1972: The Steve Carlton-John Bateman Connection.

In 1972, lefty Steve Carlton had one of the finest seasons for a pitcher in major league baseball history. He posted a 27-10 won-loss record for a Philadelphia Phillies team that won only 59 games. Carlton was responsible for nearly 46% of his team's victories, His ERA was a microscopic 1.97. He won his first Cy Young Award that year. All of this is well documented, of course. What is less well documented is the role played in this record setting year by a journeyman catcher named John Bateman. Pitching to Bateman that year, Carlton went 20-4, 1.60. Pitching to all other catchers he was 7-6, 2.83. Carlton vastly preferred throwing to Bateman and he made his preference known.

Carlton, 27, famously came to the Phillies in February 1972 in a trade for Phillies ace, Rick Wise. Bateman, 31, who had spent most of his career with the Houston Astros, before being traded to the Montreal Expos, came to the Phillies on June 14, 1972, in a straight up trade of catchers, Tim McCarver going to the Expos. The Phillies were looking for a better defensive catcher than McCarver. The Expos were looking for some offense and planned to play McCarver at first base a lot. Bateman had lost his starting catcher position to John Boccabella and had appeared in just 18 games for the Expos, mostly as a pinch-hitter. Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News said of the trade, "The people who have been saying the Phillies could get nothing in a trade for Tim McCarver were right. Last night the Phillies got nothing in a trade for Tim McCarver." Manager Frank Lucchesi declared Bateman "the Phillies No. 1 catcher."

Bateman's first game behind the plate with Carlton on the mound saw Lefty pitch 10 shutout innings and record 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 extra inning loss to Houston in the Astrodome. Reliever Dick Selma gave up a walk-off home run to Jimmy Wynn leading off the eleventh. Bateman and Carlton really bonded, however, in their third game together in Montreal on June 26. In the fourth inning of a scoreless game, Expos pitcher Ernie McAnally plunked Phillies first baseman Joe Lis on the arm. In the bottom of the inning, Carlton retaliated by beaning the Expos Tim Foli. Foli started to go toward the mound but was restrained by Bateman. Meanwhile, Montreal manager Gene Mauch raced out of the dugout and threw a punch at Carlton. In the ensuing melee, Bateman, Roger Freed, and Jim Nash all got shots in at Mauch, who emerged bloodied and limping. Bateman got into a shoving match with Expos' coach Larry Doby, after Doby yanked Bateman off of Mauch by twisting his left arm. Mauch was ejected, both benches were warned, and Carlton and Bateman returned to work.

Bateman, nursing what would be diagnosed as a hyper-extended elbow, came to bat in the top of the fifth inning and launched a one-handed, wind-aided home run just out of the reach of Expos left-fielder, Ken Singleton. Carlton was up next and McAnally whizzed the first pitch behind his head. Carlton started for the mound but thought better of it. "Winning the game was more important. I didn't want to get thrown out." McAnally was ejected. Bateman, unable to lift his left arm, was replaced by Mike Ryan. Carlton then endured a 46-minute rain delay and still returned to the mound to complete a four-hit shutout. Manager Lucchesi said, "That was amazing. A long delay like that and he comes back with better stuff than when he started." Phillies pitcher Bucky Brandon said, "That's what being a superstar is all about. I was warming up next to Steve when it stopped raining, but I had to stop because he was embarrassing me."

Carlton said, "I'm sorry about Foli. I didn't mean to hit him in the head. And I'm sorry about Mauch. I meant to hit him all over."

Bateman kept catching Carlton and Carlton kept winning. On July 23, Carlton and Dodger lefty Tommy John engaged in a classic duel that Carlton won, 2-0, when he tripled home two runners in the seventh inning. Five days later at Veterans Stadium, Carlton again won 2-0 over the Cubs and Milt Pappas, when Willie Montanez launched a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth. In fact, in five consecutive starts with Bateman behind the plate from July 23 to August 9, Carlton did not give up an earned run. The one unearned run he did allow was, ironically, set up by a Bateman passed ball. On August 9, Carlton pitched a three hitter and hit a solo home run as the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0.

