September 15, 1960: Giants top Phillies behind three triples by Willie Mays

Willie Mays recorded 141 career triples and led the National League three times in that category. (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

The Giants were in the middle of a 21-game road trip when they took on the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia (formerly Shibe Park) on Thursday, September 15, 1960. The road trip began with a doubleheader against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on September 5. There were four doubleheaders on a road trip that finally ended on Monday, September 26, back in Los Angeles, where it began.

The Phillies took game one of the series the night before, 5-1. The fifth-place Giants were 69-71 going into game two, with Sam Jones on the mound against Jim Owens. The Phillies were 52-88 and in eighth place.

The Giants’ Don Blasingame led off the game with a double to left. Jim Davenport grounded out, bringing center fielder Willie Mays to the plate. Mays tripled to right, scoring Blasingame. Felipe Alou walked and Willie McCovey, starting at first base in place of Orlando Cepeda, who was nursing a groin injury,1 flied out to center field, scoring Mays. With Willie Kirkland batting, Alou stole second. Kirkland walked, and catcher Hobie Landrith singled Alou home while Kirkland stopped at second. Eddie Bressoud’s triple drove in Kirkland and Landrith. Sam Jones, the ninth batter of the inning, grounded out to end the inning, but not before the Giants had a 5-0 lead.

Jones gave up a single, a double, and a walk in the bottom of the first but got out of the inning without surrendering a run.

Mays beat out a bunt single with two outs in the second, but Alou grounded out to end the inning.

The Phillies got on the board in the bottom of the third as Tony González singled in Johnny Callison, who led off with a single and took second on a walk to Bobby Malkmus. The Giants got the run back in the top of the fourth. Blasingame singled but was erased when Davenport grounded into a fielder’s choice. Mays struck out. Alou singled to center and Davenport stopped at second. McCovey doubled into the gap in right-center, scoring Davenport, but Alou was thrown out trying to score from first.

The score remained 6-1 until the bottom of the sixth. Cal Neeman reached first on an error by shortstop Bressoud to lead off the inning. Jim Woods struck out but Clay Dalrymple, batting for shortstop Rubén Amaro, walked. Joe Koppe ran for Dalrymple. Pitcher Dallas Green singled to load the bases and with only one out, the Phillies had a rally in the making. Callison singled in Neeman. Second baseman Malkmus made his first major-league home run a grand slam.2 That hit chased the Giants’ Jones from the game and Johnny Antonelli came in to pitch. Antonelli struck out Bobby Del Greco and got González to ground out to second to end the inning, but the Phillies had tied the score, 6-6.

Dallas Green, who had replaced Owens on the mound in the top of the fifth, retired the first six batters he faced before Mays singled to lead off the Giants’ seventh. He advanced to third on groundouts by Alou and McCovey but was left stranded when Kirkland flied out to right.

Antonelli struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, and Green retired the side in the top of the eighth. In the bottom half, Koppe drew a walk from Antonelli. Green sacrificed, and with Koppe on second, Ken Walters, pinch-hitting for Callison, walked. But Malkmus struck out and Del Greco hit a ground ball back to Antonelli, who threw to first base to end the inning.

Green, in his fifth inning in relief, retired Blasingame and Cepeda (batting for Davenport) on groundouts to open the Giants’ ninth before Mays laced his second triple of the game, to right field. But Green retired Alou on a popup to keep the score tied.

In the bottom of the ninth, Joey Amalfitano replaced third baseman Davenport. Leadoff batter González flied out to Mays in center. Pancho Herrera doubled to center. After Neeman flied out to right, Antonelli intentionally walked Woods, then struck out Koppe to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Green retired McCovey and Kirkland on fly balls to González in center field. Landrith singled and Bressoud walked. Green retired Antonelli on a popup to second, ending the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Malkmus singled but Antonelli kept the Phillies scoreless.

Turk Farrell came in to pitch for the Phillies the top of the 11th inning. Blasingame walked, but Amalfitano struck out attempting to bunt. Mays, batting next, sent a drive to deep center field. The 440-foot drive3 took a hop before hitting the wall. Blasingame scored easily. It was the third triple of the game for Mays. McCovey drove in Mays with a fly ball to center, making the score 8-6. Kirkland’s strikeout ended the half-inning.

After Antonelli walked González to start the bottom of the 11th, reliever Billy Loes replaced him. He got Herrera to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and retired Neeman on a grounder to short, giving the Giants an 8-6, 11-inning victory.

Mays finished the night going 5-for-6, with two runs scored and two RBIs, and raised his batting average from .319 to .325, placing him behind only Norm Larker (.328) and Dick Groat (.325) in the NL batting race. (Roberto Clemente was right behind at .322.)4

After both starting pitchers were knocked out of the game early, the relievers for both teams did an excellent job. Antonelli for the Giants pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings, surrendering two hits and striking out six to record the win. Green pitched six innings in relief for the Phillies, giving up no runs on three hits. Loes picked up the save for the Giants, while Farrell took the loss for the Phillies.

The third triple in the game for Mays would have been a home run in most ballparks, but the center-field wall at Connie Mack Stadium was 448 feet from home plate, and the ball stayed in play.5

Mays hit one more triple in the 1960 season and finished tied with the Reds’ Vada Pinson with 12, one behind league leader Bill Bruton of the Milwaukee Braves. Mays’ season high in that category was a league-high 20 in 1957, the Giants’ final season in New York. He also led the NL in triples in 1954 and 1955 with 13 apiece.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, and Baseball-Reference.com for player and game information.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196009150.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1960/B09150PHI1960.htm

NOTES

1  Walter Judge, “S.F. Wins, 8-6; 3 Mays Triples Do Job,” San Francisco Examiner, September 16, 1960: 53.

2  Allen Lewis, “Giants Beat Phils in 11th on Mays Triple; Willie’s 5th Hit Defeats Farrell in Relief, 8-6,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1960: 36.

3  George Kiseda, “Mays May Not Want Batting Crown, but His Bat Surely Does,” Philadelphia Daily News, September 16, 1960: 87.

4  United Press International, “Willie Mays Pushes Giants to 8-6 Win With 3 Triples,” Stockton (California) Evening and Sunday Record, September 16, 1960: 30.

5  Philip J. Lowry, Green Cathedrals (Phoenix: SABR, 2019), 234. After 1969 renovations to the ballpark, the distance was reduced to 410 feet.