September 2, 1975: Johnnie LeMaster’s first at-bat, inside-the-park home run is one for the record books

Little did the 5,098 Giants faithful assembled on September 2, 1975, in Candlestick Park know that they would witness a rarity in major-league baseball, a first-at-bat inside-the-park home run.1  But when lanky 21-year-old shortstop Johnnie LeMaster stepped up to plate, that’s just what happened, and in a most improbable way.

LeMaster was drafted by the San Francisco Giants out of Plainsville (Kentucky) High School in the first round of the 1973 amateur draft. Listed at 6-feet-2 and 160 pounds, he played in Class A for two years, then was moved up to Triple-A Phoenix in 1975. He was hitting .292 at Phoenix with 4 homers. He had a good arm and was a better-than-average runner.2

On September 1, 1975, LeMaster was called up to San Francisco for the second game in a short series against the NL West Division rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He barely made it to the ballpark the next day in time for the 2 P.M. start. But he wasn’t expected to play, since the regular Giants shortstop, Chris Speier, was in the lineup.3

The temperature that Tuesday afternoon was 79 degrees (balmy for San Francisco) under sunny skies. The unpredictable Candlestick winds were calm at the start of the game, although they picked up later.4

For the Dodgers, future Hall of Famer Don Sutton was on the mound. The hard-throwing right-hander, in his 10th year in LA, was coming off a 19-9 season in 1974, when he earned the only Dodgers’ win in their World Series loss to Oakland. Coming into this game, Sutton had a 16-11 record but hadn’t won in almost a month, since August 10.

The Giants sent out righty Ed Halicki, who had made his major-league debut the year before. His record was 8-11, but he had thrown a no-hitter two starts before, on August 24 against the New York Mets.

In the top of the first inning, after the first out by the Dodgers’ Davey Lopes, Henry Cruz singled to right. Halicki then walked Willie Crawford, sending Cruz to second. Ron Cey struck out, then John Hale hit a single to left, scoring Cruz. Ken McMullen struck out, leaving two men on.

The Giants went down in order in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the second, the Dodgers got two singles (Steve Yeager and Lopes) but didn’t score. Sutton dispatched the Giants again in the bottom. The score remained 1-0, Dodgers.

Then in the top of the third, fate played a hand. Speier pulled a leg muscle while running out a groundball for the third out. Giants manager Wes Westrum signaled for LeMaster to replace him. LeMaster was surprised by the call, and he wasn’t properly suited up.

“A couple of veteran players hid my glove on me,” LeMaster said. “My shoes weren’t even tied. By the time I found my glove and tied my shoes, the pitcher was ready. I didn’t get to warm up defensively.”5

The Dodgers didn’t score and the game moved on to the bottom of the third, when center fielder Von Joshua hit a two-run homer to make the score 2-1, Giants. Derrel Thomas ended the inning with a flyball to center.

After a walk to Yeager to start the fourth, Halicki set down the rest of the side. In the bottom of the inning, Sutton struck out Bobby Murcer then walked Gary Matthews. Willie Montañez doubled to right field, scoring Matthews.

Batting sixth in the order in Speier’s spot, LeMaster walked up to the plate. Sutton started him with a curveball. LeMaster took a big swing and missed. A fan in the crowd yelled, “Hey kid, this is the big leagues!”6 Sutton came back with another curveball and again LeMaster missed by a mile. LeMaster expected more of the same, but on the third pitch, Sutton delivered a fastball. LeMaster jumped on it and hit the ball up the middle of the field.

Here’s where the improbable part comes in. Hale, in center field, charged to make the play on one hop. But the baseball hit a seam in the Candlestick Park AstroTurf. It bounced high over Hale’s head and rolled to the wall.7 With his speed and all that adrenaline, LeMaster flew around the bases for his first major-league home run, an inside-the-parker no less, during his first appearance at the plate.

“You know how a kid would be coming up to the big leagues for the first time, and you’re playing your natural rival, and there’s 50,000 people in the stands. I hit every base perfect and probably never ran that fast in my life or probably ever again,” LeMaster said after the game.8

In the top of the fifth, Halicki gave up a two-out walk to Cey, who moved to second on a single by Hale. On an error by third baseman Steve Ontiveros, both runners advanced. McMullen then punched a triple to center field and Cey and Hale scored. Halicki then retired the side on a fly ball by Yeager. The score was Giants 5, Dodgers 3.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Joshua singled and went to second on Sutton’s wild pitch to Thomas. With Thomas still batting, Joshua took off for third. The Dodgers catcher, Yeager, threw wildly to third and Joshua came home. The score was Giants 6, Dodgers 3. Thomas finally got a chance to swing and popped to shortstop. Murcer walked, and the inning ended on a pop fly by Matthews.

