Posted on 07/20/2026 8:08:25 AM PDT by DFG
A version of this story was originally published in 2019.
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.
A version of this story was originally published in 2019.
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.
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.
Here’s what Bolin, 80, had to say:
“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.”
The initial exception occurred after Perry’s first 547 plate appearances.
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.
A version of this story was originally published in 2019.
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.
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.
Here’s what Bolin, 80, had to say:
“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.”
The initial exception occurred after Perry’s first 547 plate appearances.
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.
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 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.
Didn’t know Ruth was a shortstop, thanks.
They may have juiced up the balls to help offense, too.
“They may have juiced up the balls to help offense, too.”
Actually just prior to Ruth was what was called the “dead ball era.”
From 1910 to 1917, the year Ruth broke out, the big HR winners were Home run Baker and Wally Pipp. Each never had more than 12 in a season. It was a very boring set of years for baseball. They didn’t actually change the ball much until 1920 when the ball saw a big upgrade as manufacturers began using machine winders and a higher grade of imported Australian wool yarn, which made the balls consistently livelier and launched the “Lively Ball Era.” Add that to the new cork center beginning use in 1910 limited and you get a ball that is very lively.
wy69
IIRC, they used to keep balls in play for as long as possible, even if they were mush. They may have tried to retrieve foul balls. Nowadays, the pitcher can dislike a ball. The umps will discard a ball pretty readily. Don’t know if this was happening in Ruth’s day.
The Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani has 302 career homers and 1,155 hits (.282 career average)...pitching-wise his career ERA is 2.83 (this season so far his ERA is 1.79).
A pretty impressive “2-way” player.
https://www.mlb.com/player/shohei-ohtani-660271
I dropped the Dodgers completely when they decided to celebrate drag queens who mock my Faith.
Actually, I stopped caring when interleague play was introduced. That’s the baseball equivalent of shacking up.
“Don’t know if this was happening in Ruth’s day.”
It wasn’t. But the option for a pitcher to ask for a new ball was available. To put anything on a ball can change the trajectory or appearance to the batter. Pitchers at that level know what to do with a damaged baseball.
You’d be amazed at the things being done for a baseball. And this is something most, even ardent fans, don’t know. MLB baseballs are prepared by storing them in a humidor (typically at 70°F and 57% humidity) for at least 14 days. Within three hours of a game, clubhouse staff must manually rub the factory shine off at least 13 to 15 dozen baseballs using a special Jersey mud, Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, to improve the pitcher’s grip and also take the shine off the ball which also effects trajectory. Hense the pitchers being caught with a nail file is alering the ball and causing it to have a smooth piece that allows air to pass over it differently. Ejection and probably fine. The muddied balls are placed back in the humidor until just 15 to 30 minutes before the first pitch, at which point they are delivered to the umpires for final inspection and approved for play.
If they are scuffed, cut, anything built up on the surface from spit to mud to filed during the game, they are removed to supposedly keep the competition consistent. But those suspected balls are sent to the league office.
And even today, pitchers leaving the mound to go to the dugout after the third out, are inspected by the umpires whether they are suspected or not. They don’t show much of that on television. The players are supposed to be role models.
You might ask if pitchers have ever been caught going to the dugout or observed. Yes they have. Two examples are Max Scherzer or Edwin Díaz. Both got 10 day suspensions. Other caught changing the ball include Dominigo Germán (2023), Hector Santiago (2021), Caleb Smith (2021), Michael Pineda (2014), Joe Niekro (1987), Brian Moehler (1999), Gaylord Perry (1982) and Rick Honeycutt (1980). There were more but this is a good start.
Anything that changes the surface of a ball at that level is going to be a pitcher’s advantage except a small dirt smudge that helps the batter see the spin on the pitch. So they are changed at the umpires desire or request of players on the field. Keeps the appearance of possible impropriety hidden more than anything else. It’s an act.
wy69
I guess life doesn’t often bear things out, but i would have thought an experienced pitcher could actually be a potential threat as a batter. Pitchers know other pitchers and what they might likely try to throw at them if such pitchers come up to bat. A pitcher could set themselves up to meet potential threats and expected pitches from the opposing pitchers on the mound and then be able to get more hits.
Catchers should be even better at knowing what pitchers do. In practice, catchers may be the worst hitters now.
The umps used to rub up the balls.
I thought the humidor was introduced to reduce offense in Colorado.
“I thought the humidor was introduced to reduce offense in Colorado.”
You’re right. In 2002, they began using humidors starting exclusively with the Colorado Rockies to counteract the dry, thin air at Coors Field. Following a 2018 MLB study, the league slowly expanded their use over the next few years before mandating humidors at all 30 stadiums starting in the 2022 season.
But their use is completely opposite in theory. How a humidor affects the ball depends on the local climate of the stadium.
In dry, arid climates (like Denver or dry summer days), storing balls in a humidor adds moisture to the leather and wool, making the ball slightly heavier and softer. This reduces its bounciness and causes fly balls to travel a shorter distance.
Conversely, in extremely wet or humid cities, the humidor can actually dry the baseballs out slightly, making them harder and bouncier, which could theoretically cause them to travel farther. MLB introduced this standardization to eliminate fluctuations in the ball’s weight and “carry” across different ballparks.
Frankly I’m not smart enough to figure out how it does the opposite at the same time in both locations and various moistures to get a standardization.
The decision to use the humidors was made by the Rockies organization to try to save pitchers . With the light air, offense went both ways and they couldn’t protect their pitchers’ arms.
And they even tried to slow offense another way. The Rockies built an unusually large stadium specifically to offset Denver’s high elevation which did more damage than good. When Coors Field opened in 1995, its designers extended the outfield fences to create the largest outfield in Major League Baseball—spanning approximately 117,800 square feet—to prevent the thin, dry air from causing a massive surge in home runs. Large outfields may cut home run production but that, also, creates more places to cover, putting outfielders in bad positioning, and giving a lot more space for balls to drop in. And this is why games had so much offense in Denver and average hitters would have great days. Unlike the pitchers. It also effected the staff as they had a need for more long guys and less setup pitchers. Damed if you do....
wy69
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