Worst Play By A Third Baseman

ESPN writer and SABR member Alan Schwarz is compiling a list of best and worst defensive plays. That is a very tall order so I tip my hat to him for trying.

He mentions Bob Brenly’s infamous four errors in one inning in 1986.

No details provided so I thought I would offer them here.

Four was the loneliest number for Bob Brenly on the afternoon of September 14, 1986. A catcher by trade, the six-year Giants veteran was asked by Giants skipper Roger Craig to play third base for this Sunday afternoon game at Candlestick Park.

When they saw his beefy frame trot out to the position, a few of the 8,594 fans in attendance that day might have been crossing their fingers. In the five seasons prior to 1986, Brenly had made six errors at third and shown little range in 21 games. The 32- year old was in there for his bat.

Brenly’s troubles began in the top of the fourth. With no score, the Braves Bob Horner reached first when Brenly bobbled the grounder. After Ken Griffey singled and Rafeal Ramirez made out, Giants starter Mike LaCoss gave a free pass to Ozzie Virgil. Hoping for a double play, the Giants got the needed grounder off the bat of Glenn Hubbard. But Brenly juggled the ball for his second error of the inning and threw wildly to home for the third error. Horner and Griffey scored on the play, Virgil went to third and Hubbard to second.

Braves starter Charlie Puleo singled to drive in Virgil and Hubbard. After the second out, and a single by Ken Oberkfell, Brenly made his fourth error by misplaying Dale Murphy’s grounder. Horner then made the third out.

After the long inning was over, Brenly must have felt like walking past the dugout bench to the safety of the clubhouse. Even if no one in the park knew that Brenly had just tied a major league record for most errors in one game, they all knew he had just suffered through something terribly embarrassing.

Displaying the heart of a champion, Brenly didn’t mope. He led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run off Puleo. Then in the bottom of the seventh, he singled home Mike Aldrete and Candy Maldonado to tie the score at six all.

In the bottom of the ninth, with the game still knotted up at six, Brenly came to the plate with two out. Off Braves reliever Paul Assenmacher, he cracked the game winning home run.

Four errors, four runs batted in, goat to hero. It was a day Bob Brenly will never forget.