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Harvey Haddix Near-Perfect Game: One for the Record Books!
“Not a day goes by that somebody doesn’t ask me about that game. I think I got more notoriety from it because I lost.”-Harvey Haddix, years later reflecting on his historic game
My recent post about Hippo Vaughn and the “Double No-Hitter” of May 2, 1917, provides a nice segue for an essay about Harvey Haddix’s near-perfect game from May 26, 1959. Some of us older guys remember it as one of baseball’s great pitching performances and a real baseball oddity: The Pirates’ Harvey Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning against the Milwaukee Braves—and actually lost the game! Haddix’s effort is considered by many to be the best pitching performance in major league history. But Instead of entering the record books with a rare perfect game, Haddix had to settle for a 12 2/3 innings one-hit complete-game loss.
Haddix retired 36 consecutive batters that day essentially relying on just two pitches: his fastball and slider. The problem for Haddix and the Pirates was that the Braves’ pitcher, Lew Burdette, was also having a good day, taking a shutout into the 13th, scattering 12 singles without walking a batter. The Braves’ lineup was stacked with heavy hitters, including Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, Wes Covington, and Del Crandall. They had won the National League pennant in the previous two years.
Haddix was perfect through nine, but because the Pirates failed to score, he had to work overtime. With tension and excitement building on every pitch, he was flawless for 10 innings. Then 11. Then 12. He had faced a remarkable 36 batters, and 36 had been retired. Haddix was now in baseball’s version of “uncharted waters.”
Heading into the bottom of the 13th, things abruptly unraveled. The Braves leadoff man Felix Mantilla reached on an error by third baseman Don Hoak. Mantilla advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Eddie Mathews. Hank Aaron then received a free pass, and so there were two on with one out.
Now things took an unusual turn. Joe Adcock hit what appeared to be a home run, ending the game, 3-0. However, in the ensuing confusion, Aaron left the basepaths and was passed by Adcock for the second out, and the game officially ended as a 2-0 Braves’ victory. The hit was later downgraded to a double by National League president Warren Giles. Only Mantilla’s run counted, for a final score of 1-0.
“There’s never been a game like this,” said Bill Virdon, the Pirates center fielder that night.
Today, a pitcher gets credit for a quality start if he gives up no more than three runs in six innings. Put that up against a 13-inning game, featuring just two pitchers. What would you call this one?
But what about Haddix historic effort? Should he get credit for a perfect game? A no-hitter maybe? As it turns out, neither. In 1991, Major League Baseball redefined the definition of a no-hitter to “a game in which a pitcher or pitchers complete a game of nine innings or more without allowing a hit.” The rule had the effect of proclaiming that Adcock’s drive ended Haddix’s no-hit bid, regardless of the score or the game’s ultimate outcome. Despite his having thrown more perfect innings than anyone in a single game in all of baseball history, Haddix’s game was taken off the list of no-hitters.
Harvey Haddix played 14 years in the major leagues (1953-65) for the Cardinals (1952–56), Phillies (1956–57), Reds (1958), Pirates (1959–63) and Orioles (1964–65). Over his career, he went 136-113 with a 3.63 ERA, 1,575 strikeouts, 99 complete games, 21 shutouts. His best season was 1953 while with the Cardinals gong 20-9 with 163 strikeouts, 3.06 ERA, 19 complete games and six shutouts. He was a three-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner, and holds the major league record for most consecutive batters retired in one game (36). He was one of the stars of the 1960 World Series, winning Game Five as a starter, and was the winning pitcher in relief in Game Seven which ended on Bill Mazeroski’s historic walk-off home run.
Harvey Haddix died from emphysema in 1994 at the age of 68
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Information: Excerpts edited from Harvey Haddix Wikipedia page
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Thanks for spotlighting that remarkable game, Gary!
For “The Kitten” to come away from that Olympian pitching performance with nothing to show for it in the record books is a travesty. The rule should be changed immediately.
The new rule should read something like this: “If a starting pitcher in any game pitches nine innings, while recording 27 outs and yielding no hits, he shall be given credit for an official no-hitter in the record book. If the pitcher yields no hits, no runs and no base runners while recording 27 outs in nine innings, he shall be given credit in the official record with a perfect game. What transpires after nine innings of play shall have no bearing on his accomplishment in either case. This rule will be retroactive.”
Yes, no, maybe?
Thanks Bill…excellent points, makes perfect sense. I agree completely.
Say. .let’s see if we can persuade the brain trust in charge of Major League Baseball to decree the sacrifice fly rule non-existent, not just going forward but retroactively of course, then rearrange all the hitting records from years gone by accordingly, and confer a bunch of batting titles on guys who can now leap-frog over the original winners as a consequence, thirty, forty, fifty years and more after-the-fact. (“And by the way, Mr. President, this just in: We have abolished the Electoral College effective 11/01/2016. You are OUT. Pack your gear.”)
Poor Harvey Haddix was robbed! He knew it in 1991, and we all know it to this day. I am wary of adhering too reflexively to the thought processes of any Jints aficionado certainly, but in this case I agree completely with Dr. Schaefer (and Gary) that “36 up, 36 down” is perfect any way you try to define it — just as it was in the World of Baseball sixty years ago.
I’ll bet we can all visualize the details of our whereabouts and activities when news of The Kitten’s astounding accomplishment hit the air waves or presses, as the case might be. It was that epic. (Think 10/03/51 if you must, or 11/22/63, 10/30/74; 09/11/01 for example.) Harvey Haddix deserves to have his one-of-a-kind feat fully recognized — and in my mind Gary’s descriptive blog and Bill’s insightful commentary have done the job as well as anyone could, Many thanks!
Dr. Keedy–you are one of a kind! I’m going to make a concerted effort to get you into the Baseball Bloggers HOF!
BTW, the current Mets are diabolical in their game-by-game fan torture. Can anyone deliver a CLUTCH hit?
And just as we proclaim this is the year Michael Conforto will become an elite hitter–he proceeds to strikeout six straight times!
Now, they just signed a catcher who’s OPS cannot be discerned with a magnifying glass. Really exciting.
LF Davis plays so deep, he can’t be seen with the naked eye. Thus, any short pop to left produces the sound of thundering running steps two minutes before our boy comes into view.
Oh, to go back in time!
Bill — ?
Thanks but — if nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.
Instead, I move that The Great Gil be enshrined forthwith by acclamation.
(What’s Joe Gordon doing in there anyway?)
You see my point.