For his part, Carlton was effusive in his praise for Bateman. He liked the way Bateman called a game. He liked Bateman's "mechanics" behind the plate. He considered him the finest catcher he threw to in his career. From the time Bateman arrived on June 16 until the end of the year, Bateman caught every game that Carlton pitched. That was 27 games. Carlton won 20 of those games, with just 4 losses, and three no-decisions. 

At the end of the season, the Phillies called up Bob Boone from the minors to see if he was ready to catch at the major league level. He started most of the games in September and October, but he was never in the lineup when Carlton pitched. Carlton made it clear he preferred to throw to Bateman. On September 28, Carlton won his 26th game of the year over the Pittsburgh Pirates and Bob Moose, 2-1. The next day the Phillies travelled to Montreal for a three-game series. Bateman did not accompany the team. It seems that Bateman, as fine a defensive catcher as he was, was a little loose when it came to observing the law.  According to Bill Conlin, he had left a trail of unpaid debts, traffic tickets, and even an abandoned loaner car in Montreal, and feared the authorities would arrest him when he crossed the border.

Satisfied that Boone was ready for the major leagues, the Phillies shopped Bateman to other teams. Finding no takers, they released him in January 1973. Carlton protested vehemently and tried to get the Phillies' brass to reverse the decision, but to no avail. Bateman retired and went on to play fast pitch softball and then catch for famed softball pitcher Eddie Feigner of The King and His Court fame. Bateman claimed to have made more money playing for Feigner than he did as a major leaguer.

In 1973, Carlton struggled. He led the league in losses, falling to 13-20. His ERA ballooned to 3.90. The rookie Boone shouldered much of the blame. It took many years before Carlton was truly comfortable with Boone behind the plate. In 1975, the Phillies brought McCarver back and he became Carlton's personal catcher for several years. Finally, in 1980, Boone and Carlton combined as the battery that led the Phillies to a World Championship.

Connie Ryan's 6 Hit Game: April 16, 1953

Cornelius Joseph "Connie" Ryan may have been only the second most famous Connie affiliated with baseball in Philadelphia,* but on April 16, 1953, he wrote his name permanently into the Phillies' record book. That day the journeyman second baseman went six-for-six in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. He is the only player throughout the Phillies 130-year history to get six hits in a game. And what a game it was. Despite Ryan's heroics, the Phillies managed to lose, 14-12. Not only were 26 runs scored in the game, but 24 of those runs were scored in just two innings, the 4th and 5th. The Phillies rapped out 17 hits compared to the Pirates 15 but lost the game because they committed four errors that led to an astounding nine unearned runs.

Ryan was already a ten-year veteran of the major leagues when he was traded to the Phillies from the Cincinnati Reds before the 1952 season. The Phillies also got catcher Smoky Burgess and pitcher Howie Fox in the deal. They traded away Whiz Kid heroes Andy Seminick and Dick Sisler. Ryan came with a reputation as a solid defensive second baseman with an adequate bat. He had averaged .246 in his years with the New York Giants, Boston Braves, and Reds. The Phillies hoped he would pair with shortstop Granny Hamner to give the team the solid defensive middle infield play they had been lacking. Ryan had a reputation as a "scrapper" and had famously had an on-field fist fight with new teammate Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones over a spiking incident at Cincinnati during the 1951 season. The two were now part of the same infield.

The April 16 game was just the third game of the season for both teams. The Phillies lineup still contained many of the Whiz Kids who had won the pennant in 1950, including Hamner, Jones, Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis, and Stan Lopata. Ryan was the leadoff hitter, while Ashburn batted second. The Pirates lineup featured slugger Ralph Kiner, second baseman Danny O'Connell, just back from military service, and catcher Joe Garagiola. The starting pitchers were Karl Drews for the Phillies and Howie Pollett for the Bucs. Drews had had a career year with the Phillies in 1952, going 14-15 with a 2.72 ERA. Veteran lefty Pollett had twice won twenty games for the St. Louis Cardinals, but his best years were behind him. 

The weather for this early season game featured 36-degree temperatures and snow showers mixed with rain. A chilled crowd of 16,220 was on hand for the Pirates home opener. Ryan led off the game with a single, but after he was sacrificed up to second by Ashburn, he was stranded as Mel Clark struck out and Del Ennis grounded to third. The Pirates scored an early run when Cal Abrams singled, moved up on a Pete Castiglione bunt, and scored on a Kiner single. The run was unearned because catcher Lopata dropped a foul popup off the bat of Kiner before he stroked the base hit. 

