October 8, 1974: As Tommy John recovers from elbow surgery, Pirates beat Dodgers in Game 3

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitchers Don Sutton and Andy Messersmith began the 1974 National League Championship Series by frustrating the Pittsburgh Pirates’ potent offense in back-to-back wins. With a third standout starter, Tommy John, sidelined after reconstructive surgery on his elbow, the Dodgers turned to Doug Rau to close out the series in Game Three. But home runs by Willie Stargell and Richie Hebner drove Rau from the game in the first inning, and Pittsburgh avoided elimination with a 7-0 win on October 8 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers, winners of their first-ever NL West Division title after four consecutive second-place finishes, followed up their 102-win regular season by traveling to Pittsburgh and beating the 88-win Pirates in the first two games of the best-of-five NLCS. Pittsburgh’s .274 team batting average had led the majors, and only the Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds had scored more runs than the Pirates.1

In the October 5 opener, however, 19-game winner Sutton tossed a four-hit shutout, allowing just one Pirate to reach scoring position.2 Twenty-game winner Messersmith’s strong seven innings were instrumental in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win in Game Two.3 Pittsburgh, a postseason team for the fourth time in five seasons, was a defeat from its offseason.4

Another Los Angeles starter was dominant against the Pirates in 1974: the 34-year-old John. On June 4 he blanked Pittsburgh on five hits at Dodger Stadium.5 Two weeks later at Three Rivers Stadium, he allowed one run in seven innings in a hard-luck 2-0 loss.6

John had a league-leading 13 wins and a 2.59 ERA when he felt a pop in his left elbow against the Montreal Expos on July 17.7 His ulnar collateral ligament had ruptured, and resting did not heal it. John informed Dodgers manager Walter Alston in mid-September that he was getting elbow surgery.8

On September 25 the Dodgers’ team physician, Dr. Frank Jobe, performing a first-of-its-kind procedure, used a tendon from John’s right forearm to reconstruct his left elbow. John was not going to throw again until 1975, at the earliest. 9

In John’s absence, the 25-year-old Rau took the ball in Game Three. Rau was a regular in the Dodgers’ rotation for the first time in 1974, starting 35 games and recording 13 wins. But a blister on his left hand and muscle pull in his ribcage had hampered him during the season’s final two months, and Rau had a 6.65 ERA in 11 starts leading to the NLCS.10 

It rained in Los Angeles on the October 7 offday.11 At gametime, stadium lights shined under the early afternoon’s cloudy skies.12 Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh was celebrating his 57th birthday. Gordon MacRae, a baritone-voiced star of 1950s movie musicals, sang the “Star-Spangled Banner,” urging the crowd of nearly 56,000 at Los Angeles’ first postseason home game since the 1966 World Series to “show the country how we feel about the Dodgers.”13 John delivered the ceremonial first pitch right-handed, his left arm in a cast.14

Rennie Stennett hit Rau’s second pitch of the game for a single. Second baseman Davey Lopes fielded second-place hitter Manny Sanguillén’s grounder and attempted to tag Stennett, who evaded him with what the Los Angeles Times described as “a twisting, acrobatic slide.”15 Lopes settled for the play at first. “I missed [Stennett] by about half a foot,” he said afterward.16

Al Oliver fouled off two full-count pitches before taking a curve inside, setting up Stargell with two runners on base.

Stargell, a two-time homer king and the Pirates’ all-time franchise home run leader,17 had gone homerless in 73 career postseason at-bats. Rau threw a curve for a called strike.

The next pitch was a fastball, high and away,18 and Stargell drove it six rows into the seats in right field, over the 370-foot mark.19 On their first extra-base hit of the series, the Pirates had a 3-0 lead.

One out later, first baseman Steve Garvey moved to his right to field Bob Robertson’s grounder. The throw to first was behind Rau, who missed the bag. Robertson was safe on Garvey’s error.20

Hebner connected on a 2-and-2 changeup,21 Rau’s 31st pitch of the inning,22 and pulled it into the seats in right, to the right of the 370-foot sign and three rows farther than Stargell’s blast.23 It was a 5-0 game.

Rau was done after just seven batters. Alston put in Charlie Hough, who retired Mario Mendoza for the third out.24

Pittsburgh right-hander Bruce Kison, unscored upon in five relief appearances during the 1971 and 1972 postseasons, faced an accomplished Dodgers lineup. Leadoff hitter Lopes’ 59 steals were second in the majors to Lou Brock’s record-setting 118. Bill Buckner, tied for fourth in the NL in batting average at .314, and Jim Wynn, third in homers with 32, followed Lopes.

Cleanup hitter Garvey was headed for NL MVP honors. In the sixth spot was Ron Cey – like Garvey and Wynn, a ’74 All-Star – who had battered the Pirates for four hits, including a home run and two doubles, in Game Two.25

The 24-year-old Kison set down the Dodgers in order in the first and second innings on five grounders and a foul popup to third.

