"Caught Len Baker's perfect game and later Dennis Martinez's."
It's too bad in baseball that no pitcher has tossed two perfect games. There's just a big long tie at one for perfect games. Someday, someone will throw two gems, and erase all those other names.
But what about the men behind the plate, calling the pitches? There has been a catcher to call two perfect games, Ron Hassey. The first was against a Canadian baseball team. The second, years later for the the other Canadian baseball team.
It all began on May 15, 1981. Hassey's Cleveland Indians faced the Toronto Blue Jays at home. Len wasn't really much of a pitcher, posting a mediocre W-L record of just 74-76.
But on this day, there was no stopping Barker. Hassey was sure calling the right pitches. And while Toronto came close to getting hits on a few occasions, they ended the game without even getting a man to first safely.
The game itself was a well-pitched game, with Blue Jay starter Luis Leal going 8 innings, giving up just seven hits and three runs himself. Did Hassey do anything? Of course!
A run was already scored by Cleveland in the bottom of the first, as the home team wasted no time in giving Len some run support. Mike Hargrove was on second, having earlier reached on an error. Hassey singled him home for a 2-0 lead. Hassey made it to second on Toronto's second error of the inning. Leal struck out Toby Harrah next, and the inning was over.
The Indians scored their third and final run in the bottom of the bottom of the eight, as Jorge Orta hit a solo home run. The last out Ernie Whitt, who flied to centre.
Would you believe ten years later, Hassey was behind the dish for the Montreal Expos. This time, it was time to take the perfect game trick on the road. To Los Angeles. Only, this game was even closer!
Indeed, Tom Morgan kept Dennis Martinez honest. Only two runs scored against him. This July 28, 1991 pitcher's duel had only one RBI. Canada's own, Larry Walker drove home Dave Martinez with a triple in the top of the seventh, breaking a scoreless deadlock. Walker then scored on an error, concluding the scoring.
In the next inning, Montreal got runners to second and third with just one out, but couldn't get 'em home. Morgan got 'em out 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth on just nine pitches. This one had to be earned by Dennis Martinez.
Dennis wasn't about to let this slip away, however. Mike Scioscia was gone on a fly to left. Stan Javier, the son of Julian Javier, fanned. Chris Gwynn, Tony's brother, batted for Tom Morgan. He flied out to centre. Dennis had his perfect game.
Hassey got a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, only to be forced at second. That was his only hit. Behind the dish, however, Ron was calling 'em right. And for the second time in his career, watched as 27 men came to the dish...And were all retired.
References
Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. Print.
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.
Retrosheet. Web. 8 Apr. 2018. <www.retrosheet.org>.
It's too bad in baseball that no pitcher has tossed two perfect games. There's just a big long tie at one for perfect games. Someday, someone will throw two gems, and erase all those other names.
But what about the men behind the plate, calling the pitches? There has been a catcher to call two perfect games, Ron Hassey. The first was against a Canadian baseball team. The second, years later for the the other Canadian baseball team.
It all began on May 15, 1981. Hassey's Cleveland Indians faced the Toronto Blue Jays at home. Len wasn't really much of a pitcher, posting a mediocre W-L record of just 74-76.
But on this day, there was no stopping Barker. Hassey was sure calling the right pitches. And while Toronto came close to getting hits on a few occasions, they ended the game without even getting a man to first safely.
The game itself was a well-pitched game, with Blue Jay starter Luis Leal going 8 innings, giving up just seven hits and three runs himself. Did Hassey do anything? Of course!
A run was already scored by Cleveland in the bottom of the first, as the home team wasted no time in giving Len some run support. Mike Hargrove was on second, having earlier reached on an error. Hassey singled him home for a 2-0 lead. Hassey made it to second on Toronto's second error of the inning. Leal struck out Toby Harrah next, and the inning was over.
The Indians scored their third and final run in the bottom of the bottom of the eight, as Jorge Orta hit a solo home run. The last out Ernie Whitt, who flied to centre.
Would you believe ten years later, Hassey was behind the dish for the Montreal Expos. This time, it was time to take the perfect game trick on the road. To Los Angeles. Only, this game was even closer!
Indeed, Tom Morgan kept Dennis Martinez honest. Only two runs scored against him. This July 28, 1991 pitcher's duel had only one RBI. Canada's own, Larry Walker drove home Dave Martinez with a triple in the top of the seventh, breaking a scoreless deadlock. Walker then scored on an error, concluding the scoring.
In the next inning, Montreal got runners to second and third with just one out, but couldn't get 'em home. Morgan got 'em out 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth on just nine pitches. This one had to be earned by Dennis Martinez.
Dennis wasn't about to let this slip away, however. Mike Scioscia was gone on a fly to left. Stan Javier, the son of Julian Javier, fanned. Chris Gwynn, Tony's brother, batted for Tom Morgan. He flied out to centre. Dennis had his perfect game.
Hassey got a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, only to be forced at second. That was his only hit. Behind the dish, however, Ron was calling 'em right. And for the second time in his career, watched as 27 men came to the dish...And were all retired.
References
Baseball
Almanac, Inc. Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and
Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 8 Apr. 2018. <http://www.baseball-almanac.com>.
Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. Print.
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.
Retrosheet. Web. 8 Apr. 2018. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major
League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Web. 8 Apr. 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment