played streak near the end of the 1998 season. He played in roughly half of Baltimore’s games in 1999 and finished that year with 2,991 career hits, just nine shy of the 3,000-hit plateau. With the milestone in sight, Ripken’s pursuit of 3,000 hits became the focus of many preseason questions in 2000. Ripken replied, “Every time we get a chance to celebrate someone getting 3,000 hits, it isn’t a celebration for the individual person. It’s a celebration for the history and for our love of the game. That’s why I’ll be happy in the celebration. But I won’t feel it’s for me.”5

The Iron Man, now 39 years old and playing third base, collected three hits during Baltimore’s homestand to open the 2000 season. Three more hits in Kansas City and Minnesota left him sitting on 2,997 going into the second game of the series with the Twins on April 15. The 18,745 fans who attended the Saturday evening game at the Metrodome were about to see history made.

The season was still young as the 5-5 Orioles prepared to face the 4-8 Twins on Tax Day. The Orioles had reached the American League Championship Series in 1996 and 1997 but were bound for their third losing season in a row, a drought that eventually spanned 14 seasons and lasted until 2012. The Twins, World Series champions in 1987 and 1991, were headed for their eighth straight losing campaign but building with youth, developing the team that won three straight AL Central Division titles from 2002 through 2004.

The starting pitcher for the Orioles was right-hander Calvin Maduro. Maduro had made 13 starts for the Phillies (with a 3-7 record) in 1997 but had spent the previous two years pitching at the Triple-A level. He was making his second start of 2000 after allowing six earned runs in four innings against the Detroit Tigers on April 7 without getting a decision. The Twins countered with veteran righty Sean Bergman. Bergman, in the final season of his eight-year career, was making his third start of the season. He had allowed nine earned runs in 8⅓ innings in those two games, but had not gotten a decision in either contest.

Bergman began the game with a seven-pitch battle against Brady Anderson. Anderson ended the at-bat with a double to right-center field. The next batter, Mike Bordick, sent the first pitch he saw into center field to drive in Anderson and give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Four batters later Ripken grounded out to third base with men on the corners to end the inning. Maduro set the Twins down in order in the bottom half.    

Bergman needed only 10 pitches to retire the Orioles in the top of the second. But catcher Charles Johnson sent one of those pitches over the right-field wall to increase Baltimore’s lead to 2-0. In the bottom of the second, Maduro once again set the Twins down in order. Both pitchers accomplished that feat in the third.

Baltimore designated hitter Harold Baines—at age 41 in the 21st season of his career—singled to open the top of the fourth, bringing Ripken to the plate. A line-drive single to right field (career hit number 2,998) sent Baines to third. Jeff Conine’s single scored Baines and made the Orioles’ lead 3-0. Bergman retired the next three batters to end the inning without further damage.

Minnesota rallied in the fourth. A single by Cristian Guzmán and a walk to Matt Lawton brought Corey Koskie to the plate with men on first and second and two outs. Koskie, who had doubled and tripled in a three-hit effort the previous day, tripled for the second consecutive game,6 which drove in two runs and made the score 3-2. Ron Coomer followed Koskie’s triple with a double to tie the game.   

The score wasn’t knotted for long. Bordick doubled off Bergman to open the fifth. He scored on a single by B.J. Surhoff to put the Orioles back on top, 4-3. After Bergman retired Albert Belle and Baines, Ripken came to the plate with two outs and Surhoff on second. Surhoff couldn’t score on Ripken’s high-chop infield single to third, but the hit brought Ripken within one of the milestone.

Maduro allowed a triple for the second consecutive inning when Torii Hunter opened the bottom of the fifth with a three-base hit. Hunter scored on a single by Todd Walker to tie the game again at four runs apiece. 

Southpaw Travis Miller replaced Bergman in the seventh. After Miller retired the leadoff hitter, Belle doubled and moved to third on a groundball to short. This brought Ripken to the plate with two outs and the go-ahead run on third. Playing the matchup game, Twins manager Tom Kelly brought in right-hander Héctor Carrasco to face the righty Ripken.

Carrasco’s first pitch was well above the strike zone. The ball bounced off catcher Matt LeCroy’s mitt and went to the backstop. Belle scored from third on the passed ball to put the Orioles ahead by one.

Ripken lined the next pitch over Carrasco’s head and in front of Hunter in center field for the 3,000th hit of his career. He was greeted by first-base coach Eddie Murray at the bag. Murray, Ripken’s teammate for nine seasons, had reached the historic milestone five years earlier in the same ballpark. He remarked, “Way to go. Welcome to the club.”7

The game paused as Ripken’s teammates and hitting coach Terry Crowley came out to congratulate him with handshakes all around as the crowd stood and cheered.8 Ripken walked over to the stands on the first-base side of the park and tossed the historic ball to his wife, Kelly.9

Surhoff added one more run to the Orioles total with a leadoff home run in the top of the ninth, making the score 6-4. Mike Trombley, who had spent the first eight seasons of his career in Minnesota before signing with Baltimore as a free agent in November 1999, closed out the Twins in the ninth for the save. The Orioles were off on a six-game winning streak.

Reflecting on his achievement after the game, Ripken said, “Reaching 3,000 hits is really symbolic of being productive and playing for a long time. I didn’t imagine it would be so tough to get those last nine hits. It was a phenomenal experience, and one that I’m really glad is over. It didn’t work out this time that I could actually do it in Baltimore, but I’m glad that my kids got to see it.”10

Ripken Jr. became the 24th player in major-league history to reach 3,000 hits and the third player in seven years to reach the milestone at the Metrodome.11 Ripken concluded his playing career at the end of the 2001 season. As of 2022, his 3,184 career hits were the 15th highest all-time.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to John Fredland and Kurt Blumenau for their insightful comments on the first draft of this article. The article was fact-checked by Thomas Brown and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, I used Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for team, season, and player pages and logs and the box scores and play-by-plays for this game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN200004150.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B04150MIN2000.htm

Notes

1 Cal Ripken Sr. was a minor-league manager in the Baltimore system for 14 years while Ripken Jr. was growing up. Ripken Sr. managed the Baltimore Orioles in 1987, and was the first major-league manager to have two sons play on his team. He was fired in 1988 after the Orioles started the season with six consecutive losses, on their way to 21 straight losses before their first win.

2 All biographical information taken from Ripken’s SABR biography. Jimmy Keenan, “Cal Ripken Jr.,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cal-ripken/ (last accessed November 14, 2022).

3 Tim Kurkjian, “Rip on a Tear,” Sports Illustrated, July 29, 1991: 24.

4 Ripken took 913 games to go from 2,000 to 3,000 hits. He reached the 3,000-hit plateau in his 2,800th game. Miguel Cabrera got to 3,000 hits in 2,600 games. Of the 33 players in the 3,000-hit club, they are the only two to reach the milestone in a round number of games.

5 Michael Knisley, “Knowing When to Say When,” The Sporting News, April 3, 2000: 36.

6 Koskie finished the season with four triples.

7 Arnie Stapleton, “Welcome to the Club,” The Sporting News, April 24, 2000: 62.

8 Crowley was Ripken’s Orioles teammate in 1981 and 1982; he was playing first base the day Ripken began his record consecutive games played streak on May 30, 1982. In addition to being the hitting coach when Ripken reached 3,000 hits, Crowley was also the hitting coach when Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor collected their 3,000th hits. Taken from Jim Souhan, “Crowley Is Linked to Ripken’s History,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 16, 2000: C14.

9 Action transcribed from the You Tube video “Cal Ripken Jr. Hit No. 3,000-April 15, 2000-vs. Minnesota Twins,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ4VPckphHQ (last accessed November 14, 2022).

10 Post-game interview transcribed from the You Tube video “2,000 MLB Highlights, April 15 (Cal Ripken 3,000th Hit),” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtYbHNtLL3o (last accessed December 2, 2022).

11 In addition to Murray and Ripken, Dave Winfield reached 3,000 hits at the Metrodome in 1993.

The series finale featured another slugfest, led by Chicago’s shortstop, José Valentin, who hit for the cycle as the White Sox rolled to a one-sided victory.

The 30-year-old Valentin was in his first season with the White Sox. After eight seasons in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform, Valentin and Cal Eldred were traded to Chicago on January 12, 2000, for Jaime Navarro and John Snyder. Chicago had finished in second place in the American League Central Division in 1999 and was trying to build a team that could reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

For the home team, left-hander Jim Parque took to the mound, looking for his third straight win. He was in his third big-league season (all with the White Sox to this point) and in 2000 he had the best year of his career.2

José Mercedes started for the visiting Orioles. He had been teammates with Valentin in Milwaukee from 1994 to 1998. After bouncing around the National League in 1999 (he was signed and released by the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins and New York Mets, and he did not appear in any major-league games), the right-hander was signed as a free agent by the Orioles in the offseason. The 2000 season proved to be the best season of his career, too.