Bill Russell tripled to start the Dodgers’ sixth inning but was stranded when Halicki struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the inning Al Downing, the 15-year left-handed starter turned reliever, replaced Sutton. The first batter he faced, Montañez, took the ball deep into right field for the third Giants home run of the game. In the Dodgers’ seventh, with the score 7-3 Willie Crawford hit a leadoff double, then Halicki, for the second inning in a row struck out the next three batters. There was no further scoring in the game; the Giants were 7-3 winners.

Halicki went the distance for the Giants, striking out 12 and picking up his ninth win of the season. He ended the year at 9-13, with an ERA of 3.49. Sutton took the loss. He ended the season at 16-13, with a 2.87 ERA.

LeMaster’s sparkling debut led to 21 more games played in through the end of the season, and eventually a 12-year major-league career. He was a durable player in the lineup, but his hitting never rose above the mid-.200s. On defense, he varied from sharp to spotty, and he had a habit of piling up errors. In 1979 Giants fans frustrated with the lackluster team and LeMaster’s middling performance turned his appearances at the plate into regular booing sessions.

LeMaster tried have fun with the crowd by wearing a custom-made “Boo” jersey in a game, which helped to ease tensions for a while.9 He played with the Giants until 1985, then had stints with Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Oakland before retiring in 1987.

LeMaster settled in Plainsville but returned to the Bay Area for events held in his honor.10 There is a plaque outside Giants’ Oracle Park commemorating his contributions to the team, with a mention of his home run in his first at-bat.11

When asked in 2016 about his memorable home run, LeMaster commented, “I still pinch myself to see whether it’s true or not.”12

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball-Almanac.com, and Retrosheet.org for box scores, play-by-play, team schedules, and player information.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197509020.shtml

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197509020SFN

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1975/09021975.htm

Photo credit: Johnnie LeMaster, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Players hitting an inside-the-park home run in their first at-bat had happened only twice before in the major leagues, by Luke Stuart (St. Louis Browns, August 8, 1921) and Walter Mueller (Pirates, May 7, 1922). For Stuart’s, see Mike Huber, “August 8, 1921: Browns rookie Luke Stuart hits inside-the-park home run in first major-league at-bat,” SABR Games Project. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-8-1921-browns-rookie-luke-stuart-hits-inside-the-park-home-run-in-first-major-league-at-bat/, accessed May 19, 2024). As of the 2024 season, the feat hadn’t been done since LeMaster’s in 1975.

2 Sam Miller, “They Boo Shortstops, Don’t They?” Pebble Hunting, May 10, 2023. https://pebblehunting.substack.com/p/they-boo-shortstops-dont-they, accessed May 10, 2024.

3 Tom FitzGerald, “Where Are They Now? Catching Up with Former Giants Shortstop Johnnie LeMaster,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 25, 2019. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Where-are-they-now-Catching-up-with-former-14465433.php, accessed May 10, 2024.

4 “September 2, 1975. Weather History at San Francisco International Airport,” Weather Spark, https://weatherspark.com/h/d/145212/1975/9/2/Historical-Weather-on-Tuesday-September-2-1975-at-San-Francisco-International-Airport-California-United-States#metar-04-00, accessed May 10, 2024.

5 FitzGerald, “Where Are They Now? Catching Up with Former Giants Shortstop Johnnie LeMaster.”

6 Ed Attanasio, “Johnnie LeMaster,” This Great Game. https://thisgreatgame.com/johnnie-lemaster/, accessed May 10, 2024.

7 FitzGerald.

8 FitzGerald.

9 Miller, “They Boo Shortstops, Don’t They?”

10 Trevor Thacker, “Diamond Legend: Johnny LeMaster,” Paintsville (Kentucky) Herald, July 6, 2019. https://www.paintsvilleherald.com/sports/diamond-legend-johnny-lemaster/article_5a09caf8-9f67-11e9-92c0-9772d0b44d6d.html, accessed May 10, 2024.

11 “Johnnie LeMaster San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame,” The Historical Marker Database, July 3, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=176360, accessed May 10, 2024.

12 James Juett, “LeMaster Brings Major League Experience to Ashland,” Elkton (Maryland) Herald-Dispatch, May 9, 2016, https://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/lemaster-brings-major-league-experience-to-ashland/article_640d5190-6915-55e5-bdc8-f7d6a7d1c49e.html, accessed May 10, 2024.