July 31, 1954: Braves’ Joe Adcock smashes four home runs in historic performance at Ebbets Field

When one thinks of home-run hitters and the Milwaukee Braves, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews immediately come to mind. However, Joe Adcock, the hulking 6-foot-4-inch former basketball player at Louisiana State University, had the reputation of smashing some of the longest home runs ever witnessed. Although measuring the distance home runs travel has historically been an imprecise science, driven by myth and legend, Adcock belongs to a select few sluggers whose feats still inspire awe. On April 29, 1953, Adcock hit the first ball into the revamped center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds and the first shot over the 83-foot-high grandstand onto the upper-deck roof in left-center field in Ebbets Field (June 17, 1956), and was the first right-hander to smash one over the 64-foot-high scoreboard in right-center field at Connie Mack Stadium (April 14, 1960).

Described by Brooklyn sportswriter Tommy Holmes as a “one-man demolition squad,” Adcock achieved his most enduring feat during a torrid streak in the summer of 1954 when he whacked four home runs and a double in a wild, record-setting affair at Ebbets Field.1 Braves beat writer Lou Chapman hailed Adcock’s power punch as the “most powerful individual performance for a single game in modern baseball history.”2

Skipper Charlie Grimm’s third-place Braves (54-45) were on a roll, propelled by an eight-game winning streak, yet trailed the red-hot NL-leading New York Giants by nine games. In Brooklyn as part of a 15-game road swing, the Braves bashed Walter Alston’s second place Dodgers (61-40) in the opener of a three-game set, 9-3, led by Adcock’s homer, double, and three runs batted in. The Braves, in their second season in Milwaukee since relocating from Boston, and Dodgers were quickly becoming the NL’s fiercest rivalry, which sports reporter Bill Paddock characterized as a bitter feud.3 Vocal, fiery-tempered Adcock was a major reason for that animosity. The 26-year-old right-handed slugger had scorched the Dodgers, hitting .365 (19-for-52) with 4 home runs and 13 RBIs in 13 games thus far in ‘54, and was the target of “more verbal ridings from the Dodger than any other player in the league,” reported the Brooklyn Eagle’s Dave Anderson.4

On a sizzling Saturday afternoon with temperatures in the mid-90s,5 Ebbets Field drew a modest paying crowd of 12,263, plus an estimated 5,000 children as part of the knothole gang.6 The Braves had their own cheering section in that hostile environment, as more than 600 fans were bused in from Milwaukee for the showdown.7

The Braves came out swinging against starter Don Newcombe (6-5). The former Dodgers ace, who reeled off 56 wins in his first three seasons with Dem Bums (1949-1951), had missed the previous two full seasons while serving in the military and had not regained his top-of-the-rotation form. Mathews, the reigning NL home-run leader with 47 in ‘53, began what sportswriter Holmes called the Braves’ “unprecedented power orgy” with a two-out, first-inning solo blast to deep right field, his 26th of the season. The Dodgers led off the bottom of the first with three straight hits, including Duke Snider’s RBI single, off journeyman Jim Wilson, who entered the game undefeated (7-0) and fresh off an All-Star berth.

Adcock led off the second with a deep blast to center field to put the Braves back in front, 2-1. “I broke my bat on the last single in Friday night’s game,” revealed Adcock, who used teammate Charlie White‘s stick. “It’s the heaviest on the team.”8 Andy Pafko doubled and scored on Johnny Logan‘s single to send the beleaguered Newcombe to the showers. Reliever Clem Labine retired the first two batters he faced before Bill Bruton lined a double to center to drive in Logan and increase the Braves’ lead to 4-1. Wilson, equally as ineffective as Big Newk, loaded the bases with no outs on a double by Sandy Amoros, Jackie Robinson’s hit-by-pitch, and Carl Furillo‘s single, then headed to the dugout. In relief came Lew Burdette, who escaped the fire by fanning Rube Walker and inducing Walt Moryn to hit into a 4-6-3 twin killing.

While Fidgety Lew settled into a groove, yielding only one run – on Don Hoak’s sixth-inning home run – over the next five innings, the Braves bashed the Brooklyn boys. In the third inning, Mathews greeted Brooklyn’s third reliever, Erv Palica, with a mammoth clout to deep center field. Two batters later, Adcock got under the ball and whistled a screeching liner for a double, then came home on Pafko’s single for the Braves’ 6-1 lead. After Palica tossed the only one-two-three inning by any pitcher in the game, he faltered in the fifth. With Mathews on via a walk and rookie Hank Aaron on a single, Adcock blasted a towering shot into the upper deck in left-center, extending the Braves lead, 9-1.

Leading 9-2 to start the seventh, the Braves battered 34-year-old rookie Pete Wojey, who had relieved Palica with one out in the fifth. Aaron led off with a double and scampered home on Adcock’s line-drive missile into the left-field bleachers. Pakfo followed with his 12th home run of the season to make it 12-2.

In the eighth inning, “Burdette finally wilted in the stifling temperatures,” quipped sportswriter Red Thisted.9 Gil Hodges led off with his 28th home run. Amoros singled and scored two batters later on Furillo’s single. The Dodgers’ fifth and sixth runs resulted from Rube Walker’s round-tripper to deep right-center. Bob Buhl entered in relief but was pulled after surrendering consecutive singles. Dave Jolly walked Don Zimmer to load the bases, but escaped the jam by retiring George Shuba and Hodges.

