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
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......................●●.................................●..●.........●.●..●...●●............●........●....●.......●●●...

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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Double slams

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Boston Red Sox 3rd baseman Bill Mueller hit not one, but two grand slam home runs on this date in 2003. His 9 Runs Batted In helped the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 14-7. Quite an offensive display, but of course the bases have to be loaded both times to have a chance. It also helps, it turns out, to be a member of the visiting team, and play for the Red Sox. Twelve players in major league history have hit two grand slams in one game, 11 of them were on the visiting team. Four of them played for the Boston Red Sox.

American League
Tony Lazzeri-NY 1936
Jim Tabor-Boston 1939
Rudy York-Boston 1946
Jim Gentile-Baltimore 1961
Jim Northrup-Detroit 1968
Frank Robinson-Baltimore 1970
Robin Ventura-Chicago 1995
Chris Hoiles-Baltimore 1998
Nomar Garciaparra-Boston 1999
Bill Mueller-Boston 2003

Only three National Leaguers have hit two grand slams in the same game The circumstances of two were unbelievable. In 1999 St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams in the same inning! What are the odds of that happening?

One of the other National Leaguers to hit two grand slams in one game was a pitcher! On July 3, 1966 Atlanta Braves starter Tony Cloninger was 3 for 5 with 9 RBI on his way to a complete game win over the San Francisco Giants 17-3. Cloninger's offensive production was no fluke. He hit 5 home runs and drove in 23 that year.

Josh Willingham is the player
Here's a list of National League double slammers as compiled by Baseball Almanac:

National League
Tony Cloninger-Atlanta 1966
Fernando Tatis-St. Louis 1999
Josh Willingham-Washington 2009

Contributing Sources:
July 3, 1966 box score
2 grand slams in one game

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No Hits, Many Walks

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - Chicago White Sox pitchers Blue Moon Odom and Francisco Barrios combined to no-hit the Oakland A's on this date in 1976. Odom started the game against his old team. Barrios relieved him in the 6th. So why would a pitcher throwing a no-hitter be lifted? Let me count the ways; 1) because he walked 9 batters in 5 innings, 2) it was a 2-1 game, 3) it was a key divisional rivalry (the White Sox and A's were both in the American League West in '76). The Sox ended up winning the contest 2-1.

The Odom-Barrios no-hitter was the fourth combined no-no in major league baseball history at the time. The first was by pitcher Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. Ruth started the game in 1917. He walked the first batter, but protested the call so vehemently he was kicked out without retiring a batter. His replacement, Ernie Shore proceeded to retire the next 27 hitters for a no-hitter.

There have been five more combined no-hitters as of this writing. The last one required the most pitchers. The Houston Astros used six pitchers to no-hit the New York Yankees in 2003 interleague play.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
1976 AL Central divisional race
Combined no-hitters

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