The Phillies threatened in the third when, with one out, Ryan singled, and Ashburn doubled him to third. The rally died when Clark again struck out and Ennis again grounded out to third base. The Phillies took the lead, briefly, in the fourth, scoring two runs. First baseman Earl Torgeson opened with a single and scored on a Hamner double. Granny was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, a move that proved costly when Jones followed with a home run to right field. With the Phillies now leading 2-1, chaos broke out.

In the bottom of the fourth, Pirate first baseman, Paul Smith reached safely when Jones fielded his easy grounder and threw wildly to first. O'Connell and Garagiola followed with singles, and the score was tied. Pirate shortstop Dick Cole sacrificed the runners to second and third. Pitcher Pollet then singled driving in both runners and moving to second on the throw home. Abrams flew out for the second out. but Castiglione blasted a homer to left scoring Pollett ahead of him. Centerfielder Felipe Montemayor doubled and that was all for Drews. Manager Eddie Sawyer relieved him with Bob Miller. Kiner greeted Miller with a single that moved Montemayor to third and then both scored when Smith tripled to the gap in right-center field. Miller worked out of the inning, but the Pirates had scored seven runs, only one of which was earned.

Now trailing 8-2 the Phillies fought back in the top of the fifth. Ryan led off with his third straight single. Ashburn walked. Clark grounded into a force out at second. Ennis doubled to left, scoring both Ryan and Clark. Torgeson's single scored Ennis. Reliever Bob Hall replaced Pollet and issued consecutive walks to Hamner and Jones. Out came Pittsburgh manager Fred Haney again to replace Hall with Elroy Face. Face induced a popup from Lopata for the second out. Bill "Swish" Nicholson then batted for Miller and doubled, clearing the bases. Ryan's fourth hit and second of the inning, a double, scored Nicholson. Ashburn singled Ryan home. Johnny Wyrostek batted for Clark and worked a walk. Ennis singled scoring Ashburn. That was all for Face, as Johnny Hetki replaced him. Hetki walked Torgeson but got out of the inning when Hamner lined out sharply to left. The nine-run inning put the Phillies ahead 11-8. The lead didn't last long.

In the bottom of the fifth, Paul Stuffel** took the mound for the Phillies and promptly walked Dick Cole and pinch-hitter George Metkovitch. That was all for Stuffel, who was replaced by Andy "Swede" Hansen. Cal Abrams singled home a run and after Castiglione popped out, Montemayor also singled scoring Metkovitch and sending Abrams to third. Abrams scored when Hamner bobbled Kiner's double play ground ball to the shortstop hole. After Smith grounded into a force-out, O'Connell put an exclamation point on the rally with a home run. The Pirates had scored six (three earned) and now led 14-11. 

From that point on the game calmed down as veteran Murry Dickson of the Pirates and youngster Steve Ridzik of the Phillies restored some order. Ridzik escaped trouble in the sixth thanks in part to an unusual 1-6-6-4-5-4 double play. After Cole doubled, he was caught off second when Dickson hit a comebacker to Ridzik. Ridzik fired to Hamner who chased down Cole for one out and then fired to Ryan at second where Dickson was attempting to move up. Ryan got Dickson in a run down and eventually tagged him out. The Phillies did add a single run in the seventh when Ryan led off with a double (hit number 5) and scored on a Wyrostek single. 

Ryan led off again in the ninth inning and completed his perfect day with another single. That was the last gasp for the Phillies though as the next three hitters went out meekly. The final score, 14-12.

Ryan's six hits tied a then major league record. He was the 32nd major league player and the first Phillie to achieve the feat. The Pirates Rennie Stennett broke the record with seven hits in a nine-inning game in 1975. 

In August of 1953, Ryan was sold to the Chicago White Sox. The move came as a surprise to many, but management felt that Ryan had slowed in the field and decided to move rookie Ted Kazanski into the shortstop spot and transfer Hamner to second base. Ryan played sparingly for the White Sox and closed out his major league career in 1954 appearing in just one game for the Reds. Ryan stayed in baseball as a coach and manager, mostly in the minor leagues, but he was a coach for the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves and also had two brief stints as an interim major league manager.

