A few notes from this past week in baseball history…
I was sparked to do this watching the bogus ESPN top ten moments in all-star history.
Frankly, it really annoyed me, and it goes back to some comments written the other day about the lack of positive Reds coverage shown on ESPN. I guess it goes back to us losing for so long now (thank you, Reds owners…yes, I firmly believe the Reds ownerships are responsible), but any top ten list of all-star memories is ludicrous if it would NOT include Tony Perez’s 15th inning game winning home run in the 1967 all-star game.
Perez homered off Catfish Hunter in the top of the 15th to give the National League a 2-1 lead. Tom Seaver pitched the bottom of the 15th to earn a save. Trivia: all three runs in the game came on solo homers by the game’s third basemen: Dick (he was Richie then) Allen and Perez for the Nationals, Brooks Robinson for the American League. It was the longest all-star game ever played.
I can’t remember which item was #1; Pete Rose’s homeplate collision with Ray Fosse was #2, but should’ve been #1. I don’t know; second is pretty good, too.
Another memorable moment, not included and not Reds related: In 1961, Giants pitcher Stu Miller was blown off the mound in Candlestick Park in the 9th inning and was charged with a balk. Miller wins the game in extra innings, 5-4. Exciting or not, how often does that happen?
Okay-memories…Perez’s homer was from July 11, 1967. Miller’s blown off the mound moment came on July 11, 1961.
The Rose-Fosse crash came on July 12, 1970, and introduced me and millions of other Reds fans to the idea of what hustling in baseball was all about. It also has a set a standard that no other Reds player will ever match (as we see everyday reading the blogs and newsprint and hear on the airwaves).
July 11, 1957….Reds and Dodgers brawl…Brooklyn’s Jim Gilliam pops up a bunt, and Reds pitcher Raul Sanchez runs directly into Gilliam trying to catch the pop up. The two come up swinging. Reds third baseman Don Hoak rushes over to help, but is forcefully intercepted by Dodger second baseman Charlie Neal. Hoak’s threatened revenge doesn’t happen.
July 14, 1974…Sparky Anderson in a fight? Jack Billingham hits Pirate pitcher Bruce Kison with a pitch and both teams leave the dugouts to pursue some WWF threats and taunts. Then, after all is quiet, Sparky accidentally steps on the foot of Ed Kirkpatrick, who shoves Anderson (Pedro Martinez–Don Zimmer?). The Reds’ Andy Kosco punches Kirkpatrick, and the fight begins. Pedro Borbon goes crazy (I don’t remember this one) and pins down Pirate pitcher Daryl Patterson. Borbon starts pulling out Patterson’s hair by the the clump and BITES him, tearing a chunk of flesh out of Patterson’s side. Patterson had to get a tetanus shot for the wound. (info from “Day by Day in Cincinnati Reds History” by Floyd Conner and John Snyder).