Common Denominatior

"Last man retired in the Marichal / Spahn duel of 1963 and last out of Koufax's perfect game."

That would be none other than Harvey Kuenn. Long before he even made his way to the National League, he was player of immense proportions. Starting his career with the Detroit Tigers in 1952, he was one tough out.

Kuenn batted .308 as a rookie in 1953, having appeared in just 18 games for the Tigers the year before. He was Rookie Of The Year. 1954 brought more good news for Detroit as another rookie named Al Kaline arrived in right.

Kuenn's best year for the Tigers was 1959. He led the American League in batting average that year, with a career-high .353 mark. Harvey also led the league in hits and doubles. Then came a shocking trade in the spring of 1960. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Rocky Colavito. But his stay with Cleveland lasted just one season.

In December of 1960, Harvey was traded to the National League San Francisco Giants. He'd finally get his chance to play in the World Series with them in 1962, although they lost to the New York Yankees in seven games.

The next year wasn't a pleasant one for him against either Koufax or Spahn. Harvey faced Spahn on April 28th and managed to get a single off him. It mattered little. Spahn won 3-1. When he faced Koufax on May 11th, it was worse.

His team was no-hit 8-0.

Juan Marichal, ace of the Giants, could not keep pace with Koufax. Sandy had it on this day. While he fanned only four batters, he also walked only two. When he got Harvey Kuenn out in the top of the ninth, Sandy had faced just 28 batters. He was that good.

The July 2nd game at Candlestick Park saw Kuenn collect just one hit in seven at bats. It was a gem of a hit, a double. But Harvey had to wait until the 14th to do that. The Giants eventually loaded the bases, with Kuenn himself the winning run on third. However, it was not to be.

Kuenn came up one more time in the game to lead off the bottom of the 16th. Spahn still had it, so it seemed. He got 'em to fly out to centre. But then Willie Mays hit a dramatic, walk-off to end this jewel of a duel. It made Juan Marichal and the Giants 1-0 winners.

In 1965, Kuenn was on the Chicago Cubs as they made their way to Los Angeles for a night game on September 9th. Once again, Sandy was dandy.

Going 3-2 on the batter only once all game, Sandy entered the ninth inning up 1-0, but that was enough. 24 straight batters had been retired. Amazingly enough he'd struck out the side in the top of the eighth. He started the ninth with a pair of K's. That brought Harvey Kuenn to the dish as a pinch hitter.

Harvey got ahead 2-1, but Sandy had thrown his last bad pitch when he missed the strike zone with his 1-1 delivery. Kuenn missed the next pitch. 2-2. Sandy blew another by him. He had the perfect game. Kuenn was on the wrong side of history again.


References

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. Print.

Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century. Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2011. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.

Retrosheet. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.. <www.retrosheet.org>

Baseball: 200,000 Games At The Major League Level

(Disclaimer: I use major league from the birth of the National League in 1876 to the present. For now, The National Association (1871 to 1875), The American Association (1882 to 1891), aren't going to be included.The American League joined the fray in 1901. I will include the Federal League, however, as one of my all time favs, Chief Bender, pitched one season and sported a 4-16 record. Must have been one tough league!)

So baseball approaches 200,000 games played tomorrow.

That many?

Through the years, it has provided some of the greatest excitement ever seen from sports fans.

Here, for your pleasure, is my Top 10 Most Memorable Games EVER In Baseball:

10)  Game 6, 1993 World Series, October 23, 1993. Joe Carter's homerun, I must have jumped so high, I hit my head on my basement ceiling!

9)  September 9, 1965: Poor Bob Hendley. He tosses a 1-hitter over 8 innings. That's enough to beat anyone. Anyone, that is, except for Sandy Koufax, who tosses a perfect game and wins 1-0.

8)  July 2, 1963: Warren Spahn is nearing the end of his career, while Juan Marichal was just sort of starting his. But it was Juan heck of a long game, that ended with Marichal on top 1-0...in 16 innings via Willie Mays' homerun!

