Rarest sight in baseball?

Andy Hawkins, where art thou?

I'm thinking that play happened around 1978 because I remember it being on the intro to This Week in Baseball. Just like Brian Downing robbing a home run from some unlucky hack.

 

Dale Berra was involved in that two players out at home play (so it was in the '80s). Carlton Fisk was the catcher. I can't recall the other Yankees baserunner, maybe Bobby Meachem.

 

I was on hand for that one too. A little tough luck for Jim Leyritz in left field that day.

 

Got to see one of these in person ... a 19-12 Cubs loss to Milwaukee (the SPs were Steve Trashel and Hideous Nomo ... heavyweights Mickey Morandini and Marquis Grissom each hit 2 HRs that day).

IIRC, Gaetti didn't allow a run in his inning. The Wrigley crowd started chanting Gaetti's name when he started warming up in the bullpen ... they also loved it when Doug Dascenzo pitched a few years earlier (and he wasn't bad, for a centerfielder).

I haven't seen a position player mop up on the hill in several years.

 

IIRC, the Andy Hawkins game happened in 1989, a year when there were something like 9 no-hitters thrown .

 

It was July 1, 1990 (a year there were seven no-hitters thrown, more than any season in MLB history; there were 6 each in 1969, 1917, 1915 and 1908)

Hawkins isn't counted among those seven no-hitters, though -- MLB's rules say that a) it has to go 9 innings (canceling out Hawkins, and a dozen or so rain-delayed "no-nos"); and b) it has to finish as a no-hitter (canceling out Pedro's gem in '95 and the immortal Harvey Haddix in '59, among others).

Hawkins game: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B07010CHA1990.htm

 

Someone calling their shot ...



Twice.

 

I was in the right-field bleachers at Three Rivers the day McCarver homered ... and passed Garry Maddox, I think it was, between first and second.

 

How does a big-league player do that? How does any player do that?

 

Good question. I do remember McCarver was moving at a pretty healthy rate of speed rounding first.

 

SB: Sosa (14,2nd base off Hawkins/Geren).

Huh, I wonder why Sammy doesn't run like he used to.

 

Because the home run has been very, very good to him.