After Parque hit Orioles leadoff batter Brady Anderson with the second pitch of the game, Delino DeShields swung at Parque’s first pitch to him and doubled into right-center field, plating Anderson. The Orioles wasted an opportunity to add to their early lead; after DeShields moved to third on a groundout, he was called out at the plate when Albert Belle grounded to second baseman Ray Durham, who fired home in time to catch DeShields. Belle was then caught stealing second for the inning’s third out, and Baltimore settled for just one run.

Durham started the bottom of the first with a double down the left-field line. Valentin then laid down a perfect bunt toward third that Cal Ripken, winding down his career as a third baseman after a record-setting tenure at shortstop in Baltimore, could only pick up.

With runners at the corners and none out, Frank Thomas lifted a fly ball to center, deep enough for Durham to tag and score the tying run. Chicago’s rally was stopped when Magglio Ordoñez grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Jeff Conine, who had been at the plate when Belle attempted his swipe of second base in the first, led off the second by lining a double to left-center. He advanced to third on Ripken’s infield grounder. Will Clark was then hit by a pitch. Charles Johnson grounded a roller toward the mound. Parque’s only play was at first, and Conine scored to put Baltimore back ahead, 2-1.

Baltimore skipper Mike Hargrove “waited 39 pitches before pulling Mercedes”3 in the bottom of the second inning; by then, the White Sox had gone on top to stay. Paul Konerko singled and scored when Chris Singleton drove the ball into the right-field corner for an RBI triple. Second baseman DeShields took Conine’s throw and relayed the ball to the plate. Konerko had beaten the throw, which bounced off catcher Johnson, and the error allowed Singleton to also score for a 3-2 White Sox lead.

Mercedes struck out Carlos Lee but delivered back-to-back walks to Greg Norton and Mark Johnson, losing both batters on full counts. Durham forced Johnson at second for the second out, bringing up Valentin, who pulled a pitch into right field that short-hopped the fence. Norton scored, and Durham stopped at third base.

After an intentional walk to Thomas loaded the bases, eight of the first 12 White Sox batters had reached base, and at this point, Hargrove made a change. Calvin Maduro relieved Mercedes and induced Ordoñez to fly out for out number three. Chicago now led, 4-2.

Anderson led off the Baltimore third with a single but was caught stealing. Parque retired the next two batters. In the home half, Konerko blasted his sixth home run of the season to start the frame, pushing the lead to 5-2.

Maduro then walked the bases loaded, as action started again in the Orioles’ bullpen. Johnson singled to right. Singleton scored, and the bases remained full. Craig Wilson pinch-hit for Durham and flied out, not deep enough to score a run.

Valentin settled into the batter’s box for his third at-bat, still just in the third inning. He cleared the bases with his third hit of the game, a drive into the right-field corner for a stand-up triple. Chicago had broken the game open at 9-2.

Maduro surrendered an intentional walk (his fourth free pass of the inning) to Thomas. Ordoñez’s sacrifice fly scored Valentin before Konerko popped out to end the inning. Chicago had put up 10 runs before making nine outs.

Belle singled to start the fourth. It was the fourth straight inning that a Baltimore leadoff hitter had reached, but Parque proceeded to get three straight outs, keeping the score at 10-2. In the sixth, with two outs, Conine moved the Orioles a run closer with a drive over the wall in left-center for his third round-tripper of the season, a solo shot. An inning later, Anderson singled with two outs and scored on DeShields’ second double of the game. That was all the scoring Baltimore would muster for the game.

After striking out in the fifth, Valentin came to the plate in the seventh with two outs, needing a home run for the cycle. Mike Trombley was now on the mound. Valentin swung at a 1-and-1 pitch above the letters and “jacked a homer”4 into the bullpen, well beyond the right-field wall.

As Valentin rounded the bases, fireworks appeared in the sky beyond center field. The fans also erupted in a standing ovation, screaming for a curtain call, and Valentin obliged. He had just hit for the cycle.

The Orioles had another runner in scoring position in the eighth, after Mark Lewis doubled, but they did not score. In the bottom of the inning, Ordoñez reached on an error by first baseman Conine. Konerko doubled, putting two runners in scoring position. Two outs later, Norton’s single to right brought both runners home. Norton tried to advance to second on the play but was called out. Norton had made the final out in the eighth, leaving Valentin in the on-deck circle.

Anderson walked in the ninth, reaching base for the fourth time in the game, but once again, the Orioles could not capitalize. Chicago won, 13-4. Parque earned his third win of the young season.5

The White Sox posted their eighth victory in nine games. Through 22 games in the 2000 season, Chicago batters were hitting .314 as a team and averaging an astonishing 7.9 runs per game.6 And even though Valentin put up the biggest numbers, it was a team effort. Chicago banged out 13 hits and patiently took eight walks from the Baltimore pitchers. Konerko added three hits and three RBIs (he was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle himself), Singleton had a single, triple, and two runs scored, and Norton scored twice with two RBIs. The White Sox offense kept up the pace all season long, leading the majors with 978 runs scored, as Chicago won the AL Central Division title.

With his 4-for-5 performance, Valentin also scored twice and knocked in five runs, tying a career high.7 His average jumped 33 points to .296. It was his third game of the season with at least two extra-base hits. In the clubhouse after the game, Valentin told reporters, “In Milwaukee when you hit for the cycle, you get a Harley [motorcycle].”8 His White Sox teammates instead put a Big Wheel in Valentin’s locker.

Valentin became the fifth player in White Sox history to hit for the cycle.9 The lefty hit for a natural cycle, with his hits coming in the order of single, double, triple, and home run. His achievement was the 15th time in history that a player had hit for a natural cycle.10 He was also the first of five batters to hit for the cycle in 2000.11

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200004270.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B04270CHA2000.htm

For video highlights of Valentin’s cycle, see

https://www.mlb.com/video/valentin-hits-for-cycle-c543432283

Notes

1 Paul Sullivan, “Valentin Connects on All Cycles,” Chicago Tribune, April 28, 2000: 49.

2 After five seasons in Chicago, Parque became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with Tampa Bay. He made just five appearances in 2003 and was released just before the end of the season. He never pitched again in the majors after the 2003 season.

3 Joe Strauss, “White Sox Thrash O’s Again, 13-4,” Baltimore Sun, April 28, 2000: 131.

4 Sullivan.

5 When winning pitcher Parque was interviewed in the clubhouse, instead of being asked about this game, he learned he would receive a three-game suspension. According to the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat, Valentin “picked the wrong day to hit for the cycle,” as his feat was overshadowed by news that 16 members of the White Sox and Detroit Tigers had been suspended (for a total of 82 games) for two bench-clearing brawls the previous week (April 22, in a game won by Chicago, 14-6). See “Valentin Hits for Cycle as Chisox Rout Orioles,” Belleville News-Democrat, April 28, 2000: 35. In addition to the suspensions, nine other men were fined. The game featured 11 ejections. See https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B04220CHA2000.htm for the play-by-play of the game, which includes details about the brawls and ejections.

6 Sullivan. The White Sox finished the season batting .286 as a team, averaging 6.04 runs per game (best in the AL).

7 Valentin drove in five runs for the first time on April 3, 1998, while playing for the Brewers. He had five RBIs in a game seven different times in his career, and on July 8, 2006, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Florida Marlins, he had seven RBIs while playing for the New York Mets, to set a new career high.

8 Sullivan.

9 Valentin joined White Sox batters Ray Schalk (June 27, 1922, against the Tigers), Jack Brohamer (September 24, 1977, against the Mariners), Carlton Fisk (May 16, 1984, against the Royals), and Chris Singleton (July 6, 1999, against the Royals).

10 The first 14 batters to hit for a natural cycle were Lon Knight, Philadelphia (American Association), on July 30, 1883; Pete Browning, Louisville (AA), on August 8, 1886; Fred Carroll, Pittsburgh (NL), on May 2, 1887; Bill Collins, Boston (NL), on October 6, 1910; Bob Fothergill, Detroit (AL), on September 26, 1926; Tony Lazzeri, New York (AL), on June 3, 1932; Charlie Gehringer, Detroit (AL), on May 27, 1939; Leon Culberson, Boston (AL), on July 3, 1943; Jim Hickman, New York (NL), on August 7, 1963; Ken Boyer, St. Louis (NL), on June 16, 1964; Billy Williams, Chicago (NL), on July 17, 1966; Tim Foli, Montreal (NL), on April 21, 1976; Bob Watson, Boston (AL), on September 15, 1979; and John Mabry, St. Louis (NL), on May 18, 1996. Since Valentin’s feat, Brad Wilkerson, Montreal (NL), on June 24, 2003, and Gary Matthews Jr., Texas (AL), on September 13, 2006, have joined the list, giving 17 known occurrences of the natural cycle.

11 After Valentin, the other players to hit for the cycle in 2000 were Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall (May 19, against St. Louis), Colorado’s Mike Lansing (June 18, against Arizona), Oakland’s Eric Chavez (June 21, against Baltimore), and Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez (July 5, against Houston).

