June 17, 1954: Roberts being Roberts: Robin goes the distance in 15-inning win

In June of 1954, Phillies fans had a good idea of what they were going to see when Robin Roberts was on the mound.

Although Roberts and his remaining Whiz Kids teammates had been unable to repeat their team success in the years after 1950, Roberts was at the top of his game individually. Between 1950 and 1953, he earned four All-Star Game appearances and led the league in starts four times, in innings pitched three times, and in wins and complete games twice. He also earned his first league strikeout crown in 1953.

On the evening of June 17, 1954, Roberts and the Phillies faced the St. Louis Cardinals at Connie Mack Stadium. The visitors trailed the home team by one game in the National League standings. Both teams were already losing ground to New York’s powerhouse National League teams, which had started to run away with the pennant race. One silver lining for the Cardinals was that they seemed to have Roberts’ number so far in 1954, tagging him for 14 earned runs in four starts (one lasting only two innings). Starting for the visitors was Gerry Staley, an All-Star the previous two seasons and owner of three straight seasons of 17 wins or more. Their silver lining, however, was not as shiny as it could be – Staley entered the day with a record of 3 wins and 6 losses and an ERA of 6.25.

Roberts’ own record stood at a less-than-stellar 7-7, but he had gotten only 10 runs of support in his seven losses and had thrown a couple of gems earlier in the year. In April he one-hit Milwaukee, allowing only a third-inning double to Del Crandall. Facing Cincinnati in May, he gave up a leadoff homer to Bobby Adams, then retired the next 27 batters. Considering these games and his 2.72 ERA, the Phillies faithful might have expected a one-sided affair. Instead, they got more than their money’s worth.

The Cardinals struck early, getting a solo home run from catcher Bill Sarni in the second inning. It was the 16th round-tripper yielded by Roberts so far in the season, on his way to a league-leading 35 for the season. Roberts buckled down and retired the next 14 batters in order.

The Phillies responded in the bottom of the fourth without recording a hit. First baseman Earl Torgeson led off the inning with a walk. Left fielder Del Ennis hit a shot to third that was fielded by Ray Jablonski, who made the stop but his throw to first was in the dirt, allowing Ennis to reach and sending Torgeson to third.1 Second baseman Granny Hamner then flied out to right field, and Torgeson scored.

The two teams traded zeros until the top of the seventh inning, when Red Schoendienst led off with a single to center. Stan Musial followed with another single, sending Schoendienst to third. With Jablonski at bat, Musial tried to swipe second, but he was nabbed by Phillies’ backstop Smoky Burgess and Hamner. Jablonski then hit one deep enough to center to score Schoendienst, giving St. Louis the lead.

In the eighth the Phillies had a chance to score but couldn’t cash in. With two outs, Staley walked Richie Ashburn, Torgeson, and Ennis. The rally fell short when Hamner topped a ball to Staley, who forced Ashburn at home.2

Roberts continued to hold the Cardinals in check, giving his team a chance in the ninth. Staley induced two groundball outs, bringing up shortstop Bobby Morgan. Morgan had just missed a home run when he hit the left-field wall with a blast in the fifth, settling for a double.3 This time, he hit a 2-and-2 pitch into the left-field seats to tie the game. Staley got the last out of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.4

Both pitchers continued to stymie the opposing batters, although the Cardinals got runners into scoring position twice. In the 12th inning, Solly Hemus, who had replaced Jablonski at third base, hit a two-out triple, but ended up stranded. The next inning, Roberts gave up a single to Alex Grammas. With Staley due up, Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky sent up pinch-hitter Joe Frazier. Roberts struck him out, but left fielder Rip Repulski singled to left, sending Grammas to second. Roberts again neutralized the threat by getting Wally Moon (the 1954 Rookie of the Year) to fly out to left.

To replace Staley on the mound, Stanky called in Joe Presko, a former starter in his first year as a full-time reliever. Despite coming into the game with an ERA above 6.00, Presko threw two clean innings with three strikeouts. Roberts continued to roll as well, allowing only a one-out single to Musial in the 14th inning and retiring the side in the 15th.

It was Roberts who started the winning rally. Leading off the home 15th, he worked a walk. Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones sacrificed him to second. Ashburn followed with a groundout to short that moved Roberts to third. The Cardinals walked the left-handed-hitting Torgeson intentionally to have Presko face a slumping Ennis, who was hitless in five at-bats. The move backfired when Ennis hit a line single to right-center on Presko’s first pitch to him, sending Roberts home with the winning run.5

Roberts finished the game with 10 hits, 7 strikeouts, and no walks in 15 innings. So far he had allowed only 14 walks in 130⅔ innings.6 It was the longest Phillies game by innings of 1954, and the second longest in Roberts’ career. While Chris Short also went 15 innings in 1965, no Phillies pitcher has thrown more innings in a game as of 2020.

Asked about his complete games, Roberts once said he would happily turn the ball over if the team had someone better, but it didn’t.7 The June 17, 1954, game shows that he was willing to stick to that view no matter how long it took.

SOURCES

In addition to the contemporary news sources listed in the Notes, the author relied on information from Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, and The Sporting News.

NOTES

1 “Phils Turn Back Cardinals in 15th Behind Roberts,” Camden (New Jersey) Courier-Post, June 18, 1954.

2 Bob Broeg, “Cards, Back to .500 After Roberts Wins, Face Giants Tonight,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 18, 1954.

3 Broeg.

4 Stan Baumgartner, “Roberts Goes 15, Beats Cards, 3-2 On Ennis’ Single,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 1954.

5 Broeg.

6 Associated Press, “Roberts Goes 15 Innings to Rack Up Eighth Win,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), June 18, 1954.

7 Don Bostrom, “Robin Roberts Epitomized ‘Compete Game’ in the ’50s,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, August 22, 1999.