Whether it’s perfect games, grand slams, or mysterious baby alligator deaths, we’ve got it all covered as we look at the period June 21-27.
Perfection
June 21, 1964: In the first game of a Father’s Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher and future Kentucky Congressman Jim Bunning threw a perfect game against the New York Mets, winning 6-0. It was the seventh perfect game in major league history and the second to be accomplished in New York. The sixth perfect game was tossed at Yankee Stadium by New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Casey Stengel was the Yankees’ manager at that time. This time, he was the manager on the losing end. It was also Bunning’s second no-hitter. The first was on July 20, 1958, when he was a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, also the first game of a doubleheader. That day, he shut out the Boston Red Sox and won, 3-0. With this masterpiece against the Mets, Bunning became the first pitcher to throw no-hitters in both leagues.
Throwing 86 pitches, Bunning struck out 10 batters on his way to his place in baseball history. The Mets hit just four balls to the outfield, and there weren’t many close calls. Ron Hunt and George Altman hit line drives down the right field line that landed foul. In the fifth inning, Jesse Gonder stroked a line drive between the second and first basemen that looked like a sure hit. But second baseman Tony Taylor dove through the air, knocked the ball down, and recovered it in time to retire the slow-footed Gonder. In the eighth, Bunning went to a 3-2 count on Hawk Taylor, the second of two three-ball counts on the day, and rebounded to strike him out.
Bunning’s catcher, Gus Triandos, told United Press International, “Put it down that he did it all with curves.” OK, I put it down. But Bunning told Associated Press, “My fastball was working good, but the slider was my best pitch.” OK, I put that down, too. As long as one of them knew what he was doing, it was good enough.
June 23, 1917: The term “perfect game” wasn’t in use much at the time, but that’s what the papers called Ernie Shore’s effort. Ironically, Major League Baseball doesn’t recognize it as a perfect game. Babe Ruth took the mound for the Red Sox against the Washington Senators at Fenway Park in the first game of a doubleheader. (What is it with the first games of doubleheaders drawing out great pitching performances?) The temperamental Ruth walked the first batter of the game, Ray Morgan. Ruth and his catcher, Pinch Thomas, argued the call on ball four with home plate umpire Brick Owens and were ejected from the game. If Owens got his nickname because he had a head like a brick, that’s exactly what he needed when Ruth punched him in the jaw.
Shore was brought in to relieve Ruth, while Sam Agnew replaced Thomas. Perhaps because a new battery had come into the game cold, at once Morgan tried to steal second base and was gunned out by Agnew. Shore then retired the remaining 26 batters in order, striking out just two in winning, 4-0. It was the fourth no-hitter tossed in the American League that year, and fifth in the majors.
To Forgive, Divine
June 21, 1998: The New York Times published an open letter to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from Michael Bouton, son of former major league pitcher and Ball Four author Jim Bouton. Since the controversial Ball Four was published in 1970, Bouton had been estranged from the Yankees, who never invited him to their annual Old Timers Day. However, when Bouton’s daughter Laurie died in a car accident the previous August, Michael decided it was time for a reconciliation. “I see this as an opportunity to get my father some extra hugs at a time in his life when he could use all the hugs he can get,” wrote the son. “I am not asking for any favors, just reconsideration.” On the following July 14, Bouton got his invitation.
See You Later, Alligator
June 22, 1888: The baby alligator (no name given) owned by Indianapolis Hoosiers shortstop Jack Glasscock passed away. The pet was presented to Glasscock by fans in Wheeling, West Virginia, the previous winter. Since no home would be complete without a baby alligator, Glasscock readily accepted the gift. The alligator became the mascot of the Hoosiers, who considered him a good luck charm. Glasscock’s landlady despised the animal, but apparently the lease didn’t expressly prohibit alligators, rendering her powerless to demand his removal. Thus, all she could do was threaten to send him to Alligator Heaven. Reportedly, the alligator survived several attempts on his life. Finally, he died while the Hoosiers were away on a road trip. Glasscock attributed it to a broken heart, theorizing the reptile missed him when he was gone.
It all seems suspicious to me. Thus, I sent out my crack research team (me) to find out whether alligators can actually die of a broken heart. According to Martin Day of The Boar, the student-run newspaper of the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, “animals grieve and must therefore love.” Still, he stops short of finding that they can die from a broken heart, concluding, “animals suffer far more heartbreak than us, but they make it through.” I suspect the landlady.
