Pixel Perfect Memories will come out tomorrow. Tonight I'm in the mood to discuss baseball. While not a scheduled feature, from time to time I would like to take a look at some of the more amazing, unlikely play-by-play moments in history.
One of the reasons I love the game so much is that at any moment something crazy can happen. August 24, 1983 was one of those times. The Orioles were battling the Blue Jays among others for the pennant, and on this day they played host, just one game ahead. Jim Clancy and Scott McGregor had pitched decent games, and entering the 9th the Jays were ahead by two. Clancy put two men on with two out and was replaced. Benny Ayala and Al Bumbry both hit clutch singles to tie the game.
Entering the 10th, however, the Orioles had a problem. They had two catchers on their roster, Rick Dempsey and Joe Nolan. Both had been pinch-hit for and now they needed someone to play there in the 10th. Manager Joe Altobelli called on Lenn Sakata, second baseman, who had never played behind the plate in his life. The first batter for the Blue Jays, Cliff Johnson, belted a solo shot to give the Jays a one-run lead. Barry Bonnell singled. Tippy Martinez came into pitch, and Bobby Cox decided to take advantage of Sakata's never-before tested ability to throw out base runners. Here is what followed:
Barry Bonnell caught stealing (PO) 2B (P-1B)
Dave Collins walks
Collins picked off 1B (P-1B)
Willie Upshaw singled to 2B
Upshaw picked off 1B (P-1B).
That's right. Martinez picked three consecutive men off first base to end the inning, and Sakata never broke a sweat.
To add insult to injury, Cal Ripken started off the bottom half of the 10th with a home run. Then Sakata, the Orioles new catcher, hit a walk-off three run jack to win the game for the home team. The Orioles, of course, would go on to win the pennant and the World Series, while the Jays would finish nine games back. Sakata would never catch again.
Tippy would also win the next night. He pitched 103 innings in relief, going 9-3 with a 2.35 ERA. He would finish 27th in the MVP balloting. His career would end on the Twins, pitching four innings for them in 1988.
I would pay money to watch this inning live, though I doubt MLB will ever allow me to do that.
I would pay money to watch this inning live, though I doubt MLB will ever allow me to do that.
"Due to MLB blackout rules, time travel is not available in your area."
This isn't you justifying Gardy's reasoning for carrying three catchers on the roster, is it? Looks like it was a fun inning, though.
Oh, no no. It's me hoping the Twins carry two catchers and have to put in Nishioka as their emergency catcher while Duensing is on the mound.
Wouldn't the emergency catcher be Tolbert? Or, maybe worse, Willingham (did some catching in the minors, I believe)? I do hope that the Twins only carry two catchers, though.
Didn't Tolbert get released? Or did I just dream that?
I think maybe he did- I got all mixed up with Toby Gardenhire retiring. How are we supposed to keep all the scrappiness and utility straight with all this changing around?
through the WGOM banners? no, that doesn't work either
Tolbot is now a Cubs.
Oh, good. I was worried that him leaving was just a good dream I had.
Does the Tolbert banner get retired or is it left as sort of a booby prize?
If there was a way to make it show up just 1 in 10,000 refreshes, I'd do it and wait to find out which unlucky bastard ran into it.
what, we don't have 10,000 banners yet? I figured with the run on Pek banners, we were close by now.
Eh, that's a good point. Nobody would even notice.
Willingham came up as a catcher, but never got more than a cup of coffee. His first full season, the Marlins stuck him in LF and he didn't return to catching. He had 180 career games at catcher in the minors and only 52 in the OF.
It should be pointed out that Tippy Martinez is an ex-Twin.
I did point it out!
Oops! So you did. My apologies. I obviously need work on my reading comprehension.
Tippy was from the town in Colorado where I went to high school. I've told this story before, but during my senior year our Spanish teacher had surgery and we had Tippy as our substitute teacher for a week.
That's awesome. Did people barrage him with baseball questions or was the week pretty uneventful?
I like this little entry. Thanks.
Thanks. I hope I didn't shoot my wad with this one, but I'm sure I can find equally WTF boxscore moments.
I do remember seeing video of this inning somewhere. This is the type of game that MLB Network should air as part of their classic games series. When the station was just starting, I suggested over at BTF that they air a Mark Fidrych game and sure enough they did.
Wow, I would love to be able to find that. A long time ago I signed up for MLB videos on-line to watch some old classic games, but it was almost always World Series stuff. I would also love to get the 1987 ALCS on video. Last time I checked I think radio feeds were available for those games.