Looks Like A Job for Dierkerman!

“And my mother wanted me to be a DOCTOR!?!”

From Bob Hulsey’s This Date in Astros History at AstrosDaily.Com, Darrell Pittman sends us the game we report we used in constructing this entry for June 8, 1969:

Private Larry Dierker, on a 24-hour pass from the Army while fulfilling his military commitment in Louisiana, outduels Steve Carlton for a 2-1, eleven-inning triumph over the Cardinals at the Astrodome. Dierker allows just five hits and caps his night by driving in Julio Gotay with the game-winner. Dierker singled off Joe Hoerner to earn his eighth win of the year.

….Original Source: Omaha World-Herald, June 9, 1969….

Headlining Dierker’s feat as a “Fruitful ‘Vacation’ from Uncle Sam”, the Omaha Times-Herald continued in larger bold type to explain that the Astro ace had taken a one-day pass from his military service to fly to Houston and win the baseball contest, much to the joy of Houston manager Harry Walker and to the chagrine of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The article did not divulge Dierker’s mode of speedy travel. “Look! Up in the sky! …. It’s a bird! …. It’s a plane! …. It’s …. Dierkerman!”

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Here’s the (AP) literal portion of the account:

Houston (AP) — Manager Harry Walker is happy his ace pitcher Larry Dierker could manage a one day pass from Army duty. Dierker showed up Sunday from Fort Polk, La., where he is in Army Reserve training, and pitched and batted the Astros to a 2-1 victory over St. Louis.

Dierker pitched a five-hitter and singled across the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

The 6-4 right-hander has another week of duty to complete his two-week summer encampment.

The Astros stuck the loss on Cardinal reliever Ron Willis when Joe Hoerner yielded a pair of hits.

Julio Gotay singled to start the 11th for the Astros. After Jesus Alou retired on a fly, Hoerner was called in to pitcher to John Edwards. Edwards singled and set the stage for Dierker.

“Harry Walker already told me I was coming out of the game,” Dierker said. “He told me ‘you’re hitting, but you’re still out of the game.’ ” Really, I was very surprised. I couldn’t believe he’d let me hit.”

Dierker hit to left center and the ball bounced against the wall.

“That’s the most innings I’ve ever pitched,” he said. “In the 10th I wasn’t tired, but in the 11th I was starting to wear. I’d never pitched more than nine innings before.”

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St. Louis Cardinals	ab	r	h	rbi
Brock lf	5	0	1	0
Flood cf	4	0	0	0
Pinson rf	4	1	1	0
Torre 1b	3	0	0	0
Ribant pr	0	0	0	0
White 1b	0	0	0	0
McCarver c	4	0	2	1
Shannon 3b	4	0	1	0
Javier 2b	3	0	0	0
Maxvill ss	2	0	0	0
Ricketts ph	1	0	0	0
Huntz ss	1	0	0	0
Carlton p	3	0	0	0
Hague ph	0	0	0	0
Willis p	0	0	0	0
Hoerner p	0	0	0	0
Totals	34	1	5	1

Houston Astros	ab	r	h	rbi
Torres ss	4	0	1	0
Martinez 3b	4	0	1	0
Wynn cf	2	1	1	0
Rader 1b	4	0	1	1
Miller rf	4	0	0	0
Bryant ph	1	0	0	0
Geronimo rf	0	0	0	0
Gotay 2b	5	1	1	0
Alou lf	5	0	1	0
Edwards c	4	0	1	0
Dierker p	5	0	2	1
Totals	38	2	9	2

St. Louis	0	0	0		0	0	0		1	0	0		0	0	–	1	5	2
Houston	0	0	0		1	0	0		0	0	0		0	1	–	2	9	1

St. Louis Cardinals	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO

Carlton	10.0	6	1	1	6	12
Willis L (1-1)	0.1	1	1	1	0	0
Hoerner	0.0	2	0	0	0	0
Totals	10.1	9	2	2	6	12

Houston Astros	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Dierker W (8-4)	11.0	5	1	1	2	7
Totals	11.0	5	1	1	2	7
E–Shannon (7), Javier (13), Rader (12). DP–St. Louis 1, Houston 2. 2B–St. Louis Shannon (7,off Dierker), Houston Wynn (5,off Carlton); Rader (9,off Carlton). 3B–St. Louis Brock (3,off Dierker); McCarver (2,off Dierker). SH–Javier (3,off Dierker); Martinez (1,off Carlton). IBB–Wynn 2 (2,by Carlton 2). CS–McCarver 2 (5,Home by Dierker/Edwards,2nd base by Dierker/Edwards). SB–Wynn (3,2nd base off Carlton/McCarver). WP–Carlton (4). IBB–Carlton 2 (3,Wynn 2). U-HP–Al Barlick, 1B–Ed Vargo, 2B–John Kibler, 3B–Andy Olsen. T–2:45. A–25,824.

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

Tags: Looks Like A Job for Dierkerman!

This entry was posted on May 27, 2018 at 4:05 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Looks Like A Job for Dierkerman!”

maxwell1901 Says:
May 27, 2018 at 4:50 pm | Reply
Truth, justice, and the Dierkerman way
Mike McCroskey Says:
May 28, 2018 at 11:19 pm | Reply
Extra inning complete game. Time of game 2 hours and 46 minutes! 4 total pitchers for both teams as Carlton went 10 innings. What a difference compared to today’s games.