Los Angeles shortstop Bill Russell turned Sanguillén’s second-inning liner into a double play, negating Hough’s throwing error. In the third, Oliver, who had singled and taken second on a passed ball, appeared to quiet a scoring chance by making the first out at third on Stargell’s grounder to short.

But Richie Zisk’s single to center pushed Stargell to second. After Robertson flied out, Hebner came through with another two-out hit, singling in Stargell. Zisk took third on the play and scored on Mendoza’s infield single. The Pirates led 7-0.

The Dodgers picked up their first hit with one out in the third, when Russell’s grounder to third deflected off Hebner’s glove for an infield single. Pinch-hitter Von Joshua walked, but Lopes struck out looking, and Buckner tapped Kison’s changeup to catcher Sanguillén to strand the runners.

Veteran Al Downing – whose 16 starts in 1974 ranked fifth on the Dodgers’ staff – came in for the fourth and contributed four scoreless innings of one-hit relief.26 Los Angeles committed three more errors with Downing on the mound. Stennett’s grounder went through Lopes’ legs to lead off the fourth. In the fifth, Joe Ferguson was charged with catcher’s interference on Hebner, and Downing threw away Mendoza’s comebacker. Through 2023, the Dodgers’ five errors equal the record for a League Championship Series game.27

Kison breezed through the middle innings. The only baserunners were on walks to Willie Crawford in the fourth and Lopes and Wynn in the sixth. Ferguson’s fly to left in the fifth was the Dodgers’ first batted ball to reach the outfield. Zisk, battling the glare in right after the sun broke through the clouds, made a one-handed catch of Garvey’s drive in the sixth.28

Held to one hit into the seventh, the Dodgers mustered their strongest scoring threat. Ferguson walked with one out and Russell singled. After pinch-hitter Ken McMullen struck out, the runners moved up on a passed ball. Lopes walked – setting Kison’s line at two hits, six walks, five strikeouts, and 107 pitches – and Murtaugh called for lefty Ramon Hernández to face Buckner.

Alston countered with Manny Mota, who hit a soft liner to the right side of second base. Stennett made a backhanded catch for the third out.29

Hernández finished off the final two innings to complete the shutout.

“This team will never reach a point where it will give up on itself,” Stargell said after the Pirates had extended a season in which they lost their first six games, languished 12 games under .500 on July 14, and clinched the division title in their final game. “That just couldn’t happen to this club. We’d just grind it out to the end and do our best.”30

But Pittsburgh’s win merely delayed the Dodgers’ celebration by a day. On October 9 Sutton turned in his second masterful start of the NLCS, giving up one run on three hits in eight innings. Big games by Wynn and Garvey paced a 12-hit, 11-walk attack in the 12-1 Los Angeles victory.31

For the World Series against the Oakland A’s, Downing replaced Rau as the third starter.32 The 33-year-old left-hander – who 11 years earlier had started and lost Game Two of the 1963 World Series for the New York Yankees against the Dodgers33 – took the loss in Game Three after allowing three runs, one earned, in 3⅔ innings.34 The A’s won their third straight World Series in five games.

Tommy John spent 1975 rehabilitating his elbow. He returned to a major-league mound in April 1976 and remained until 1989, delivering his final big-league pitch at age 46. A three-time All-Star after surgery, John started 13 postseason games from 1977 through 1982.35 He finished as his league’s Cy Young Award runner-up in 1977 and 1979. Dr. Jobe’s innovative procedure – which became known as Tommy John surgery – emerged as a widespread treatment of elbow injuries throughout baseball.

Acknowledgments

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

Sources

The author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed game coverage in the Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Pittsburgh Press newspapers; and a recording of the KDKA-AM (Pittsburgh) radio broadcast, posted on YouTube by the Classic Baseball on the Radio account.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN197410080.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B10080LAN1974.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq3pnK48rKw

Photo credit: Willie Stargell, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 The Dodgers scored 798 runs, the Reds 776, and the Pirates 751. The Boston Red Sox led the American League with 798 runs.

2 Bill Shirley, “Sutton Gives the Pirates Nothing for Openers, 3-0: Dodgers Go 1 Up in NL Playoffs Behind Right-Hander’s 4-Hitter,” Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1974: III,1; Bob Smizik, “Sutton Muzzles Pirates, 3-0,” Pittsburgh Press, October 6, 1974: D-1.

3 Bill Shirley, “Dodgers (2-0) Have the Last Cey in Pittsburgh, 5-2: L.A. Comes Home, Needs One More,” Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1974: III,1; Bob Smizik, “Dodgers Leave Pirates for Dead: Buc Hitters, Giusti Fail in 5-2 Defeat,” Pittsburgh Press, October 7, 1974: 24.