*The most famous being, of course, Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, longtime manager of the Philadelphia Athletics

**Paul Stuffel had a very unusual pitching line for 1953. He appeared in just two games, faced two batters in each game, and walked all four. These four runners all scored, meaning that Stuffel allowed four earned runs without recording an out for an ERA of infinity.

1979: Del Unser’s Three Straight Pinch-Hit Home Runs

Most long-time Phillies fans remember Del Unser for his heroic contributions to the 1980 World Series Champions. Playing in the only post season series of his 15-year career, Unser batted .400 in the incredible five-game National League Championship Series, including two crucial hits in the Game 5 comeback. He then hit .500 going 3 for 6 in the World Series against Kansas City. including the double that started the Phillies four-run winning rally in Game 2. In Game 4, Unser doubled off Dan Quisenberry to drive in Mike Schmidt with the tying run and then scored the winning run on Manny Trillo's' single. In 1979, however, when his career appeared about over, Unser wrote his name permanently into the record books when he smashed home runs in three consecutive pinch-hit at bats, a record that still stands today.

When the Phillies signed Unser as a free agent before the 1979 season he was not even assured of making the team. Del had been released by the Montreal Expos after hitting just .196 as a first baseman/pinch-hitter. When the Phillies traded away first baseman Richie Hebner, however, a spot opened up for Del as a bench piece. This was Unser's second go-around with the Phillies. He was the team's everyday centerfielder for two years, 1973 and 1974, as the Phillies began to build a winning team under Paul Owens and Danny Ozark. Unser played well for the Phillies, hitting .276 and providing solid defense, but with the acquisition of Garry Maddox from the San Francisco Giants, Unser became expendable. In the winter of 1974, Unser was traded, along with catcher John Stearns, to the New York Mets for another player who would be crucial to future Phillies fortunes, Tug McGraw.

When Unser came to bat in the eighth inning of a June 30, 1979, game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he had one home run for the season. The score was 4-2 in favor of the Cardinals. Garry Maddox was on first with a single. Righty George Frazier came on to relieve Cardinal starter, John Fulghum. Unser batted for Larry Bowa. He smacked the first pitch from Frazier 400 feet into the sixth row in right center for a game tying home run. It was the Phillies first pinch homer of the year. The Phillies eventually won the game 6-4 in 10 innings. After the game, Unser said he was just trying to hit the ball hard. "When I try to hit home runs, I mess up my whole stroke. And my stroke has been messed up enough lately as it is."

Unser's next opportunity to swing the bat in anger came five days later on July 5. This game at Veterans Stadium against the Mets, featured the Major League debut of 22-year-old, Dickie Noles. After the Mets Joel Youngblood led off the game with a home run, Noles settled down and pitched well, but the Phillies trailed 3-0 to the Mets' Craig Swan when Unser batted for Larry Bowa in the bottom of the seventh with two out and Bob Boone on second. Unser launched another two-run home run. That was all Swan allowed, however, as the Phillies went down, 3-2.

Unser saved the best for his third straight. On July 10 at Veterans Stadium, the Phillies trailed the San Diego Padres 5-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Phillies rallied. With one out, Jose Cardenal singled, and Manny Trillo doubled, sending Padres starter Randy Jones to the showers. Rollie Fingers came on and was greeted by a Bob Boone single that drove both Cardenal and Trillo home. The score was 5-3. Tim McCarver batted for pitcher Doug Bird and scratched out a single to second base. Bud Harrelson ran for McCarver. Bake McBride forced Harrelson at second on a groundball behind second that shortstop Ozzie Smith flagged down. McBride just barely beat the relay throw to first to avoid the double play and keep the game alive. 

Ozark now sent Unser up to bat for Bowa. Unser swung at Fingers' first pitch to him and drilled it on a high arc to centerfield. Padres centerfielder Gene Richards turned his back and ran to the wall, but he ran out of room. Del Unser's third consecutive pinch hit home run was a walk-off three-run blast off one of the legendary relief pitchers in the game. After the game, Unser explained his pinch-hitting philosophy to the press. "My father, Al, caught in the majors (1942-45) and he told me, invariably, the good pinch- hitters just come up swinging at the first thing that looks good. I had no idea it was going out, I just knew the centerfielder was going to have a long run."