June 26, 1891: While we’re in the 19th Century, here’s this tidbit from The Pittsburgh Press: “Frank Wagner, of New Castle, Pa., will be tried at short range [an apparent synonym for shortstop] by the Pittsburg [sic] club. He is 30 years of age, weighs 148 pounds, and is said to be the homeliest man on the diamond.” No word on Wagner’s previous baseball experience, if any. Just important stuff, like his personal appearance.
Managerial Moves
June 22, 1977: The Texas Rangers hired a new manager. Frank Lucchesi was fired and Eddie Stanky, known as “The Brat” during his playing career, was hired and signed to a contract of “more than one year,” according to general manager Eddie Robinson. Stanky, once a scrappy second baseman, played 11 years in the majors for the Cubs (1943-44), Brooklyn Dodgers (1944-47), Boston Braves (1948-49), New York Giants (1950-51), and Cardinals (1952-53), hitting .268 lifetime. He had previous managerial experience with the Cardinals (1952-55) and the Chicago White Sox (1966-68). In making the change, Robinson cited the Rangers’ .500 record and Lucchesi’s lack of appeal with the fans.
June 23, 1977: The Texas Rangers hired a new manager. Waitaminnit – didn’t I just write this? Stanky resigned after one game. He left with a perfect record, with his Rangers having beaten the Minnesota Twins, 10-8, in Minneapolis. But, Stanky told UPI, “after the excitement died down, I started getting lonesome and homesick. I got to the room and couldn’t sleep.” He revealed that he had signed a three-year, $250,000 contract that called for a $50,000 bonus if the Rangers won the AL West Division. “I guess I’m a prime example that money doesn’t buy happiness,” he said. The Rangers named Connie Ryan to replace Stanky on an interim basis.
June 23, 1988: The Yankees fired manager Billy Martin, ending his fifth and final stint as Yankees manager. He was replaced by Lou Piniella, who would begin his second turn in the position. After the first time, Piniella vowed never to manage for Steinbrenner again, but he changed his mind. In the past, Martin, a master of self-sabotage, lost his job for insulting Steinbrenner (1978), sucker punching a marshmallow salesman (1979), excessive drinking (1983), and brawling with pitcher Ed Whitson in a bar (1985). This time, fighting in the men’s room of a topless bar and throwing dirt on umpire Dale Scott on national TV didn’t get him fired. Steinbrenner defended him on those occasions. It was the Yankees’ performance and Martin’s mishandling of the pitching staff that did him in. It was the 15th managerial change by Steinbrenner in his 16 years as principal owner.
Mr. Cub Sits
June 23, 1961: Cubs superstar Ernie Banks took himself out of the lineup to rest his injured knee after playing in 717 consecutive games. He was challenging Stan Musial’s National League record of 895 straight games. Rather than make the three-day trip to Milwaukee with the Cubs, he elected to stay home and rest. The knee was originally injured in Germany when he served in the Army. Moving from shortstop to left field did nothing to help the injury. A wall saw to that. He told the AP, “I ran into the wall in San Francisco on Sunday [six days ago]. The knee puffed up again. It seems every time I bump it, it gets swollen up.”
The Longest Game
June 23, 1991: At McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the longest game in professional baseball history concluded in the bottom of the 33rd inning when the Pawtucket Red Sox’ Dave Koza drove in the winning run, giving the PawSox a 3-2 victory over the Rochester Red Wings. The International League contest began on April 18 and extended into the wee hours of April 19. By about 4:00 AM, the game had lasted eight hours and seven minutes, and 32 innings were in the books. That’s when Rochester manager Doc Edwards conferred with league officials and asked that the game be resumed at a later date. “We’re messing with young players,” Edwards told the AP, “and we don’t want to ruin a career for one game. The bodies just aren’t there for a minor league game.” Apparently, 32 innings were fine, but 33 was where Edwards drew the line. The teams had an 11:00 AM game scheduled in seven hours. It was agreed to finish the game when the teams met at McCoy again on June 23. Once it resumed, it took just 18 minutes to finish the final inning, bringing the total time of the game to eight hours and 25 minutes. The game was commemorated by burying a time capsule at the stadium. It was discovered, and its contents were revealed, in 2025 when McCoy was torn down.
