As we head to the start of the regular season, I’m taking a look back at three unique moments in Baseball history. These moments are often forgotten by everyone, except the most keen historians. Baseball fans should not forget these moments for they represent a bridge between our game's past and future. Part three features an average pitcher, who pitched one game that was anything but average.
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The 1962 Washington Senators were the American League's version of the 1962 miracle Mets. By that, I mean it was miracle to see the Senators win a game that season. Former All-Star first baseman, turned manager Mickey Vernon led the Senators to 60-101 record in 1962. There was little reason to cheer that season as the Senators (729,775 fans) had the 3rd worst attendance in the American League.
However as with any situation in life, there was an exception to the rule. The Senators played one historic game during the 1962 season; a game long forgotten in the eyes of baseball history. On September 12, 1962, the Baltimore Orioles traveled to Washington to play the Senators. The Orioles' lineup was filled with All-Star players including Jim Gentile, Boog Powell and future Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson. It was a tough lineup to face on any given day.
On the mound for the Senators was right handed pitcher Tom Cheney. Entering the 1962 season, Cheney's career record stood at 3-7 with a 6.16 ERA. In 102.1 innings, Cheney walked 89 batters while striking out just 73. Control was a big issue for the 27-year-old right hander. Many fans thought this would just be another loss in the career of Cheney and the Senators' season as a whole.
If the first batter of the game was any indication, then Senators' fans may have felt Cheney was in for a long night. Shortstop Jerry Adair led off the game with a single to left field. However Cheney rebounded and didn't allow Adair to score from first. He got right fielder Russ Snyder and first baseman Jim Gentile to fly out and Boog Powell to ground out to end the inning.
Cheney began to get in a groove over the next few innings, with eight of his next twelve outs coming on strikeouts. Orioles' batters were uncharacteristically fooled over the course of the game. Cheney, who career ERA at the time hovered at 5.00 was not the type of pitcher to dominate a game. By our standards in today's game, Cheney would equate to a long reliever or possible spot starter. He didn't have the stability to be a great starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. Yet the Orioles just couldn't figure Cheney out.
By the same token, the Senators were struggling against Orioles' right hander Milt Pappas. Pappas was named to his first all-star team in 1962 and would go on to win 209 games in the Major Leagues. Pappas went seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits against the Senators. The only run scored by the Senators came off the bat of Bud Zipfel, whose RBI ground out in the first inning scored the first run of the game.
The game was tied at one through nine innings. Cheney had 13 punch outs through the first nine innings and started the tenth for the Senators. There was no pitch count during baseball in this era and thus it was common to see pitchers go 10, 11 or even 12 innings in a game. However the game continued to remain tied. Neither offense acted as if they wanted to win the game. As such, Cheney just kept dominating Orioles' batters.
At the time the Major League record for strikeouts in a game by one pitcher was 19, set by Hugh Daily and Charlie Sweeney in 1884. Sweeney and Daily accomplished the feat one month apart; Sweeney doing it on June 7, 1884 and Daily on July 7, 1884. Both accomplished the feat in nine innings. Despite having already pitched more than nine innings, Cheney was approaching Major League history.
Cheney tied the mark after striking out relief pitcher Dick Hall to end the 14th inning. He was on the stepping stones of Baseball history. Cheney was back on the mound in the 15th after the Senators had failed to score a run. History would soon be made in front of a registered crowd of 4,098 fans; many of whom had already left the game due to the extra innings.
With one out in the 15th inning, Russ Snyder stepped up to the plate. Snyder was one of the few Orioles' batters to have success vs. Cheney that day; getting two hits in his first six at bats. After throwing some good pitches to Snyder, Cheney looked at his catcher, got the sign and threw a pitch destined for the record books. He struck out Snyder for his 20th strikeout of the game; becoming the first man to strike out 20 batters in a single game. It was truly a historic moment in baseball history.
The Senators would go on to win the game 2-1 in 16 innings. Cheney pitched all 16 innings for the Senators. He would strike out one more batter, a pinch hitter and future Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams to end the game. Cheney's 21 strikeouts is a single game Major League record. Many fans forget this moment in Major League history because it wasn't pitched by a star. Cheney would retire after the 1966 season. His final career record stood at 19-29 with a 3.77 ERA.
He only struck out 345 hitters in 466 innings of work. However it was his performance on September 12, 1962 that has withstood the test of time. No pitcher; not Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson or Nolan Ryan has ever struck out 21 batters in a game. That honor alone belongs to career 19-game winner Tom Cheney, whose place in baseball history will forever remain eternal.
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