Unser's next opportunity to pinch-hit came two night later on July 12. He again faced the Padres and Rollie Fingers. Fingers intentionally walked him. The next time Unser pinch hit was on July 23. Again, he faced the Padres. Again, the pitcher was Fingers. This time the game was tied 5-5. Unser struck out.

Unser had another good year in 1980, pinch-hitting at a .316 clip, which led to his post-season heroics discussed earlier. His production trailed off in the strike-shortened season of 1981 and he was released by the Phillies in June of 1982. After his retirement, Unser remained with the Phillies as a hitting instructor, major league coach and eventually farm director. Fired from that job in a general house cleaning in 1998, he remained with the Phillies as a scout. 

Reflecting on his favorite games as a player, Unser mentioned the fifth game of the 1980 playoffs with the Astros, but his number one memory was that pinch -hitting appearance on July 10, 1979. "I knew when I hit the ball...that was terrific. But to hit a walk-off home run off Rollie Fingers, that made the whole thing incredible." It was also one for the record books.

1952: The Year Robbie was Robbed of the MVP Award

As young kids we often rail against injustice crying, "That's not fair!" at anyone who will listen. As adults we learn that, yes, injustice is all around us, that life really isn't fair, and that we must pick our battles and fight injustice for issues of major importance. There is at least one of those minor injustices that I still cannot let go, however. I cannot understand how the Phillies great righthanded pitcher, Robin Roberts, was denied baseball’s Most Valuable Player trophy in 1952. 

First some background. This was back in the day before the Cy Young Award for best pitcher was instituted in 1956. Lacking a specific award for pitchers, the baseball writers often awarded the MVP to pitchers. In fact, Roberts' teammate Jim Konstanty had won it in 1950 and the Philadelphia Athletics great lefty Bobby Schantz won the American League MVP in that same year of 1952 with a 24-7 record. 

By 1952, Roberts had established himself as the premiere righthanded pitcher in baseball. He was a rookie in 1948, and then pitched the Phillies to the pennant in 1950, when he went 20-11 and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers on the last day of the season to send the Phillies to the World Series. He backed that up with a 21-15 record as the Phillies fell to fifth place in 1951. 

In 1952, Roberts' performance was off the charts. It was the finest performance by a National League pitcher since Dizzy Deam won 28 in 1935. Roberts was dominant. His record was 28-7, with a 2.59 ERA. In his last 23 starts, he went 21-2 and both those losses came when the Phillies were shut out. He led the league in complete games with 30 and innings pitched with 330. He walked just 45 and struck out 148. He even worked two games in relief and recorded two (retroactive) saves. 

All this was not good enough to get Roberts the MVP award. The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) chose to give the award to Chicago Cubs left fielder, Hank Sauer. Sauer had had a very good season. He led the league with 37 home runs and 121 RBIs. He hit .270 for a Cubs team that finished 77-77 in fifth place. However, he ended the season in a prolonged slump, hitting just three home runs and driving in just nine runs in his last 30 games.

Under the rules in effect at the time, 24 baseball beat writers had votes. They could name 10 players on their ballots. A descending number of points were awarded for first through tenth place positions on the ballot. Sauer got 226 points, Roberts 211, and the great Brooklyn Dodger rookie reliever Joe Black got 208. Sauer and Black got eight first place votes and Roberts seven. 

Criticism of the choice was swift and vehement.

Oscar Fraley (UPI) - "Anybody who knows the difference between a bunt and a punt must be completely flabbergasted by the selection of Hank Sauer in the National League. Most of the voters obviously never heard of Robin Roberts...one theory is they were all on vacation and the ballot was filled in by the editor of the women's page."

Joe Cashman (Boston Record) "It's a ridiculous selection. Sauer cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Roberts or Black..."

Dan Daniel (New York World Telegram and Sun) "How can you pass up a pitcher who won 28 games for a team like the Phillies?"