“The Sandberg Game”
June 23, 1984: If the baseball fans of the nation didn’t know Ryne Sandberg before, they knew him after this nationally televised 11-inning marathon between the Cardinals and Cubs at Wrigley Field. It should also have served notice that after years of finishing out of first place, these Cubs were a team of destiny. The two teams combined for 27 hits, led by Sandberg, who went 5-for-6 with two home runs and seven RBI. In the sixth inning, he hit a single off Neil Allen that drove in two runs at the end of a five-run rally, bringing the Cubs to within one run at 9-8. Then, he led off the bottom of the ninth with a game-tying home run off forkball specialist Bruce Sutter. The Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning, but Sandberg wasn’t finished. He tied it again with another homer off Sutter, this time with two outs and a runner on base. The Cubs won the game, 12-11, in the 11th on an RBI pinch-hit single from Dave Owen. Fans enduring the three-hour-and-53-minute slugfest had witnessed what came to be known as “The Sandberg Game.”
Grand Slam Mania
June 24, 1968: Mired in an 8-for-70 slump, Tigers outfielder Jim Northrup wasn’t in the original starting lineup against Cleveland lefty Mike Paul at Cleveland Stadium. But he kept badgering manager Mayo Smith until, finally, Smith wrote the left-handed hitter’s name on the lineup card, starting him in right field, hitting seventh. In the first inning, Northrup came to bat with the bases loaded and one out, and Paul struck him out. However, he had two more chances with bases loaded in the game. In the fifth inning, he took right-handed knuckleballer Eddie Fisher deep for a grand slam. In the next inning, he hit another grand slam, this time off left-hander Billy Rohr. Both “grannies” were hit on the first pitch of the at-bat. With that, Northrup became the sixth player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one game, tying a record. Detroit coasted to an easy 14-3 win. Northrup was a virtual grand slam machine in 1968, hitting four during the season and one in the World Series.
June 26, 1970: And then there were seven. Frank Robinson, the Baltimore Orioles superstar right fielder, hit two grand slams against the Senators at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, leading his club to a 12-2 triumph. Like Northrup two years ago, the right-handed-hitting Robinson almost didn’t play in this game, as he had sprained his back while making an acrobatic, game-saving catch in Boston the night before. But he felt well enough to connect with the bases loaded against right-hander Joe Coleman in the fourth inning and left-hander Joe Grzenda in the sixth. The second grand slam was a titanic shot into the upper deck at RFK.
Pitcher Asks for Demotion so He Could Work on Nothing
June 25, 2009: Late at night, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Ian Snell walked into manager John Russell’s office, where Russell was conferring with GM Neal Huntington. There, Snell requested and received a demotion to the minor leagues, citing the need to get away from “negativity.” At the time, he was 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA, although three of his last four starts were so-called quality starts. Explaining his request to a gathering of media, he said, “Too much negativity. I want to be a positive person if I’m going to be here.” Reportedly, his father-in-law regularly sent him printouts of negative newspaper articles and blog posts. It boggles my mind that a professional athlete would waste his time reading social media posts about himself. I don’t like to read social media, and I’m not even a professional athlete. Apparently unaware that the internet and blogs existed outside of Pittsburgh, Snell wanted out. When asked what we had to work on in the minors, Snell said, “Nothing. You guys don’t understand it unless you played baseball.” The next time Snell pitched in a major league game, he was in the uniform of the Seattle Mariners.
Was It Real?
June 27, 1963: “It was the greatest catch I ever saw,” said Red Sox manager Johnny Pesky to the AP. But he didn’t think it was an out. Cleveland led Boston, 6-3, in the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway Park, when Dick Williams stepped into the batter’s box with runners on first and third. Williams smacked a 400-foot drive to right-center field off Ted Abernathy that looked like a sure game-tying home run. Cleveland right fielder Al Luplow took off after the ball. When he reached the wall, he dove through the air and smacked his thigh against the five-foot-high wall. His legs were knocked out from under him, and he caught the ball as he disappeared into the bullpen. Immediately, he reappeared, displaying the ball in his glove. If he had caught the ball in the field of play, it was an out; if he caught it in the bullpen, it was a home run. Second base umpire Joe Paparella ran to the outfield to follow the play and signaled “out.” The runner on third scored, and that was all Boston got. Pesky argued to no avail and played the game under protest.
Paparella told the AP, “This is one time I know I’m right. He had the ball before he went over the wall. It doesn’t matter that he landed in the bullpen because he was still on the field when he caught it.” Red Sox reliever Chet Nichols wasn’t seated far from where Luplow caught the ball. “He made the catch after the ball went over the wall,” said Nichols. Unfortunately, no video of the catch exists. The game ended with Cleveland winning, 6-4.
