June 20, 1975: Pirates’ John Candelaria bests Mets’ Tom Seaver for first major-league win

The Pittsburgh Pirates were leading the National League East Division in June 1975 when they promoted 21-year-old John Candelaria to patch up their injury-eroded rotation. In Candelaria’s third big-league start, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, the Brooklyn native dazzled his hometown and outdueled superstar Tom Seaver by taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitching a complete game for his first major-league win, a 5-1 victory, on June 20.

Seeking their fifth division title in six years in 1975, the Pirates moved into first place with a six-game winning streak at the end of May, but injuries hobbled their pitching staff.1 Opening Day starter Dock Ellis had a sore shoulder,2 and an elbow injury forced 1974 All-Star Ken Brett to the disabled list on June 5.3 Pittsburgh summoned Candelaria to replace Brett, nearly three years to the day after selecting the 6-foot-7 lefty in the second round of the June 1972 amateur draft.4

A celebrated basketball player at Manhattan’s LaSalle Academy,5 Candelaria had jumped from Class A to Triple-A Charleston (West Virginia) late in the 1974 season.6 Back in Charleston for 1975, he had a 7-1 record and a 1.78 ERA when Pittsburgh added him for what appeared to be a short-term assignment. “The Pirates expect to return Candelaria when veteran Ken Brett … comes off the disabled list,” reassured a Charleston newspaper.7

In his June 8 debut, Candelaria went six innings in a loss to the San Francisco Giants.8 A week later, he received a no-decision after giving up 3 runs and 10 hits over 5 innings in a slugfest win over the Atlanta Braves.9

Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh set Candelaria’s next start for the opener of a three-game series in New York. It was the beginning of a trip to play the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, both of whom trailed the Pirates by 3½ games. The game-day Pittsburgh Press cited Murtaugh’s use of the rookie Candelaria as evidence that the playoff-seasoned Pirates viewed the midseason games with their chief pursuers as “just another week on the road.”10

The pitching matchup may have helped to keep expectations modest. Seaver’s eight major-league seasons had yielded two NL Cy Young Awards, three ERA titles, and three strikeout crowns, and he was already halfway to 20 wins in 1975. Twenty-two consecutive scoreless innings, including back-to-back shutouts, had lowered his ERA to 1.82.11

A Friday crowd of 47,867 – the Mets’ second-highest home gate of the season to date12 – packed Shea Stadium. In the stands were 18 of Candelaria’s guests, including his parents, two brothers, and a sister.13

Candelaria – who said he was familiar with many Mets hitters from watching them on television when he was in high school14 – retired all nine New York batters in the first three innings. In the second, he went up against career .300 hitter Joe Torre;15 Rusty Staub, headed for the first 100-RBI season in franchise history; and Dave Kingman, whose 36 home runs in 1975 set a franchise record and tied for second in the majors. Torre struck out on what the Staten Island (New York) Advance called “a feeble half-swing,” Staub took a third strike, and Kingman went down swinging at a high fastball.16

Seaver kept his scoreless string alive by dodging a handful of baserunners in the early innings. Leadoff hitter Rennie Stennett singled in the first, but Richie Hebner hit into a double play. After Willie Stargell started Pittsburgh’s second with a double, Seaver struck out emerging star Dave Parker – batting .359 with 25 extra-base hits in his last 45 games in his first season as a major-league starter – and Richie Zisk. Manny Sanguillén was intentionally walked, and Frank Taveras flied out.

In the Pirates’ fourth, Al Oliver led off with a single, but Seaver fanned Stargell. As Parker struck out, catcher John Stearns threw out Oliver stealing for a double play.

The first Met on base was Del Unser, when Taveras bobbled his grounder to short for an error to open the fourth.17 Félix Millán bunted in front of the plate, and Candelaria “pounced” off the mound, per the Pittsburgh Press, and threw him out at first.18 Unser took second on the sacrifice and third on Cleon Jones’s groundout. The Pirates walked Torre intentionally – which turned out to be Candelaria’s only walk of the night – and Staub flied out to strand the runners.

Seaver’s fourth-inning strikeouts of Stargell and Parker began a streak of nine consecutive Pirates retired. Candelaria matched him with another perfect inning in the fifth. Kingman – whose disenchantment with manager Yogi Berra’s platooning had provoked him to vow, after the previous night’s game in Montreal, that he would be “bunting a lot against left-handers” – attempted to bunt for a hit in the fifth before fouling out.19

The Mets were still hitless when Seaver led off the sixth. He hit a slow bouncer up the middle. Candelaria reached with his pitching hand, but the ball went past him.20 By the time second baseman Stennett detained it in short center, Seaver had a single.21

Seemingly unfazed by the end of his no-hit bid, Candelaria fielded Unser’s bunt and threw to second, narrowly beating Seaver for the force.22 Sanguillén gunned down Unser stealing, and Millán flied out to maintain the scoreless tie.

