October 17, 1999
It seemed academic. Robin Ventura of the New York Mets broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 15th inning by drilling the game’s final pitch over the right-center field wall with the bases loaded. Grand slam, right? Wrong; Ventura never reached second base in a bizarre end to a classic and exhilarating postseason game at Shea Stadium Sunday.
Nevertheless, the Mets, who still trail the best-of-seven National League Championship Series three games-to-two, will head to Atlanta attempting to become the first team in baseball history to overcome a three games-to-none deficit in postseason play.
Ventura, mobbed by his teammates after the apparent grand slam, was officially credited with a run-scoring single, giving the Mets a 4-3 win, instead of the 7-3 margin that was left on the scoreboard for about 10 minutes. It wasn’t until after the ground screw pulled out the bases and the umpires left the field that the score was changed by the official scorer.
Had Ventura rounded the bases, his blast would have marked the first walk-off grand slam in postseason history.
But the Mets weren't too concerned about the final score.
"I never saw it go out. Did it?" asked Mets manager Bobby Valentine, after reporters told him about final score controversy. "Then it's a grand slam. But he never touched the bases? I'll be doggone!"
By time, the five-hour, 46-minute game was the longest postseason contest in baseball history. Though different in circumstances, the ending brought back memories of Hank Aaron’s base-running blunder on Joe Adcock’s famous home run-turned double that ended Harvey Haddix’s incredible performance on May 26, 1959.
Haddix had pitched 12 perfect innings before running into some trouble against the Milwaukee Braves in the 13th, when Felix Mantilla broke up the gem by reaching on an error to lead off the frame. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to Aaron, Haddix was attempting to keep the game scoreless as well as maintain his no-hitter.
But Adcock, who had struck out twice and grounded out a pair of times in his first four trips to the plate, didn’t cooperate. The Braves first baseman took to Haddix’s second pitch, a high slider, and launched it over the right-center field fence to end the no-hitter as well as the game.
Things got a bit bizarre when the apparent game-ending, three-run homer was ruled a double. Adcock’s drive was changed to a two-bagger after Aaron, who thought the game was over the moment Mantilla touched home plate and didn’t require him or Adcock to actually round the bases, loped past third base and headed across the diamond toward Milwaukee’s dugout.
Adcock, running with his head down and not realizing what Aaron had done, continued his home run trot. As he rounded third base, he was startled to be called out for passing Aaron, who was then in the dugout. Officially, Adcock's game-winning hit was recorded as an RBI double, making the final score: 1-0.
Under another circumstance on July 4, 1976 (the nation’s bicentennial birthday), Philadelphia’s Tim McCarver hit an apparent grand slam off Pittsburgh's Larry Demery in the second inning of their first game of a doubleheader. But McCarver was credited with a three-run single after passing Garry Maddox at first base. Maddox was making sure McCarver’s long drive was not caught when the Phillies' light-hitting catcher jogged past him between first and second.
In this case, all Ventura had to do was touch first base - and he did. It was obviously evident he wanted to go around the bases, but his teammates wouldn't allow him. By the time he was ready to continue his home run jog, Mets Media Relations Director Jay Horowitz was there asking Ventura to participate in post-game interviews.
The Mets are thankful the base-running mistake didn't mean much - unlike Fred Merkle's "boner", which cost the New York Giants the NL pennant in 1908.
In a late regular-season game at the Polo Grounds between the Chicago Cubs and the host New York Giants on September 23 of that year, perhaps the most controversial play in major league history took place. That’s when a 19-year-old Giants rookie by the name of Frederick Charles Merkle didn’t touch second base.
With New York’s Moose McCormick on third base and Merkle on first in a 1-1 tie during the bottom of the ninth inning, Al Bridwell hit what appeared to be the game-winning single to center field. But, after seeing McCormick touch home plate with the apparent winning run, Merkle discontinued his path toward second base and immediately began heading toward the team’s clubhouse in center field.
Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers, who clairvoyantly warned umpire Hank O’Day about the possibility of Merkle not touching second due to a similar situation a few weeks beforehand, retrieved the ball from center fielder Solly Hofman and touched second base for the putout. By then, fans had swarmed the field and order was impossible to restore, resulting in a 1-1 tie, with the game to be replayed only in case it was necessary.
As luck would have it for Merkle, the Cubs and Giants each ended their scheduled regular season with an identical 98-55 mark, requiring “The Merkle Game”, as many referred to it, to be made up.
In said play-off on October 8, Chicago’s Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown outdueled New York’s Christy Mathewson, 4-2, to earn a trip to the World Series and forever tag Merkle as a bonehead.
Ventura is no such character.
» Mike Attiyeh is a published baseball historian whose works have appeared in such publications as Baseball Digest, Pirate Report, Society for American Baseball Research, Birch Brook Press, and numerous web sites. Attiyeh, who has appeared as an expert guest analyst on sports radio talk shows throughout the United States, is best known nationally for breaking the story of Tony Gwynn’s blood clot in 1997.
Also by Mike Attiyeh
» To Blame or Not to Blame Ford Frick
» An Ode to Candlestick
» Remembering Roberto Clemente on New Year’s Eve
» Most of All, Joe DiMaggio Was a Proud Winner
» Maz Election Gives Defense Appeal
» Who Was Baseball's Most Interesting Character? Monte Ward
» Pete Rose: Still Battling a Losing Cause
» More submissions
Copyright © 1999 by Mike Attiyeh . Posted July 23, 2001.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
