Jaybird's Jottings

Phil Lowry's Research on Marathon Games

If you ask baseball historians who hit the most triples in a season, they will reply Chief Wilson of the Pirates, with 36 triples in 1912, because they automatically assume you are asking about the major leagues. However, if you ask for the answer to the question for all of baseball, including Negro Leagues, minor leagues, high schools, colleges, American Legion and Babe Ruth League and town ball, Cuba and Japan and Italy and all other nations, I would guess no one has ever even asked the question, much less answered it. I believe we must ask and answer such questions. My research is hopefully one small contribution towards taking a global approach to baseball research, in which all levels of competition and all nations of the world are given equal treatment.

– Phil Lowry, I Don’t Care If I Ever Get Back: Marathons Lasting 20 or More Innings.

The most recent issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal contains an incredible work by Green Cathedrals author Phil Lowry. Spending 40 years on the project, Lowry looked at not only the major and minor leagues, but many other leagues as well.

As far as Giants marathons on Lowry’s exhaustive list, they are as follows. By the way, he mentions, “I especially treasure my “Croix de Candlestick,” earned in the Giants’ “Cave of the Winds.” And there's a photo of one on the back of the publication.

July 17, 1914, Giants 3, Pirates 1 at Forbes Field (21 innings)

Rube Marquard pitched all 21 innings.

May 31, 1964, Giants 8, Mets 6 at Shea Stadium (23 Innings)

Game Two of the famous Saturday doubleheader at Shea (longest doubleheader in the majors in the 20th Century). It was the largest crowd to date of the season (57, 037) but one has to wonder how many folks stuck around until the final out at 11:25 p.m. The Giants had a rally in the 14th when Jesus Alou singled to right and Mays walked. But Cepeda lined into a triple play. Mays played short for the 10th, 11th and 12th inning before resuming his CF duties for the rest of the game.

September 1, 1967, Giants 1, Reds 0 at Crosley Field (21 innings)

Gaylord Perry pitched the first 16 innings of this game. Five games later the Giants went 15 innings and beat Houston 3-2 at Candlestick. 8 games later the Giants lost to the Pirates 5-4 at Pittsburgh in 16 innings.

June 9, 1980, Giants 3, Phillies 1 at Veterans Stadium

This wasn’t an extra-inning game but Lowry found it to be the longest rain delay (Five hours) during one inning. At the end of the top of the fourth, rain delayed the game for an hour and 28 minutes. After Philly scored a run in the bottom of the fourth off starter John Montefusco, and made two outs, there was another rain delay of three hours and thirty-two minutes.

The Giants scored two in the eighth and one in the ninth to win 3-1. The game ended at 3:11 am.

Two Complete Games in One Day

Leonard Gettelson’s research on Iron Man Pitching Performances (Baseball Research Journal, 1977) identified 27 pitchers who pitched two complete games in one day (since 1900). The first came in 1901, the last in 1926.

In September 1908, there were three two-fers and in each case a man named Ed won both games. On September 25, the Tigers’ Ed Summers won twice to help Detroit move past Chicago and to within two percentage points of Cleveland. The next day, Ed Reulbach of the Cubs blanked the Dodgers twice (the only pitcher ever to do so), keeping Chicago one percentage point behind the first place Giants who also won both their games. Three days later, the White Sox’ Ed Walsh’s two wins over the Red Sox kept Chicago within seven percentage points of Detroit and four behind Cleveland, who both won their doubleheaders.

The Giants certainly can’t match anything like that but Joe McGinnity pioneered the double duty and earned the nickname both on and off the field. Before signing with the Dodgers in 1899, he worked in an iron factory. Taking the mound with the Orioles (AL) in 1901, he became the first pitcher to pitch two complete games in one day. He duplicated the feat 9 days later.

McGinnity, who could pitch effectively both overhand and underhand, came to the Giants along with John McGraw in the summer of 1902. The next season he pitched three more two-fers in August, winning all three. This gave him five of the first seven.

McGinnity’s two-fers seemed to inspire others to try it. The most in a season was five in 1916. The last pitcher to do so was Emil Levsen of the Indians in 1926. None topped McGinnity’s total of five and the closest was Walsh and Dave Davenport with two.

Here is a brief summary of the other two Giants pitchers who pitched two complete games in one day.

Rube Benton, September 6, 1916
NYG 6, BRO 1
BRO 2, NYG 1

One of the most fruitless acts in baseball history was performed by the Giants in 1916. From September 7 to September 30, they won 26 games in a row (This is the official record although some dispute it because there was one tie). With a strong final kick in the last five games, they might have pulled off one of the most amazing comebacks in all of sports.

Either way, it is interesting to note that the streak began on the day after Rube Benton pulled double duty. Benton had it easy in the first game, with the Giants scoring six times.

In the second game, the Dodgers won 2-1. Interestingly enough, the Dodger winner was Rube Marquard, who after seven and a half seasons with the Giants, was traded to Brooklyn in 1915.

