The fans speak out - Letters To The Editor

Baseball Digest, Feb, 2003

In the November issue of Baseball Digest, you have Harmon Killebrew as the all-time, one-season, home run leader among third basemen with 49 in 1969.

I believe Mike Schmidt with 48 home runs in 1980 should be the leader.

Did Killebrew play third base while hitting all 49 of his homers that year, or did he play a few games at another position?

Also, you listed Johnny Bench as tops among catchers with 45 home runs in 1970. I think he played at another position where he hit some of his homers that year.

Clair Davis
Unadilla, N.Y.

In those charts for season batting leaders for each position, we listed the following qualification: Players must have played at least 100 games at the particular position in which he was listed.

In 1969, Killebrew played 105 games for the Twins at third base. In 1970, Bench caught 140 games for the Reds.

I very much enjoyed your list of one-season batting records for each position in the November issue.

I was especially delighted to see that Harlond Clift, a Washington state native from an early age and truly one of the best third basemen to play in the big leagues, is still in the record books with the most runs scored (in a season) by a third baseman.

The fact that Clift played most of his career for the perennial last-place Browns makes his accomplishments stand out even more.

His home run total of 34 in 1938 stood as the record for third basemen until Eddie Mathews broke it with 47 in 1953.

Along with his 145 runs in 1936, he also scored over 100 runs in six other seasons, and more than 90 twice. After a 12-year career, cut short by injuries, he still ended up with a .272 batting average, with 1,070 runs scored, 1,070 walks, and 829 RBI.

My question, though, is why didn't you list the one-season batting leaders for the DH position?

Keith D. Dohrmann
Spokane, Wash.

The accompanying charts on page 7 listing the top one-season batting leaders among designated hitters make up for that omission.

As a longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants, I'll never forget the historic, 16inning pitching duel in July 1963 between my favorite player of all time, Juan Marichal, and Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves.

The game was won in the bottom of file. 16th inning on a home run by Willie Mays.

However, there was another great game Cat Marichal pitched in 1966 that seems to be nearly forgotten.

That year, he hurled 14 scoreless innings in a win against the Phillies, but I don't recall how the Giants scored the winning run or who pitched for the Phillies.

Could you please tell me the date of that game and a few other details about it?

Tommy Davis
Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

The game you refer to was played on May 26, 1966 in San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Marichal pitched all 14 innings for the Giants, allowing only six bits and one walk while fanning 10 Philadelphia batters.

Jim Bunning was the pitcher for the Phillies in that game. He hurled 10 shutout innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 11th frame. Bunning allowed five hits and two bases on balls while striking out eight batters during his 10 innings of work.

The Giants scored the game's only run in the bottom of the 14th off reliever Darold Knowles when third baseman Jim Davenport tripled to right-center after Phillies right fielder Johnny Callison attempted to make a backhanded shoestring catch. The next two batters, Hal Lanier and Jesus Alou, who was pinch-hitting for Marichal, walked to load the bases. Bob Bartum then pinch-hit for center fielder Don Landrum and hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the winning run.

The game took three hours and 25 minutes to complete and there were 7,529 fans in attendance.

The victory was Marichal's fourth shutout of the young season and lifted his record to 90 with a 0.59 ERA. He finished the year with a won-lost mark of 25-6 with a 2.23 ERA, 222 strikeouts and four shutouts.

I was at a game between the Diamondbacks and Padres in 2001. Randy Johnson was pitching for the D'backs, with Rickey Henderson leading off the first inning for the Padres.

Henderson struck out, but the ball got past the catcher, and Henderson raced to first base safely.

If my memory is correct, Henderson got picked off. If Johnson had not allowed another player to reach base, would he be credited with a perfect game?

My reasoning in this hypothetical case is that every batter Johnson faced was out before reaching first base.

S. Taylor Branch
Phoenix, Ariz.

No perfect game can be credited to a pitcher if any runner on an opposing team reaches first base safely, whether by a fielder's error, by being hit with a pitch or, as in your case, by means of a passed ball charged to the catcher.

Earl Weaver once said, "You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."

Weaver was right. Or was he?

By looking at the past season of major league baseball and the amount of intentional walks to Barry Bonds, you sure wouldn't think so.