Zack Greinke's pinch hit single in game five of 2021 was the first in a long time. No American League pitcher had gotten a pinch hit since 2023. Zackie did something that hadn't been done in nearly a century.
It must be odd for me to be saying that a pitcher went in and batted for one. Let alone came through. Greinke, though, was having himself a pretty good World Series that year. Pitching for Houston (Who, ironically, had once been part of the National League up to 2013), Zack was trying to square the Fall Classic 2-2 against a tough Atlanta Braves' team.
Well, the Astos' starter had a short day. But still, he went four shutout innings, leaving for a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth. I think this was an odd move. Houston was up 2-0, and Greinke could do no wrong. In four innings, Zack had allowed just four hits and fanned three.
And then, there was his bat. Zack Greinke came up in the top of the second, and punched a one-out single. The 'stros got two men on, but were unable to score that inning. Eventually, they lost the game 3-2.
So game five was a must for Houston, as they trailed 3-1 in the Fall Classic. It started out poorly. Adam Duvall blasted a grand slam for Atlanta in the bottom of the first off starter Framber Valdez, and it was 4-0 for the home team. Would the rest of the game be merely a formality?
Not quite. The Astros bounced back with two runs in the top of the second. Then two more the next inning. Houston was not going away quietly. Freddie Freeman, though, gave Atlanta the lead again in the Braves' half of the third. He hit a home run of his own. Only this one was a solo shot.
So when the Astros grabbed the lumber again, they needed a run or two. MartÃn Maldonado, the light-hitting catcher, grounded out. The next scheduled batter was pitcher Yimi Garcia, who'd relieved the battered starter, Valdez. But, there was Zack Greinke, 1-1 at the plate in the 2021 Fall Classic, grabbing the bat.
The pitcher pinch hits for the pitcher. Greinke took a strike, then stroked a single on the 0-1! Jose Altuve, the leadoff hitter, was next. But all he could do was fly out. Still, Atlanta would go to the bullpen, even with two away. New pitcher A.J. Minter came in and got Michael Brantley to strikeout, ending that.
Remarkably enough, it seemed like, despite the "0" on the scoreboard, that Houston truly woke up. They scored three times in the top of the fifth. The Astros added single runs in the seventh and eighth, and had themselves a nice, 9-5 win. Their bullpen had held the Braves scoreless in the last six innings.
But what about Zack Greinke's historical feat? Atlanta, by the way, routed Houston 7-0 in game six to end the Fall Classic for 2021. Beginning in 2022, the designated hitter would be everywhere. American and National League. Well, I guess with the exception of when Shohei Ohtani pitched.
Up until 1973, pitchers batted in both leagues, my how times have changed. Back in the day, as in 1923, it wasn't uncommon for pitchers to be good hitters. Greinke wasn't a bad hitter, .225 lifetime. If you want to get a little bit more of how Zack evolved, take from 2013 to 2019, when he hit .240.
But take Jack Bentley. Bentley was a pitcher for the New York Giants in the early 1920s. Oddly, enough, Jack was more a hitter than a hurler. He even ended up playing 59 games at first base, and another three in the outfield.
In 1923, the Giants' pitcher was 13-8, but his earned run average was quite high (4.48). But he was quite a hitter that year, hitting .427 in 52 games. John McGraw, his manager, used him 22 times as a pinch-hitter. So he was trusted to come up big, at least with the bat.
It was New York vs. New York in the World Series that year. Bentley's Giants were up against Babe Ruth's Yankees for the third straight year. The Giants were looking for their third straight Fall Classic win.
But Ruth and company had other ideas. The Babe, you see, brought winning with him after coming over from the Boston Red Sox. Ruth had rings from 1915, 1916 and 1918. When he came to the Bronx in 1920, the team hadn't done so much as reach the Fall Classic. They were in a tight pennant race with Cleveland and Chicago, but couldn't keep pace in the end.
Game one was at a very new ballpark. Yankee Stadium had opened in '23, and what better was to christen the place with something new for everyone: A World Series title!
So it was Waite Hoyt for the Yankees up against Mule Watson of the Giants.
The moment came early. Watson was tagged for a run in the last of the first (Some chap named Ruth was the Yankee that scored it) and two more in the second. The visiting Giants needed some help.
George Kelly, the very first batter of the third frame, singled on the first offering from Hoyt. Hank Gowdy walked. Watson was next, but it would be Jack Bentley that batted. Bentley's single loaded the bases. It was a short cameo for Jack. Dinty Gearin came in to run for Bentley. He was erased when Dave Bancroft hit into a force. A run did score, however.
Three more runs crossed the plate before Babe Ruth and company could grab lumber in the third. The Yankees would tie the game in the last of the seventh, before Casey Stengel played hero for the Giants in the ninth. Casey hit an inside-the-park home run off Bullet Joe Bush, making it 5-4 for the visitors. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in their half of the inning.
Jack Bentley ended up getting into five of the six games played in the 1923 Fall Classic. He didn't do much in his two appearances as a pitcher, posting a 9.45 earned run average. At bat, though, it was a different story. He hit .600 (3-5) as his Giants fell in a tough, six-game World Series.
References
Anderson, R.J. "World Series: Astros’ Zack Greinke Records Historic Pinch-Hit Single in Game 5." CBSSports.Com, CBS Interactive, 1 Nov. 2021. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/world-series-astros-zack-greinke-records-historic-pinch-hit-single-in-game-5/. 08 May, 2023.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.
Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020.
Society For American Baseball Research, SABR. https://sabr.org/. 08 May, 2023.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. 08 May, 2023.
2021 World Series. Fox Broadcasting Company, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/. Accessed 08 May, 2023.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 08 May, 2023.
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