May 26, 1959: Pittsburgh's Harvey Haddix leaves the field after losing his perfect game, then his no-hitter and the game itself in the 13th inning at Milwaukee.
On May 26, 1959, little lefty Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a game that no pitcher before or after him as ever matched or bettered over the course of twelve (12) complete innings. Hurling for the visitors at County Stadium in Milwaukee against the home team Braves, Haddix had faced 36 men and retired all 36 of them without a single batter reaching first base over the course of his entire 12 innings of working the corners to near perfection with fast balls and sliders.
Haddix’s problem was that his Pirate teammates had been unable to score all night against Braves starter Lew Burdette. In 13 innings of work against Burdette, the Pirates had managed 12 singles, but no runs. As the game moved cautiously to the bottom of the 13th, both starters in this incredible 0-0 tie remained in the game, with Haddix up history points for every successive batter he retired.
Then it happened. And when it did, the end came in closely connected stages, with the first ending coming about through actions which were totally outside the control of Pirates pitcher Haddix.
Felix Mantilla led off the bottom of the 13th with a routine grounder to Pirates third sacker Don Hoak for what should have been a routine 5-3 put out at first, but an errant throw to first allowed Mantilla to reach safely, ending Haddix’s streak of all-retired batters at 26 and, of course, also killing his prospects for a perfect game victory in additional innings.
The no-hitter possibility still lived when Eddie Mathews of the Braves sacrificed Mantilla to second base as the potential winning run. The Pirates then responded by walking Hank Aaron to set up hope for an inning-ending double play with slugger Joe Adcock coming to bat.
Then came the ka-boom.
Right-handed slugger Adcock unloaded on a pitch, driving it to deep let center. Pirates center fielder Bill Virdon tracked the ball, but there was nothing he could do. That ball was headed for the stands as an end to both the Haddix no-hitter and all Pirates hope for victory.
The game should have ended as a 3-0 13th inning walk off home run victory for the Milwaukee Braves, but a little base-running brain freeze by the great Hank Aaron ultimately reduced the final score to Milwaukee 1 – Pittsburgh 0. Thinking the game was over once Mantilla crossed the plate, Aaron left the field after touching second base on the Adcock thumper. Failing to notice, Adcock passed Aaron on the base paths, causing Aaron to be out and ultimately, reducing his home run in status to a double.
Mantilla’s run still counted. And that’s all the home boys needed for a phenomenal 1-0 Braves victory over Hard Luck Harvey and the valiant Pirates of Pittsburgh on a late spring Milwaukee night in 1959.
And what a heartbreaker for the lights out Mr. Haddix. In a few minutes times, he had lost the longest perfect game ever pitched through no fault of his own; he had surrendered his hold on a serious extra inning no-hitter; and he had lost the game itself.
The game triggered years of debate over how much official credit baseball should extend to Harvey Haddix for his feat. Should he have been given credit for pitching a 12-inning no-hitter and perfect game? Hardly. He lost the game in the 13th. And two batters reached first base before he gave up his only hit of the day, but that one hit was a walk-off winning blast for the other team.
How about perfect game credit for 9 innings? No way again.
In 1991, Major League Baseball took steps to clarify their official requirements for recognizing a perfect game: (1) The game had to be won in nine or more innings, without a single batter reaching first base in any way. (2) Games shortened to conclusion by fewer than nine innings because of weather, catastrophe, or any other bizarre circumstances would be counted as perfect games – or even as no-hitters.
That sounds fair to me. Besides, official recognition is not that big a deal here. Who is ever going to be able to really forget the man who pitched 12 innings of perfect ball on his way to perhaps the most disappointing individual performance outcome in baseball history?
Not me. And not guys like Don Hoak either. And certainly not all those ancient Pittsburgh and Milwaukee fans. It just may have been at the top of baseball’s most unusual games of all time list. Off hand, I cannot think of another game in history that measures up to this one as a repository for unique baseball accomplishment and disappointment.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 24, 2011 at 8:49 pm |
How well I remember that game! I was in Pittsburgh listening on the radio—–no telecasts in those years except for a special game or two. How sad the members of the team were to never get a run for Harv! What a gem! I doubt that there will ever be another one as pitchers today never go “deep”! Sometimes someone pitches a 9 inning game, but in 1959 almost everyone pitched “complete” games.
It was a thrill for all who participated or otherwise connected to that team and a game that is always remembered throughout baseball
even 52 years later!
August 25, 2011 at 6:20 pm |
Harv always wondered if that game would have received such notoriety had he won it. It has certainly been a game people remember. Marcia Haddix