It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics.
This week’s post grew out of a search for the answer to a trivia question: Who is the only MLB pitcher to simultaneously hold the record for strikeouts recorded in a game and home runs given up in a game (not necessarily achieved in the same contest)? Hint: He held or shared the record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game for more than 100 years and still holds the record for home runs surrendered in a game.
Photo: Public Domain, via The Society for American Baseball Research
The answer is righthander Charlie Sweeney. On June 7, 1884, Sweeney started for the National League Providence Grays versus the defending NL Champion Boston Beaneaters. From the opening pitch, he was clearly on his game, fanning five of the first six Boston batters. Ultimately, he pitched a complete-game four-hitter, fanning a then-record 19 batters. No major-league pitcher would reach 20 strikeouts in a game until the Senators’ Tom Cheney fanned 21 Orioles (in 16 innings) on September 12, 1962 and no MLB would surpass Sweeney’s 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning contest until Roger Clemens fanned 20 in a 3-1 win over the Mariners on April 29, 1996.
Just two seasons after his record-setting 19-strikeout game … on June 12, 1886 … Sweeney, then hurling for the St. Louis Maroons, set another record. He gave up an MLB single-game high seven home runs as his Maroons lost to the Detroit Wolverines 14-7. The start was a bit out of character for Sweeney. He gave up just two home runs in his other 11 starts (84 innings) that season (and in his 41-win 1884 season gave up just six homers in 492 innings).
Photo: Public Domian, via Wikimedia Commons
Sweeney had a brief (five-season), but mercurial MLB career reportedly marked by overwork, attitude issues and alcohol. Still, when he was at his best, he was considered one of the top pitchers in baseball. In 1884 (after a 7-7, 3.13 rookie season in 1883), the 21-year-old Sweeney went 17-8, 1.55 (in 27 games/24 starts/221 innings) before being suspended and jumping to the St. Louis Maroons of the (also major-league) Union Association, where he finished the season 24-7, 1.83 (33 games/32 starts/271 innings). So, his combined marks for the season were 41-15, 1.70, with a total of 60 appearances, 56 starts, 53 complete games and 492 innings pitched. That arm-wearying 1884 season appeared to take a toll on Sweeney. He pitched in just three more seasons (going 16-30, 4.25) and his MLB career was over at age 24.
Side note: As I close this segment on Charlie Sweeney, I would note that after his baseball career, he operated a bar/restaurant, worked as a police officer and later as a bodyguard and spent time as an inmate in San Quentin. I highly recommend Sweeney’s Society for American Baseball Research bio (by Chris Rainey) at sabr.org. It’s a relatively brief, but very interesting read.
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Now, as regular readers know, when seated at the (Baseball) Roundtable, one thing always leads to another. So, I looked a little deeper into home runs allowed per game records, focusing on the Modern Era.
Photo: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA
Since it is World Series time, I started by looking at the Fall Classic. The low-hanging fruit was Game Three of the 2022 World Series, when Lance McCullers, Jr. of the Astros gave up a World Series single-game record five home runs to the Phillies in a 7-0 loss. McCullers went 4 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on six hits and a walk. There was a Bryce Harper two-run shot in the first; solo homers by Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh in the second; a two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber and a solo shot by Rhys Hoskins with one out in the fifth. The Hoskins’ homer ended McCuller’s mound appearance. For a recent full post on World Series single-game and single-Series records, click here.
But that was just the surface, digging a little deeper I found that only two pitchers have given up multiple home runs in a World Series game without retiring a single batter … and both instances:
- Occurred in the 2017 World Series (Dodgers versus Astros);
- Saw Dodgers’ pitchers victimized; and
- Ended in a Dodgers’ extra-inning loss.
Here are the details.
Josh Fields
In Game Two (October 25 in Los Angeles), the Dodgers brought Josh Fields to the mound to open the top of the tenth inning of a 3-2 tie – facing the three, four and five batters. The first batter, Astros’ 2B Jose Altuve, hit a 2-0 pitch for a homer to left-center. The next batter, SS Carlos Correa, hit a Fields’ 1-0 offering for another dinger to left center. Next up was 1B Yuli Gurriel, who stroked a double to center on the first pitch he saw. Six pitches, two home runs and a double and Fields outing was over. Tony Cingrani came in and put out the fire and the Dodgers took Fields off the hook by scoring a pair in the bottom of the inning. LA did lose 7-6 in 11 frames. Side Note: Fields had gone 5-0, 2.84, with two saves in 57 appearances that season.
Brandon Morrow
Game Five (October 29 in Houston) was a slugfest. By the time the Dodgers sent Brandon Morrow out to open the bottom of the seventh, the score was 8-7 in favor of Houston. It didn’t stay that way long. Morrow gave up a home run to CF George Springer on his very first pitch. On the very next pitch, he gave up a line drive single to 3B Alex Bregman. 2B Jose Altuve was up next and hit an 0-1 pitch for a double to left. The next offering was a wild pitch to SS Carlos Correa, sending Altuve to third base. Then on a 1-0 pitch (just Morrow’s seventh pitch of the inning), Correa ending Morrow’s outing with a two-run homer.
So, Morrow’s day? Seven pitches, four runs, two homers, a double and a single. Surprisingly, just like with Fields, the Dodgers took Morrow off the hook. They scored three times to tie the game at 12 apiece in the ninth, but went on to lose in ten frames. The Dodgers, by the way, eventually lost the Series four games-to-three. Side note: Morrow had gone 6-0, 2.06 with two saves in 45 innings for the Dodgers that season.
