*This post is part of an on-going series cataloging surviving broadcast footage from 1972.
Milt Pappas' no-hitter/near perfect game stood as a rare feat in two ways for nearly 43 years. In 1972, Pappas became the first pitcher since 1908 to lose a perfect game bid on the 27th batter without giving up a hit. Not since Hooks Wiltse's HBP in 1908 had a free base been issued to the 27th batter. The walk by Pappas would be the last of its kind until June 2015, when Max Scherzer's perfect game bid was spoiled with 26 outs by Jose Tabata's elbow pad.
Even with that inglorious drought ended, Pappas still held the distinction of throwing the most recent no-hitter in the 'friendly confines' of Wrigley Field. That feat now belongs to left hander, Cole Hamels, who no-hit the Cubs on July 25, 2015.
For Pappas, his day in the sun was near the end of a long, weird career. This eventful no-hitter was one of the final chapters in a career of prominent lowlights (being on the wrong lopsided end of the Frank Robinson to Baltimore trade/admitting to giving up Roger Maris' 59th homerun out of spite towards Ford Frick) and highlights (striking out the side on only 9 pitches).
The memorable 9th inning and more, after the jump.
On a day in which Billy Williams would tie and pass Stan Musial in a doubleheader against Stan's old team, we've been treated over and over again with bits and pieces of beautiful WGN color video footage. While I have never been able to track down (through many attempts) how much of this footage WGN held on to, I'd like to mark the anniversary of Billy Williams Day by showing you footage that doesn't contain Billy Williams!
As I pointed out in this post nearly 2 years ago, Billy Williams Day featured one of the greatest of Wrigley treats: A Gibson/Jenkins duel. The two would both throw the entire game with Gibson giving up the lead in the bottom of the 8th.
After the jump, we get some of the 9th inning action.
This Sunday, WGN will air a two-hour special titled: "Wrigley 100: A Century Celebration" to honor the tie between WGN and the Chicago Cubs. The program will air at 8 pm ET, 7 pm CT.
This season, WGN's website is running blog posts discussing events that have happened on that day at Wrigley. Here is the description of the special:
Narrated by WGN Radio’s Steve Cochran and
featuring custom drawings by cartoonist Drew Litton, the magic moments
and memories of a century of baseball at Clark and Addison are told via
interviews with over 60 different people, including Hall of Famers Ernie
Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ron Santo, Andre Dawson, Greg
Maddux and Ryne Sandberg; as well as Kerry Wood, Rick Monday, Rick
Sutcliffe, and Derrek Lee. Visiting greats such as Hank Aaron, Vin
Scully, Mike Schmidt, Albert Pujols, Bob Uecker and Paul Konerko will
add their thoughts as well. Other segments include Mike Ditka and Gale
Sayers on playing for the Chicago Bears at Wrigley, fun and crazy
moments at the park described by Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse, and an
in-depth look at some of Wrigley’s greatest games.
Here is a YouTube clip of the intro to the special.
WGN has a special bond with this blog simply because a majority of our color content has come from surviving WGN specials. I have contacted WGN in the past and they have told me on a few occasions that a cache of classic broadcasts aren't hidden away somewhere. What we have seen is what exists. I don't know that to be 100% true, as things can be mislabeled or misplaced but I would imagine if there is something new, we might see it on this weekend's show.
With the death of Ron Santo, MLB.tv released a brief highlight video of the 3rd baseman's playing days. Included in it were clips from many games over the 1969-1972 seasons. One clip that stood out was a part of the Ken Holtzman no-hitter that I had never seen.
A big hat tip goes out to twib77 for bringing these clips to my attention.
In the past, I had seen clips of the 9th inning. We will get to that later. What I hadn't seen until a few months ago was the footage from the 7th inning. On top of that, what I hadn't seen until 3 days ago was the clip from the FIRST inning of that game.
All of this footage is WGN COLOR broadcast footage. I'll break it down after the jump.
Happy New Year to all. This week, I'll be posting a few clips of 1971 St. Louis Cardinals broadcast footage. I will preface this as saying that MLB has already informed me that these come from highlight videos and that actual full game broadcasts do not exist. That's their official statement, take it for what it's worth.
First up, we have a clip of "Lefty" Steve Carlton at Wrigley Field. Before we get into other stuff, let's nail down a few parameters. First off, the two Cardinals in this clip are Joe Torre and Steve Carlton. Both were on the team together from 1969-1971. Furthemore, per uniwatch, the St. Louis Cardinals switched to the pullover tops that Torre and Carlton are both wearing for the first time in the 1971 season. So while Torre was with the Cardinals through the 1974 Season, Steve Carlton painfully was not.
With that in mind, let's get into the action.
