April 29, 1977: Disordered Mets bat out of turn, still prevail over Padres

Batting out of order is a rare occurrence in major-league games,1 even more so when nobody notices for six innings… and then the umpires apparently get the rule wrong. But that’s what happened at San Diego Stadium on April 29, 1977.

“It was amazing how many so-called astute baseball people had goofed during the entire Friday night festivities and were still debating the issues yesterday morning,” Jack Lang of the New York Daily News wrote two days after the New York Mets batted out of order in a 9-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

“Even the umpires, at least one of them—wasn’t aware of the rules. Least informed, though, seemed to be the ballplayers and the managers. They asked the writers to explain it.”2

The Friday night game drew a paid crowd of 43,497, many lured by a pregame rock concert and postgame fireworks.3 The Mets, who had gone 86-76 in 1976, were off to a 6-9 start; the Padres, an 89-loss team in ‘76, were 8-13. The Mets started veteran lefty Jon Matlack; the Padres countered with California native Rick Sawyer.4

Prior to the game, second-year Mets manager Joe Frazier had told first-year coach Tom Burgess, who filled out the large lineup card hung in the visiting dugout, to go with “the regular lineup.”5 Over the first 15 games of the season, however, the Mets had yet to establish one. In fact, New York hadn’t used the same lineup two days in a row.6

But there had been some consistency for the last three games: The sixth spot had been the catcher and the seventh the third baseman. So when Burgess filled out the lineup card, catcher John Stearns was batting sixth and third baseman Roy Staiger seventh.7

Frazier then changed his mind. The Mets had lost four in a row,  but in their last game—a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Expos following three straight rainouts8—Staiger had a single and a double in his final two at-bats, while Stearns, who walked in his first two plate appearances, had made outs in his last two.

So Frazier decided to flip them in the batting order, moving Staiger to sixth and Stearns to seventh, and that’s what was written on the official lineup card handed to home plate umpire and crew chief Ed Sudol and Padres manager John McNamara. But the lineup card in the Mets dugout still had “the regular lineup,” such as it was—Stearns sixth and Staiger seventh.9

In the top of the first, the Mets sent six men to the plate and took a 3-0 lead on fourth-place hitter Dave Kingman’s three-run home run into what the New York Daily News called “the distant left-center bleachers.”10 The inning’s sixth batter should have been Staiger, but Stearns walked up to the plate instead.

In 1977, batting out of turn was covered under Rule 6.07.11 addresses batting out of turn. The batter can be called out only upon appeal by the defense, and only after another batter completes an at-bat in his place. If the proper batter replaces the improper batter during the at-bat, there is no violation and the proper batter assumes any balls and strikes that were counted against the improper batter.

If the defense appeals after the improper batter completes his at-bat, the proper batter—the one who should have been hitting—is called out. The defense, therefore, can elect not to appeal if the improper batter makes an out.

So the Padres appeared to make the correct move by not appealing during or after Stearns’ first-inning at-bat, because—after a balk moved John Milner to second12—the catcher popped into an inning-ending double play. But after the game, McNamara admitted he hadn’t noticed the out-of-order batting until much later in the game. Because no appeal had been made, Stearns’ improper at-bat was now official, and the next batter on the lineup card, Bud Harrelson, should have batted next. Staiger’s turn at-bat would have been skipped.13

In the second, Staiger led off, instead of Harrelson, and flied out. The Padres still had not noticed, and the Mets lineup proceeded as Burgess had written it.

The teams traded runs in the third. New York’s Félix Millán singled, stole second, and scored on Bruce Boisclair’s second single of the game. San Diego answered when Doug Rader walked, took third on Dave Roberts’ double, and scored on Sawyer’s groundout. The Mets denied the Padres a second run when Roberts was thrown out trying to score on Merv Rettenmund’s fly ball to Milner in left.

Leading off the fourth and batting in the wrong spot for the second time, Stearns homered, his second of the season, to make it a 5-1 game. Immediately after the home run would have been a perfect time for the Padres to appeal. Staiger, on deck when he should have been batting, would have been called out, and Stearns would have to bat again.

