On this date (June 10) in 1953, one of the most colorful players of my youth (Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall) had a six-hit game as Boston topped the Browns 11-2 in Saint Louis.
Piersall, notably, collected his six safeties against five different pitchers: a single off Max Lanier in the first inning; an RBI single off Lanier in the third; a single off Dick Littlefield in the fourth; a double off Bobo Holloman in the sixth; an RBI single off Marlin Stuart in the seventh; and a single off Bob Cain in the ninth. Piersall came into the came hitting .252 and left hitting .274. It was the first game of a doubleheader, but Piersall didn’t fare was well in Game Two – going zero-for-five in a 3-2 Boston win. Piersall played 17 MLB seasons, going .272-104-591., with 115 stolen bases. He was a two-time All Star and two-time Gold Glover.
Anyway, the anniversary of Piersall’s six-hit, nine-inning game – still the Red Sox franchise record – sent me to thinking about six-hit performances (particularly those that occurred in nine-inning contests). Turns out, they’re not as rare as one might think. MLB has seen 120 instances of players collecting at least six hits in a nine-inning contest (National League, American League, American Association, Players League). Rarer is the seven-hit (nine-inning) game. There have been just two of those:
- Wilbert Robinson, Baltimore Orioles (NL) – June 10, 1892.
- Rennie Stennett, Pirates – September 16, 1975.
So, how about games in which a player got at least six hits, while victimizing at least five different pitchers (as Piersall did)? Ah, just 12 of those. And even rarer – six hits against six different pitchers in a nine-inning game – just two. (Box scores are a little sketchy prior to 1920, but I am pretty confident in this.)Notably, they both qualified as rookies in the year of their six-hit/six-pitcher performances.
—-Six Hits in a Nine-Inning Game Against Six Different Pitchers—-
Bob Oliver, Royals, May 4, 1969
The Royals’ CF went six-for-six in a 15-1 Kansas City Road win over the Angels. The Halos used six pitchers and Oliver got to them all: a single off Clyde Wright in the second inning; a double off Eddie Fisher in the fourth; a two-run home run off Pedro Borbon in the fifth; a single off Phil Ortega and a single off George Brunet in the seventh; a single off Tom Murphy in the ninth. For the day, Oliver was 6-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI. Oliver, by the way, was a .256 hitter over eight MLB seasons and hit just .254 as a rookie in 1969.
Jesus Alou, Giants, July 10, 1964
Alou’s six-hit game came in a 10-3 Giants’ win over the Cubs in Chicago. Surprisingly, he had just one run and one RBI – but like Bob Oliver (above), Alou collected safeties against all six pitchers who took the mound for the Cubs: single off Dick Ellsworth in the first; single off Lew Burdette in the third; single off Don Elston in the fourth; home run off Dick Scott in the sixth; single off Wayne Schurr in the seventh; single off Lindy McDaniel in the ninth. Alou was a .280 hitter over 15 MLB seasons. In 1964, he hit .274-3-28 in 115 games. He came into his six-hit game hitting .264, left hitting .280. In his next game he went one-for-four.
A few other six-hit game tidbits:
- Just five players have multiple six-hit (nine-inning) games (two each); Jim Bottomley (1924 & 1931 – NL); Ed Delahanty (1890 – PL & 1892 – NL); Doc Cramer (1932 & 1935, AL); Henry Larkin (1885 – AA & 1892 – NL ; Cal McVey (1876 – NL).
- Cal McVey is the only player with two, six-hit (nine-inning) games in the same season (just three days apart) – for the National League Chicago White Stockings (July 22 & July 25, 1876). On July 22, the White Stockings topped the St. Louis Grays 30-7 and on July 25, they beat the Cincinnati Red Stockings (23-3).
- In his May 23, 2002 six-hit (nine-inning) game for the Dodgers, Shawn Green tied the record for most home runs in a game (four) and set the record for most total bases in a game (19). Green had four home runs, a double and a single in six at bats, scoring six runs and driving in seven as the Dodgers beat the Brewers 16-23 in Milwaukee/
- The following players hit for the cycle in their six-hi, nine-innings games: John Reilly (1883 – AA); Dave Orr (1885 – AA ); Larry Twitchell (1889 – NL ); Farmer Weaver (1890 – AA); Sam Thompson (1894 – NL); Ian Kinsler (2009 – AL).
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball Almanac.com; MLB.com
Baseball Roundtable Disclaimer: The MLB records referenced in this (and previous) posts have the potential to change as Major League Baseball recognizes and incorporates Negro League records from 1920-46 into the MLB record book.
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