4 The Pirates had won the NL East Division in 1970, 1971, and 1972. They defeated the Baltimore Orioles in seven games in the 1971 World Series but lost to the Reds in the NLCS in 1970 and 1972.

5 Bob Smizik, “Pirates No Match for the Kids of Summer,” Pittsburgh Press, June 5, 1974: 34; Ross Newhan, “John Stops Pirates on 5 Hits, 5-0, First NL 9-Game Winner,” Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1974: III,1.

6 Ross Newhan, “Wynn Is Ailing … So Are Dodgers: L.A., Sagging, Loses Again, 2-0; Center Fielder May Need Surgery,” Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1974: III,1; Jeff Samuels, “Giusti Gets a Good Start on Comeback Path,” Pittsburgh Press, June 19, 1974: 51.

7 Jeff Prugh, “John Hurt as Dodgers Lose to Expos, 5-4; Lead Now 5½,” Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1974: III,1.

8 Ross Newhan, “Tommy John: Portrait in Blue,” Los Angeles Times, October 3, 1974: III,1.

9 Newhan, “Tommy John: Portrait in Blue.”

10 Bill Shirley, “Again Rau’s on a Hot Seat: But It’s the Dodgers in the Driver’s Seat Against Pirates Today,” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1974: III,1.

11 Charley Feeney, “Pirates Holding Out for One Small Miracle,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 8, 1974: 14.

12 Bill Shirley, “Stargell and the Real Pirates Get off the Deck, 7-0,” Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1974: III,1.

13 Bruce Keidan, “Stars Blow Kisses, Dodgers Blow Plays,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 9, 1974: 1-C. MacRae’s starring roles included 1955’s Oklahoma! and 1956’s Carousel.

14 Jeff Prugh, “Were Dodgers Overconfident?,” Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1974: III,1.

15 Prugh, “Were Dodgers Overconfident?”

16 Bill Christine, “Pirates Postpone Sutton Tee Party,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 9, 1974: 22.

17 Stargell’s 25 home runs in 1974 had increased his career total to 346; Ralph Kiner was second in franchise history with 301 homers. Stargell led the major leagues with 48 home runs in 1971 and 44 in 1973.

18 John Hall, “Stargell: We’ll Stick Around a While,” Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1974: III,1.

19 Shirley, “Stargell and the Real Pirates Get off the Deck, 7-0.”

20 Shirley, “Stargell and the Real Pirates Get off the Deck, 7-0.”

21 Prugh, “Were Dodgers Overconfident?”

22 The author determined pitch counts from a recording of the KDKA-AM (Pittsburgh) radio broadcast.

23 Charley Feeney, “Pirates Hang in There, Shut Out Dodgers, 7-0,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 9, 1974: 1.

24 Mendoza, a 23-year-old rookie who appeared in 91 games for the Pirates in 1974, was starting because regular shortstop Frank Taveras had injured his thumb when hit by a Messersmith pitch in Game Two. Bob Smizik, “Fast-Fading Pirates Lean on Kison,” Pittsburgh Press, October 8, 1974: 30.

25 Jeff Samuels, “A Sick Dodger? You Don’t Cey,” Pittsburgh Press, October 7, 1974: 24.

26 Downing had a 5-6 record in 21 appearances in 1974. In his April 8 start against the Atlanta Braves, he allowed Henry Aaron’s record-breaking 715th career home run.

27 The New York Yankees committed five errors in Game Two of the 1976 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals.

28 Feeney, “Pirates Hang in There, Shut Out Dodgers, 7-0,”

29 Shirley, “Stargell and the Real Pirates Get off the Deck, 7-0.”

30 Bob Smizik, “Stargell Pumps New Life Into Bucs: Homer Triggers 7-0 Victory,” Pittsburgh Press, October 9, 1974: 61.

31 Wynn doubled in a first-inning run, then walked and scored three times. Garvey homered twice and racked up four hits, four runs, and four RBIs. Bob Smizik, “Sutton Death: Dodgers Don NL Title Garb,” Pittsburgh Press, October 10. 1974: 32; Bill Shirley, “Garvey Hits 2 Home Runs; Sutton Superb As L.A. Routs Pirates, 12-1,” Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1974: III, 1.

32 Jeff Prugh, “And in the Other Fight, the Dodgers vs. the A’s: Series Opens Today with L.A. Favored … But Just Barely,” Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1974: III, 1.

33 Downing appeared in four games, starting twice, for the Yankees in the 1963 and 1964 World Series.

34 Bill Shirley, “Dodgers Give A’s a Boost, Lose, 3-2, Trail by 1: Ferguson’s Errors, Double Plays Hurt L.A.,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1974: III, 1.

35 In addition, John made a relief appearance in Game Four of the 1981 World Series for the Yankees against the Dodgers.