“I realized it when Stearns homered that they were batting out of order, but one pitch had already been thrown to Staiger when I did so it was too late to do anything about it,” McNamara said. “I was still teed off about Roberts getting caught the inning before.”

Staiger grounded out during that at-bat.

In the fifth, Lee Mazzilli drew a leadoff walk and went to third on Boisclair’s third hit, a one-out single. McNamara replaced Sawyer with Dave Freisleben, and Kingman blew the game open with another three-run home run, making it 8-1.

Two batters later, Stearns came up to the plate as an out-of-order batter for a third time, skipping Staiger, and grounded out. According to his post-game comments, McNamara was aware at this point that the Mets were batting out of order, but—wisely—did not appeal as Stearns was out anyway. He also did not appeal after Staiger, batting next instead of Harrelson, grounded out.

With two out in the seventh, Stearns batted out of order for the fourth and final time and walked. At this point, McNamara could have appealed, and Staiger (for failing to bat) would have been called out for the final out of the inning, with Stearns leading off the eighth. But McNamara waited to see what happened during Staiger’s at-bat, knowing that no matter what the third baseman did—as he, too, was batting out of order, with Harrelson was the proper batter—the inning would be over.

Staiger singled, advancing Stearns to third, and now McNamara acted. He “emerged from the dugout and called his team off the field,” producing the Mets’ pre-game lineup card and telling umpires they had batted out of order.14

“I wasn’t protesting Stearns,” McNamara said. “I was protesting Staiger, who was batting out of turn. Once I had let them throw a pitch to Staiger, there was nothing I could do about Stearns.”15

After five minutes of discussion,16 Sudol conferred with first base umpire Dick Stello, second base umpire Bruce Froemming, and third base umpire Terry Tata, and then—incorrectly—called out Staiger for batting out of turn, ending the inning. It was Harrelson—the batter due up after Stearns according to the official lineup card—who should have been called out.

This allowed the mistake to be compounded as Harrelson was incorrectly told by Tata that he was to lead off the eighth. Harrelson walked against rookie Victor Bernal, but McNamara did not appeal. “Obviously he was once again unaware of the impropriety,” Lang wrote.

“Biggest mystery was why McNamara even bothered to protest in the seventh,” Lang continued. “He was behind, 8-1, at the time and only embarrassed himself by admitting he goofed three innings earlier. But he did and he is on the frying pan here.”17

The Mets tacked on their ninth run in the ninth. Mike Phillips singled, moved to third on Roberts’ second fielding error of the game,18 and came home on Mike Vail’s single. In the Padres ninth, Dave Winfield hit a leadoff homer, but Matlack closed out his first win of the season, an eight-hit, 10-strikeout performance.

In the following day’s game story, the New York Times only briefly mentioned the batting-out-of-turn confusion, calling it a “mix-up” that “enlivened and prolonged matters but had no effect on the game.”19

A day later, in a game in which the Mets didn’t bat out of order, it was the first paragraph of the story:

“The famous ‘Out of Order Offense’ of the New York Mets got Tom Seaver the runs he needed to post his fourth victory of the season tonight in a 4-1 decision over the San Diego Padres.”20

Neither McNamara nor Frazier survived the season. McNamara was fired May 28, with the Padres at 20-28, and replaced by Alvin Dark; three days later, with the Mets at 15-30, Frazier was fired and replaced by the Mets’ 36-year-old backup corner infielder—Joe Torre.

Author’s Note

Three years earlier, Phillips had played in a game, umpired by Stello and Tata, with another batting-out-of-turn situation. On May 15, 1974, Garry Maddox of the San Francisco Giants, who had batted third all game, came up in the second spot in the eighth inning rather than Phillips. Maddox flew out and the Cincinnati Reds did not appeal.