Adcock led off the top of the ninth facing his fourth different pitcher, Johnny Podres. “I wasn’t nervous or pressing,” said the muscular slugger. “I didn’t have time.”10 Nonetheless, he came to the plate thinking about hitting his fourth home run of the game. “[Coach] John Cooney has been of great help to me all season,” said Adcock after the game. “[He] kept telling me I had a chance. Just make sure you get under the ball.”11 Launch angles aside, Adcock connected squarely again and powered the ball into deep center field. An error and two singles loaded the bags for Jolly, who hit into a double play, but not before Jim Pendleton crossed the plate. Roy Smalley scored on Podres’ wild pitch to make it 15-6. The Dodgers tacked on a run in the ninth on Hoak’s sacrifice fly driving in Amoros, who had led off with a triple.

The game was an “unprecedented power orgy,” declared sportswriter Dick Young.12 Adcock became the seventh player in NL/AL history to hit four home runs in a game and the first since Gil Hodges on August 31, 1950.13 “If I played for the Dodgers, I’d hit 35 homers a year in this ballpark,” said Adcock, who took advantage of the 350-foot fence in left-center field.14

According to sportswriter Roscoe McGowen, Adcock hit two home runs and his double on the first pitch and his other two home runs on the second pitch.15 “I hit a fast ball for the first homer,” claimed Adcock, “a slider for the second, a curve ball for the third, and another fast ball for the last one.”16 His 5-for-5 performance with 5 runs and 7 RBIs set the big-league record for most total bases (18) in a game. In a contest characterized by “extraordinary slugging,”17 the Braves (7) and Dodgers (3) combined for 10 home runs to tie an NL record.18

While improving his season total slashmark to 19/69/.324, Adcock had already surpassed his home-run total from the previous season (18). His eight home runs at Ebbets Field tied an NL, record for the most home runs in an opponent’s park; he eventually tacked on one more home run in Flatbush and finished the season with a 1.231 slugging percentage in Brooklyn. A day after his four-home-run game, Adcock doubled in the third, and then was hit above the left temple in the fourth inning by Clem Labine, in what was described as a “deliberate beaning” by Brooklyn sportswriter Tommy Holmes. Adcock was wearing a protective helmet and was carried off the field on a stretcher.19 A hard-as-nails player, Adcock was back in the lineup the next day and smashed a double in five at-bats.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, SABR.org, and The Sporting News archive via Paper of Record.

Photo credit: Joe Adcock, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

NOTES

1 Tommy Holmes, “A Hot Hitter Gets Skulled,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 2, 1954: 11.

2 Lou Chapman, “Adcock Used White’s Club,” Milwaukee Sentinel, August1, 1954: II, 1.

3 Bill Paddock, “Braves-Bums Feud Revives Over Beaning,” The Sporting News, August 11, 1954: 13.

4 Dave Anderson, “Adcock’s 4 Homers Help Rout Flock,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 1, 1954: 20.

5 “Weather Table,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 1, 1954: 1.

6 Roscoe McGowen, “Ten 4-Beggars Hit; Mathews Adds Pair to Adcock’s 4,” New York Times, August 1, 1954: S1.

7 Red Thisted, “Braves Out-Bomb Dodgers, 15-7, for 9th Straight,” Milwaukee Sentinel,” August 1, 1954: II, 1.

8 Lou Chapman, “Adcock Used White’s Club.”

9 Red Thisted, “Braves Out-Bomb Dodgers.”

10 Lou Chapman, “Adcock Used White’s Club.”

11 Lou Chapman, “Adcock Used White’s Club.”

12 Dick Young, “Adcock’s 4 Belt Flock, 15-7,” New York Daily News, August 1, 1954: 74.

13 Through the 2017 season, the other players in NL/AL history to hit four home runs in a game are Bobby Lowe (Boston Beaneaters) on May 30, 1894; Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia Phillies) on July 13, 1896; Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees) on June 3, 1932; Chuck Klein (Philadelphia Phillies) on July 10, 1936; Pat Seerey (Chicago White Sox) in 11 innings on July 18, 1948, and Gil Hodges (Brooklyn Dodgers), on August 31, 1950, Rocky Colavito (Cleveland Indians) on June 10, 1959, Willie Mays (San Francisco Giants) on April 30, 1961, Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia Phillies) April 17, 1976, Bob Horner (Atlanta Braves) on July 6, 1986, Mark Whiten (St. Louis Cardinals) on September 7, 1993, Mike Cameron (Seattle Mariners) on May 2, 2002, Shawn Green (Los Angeles Dodgers) on May 23, 2002, Carlos Delgado (Toronto Blue Jays) on Sept. 25, 2003, Josh Hamilton (Texas Rangers) on May 8, 2012, Scooter Gennett (Cincinnati Reds) on June 6, 2017, and J.D. Martinez (Arizona Diamondbacks) on September 4, 2017.

14 Dave Anderson, “Secret’s Out: Adcock Used Borrowed Bat,” New York Daily News, August 1, 1954: 75.

15 Roscoe McGowen, “Ten 4-Baggers Hit; Mathews Adds Pair to Adcock’s 4.”

16 Associated Press, “Cooney’s Tip, White’s Bat Pay off for Joe,” Wisconsin State Journal Madison), August 1, 1954: 43.

17 Red Thisted, “Braves Out-Bomb Dodgers, 15-7, for 9th Straight.”

18 Records according to Dave Anderson, “Adcock’s 4 Homers Help Rout Flock.”

19 Tommy Holmes, “A Hot Hitter Gets Skulled,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 2, 1954: 11.