The 13-12 Cleveland Indians were enduring a five-game losing streak but remained only 3½ games behind the AL Central Division-leading Chicago White Sox as they prepared for the second game of their four-game series in Toronto. The Blue Jays had defeated the Indians 8-1 the previous night, led by Wells.2 Winners of the past four AL Central Division titles, the Indians featured an explosive offense led by future Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar and Jim Thome, with Manny Ramirez adding power and Kenny Lofton leading off. Emerging ace Bartolo Colon led the pitching staff with veterans Dave Burba and longtime Indian Charles Nagy solidifying the rotation.

Roy Halladay started for Toronto. The young right-hander was pitching in his third year for the Blue Jays. His future was bright; one publication noted, “Once he puts all of his considerable gifts together, he projects as an ace.”3 However, in a solid rookie campaign in 1999, Halladay was shut down late in the season with tendinitis and struggled in April 2000. Through six starts, he was 2-4 with a lofty 10.57 ERA. Opposing hitters compiled a 1.044 OPS (on-base plus slugging average) against him, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was a mediocre 1.0. In each of his last five starts, he had allowed at least five earned runs and pitched less than six innings. His control issues had plagued him since spring training, when the youngster was “frustrated by a lack of sharp control on his off-speed pitches.”4

Nagy started for Cleveland. The durable right-hander, selected by the Indians in the first round of the June 1998 amateur draft, had pitched at least 200 innings in each of the past four seasons. Selected as an All-Star for the third time the previous season, Nagy was also struggling with his effectiveness, compiling a 1-4 record and 6.03 ERA in April. Nagy’s pitching repertoire included a slider, sinking fastball, splitter, and changeup.5

Cleveland interim manager Grady Little shuffled his lineup to help the Indians’ offense emerge from its hitting slump, moving Alomar to the leadoff spot and Justice to the third spot.6 The game began with Alomar walking on a full count. David Justice doubled with one out, and Thome walked on a full count. With two outs Halladay struck out Richie Sexson on three pitches, including a called third strike, to keep the Indians scoreless. Halladay wasn’t as lucky in the second inning. After Einar Diaz singled, Alomar singled, and Vizquel walked, the bases were again jammed. With two outs, Justice cleared them on a double to deep right. Halladay walked Ramirez and Thome to load the bases for Sexson again. Again he struck out Sexson, this time swinging, to avoid further damage, though the struggling pitcher had thrown as many balls as strikes over the first two innings (35).7 Darrin Fletcher put Toronto on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the bottom half and cut Cleveland’s lead to 3-1. Cleveland missed an opportunity to pad its lead in the third inning when Diaz doubled with one out but was left stranded. The Blue Jays responded with greater force in their half of the inning. Cruz and Homer Bush led off with singles and Mondesi launched a three-run blast over the center-field wall with no outs to give Toronto a 4-3 lead.

Halladay never established his rhythm that evening. In the fourth frame with one out, Justice walked on a full count and Cleveland regained the lead on Ramirez’s seventh homer. The Indians pounced as Halladay struggled, with both Thome and Sexson hitting singles, then scoring on Diaz’s center-field double. Halladay’s night was finished. Reliever Eric Gunderson didn’t fare much better as Jolbert Cabrera, his first batter, singled Diaz home. After a bunt groundout, Cleveland led 8-4. In the bottom half, Cruz plated Alex Gonzalez to offer Jays fans hope for a comeback. Toronto kept chipping away at Cleveland’s lead; in the fifth inning, Nagy was sent to the showers after Delgado’s two-run blast, which reached the top of the center-field restaurant8 and cut the Indians’ lead to one run at 8-7. Nagy was replaced by Tom Martin.

Gunderson returned for the sixth inning. Travis Fryman grounded out. Diaz doubled for a third time. Cabrera singled, and Cleveland threatened with runners at the corners. Lance Painter relieved Gunderson and induced Alomar to hit into an inning-ending double play. Marty Cordova led off Toronto’s half with a full-count walk. After Gonzalez struck out, Cruz deposited his 11th homer over the left-field wall, and Toronto regained the lead, 9-8.

Although Painter retired the first three Indians he faced, he wasn’t immune to Cleveland’s bats. In the seventh inning with two outs, he walked Ramirez on four pitches, then allowed a two-run clout by Thome as Cleveland snagged the lead, 10-9. In the bottom half, Cleveland reliever Ricardo Rincon allowed a leadoff single to Delgado, but set down the next three Blue Jays on a lineout and two fly outs.

The Indians didn’t add to their lead in the eighth inning. Diaz started the inning with a single to left, his fifth hit. He was erased on a double play as reliever Paul Quantrill prevented Cleveland from scoring. Paul Shuey relieved Rincon for Cleveland. Cordova struck out. Gonzalez launched his first offering from Shuey into the left-field seats to tie the game.

Cleveland threatened in the ninth inning; Fryman missed an opportunity to push Cleveland ahead when he grounded out on the first pitch he saw with two runners in scoring position and two outs. Shuey returned to the mound for the Indians in the bottom of the ninth and struck out Mondesi and Delgado to start the inning. But Brad Fullmer delivered a two-out broken-bat single and Tony Batista worked a seven-pitch walk to move Fullmer into scoring position. On a full count, Fletcher singled down the left-field line to drive Fullmer home with the game-winning run as Toronto prevailed in the 11-10 slugfest that lasted 3 hours and 42 minutes.

Billy Koch was the winning pitcher after getting the final out in the top of the ninth. inning Shuey, who struck out five over 1⅔ innings, was charged with the loss after allowing the tying and winning runs. Diaz delivered a career-high five hits, doubling three times and scoring three runs, while Justice doubled twice and plated three runs. Game hero Fletcher went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Cruz banged out three hits, including a homer and double, with three RBIs. After the game Fletcher noted, “There were a lot of hits, a lot of lead changes, and we went through a lot of pitchers.”9

The victory was the 1,800th win in Blue Jays history.10 Toronto finished the season 83-79, in third place in the AL East, 4½ games behind the division-winning Yankees. Cleveland ended the campaign 90-72, second in the AL Central, five games behind the White Sox. The Seattle Mariners edged out Cleveland by a single game for the wild-card spot. Diaz finished the season with a .272 batting average and .715 OPS in 275 plate appearances as the backup to Sandy Alomar Jr. Fletcher ended the season with career highs in hits (133), home runs (20), batting average (.320), and OPS (.869) in 122 games and 445 plate appearances. Both Halladay and Nagy endured forgettable seasons; Halladay was demoted to the minors on May 1611 after compiling a 3-5 record and 11.97 ERA in 35⅓ innings. Nagy suffered through an injury-plagued season, spending time on the disabled list for the first time since 1993.12 Fletcher remained positive regarding Halladay’s control challenges: “He’s young. That’s the thing. He’s going to do well. I think that struggling has a way of making you better.”13

Sources

Besides the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and the following:

2000 Cleveland Indians media guide

2000 Toronto Blue Jays media guide

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (New York: The Free Press, 2001).

baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200005050.shtml

retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B05050TOR2000.htm

Notes

1 Tom Maloney, “Toronto Season Preview,” The Sporting News, March 27, 2000: 74.

2 John Lott, “Thompson Delivers for Toronto,” National Post (Toronto), May 5, 2000: 43.

3 “Roy Halladay,” in Josh Dewan, Don Zminda, and Jim Callis, eds., The Scouting Notebook 2000 (Morton Grove, Illinois: Stats, Inc. Publishing, 2000), 316.

4 Tom Maloney, “Toronto,” The Sporting News, April 3, 2000: 40.

5 Bill James and Rob Neyer, The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches (New York: Fireside Books, 2004), 320.

6Associated Press, “Blue Jays Outslug Cleveland, Sending Tribe to Their Sixth Straight Loss,” Hanover (Pennsylvania) Evening Sun, May 6, 2000: 11.

7 Chris Jones, “The Doc’s Ills Continue, but Jays’ Bats Find the Cure,” National Post, May 6, 2000: 23.

8 “Jays Win Slugfest,” Windsor (Ontario) Star, May 6, 2000: 21.

9 Associated Press.

10 Associated Press.

11 John Lott, “Halladay Misses Triple-A Start, Visits Specialist,” National Post. June 1, 2000: 39.

12 2001 Cleveland Indians media guide (Cleveland: Cleveland Indians Baseball Club), 206.

13 Jones.

Martínez’s first such cycle had been in a 13-strikeout outing for the Montreal Expos on August 20, 1997. After being traded to the Red Sox before the 1998 season, he had three more in 1999 – on June 4 against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park (16 strikeouts), and then back-to-back cycles on September 4 in Seattle (15 strikeouts) and on September 10 at Yankee Stadium (17 strikeouts).3 In 2000 he achieved the cycle on May 6 during a 17-strikeout game against the visiting Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Though he’d whiffed 17 and walked only one, Martínez lost that game, 1-0, outpitched by Steve Trachsel, who threw a three-hit shutout.4 He had also lost the 1997 game for the Expos, 6-3, to the St. Louis Cardinals. He won the other three.5

The 2000 Red Sox were 19-12 and in second place in the American League East Division, 2½ games behind the New York Yankees, when Martínez faced the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a four-game series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles were in fourth place, seven games back. The 28-year-old Martínez, who had won Cy Young Awards in two of the three previous seasons, entered the game with a 5-1 record and a 1.22 ERA in ’00, with the only blemish on his record the hard-luck loss to Trachsel and the Devil Rays six days earlier.

