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The City of Philadelphia was gripped by a punishing five-day heat wave when the Pittsburgh Pirates came to town for a quick two-game series with the scuffling Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies came into the series with a 26-45 record – the 1950 Whiz Kids a distant memory. The Pirates were treading water in fourth place – trailing the powerhouse Milwaukee Braves by 5 1/2 games. The Pirates were a mixture of superb young talent and grizzled veterans.
Manager Danny Murtaugh’s stable of youngsters included Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, and Dick Stuart. While Smoky Burgess and Don Hoak provided the leadership.
The Phillies were in the midst of four consecutive last-place finishes. Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts were the only regulars who remained from the famed Whiz Kids. Ashburn was in his final season with Philadelphia. The starting second baseman for the ’59 Phillies was a 25-year old youngster from South Dakota named George “Sparky” Anderson. Yes, THAT Sparky Anderson! It would be his only big league season. Fortunately, his second career would land him in Cooperstown.
The pitching matchup on this steamy Tuesday night was between two veteran All-Stars. Eddie Sawyer would tab hard-throwing righty Roberts for the hometown nine. The Pirates countered with soft-tossing lefty Harvey Haddix. The “Kitten” was already famous for a start exactly five weeks earlier.
On Tuesday night, May 26 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Haddix pitched twelve perfect innings against the defending National League Champions. The Pirates could not scratch across a single run. A 13th inning throwing error by Hoak would end the perfecto. Braves first baseman Joe Adcock would end the game three batters later.
11,149 sweat-soaked fans made their way to the corner of 21st & Lehigh to watch their hapless Phillies. While the Pirates and Phillies traded single runs over the first two innings, the winds picked up and the sky became ominously dark.
As Burgess came to bat to lead off the Pirates’ half of the third inning, the skies opened up. Thunder, lightning, high winds, and a drenching summer rain surrounded the neighborhood. Home plate umpire Vinnie Smith called for the tarp. As a precaution, the light towers were turned off. The two clubs would wait out a one hour and 18-minute rain delay.
At 10 o’clock, with a cool, refreshing breeze now blowing, Roberts and Burgess would resume their battle. Burgess would double to right and scored on a one-out single by Mazeroski to put the Pirates up, 3-2. The Phillies would tie the score on a solo home run by former, and future, Pirates third baseman Gene Freese.
With the score tied 3-3, Roberts and Haddix would trade zeroes into the ninth inning. Pirates’ shortstop Dick Groat would break the tie with one out. He deposited a 2-2 offering deep into the left field seats to put the Bucs up, 4-3.
Haddix would come out in the bottom of the ninth for the complete game. With one out, Phillies first baseman Dave Philley singled up the middle. Murtaugh wasn’t taking any chances at the game slipping away. He made a double switch, bringing in relief ace Elroy Face to close out the Phillies.
Face was an All-Star and as close to automatic as a relief pitcher was in 1959. When he climbed onto the Connie Mack Stadium mound that evening, Face was 12-0, 7 saves, 1.18 ERA for the season. (He would finish the season with an 18-1 record.)
Solly Drake would pinch run for Philley. Face struck out pinch-hitter Harry Anderson for the second out. With Freese up, Drake advanced to second on a wild pitch. Face proceeded to walk Freese. The tying and winning runs were on-base.
Sawyer called on Ed Bouchee to pinch hit. Bouchee was the regular first baseman but had been out of action since June 20 when he sprained his ankle at Wrigley Field. Bouchee popped the 1-1 pitch high into foul territory behind home plate. Pirates catcher Hank Foiles (just inserted on the double switch) made the catch in front of the screen. Game over.
As the intimate gathering of fans made their way out into the North Philadelphia night, the weather finally provided much needed relief, even if the hometown team had not.
– Alex Cheremeteff
