May 7, 1960: Dodgers’ Sherry brothers combine to defeat Phillies in 11 innings

Brothers Norm and Larry Sherry shared one of the highlights of their careers for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 7, 1960. They were batterymates for the final four innings of the Dodgers’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies, with Norm entering at catcher and Larry pitching in relief. Larry claimed the win when Norm’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning gave the Dodgers a 3-2 win.

Norm Sherry was born in 1931 in New York City; Larry was born four years later, after the family had relocated to Los Angeles. Larry made it to the majors first, in 1958, the Dodgers’ first season after moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. But a 12.46 ERA in five early-season appearances led to his demotion to Triple-A Spokane, where Norm was playing.1

Larry Sherry returned to the big leagues in July 1959. At Spokane, Norm had helped him develop a slider, which allowed Larry’s career to take off.2 Larry won his last seven decisions after his call-up in July and helped the Dodgers prevent a third straight pennant by the Milwaukee Braves. He went on to become the hero of the World Series, earning Most Valuable Player honors, as the Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox in six games. In four World Series relief appearances, Larry collected two wins and two saves, allowing only one run in 12⅔ innings.

Norm Sherry toiled in the minors for seven seasons before making his major-league debut on April 12, 1959.3 He was soon sent to Spokane, and his only other game with the Dodgers that year came in a late-season call-up.

The brothers were on the Dodgers’ big-league roster out of spring training in 1960. They appeared in the same major-league game for the first time on May 2, a 6-5 loss to the Braves, when Larry pitched 1⅔ innings of relief and Norm pinch-hit unsuccessfully for his brother.

On May 7 the Phillies and Dodgers squared off in the second game of a three-game series at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Dodgers’ first home after they moved west. The Phillies had won the day before by breaking a 1-1 tie in the 10th inning with a five-run outburst. Sandy Koufax pitched masterfully for nine innings, striking out 15, before giving up four of the decisive runs. In the season’s first month, the Phillies and Dodgers were lagging the National League-leading Pittsburgh Pirates and second-place San Francisco Giants.

Saturday night’s second game of the series involved another tight contest, before a crowd of 30,879, which included 6,797 women admitted free on Ladies Night.4

Veteran Phillies right-hander Robin Roberts took the mound against Dodgers right-hander Stan Williams. From 1950 to 1956, Roberts was one of the workhorses of the National League, averaging more than 300 innings per year. Now in his 13th season as a 33-year-old, he was on

the downside of his career, and he came in with a 9.51 ERA in five starts. Twenty-three-year-old Williams, who was making his first start of 1960 after four relief appearances, was already in his third major-league season.

After Williams retired the first two batters of the game, the Phillies loaded the bases on a single by Johnny Callison, an error by shortstop Bob Aspromonte, and a walk to Bobby Del Greco. But Williams recovered by inducing Ken Walters to ground out to second.

The game was scoreless through the fourth inning. Between Roberts and Williams, the batters had managed only four more singles and a walk.

In the fifth Williams continued his dominance by striking out the side for his fifth consecutive punchout and sixth for the game, his highest to that point in the season. Don Demeter then put the Dodgers ahead with a home run, his fifth of the season, in the bottom half of the frame.5

Alvin Dark knotted the score, 1-1, on a leadoff home run to deep center field against Williams in the sixth. Williams seemed to become unhinged afterward; he loaded the bases again on a single by Ed Bouchee, a walk to Del Greco, and a single by Walters. With one out, Dodgers manager Walter Alston went to reliever Ed Roebuck. Pinch-hitter Tony Curry lined a pitch to left field. Wally Moon made the catch, then threw to catcher John Roseboro, who tagged Bouchee out for the double play.

Roberts asked to be taken out of the game after five innings when his shoulder tightened up.6 Lefty Chris Short kept the Dodgers in check for two innings, while Roebuck retired all three batters in the seventh.

Alston had gone to his bench for two pinch-hitters in the seventh, sending up Norm Sherry to bat for starting catcher Roseboro and Chuck Essegian to hit for Roebuck. When the Dodgers took the field after the seventh-inning stretch, Norm Sherry was behind the plate and Larry Sherry was on the mound. It was the first time as major-leaguers that they appeared as batterymates.7

Larry Sherry had struggled in his previous five appearances,8 and he hit Dark with a pitch before giving up a single to Bouchee. Dark barely reached third on the hit, on a close throw from the outfield. Third baseman Jim Gilliam was ejected from the game by umpire Ed Vargo, who said Gilliam pushed him in the ensuing argument over the safe call on Dark.9 Larry ended up giving up the tiebreaking run when Dave Philley singled in Dark on a 250-foot fly-ball single that barely hit the left-field screen.10

The Dodgers countered with a run in their half of the eighth. With two outs, Short walked Moon and yielded a single to rookie Tommy Davis. Carl Furillo’s fly-ball single to center scored Moon and tied the game again, 2-2.

