A Long Day's Journey into Night: Twenty Innings, Two Pitchers, 39 Hits, 18 Runs, and a Tie Game

The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, one Jim Nasium*, called it "one of the most sensational ball game (sic) ever played on any ball park." On April 30, 1919, the Phillies squared off against the Brooklyn Robins at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl. The teams battled mightily through 20 innings only to see the game called because of darkness with the score tied at 9-9 after four hours of wacky and wonderful baseball. Most remarkable of all, perhaps, was that after those 20 innings, 164 plate appearances, 39 base hits, 11 walks, 5 errors, 18 runs and untold number of pitches, only two pitchers had appeared on the mound. The Robins' future Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes and the Phillies' journeyman Joe Oeschger (ESH-ker) each pitched 20-inning complete games. This is a feat that is hard to imagine in this day, when starting pitchers are generally asked to pitch six or seven good innings and when complete game nine-inning pitching performances are becoming a rarity. 

Grimes faced 82 batters in the game. Oeschger faced 84. Grimes gave up 15 hits. Oeschger gave up an astounding 24. Even by conservative estimates each of the pitchers must have thrown close to 300 pitches on the afternoon. All this and yet for an error on a routine ground ball with two outs in the ninth inning, the game would have ended in regulation.

The game was a seesaw battle from the start. The Phillies scored first when Dave Bancroft drove home Cy Williams with a triple in the first inning. The Robins came right back with two runs in the second on four consecutive singles by Hi Myers, Ed Konetchy, Lew Malone, and Ernie Kreuger. The Robins extended their lead to 5-1 in the third on singles by Ivy Olson, Zach Wheat, and Konetchy, and a double by Myers. The Phils closed the gap to 5-4 on a single by Bancroft, a walk to Possum Whitted, and doubles by Fred Luderas and Doug Baird. From there the game calmed down and the pitchers took over until the Phillies retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth on another Luderas double, a bunt, a fielder's choice ground ball where Luderas beat the throw home, and an error by Robins' third baseman Malone.

Oeschger took the mound in the top of the ninth with a 6-5 lead and a chance to win the game for the Phils. It was not to be. Pinch-hitter Jim Hickman led off with a single and advanced to second on a Grimes sacrifice bunt. Hickman advanced to third on a groundout. Oeschger then induced Lee Magee to hit a ground ball to second base, but Harry Pearce bobbled the ball and the tying run scored. In time, players on both teams, as well as fans with dinner reservations, would come to regret that muff. 

Grimes and Oeschger managed to keep the opposition off the board for the next nine innings. Defense played a role in keeping the game tied. Pearce, whose error had let in the tying run, redeemed himself in the fourteenth. With one out and Robins' baserunners on first and third, Pearce speared a hard bouncer from Tommy Griffith and fired home to catch Olson trying to score. Then after Oeschger issued an intentional walk to Wheat, Pearce leaped to grab Myers' wicked shot toward right and throw him out at first. Later a pair of spectacular double plays started by Bancroft at short in the 16th inning and Luderas at first in the seventeenth, kept the Robins off the board.

In the nineteenth the dam broke. With two men on and one out, Oeschger struck out the dangerous Wheat. That brought up Hi Myers, the Robins center fielder who was having a terrific game. In the field he had made several spectacular grabs of Phillies' drives and at the plate he had four hits including that RBI double. Now Myers launched a long fly ball over left fielder Whitted's head. Whitted got turned around and the ball flew beyond his outstretched glove and bounced into the stands. Under ground rules in effect at the time, the ball was ruled a home run and the Robins had a three-run lead. 

The Phillies weren't finished yet, however. Two of their best hitters, Irish Muesel and Gavvy Cravath, who did not start the game, were still on the bench and available to pinch-hit. Williams led off the bottom of the 19th and reached base when Robins' right fielder Griffith dropped his line drive. Bancroft forced Williams at second. Luderas lashed his fourth hit of the game, a single to right. Whitted followed with a single driving home Bancroft. Baird grounded out sharply to the pitcher Grimes, but Muesel, batting for Pearce, was walked. Phillies manager Jack Coombs then went to his ace in the hole and sent Cravath up to hit for catcher Hick Cady. Cravath, the aging Phillies slugger, smashed a drive off Baker Bowl's famous short, high wall in right. Luderas and Whitted scored easily to tie the game, and when Cravath intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second, Muesel tried to score. Grimes threw to catcher Mack Wheat just in time to catch Muesel and the game marched into inning number 20.