Starting for Mike Hargrove’s Orioles was 23-year-old right-hander Sidney Ponson, in his third major-league season. The first three Boston batters hit singles – José Offerman, Darren Lewis, and Trot Nixon, whose hit past diving second baseman Delino DeShields drove in Offerman from second base. Brian Daubach grounded into a force play, short to second, as Lewis scored. Jason Varitek hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but the Red Sox had a 2-0 lead. They added a third run in the top of the second on a walk, single, and a two-out single to center by Offerman.

Martínez had a perfect game through the first four innings, facing 12 Baltimore batters and retiring each one. In the bottom of the first, he struck out the Orioles’ leadoff batter, Brady Anderson, and the third batter, B.J. Surhoff. In the second, he struck out cleanup batter Albert Belle and the sixth-place hitter, first baseman Jeff Conine. In the third inning, he struck out the seventh and ninth batters, catcher Greg Myers and shortstop Mike Bordick. He struck out no one at all in the fourth, but still retired the side in order.   

In the top of the fifth, Boston bumped up its lead to 4-0 on a one-out solo home run by Offerman onto Eutaw Street in right field. Both Belle and Conine singled off Martínez in the bottom of the fifth, but no one scored. Myers struck out again, but of course that didn’t help with the cycle.

In the sixth, Martínez struck out Bordick again, got Brady Anderson to ground to first base unassisted, then struck out the number-two batter in the order, DeShields.

Ponson had allowed only a single in the sixth and pitched a clean seventh. After the seventh-inning stretch, Surhoff grounded out, second to first, and Belle popped up to shortstop Donnie Sadler. Batting fifth in the Orioles order was 41-year-old designated hitter Harold Baines, later to join Martínez in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Baines struck out looking on three pitches.

Thus, through seven innings. the only batter in the Baltimore batting order who had yet to strike out was the number-eight man, third baseman Mark Lewis.6 Martínez had retired Lewis on a fly out in the third and a groundout in the fifth.  

The Red Sox added to their lead in the top of the eighth, Ponson still working. Daubach doubled into right field, the ball under and glancing off Conine’s glove as he dove toward the line by first base, the ball then skittering into right field. Daubach attempted to advance on Varitek’s grounder to short, but Mark Lewis tagged him out at third. Troy O’Leary singled to right, Varitek taking second. Mike Stanley singled to center, driving in Varitek. Boston’s lead was 5-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, Martínez struck out Conine swinging. He struck out Myers for the third time, also on a swinging strike. And he struck out Mark Lewis, also swinging. Pedro Martínez had recorded strikeouts against all nine spots of the Orioles’ batting order – giving him another pitcher’s cycle.    

He had apparently won over some fans in Baltimore. The Sun wrote, “As he struck out six through three innings, he took the breath away from the crowd. By the eighth inning, his outing had become impressive enough for the crowd to shamelessly cheer each of his K’s.”7

In the top of the ninth, Calvin Maduro relieved Ponson, who had thrown 112 pitches. After Sadler flied out to center, Offerman singled up the middle and into center for his fourth hit of the night), Darren Lewis singled off the wall in left (his third hit), and Nixon singled to right-center, driving in Offerman. Daubach then made it 9-0 with a three-run homer, golfing a low pitch over the seats in right field.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, with Martínez having thrown only 102 pitches, and having allowed just two hits, manager Jimy Williams left him in the game. Bordick struck out swinging, Anderson popped up to short, and DeShields struck out, swinging. Twelve of Martínez’s 15 strikeouts had been on swinging third strikes. He hadn’t walked a batter. The only two Orioles to reach base were on the singles by Belle and Conine in the fifth inning.

The two base hits were both legitimate hits, but neither was crushed: “a well-placed single by Albert Belle that bounced beyond the reach of second baseman Jose Offerman and a bloop hit by Jeff Conine that fell in front of center fielder Darren Lewis,” summarized the Boston Herald.8

The 15 strikeouts, added to the 17 in his previous game, reportedly “allowed him to tie Luis Tiant’s 32-year-old [major-league] record for strikeouts in consecutive games (32).”9 Martínez had now allowed just one earned run in his last 26 innings.

Martínez had noticed the change among the crowd. After the game, he said, “I feel really happy to see that people here appreciate what’s good. Not only are they rooting for their team, they’re also rooting for the good things that happen in baseball. They recognize them. It’s really nice to see that. I can tell now that this is a baseball town.”10    

Catcher Varitek said, “That’s the best display of pitching I’ve ever been a part of, period.”11 “That’s as dominant as I’ve ever seen him,” agreed opposing manager Hargrove.12 Boston Globe reporter Michael Holley noted, “He was behind in the count only twice.”13

Martínez improved his season won-lost record to 6-1, and his earned-run average to 1.01. He had been 23-4 the year before, with a majors-leading ERA of 2.07. He finished the year 2000 with another Cy Young Award, 18-6 with a major-league-best 1.74 ERA. This shutout was the first of four during 2000, a mark that also led both leagues. Martínez had six other starts in which he gave up zero runs, though not going the requisite distance to earn a shutout. With his fifth pitcher’s cycle with the Red Sox, he became their all-time leader in PCs (Roger Clemens also having achieved four with the Red Sox). Martínez held the team mark until Chris Sale tied and surpassed it 2019. Through the 2024 season, Sale’s six PCs are still the most by a Red Sox pitcher.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Harrison Golden and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Pedro Martinez, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and a video of the game on You Tube. Thanks to Herm Krabbenhoft for looking over an early draft of this article.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL200005120.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B05120BAL2000.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqfN5Jebt_0

Notes

1 Herm Krabbenhoft, “The Pitcher’s Cycle – Definition and Achievers (1893-2023),” Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 53, No. 2 (2024), 34-43. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-pitchers-cycle-definition-and-achievers-1893-2023/.

2 Krabbenhoft identified 483 recorded pitcher’s cycles in major-league games from 1876 through 2023.

3 The June 4 game was an 11-1 win against Atlanta. The September 4 game was a 4-0 shutout in Seattle. On September 10, he earned a 3-1 win at Yankee Stadium.

4 Martínez had been 5-0 coming into the May 6, 2000, game, but lost the game in the eighth inning when a two-out single, stolen base, and then another single gave Tampa Bay the only run of the game.

5 In all, Martínez had six pitcher’s cycles in his career, but the all-time leader is Randy Johnson, with 21. Two of Martínez’s cycles were “super pitcher’s cycles” – in which he not only struck out one batter from each of the nine slots in the batting order but also struck out at least one batter in each of nine innings. Those were games on June 4, 1999, and May 6, 2000.

6 Lewis was at third in place of 39-year-old Cal Ripken Jr., who was sidelined with an inflammation of nerve roots in his lower back.

7 Joe Strauss, “Martinez Leaves O’s Adrift, 9-0,” Baltimore Sun, May 13, 2000: 6C. Strauss did note in his column that Martínez had struck out every batter in the lineup at least once.

8 Tony Massarotti, “Message in a Throttle,” Boston Herald, May 13, 2000: 43.

9 Joe Strauss, C1. Tiant’s feat was for the Cleveland Indians on June 29, 1968, and July 3 with 13 K’s against Boston and then 19 K’s in a 10-inning shutout of Baltimore on July 3. Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe noted that both Nolan Ryan (1974) and Randy Johnson (1997) shared the record.

10 Ken Rosenthal, “Fans along for the Ride at Pedro’s Playground,” Baltimore Sun, May 13, 2000: 6C. Rosenthal added a note: “The Orioles in the past 10 games have allowed more earned runs (72) than Martinez has allowed since the start of the 1999 season (55).”

11 Jeff Horrigan, “Pedro Back in Big Way,” Boston Herald, May 13, 2000: 42.

12 Gordon Edes, “Martinez Waits Turn and Strikes,” Boston Globe, May 13, 2000: G1.

13 Michael Holley, “It’s Simply Great Stuff,” Boston Globe, May 13, 2000: G6.

The Expos came into the game in third place in the National League East with a respectable 18-16 record. After losing a combined 191 games in the previous two seasons, Montreal’s new owner, Jeffrey Loria, had recently launched a much-ballyhooed turnaround plan. The New York art dealer authorized a significant increase in the team’s payroll – from $16.4 million in 1999 to $33.5 million in 2000.3

One of Loria’s high-priced acquisitions, 31-year-old Hideki Irabu (1-3, 6.88 ERA), got the start for Montreal. Despite Irabu’s disappointing (1997-99) stint with the New York Yankees, Loria persuaded him to waive his no-trade clause by renegotiating his contract.4 After failing in New York, Irabu had his salary bumped to $4.125 million in 2000, making him the highest-paid Expo.5 By comparison, Montreal’s 25-year-old superstar, Vladimir Guerrero, made $3.5 million that season.

