Let's Play Two

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA • A second all-star game was played on this date in baseball history (1959). Dual classics were the norm for four seasons – 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. The American League won this contest in front of 55,105 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum, avenging a National League victory on July 7th at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The LA Coliseum was the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who came to the west coast in 1958, while Dodger Stadium was being built.

The pitchers of record for this second mid-summer classic were the starters. Jerry Walker of the Baltimore Orioles won it for the American League, and Don Drysdale, pitching in front of his hometown fans was the loser for the National League. Jerry Walker was a 20 year old rising star with an 8-4 record at the time of the second all-star game. He never became the star this all-star game foreshadowed. Walker never won more than eight games in any season and finished his eight year major league career with a record of 34 wins and 44 losses.

Getting back to the August, 1959 all-star game, the highlights were the introductions of superstars Stan Musial and Ted Williams who were both reaching the ends of their careers. Both would end up in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Associated Press, August 4, 1959, Los Angeles, CA
1959 All-star games

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Thurman Munson killed in plane crash

AKRON, OHIO - Thursday, August 2, 1979 was a rare day off for New York Yankee captain and catcher Thurman Munson. The Yankees played in Chicago against the White Sox the night before and wouldn't play again until Friday night in New York. Chicago's game would be Munson's last.

He headed home to Canton, Ohio after Wednesday night's game. Thursday afternoon Munson was practicing take-offs and landings at the Akron-Canton airport. He'd recently bought a twin engine Cessna Citation plane so he could get home to his wife and three children more easily. At 4:02pm, while making an approach to the runway the plane crashed about 1,000 short. An investigation determined the crash was due to pilot error.

Thurman Munson played 11 years for the Yankees. He was the starting catcher for ten of those. He was a seven time all-star who finished his career with a .292 batting average, 113 home runs and 701 RBI. Three times he drove in over 100 runs. His leadership was immeasurable.

• Also in the papers August 2, 1979 was the obscure mention of a former "fringe" ball player taking over as manager of the Chicago White Sox with the sudden resignation of Don Kessinger. The new rookie manager's name was Tony LaRussa.

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Nate Colbert hits 5 HR's in DH

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - Eight-year old Nathan Colbert was in awe when he saw his favorite player, Stan Musial, hit five home runs in a double-header in 1954. Little did the St. Louis native and Cardinal fan know he would inspire the same awe eighteen years later.

Today in baseball (1972) Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres tied Musial's record by hitting five home runs in a double-header sweep of the Atlanta Braves, 9-0 and 11-7. Colbert hit two home runs in the opener and three in the second game, driving in a total of 13 runs.

The best of Colbert's ten years in the majors was 1976; 38 HRs, 111 RBI, and though his batting average was a modest .250, his slugging percentage was .508. His abilities diminished rather quickly. His HR/RBI stats fell to 22/80 in 1973, 14/54 in 1974, 8/29 in 1975 and he was out of baseball by 1977. He remains in the record books, however, alongside is childhood hero.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
The Associated Press, August 3, 1972

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Four HR games - a pattern

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - The Milwaukee Braves' Joe Adcock became the 7th player in major league history to hit 4 home runs in a 9-inning game on this date in 1954. His 4 blasts, a double and 7 RBIs helped the Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-7 at Ebbets field. Adcock wasn't the only guy poking them over the fence. There were ten home runs that day. Teammate Eddie Matthews had 2. The Braves hit 7 in all.

Joe Adcock was one of those all-American sluggers; not exactly Hank Aaron (the guy who batted ahead of him that day), but a hitter who put fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers every time he came to bat. The big first baseman, he was 6-4, hit 336 home runs in a 16 year career - 79th on the all-time list.

Here are the players who've hit 4 home runs in a 9-inning game up to this writing:

1. Bob Lowe, Boston AL, 1894
2. Ed Delahanty, Chi NL, 1896
3. Lou Gehrig, NY AL, 1932
4. Chuck Klein, Phila NL, 1936
5. Pat Seerey, Chi AL, 1948
6. Gil Hodges, Brklyn NL, 1950
7. Joe Adcock, Milw NL, 1954
8. Rocky Colavito, Cleve AL, 1959
9. Willie Mays, SF NL, 1961
10. Mike Schmidt, Phila, 1976
11. Bob Horner, Atl NL, 1986
12. Mark Whiten, StL NL, 1993
13. Mike Cameron, Seattle AL, 2002
14. Shawn Greene, LA NL, 2002
15. Carlos Delgado, Tor AL 2003

The names absent from the list are noteworthy. The three greatest home run hitters of all time; Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds never hit four home runs in a game.

The table below offers another perspective of the 4-home run games; the decades they were hit. There were only two from the beginning of the National League in 1876 until 1932 - almost 60 years. From then on they're fairly evenly spread, though in 2002-2003 there were three 4-HR games in 16 months.
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1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
│       │        │       │        │        │        │       │        │        │        │       │        │        │       │
......................●●.................................●..●.........●.●..●...●●............●........●....●.......●●●...

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Retrosheet - baseball statistics, milestones, etc
Baseball-Almanac 4 HR games

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J.R. Richard stricken

HOUSTON, TEXAS - On this date in 1980 Houston Astros phenom pitcher J.R. Richard was rushed to a Houston hospital after collapsing during a workout in the Astrodome. He underwent emergency surgery that night not only to try to save his pitching career, but to save his life. Doctors found a blood clot in his neck. It took 2 hours of surgery to remove.

James Rodney Richard was drafted by the Astros in 1969 out of a Vienna, Louisiana high school. He was a flame thrower, reaching speeds of 100 mph, but he was a little slow out of the gate. He came on the major league scene in 1971 and was a combined 11-6 in his first 4 seasons. His breakout year was 1976 when he went 20-15. Richard won 18 games each of the next three seasons, and was 10-4 with an ERA of 1.89 at the time of his stroke. With 303 strikeouts in 1978 he became the first National League right-hander to strikeout more than 300.

J.R. Richard's life was saved on this date in 1980 but his baseball career came to an end. Despite trying a comeback in 1981, he never played another regular season major league game. He finished his career with 107-71 and an ERA of 3.15.

According to interviews done then and since, for example in the Houston Press, J.R. Richard thinks the Astros overlooked his complaints about a tired arm and other warning signs before his stroke. Whatever precipitated it, Richard fell on bad times to the point of being homeless living under a bridge in 1994. He later straightened out his life with the help of a minister and became a minister himself working with Houston youth.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Tragedy of J.R. Richard, by Ben Hochman, The Sporting News, August 5, 1999
Interview with J.R. Richard

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