After moon landing, Gaylord Perry shocked everyone - Manager Dark said, 'There’ll be a man on the moon before he hits a home run,' and he was right (July 20, 1969)

On July 20, 1969, most Americans were consumed by the event of a lifetime: the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The Giants were no different.

San Francisco groundskeeper Matty Schwab found space in his work area underneath the right-field grandstand at Candlestick Park to plug in a black-and-white television set. Schwab’s hidden headquarters was close to the double doors adjacent to the Giants’ bullpen. So, thanks to Schwab, Giants relievers could sneak peeks at history during the early innings of San Francisco’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Right-hander Bob Bolin was among the Giants with divided attention. As he recently recalled, he was watching televised images of the lunar module when he heard the Candlestick audience of 32,560 erupt with a sudden ovation. “I was thinking the crowd was clapping because of the moon landing. I opened the door, and Gaylord [Perry] had hit a home run,” said Bolin, punctuating his reminiscence with laughter.

On July 20, 1969, most Americans were consumed by the event of a lifetime: the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The Giants were no different.

This requires some explanation amid the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s exploits.

Giants right-hander Gaylord Perry, a future Hall of Famer (inducted in 1991) who passed away on Thursday, homered off Dodgers left-hander Claude Osteen in the third inning of San Francisco’s 7-3 victory the same day the Apollo 11 mission achieved glory. That the two happened nearly simultaneously drew Bolin back to something he had heard years prior.

During his tenure as Giants manager from 1961-64, Alvin Dark declared that a man would land on the moon before Perry, with his flawed swing, could hit a home run.

“We were just sitting around the (batting) cage. It was pitchers’ batting practice, and Gaylord was trying to hit one out. Somebody was talking about Gaylord hitting home runs, and Alvin just said, 'There’ll be a man on the moon before he hits a home run.'”

Bolin recalled Perry’s offensive shortcomings: “He just didn’t have the snap of the bat to where (a batted ball) would jump out of the ballpark.”

Though Neil Armstrong didn’t set foot on the lunar surface until 7:56 p.m. PT, he and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin touched down in their module at 1:17 p.m. Because the game began at 1 p.m., the landing preceded Perry’s third-inning at-bat.

Perry declined to comment for this story, but he told MLB.com in 2009 that “over the loudspeaker, they were telling everybody to stand and give a moment of silent thanks for the astronauts who landed on the moon. And I'd say 30 minutes later, Claude Osteen grooved me a fastball, and I hit it out of the park."

Perry batted .131 during his 22-year career, which he spent mostly in the National League. So he relied less on designated hitters than he did on himself. Perry was probably a more proficient hitter than his batting average suggests; otherwise, he might not have amassed his impressive total of 303 complete games.

On July 20, 1969, most Americans were consumed by the event of a lifetime: the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The Giants were no different.

This requires some explanation amid the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s exploits.

During his tenure as Giants manager from 1961-64, Alvin Dark declared that a man would land on the moon before Perry, with his flawed swing, could hit a home run.

Bolin recalled Perry’s offensive shortcomings: “He just didn’t have the snap of the bat to where (a batted ball) would jump out of the ballpark.”

Starters who went the distance sometimes had to give their managers reason to keep them in ballgames by letting them “bat for themselves,” as the privilege was referred to back then. Pitchers who were truly ineffectual hitters would receive fewer chances to do that. Moreover, Perry’s homer was no fluke. He hit one in each of the following three seasons and finished his career with six.

Of course, Perry was the second-best hitter in his family. His brother, Jim, who won 215 games for the Twins, the Indians, the Tigers and the Athletics over his 17-year career, batted .199 before the DH benched him starting in 1973.

Several years before the moon landing, the Giants shared another memorable day with NASA: Oct. 3, 1962. While the Giants outlasted the Dodgers, 6-4, in the finale of a three-game playoff to win the National League pennant, astronaut Wally Schirra orbited Earth six times in his spacecraft, Sigma 7.

“These days, managers will pull a pitcher out a no-hitter if the pitch count is over 100.”

They do that for longevity. A person’s arm is not designed to pitch a baseball. Tack that on to the pitchers throwing harder than before it is a formula for destruction of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in the elbow and the shutting down of a pitcher for tommy john. This harms the team investment and takes possibly a career from the player. Fortunately most pitchers return to competitive pitching, approximately 85% to 92%, after undergoing Tommy John surgery. However, the recovery timeline is long, generally taking 12 to 18 months for full competitive throwing. That puts a lot of water under the bridge and causes changes in the rosters many teams are not prepared for. So pitch count becomes that decision maker. And even the hard throwers of the past that lasted for a few years were few.

But some pitchers like Nolan Ryan (27 seasons), Tommy John (26 seasons), and Jamie Moyer (25 seasons), and Clayton Kershaw who retired last year are on that list. Among modern active pitchers like Clayton Kershaw (18 seasons) are among the few that actually made an impact while lasting a long time. Probably the last one is Justin Verlander who is still active but is retiring this year, already announced, and doesn’t go every 4 days with his injuries. And that list doesn’t contain any triple digit throwers except Ryan who was dedicated to a massive physical training program. And he went down throwing a pitch where his ligament snapped.

“Back in the day,” MLB rosters could contain as many as 12 pitchers. Now it’s 13 with 14 when the rosters increase. So utilizing their arms is still at the same level of need as before but the pitchers are all ticking time bombs with the performance they are expected to accomplish. And with the new three batter rule, it changes the dynamics of the game.

wy69

“Ruth came up as a pitcher”

Ruth first played as a professional in 1914 with the minor league Baltimore Orioles, where he started as a pitcher and also played some shortstop. Yep, a left handed shortstop. He was a top quality pitcher but the teams soon found he was more valuable playing more than every few days. His career ERA was 2.28, 14th all time in history.

Oh, and they did try to work with his hitting but he told them to go where there was heat every day and did it his way. He had a career .342 average. But Ruth had the advantage of playing in Yankee Stadium starting in 1923 with the short porch in right field at just 295 feet and a three foot fence. And bouncing a ball over the fence was considered a home run then. That rule was changed in 1929 after Ruth had 6 years of help. It became a ground rule double.

But at the same time, during that part of the game, if the winning run was on base in extras and the batter hit a ball out, the credit of the hit stopped when the winning run scored. So if that runner started at first base, the batter was credited with a triple. Give and take.

wy69

I was a big fan of the Giants before the A's moved to Oakland. Broke my heart when the Giants traded Willie Mays to the Mets.

I recall Catfish Hunter had a great year in '71, batting .350 for the season with over 100 at bats. I also learned that Catfish was credited with 3 triples during his career.

Every year, I try to acknowledge the greatest pitched game in MLB history: July 3, 1963 at Candlestick Park. The game ended in the 16th inning when Willie Mays hit a home run for the game's only score. Both starting pitchers, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn pitched complete games.

Marichal refused to come out of the game, as long as 43 YO Spahn was still pitching. LOL, he wouldn't let himself be outdone by an old man.

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