Froemming had been the first base umpire in a game on June 9, 1972, when Marty Perez —who had made the last out of the sixth inning—led off the seventh inning. After Perez took the first pitch for a ball, Phillies catcher Tim McCarver pointed out that Perez had batted the previous inning, and the Braves sent up pinch-hitter Jim Breazeale to pinch hit for the proper batter, pitcher Jim Nash. Breazeale, who inherited the 1-0 count, struck out.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Stew Thornley and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: John Stearns, Trading Card Database.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN197704290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1977/B04290SDN1977.htm

For further reading about batting out of turn, see “May 4, 1980: Dusty Baker bats out of turn, then homers as Dodgers beat Phillies” by Laura H. Peebles and, by the late Mark Pankin, “Batting Out-of-Turn Results in Great Confusion” in the Spring 2013 Baseball Research Journal and “Baseball’s Most Confounding Rule,” winner of the 2019 Doug Pappas Award for Best Oral Presentation.

Notes

1 Retrosheet.org has an extensive, though likely incomplete, record of such occurrences at “Batting Out of Turn,” Retrosheet.org, https://www.retrosheet.org/outturn.htm, accessed April 2026. According to this document, it happened just seven times during the 1970s. It happens even more rarely today. In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, it happened just 14 times. As of 2026, the most recent instance was on May 9, 2018. Coincidentally, it was again the Mets committing the offense, in a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

2 Total attendance was 46,515. Phil Collier, “46,515 See Mets Humble Padres with 3 HR, 9-2,” San Diego Union, April 30, 1977: C-1; Jack Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?” New York Daily News, May 1, 1977: 398.

3 Leonard Koppett, “Mets Romp; Kingman Belts a Pair,” New York Times, April 30, 1977: 40. The concert and fireworks were part of Sky Show (sometimes spelled SkyShow), an annual San Diego tradition hosted by radio station 101.5 KGB-FM that began the previous year at Fiesta Island and Chollas Lake. In 1977, it moved to San Diego Stadium (later known as Jack Murphy Stadium, then Qualcomm Stadium, then SDCCU Stadium) and remained there until 2019, although beginning in 2004 it became associated with San Diego State University football rather than Padres games. After a two-year hiatus from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID-19 and the demolition of SDCCU Stadium, Sky Show was held at Petco Park in 2022 and 2023; since 2024, it has been held at Snapdragon Stadium.

4 Matlack, a three-time All-Star and the 1972 NL Rookie of the Year, was 0-2 after allowing 11 runs on 25 hits and two walks in 20⅔ innings in his first three starts. The right-handed Sawyer, making his fourth start of the season, came into the game with a 1-1 record despite allowing 13 runs on 22 hits and nine walks in 17⅔ innings.

5 Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?” “What precipitated the confusion was Frazier’s last minute change of mind about his lineup. Early in the evening, when coach Tom Burgess was making the big lineup card that is posted in the dugout, Frazier said he would go with ‘the regular lineup.’ That meant John Stearns would bat sixth and Roy Staiger seventh. But later Frazier decided Staiger’s two hits Wednesday at Shea indicated he was ‘hot’ and he reversed Stearns and Staiger. He says he informed Burgess who he assumed would change the dugout lineup card.”

6 Jack Lang in The Sporting News dubbed Frazier “Joe the Juggler” for his frequent lineup changes. (Jack Lang, “Nothing Working Right for Mets,” The Sporting News, May 17, 1977: 5.) A week after the lineup snafu, columnist Dave Anderson said the Mets had used 20 different lineups in 26 games, leaving players “confused” and “baffled,” and citing the lineup juggling as one of the reasons Frazier “seems to have lost the respect of his players.” (Dave Anderson, “Uprising on the Mets’ Plantation,” New York Times, May 10, 1977: 51.) Indeed, the only constants through the first 15 games had been Mazzilli batting leadoff, Kingman batting fourth, and that day’s starting pitcher batting ninth. Two other spots had been the same every game but one: Millán had batted second except for the game when he was replaced by Phillips; Harrelson had batted eighth in every game but one, when he was replaced at shortstop by Phillips (who was moved up to sixth in the lineup). Ed Kranepool hit fifth in 12 of the 15 games, replaced in the other three by Torre. In the three games, Torre was at first base twice and at third base once. The other four spots had been juggled more often: Milner had hit third the first four games of the season, but had made just two more starts; Boisclair had hit there six times, Vail twice, and Kranepool once. The sixth spot had been occupied by the day’s starting catcher in 10 of the first 15 games, and the seventh spot by the starting third baseman in 10 of the 15 as well. In the other five, the sixth spot had gone to the third baseman three times, the shortstop once, and the right fielder once; the seventh spot had been occupied by the catcher in the five games that the third baseman wasn’t listed there.

