In a recent post, Baseball Roundtable focused on the number four – and its significance in the career of Hall of Famer Henry Aaron. Click here for that post. In this post, we’ll look at the significance of number seven – particularly as it related to hits by a single batter in a single MLB game.
Why the number seven? It seems to be an appropriate and notable cut off point. Only six times in MLB history has a batter logged seven (or more) hits in a game. By contrast, there have been 170 six-hit games. (Note: These numbers may change as Negro League stats from 1920-48 are further documented and incorporated into the MLB record books). So, let’s look at some of baseball’s lucky sevens – as well as a pretty significant nine and a remarkable six.
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Most Hits in a Nine-Inning game – Seven
Wilbert Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, June 10, 1892
Photo: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/wilbert-robinson/, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Wilbert Robinson seems an unlikely candidate for the seven-hit club. Robinson was a .273 hitter over 17 MLB seasons (1886-1902). Coming in to the 1892 season, his career average was .226 and in 1892, he hit .267 for the campaign.
On the day of his seven-hit performance, Robinson was catching and batting eighth in the Orioles’ lineup. The Orioles apparently had on their hitting shoes that day, as they led the St, Lous Browns 25-2 by the end of the sixth inning – eventually winning 25-7.
Robinson’s day:
First Inning – Single.
Second Inning – Single.
Third Inning – Single.
Fourth Inning – Double.
Fifth Inning – Single.
Seventh Inning – Single.
Ninth Inning – Single.
While Robinson scored just one run in the contest, he drove in a (then-record) 11 runs in his seven-hit game. In his 89 other 1892 appearances, he drove in 35 runs.
Robinson was inducted into to the Baseball Hall of Fame – as a manager – in 1945. In 19 managerial seasons, his teams went 1,399-1,398, He won a pair of pennants (1916 and 1920) with the Brooklyn Robins. As a player, Robinson hit .273-18-722, with 637 runs scored and 196 stolen bases over 17 seasons (1,371 games).
In the first six years of his MLB career (1886-91, with the Philadelphia Athletics and Baltimore Orioles of the American Association), Robinson hit .226-9-205, with 107 steals (in 479 games). From 1892 through 1902 (Baltimore and St. Louis in the NL and Baltimore in the AL), he hit an even.300, with nine homers and 517 RBI in 892 games. He topped .300 in five of those 11 campaigns.
We Won’t See That Again
On Monday (Labor Day) September 7, 1896, the National League saw the Baltimore Orioles sweep triple header from the Louisville Colonels. The very next day, the Orioles swept a doubleheader from those same Colonels. Wilbert Robinson caught all five games for Baltimore.
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Rennie Stennett, Pittsburgh Pirates – September 16, 1975
Photo: Hostess via tradingcarddb.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Wilbert Robinson seven-hit record would stand alone for more than 80 years. Then on September 16, 1975 – as the Pirates topped the Cubs 22-0 in Chicago – Pittsburgh leadoff hitter and 2B Rennie Stennett would go seven-for-seven. That day, Stennett collected two hits in both the first and fifth innings.
Stennett’s day went:
First Inning – Lead-off double off Rich Reuschel and an RBI single off Tom Dettore. Stennett scored on a single by 3B Richie Hebner and later in the inning on a single by 1B Willie Stargell.
Third Inning – One out Single off Dettore. Stennett scored on a Hebner home run.
Fifth Inning – Leadoff double off Dettore and an RBI-single off Oscar Zamora. Stennett scored a run on a single by CF Al Oliver.
Seventh Inning – Leadoff single off Buddy Schultz, later scoring on a single by RF Dave Parker.
Eighth Inning – Two-out triple off Paul Reuschel.
In the game, Stennett scored five times and drove in two.
Brotherly Love
In Rennie Stennett’s seven-for-seven, nine-inning game, he collected base hits off brothers Rick and Paul Reuschel.
Stennett came into the game hitting .279 on the season (138 games). He raised is average to .287 that day – and would finish the season sat .286-7-62, with 89 runs scored.
