"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
Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century. Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2011. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.. <www.retrosheet.org>
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>
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