Harvey Haddix had the 12 inning perfect game (at least is was considered one at the time). It was 1959.
But the Pirates finished 78-76, for only 4th in the NL. In 1960, the Pirates finished first.
Haddix's performance dropped off. Although only 11-11 in 1959 (11-10 in 1960), he finished first in the NL in H/9 (7.6) and WHIP (1.061). Compare that to 9.9 H/9 and 1.317 WHIP in 1960, which wasn't even good enough for a top ten finish.
Haddix also finished 1959 8th in ERA (3.13), 6th in BB/9 (2.0), 6th in K/9 (6) and 6th in K's (149). He also finished 14 games, which was good enough for 9th. On the negative side, Harvey allowed 26 homeruns, which was good enough for 4th. His K/BB ratio was 3.0 for 1959, placing him 3rd.
And he made no errors in 43 chances to lead the NL in fielding percentage as a pitcher. This helped earn him his second straight gold glove.
1960, as mentioned above, was a different story for the most part.
His ERA was 3.97, but he did record an almost identical BB/9 (actually it was 1.985, whereas the season before it was actually 1.966). This was good enough for 5th place in the NL in 1960.
But his K/9 dropped from 6.0 to 5.3, and he actually gave up the exact same amount of hits in 1960 that he allowed in the 1959, 189. But he pitched less innings: 172.1 in 1960 compared to 224.1 in 1959. Neither, it should be noted, was enough for a top ten finish.
But Haddix's 13 homeruns allowed was the fewest he ever allowed in a full season. That allowed Harvey to finish 10th in fewest HR/9 in 1960 (0.7). In 1959, he allowed 1.0 HR/9. His K/BB ratio dropped from 3.0 to 2.7, but he managed to finish 6th among National League hurlers in 1960.
But, you know, how about Harvey Haddix's batting and fielding from 1959 and 1960? Here, is where it is better!
Haddix hit only .145 in 1959. In 1960, he hit .254. He drove in, and scored 7 runs. In 1959, Haddix had only 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. And Haddix had 17 more plate appearances in 1959. The .254 batting average was topps among pitchers with 70 or more plate appearances.
Fielding-wise, his Range Factor Per 9 Innings was just 1.73 in 1959. His Range Factor Per Game that season was just 1.39. So had he really fielded that well that year?
He topped both those marks in 1960, as his 2.87 R/9 put together in 1960 placed him 3rd. And Haddix's 1.90 R/G saw him in 5th place. He won another Gold Glove. It was his third straight (and final time) he would win it.
But baseball is a team game. 1959 ended with no postseason for the Pirates. 1960 ended with a World Championship for the Pirates. And it was against the great New York Yankees.
Haddix won 2 games. He pitched one hell of a game in game 5: 6.1 5H 2(E)R, 2BB, 6K. Harvey even got a hit in the game.
He also allowed a homerun by Roger Maris, but that came in the bottom of the third with the Pirates up 4-1. The Yankees would come no closer in the game, as Pittsburgh won it, 5-2.
The would win game 7, but that was in relief.
It had been a back and forth game. One of the best, most exciting game 7's you will ever see in baseball.
The Pirates took an early 4-0 lead. But the Yankees scored a run in the top of the 5th, 4 more in the next inning, and then 2 more in the top of the 8th.
The Pirates came back in the bottom of the frame. They crossed the plate 5 times. That's because a sure double-play ball hit by Bill Virdon, hit a pebble (dislodged from the ground by an earlier base runner) and then hit Tony Kubek in the throat.
Elroy Face had been removed by pinch hitter Gino Cimoli in that big 8th inning. So it was Bob Friend on the hill as the Pirates were just 3 outs away from an amazing upset.
But Bobby Richardson (just stick him into these situations, and what do you get?) led off with a single. And then Dale Long followed it with a pinch-hit single. Oh, those Yankees. They just don't roll over and die, do they? That's what brought Haddix into the game.
The first batter was a left hander, Roger Maris. Although a year away from 61 homeruns, it's not like his 1960 season was chopped liver. No, his 1960 season produced 39 homeruns in only 136 games. And Roger added two more here in the World Series.
So, as mentioned earlier, one of them was off Haddix. Harvey was here to stop Maris from belting another and putting the Yankees back on top. On top for good, in all likelihood.
It seemed to work as Maris popped out to catcher Hal Smith, whose 3 run dinger in the bottom of the eighth led to 3 of the 5 runs. But Mickey Mantle singled to score Richardson. Long made it to third. And then something odd happened.
Long was replaced by pinch-runner Gil McDougald, who was playing in what turned out to be his last game.
Anyways, Yogi Berra grounded to first. Rocky Nelson stepped on first for the second out, then looked at Mantle, who was standing there a little off the bag. Mantle was dead. But with a fake to the left and a slide to the right, Mantle made it under the tag! McDougald scored. Never count the Yankees out.
Moose Skowron grounded to Dick Groat the shortstop. Groat tossed to second basemen Bill Mazeroski for the force of Mantle at second. Bill had no idea what was about to happen to that very ball in his hand.
Ralph Terry, who had finally gotten the Yankees out of the 8th inning, was on to face the bottom of the Pirates. The first batter he faced was Mazeroski.
The first pitch was a high slider, ball one.
But then Terry threw a fat slider. Mazeroski jumped on it, and sent the ball over the left-field wall in left. The Pirates were World Series Champions. This was the first time the Fall Classic had ever ended with a homerun. And, like I said earlier, Harvey Haddix was the game winning pitcher in game 7!
Isn't that how you like to contribute at the end of a season?
References
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print. pp. 380-381.
