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Posted on 10/17/2019 3:54:19 AM PDT by a little elbow grease
On July 19, 1955, Vernon Law was the starting pitcher in the Pirates' 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Braves. ... Law started and pitched the first 18 innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. In those 18 innings, he allowed nine hits, two runs -- only one of which was earned -- two walks and 12 strikeouts.
On July 19, 1955, Vernon Law was the starting pitcher in the Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Braves. Law, nicknamed The Deacon, was not the winning pitcher and didn’t even get a complete game on that Tuesday night at Forbes Field. But the absence of those barometers of success does not diminish his stunning accomplishment.
In this era of pitch counts, side sessions and all-around babying of pitchers, what Law did in 1955 is breathtaking in its magnitude.
The game went 19 innings. Law started and pitched the first 18 innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
In those 18 innings, he allowed nine hits, two runs -- only one of which was earned -- two walks and 12 strikeouts.
ElRoy Face, the great reliever who was a teammate of Law’s, recalled the performance with awe. “He threw over 200 pitches,” he said.
Pitch counts are a relatively new statistic to baseball and no one was counting that night. But it’s pretty certain Law threw at least 200 pitches and probably closer to 250 to the 64 batters he faced.
Law’s pitching opponent that night was Lew Burdette, the same pitcher who dueled with Haddix four years later.
It was no weak lineup that Law faced that night. Batting back-to-back at three-four were Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron. Bobby Thomson ('51 Playoff game) batted fifth.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
The more the players are paid, the more they are are pampered as a way for the clubs to protect their investments.
It has detracted from the game imo.
Then there’s Harvey Haddix - 12 *perfect* innings, only to lose in the 13th - also with the Pirates, also against the Braves (and also roughly in the same era).
Baseball has become much more of a situational game for pitchers rather than a long, drawn-out contest. There is a lot of talk about pitchers being “babied” these days, but let’s keep in mind that they are throwing harder than ever and are pushing themselves right up against the physical limitations of the human body.
Vernon Law, Lew Burdette, Harvey Haddax, Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Bobby Thomson....
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Why do you say "they are throwing harder than ever"? If you think that that is true, tell me, WHY are they throwing harder than ever.
signed
Bob Gibson
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ps --- They are generally throwing harder than ever. Why are they? Because they're listening to a bunch of brain-dead coaches, managers, trainers, and faux gurus.
LOL
To 'stosh': Harvey's game is mentioned in the article. I listened to both of these games on my trusty little black transistor radio.
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For sure!
It's gotten so ridiculous that this year numerous times this year, I have seen pitchers sailing along through 4 shutout innings, only to be yanked by their managers before they could pitch the 5th inning ...... thus they could not register a WIN for themselves. ABSURD!
NOW GET THIS ............... WITH LAST NIGHT'S RAINOUT THERE WILL BE YANKEES/ASTROS FOUR DAYS IN A ROW.
The horrors!! Pitching coaches and managers will be having strokes. (Warm up that shortstop quick!)
Well, 4 straight days of playing is not unusual and in fact there are times during the reg season where clubs will go 13-15 days without a day off.
Clubs generally carry 13-15 pitcher including 5 starters and about n9n relievers. Starters pitch every 5th day so 4 straight days of playing is not really a problem. In the post season teams would rather have the days off as scheduled because it allows them to use their best pitchers in more of the games played in the series.
In 1967 Jim Maloney of the Reds no hit the Cubs for 10 innings. 12 strikeouts, 10 walks, 187 pitches.
“Baseball has become much more of a situational game for pitchers rather than a long, drawn-out contest.”
I despise the Whitey Herzog philosophy of pitching by committee. If your starter is going strong, you leave him in as long as possible, unless the thought behind it is to have him pitch on 2 days rest. That might work in the playoffs, (see Mike Scott in 1986) but during the regular season?
It’s remarkable how many pitches and innings they used to throw back in the old days. Why are today’s pitchers so fragile in comparison? Are they over trained? Does the more variety of pitches take more a toll on the arm? Or do they simply throw much harder?
I was shocked when Boone pulled Paxton in the third inning!
Not to mention how that slows the game down.
Only if the Yankees win a couple!
The key is here that they throw not pitch. Young talent are expected to throw in mid-high 90’s or teams do not want them. Control and a variety of pitches they can control in any situation is a lost art for most.
From AstrosDaily.com history:
Sept. 9, 1972
Don Wilson ties a club record by tossing 13 innings in a complete-game 5-1 victory in San Francisco. Bob Watson and Roger Metzger end it with home runs in the decisive frame. Metzger finishes with four hits and four RBIs. Imagine how scribes would howl at Leo Durocher these days for keeping Wilson out there for 193 pitches.
Hearing that Harvey Haddix game had to have been heart-breaking.
One of my grade school teachers was a nun from Pittsburgh. So even though I grew up in Illinois, I got to watch Mazeroski park the walk-off that sunk the hated Yankees - our class that afternoon was the national broadcast of the World Series game on a TV that nun had set up for the occasion. As I recall, she didn’t smile much - she did that day.
Jim Maloney was one scary pitcher. Wild.... but threw smoke. (I wonder how many of those 187 pitches were fast balls). ;-)
Yes, I think excessive weight training to get their arm speed up to its maximum is why you see pitchers burn out so fast. And if you can’t hit 95 MPH as a prospect, you’re probably doomed to a career in the minors.
And you wonder why some pitchers turn to steroids to bulk up?
I’ve often said if steroids are unfair, why isn’t Tommy John surgery unfair? You’re replacing a worn elbow ligament with a relatively unused one and guys return with more zip on their fastballs than before the surgery. Both are getting an artificial result that the human body couldn’t produce on its own. The only difference is one is done in an operating room and the other can be self-administered.
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That is an interesting point of view.
Along those lines, I sometimes wondered about this:
"Tom Dempsey was an inspirational NFL player. Despite being born with only half a right foot and no right hand, the tenacious kicker had an 11-year NFL career. Dempsey kicked a record 63-yard field goal with the New Orleans Saints in 1970."
He also had a shoe on his kicking foot with a FLAT front. I wonder if that was fair.
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