Both pitchers worked around a runner on second base in a scoreless 20th inning. At that point umpire Bill Klem turned toward the crowd of 1,300 and announced the game would be called because of darkness. No one really complained. If the game ended with no decision, at least the crowd had been mightily entertained. 

This would be the longest game Burleigh Grimes pitched in his long Hall of Fame career. For Joe Oeschger, however, the game was merely a warm -up. The following year on May 1, 1920, while pitching for the Boston Braves, Oeschger pitched all 26 innings in another game against the Robins. That game, the longest game by innings in major league history, ended in a 1-1 tie. You can read about the game at the SABR Games Project here.

*Jim Nasium was the pen name of the sports cartoonist/sports writer, Edgar Forrest Wolfe, who worked for newspapers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as well as drawing covers for The Sporting News. This quote is from his article on the game in The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 1, 1919. 

Dave Philley's Incredible Pinch-Hitting Streak

Dave Philley played for eight different teams in a distinguished 18 year major league career as an outfielder/first baseman/pinch-hitter. With a name like that, it seems inevitable that at least a part of that long career would be spent, well, as a Phillie. In December 1957, the Phillies purchased the 37 year-old switch-hitter from the Detroit Tigers and Dave Philley became a Phillie. General Manager Roy Hamey said that Phlley would be used primarily as a pinch-hitter. Philley ended up starting 41 games for the Phillies that year, but it was as a pinch-hitter he truly made his mark.

Pinch-hitting is one of the hardest jobs in baseball. Coming off the bench after sitting around all game waiting for a chance, the pinch hitter is often thrown into critical situations. The pinch-hitter has just one shot at success. The Phillies have had a number of great pinch-hitters over the years: Matt Stairs, Greg Gross, and Smokey Burgess come immediately to mind. Dave Philley belongs in that group. In 1958, Philley set the major league record for consecutive pinch hits in a season with eight. A closer look at those eight consecutive hits shows just how critical Philley's contributions were to the Phillies fortunes in those games.

The streak began on September 9 in a game at Connie Mack Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the sixth inning, the Phillies rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game against Sandy Koufax. With Chico Fernandez on third and Bob Bowman on first,  Dodger manager Walter Alston replaced the lefty Koufax with righty Johnny Klippstein. Phils' manager Eddie Sawyer countered with his ace, Dave Philley to bat for pitcher Jack Sanford. Philley promptly singled, scoring Fernandez with the go ahead run. That run turned out to be the winning run as Jack Meyer pitched three shutout innings to preserve the 4-3 victory.

On September 11, Philley beat the Dodgers again. Pinch-hitting for catcher Jimmie Coker in the bottom of the eighth of a 3-3 game against Clem Labine, Philley again singled home Fernandez with  the winning run. The next night, Philley pinch-hit for Ted Kazanski in the eighth inning and singled off the Giant's Ruben Gomez to drive in Richie Ashburn with the Phillies second and last run of the game in a 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. On September 13, Philley again pinch-hit for Kazanski in the eighth inning and again singled home a run in a game the Phillies eventually lost 6-5. That made four consecutive pinch-hit singles accounting for four RBIs.

Philley started the next two games in right field, ironically going 0-6 in the process. Back on the bench on September 19 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philley batted for pitcher Turk Farrell and lined another single, this time with the bases empty and two out. The Phillies lost the game 4-2. The next day, Philley batted for Robin Roberts against the Pirates Elroy Face in the ninth inning with the Phillies down 4-2. He drilled an RBI double down the left field line to pull the Phillies within one run. Unfortunately, the rally died there and the Phillies lost 4-3..

In a game on Saturday, September 27 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, the Phillies entered the eighth inning tied with the Pirates at one. The Phillies took the lead when Wally Post doubled home two runs. Face came on in relief of Vernon Law and intentionally walked Harry Anderson. Sawyer then sent Philley up to bat for Pancho Herrera and Dave launched a Face forkball far over the right field fence for a three-run home run.  Philley's homer tied Peanuts Lowery's 1952 record of seven pinch-hits in seven consecutive pinch-hitting appearances.  Sunday, September 28 was the final day of the season. In the seventh inning, with the Phillies leading 1-0 and Harry Anderson on first, Sawyer again sent Philley up to hit for Pancho Herrera. Dave promptly broke the consecutive pinch-hit record, doubling to right. Anderson scored on the play, but no RBI was awarded because Bill Mazoroski made an error on the relay throw.

