TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

Jerry Reuss's No-Hitter: June 27, 1980, Dodgers vs. Giants

Jerry Reuss had been on a tear since rejoining the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation in mid-May 1980, winning five of his last eight starts and carrying a 2.08 ERA into his start against the San Francisco Giants. His opponent, Vida Blue, was having a strong season of his own with a 9-4 record and 2.71 ERA. Despite the Giants' losing record, 20,285 fans turned out for the rivalry matchup—and witnessed history.

The Dodgers scored early when Davey Lopes singled, stole second, advanced on a bad pickoff throw, and scored on a single by Rudy Law. Reuss took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the first, where a bad throw by shortstop Bill Russell put a runner on—charged as an error rather than a hit. Giants outfielder Jack Clark strained his knee running to first on that play and left the game in the sixth inning, removing one of the few hitters with real success against Reuss.

Reuss settled into a rhythm built largely on groundouts—17 of them by game's end, against just two strikeouts and seven fly outs. Lopes tripled and scored again in the third for a 2-0 lead. In the fifth, the Dodgers blew the game open: Law doubled and scored, Steve Garvey singled, and Dusty Baker hit a three-run homer to make it 6-0. Vida Blue was pulled mid-inning after Ron Cey's double, and reliever Tom Griffin allowed two more runs before escaping. Garvey added a solo homer in the seventh off Gary Lavelle to make it 8-0, Dodgers.

Through it all, Reuss kept mowing down Giants hitters without allowing a hit. As the no-hitter took shape, the partisan Giants crowd began cheering for the opposing pitcher. A fan leaned over the dugout railing to encourage him, and Reuss joked afterward that he'd never give that guy a free pass again. The closest call defensively came in the eighth, when third baseman Cey had to dive to rob a ball headed toward left field and throw out the runner.

A small dugout mishap added levity before the ninth: Reuss's batting helmet fell from the rack and struck manager Tommy Lasorda on the head. In the bottom of the ninth, Reuss retired Mike Sadek and pinch-hitter Rennie Stennett before Bill North grounded back to the mound for the final out, completing the no-hitter in 2 hours and 13 minutes on just 112 pitches.

The next day, San Francisco fans applauded Reuss as he walked to the dugout—he tipped his cap in return, prompting Lasorda to (jokingly) fine him $50 for tipping his cap to rival fans, a fine he later waived after Reuss explained he was acknowledging the few Dodgers fans present.

Reuss finished 1980 with an 18-6 record and a 2.51 ERA, finishing second in NL Cy Young voting to Steve Carlton. The Dodgers tied Houston for first in the NL West but lost a tiebreaker game, denying Reuss a shot at the postseason that year.

June 27, 1934 The temperature reaches 115 degrees at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Dizzy Dean leaves the game with two out and the score tied 7 – 7 in the top of the 9th. Reliever Jim Mooney retires Mel Ott, and when Bill DeLancey homers in the bottom of the inning to win the game, Dean is given credit for the win, his 12th of the year, though he wasn’t the pitcher of record when the winning run scores. As on the 24th, Mike Haley, the official scorer who had been overruled earlier that day, is the scorer and gives the win to Dean. Taking no chances, he asks John Heydler to review his decision and Heydler agrees

June 27, 1938, future Hall of Fame slugger Jimmie Foxx belts the 400th homer of his career, off Bob Feller in the 5th inning in a 7-3 loss vs Cleveland. He joined an exclusive list that at that time included only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

June 27, 1940 To honor the lyricist of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Jack Norworth Day is celebrated at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Neither Norworth nor his partner Albert Von Tilzer, who wrote the music, had ever seen a game when they created the song in 1908.

June 27, 1955, budding Boston Red Sox star Harry Agganis dies unexpectedly from a blood clot after a bout with pneumonia. The 25-year-old Agganis had led all American League first basemen in assists in 1954 and was hitting .313 at the time of his death.

June 27, 1958 At Comiskey Park, White Sox hurler Billy Pierce retires 26 consecutive batters before pinch-hitter Ed Fitzgerald doubles weakly inside the right field line for the Senators’ only hit. The 31 year-old southpaw goes on to strike out Albie Pearson on three pitches to one-hit Washington, 3-0, en route to completing his third consecutive shutout.