Howard Rosenthal (New York Herald Tribune) "It was a travesty. Roberts won 17 and lost only one after the All-Star game."

John Debringer (New York Times) "I cannot understand how anyone can rate Sauer over Roberts and Black.

Arch Murray (New York Post) "In my book, the man was Robin Roberts."

Even Hank Sauer was surprised at the selection. "Yes, I'm surprised," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "but I can tell you I sure am tickled pink. I thought maybe the other guy, Roberts, would win it."

So, what happened? How could Roberts have possibly missed out? Theories abound. One good analysis was recently published by Travis M. Nelson on The Boy of Summer blog. Nelson's theory is that rookie relief pitchers Joe Black and Hoyt Wilhelm (who finished fourth in the voting) siphoned off votes that should have gone to Roberts. In fairness, Black, who won the Rookie of the Year award, had a great season. Some voters, particularly New York scribes, might have favored Black because he was the most valuable player on the team that actually won the pennant. In those days, many writers would only vote for players on winning teams. It's a good theory, nicely laid out in the article.

Another theory was prevalent right after the vote. Gayle Talbot, writing for the Associated Press argued that a bloc of Mid-Western writers colluded to "stuff the ballot box" for Sauer, while the eastern writers divided their ballots between Roberts and Black. One writer Talbot quoted as saying, "Those guys started planning this back in the middle of the year. That was when they started working on me, anyway." The general consensus of New York based writers was that Sauer's poor final month disqualified him from the award.

One more theory popped up in my research that is even more sinister. In his book, The Ten Best Years of Baseball: An Informal History of the Fifties, Harold Rosenthal points to the fact that one writer inexplicably left Roberts off his ballot altogether. Here's Rosenthal on the controversy:

Old timers still talk about the [1952 MVP] ballot. It was unusual one of the writers didn't have Roberts on the ballot at all, leading observers to wonder what he was looking at from his perch in the press box. It turned out that the errant elector was (a) a Philadelphia newsman who had himself pitched for the Phillies in an earlier era and (b) no particular admirer of Roberts to the point where he brushed him in their daily comings and goings.

From Rosenthal's description that sportswriter can only be former major league pitcher and Philadelphia Inquirer writer Stan Baumgartner. I cannot independently corroborate this account or even find any evidence that there was bad blood between Roberts and Baumgartner. To the contrary, Roberts was typically well liked by one and all throughout baseball, but this story surely puts an interesting twist on the controversy.

For his part Roberts felt that the best explanation was that the eastern writers split their vote between Black and he, while the western writers were solid for Sauer. He took the loss with his characteristic grace. In his biography Throwing Hard Easy he wrote:

I can't say I was all that disappointed. Awards were really not that important to me, and I accepted the outcome without giving it too much thought. I had won 28 games and that was all I really cared about.

Well, Robbie, you're a bigger man than I am. I am still angry at the injustice and think that if that MVP had been justly awarded, Roberts may have been inducted into the Hall of Fame sooner and his name would now carry more of the recognition it deserves as the greatest righthanded pitcher of the 1950s and one of the greatest pitchers of all-time.

Sportswriter John Posnanski, who listed Roberts as #72 in his The Athletic series on the 100 Greatest Players of All-Time, put it this way.

I think Roberts belongs in every discussion of the greatest pitchers ever. And he's never really mentioned in those. I think Roberts should be known by every baseball fan and he really isn't. He's not even the most famous Robin Roberts going, placing a distant second to the wonderful television broadcaster.

I rest my case - for now.

Sources

Harold Rosenthal, The 10 Best Years of Baseball: An Informal History of the Fifties, Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1979.

John Posnaski, "The Baseball 100: N0. 72, Robin Roberts," The Athletic, January 15, 2020.

Gayle Talbot, "Most Valuable Tiff Continues," Associated Press, November 22, 1952.

Robin Roberts with Paul C. Rogers, Throwing Hard Easy: Reflections on a Life in Baseball, Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2014.

Travis M. Nelson, "How did Robin Roberts lose the NL MVP in 1952?" The Boy of Summer blog, January 16, 2020.

"How Could Robin or Black Miss? Eastern Scribes Inquire," The Sporting News, December 3, 1952, 14.