To recap, Philley had eight hits in eight consecutive pinch hit at bats, including five singles, two doubles, a home run, and eight RBIs. The season was over, but Philley was not finished with the streak yet. In his first plate appearance in 1959, Philley pinch-hit for catcher Jim Hegan and slammed an RBI double against the Milwaukee Braves Lew Burdette to tie the game at three. Consecutive hitting streaks like this do not carry over to the next season, nonetheless, Philley had nine hits in nine consecutive pinch-hitting appearances. Even when the streak finally ended on April 19, Philly managed a productive out, hitting a sacrifice fly against the Cincinnati Reds Bob Mabe.

Dave Philley continued to play and continued to be an effective pinch-hitter for four more years in the big leagues. In 1961, in Baltimore, at the age of 41, he set the American League record for most pinch-hits in a season at 24. His major league record for consecutive pinch-hits was tied by the New York Mets Rusty Staub in 1983. One final note: Although Philley was a switch-hitter all of the hits in this streak came while he was batting left-handed.

Doug Glanville's Walk-Off Homerun: April 18, 2004

Doug Glanville grew up in Teaneck, NJ, just across the Hudson River from New York City, but he was always a Philadelphia Phillies fan. After playing baseball and completing an engineering degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Glanvillle was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and eventually became their everyday center-fielder. Traded to his favorite team, the Phillies in 1997, Glanville became a steady, productive lead-off hitter and premier defensive player for five years. He also became a fan favorite because of his excellent play, hustle, friendly demeanor, skill with the media, and winning smile. 

By 2003, however, Glanville's production had fallen off and he was about to be relegated to the bench as an extra outfielder. Feeling he was still an everyday player, he opted for free agency signing with the Texas Rangers. It was an unhappy year. The last place Rangers traded him mid-season to the Cubs where he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement on a team that went to the playoffs. Granted free agency by the Cubs in October, he was ready to return to Philadelphia as a back-up outfielder for the 2004 season.

On Sunday, April 18, Glanville took his place on the bench as the Phillies faced the Montreal Expos. Marlon Byrd was the starting center fielder. The first Sunday home game of the season brought out a huge and enthusiastic crowd of more than 43,000 to brand new Citizens Bank Park. After starting the season 1-6, the Phillies had won three games in a row and the fans were hoping they could continue the modest win streak. The crowd was quieted and energy drained from the stadium, however, when starting pitcher Randy Wolf gave up three runs to the Expos in the top of the first inning, including home runs by Orlando Cabrera and Brad Wilkerson. 

The Phillies chipped away at the Expo lead with single runs in the second and fourth. In the fifth inning, Jim Thome brought the crowd to its feet with a two run blast to right field and the Phillies took the lead, 4-3. In the top of the seventh inning, Phillies manager Larry Bowa made a double switch, replacing Wolf with lefty Rheal Cormier and sending in Glanville to replace Marlon Byrd in center. It did not go well. Under the unwritten rule that says the baseball always finds the new guy when he enters the game, Expos catcher Brian Schneider launched Cormier's fourth pitch on a line over Glanville's head in center. Glanville retreated, got turned around, made an awkward and unsuccessful stab at the ball, and crumpled into the fence. Schneider made it to third on the play, ruled a triple, and scored on a Ron Calloway ground out. The game was tied 4-4.

Glanville heard it from the fans in the centerfield stands. He told the Philadelphia Daily News, "One guy yelled I shouldn't be allowed to wear Johnny Callison's old number. Another said we might need a defensive replacement for the defensive replacement. The Phillies faithful are going to let you know when they are not happy with a play. I wasn't happy, either." In the bottom of the seventh, Glanville lead off and flied out to center. The game remained tied as Todd Worrell and Billy Wagner each pitched shut out innings and the Expos' Luis Ayala shut the Phillies down for two innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, Glanville was due to lead off again. Right-hander Rocky Biddle came in for the Expos. Glanville worked the count to 3-1 and launched the next pitch on a line to left-center field. The ball landed about five rows deep into the stands for a game-winning, walk-off home run. Glanville's teammates greeted him at home plate and pounded his back until his helmet popped off. The fans went wild and would not stop cheering until Glanville poked his head shyly out of the dugout and waved to the crowd.