Just a few more diversions (Sorry, I just can’t help myself). I also took a look at the Modern-Era (post-1900) record for home runs surrendered in a game. So, here’s the chart, followed by a few Trivia(l) Tidbits.
THE TIDBITS
- In the chart above, you will note that Tim Wakefield, Hollis Thurston and Larry Benton actually picked up victories in their six-homer outings. In Wakefield’s game, he was pulled after five innings with a 10-7 lead and his Red Sox held on to beat the Tigers 11-9. Thurston went the distance in an 18-9 Dodger win over the Giants – and benefitted from an 18-4 lead at the end of six frames. Like Thurston, Benton benefitted from an early lead. His Giants led the Cubs 13-0 after three innings and were still up 14-9, when Benton was pulled with two outs in the seventh (after giving up four home runs … five runs … in the inning).
- Michael Blazek (2017 Brewers) not only tied the Modern-Era record for home runs surrendered in a single game, he also tied the record for the most home runs surrendered in a single inning (five). Blazek came into the third inning of his July 27, 2017 start against the Nationals (in D.C.) having given up two runs on a first-inning homer by RF Bryce Harper. In the second inning, he faced just three batters, fanning two. Then came the fateful third frame. It started with a seven-pitch walk to P Max Scherzer. What followed was record-tying: a two-run homer by CF Brian Goodwin (1-0 pitch); a solo shot by SS Wilmer Difo (1-1 pitch); another “Homer-by-Harper” (on a 3-2 pitch in a nine-pitch plate appearance); a home run by 1B Ryan Zimmerman (on the first pitch of his at bat); a flyout by 2B Daniel Murphy (a little respite); a home run by 3B Anthony Rendon (on a 0-1 pitch); Blazek relieved by Wily Peralta. The Brewers eventually lost 15-2 and Blazek did not take the mound for them again that season. (He ended up 0-1, 8.31 in five appearances.) Interestingly, in his first four previous appearances for the Brewers that season, Blazek did not give up a run over 6 1/3 innings. Blazek pitched in five MLB seasons (2013, 2015-17, 2019 … Cardinals, Brewers, Nationals), going 8-6, 4.50 in 113 games.
The game in which Michael Blazek gave up six home runs and five in one inning was his only MLB start in 113 career appearances.
- George Caster is the only pitcher to give up six homers in a game he did not start. Like Michael Blazek, he surrendered the six long balls in a record-low 2 1/3 innings. Caster came on in relief to open the fourth inning, with his Athletics trailing the Red Sox 5-3. In the fourth, he gave up a two-run dinger to Ted Williams. He also kept things (sort of) in hand in the fifth, giving up just a solo homer to Joe Cronin. Ah, but the sixth. It opened with a Dom DiMaggio triple, followed by a sacrifice fly by Doc Cramer; another Williams homer; a home run by Jimmie Foxx; another home run by Cronin; a triple by Bobby Doerr and a home run by Jim Tabor that ended Caster’s day on the bump. Caster pitched in 12 MLB seasons (1934-35, 1937-46 … Athletics, Browns, Tigers), going 76-100, 4.54. He led the AL in losses in 1938 and 1940.
No Shame Here
In George Caster’s six-home game, five of the long balls were hit by future Hall of Famers: Ted Williams (2HR); Joe Cronin (2HR); Jimmie Foxx (HR).
R.A. Dickey is the only Cy Young Award winner (not in the year of his six-homer game) on the list. His six-homer game (Rangers. 2006) was his only major-league appearance that season – and it was his final appearance with the Rangers. At the time, righthander Dickey was in his fifth MLB season (all with the Rangers). Dickey, who overcame congenital arm issues (no ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow) to make his way to the majors) had a 16-18, 5.55 MLB record at the time, but had shown promise in the minors. However, Dickey’s velocity was dropping, and he was working on a new pitch (his version of a knuckleball) to keep his MLB dreams alive. Long story short, he opened the 2006 season on the Rangers roster, made one start (that six-homer outing), was sent back to minors and released by the Rangers that October. Oops! Dickey proved to be a gamer. He mastered that knuckleball; went on to play 12 more MLB seasons (2008-17 … Mariners, Twins, Mets, Blue Jays, Braves); was the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner (20-6, 2.73 for the Mets, with a league-leading 230 strikeouts); and ended with a career MLB record of 120-118, 4.04.
R.A. Dickey … on the Knuckleball and Knuckleballers
“This is a pitch that almost all of us turn to in desperation. It is what enables us to keep pitching, stay in the big leagues, when everything else has failed.”
R.A. Dickey: Wherever I Wind Up; My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball.
- Only three pitchers on the six-homer game list can claim a 20-win season on their MLB resume: Larry Benton for the 1928 Giants (25-9, 2.73); R. A. Dickey for the 2012 Mets (20-6, 2.73); and Hollis Thurston for the 1924 White Sox (20-14, 3.80).
- Tommy Thomas’ six-homer game in 1936 was his only complete game in 21 1936 starts. It was also the game in which (in that season) he gave up his most runs (10), most hits (16) and second-most walks (6). However, Thomas truly did “take one for the team.” Thomas was not slated to pitch that day, but starter Jack Knott got into an argument with the home plate umpire (and was ejected) before throwing a pitch and Thomas was called on to fill in. It was also the only 1936 game in which Thomas gave up more than two home runs and the only game in his 12-season MLB career in which he gave up more than three dingers.
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