<\/a>On this Date (August 14) in 1958, Vic Power<\/strong><\/span> became just the eleventh player in MLB history to steal home twice in one game \u2013 a feat that has not been accomplished since. \u00a0Amazingly, those two steals represented 67 percent of his total for the season. \u00a0But, I’m getting ahead of myself. \u00a0Here’s the story.<\/p>\n

In a game against the Tigers (in Cleveland), Detroit on top of the Tribe 7-4 going into the bottom of the eighth inning \u2013 but the Indians fought back. Cleveland RF Rocky Colavito started the inning with his second home run of the game (his 26th of the season). Then pinch-hitter Gary Geiger (hitting for SS Woodie Held) walked. Next up was another pinch hitter \u2013 Vic Wertz – for pitcher Morrie Martin. Wertz tied the contest with a two-run long ball.<\/p>\n

After a Detroit pitching change – Bill Fischer in for Tom Morgan \u2013 Indians’ 2B Bobby Avila reached on an error by Tigers\u2019 1B Gail Harris. Cleveland 1B Mickey Vernon sacrificed Avila to second and Power singled him home \u2013 moving to second on an error by Detroit catcher Charlie Lau.\u00a0 And, the pesky Power was just warming up. He went to third on a wild pitch by Fischer and then stole home (after a short fly out to center by catcher Russ Nixon) to run the lead to 9-7. LF Minnie Minoso was up next and was hit by a pitch and stole second before CF Larry Doby flied out to end the inning. \u00a0The Tribe bullpen, however, could not hold the two-run lead \u2013 and the Tigers tied it in the top of the ninth. That opened the door for Power\u2019s historic second steal of home \u2013 which came in the bottom of the tenth, with the bases loaded, two outs and one of the AL\u2019s most dependable RBI men (Rocky Colavito, with 74 driven in \u00a0on the season) at the plate.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how that tenth went. Vernon grounded out. Then, Power singled to right (his third hit of the day, raising his average to .319). \u00a0Nixon followed with another single, Power moving to second.\u00a0 Minoso grounded to short, with Power moving on to third, Nixon forced at second and Minoso reaching first on the fielder’s choice.\u00a0 Larry Doby was intentionally walked, loading the bases and bringing Colavito to the dish. On the fourth pitch to the Indians’ slugger, Power – who had been scampering up and down the third base line \u2013 broke for the plate and ended the game on a \u201crun off\u201d steal of home.<\/p>\n

Power, by the way, was not a likely candidate to swipe home twice in a game.\u00a0 Going into that August 14 tilt, he had exactly one stolen base on the season \u2013 and he did not steal a single a bag (after the two steals of home) that campaign. The fact is, he was much more likely to beat you with his glove (seven Gold Gloves) or his bat (.284 career average) than his legs. In twelve MLB seasons, Power stole just 45 bases (and was caught 35 times). \u00a0He was a four-time All Star, who collected 1,716 hits, scored 765 runs and drove in 658. Note: \u00a0I was lucky enough to see the flamboyant Power often during his two seasons with the Minnesota Twins (1962-63), when he hit .280, with 26 home runs and 115 RBI – and impressed with his smooth and flashy fielding (sweeping one-handed grabs) and the unique pendulum-like way he swung that bat (one-handed) as he waited for the pitcher to deliver.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Stealing Home Tid Bits:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
• Ty Cobb stole home an MLB-record 54 times.<\/li>\n
• Ty Cobb holds the MLB and AL record with eight steals of home in a season (Tigers, 1912); Pete Reiser holds the NL record at seven (Dodgers, 1946).<\/li>\n
• There have been 35 \u201crun-off\u201d (game-ending) steals of home; the most recent by Marquis Grissom (Indians) to end Game Three of the American League Championship Series (October 11, 1997).<\/li>\n
• An oddity: Both Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth notched double digit steals of home in their MLB careers (15 and 10, respectively). Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock and Maury Wills did not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/h3>\n

  Follow\/Like the Baseball Roundtable Facebook page, here<\/a>.\u00a0 (Baseball commentary, notification of new blot posts and prizes.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

  Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; Baseball Bloggers Alliance.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  On this Date (August 14) in 1958, Vic Power became just the eleventh player in MLB history to steal home twice in one game \u2013 a feat that has not been accomplished since. \u00a0Amazingly, those two steals represented 67 percent of his total for the season. \u00a0But, I’m getting ahead of myself. \u00a0Here’s the story. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n