Stennett played in 11 MLB seasons (1971-81 … Pirates, Giants), hitting .274-41-432 in 1,237 games. He was signed as an amateur free-agent (out of Panama) in 1969 and called up to the Pirates in 1971, after hitting .344 at Triple- A. He made his MLB debut July 10 and hit .353-over 50 games for the Pirates that season.
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History Made
On September 1, 1971, Rennie Stennett led off for the Pirates – atop the first-ever MLB all black and Latino lineup:
Rennie Stennett 2B
Gene Clines CF
Roberto Clemente RF
Willie Stargell LF
Manny Sanguillen C
Dave Cash 3B
Al Oliver 1B
Jackie Hernández SS
Dock Ellis P
The Pirates topped the Phillies 10-7 in Pittsburgh.
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Most Hits In An Extra-Inning Game
Johnny Burnett, Indians – July 10 1932- Nine Hits (18 innings)
Photo: Goudey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Indians’ SS Johnny Burnett came into Cleveland’s July 10, 1932 contest versus the Athletics hitting .298 on the season. A solid contact hitter, Burnett had hit .300 in 111 games the previous season, fanning just 25 times in 470 plate appearances. In that July 10, 1932 game, Burnett would come to the plate 11 times and collect nine hits. Despite this record-setting performance, the Indians lost the see-saw game 18-17 in 18 innings. Over the contest, Burnett’s Indians would trail 2-0; lead 3-2; trail 5-3; lead 6-5; trail 13-8; lead 14-13; and trail 15-14, before tying the game at 15 in the bottom of the ninth. Both teams would score two runs in the sixteenth inning, and the Athletics would finally prevail 18-17 in 18 frames.
Burnett, batting second and playing shortstop, had this day:
First Inning – Single off Lew Krausse – later scoring on a home run by CF Earl Averill.
Second Inning – One-out single off Ed Rommel.
Fourth Inning – Single off Rommel, later scoring on a sacrifice fly off the bat of 1B Ed Morgan.
Fifth Inning – RBI double off Rommel.
Seventh Inning – Leadoff single off Rommel, later scoring on a LF Joe Vosmik double.
Seventh Inning – Strikeout (versus Rommel) to end the inning.
Ninth Inning – Game tying (15-15), two-out RBI single off Rommel.
Eleventh Inning – Double off Rommel.
Thirteenth Inning – Single off Rommel.
Sixteenth Inning – Single off Rommel, later scoring on an Ed Morgan single (tying the game at 17-17).
Seventeenth Inning – Flyout to CF off Rommel.
Burnett played nine MLB seasons (1927-35 … Indians Browns), hitting .284-9-213, with 288 runs scored (in 558 games). He played at least 100 games in only two of his nine MLB seasons. In his two 100+ game campaigns (1931-32, he hit .298-5-105 and scored 166 runs (240 games).
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Ed Rommel’s Final MLB Win – One For The Record Books
Photo: Bain News Service, publisher, public domain, Wikimedia Commons
In his 171st and final MLB victory, Athletics’ righty Eddie Rommel gave up the most hits ever surrendered by a pitcher in an MLB game – and it happened In Johnny Burnett’s record-setting nine-hit game. The Athletics’ knuckleball specialist gave up a single-pitcher, single-game record 29 hits (as well as nine walks) in 17 innings of relief.
Rommel’s 17-inning relief outing was the product of scheduling quirks. Rommel’s Philadelphia Athletics found themselves slated to play nine games in five days – double headers on July 7, 8 and 9 in Chicago, a makeup single game on July 10 in Cleveland and a double header (versus Cleveland) in Philadelphia on July 11. Reportedly to save a beleaguered pitching staff (as well as travel expenses for the one-game stand in Cleveland), Athletics’ owner Connie Mack opted to send just two pitchers to Cleveland, starter Lew Krausse and Rommel. Unfortunately for Rommel, Krause got knocked around early, setting up Rommel’s 17-inning, 29-stint. In a bit of irony, the victory was Rommel’s final MLB win.