The fifth-place Cubs sent 26-year-old right-hander Ismael Valdéz to the hill to face Irabu. Valdéz was making his third start of the season after spending time on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. He had gone 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA since returning to action.

It didn’t take long for Irabu to get himself into trouble. The third batter of the game, Sammy Sosa, put the Cubs out front, 1-0, with an RBI single. Then Henry Rodríguez came to the plate with nobody out, Ricky Gutierrez on third, and Sosa on first. The former Expo smacked a grounder down the line to first baseman Lee Stevens, who stepped on first base for the first out and threw to shortstop Orlando Cabrera at second. Sosa ran directly into Cabrera’s tag and was an easy second out. Gutierrez made a delayed break for home, and Cabrera spun around and fired the ball to catcher Chris Widger for the third out, completing an unorthodox 3-6-2 triple play. It was the 10th triple play turned by the Expos since they joined the National League in 1969.6

The Expos grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Guerrero.

Montreal’s lead was short-lived. Irabu gave up two runs in the top of the second inning and three more in the third, including a two-run homer by Rodríguez. The Montreal fans serenaded Irabu with boos after he gave up his seventh hit in 2⅓ innings, prompting his removal by manager Felipe Alou. Irabu appeared to mockingly tip his cap to the crowd as he left the field, trailing by a score of 6-2.7

Chicago led 7-4 when Montreal came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Expos scored five runs in the inning to chase Valdéz from the game. Montreal’s outburst came on an RBI double by Rondell White, a sacrifice fly by Lee Stevens, and a three-run homer by 26-year-old rookie Andy Tracy, which was the first round-tripper of his career. “I thought it was a pretty big point in the game,” recalled Tracy. “But it turned out to be nothing.”8

The Cubs tied the game, 9-9, in the sixth inning, on RBI singles by Sosa and Rodríguez. An inning later, Chicago pulled out in front, 11-9, on Gutierrez’s RBI single and Sosa’s RBI double.

That lead wasn’t safe either, as Montreal rallied for four more runs in the bottom of the eighth. All four markers were charged to Cubs reliever Brian Williams. After José Vidro walked to open the inning, White laced a sharp groundball down the left-field line; the ball was hit so hard that it got stuck in the seam between the pads on the outfield wall for a ground-rule double, preventing Vidro from scoring – but not for long.9 The dangerous Guerrero was walked intentionally to load the bases. Stevens followed with an opposite-field single to drive in Vidro and White, and the game was tied once again. A sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Wilton Guerrero (Vladimir’s older brother) and an RBI single by Cabrera put the Expos ahead, 13-11.

Alou brought in his new stopper, Dustin Hermanson, to try to close it out in the top of the ninth. Hermanson had been Montreal’s top starting pitcher during the previous two seasons, but he had moved into the closer’s role two nights earlier in place of the injured Ugueth Urbina.10

With runners on the corners, two out, and the Cubs down to their last strike, Sosa stroked an RBI single off Hermanson, cutting the lead to 13-12. The next batter was Rodríguez, who already had three hits and four RBIs in the game. He worked the count to 2-and-2 and again, Chicago was down to its last strike. Hermanson came in with a fastball and Rodríguez jumped on it, launching a three-run home run to right field to put the Cubs ahead, 15-13.11

Cubs manager Don Baylor called upon his 38-year-old closer, Rick Aguilera, in the bottom of the ninth. Aguilera had been struggling of late, posting a 7.36 ERA in his 12 previous appearances. The grizzled veteran was looking for his 296th career save.12

Vidro starting things off with a one-out single. The next batter, White, blasted Aguilera’s 0-and-1 slider for a two-run homer to center field,13 and the game was tied yet again.

Guerrero was the next batter and in typical Vladdy fashion, he lined a pitch at his shoe tops into left field for a single.14 Guerrero injured his lower back making a hard turn around first base, so Terry Jones ran for him. With Stevens at the plate, Aguilera threw over to first base four or five times to check the runner. It made no difference. The speedy Jones easily stole second base on the third pitch to Stevens.15

With first base open and only one out, Baylor had Stevens walked intentionally to set up a potential double play. Mike Mordecai, who came into the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, was up next. He lined the first pitch from Aguilera into left field and Jones slid home safely with the winning run, giving the Expos a thrilling 16-15 walk-off victory.

Vidro provided an apt summary of the game. “It was ugly, it was exciting, and it turned out to be one of the toughest games I’ve ever played,” he said.16

Montreal’s comeback win was truly historic. The Expos’ offense amassed a Win Probability Added (WPA) of 2.097 (or 209.7 percent) in the game.17 As of the end of the 2020 season, it still stood as the highest offensive WPA (as opposed to pitching WPA) on record for any team in a National or American League game.18 White led all Expos with a 0.749 WPA thanks to his three key extra-base hits.19

Chicago wasted big games from several of its players. Rodríguez (4-for-6, 2 home runs) and Sosa (5-for-6) combined to knock in 12 of the team’s 15 runs, and Rodríguez set a career high with seven RBIs. Eric Young Sr. also stole five bases in the contest, the most by a Cubs/Orphans player since 1901.20 As of the end of the 2020 season, it still stood as the franchise record for the most stolen bases in a game (since 1901).

The Cubs tied a team record for the most runs scored in a game against the Expos. Chicago scored 15 runs versus Montreal on one other occasion – and it lost that game too. On September 24, 1985, Andre Dawson hit three home runs and collected eight RBIs to lead the Expos to a 17-15 victory. As of the end of the 2020 season, the Cubs had never scored more than 15 runs in a game against the Expos/Nationals.

Anyone who witnessed this contest would not be surprised to find out that the 2000 Chicago Cubs had the worst pitching staff in the major leagues, as measured by adjusted ERA (ERA+).21 Aside from a spell of good baseball in July, it was a forgettable season for the Cubs. They finished dead last in the NL Central Division with a 65-97 record.

Although the Expos had 11 different pitchers go on the disabled list by early July, they still managed to play .500 baseball in the first half of the season.22 The most damaging blow came in late June when their best starter, Carl Pavano, was lost for the remainder of the season.23 Eventually the injuries caught up with them. Montreal won only 25 of its last 80 games (.313), finishing a disappointing fourth in NL East with a 67-95 record.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON200005140.shtml    

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B05140MON2000.htm

Notes

1 In the previous 65 years, the most hits given up in a nine-inning game in the National or American League by a winning team was 22. That happened on April 27, 1980, when the Minnesota Twins gave up 22 hits to the Oakland Athletics and won 20-11. Only four other times in the previous 65 years had a National or American League team won a nine-inning game in which it surrendered 21 hits: On August 3, 1969, the Cincinnati Reds gave up 21 hits to the Philadelphia Phillies and won 19-17; on May 5, 1976, the Los Angeles Dodgers gave up 21 hits to the Cubs and won 14-12; on May 17, 1996, the Baltimore Orioles gave up 21 hits to the Seattle Mariners and won 14-13; on May 14, 1998, the Cubs gave up 21 hits to the Colorado Rockies and won 9-7.

2 Surprisingly, not all game reports use the same definition of a “lead change.” This article considers a lead change to occur in three situations: when the lead is transferred from one team to the other during a half-inning, when the score is tied at the end of a half-inning and one team had a lead at the end of the previous half-inning, and when one team has a lead at the end of a half-inning and the game was tied at the end of the previous half-inning.

3 The salary figures quoted are as of Opening Day. “1999 MLB Payrolls,” The Baseball Cube, http://www.thebaseballcube.com/topics/payrolls/byYear.asp?Y=1999, accessed May 12, 2021; “2000 MLB Payrolls,” The Baseball Cube, http://www.thebaseballcube.com/topics/payrolls/byYear.asp?Y=2000, accessed May 12, 2021. 

4 Montreal acquired Irabu in a terrible December 22, 1999, deal with the Yankees. Irabu was traded from New York in return for Jake Westbrook and two players to be named later. Three months later, Montreal sent Ted Lilly and Christian Parker to New York to complete the deal. Ronald Blum, “Yankees Ship Irabu North,” Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, December 23, 1999: 25.

5 Irabu made only 11 starts for the Expos in 2000, going 2-5 with a 7.24 ERA. He missed most of the season with knee and elbow injuries. Another one of Loria’s high-priced acquisitions, Graeme Lloyd, didn’t throw a single pitch for the Expos in 2000 because of injuries. Montreal paid the left-handed reliever a $3 million salary that season. It was ill-advised moves like these that made some Expos fans speculate that Loria was intentionally sabotaging baseball in Montreal.

6 The Expos turned their 11th and final triple play on September 3, 2002, against the Philadelphia Phillies.

7 “5/14/2000 Cubs at Expos,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFmzglmbtxA, October 11, 2017, accessed May 12, 2021.

