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.