The Phillies had a four game winning streak, and Glanville, the goat two innings earlier, had his redemption. Thinking of the boo birds who were on him after the dropped ball he said with his characteristic smile, "There's something for you."

On this day, Doug Glanville turned the jeers to cheers and with both the fans said, "Welcome back to Philadelphia, Doug."

Wally Wonder Takes Philly by Storm

Left-handed relief pitcher Wally Ritchie became a Phillies phenomenon from day one of his major league career. Entering a May 1st game against the Cincinnati Reds in which the Phillie pitchers had been battered for eight runs and three home runs, Ritchie pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning, and the grateful Phillies fans responded with a serenade of "Wall-eee, Wall-eee" as he walked off the mound. And so the legend of Wally Wonder had begun.

In 1987, Wally Ritchie was an unheralded, twenty-one year pitcher with an underwhelming 84-mile-an-hour fastball and a weird, herky-jerky pitching motion. He was only beginning his third year as a professional, had just become a reliever the year before, and had never pitched in a league higher than AA. Many of the Phillies front office personnel were not even aware of his existence. But the 1987 Phillies were desperate for pitching, left-handed pitching in particular. So toward the end of spring training, they gave Wally Ritchie a look. He pitched in two games and hurled four shut out innings, striking out six batters. He was so unheralded that he had to wear Mike Maddox's uniform when he pitched, but the Phillies brass were impressed and Wally Ritchie put himself on the team's radar. 

Pitching coach Claude Osteen was effusive in his praise. "That's the best pitching I've seen all spring. He's got an unbelievable change up. He didn't throw a ball above the knees unless he wanted to." Even Mets Vice-President, Joe McIlvaine  was impressed. "That's a big-league change-up the kid throws." The Philadelphia Inquirer headline read, "The Phillies Have Found a New Phenom." Speaking for himself the "phenom" said, "It sure has been an exciting week. A lot sure happened in just a few days. Today pitching in this game (against the Mets) was sure a big step." It sure was!

Perhaps it was his youth. Perhaps it was his underdog status. Perhaps it was his genuine modesty. Maybe it was his funky pitching motion or his goofy grin. Maybe it was just because he seemed able to get batters out when so many Phillies pitchers could not. Whatever it was Wally Ritchie captured the imagination of the Phillies faithful and became an instant folk hero.

Two days after his debut, Ritchie burnished his legend by striking out Reds slugger, Eric Davis with two men on, after Davis had bombed three home runs off Phillies pitching. In fact, Ritchie did not allow a run in his first five outings over 7 2/3 innings. The legend grew. The chants of "Wall-eee, Wall-eee" greeted his every appearance on the mound.  Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a feature article about him. Newspapers started calling him Wally Wonder.  

On May 15, he thrilled the Veterans Stadium crowd with his first and only major league hit in his first major league at bat. It was a single to left field, that was greeted with more chants of "Wall-ee, Wall-ee." All of a sudden, as the Phillies team struggled along at 10 games under .500, the fans had found a hero. Wally Ritchie was the perfect Philadelphia hero, a shy, unassuming, soft-spoken kid with a below average fastball, and an above average change up, who just wanted to pitch and get hitters out.

But Wally Wonderland could not last.

Ritchie finally gave up his first run on May 13, a home run to Ozzie Virgil of the Atlanta Braves. Wally World mania faded quickly when he was sent down to the minors in mid-June after a stretch of ineffectiveness, but he was back up by the end of June and pitched creditably for the remainder of the season, finishing with a 3.75 ERA in 49 games and 62 /1/3 innings. He allowed only four of 25 inherited runners to score. Ritchie posted his first win with 2/3 innings relief on June 3 and earned his first save on June 29th, just after being recalled, with three innings of perfect relief against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wally Rtchie was up and down with the Phillies over the next five seasons. He never managed to establish himself as a go-to reliever for any of the five Phillies managers he played for (Felske, Elia, Vukovich, Leyva, Fregosi), but he was usually effective when he did get to pitch. He ended his career with a 6-5 record and 3.14 ERA over 147 appearances.

Wally mania did not last long in Philadelphia, but while it did, it gave the hero starved fans something to root for in that often dispiriting 1987 season.