Rommel’s pitched in five more games in 1932 (his final MLB season) picking up two losses to go 1-2, 5.51 (in 17 relief appearances) on the year. Over a 13-season MLB career (1920-32, all with the Athletics,) Rommel went 171-119, 3.54, twice leading the AL in wins (and twice leading the league in losses). In 1922, Rommel went 27-13, 3.28 for an Athletics team that went 65-89-1 and finished seventh in the eight-team American League. After retiring as a player Rommel spent time as an Athletics coach and minor-league manage, before beginning a long career as an umpire (21 seasons in the major leagues).
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Rocky Colavito, Tigers … June 24, 1962 – Seven hits (22 innings)
When the Tigers faced the Yankees (in Detroit) on June 24, 1962, Detroit LF Rocky Colavito – an established power hitter – was hitting .268-14-43 on the season (65 games). On that day, Colavito raised his average 17 points – getting seven hits and a walk in eleven trips to the plate. Surprisingly, all those hits produced just one run scored and one RBI, as the Yankees prevailed 9-7 in 22 innings.
In the game, the Yankees scored first – plating six runs in the top of the first inning off noted Yankee Killer Frank Lary. (For his career Lary would go 28-13, 3.32 versus the Bronx Bombers, with 24 complete games in 49 starts.)
Here’s a look at Colavito’s Day:
First Inning – Yankee starter Bob Turley walked Tigers’ 3B Steve Boros and CF Billy Bruton and then gave up a three-run homer to RF Purnal Goldy to put the Tigers back in the game. Colavito, batting cleanup and playing LF, popped out to SS for the first out of the inning.
Third Inning – Colavito drew a one-out walk from Jim Coates, later scoring on a single by SS Chico Fernandez to bring the scores to 7-4.
Fourth Inning – A one-out, one-on single to CF off Bill Stafford.
Sixth Inning – An RBI single to CF off Stafford, bringing the score to 7-6 Yankees.
Seventh Inning – A leadoff ground out to SS off Tex Clevenger. (The game was tied at seven at the time.)
Eleventh Inning – It looked like Colavito might have gotten the hit to end the contest, as he tripled to CF off Clevenger to open the frame. 1B Norm Cash and 2B Dick McAuliffe were intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. Colavito did not attempt to score on a liner to short left by Fernandez and then C Dick Brown popped up on a bunt attempt, which was turned into a catcher-to-third base double play
Thirteenth Inning – One-out groundball single off Clevenger.
Fifteenth Inning – With a runner on first and one out, Colavito hit a ground ball single (left side) off Bud Daley. No run scored.
Eighteenth Inning – Fly out to center to open the frames, off Jim Bouton.
Twentieth Inning – Two-out, bases empty groundball single off Bouton.
Twenty-second Inning – Two-out single to center off Bouton.
Colavito played 14 MLB seasons (1955-68 … Indians, Tigers, Athletics, White Sox, Dodger Yankees), going .266-374-1,159 in 1,841 games. He was an All Star in six seasons, led the AL in home runs once (and had three seasons of 40+ homers), led the league in RBI once (with six seasons of 100+ RBI, including 140 in 1961) and twice led the league in total bases. His best season was 1961, when he hit .290-45-140, with 129 runs scored in 163 games.
An Energizing Day
Rocky Colavito’s seven-for-ten day (June 24, 1962) started an 18-game stretch in which he hit .417-6-16. (Colavito hit .273-37-112 on the season).
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Cesar Gutierrez, Tigers … June 21, 1970 – Seven Hits (12 innings)
Cesar Gutierrez may have had the most unexpected seven-hit game. Gutierrez played in just four MLB seasons (1967,1969-71 … Giants Tigers), hitting .235-0-26 in 223 games. His 1970 season was the only one in which he played more than 38 games at the major-league level. In his MLB career Gutierrez had more than one hit in only 24 games.
