August 19, 1955: Robin Roberts wins 20th game for sixth straight season

It was a matchup of the NL’s two best pitchers: the Philadelphia Phillies’ Robin Roberts and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Don Newcombe. It was also a rematch of the aces’ last clash, just five days earlier in the first game of a twin bill at Ebbets Field, when both went the distance, hurling 10 grueling frames, with Roberts emerging victorious, 3-2. Roberts entered this game leading the senior circuit in wins (19), innings (238⅔), and ERA (2.87) while Newk was second in all three categories (18, 196⅓, 2.93).

A 28-year-old right-hander, Roberts was a six-time All-Star, had won 20-plus games in each of the last five seasons, the latter three leading the NL, including a career-best 28 in 1952. While Roberts relied on a moving fastball and an array of breaking balls with pinpoint accuracy, Newcombe was a study in brute strength. He overpowered hitters with his heater and exhibited control as impressive as Roberts, but unlike his counterpart, liked to pitch inside and never shied away from a brushback pitch. A four-time All-Star, Newcombe won 20 in 1951 before missing two complete seasons serving in the military, and had rounded back into form in ’55 after an inconsistent campaign (9-8, 4.55 ERA) in ’54.

Roberts had the advantage of playing on home turf in the City of Brotherly Love. Skipper Mayo Smith’s squad was in fourth place, but a game under .500 (60-61) as they prepared to inaugurate a six-team, 16-game homestand. They trailed “Dem Bums” by a whopping 20 games. Skipper Walter Alston’s squad boasted the best record in baseball (78-39), but had lost six of its last 10 games.

While the Dodgers’ 14-game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Braves afforded Alston the luxury to contemplate the World Series, Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley had more serious concerns. On the day of the game he met with New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner and city Parks Commissioner Robert Moses to plead his case for a new taxpayer-funded ballpark in Brooklyn. “The problem is bigger than the Dodgers,” he exclaimed, and feared that both the Dodgers and the New York Giants would relocate without new ballparks.1

A gorgeous Friday evening with temperatures in the high 80s resulted in the largest crowd of the season (35,444) thus far at Connie Mack Stadium, the steel-and-concrete ballpark that had been known as Shibe Park from its opening in 1909 through the 1952 season, though the Phillies had played there only since 1938.

The story for the first seven innings was Newcombe. He started out “with the determination of a man bent of revenge,” gushed sportswriter Art Morrow of the Philadelphia Inquirer,2 while Dick Young of the New York Daily News opined that he was “virtually unhittable.”3 The husky, 6-foot-4 former Negro League star yielded just two hits (a first-inning single by Granny Hamner and a double by Andy Seminick in the third). Newcombe was riding a personal two-game losing streak after starting the season on an 18-1 tear, but had won his last eight decisions in Philadelphia.

Compared with Newcombe, Roberts seemed to be “almost in a constant scramble,” submitted Morrow.4 Roberts pitched to contact, and the Dodgers were obliging him. He yielded a single in each of the first four innings, including three times to the leadoff hitter, but was the beneficiary of three double plays.

Roberts’ luck finally ran out in the fifth when Gil Hodges lined a leadoff single and then scored on Sandy Amoros’s two-out double, which “dented the right-field wall,” noted Morrow.5

After Roberts enjoyed a one-two-three sixth, Roy Campanella sent his second pitch of the seventh on a line-drive trajectory that smashed “against the left-center balcony girder,” reported the Inquirer.6 It was the Philadelphia-native’s 27th round-tripper of the season. Roberts worked around a walk to Amoros in the eighth, the sixth time he permitted the leadoff hitter to reach.

The momentum of the game turned in the bottom of the eighth. Eddie Waitkus and Jim Greengrass led off with line-drive singles, drawing Alston to the mound. The Phillies then employed an “unexpected strategy,” suggested Roscoe McGowen of the New York Times.7 Seminick faked a bunt and then swung at the first pitch, lining a single to center, to drive in the Phillies’ first run of the game. Due to bat was Roberts, a career .143 hitter entering the ’55 season.8 On the other hand, he was baseball’s most durable hurler, and had completed a major-league-most 30, 33, and 29 games the last three seasons, and led the big leagues with 22 (in 29 starts) thus far in ’55. So the choice was probably simple for the rookie pilot Smith, though he might have had second thoughts when Roberts grounded back to New-combe, who initiated a 1-6-3 twin killing. Glenn Gorbous hit an infield popup to end the inning.

Roberts “never looked stronger,” cooed Morrow, to begin the ninth.9 Facing the heart of the Dodgers’ thunderous offense which led the majors in runs in 1955, Roberts induced Duke Snider, Campanella, and Hodges to hit three straight infield popups.

Unlike their counterparts, the Phillies were an average offensive team, finishing fifth in runs and seventh in home runs in ’55. They caught a break when leadoff hitter Bobby Morgan lined a ball over third baseman Don Hoak’s head. According to Morrow, the ball “bounced into foul territory and caromed off the left-field containing screen,” enabling Morgan to sprint to second.10 With the infield drawn in, Hamner singled to right. Cleanup hitter Del Ennis followed with a tailor-made, routine double-play grounder back to the mound. Newcombe “seemed momentarily confused,” opined McGowen, and looked initially to third, then threw wildly past a diving Reese at second.11 Morgan scored to tie the game, and Hamner reached third, Ennis was safe, and there were still no outs. To the plate stepped Willie Jones, the hero in the Roberts-Newcombe matchup five days earlier by virtue of his game-winning two-out single to drive in Richie Ashburn in the 10th. Puddin’ Head sent Newk’s second pitch into left field to win the game in dramatic fashion. The official game time was 1 hour and 58 minutes.

Roberts was credited with his 20th victory, marking the sixth consecutive season he won at least 20 games. He became just the fifth pitcher in the twentieth century to accomplish that feat, joining Christy Mathewson (12 consecutive seasons, 1903-1914); Walter Johnson (10 times, 1910-1919), Lefty Grove (seven times, 1927-1933), and Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (six times, 1906-1911). Since Roberts, the exclusive club has welcomed only two additional members, Warren Spahn (1956-1961) and Ferguson Jenkins (1967-1972).

Roberts finished the season with a big-league-most 23 victories and thus concluded one of the most productive six-year stretches in history. He led the NL in starts all six seasons and in innings in the latter five, and in wins and complete games the latter four campaigns. All the innings, though, took their toll on the 6-foot, 190-pound hurler. Beginning in 1956, Roberts experienced a steep drop-off in effectiveness and was never the same kind of hurler he had been. He led the NL in losses in 1956 and 1957, as his ERA soared to over 4.00. From 1956 through the end of his career, he was essentially a league-average pitcher, going 126-143 (3.78 ERA). He retired after the 1966 season with a 286-245 slate, 3.41 ERA, and 4,688⅔ innings, which ranked 11th in big-league history (and 21st as of 2022). In 1976 Roberts was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

SOURCES

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

NOTES

1 Sydney Gruson, “O’Malley Is Fearful of a One-Team Town,” New York Times, August 20, 1955: 1.

2 Art Morrow, “35,444 See Roberts Win 20th, 3-2, as Phils Top Brooks with 2 in 9th,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 20, 1955: 17.

3 Dick Young, “Robin’s 20th Nails Newk, 3-2,” (New York) Daily News, August 20, 1955: 25.

4 Morrow.

5 Morrow.

6 Morrow.

7 Roscoe McGowen, “Phils Triumph Over Dodgers,” New York Times, August 20, 1955: 12.

8 In 1955 he batted a career-best .252 and drove in a personal-best 13 runs.

9 Morrow.

10 Morrow.

11 McGowen.