Bill Perritt, September 9, 1916
NYG 3, PHL 1
NYG 3, PHL 0

Three days after Benton joined the club, Bill Perritt pitched a double dip. Like Benton’s, the game was played at the Polo Grounds. Perritt's performance was one of the best. He gave up just one run.

Most Innings Pitched In a Game

At SABR-L last week, Giants’ fan and historian Jules Tygiel, noting Juan Marichal's 16-inning duel against Warren Spahn in 1963, asked the question, "Has anyone pitched more than 16 innings in a game since that contest?"

Dave Smith of Retrosheet came through in the clutch, finding:

For all games from 1960-2005, there were only three times that a pitcher turned in 16 innings. They are:

Tom Cheney, 9-12-1962
Juan Marichal, 7-02-1963
Gaylord Perry, 9-01-1967

At my request, Dave provided me with a list of extra inning games by S.F. Giants pitchers. I also used Leonard Gettelson’s research (Iron Man Pitching Performances, The Baseball Research Journal, 1977) to identify long games pitched by New York Giants and to find out where they ranked on the all-time list. I thank both these gentleman for their outstanding work.

21 Innings, Rube Marquard
July 17, 1914
Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
NYG 3, PIT 1

The major league record for most innings pitched in a game is 26. The Dodgers’ Leon Cadore and the Braves’ Joe Oeschger both reached that marathon mark in a game on May 1, 1920.

14 years earlier, the A’s Jack Coombs and the Red Sox’ Joe Harris both lasted 24 innings to set an American League mark that has never been broken. The National League record at the time was 20 held by Ed Reulbach of the Cubs and Tully Sparks of the Phils (August 24, 1905). That record stood until Rube Marquard of the Giants and Babe Adams locked up for 21 innings in 1914.

The first place Giants were in the midst of a 16-game road trip and were slumping. Losers of 7 of 10, they needed a win. Marquard walked two and gave up 15 hits. Adams, the Pirates' veteran ace, was the unlucky one, giving up no walks and 12 hits.

A strange play occurred in the sixth inning. With the score tied at one, Honus Wagner singled and went to third on a hit by Pittsburgh second baseman Jim Viox. Centerfielder Bob Bescher threw the ball to third baseman Milt Stock. The ball went off his hands and landed under Wagner’s arm. While Stock and shortstop Art Fletcher looked for the ball, Wagner, with the ball still under his arm, ran home. The umpire declared him out for interference.

In the top of the 21st, Bescher singled, stole second and scored on Doyle’s home run. The New York Times noted the game was the longest in NL history (not sure if they meant time or innings).

Note: Marquard’s feat is tied for sixth on the all-time list and is the franchise record by three over Carl Hubbell.

18 Innings, Carl Hubbell
July 2, 1933
Polo Grounds
NYG 1, STL 0

Considering the importance and stage of the contest, perhaps the greatest long distance performance by a Giant came from Carl Hubbell. Nicknamed “King Carl” and “The Meal Ticket,” Hubbell was named the starting pitcher in the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933. That summer he pitched 45 and 1/3 scoreless innings. He led the league in ERA, Wins and Shutouts and was named the Most Valuable Player. In the World Series, he gave up no earned runs in 20 innings and won both games.

On Sunday, July 2, 50,000 Polo Grounders got a taste of just how overpowering Hubbell could be. The record crowd poured into the Giants’ home park for a double dip against the Cardinals. The pennant race was heating up as New York and St Louis had begun to leave the rest of the pack behind. The Cardinals were in town for five games and had already won two of three to pull within three and a half games of the front-running Giants.

Hubbell was masterful. In 12 of the innings, no Cardinal reached base. Only six got hits, and no more than one came in an inning. Hubbell struck out a dozen and walked none. Only one batter reached third base. John Drebinger of the New York Times wrote, “The tall, somber left-hander rose to his greatest heights, surpassing even his brilliant no-hit classic of 1928.”

Hubbell’s opponent, Tex Carleton went 16 innings before giving away to Jesse Haines. In the bottom of the 18th, the Giants pushed across the winner when Hughie Critz singled home Jo-Jo Moore. Hubbell figured in the scoring when his ground out moved Moore to third.

In the second game, Roy Parmelee shutout the Cardinals and the Giants won 1-0. They went on to win the pennant by five games.

Footnote: Hubbell’s 45 1/3 scoreless innings was 10 1/3 less than Walter Johnson’s record set in 1913. But the mark is still a ML record for left handed pitchers. Amazingly the 18-inning effort was not part of that stretch.

17 Innings, Rube Benton
July 16, 1920
Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
NYG 7, PIT 0

Rube Benton, to say the least, had a checkered baseball career. Bill Bishop, in a well-researched bio, writes that Benton “had a reputation for drinking, gambling, and driving too fast, all three of which combined in various ways to interrupt his major-league career.” Benton was also involved in the Black Sox scandal.

In the summer of 1920, Benton had to testify to his knowledge of fixed games in the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal. In July, a few months before his appearance in front of the grand jury, Benton put his worries aside and tossed a memorable game at Forbes Field.

Benton and his Pirate counterpart, Earl Hamilton, dueled for 16 scoreless innings. The Giants broke through in the top of the seventh, scoring seven times.