Seaver’s midgame perfect run through the Pirates’ lineup brought him to Stargell with one out in the seventh.

“He had enough heat to start a forest fire,” Stargell said of Seaver.23

But when Seaver offered a fastball, Stargell snapped the streak of scoreless innings at 28 by driving it over the right-field wall.24 Stargell’s 12th homer of the season and 358th of his career – tying Berra for 26th all-time – gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

One out later, Seaver’s control lapsed. He hit Zisk on the hip with a changeup, then Sanguillén’s forearm with a fastball. The Pirates catcher slammed down his bat and took a few steps toward the mound, and players came out of the dugouts before tempers cooled.25 Taveras fouled out to end the inning.

Jones led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Berra pinch-ran former Pirate Gene Clines. But Torre, whose 22 double plays hit into ranked second in the NL in 1975,26 grounded to short, and Taveras turned it into a 6-4-3 double play.

Seaver had another hit batsman in the eighth – striking Hebner on the foot27 – and Candelaria took the one-run lead to the bottom of the inning. Kingman again attempted to bunt before popping up,28 but Stearns singled. Jesús Alou, batting for shortstop Mike Phillips, hit a line drive toward first.

Primarily a left fielder for the previous half-decade, Stargell had moved to first base in 1975. He got his glove on the ball but could not catch it. Instead of an inning-ending double play, Mets were at the corners after Alou’s single.29

Berra sent up Jack Heidemann to bat for Seaver. Heidemann hit a fly ball to left. Stearns tagged and made it home safely when, according to the Pittsburgh Press, Zisk’s throw “took a weird bounce” away from Sanguillén.30 The game was tied.

With the lefty-swinging Stargell and Parker due up in the ninth, Berra called on left-hander Tom Hall. Stargell singled, and pinch-runner Art Howe took third on Parker’s single.

The Pirates’ lineup now went right-handed with Zisk. Berra wanted to bring in righty Bob Apodaca, but Apodaca’s arm was not loose.31 Zisk bounced a single over first baseman Torre’s glove to score Howe with the go-ahead run.32

At last Apodaca was ready. Sanguillén’s bloop single loaded the bases. Apodaca fanned pinch-hitter Ed Kirkpatrick and Candelaria, but Stennett cleared the bases with a triple to left-center.33

The Pirates had a commanding four-run lead, and Candelaria retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to sew up his four-hitter and first win. Hall took the loss.34

“The thing you have to like about John is his poise,” the 14-year-veteran Stargell said. “He pitched tonight like he’s been here for a number of years.”35

“It looks like John Candelaria will be around for a while,” the Pittsburgh Press concluded.36

Six days later, on June 26, Candelaria struck out 13 Chicago Cubs in a 141-pitch complete-game win.37 Brett returned from the disabled list,38 but Candelaria remained in the rotation, going 8-6 with a 2.76 ERA as the Pirates won another NL East title.39 In Game Three of the NL Championship Series, Candelaria recorded 14 strikeouts against the eventual World Series champion Cincinnati Reds – a rookie postseason record until Liván Hernández of the Florida Marlins struck out 15 Braves in the 1997 NLCS.

More milestones followed for Candelaria in Pittsburgh. He pitched the Pirates’ first home no-hitter in 69 seasons in 1976, became the franchise’s first 20-game winner in 17 seasons while leading the majors in ERA in 1977,40 and beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game Six of the 1979 World Series. Candelaria went on to win 177 games in a 19-season career that included tours with both the Mets and New York Yankees.

Author’s Note

The first major-league game the author attended, the Pirates’ 2-1 win over the Phillies on June 17, 1983, at Three Rivers Stadium, was John Candelaria’s 100th career win, nearly eight years to the day after Candelaria faced Seaver at Shea Stadium in 1975. As with his first big-league win, Candelaria’s parents, John and Norma Candelaria, and three of his seven siblings were also in attendance.41

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Victoria Monte and copy-edited by Len Levin. SABR member Kurt Blumenau provided insightful comments on an earlier version of the article.

Photo credit: John Candelaria, 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/NYN/NYN197506200.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1975/B06200NYN1975.htm

Notes

1 “Somehow, from somewhere, the Pirates are going to have to find some pitching help,” observed the Pittsburgh Press on June 4. “[R]ight now, they are approaching [a stretch of 45 games in 38 days] with just eight healthy pitchers.” The article likened the Pirates’ pitching predicament to “gazing into a crystal ball and seeing yourself getting mugged.” Jeff Samuels, “Pirates in Sneak Preview of Bad Trouble: Play Losers’ Role Against Reds, 8-4,” Pittsburgh Press, June 4, 1975: 64.

2 Samuels, “Pirates in Sneak Previous of Bad Trouble.” Ellis was sidelined from May 20 through June 12 but did not go on the disabled list.