June 27, 1962 – Notorious head-hunter Don Drysdale, who hit 20 batters in 1961, had never been hit by a pitch. Bob Shaw filled that void, plunking him in a game in Dodger Stadium in the fifth inning. For good measure, relief pitcher Hank Fischer also drilled Drysdale in the seventh inning. Drysdale had the last laugh, winning the game, 6-2.

June 27, 1967 Al Kaline breaks his hand as he slams his bat into the bat rack after being struck out by Sam McDowell as the 2nd-place Tigers lose to Cleveland, 8 – 1. The future Hall of Famer will miss 28 games. Kaline was off to his best start in his career hitting .328 and leading the team with 53 RBI’s and 14 homeruns.

June 27, 1971 Roberto Clemente’s 1,200th RBI comes in the form of a tie-breaking, 8th-inning, pinch-hit homer off Joe Hoerner, culminating Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind 10 – 9 victory over Philadelphia in the second game of a doubleheader. Clemente is the first of only six players in the 33-year history of Veterans Stadium to reach the centerfield upper deck. Reporter Gene Collier, in town to visit the newly-opened ballpark, will remember this blast more than three decades later, writing in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the unforgettable moment when this milestone blast struck the “enormous mock Liberty Bell mounted on the facing of the upper deck in dead center,” thus preceding by more than ten months Greg Luzinski’s celebrated May 16, 1972 shot to the same location.

June 27, 1972 Nolan Ryan (8-5) triples and scores the go-ahead run in the 7th as California beats the Twins, 3 – 1. Poor baserunning in the 4th doesn’t help the Twins’ cause: with Harmon Killebrew on third base and Steve Braun on second with no outs, Jim Nettles flies out to Jim Spencer in left field. Killebrew fakes a dash to the plate and Braun starts from second base. A relay catches Braun at second and another throw nips Killebrew at third for a triple play. Ryan broke it up with his “and I’m not that kind of a hitter,” he said. He tripled with two out in the seventh inning and scored when the Twins decided to pitch to left-handed Sandy Alomar, who singled off Jim Perry his seventh setback. The former National Leaguer is already within two of his 1971 victory total ‘to 10 with the Mets, and tie, he believes the American League is going to be good for him. “I’d say the National League has a little more depth,” said Ryan.

June 27, 1973 In the opener of a twin bill at Shea Stadium, Buzz Capra pitches four innings of no-hit relief against the Philadelphia Phillies to get the save for starter George Stone as the Mets beat the Phillies, 7-6. A few hours earlier, the 25 year-old right-handed reliever had attended his dad’s funeral in Illinois.

June 27, 1977, Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hits two home runs in one inning and becomes the all-time National League leader with 17 career grand slams. McCovey homered of Jack Billingham with one out made the score 8-4, 9 batters later McCovey hits a grandslam off reliever Joe Hoerner, he entered the 6th with two outs, the sacks full, and the Reds holding a 7 – 6 lead. He hits two batters, then serves up the slam to McCovey, giving the Giants a 13-8 lead. The Giants defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 14-9.

June 27, 1980, At Candlestick Park 31 year-old left-hander Jerry Reuss of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches a no-hitter against the rival San Francisco Giants. Reuss, who wins an 8-0 decision, narrowly misses a perfect game when shortstop Bill Russell commits a throwing error on Jack Clark’s two out routine grounder in the first inning.

June 27, 1986, Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants sets a major league record when he is caught stealing four times. Cincinnati Reds catcher Bo Diaz nails the Giants’ rookie each time, but San Francisco still manages to win the game, 7-6, in 12 innings

June 27, 1987 A’s rookie Mark McGwire hits three home runs and drives in five runs helping to defeat the Indians, 13 – 3. He will finish the season with 49 round-trippers, far surpassing the rookie record of 38, once shared by Frank Robinson and Wally Berger.

June 27, 2008, At Yankee Stadium, Carlos Delgado of the Mets sets a franchise record with nine RBI’s in a 15-6 rout of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Delgado is 3-for-5 with two homers and a double. The outburst occurs in the first game of a doubleheader split between Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: 1960b

- Ans. It was the final of his 19 (not a typo) All-Star games.

- #1 Robinson was not just the ultimate glove man, he had some serious speed

- #2 6 career ASG HR = Still the record. Highest career total for an active player is Mike Trout’s 2.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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