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.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 03 Sept. 2013.
But the Pirates finished 78-76, for only 4th in the NL. In 1960, the Pirates finished first.
Haddix's performance dropped off. Although only 11-11 in 1959 (11-10 in 1960), he finished first in the NL in H/9 (7.6) and WHIP (1.061). Compare that to 9.9 H/9 and 1.317 WHIP in 1960, which wasn't even good enough for a top ten finish.
Haddix also finished 1959 8th in ERA (3.13), 6th in BB/9 (2.0), 6th in K/9 (6) and 6th in K's (149). He also finished 14 games, which was good enough for 9th. On the negative side, Harvey allowed 26 homeruns, which was good enough for 4th. His K/BB ratio was 3.0 for 1959, placing him 3rd.
And he made no errors in 43 chances to lead the NL in fielding percentage as a pitcher. This helped earn him his second straight gold glove.
1960, as mentioned above, was a different story for the most part.
His ERA was 3.97, but he did record an almost identical BB/9 (actually it was 1.985, whereas the season before it was actually 1.966). This was good enough for 5th place in the NL in 1960.
But his K/9 dropped from 6.0 to 5.3, and he actually gave up the exact same amount of hits in 1960 that he allowed in the 1959, 189. But he pitched less innings: 172.1 in 1960 compared to 224.1 in 1959. Neither, it should be noted, was enough for a top ten finish.
But Haddix's 13 homeruns allowed was the fewest he ever allowed in a full season. That allowed Harvey to finish 10th in fewest HR/9 in 1960 (0.7). In 1959, he allowed 1.0 HR/9. His K/BB ratio dropped from 3.0 to 2.7, but he managed to finish 6th among National League hurlers in 1960.
But, you know, how about Harvey Haddix's batting and fielding from 1959 and 1960? Here, is where it is better!
Haddix hit only .145 in 1959. In 1960, he hit .254. He drove in, and scored 7 runs. In 1959, Haddix had only 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. And Haddix had 17 more plate appearances in 1959. The .254 batting average was topps among pitchers with 70 or more plate appearances.
Fielding-wise, his Range Factor Per 9 Innings was just 1.73 in 1959. His Range Factor Per Game that season was just 1.39. So had he really fielded that well that year?
He topped both those marks in 1960, as his 2.87 R/9 put together in 1960 placed him 3rd. And Haddix's 1.90 R/G saw him in 5th place. He won another Gold Glove. It was his third straight (and final time) he would win it.
But baseball is a team game. 1959 ended with no postseason for the Pirates. 1960 ended with a World Championship for the Pirates. And it was against the great New York Yankees.
Haddix won 2 games. He pitched one hell of a game in game 5: 6.1 5H 2(E)R, 2BB, 6K. Harvey even got a hit in the game.
He also allowed a homerun by Roger Maris, but that came in the bottom of the third with the Pirates up 4-1. The Yankees would come no closer in the game, as Pittsburgh won it, 5-2.
The would win game 7, but that was in relief.
It had been a back and forth game. One of the best, most exciting game 7's you will ever see in baseball.
The Pirates took an early 4-0 lead. But the Yankees scored a run in the top of the 5th, 4 more in the next inning, and then 2 more in the top of the 8th.
The Pirates came back in the bottom of the frame. They crossed the plate 5 times. That's because a sure double-play ball hit by Bill Virdon, hit a pebble (dislodged from the ground by an earlier base runner) and then hit Tony Kubek in the throat.
Elroy Face had been removed by pinch hitter Gino Cimoli in that big 8th inning. So it was Bob Friend on the hill as the Pirates were just 3 outs away from an amazing upset.
But Bobby Richardson (just stick him into these situations, and what do you get?) led off with a single. And then Dale Long followed it with a pinch-hit single. Oh, those Yankees. They just don't roll over and die, do they? That's what brought Haddix into the game.
The first batter was a left hander, Roger Maris. Although a year away from 61 homeruns, it's not like his 1960 season was chopped liver. No, his 1960 season produced 39 homeruns in only 136 games. And Roger added two more here in the World Series.
So, as mentioned earlier, one of them was off Haddix. Harvey was here to stop Maris from belting another and putting the Yankees back on top. On top for good, in all likelihood.
It seemed to work as Maris popped out to catcher Hal Smith, whose 3 run dinger in the bottom of the eighth led to 3 of the 5 runs. But Mickey Mantle singled to score Richardson. Long made it to third. And then something odd happened.
Long was replaced by pinch-runner Gil McDougald, who was playing in what turned out to be his last game.
Anyways, Yogi Berra grounded to first. Rocky Nelson stepped on first for the second out, then looked at Mantle, who was standing there a little off the bag. Mantle was dead. But with a fake to the left and a slide to the right, Mantle made it under the tag! McDougald scored. Never count the Yankees out.
Moose Skowron grounded to Dick Groat the shortstop. Groat tossed to second basemen Bill Mazeroski for the force of Mantle at second. Bill had no idea what was about to happen to that very ball in his hand.
Ralph Terry, who had finally gotten the Yankees out of the 8th inning, was on to face the bottom of the Pirates. The first batter he faced was Mazeroski.
The first pitch was a high slider, ball one.
But then Terry threw a fat slider. Mazeroski jumped on it, and sent the ball over the left-field wall in left. The Pirates were World Series Champions. This was the first time the Fall Classic had ever ended with a homerun. And, like I said earlier, Harvey Haddix was the game winning pitcher in game 7!
Isn't that how you like to contribute at the end of a season?
References
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print. pp. 380-381.
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.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 03 Sept. 2013.
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