Photo by SD Dirk 
Giants’ SS Brandon Crawford yesterday (August 9, 2016) tied the National League record for base hits in a single game – going seven-for-eight as the Giants topped the Marlins (in Miami) 8-7 in 14 innings. Crawford’s seventh and final hit counted for more than a piece of the NL record, his single to center in the top of the 14th inning drove in in what proved to be the winning run. Crawford’s seven hits included five singles, a double and a triple – and he scored once and drove in a pair of runs. His lone out was on a strikeout to end the fourth inning. Overall, the Giants collected 18 hits in the contest. Crawford entered the game hitting .265 and raised his average to .278. The 29-year-old Crawford, in his sixth MLB season, seemed an unlikely prospect to collect seven hits in a game – having never hit more than .256 in an MLB season before thus year. Note: Ironically, Crawford’s seven hits tied for the most in an NL game of any length, and set the record for an NL extra-inning game, the MLB record for hits in an extra inning contest is nine.
Most Hits in a Major League Game
On July 10, 1932, Cleveland Indians’ shortstop Johnny Burnett came to the plate eleven times as the home-team Cleveland Indians lost to the Philadelphia Athletics 18-17 in 18 innings. Burnett delivered an MLB single-game record nine hits that day – seven singles and two doubles. He also scored four runs and drove in two – in a game that, despite a total of 35 runs, 58 hits (33 by the Indians), 17 walks, and six errors (five by the Indians) – took only four hours and five minutes.
Here’s a look at Burnett’s record-setting game:
- First inning – infield single, scores on a home run by CF Earl Averill.
- Second inning – single to left field.
- Fourth inning – single to left.
- Fifth inning – double to right, driving in RF Dick Porter.
- Seventh inning – single to right to lead off, strikeout to end the inning.
- Ninth inning – single to right, driving in 3B Willie Kamm – tying the game at 15, sending it into extra innings.
- Eleventh inning – double to right.
- Thirteenth – single to center.
- Sixteenth inning – single to right, eventually scores, tying the game at 17.
- Seventeenth inning – fly out to center.
Burnett entered the game hitting .299 and raised his average to .323. He hit .297 for the season and had a career average of .284 over nine seasons.
Another Record Set In This Game
Surprisingly, Athletics’ right-handed, knuckleball specialist Eddie Rommel, in his 13th (and what would prove to be final) major league season (at age 34) – a two-time 20+-game winner with 170 MLB victories – relieved starter Lew Krausse in the second inning and went the final 17, giving up 14 runs (13 earned) on 29 hits (eight of Burnett’s nine) and seven walks. Despite the woeful performance, Rommel got the win, his 171st and final major league victory. The 29 hits allowed in the game remains an MLB record for a pitcher (game of any length, 26 hits is the record for a nine-inning game). Rommel, as fans may remember, went on to become a major league umpire after his playing and coaching days.
Other players with at least seven hits in a game:
Wilbert Robinson, catcher, Baltimore Orioles (NL) – June 10, 1892
Wilbert Robinson is one of only two players to collect seven hits in a nine-inning game – going seven-for-seven as Baltimore topped the Saint Louis Browns 25-4 in the first game of a doubleheader on June 10, 1882 (collecting 25 hits in the process). Robertson’s day included seven singles and a double – and a (since-broken) MLB-record 11 runs batted in. Robertson had a 17-season MLB career (.273 career average). In 1892, Robertson hit .267 for the Orioles.
Rennie Stennett, 2B, Pittsburgh Pirates – September 16, 1975
On September, 16, 1975, at Wrigley Field, 2B Rennie Stennett led off the Pirates’ game against the Cubs with a ringing double to right field, then scored on a single by number-two hitter, 3B Richie Hebner – a good start, but just a start. Nine batters later, Stennett would collect his second hit of the game and the inning, a single this time, and later score his second run of the frame on a single by 1B Willie Stargell. It was still just a start. On that day – as the Pirates downed the Cubs 22-0 – Stennett would become just the second player to collect seven hits in a nine-inning contest. Stennett would go seven-for seven, with two doubles, a triple, five runs scored and two RBI – raising his average from .278 to .287. He would also have a second two-hit inning, again collecting a double and a single in the top of the fifth. Stennett would go on to hit .286 for the season – and would enjoy an eleven-season MLB career in which he hit .274.
Cesar Gutierrez, shortstop, Detroit Tigers – June 21, 1970
Tigers’ SS Cesar Guiterrez is the “forgotten man” among players with seven hits in a game. Gutierrez went seven-for-seven in a 12-inning contest between the Tigers and Indians (in Cleveland) on June 21, 1970 (second game of a double header). The Tigers won the game 9-8 on a home run by Mickey Stanley in the top of the twelfth inning. Along the way, each team collected 17 hits and Gutierrez rapped six singles and a double in seven at bats – scoring three runs and driving in one. Gutierrez was hitting .218 at the start of the game – .249 at its end. He finished the season, the best of his four-year MLB career, hitting .243, with no home runs, 22 RBI and 40 runs scored in 135 games (the only season in which he played at least 40 games).
Why is Gutierezz the forgotten man on the list of players with seven hits in a single game? First, since he did not accomplish the feat in nine-inning contest, so he owns no share of that record. Second, while seven hits would have given him the NL record for an extra-inning game, the AL record was set at nine hits by Johnny Burnett of the Indians in 1932. So again, Gutierrez does not get a line in the record books. His feat, however, will not be overlooked here.
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Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; Baseball Bloggers Alliance.