7)  May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix retires 36 straight batters to start the game, then ends up losing it somehow!

6)  Game 5, 1956 World Series, October 8th: Don Larsen commits grand larceny by throwing the only perfect game, or even no-hitter, in World Series history

5)  Game 1, 1954 World Series, September 29th: Mays makes THE CATCH!

4)  Game 6, 1975 World Series, October 21st: First Bernie Carbo's dramatic 3-run pinch hit homerun ties the game, then brilliant plays by George Foster and Dwight Evans keep it tied. And then Carlton Fisk leads off the bottom of the 12 and...

3)  Game 7, 1991 World Series, October 27th: Gene Larkin is sent up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th to pinch hit for DH (?!)  Jarvis Brown and delivers the blow that ended a World Series that, honestly, seemed to have no end in sight!

2)  Game 7, 1960 World Series, October 13th: Bill Mazeroski! Sorry Dad, that game!

1)  Game 3, 1951 National League Playoffs, October 3rd: Need I say more?


References

Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.

Baseball's Greatest Moments. Prod. Major League Baseball Home Video. Perf. Warner Fusselle. Major League Baseball, 1991. Videocassette. Narrated by Warner Fusselle.

Bingley, Phil, et al. Another World: the Toronto Stars Tribute To The’ 93 Blue Jays. Toronto Star for Doubleday Canada, 1993. Print.

Brenner, Richard J. The World Series: The Great Contests. East End Publishing, 1989. Print.

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. Print.

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. Print.

Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Fenway: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print.

Kahn, Roger. The Boys Of Summer. Harper & Row, 1972. Print.

Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century. Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2011. Print.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Paper, Lewis J. Perfect: Don Larsen's Miraculous World Series Game And The Men Who Made It Happen. New York, NY: New American Library, 2009. Print.

Seaver, Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1992. Print.

Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Juan Marichal

Juan Marichal was "3" of the big three pitchers of the 60s, behind Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax. He never won a Cy Young award.

He hailed from Laguna Verde, Monte Cristi in the Dominian Republic, and was renown for his extreme high leg kick that he made in his delivery.

I rank him below Koufax and Gibson like most people, but you didn't want to bat against him, believe me.

And just that, he wasn't that far off those two.

Gibson posted a 22-9 record in 1968, the year of the pitcher. Denny McLain won 31 games to lead the American League. But it was Marichal who lead the NL in wins with 26, and also in innings pitched (325 2/3).

And he completed 30 of 38 starts that year!

Actually, we should look at that entire decade of the 60s when we talk about Marichal.

Trivia question: What pitcher won the most games in the majors in the 1960s?

Answer: Juan Marichal

When I think of Marical, I think of two things. 1) The night he almost killed John Roseboro, the Dodger catcher, and 2) The pitching duel with Warren Spahn in 1963.

The first was a rather gruesome incident. August 22, 1965, Dodgers and Giants. Frustrated when Roseboro returned a pitch of Sandy Koufax's too close to Marichal (who was batting), he swung his bat and hit John in the head, injuring him.

The other is much more pleasant and will make anyone who loves a pitcher's duel, mouth water.

It was on July 2, 1963. Marichal and Spahn were in, as I like to call it, "The Pitching Zone" where no one can hit you.

Actually there were a plenty hits in the game. But they were spread out!

How this for a pitching line?

Marichal: 16 IP, 8H, 0R 0ER, 10K, 4BB

Sphan: 15 1/3 IP, 9H, 1R, 1ER, 2K, 1BB

Willie Mays won the game with a dramatic walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 16th.


References


Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 July 2011.

Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, And The Pitching Duel Of The Century. Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2011. Print.

Tinley, Scott. "Nearly Half Century Later, Spahn-Marichal Duel Still The Best Ever." SI.com. Sports Illustrated, 1 July 2011. Web. 25 July 2011. <http://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/07/01/kaplan-spahnmarichal>