7 Lenny Randle, acquired by the Mets from the Rangers three days earlier (a month after punching Texas manager Frank Lucchesi in the eye), made his Mets debut the following day as a defensive replacement in left field for Milner. By the end of May, he had taken over as the regular third baseman. Staiger was optioned to Triple A on June 16.

8 A scheduled doubleheader against the Pirates at Shea Stadium on Sunday, April 24 was rained out, followed by an offday on Monday and then more rain washed out Tuesday’s scheduled home game against the Expos. The Mets finally played on Wednesday before Thursday’s travel day as they embarked on an 11-game West Coast road trip. The April 24 doubleheader against the Pirates was made up in doubleheaders on July 15 and July 17, both of which were splits. The April 26 game against the Expos was made up as part of a Memorial Day doubleheader on May 30, which Montreal swept.

9 Frazier told reporters after the game that he had told Burgess about the lineup change prior to the game starting and had assumed Burgess changed it on the lineup card. Burgess wasn’t quoted by reporters. (Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?”) In addition to swapping Stearns and Staiger, the April 29 lineup also had, for the first time, Milner batting fifth; in the prior 15 games, Kranepool (12 games) or Torre (three games) had batted fifth. Both lineup cards had Milner batting fifth.

10 Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?”

11 It is Rule 6.03(b) under the Official Baseball Rules, 2026 edition, as retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://mktg.mlbstatic.com/mlb/official-information/2026-official-baseball-rules.pdf. The text of the two rules are identical, although a note under the 1977 rules is now Rule 6.03(b)(4): “If a runner advances, while the improper batter is at bat, on a stolen base, balk, wild pitch or passed ball, such advance is legal.”

12 If the Padres had appealed after the balk, the runner would have remained at second base and Staiger would have completed the at-bat. Rule 6.03(b)(4): “If a runner advances, while the improper batter is at bat, on a stolen base, balk, wild pitch or passed ball, such advance is legal.”

13 OBR, Rule 6.03(b)(7): “When an improper batter becomes a proper batter because no appeal is made before the next pitch, the next batter shall be the batter whose name follows that of such legalized improper batter. The instant an improper batter’s actions are legalized, the batting order picks up with the name following that of the legalized improper batter.”

14 Jack Lang, “King Conks Padres With 2 HRs,” New York Daily News, April 30, 1977: 197.

15 Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?”

16 Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?”

17 Lang, “Mets Out of Order—Who Cares?”

18 Roberts was usually a catcher, but he made. his only appearance at shortstop of 1977 with Enzo Hernández and Bill Almon sidelined with injuries. Collier, “46,515 See Mets Humble Padres with 3 HR, 9-2,”

19 Leonard Koppett, “Mets Romp; Kingman Belts a Pair,” New York Times, April 30, 1977: 40.

20 Leonard Koppett, “Mets Win; Lucchesi Spurns Randle,” New York Times, May 1, 1977: S1. “In last night’s 9-2 Met victory here, John Sterans [sic], Roy Staiger and Bud Harrelson got embroiled in a batting-out-of-order mix-up that never was unsorted correctly, although it had no effect on that one-sided game. Tonight the same trio, batting in the correct order, unleashed three straight singles with one out in the fifth inning to break up a scoreless duel between Seaver and Randy Jones.”