I know there was a lot of controversy over the recent selection of Harold Baines and Lee Smith to the Hall of Fame, but as the operator of a Statis Pro blog of the 1984 season, I love it. I love seeing new players from this era of baseball go in. I felt the same way when Morris and Trammell were selected. Part of my excitement about it is how unexpected it is. When I started this experience I thought, with the exception of Tim Raines, I wouldn't really see any new folks going in. It's a lot more fun to know I have a Hall of Famer batting second for the White Sox, or that I'm calling a Hall of Famer into the game from the Wrigley bullpen.
And so it was a lovely coincidence that the White Sox and Cubs were my next two games!
Here we have it...the longest game of the year.
It started off as a blowout. The Angels scored four runs in the bottom of the first when Brian Downing and Rob Wilfong both hit two-run homers. They added three more runs on a bomb from Reggie Jackson in the second.
Mike Witt was cruising against the Sox until the top of the fifth. He loaded the bases for Julio Cruz, and the slap hitter defied all expectations by blasting a grand slam! Chicago scored two more runs in the top of the sixth, and suddenly, they were only down by a run.
Cruz was on base for the third time of the game in the eighth when HALL OF FAMER Harold Baines ripped a double to plate him for the tying run. From there...the bullpens did battle. Don Aase pitched 2.2 innings through the tenth. Ron Reed and Juan Agosto of the Sox matched him.
In the top of the 11th Bruce Kison took over for the Angels, and he was the last arm available. Bert Roberge did the same for Chicago, though they still had other arms ready. Kison looked like he blew the game in the top of the 12th. Tom Paciorek singled and, two batters later, Jerry Hairston came in to pinch-hit. He promptly jacked a two-run homer to give the Sox the lead! BUT...in the bottom of the 12th, the Angels responded! Mike Brown, playing his first game of the season with Gary Pettis on the DL, went big-fly to tie the game!!! More free baseball!!!
Kison kept plowing away through the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th... Roberge made it through the 14th before giving way to Jerry Don Gleaton. In the top of the 17th, with two outs and in his seventh inning of work, Kison finally yielded again. Carlton Fisk launched a solo homer to give the White Sox the lead again! (The game going this long was kind of ironic because in the real 1984 Fisk set the MLB record for most innings caught in a game - 24! That was seven more than this one!!!)
Still, the Angels wouldn't go down without a fight. Doug DeCinces singled with one out, and moved to second when Gleaton walked Wilfong. But Fred Lynn, pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 17th (I was trying to give him the day off), grounded out to end the game. After 17 freakin' innings.
Winning Pitcher - Jerry Don Gleaton
Losing Pitcher - Bruce Kison
Player of the Game - Carlton Fisk, GW HR
Hall of Famers in the Game - Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew
This game was scoreless until the bottom of the second. The bases were juiced when Gary Matthews launched an RBI double, and later scored on a Thad Bosely single. That ultimately gave the Cubs a five-run lead. Matthews added a three-run homer in the eighth to pad their lead, while HALL OF FAMER Lee Smith pitched a scoreless ninth to end the game.
Winning Pitcher - Steve Trout
Losing Pitcher - Bill Gullickson
Player of the Game - Gary Matthews, 2-5, 2B, HR, 4RBI, 2Rs, SB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tim Raines, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg
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