3 “Brett Joins Ellis on Buc Sidelines,” Pittsburgh Press, June 2, 1975: 25; Vito Stellino, “Pirates’ Brett Placed on Disabled List,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 6, 1975: 13.

4 “Pirates’ Brett Placed on Disabled List”; “Pirates Take SS in Free Agent Draft,” Pittsburgh Press, June 6, 1972: 34.

5 Pete Alfano, “Candelaria Mixes Pitches with Poise,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), June 21, 1975: 26.

6 “Charlies Obtain Two ‘A’ Hurlers,” Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail, August 31, 1974: 3B.

7 “Candelaria Bound for Bucs: AA Ace to Join Charlies,” Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail, June 6, 1975: 1D.

8 Jeff Samuels, “Pirate Picture Dark After 3-1, 4-2 Setbacks,” Pittsburgh Press, June 9, 1975: 25.

9 Charley Feeney, “Buc Non-Stars Shine to Clinch 6-for-7 Trip,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 15, 1975: 18.

10 Bob Smizik, “Big, Bad Bucs Are Believers,” Pittsburgh Press, June 20, 1975: 24.

11 Augie Borgi, “Tom: Happy Padre’s Day,” New York Daily News, June 16, 1975: 50.

12 The Mets had a crowd of 50,048 for their June 7 game against the Braves, which was a team photo album giveaway day. Red Foley, “Braves Focus In on Mets, 7-3; Blur Pix for 50,048,” New York Daily News, June 8, 1975: 131.

13 Charles Feeney, “Mets Cake for ‘Cande,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 21, 1975: 6.

14 Phil Pepe, “NY Rookie Gets Mets on Bucs’ 4 in 9th, 5-1,” New York Daily News, June 21, 1975: 32.

15 Torre’s batting average entering this game was .300 in 2,003 career games. He retired after the 1976 season with a .297 average.

16 Jay Price, “Mets Dazzled by an ‘Islander,’” Staten Island (New York) Advance, June 21, 1975: 14.

17 Associated Press, “Pirates Top Mets, 5-1,” Uniontown (Pennsylvania) Evening Standard, June 21, 1975: 12.

18 Bob Smizik, “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players,’” Pittsburgh Press, June 21, 1975: 6.

19 Kingman’s announcement followed a 4-for-5 night – including a bunt single and home run against Expos lefty Woodie Fryman – in the Mets’ 13-inning loss. Berra had been playing lefty-swinging Ed Kranepool at first base against right-handers, and Kingman against lefties. Phil Pepe, “Irked Kingman Signals Bunt Against Lefties,” New York Daily News, June 21, 1975: 33; Feeney, “Mets Cake for ‘Cande.’”

20 United Press International, “Bucs Win in Candy’s Lair,” Kittanning (Pennsylvania) Leader-Times, June 21, 1975: 7.

21 Price, “Mets Dazzled by an ‘Islander.’”

22 Smizik, “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players.’”

23 “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players.’”

24 “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players.’”

25 “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players’”; Feeney, “Mets Cake for ‘Cande’”; Jack Lang, “Rookie Handcuffs Mets and Outduels Seaver,” Staten Island Advance, June 21, 1975: 14.

26 Just over a month later, on July 21, Torre grounded into an NL-record four double plays in a loss to the Houston Astros.

27 Feeney, “Mets Cake for ‘Cande.’”

28 Lang, “Rookie Handcuffs Mets and Outduels Seaver.”

29 Smizik, “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players.’”

30 Bob Smizik, “Big Deal: Candelaria Blows Out Mets, 5-1,” Pittsburgh Press, June 21, 1975: 6.

31 Smizik, “Seaver, Stargell ‘Bit Players’”; Lang, “Rookie Handcuffs Mets and Outduels Seaver.”

32 Feeney, “Mets Cake for ‘Cande.’”

33 “Mets Cake for ‘Cande.’”

34 Seaver, who received a no-decision, went on to a 22-9 record, his fourth strikeout title, and his third career NL Cy Young Award in 1975.

35 Pepe, “NY Rookie Gets Mets on Bucs’ 4 in 9th, 5-1.”

36 Smizik, “Big Deal.”

37 David Fink, “Candelaria Lights Up on Stennett HR, 5-2,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 27, 1975: 12.

38 “Brett Back; Howe Goes,” Pittsburgh Press, June 26, 1975: 24.

39 The Mets finished in third place in the NL East with an 82-80 record. Berra, whose son Dale Berra was selected by the Pirates in the first round of the June amateur draft in 1975, was fired as New York’s manager on August 6.

40 Vern Law had won 20 games for Pittsburgh’s 1960 World Series champions. Bob Smizik, “20th Wraps up Candy-Coated Season,” Pittsburgh Press, October 1, 1977: A-6.

41 Tom Wheatley, “Candelaria’s 100th Victory an Early Father’s Day Gift,” Pittsburgh Press, June 18, 1983: C-1.