Welcome to another edition Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday, a weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances or statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. This week, we’ll be looking at players whose only career MLB home run was an inside-the-park Grand Slam. For previous Trivia(l) Tidbits, just type Trivia(l) in search box on the right hand side of the page.
Pete Milne – He’ll Do in a Pinch
On April 27, 1949, New York Giants’ outfielder Pete Milne, playing in just his 17th MLB game, was called on to pinch hit for pitcher Andy Hansen in the bottom of the seventh inning – with the Giants trailing the rival Dodgers 8-7, the bases loaded and two out. He delivered an inside-the-park Grand Slam to deep LF, for what would be his only career home run. Milne accomplished what The Roundtable likes to call an MLB one-of-a-kind unicorn. He is the only MLB player, whose only career home run was a pinch-hit, inside-the park Grand Slam. (Yes, in baseball we count everything.) Milne played in three seasons for the Giants (1948-50), getting into 47 games and hitting .233-1-9. For my Minnesota readers, Milne played in two seasons for the Minneapolis Millers (1950-51), hitting .304-12-95 in 185 games.
I did find three other players whose only career MLB home run was an inside-the-park Grand Slam (although not in a pinch-hitting role) … and there was an interesting (to me) coincidence along the way.
Lee Gooch & Cy Falkenberg – A Coincidental Crossing
On June 17, 1917, Lee Gooch started in right field (batting seventh) for the Athletics (versus the Indians) in Cleveland. It was just his eighth career MLB game. Gooch came to the plate in the top of the fourth inning, with the Athletics up 1-0, the bases loaded and one out. Gooch delivered an inside-the-park Grand Slam – which would prove to be his only career MLB home run. (Thanks in part to Gooch’s Grand Slam, the Athletics won 9-5 that day.) Gooch played in just two MLB seasons (1915, 1917 … Indians, Athletics), hitting .295-1-8 in 19 games.
Coincidentally, starting on the mound for the Athletics was Cy Falkenberg (in his last MLB season), who had hit an inside-the-park Grand Slam (which proved to be his only MLB career home run) eleven seasons earlier.
On July 18, 1906, Cy Falkenberg – pitching for the Nationals – started on the mound against the Chicago White Sox (in Washington D.C.) In the bottom of the sixth, with the game tied at two apiece, Falkenberg came to the plate with the bases loaded. He blooped a ball to right field that took a strange hop, eluding the right fielder. It ended up as Falkenberg’s only career home run – an inside the park Grand Slam. Falkenberg, by the way, pitched a complete game 6-3 win that day.
Falkenberg played in 12 MLB seasons (1903, 1905-1911, 1913-15, 1917 … Pirates, Nationals, Naps, Athletics and Federal League Indianapolis Hoosiers, Newark Pepper and Brooklyn Tip-Tops). He went 130-123, 3.35 on the mound and .152-1-47 at the plate.
Eddie Onslow—A Rookie Run
On August 22, 1912, 19-year-old Tigers’ rookie Eddie Onslow started at 1B (batting sixth) for the Tigers (versus the Nationals in Washington D.C). Onslow, who came into the game hitting .154 on the season (8-for-52 in 14 games) had a heck of a day. He went four-for-five and hit his first (and what would be his only) MLB home run. It came with two out in the in the top of the first inning. And, of course, given today’s Trivia(l) topic, it was an inside-the-park Grand Slam (to deep CF). Notably, two of the the players who scored on Onslow’s hit were future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. The game also saw Onslow reach career single-game highs in hits (four) and RBI (four).
Onslow played in four MLB seasons (1912-13, 1918, 1927 … Tigers, Indians, Nationals), hitting .232-1-22 in 64 games.
Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.
Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.
Baseball Roundtable is also on the Anytime Baseball Supply Top 66 Baseball Sites list. For the full list, click here.
I tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT
Follow Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here. More baseball commentary; blog post notifications.
Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; The Baseball Reliquary.
P1054