8 Stephanie Myles, “Open Up a Can of Pitchers,” Montreal Gazette, May 15, 2000: 27.

9 “5/14/2000 Cubs at Expos.”

10 Urbina led the National League with 41 saves in 1999. His final outing of the 2000 season was on May 6 because of bone chips in his elbow. Hermanson struggled working out of the bullpen. He returned to the starting rotation on June 5, 2000, and he stayed there for the remainder of the season. Hermanson went 2-0 with a 7.84 ERA in eight relief appearances. He recorded four saves in seven opportunities.

11 Teddy Greenstein, “Poison Pen Does It Again,” Chicago Tribune, May 15, 2000: 127.

12 Aguilera retired after finishing the 2000 season with a 4.91 ERA and 29 saves in 37 opportunities. He recorded 318 saves during his 16-year big-league career.

13 Greenstein, “Poison Pen Does It Again.”

14 Myles, “Open Up a Can of Pitchers.”

15 Myles, “Open Up a Can of Pitchers.”

16 Canadian Press, “Expos Win Shootout,” Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan), May 15, 2000: 27.

17 Win Expectancy (WE) or Win Probability (WP) is the percentage chance of a team winning a game at a specific point in that game. It is calculated by comparing the current state of the game to similar situations in historical games. Win Probability Added (WPA) captures the change in Win Expectancy from a plate appearance or baserunning event (i.e., stolen base, caught stealing/pickoff, or balk) and credits or debits the player accordingly. For instance, if a player hit a home run to increase his team’s Win Expectancy from 25 percent to 65 percent, that player would be assessed a WPA of 0.40. WPA is an excellent way of measuring a play’s impact on the outcome of a game. Full play-by-play data is required to calculate WPA. As of May 12, 2021, play-by-play data was available on the Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com websites for most games dating back to the start of the 1916 season. Current data coverage can be found at https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/coverage.shtml#all_pbp.

18 One of the reasons why the Expos amassed such a high offensive WPA in this game is that they fought back from deficits four times (1-0, 6-2, 11-9, and 15-13). For instance, a team that falls behind 10-0 in the first inning and comes back to win 11-10 would have an offensive WPA that is just under 1.000 (or 100.0 percent). In addition, two of the Expos’ comebacks were in the eighth and ninth innings, which are worth a higher offensive WPA than if those same comebacks had occurred in earlier innings.

19 White’s 0.749 WPA ranks only 17th on the list of the highest single-game WPAs by a Montreal Expos batter. Marquis Grissom’s 0.948 WPA, recorded on July 25, 1990, versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, was the highest single-game mark in the team’s 36-year history.

20 Chicago’s National League team was also known as the Orphans (1898-1902), Colts (1890-97), and White Stockings (1876-89). The Cubs franchise record for most stolen bases in a game is seven by George “Piano Legs” Gore. He accomplished the feat for the Chicago White Stockings on June 25, 1881, against the Providence Grays.

21 The 2000 Chicago Cubs had a team ERA of 5.25 and an ERA+ of 87.

22 Randy Phillips, “Lumber Shortage Strikes,” Montreal Gazette, July 3, 2000: 13.

23 Pavano pitched his last game of the season on June 24. He missed the remainder of the 2000 season with triceps tendinitis and bone chips in his elbow. He went 8-4 with a 3.06 ERA (158 ERA+) in 15 starts.

He would not be so lucky on May 22, 2000.

The California native had pitched for the Brewers from 1991 to 1994, racking up 61 saves during his tenure in Milwaukee, including 29 saves in 1992. Henry had saved 44 games in his first two seasons with the Brewers and appeared to be on his way to stardom.

But all good things must come to an end, and Henry was traded to the Mets before the calendar flipped to December in 1994 in exchange for players to be named later who turned out to be Fernando Vina and Javier Gonzalez. Vina showed that he was a good player for Milwaukee for five years, including an All-Star campaign in 1998.

Henry bounced around the majors after being traded to the Mets, playing for four teams in seven years, and finished his career with 82 saves, managing only 21 saves after his time in Milwaukee.

As Henry and his Houston teammates strolled into the visiting clubhouse on May 22, their team was dwelling in the cellar of the National League Central Division with a record of 15-26, riding a five-game losing streak.

The Brewers weren’t much better, languishing in fourth place in the NL Central with a ledger of 17-25.

Fewer than 4,000 fans were on hand to watch the two squads play in the first game of the makeup doubleheader, caused by two rainouts the week before.

The doubleheader was announced with just three days’ notice, leading to the tiny crowd and cheap ticket prices. Milwaukee sold bleacher seats for $1, and though the team was charging $10 for the best seats, fans who paid for any seat were allowed to move up to a better seat.1

It was a chilly, windy day, with the thermometer registering 58 degrees at the 1:05 P.M. start time, with winds blowing at a gusty 15 MPH from the right-field side toward the left-field line.

Normally, a day like this would be detrimental to offensive efforts, as batters don’t like “bees in the handles” of the bats, as players will speak of hitting when the weather is less than optimal.

But the two teams combined for 19 runs on a crazy, raw, and windy day.

The Astros took a first-inning lead on a leadoff triple by Roger Cedeño and a sacrifice fly by Craig Biggio off Brewers starter Steve Woodard.

Not to be outdone, the Brewers came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning. After Jeromy Burnitz and Charlie Hayes reached with two-out singles, Lyle Mouton banged a double down the left-field line to make it 2-1.

Houston took a 4-2 lead in the top of the third on a three-run homer by Richard Hidalgo, his 13th of the season.

It remained 4-2 until the top of the eighth, and then the game got a little crazy.

Juan Acevedo took over for Woodard in the eighth and gave up a leadoff double to Ken Caminiti but got two quick outs.

Then the roof caved in: The Astros scored three runs on two singles, two walks, and an error to take a 7-2 lead.

Henry came into the contest in the bottom of the eighth, threw just 10 pitches to get three outs, and took his Houston squad to the top of the ninth still holding a 7-2 lead.

Hector Ramirez took the slab for the Brewers in the top of the ninth and mixed two outs with two walks before former Brewer Bill Spiers drove in both runners with a two-bagger to right-center, giving Houston a seemingly insurmountable 9-2 lead with just three outs left for the home team.

Henry sauntered to the mound for the home ninth with a seven-run lead. But he failed to claim the save and he didn’t even finish the inning.

Burnitz walked and Hayes singled, then Mouton doubled to score Burnitz. José Hernandez doubled, scoring Hayes and Mouton, to make it 9-5. That blow chased Henry in favor of Jose Cabrera.

After a wild pitch, Marquis Grissom lined a single to left to score Hernandez.

Astros 9, Brewers 6.

At that point, ace reliever Billy Wagner came into to close out the contest. Wagner – who would see his season end in the middle of June with a torn flexor tendon in his pitching arm – walked Raul Casanova before striking out James Mouton and Ronnie Belliard to put the Brewers down to their last out.

With their backs truly against the wall, Milwaukee cut into the lead when Mark Loretta singled Grissom home to make it 9-7.

After a wild pitch, Burnitz pulled a single to right, scoring Casanova and Loretta and tying the contest, 9-9. Hayes grounded out to end the inning, which featured seven runs on six hits.

David Weathers came in to pitch the 10th inning for Milwaukee and put up a goose egg, allowing only a scratch leadoff single to Cedeño and an intentional pass to Caminiti with two outs.

It didn’t take long for the Brewers to get on the board in the bottom of the 10th. Joe Slusarski took over on the mound for Houston and leadoff batter Lyle Mouton popped out to Jeff Bagwell near the tarp in foul territory on the first-base side for the first out, but then it was time for José Hernandez.

On the first pitch he saw from Slusarski, Hernandez lined the ball over the left-field fence to give the Brewers a most improbable 10-9 comeback victory.

“On the home run, I just saw a good pitch and hit it,” said Hernandez. “All the hard work was in the comeback.”2

The rally was the fifth time the Brewers had come back in the ninth inning from a deficit of four runs or more, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The previous efforts were from leads of four runs (1977, 1980, 1991, 1999).3

“You don’t expect it, not that you’re giving up, but it’s a highly unlikely probability of scoring seven runs in one inning, especially in the bottom of the ninth,” said Brewers manager Davey Lopes, whose team had won five of its past six games.4

“But we did do it, and it was very gratifying, and this team is feeling a little excitement right now.”

And in the other dugout, as expected, the exact opposite feelings were being expressed by the Astros.

“As soon as they tied the game, you could just feel the letdown,” Houston manager Larry Dierker said. “I was not optimistic at that point. It’s the worst I’ve seen in 35 years. It was terrible.”5

The second game of the doubleheader had less drama but the same result, as the Brewers scored all their runs in the first four innings for a 6-1 victory and the twin-bill sweep.

In the final season at County Stadium, the Brewers provided some fireworks for the 3,913 fans who probably all sat in the “front row” on the chilly, windy day in late May.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the endnotes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and SABR.org.