16 Innings, Juan Marichal
Tuesday, July 2, 1963
Candlestick Park
SFG 1, MIL 0

The hey-day of marathon pitching came to an end in the 20s. Of the 37 pitchers that Gettelson identified (18 or more innings), only three came after 1930. Since 1960, only three pitchers have logged in 16 or more (Dave Smith, Retrosheet). 30 years to the day after Hubbell’s iron man performance, Juan Marichal became the second member of that unique club.

It almost didn’t happen. Skipper Alvin Dark wanted to pull Marichal several times. But the 25-year-old rising star, noting that his 42-year-old opponent was still out there, wanted to stay in. Another factor might have been Marichal’s emotional reaction after Dark lifted him out of the game in the eighth inning the previous Friday night.

Marichal was no stranger to long games. In 1959, he went 17 innings in a game with the Springfield Giants. This time around, 48 outs were required. He scattered 8 hits, walked four, and struck out 11.

Overshadowed by Marichal’s incredible performance and his own heroics in the 16th, was a great play Willie Mays made in the fourth inning. With two outs, Norm Larker and Mac Jones walked. Del Crandall singled to right center. Mays scooped up the one-hopper and threw Larker out at home.

In the bottom of the sixteenth, Mays came to the plate with one out. At 12:31 am, he hit Spahn’s first offering over the left field fence The win was Marichal’s ninth in a row and moved the Giants to within one game of first place.

Footnotes:

On July 28, 1960, Marichal and Spahn went 10 innings at Candlestick. The Giants won 3-2.

Others for Marichal.

Marichal had 11 other double digit inning games. The longest of those was a 14 inning contest at Candlestick on Thursday night, May 26, 1966. The 1-0 win made Marichal 9-0 on the season, a streak he ran to 10-0 before losing in June.

He also had a 13 1/3 inning effort August 19, 1969 at Shea Stadium (NYM 1, SFG 0) and a 12 inning outing on August 14, 1970 (STL 1, SFG ).

16 Innings, Gaylord Perry
September 1, 1967
Crosley Field, Cincinnati
SFG 1, CIN 0

As the saying goes in baseball, a double play is a pitcher’s best friend. Maybe the saying should be, run support is a pitcher’s best friend. And in 1967, Gaylord Perry didn’t get much of it. Coming into this contest, his ERA was 2.96 but his W-L record was 11-15.

Perry, like Marichal, shook his head at his manager’s request. Herman Franks offered to take him out twice after the 12th inning, but Perry pressed on before giving way to a pinch hitter in the 17th. He threw 186 pitches in the 16 inning effort, scattering 10 hits, walking two and striking out 12.

The game almost ended in the 14th. With two outs and Hal Lanier on first, Dick Groat bounced one over third. Lanier raced around the sacks but was out at home on a good throw from Leo Cardenas to catcher Johnny Bench.

Giants' reliever Frank Linzy took over in the 17th and tossed five scoreless innings for the win. The game set the record for longest night game in innings (21) and time consumed (5 hours and 40 minutes). The 20 scoreless innings tied a major league record set by the Pirates and Braves in 1918.

In the top of the 21st, Jim Hart singled off Bob Lee, the fourth Reds pitcher. Ollie Brown followed with a double to left field. Hal Lanier was intentionally walked. Groat, finishing out his 14-year career with a brief stint with the Giants, then drew a walk to end the game.

Others for Perry

Perry had a remarkable 16 games with 10 or more IP. Eight of these, including the above mentioned game, came with the Giants. His longest, other than the 16 innings, was a 15 inning, 5-4 loss with the Indians.

Next in length was a 13 inning, 6-5 win with the Giants at San Diego on May 11, 1970. After the Giants scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th, the Padres sent eight men to the plate against Perry and scored three to tie the game.

The Giants won it in the top of the 13th. Ken Henderson walked, went to second on Dick Dietz’ single, to third on Tito Fuentes’ sacrifice bunt and scored on first baseman Nate Colbert’s error.

In the bottom of the 13th, the Padres put runners on first and second with two out. Mike McCormick got out of the jam and picked up the save.

Other Giants Pitchers With 11 or more IP

Mike McCormick, 13, April 11, 1969
13, Aug 24, 1960

Billy O’Dell 12, June 29, 1962

Johnny Antonelli, 11, May 22, 1959

Jack Sanford, 11, July 7, 1963
11, June 21, 1960

Bobby Bolin, 11, Aug 19, 1968

Stu Miller, 11, June 25, 1959

Jim Barr, 11, April 20, 1975
11, Aug 20, 1974

John Thorn

Color speaks a secret language that our generation hears as white noise, an indistinct hum that we decipher unconsciously. The traces of these ancient meanings have come down to us most clearly in sport, which retained some of the mystical, hierarchical, and military trappings of old, even as society advanced beyond the guild, the village, and the governing church.

Last year’s Bloggies did not have a sports or history category. If they have one this year, I hope to remember to nominate John Thorn’s Thorn Pricks.

Yes, John Thorn, the baseball historian John Thorn, has a blog.

Oh yea...