...But not quite so grand on the hill. You do get a little back on what you dish out, right?
So pitcher Madison Bumgarner slammed his second grand slam on the season, becoming the first pitcher since Tony Cloninger to do that. Cloninger has Madison beaten on that one, however. His came a lot quicker!
Taking the hill for the Atlanta Braves on July 3, 1966, Tony was just a game over .500 (8-7). But his hitting on this day was outstanding! Basically, he did enough to earn his ninth win on the season. Who would have thought his hitting was miles ahead of his pitching on this day? Not that his pitching was that bad!
The San Francisco Giants found out that there was more to Cloninger than his bat. Joe Gibbon started the game for the Giants, but it was apparent from the get-go that the Braves were a little too strong.
Gibbon managed to get two outs with just one man on in the top of the first. The second out was that of the great home run hitter Hank Aaron, who hit into a force play at second. So Gibby had nothing to worry about as far as the long ball went, right? Wrong. Rico Carty then singled. Joe Torre followed that with a three-run home run, which put Atlanta ahead to stay.
Gibbon, shaken, gave up two more singles before departing. Both of these runners would also score via the home run. But it would come from an unlikely source. Bob Briddy walked the next batter and it was bases loaded. There were two outs and Tony Cloninger, the pitcher, was the next hitter.
And Tony surprised everyone by hitting a grand slam. That made the the score 7-0 for the Braves. Felipe Alou, who started the inning with an out, ended it by being retired again. But Atlanta didn't need anything more from him. They would sure get more, though.
Carty blasted a home run in the top of the second, as the game was hopelessly lost by the Giants, now. But Atlanta kept coming at them at full speed!
In the top of the fourth, with another run in, it was Ray Sadecki who was now on the hill for the Giants. The former Cardinal, who started games one and four of the 1964 World Series, soon loaded the bases. Cloninger to the dish again. Cloninger out of the park again! 13-0, Atlanta! No mercy!
San Fran actually managed to score a run in the bottom of the frame. In the top of the fifth inning, a guy you'd expect to go deep, did just that for Atlanta. Funny, at this point, Tony Cloninger had more two more home runs in this game by himself, then Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did! And they were both grand slams! What was going on?
Aaron brought back some semblance of order by hitting a home run to make it a 14-1 Atlanta lead. But neither Cloninger nor Atlanta was done in the scoring department. San Francisco also had some long ball magic up their sleeve!
In the bottom of the frame, up stepped the shaken Sadecki, who must have felt worse then he did in game four of the 1964 World Series. There, he got just one batter out and gave up four hits and three runs. His team managed to come back and win that game, but there would be no comeback here.
In any event though, he smacked a home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth. The trouble was, it was leading off the inning, so it was a solo job. 14-2. One run back. But guess who knocked in the Braves' fifteenth run of the game?
Cloninger came up in the top of the eighth inning with shortstop Woody Woodward on second. Believe me, San Francisco wasn't knocking on wood. Cloninger was back up to the dish. So scared was Sadecki that he threw a wild pitch. Cloninger, with one out, singled Woody home to make it 15-2. That's nine RBIs on the day for Cloninger! Oh, and two grand slams, don't forget!
But Tom Haller went yard for the Giants in the bottom of the frame. However, once again it was leading off the inning, so only one run scored. Cloninger had now allowed two home runs and hit two grand slams himself!
Atlanta scored twice more off Ray Sadecki in the top of the ninth to make it a 17-3 final. Cloninger never got back to the plate. Not that he needed to! He ended the day 3-5. But Tony sure had helped his own cause, right?
Two grand slams and nine RBIs by a pitcher in the same game. 48 years later, what Madison did might end up being the closest we ever get to seeing it again!
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print. pp. 369.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print. pp/
So pitcher Madison Bumgarner slammed his second grand slam on the season, becoming the first pitcher since Tony Cloninger to do that. Cloninger has Madison beaten on that one, however. His came a lot quicker!
Taking the hill for the Atlanta Braves on July 3, 1966, Tony was just a game over .500 (8-7). But his hitting on this day was outstanding! Basically, he did enough to earn his ninth win on the season. Who would have thought his hitting was miles ahead of his pitching on this day? Not that his pitching was that bad!
The San Francisco Giants found out that there was more to Cloninger than his bat. Joe Gibbon started the game for the Giants, but it was apparent from the get-go that the Braves were a little too strong.
Gibbon managed to get two outs with just one man on in the top of the first. The second out was that of the great home run hitter Hank Aaron, who hit into a force play at second. So Gibby had nothing to worry about as far as the long ball went, right? Wrong. Rico Carty then singled. Joe Torre followed that with a three-run home run, which put Atlanta ahead to stay.
Gibbon, shaken, gave up two more singles before departing. Both of these runners would also score via the home run. But it would come from an unlikely source. Bob Briddy walked the next batter and it was bases loaded. There were two outs and Tony Cloninger, the pitcher, was the next hitter.
And Tony surprised everyone by hitting a grand slam. That made the the score 7-0 for the Braves. Felipe Alou, who started the inning with an out, ended it by being retired again. But Atlanta didn't need anything more from him. They would sure get more, though.
Carty blasted a home run in the top of the second, as the game was hopelessly lost by the Giants, now. But Atlanta kept coming at them at full speed!
In the top of the fourth, with another run in, it was Ray Sadecki who was now on the hill for the Giants. The former Cardinal, who started games one and four of the 1964 World Series, soon loaded the bases. Cloninger to the dish again. Cloninger out of the park again! 13-0, Atlanta! No mercy!
San Fran actually managed to score a run in the bottom of the frame. In the top of the fifth inning, a guy you'd expect to go deep, did just that for Atlanta. Funny, at this point, Tony Cloninger had more two more home runs in this game by himself, then Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did! And they were both grand slams! What was going on?
Aaron brought back some semblance of order by hitting a home run to make it a 14-1 Atlanta lead. But neither Cloninger nor Atlanta was done in the scoring department. San Francisco also had some long ball magic up their sleeve!
In the bottom of the frame, up stepped the shaken Sadecki, who must have felt worse then he did in game four of the 1964 World Series. There, he got just one batter out and gave up four hits and three runs. His team managed to come back and win that game, but there would be no comeback here.
In any event though, he smacked a home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth. The trouble was, it was leading off the inning, so it was a solo job. 14-2. One run back. But guess who knocked in the Braves' fifteenth run of the game?
Cloninger came up in the top of the eighth inning with shortstop Woody Woodward on second. Believe me, San Francisco wasn't knocking on wood. Cloninger was back up to the dish. So scared was Sadecki that he threw a wild pitch. Cloninger, with one out, singled Woody home to make it 15-2. That's nine RBIs on the day for Cloninger! Oh, and two grand slams, don't forget!
But Tom Haller went yard for the Giants in the bottom of the frame. However, once again it was leading off the inning, so only one run scored. Cloninger had now allowed two home runs and hit two grand slams himself!
Atlanta scored twice more off Ray Sadecki in the top of the ninth to make it a 17-3 final. Cloninger never got back to the plate. Not that he needed to! He ended the day 3-5. But Tony sure had helped his own cause, right?
Two grand slams and nine RBIs by a pitcher in the same game. 48 years later, what Madison did might end up being the closest we ever get to seeing it again!
References
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print. pp. 369.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print. pp/
Retrosheet. Web. 14 Jul. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 14 Jul. 2014.
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