Notes

1 Greg Beacham, “Brewers Rally to Sweep Astros,” Texas City (Texas) Sun, May 23, 2000: 9.

2 Beacham.

3 Eric Anderson, “Comeback Is Oh-So Sweep,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), May 23, 2000: 3C.

4 Anderson.

5 Beacham.

Both teams boasted lineups that produced impressive accomplishments in future years. The Expos had Orlando Cabrera and Vladimir Guerrero.1 The Giants’ starting lineup included Bill Mueller, J.T. Snow, and Barry Bonds.2

The 25-17 Expos were in second place in the NL East, four games behind the Atlanta Braves, while the 19-23 Giants were in fourth in the NL West, eight games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Giants wasted no time jumping on Expos pitcher Mike Thurman (7.71 ERA) in the bottom of the first to garner three runs. Leadoff batter Marvin Benard grounded out to first. Bill Mueller walked and Barry Bonds hit a line drive into left out of the reach of Rondell White, allowing Mueller to score from first and Bonds to reach second. Jeff Kent smacked a line-drive single to right; Guerrero threw the ball away and Bonds scored. Kent reached third on the error. J.T. Snow produced a sacrifice fly to center fielder Peter Bergeron. Ellis Burks struck out swinging to end the inning.  

San Francisco manager Dusty Baker put right-hander Shawn Estes (4.75 ERA) on the mound. He faced 33 batters and threw a 121-pitch shutout, allowing seven hits and one walk, and struck out seven. Estes was equally dominant at the plate, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs.

In the bottom of the third, Bonds hit a monster shot deep into right field for his 18th home run of the season and his fourth into McCovey Cove. That made it 4-0, Giants.

Expos pitcher Mike Thurman seemed to have settled down when he threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth. But manager Felipe Alou put a lefty on the mound, Jim Poole, in the fifth. Catching Poole was Lenny Webster. The Giants broke the game open.

Outfielder Marvin Benard started the inning with a leadoff single to left. (Benard played all three outfield positions before the game was over.)  Mueller shot a line drive to right and Benard went third. Bonds singled to left-center field, scoring Bernard. Poole walked Jeff Kent. The bases were loaded for Snow. He smacked a line drive to right, scoring Mueller and leaving the bases loaded. 

Alou went to the bullpen and brought in another southpaw, Mike Johnson (5.23 ERA). Poole hadn’t secured even one out.

The first batter Johnson faced was Ellis Burks, who drew a walk and earned an RBI. Johnson struck out the next two batters. The Expos hoped to get out of the inning, with the pitcher, Estes,  coming up to bat. Estes connected on the first pitch and hit a drive several rows deep into the left-center seats for a grand slam. It was 11-0, Giants.  

Benard ended the inning with a grounder toward the right side of the infield. Estes was the first San Francisco Giants pitcher to hit a grand slam.3

After the grand slam, Shawn Estes seemed to really hit his stride in the sixth inning. In that inning Calvin Murray took over in center for Benard, who moved to left to replace Bonds. Cabrera singled, but advanced no farther.

In the bottom of the inning, Terry Jones replaced Rondell White in left. Wilton Guerrero came in to play right field, replacing his younger brother, Vladimir.

Mike Johnson, still pitching for the Expos, got Mueller to ground out unassisted to first baseman Lee Stevens. Calvin Murray lined a single to left. Jeff Kent hit a groundball back to the mound and Johnson threw it away. J.T. Snow stepped in and homered to left-center. Johnson struck out Burks and Bobby Estalella. But it was 14-0, Giants.

The Giants did more defensive shuffling in the seventh – Russ Davis at third base, giving Mueller the rest of the day off; Ramon Martinez replacing Kent at second; and Terrell Lowery taking over in left, with Benard moving to right.

Lee Stevens connected for a single in the top of the seventh. Andy Tracy batted for pitcher Johnson and struck out swinging. Tracy went to first base in the bottom of the seventh. Felipe Lira (9.28 ERA) was the fourth and final pitcher of the game. He walked Benard but no one else reached base.

In the eighth Felipe Crespo replaced Benard in right field for the Giants. Estes walked Bergeron but induced three infield groundouts.

In the bottom of the eighth Calvin Murray took the first pitch from Lira into left field for a base hit. Russ Davis also singled to left. J.T. Snow needed a double to hit for the cycle, but instead hit into a 4-6-3 double play. With two outs and Murray on third, Lowery sent a 1-and-0 pitch into left-center, driving in Murray. Bobby Estalella followed with a single to left-center. Rich Aurilia tapped a routine groundball toward short but Cabrera threw the ball past Andy Tracy. The bases were loaded.

Still in the game, starting pitcher Shawn Estes was the next batter. He was in a position to hit another grand slam. Pitcher Tony Cloninger had hit two grand slams in a game, in 1966 against the Giants. Estes was aware of the possibility, but said, “At that point I was just trying to conserve energy.”4 Instead of a slam, he ran the count to 1-and-2 and then decided to swing. He singled to left, scoring Lowery. The bases remained loaded.

Felipe Crespo was hit by a pitch, giving the Giants another run. Lira faced Ramon Martinez, who sent another base hit into a very busy left field, scoring Aurelia and making it 18-0. The inning ended when Calvin Murray grounded to second.

In the ninth Armando Rios replaced Snow at first base. Estes came out to finish the game. Jose Vidro punched a two-out single into center field, but three pitches later, Estes got Geoff Blum to ground into a force play at second, ending the game.

Both teams left six men on base, but the Giants scored 18 runs on 18 hits and shut out Montreal. Estes and Snow had five RBIs. Snow’s were a career high, but on August 15 at Montreal, he drove in six.

The night belonged to Estes, though. “That is probably the best performance I’ve seen by a pitcher,” said Dusty Baker. “He threw a shutout and hit a grand slam, then an RBI hit. He also closed it out tough. Sometimes it’s difficult for a pitcher to pitch in a game like that.”5

The Giants went on to win the division with a 97-65 record but lost to the Mets in the NLDS, winning only one game in the best-of-five playoffs. The Expos ended their season with a 67-95 record, 28 games out of first place

Sources

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

Notes

1 Cabrera won Gold Gloves in 2001 with the Expos and in 2007 with the Angels. Vladimir Guerrero was the 2004 American League MVP and winner of eight Silver Slugger Awards spanning 1999-2010. He compiled a career batting average of .318 and was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.

2 The Giants starting lineup featured future AL batting champion Bill Mueller; J.T. Snow, a six-time Gold Glove winner; and Barry Bonds, winner of eight Gold Gloves, 12 Silver Slugger Awards, and seven NL MVP awards.  He hit 762 career home runs.

3 David Bush, “Giants Enjoy a Grand Night,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2000: 99. Monty Kennedy of the New York Giants had hit a grand slam on July 3, 1949. Thanks to a radio promotion, Estes’ slam won $10,000 for KNBR listener Alan Bown of Salinas.

4 Bush.

5 Bush.

During the 2000 season, the Yankees and the Red Sox were in the throes of one of baseball’s greatest rivalries. The Yankees were the two-time defending World Series champions, having won the fall classic in three of the previous four years (1996, 1998, 1999). They finished first in the AL East in each of those seasons, and in 1998 and 1999 the Red Sox finished second. In 1999 Boston finished only four games behind New York in the regular season before losing to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

May 28 was the final game of a three-game series between the two teams. The Red Sox won the opener on Friday night, 4-1, to take a one-game lead over the Yankees. The Yankees took the Saturday game, 8-3, to restore the tie.1 That set the stage for the deciding game of the series, with first place on the line and the Clemens vs. Martinez matchup taking center stage. The two had faced each other only once before, in Game Three of the 1999 American League Championship Series, a game won by the Red Sox, 13-1, as Martinez struck out 12 in seven innings and Clemens allowed five runs in two innings.2

Clemens began his career with the Red Sox in 1984 and pitched for them over 13 seasons. In that span, he won three Cy Young Awards.3 Leaving Boston in free agency after the 1996 season, he pitched two seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays, winning two more Cy Young Awards, before joining the Yankees in 1999, at the age of 36.4

Martinez came to the Red Sox in 1998, after six seasons with the Dodgers and Expos. At age 25, he won the Cy Young Award in 1997, pitching for the Expos.5 After winning 19 games for the Red Sox in 1998, Martinez led the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts for the 1999 Red Sox, garnering his second Cy Young Award.6 The 27-year-old Martinez was off to a great start in 2000, with a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 1.19 as play began on May 28.7

With two of the greatest pitchers of their generation going head-to-head at Yankee Stadium, Dan Shaughnessy wrote in the Boston Globe that “in this lifetime we are not likely to see a better early-season matchup.”8 The fact that Clemens was the former Boston ace and Martinez the current one only added to the drama. Shaughnessy characterized it as “Ali-Frazier on God’s green grass.”9

The game did not disappoint, as both Clemens and Martinez were nearly flawless. Both teams were scoreless through eight innings, with each pitcher allowing only three hits; Clemens struck out 13, and Martinez 8.10 It was as if each pitcher was trying to outdo the other.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between. After Derek Jeter singled off Martinez with one out in the first, he was erased on a double play. Shane Spencer drew a leadoff walk in the third before Martinez retired the next three batters. In the fourth, Jeter got the Yankees’ second hit, a leadoff double, but was stranded when the next three batters were retired on two strikeouts and a popup. Ricky Ledee singled with two out in the fifth and stole second but was left there when Martinez retired the next batter. Martinez retired the Yankees in order in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.