On June 21, 1970, however, Gutierrez was pretty much unstoppable, collecting seven hits in seven trips to the plate, scoring three runs and driving in one – as Detroit edged the Indians 9-8 in 12 innings in Cleveland.
Gutierrez, who started at SS batting second, came into the game hitting .218 on the season (in 51 games played). When it was over, he was hitting .249.
Here’s how his day went:
First Inning – Single to RF off Rick Austin, later scoring on a groundout by RF Jim Northrup.
Second Inning – One-out single off Austin, scoring on home run by 1B Al Kaline.
Fifth Inning – Leadoff single off Dennis Higgins.
Seventh Inning – Leadoff double off Higgins, later scoring on a Northrup home run.
Eighth Inning – RBI single (tying the game at 8-8) off Fred Lasher.
Tenth Inning – Two-out single off Dick Ellsworth.
Twelfth Inning – Single off Pat Hennigan.
In 1970, Gutierrez hit .243-0-22, with 40 runs scored in 135 games.
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Brandon Crawford, Giants – August 8-2016 – Seven Hits (14 Innings)
Photo: Jeff Marquis from San Carlos, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Brandon Crawford came into the Giants August 18, 2016 game versus the Marlins (in Miami) hitting .265-10-68 in 108 games. On that day, as the Giants edged the Marlines 8-7 in 14 frames, the San Francisco SS went seven-for-eight (raising his average 13 points).
Second Inning – Lead off groundball single to 2B off Jose Fernandez;
Fourth Inning – Lead off groundball double to RF off Fernandez;
Fifth Inning – Inning-ending strikeout (Fernandez), with a runner on second and the Giants trailing 2-1.
Seventh Inning – One out, one-on groundball single to RF off Nick Wittgren.
Side Note: Crawford’s single was the fifth of six straight hits to open the inning, as the Giants scored five times to take a 6-5 lead.
Eighth Inning – Two- out, RBI single to RF off Kyle Barraclough to tie the game at seven.
Eleventh Inning – None-out, one-on single to CF off Mike Dunn, putting runners on first and third. A strikeout, intentional walk and two groundouts kept the Giants from scoring.
Thirteenth Inning – One-out triple to RF off Dustin McGowan. (Followed by an infield groundout, with Crawford having to hold, two intentional walks and a strikeout.)
Fourteenth Inning – A two-out, two-on RBI singe to CF off Andrew Cashner that proved to be the game winner.
2023 was Crawford’s 13th MLB season (2011-23 … Giants). His career stat line (1,654 games) reads .250-146-744. Crawford is three-time All Star and four-time Gold Glover. His best year at the plate was 2021, when he hit .298-24-90 – reaching career highs in all three categories, as well as in runs scored (79), stolen bases (11) and total bases (252).
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Honorable Mention- The Best Ever Six-Hit Game
Yes, the cutoff line was seven-hit games – but out of those 170 six-hit games one really stands out. On May 23, 2002 – as the Dodgers trounced the Brewers 16-3 In Milwaukee, Dodgers’ RF Shawn Green had a day to remember. He went six-for-six, with four home runs, a double and a single – six runs scored and seven RBI. Green hit an RBI double in the first inning; a three-run homer in the second; a solo home run in the fourth; a solo homer in the fifth; a single in the eighth; and a solo home run in the ninth. In the Game, Green:
- Set a new MLB record for total bases in a game with 19;
- Tied the MLB record for home runs in a game with four; and
- Tied the MLB record for extra-base hits in a game with five.
Green by then way, is on The Roundtable’s list of underrated (or at least under talked about) major leaguers. Just a two-time All Star, he put up a .283-328-1,070 line in 14 seasons. He had three seasons of 40+ home runs (a Dodger franchise record 49 in 2001); four seasons of 100 or more RBI; four seasons of 100+ runs scored; and 11 seasons of 30 or more doubles (three of 40+). While he only hit .300+ in one season, he hit .280 or better in nine campaigns. He also stole 20 or more bases in four seasons- a high of 35 in 1998.
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