Phillies right-hander Rubén Gómez, who had entered the game to record the last out of the eighth, held the Dodgers scoreless for the next two innings. Sherry didn’t allow any runs over the next three innings, although the Phillies threatened with two walks in the 10th.

Gómez returned to the mound in the bottom of the 11th and retired the first two batters on fly outs. Norm Sherry worked the count to 3-and-1 before hitting his walk-off home run over the 40-foot-high screen in left field. It was the first of 18 home runs he hit in his career.

After the game, Norm said, “It has to be my biggest thrill. Winning one in the majors for my brother was really something.” He added, “I knew it was hit well enough, but I was afraid it might curve foul. It was a slider inside. I wasn’t looking for anything especially. I was just trying to get a hit.”11

Larry evened his record at 3-3, while giving up two hits, three walks, and a run in four innings and striking out four. In addition to his home run, Norm reached on an error and a single. It was the third straight extra-inning contest for the Dodgers, who finished the season fourth in the NL, 13 games behind the Pirates. The Phillies ended up last for the third consecutive season.

Sharing closer duties with Roebuck, Larry had a career-high 14 wins in 1960. He is retroactively credited with seven saves, also a career best at that point in his career.12 Norm served as a capable backup to Roseboro, batting .283 with 8 home runs and 19 RBIs in 39 starts.

The Sherrys appeared as batterymates 30 times during their careers, the last time on June 28, 1962.13 It took almost 60 years for the next set of major-league brothers to play as batterymates. On August 12, 2021, Andrew (pitcher) and Austin Romine (catcher) appeared as batterymates for the Chicago Cubs. Andrew, normally an infielder, was called on to pitch in the ninth inning of a blowout game that the Milwaukee Brewers won, 17-4.14

Acknowledgements

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Norm and Larry Sherry, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org and the following:

Lewis, Allen. “Norm Sherry HR in 11th Gives Larry 3-2 Win Over Phils,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 1960: Sports, 1.

McElreavy, Wayne, and Lyle Spatz. “Brother Batteries,” in “The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers, http://bb_catchers.tripod.com/catchers/brother_batteries.htm. Accessed May 15, 2024.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196005070.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1960/B05070LAN1960.htm

Notes

1 As a sidebar to their playing as teammates with Spokane in 1958, the Sherry brothers’ daughters were born on the same day. Jack Murphy, “Smart Pills for Cheerleaders, Too,” San Diego Union, June 20, 1958: B-4.

2 Ralph Berger, “Larry Sherry,” SABR Biography Project, accessed May 23, 2024, https://sabr.org/biopr.oj/person/Larry-Sherry/. Norm was also credited with helping to turn around Sandy Koufax’s career during 1961 spring training. Edward Gruver, Koufax (New York: Taylor Publishing: 2000), 124-127.

3 Having started his professional career in the Dodgers organization in 1950, Norm Sherry competed with Roy Campanella and John Roseboro, who were entrenched as catchers with the Dodgers.

4 Frank Finch, “Sherry Act Lays Phils in Aisle, 3-2,” Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1960: H-1.

5 There is a discrepancy as to where Demeter’s home run landed. Baseball-Reference says it was hit to center field. The Los Angeles Times (Finch) reported the home run was hit over the left-field screen. The Long Beach (California) Independent reported the home run was hit to left-center. George Lederer, “Sherry Boys Beat Phils, 3-2,” Long Beach Independent, May 8, 1960: C-1.

6 Dan Hafner, “Homer Norm’s Big Thrill,” Los Angeles Examiner, May 8, 1960: 2, 2.

7 The Sherry brothers were the first Jewish batterymates in the majors. Peter Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz, The Big Book of Jewish Baseball (New York: S.P.I. Books, 2001), 172.

8 After pitching a complete game in his first appearance of the 1960 season, Larry struggled in his next two starts and three relief appearances, resulting in a 5.68 ERA and 1.98 WHIP to that point in the season.

9 Hafner.

10 The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, originally built for football and track and field, was pressed into service as a baseball stadium while the Dodgers were building a new ballpark after their relocation from Brooklyn. Because of its short left-field fence (250 feet), a 40-foot screen was installed to require longer distances for home runs hit to left field.

11 Hafner.

12 Sherry’s seven saves were retroactively calculated because saves didn’t become an official statistic until 1969.

13 Recent brother batterymates before the Sherrys included Jim and Ed Bailey, who appeared together with the Cincinnati Reds on September 10, 15, and 20, 1959; Bobby and Billy Shantz, who appeared together with the Kansas City A’s in 1955 on April 14 and 29; May 7, 15, 21, and 29; June 3 and 23; August 9 and 14; and September 11 and 20. The batteries with the most time together in the majors were Wes and Rick Farrell (in the 1930s) and Mort and Walker Cooper (in the 1940s).

14 Richard Cuicchi, “Romine Brothers Form Rare Battery.” SABR Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-12-2021-romine-brothers-form-rare-battery-for-cubs-in-blowout-game/. Accessed May 5, 2024.