The Red Sox fared no better against Clemens. After he retired the side in the first, Carl Everett singled with one out in the second. Clemens picked him off first, then got the third out on a strikeout. Clemens retired the next 11 batters, striking out seven of them, before John Valentin singled with one out in the sixth. Valentin was caught stealing and the next batter struck out. In the seventh, Trot Nixon tripled with one out and the Red Sox had the best scoring opportunity of the game. Clemens struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

In the ninth, Clemens retired Valentin for the first out. Jason Varitek tried to bunt his way on, but Clemens made the play for out number two. Jeff Frye then singled, bringing Nixon to the plate. The count went to 2-and-1. With the crowd cheering Clemens on, Nixon hit one deep to right field. The ball sailed into the seats for a two-run home run as the Yankees fans suddenly got quiet, and it felt as though the air had come out of the Stadium.11 Clemens retired the next batter, but the damage was done.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees rallied. Chuck Knoblauch was hit by a pitch and Jeter singled to right (his third hit off Martinez), putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Martinez struck out Paul O’Neill for his ninth strikeout. Bernie Williams hit one deep to right field, but Nixon caught it in front of the fence, with Knoblauch taking third on the play. Jeter then stole second; Jorge Posada was hit by a pitch; and now the bases were loaded with two out for Tino Martinez. The fans were on their feet and the game was on the line. There was no Yankees comeback as Tino Martinez grounded out, second to first, and the game was over.

Boston had a 2-0 win to take over first place.12 Martinez had pitched a four-hit shutout, with one walk and nine strikeouts. Clemens had allowed only five hits, walked none, and struck out 13, and was just one Trot Nixon swing away from a shutout of his own.13

After the game, both pitchers recognized the magnitude of what had just taken place. “It’s good for baseball,” Martinez said. “The fans came out and clapped for both of us. … We were feeding off each other the whole game.”14 Clemens said, “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. … It was a fun game to pitch in. The intensity was every bit what it was supposed to be.”15 On the ESPN telecast of the game, Joe Morgan16 commented that a lot of people like to see home runs and high-scoring games, “but I’ll tell you what this is a baseball game. You’re seeing two pitchers at the top of their craft.”17

As Yankees manager Joe Torre said, after the game, “It was a classic.”18 The Boston Globe described it as “one of the greatest regular season games in 100 years of American League play.”19 “That’s the best regular-season game I’ve ever seen … one for the ages,” said Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.20 On the ESPN broadcast, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan compared the game to the “1912 duel of the year” between Walter Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood at Fenway Park.21 When the game ended, Miller remarked that Clemens and Martinez had given fans “baseball’s version of a night to remember.”22

The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, the importance of the game, and the fact that the two pitchers were all-time greats, combined to make the May 28, 2000, game one of the most memorable regular-season games in the long and storied history of Yankee Stadium.

At season’s end, the Yankees finished first, 2½ games ahead of the Red Sox. They beat Oakland, three games to two, in the Division Series, beat Seattle in a four-game ALCS, and needed just five games to beat the New York Mets in the 2000 World Series. Clemens finished the season 13-8 (3.70). Though he lost both games he pitched in the ALDS, he shut out Seattle in Game Four of the ALCS and won Game Two of the World Series.

Author’s Note

The author attended the game, with his family, in an Upper Tier Box at Yankee Stadium, in fair territory in left field. While far from home plate, the author had a clear view and still vividly recalls the moment when Trot Nixon hit his ninth-inning home run off Clemens to break the scoreless tie and silence the Yankees fans.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200005280.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B05280NYA2000.htm

Notes

1 Coming into the game on May 28, each team had a record of 27-18.

2 Clemens was disappointed about how that game transpired. When asked about it prior to the May 28 rematch against Martinez, Clemens said, “I just pitched poorly and we’ll leave it at that.” Buster Olney, “Martinez Stands and Delivers for the Red Sox,” New York Times, May 29, 2000: D1.

3 Clemens won the Cy Young Award, while with the Red Sox, in 1986, 1987, and 1991. He was also the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1986. During his Red Sox years, he also led the AL (or tied for the lead) in wins twice, in ERA four times, in complete games twice, in shutouts five times, and in strikeouts three times. In his 1986 MVP season, he was 24-4 with a league-leading 2.48 ERA.

4 In his first season with Toronto, in 1997, Clemens led the league in wins (21-7), ERA (2.05), innings pitched (264, tied for lead), and strikeouts (292). He was sensational again in 1998, as he tied for the AL lead in wins (20-6) and led the AL in ERA (2.65) and strikeouts (271). After the 1998 season Clemens was traded to the Yankees. In his first season with the Yankees, 1999, Clemens was 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA, the highest ERA of his career. He went on to have some good seasons with the Yankees, including 2001, when he was 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA and won the Cy Young Award. He pitched five seasons for New York before leaving in free agency to join the Houston Astros in the 2004 season. In his first season with Houston, at age 41, he won another Cy Young Award to give him a career total of seven Cy Young Awards, the most by any pitcher in history. Clemens pitched four seasons for Houston before returning to the Yankees as a free agent in 2007, his final season. His career performance (which included 354 wins) would certainly appear to qualify him for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. However, his career was tainted by his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, a factor that has prevented him from being elected, at least as of October 2022.

5 Martinez was 17-8 with a league-leading 1.90 ERA. After the 1997 season, the Expos traded him to the Red Sox for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas.

6 In his 1999 Cy Young-winning season, Martinez was 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts in 213⅓ innings. Martinez pitched seven seasons for the Red Sox before signing with the Mets as a free agent beginning with the 2005 season. He played for the Mets through 2008 before finishing his career with the Phillies in 2009. Martinez won the Cy Young Award three times (1997, 1999, and 2000). His performance from 1997 through 2003 was one of the most dominant stretches of pitching in history. During those seven seasons, he led the league in ERA five times. Martinez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

7 Clemens came into the game with a record of 4-4 and an ERA of 4.26.

8 Dan Shaughnessy, “Pedro Bests Rival Again,” Boston Globe, May 29, 2000: E1.

9 Shaughnessy.

10 At the time, Clemens held the major-league strikeout record of 20 in a nine-inning game, having done it twice for the Red Sox, on April 29, 1986, and September 18, 1996. Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs also struck out 20 on May 6, 1998. In 2016 Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals became the third pitcher in history to strike out 20 in a nine-inning game. Clemens also had 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game on August 25, 1998, for Toronto. Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators struck out 21 batters in 16 innings on September 12, 1962; Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks struck out 20 in nine innings, in a game that went 11 innings on May 8, 2001.

11 There were plenty of Red Sox fans in the sellout crowd, who cheered loudly as the Yankees fans sank into their seats.

12 The Yankees would go on to win the AL East with a record of 87-74, with Boston second at 85-77. Boston did not make the postseason, as Seattle was the wild card with a 91-71 record.

13 Martinez improved his record to 8-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.05. With the defeat, Clemens was 4-5 while lowering his ERA to 3.97. Martinez threw 128 pitches, Clemens 127. Martinez finished the 2000 season with a record of 18-6 and a league-leading 1.74 ERA, together with a league-leading 284 strikeouts. Martinez won the Cy Young Award for the second straight year and the third time in four seasons.

14 Shaughnessy.

15 Shira Springer, “Clemens Sure Has Not Lost It,” Boston Globe, May 29, 2000: E8.

16 Morgan, a Hall of Fame second baseman, was the commentator on the broadcast.

17 Chad Jennings, “Distant Replay: The Night Pedro Martinez Beat Roger Clemens in Duel for the Ages,” The Athletic, April 17, 2020, https://theathletic.com/1753055/2020/0/17/pedro-martinez-roger-clemens-yankees-red-sox-2000/.

18 Olney, “Martinez Stands and Delivers for the Red Sox.” Torre also said. “It was an inspired performance on both sides, and somebody had to lose, unfortunately. It was a great game. … It definitely was a playoff atmosphere. The players felt it. Everybody was pumped up.” Shira Springer, “Clemens Sure Has Not Lost It,” Boston Globe, May 29, 2000: E8.

19 Shaughnessy, “Pedro Bests Rival Again.”

20 Shaughnessy.

21 Jennings. See also Emil Rothe, “The War of 1912: The Wood-Johnson Duel,” published in SABR’s 1974 Baseball Research Journal, https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-war-of-1912-the-wood-johnson-duel/.

22 Jennings, “Distant Replay: The Night Pedro Martinez Beat Roger Clemens in Duel for the Ages.”