This game represents one of the most fascinating box scores I have ever encountered. I originally stumbled upon it when looking at the roster of the 1984 Chicago Cubs and noticed that many of them used to play for the Phillies. I tried to find games in which they were all playing, and this was one of the ones on the list. After noting the long duration, I decided to take a closer look. What I discovered can be found after the jump.
First and foremost, this game may be remembered for one notable event. In the bottom of he third inning, Steve Carlton struck out Andre Dawson to get out of a bases loaded jam. More significantly, however, this strikeout was Carlton's 3118th, breaking Bob Gibson's career National League record. This was far from the only notable thing about the game though. The final score was 1-0 Expos in 17 innings. In fact, it was the longest game of 1981, and is tied for the 13th longest 1-0 game in MLB history.
It was a marvelous pitching duel. Carlton went 10 innings, allowing 0 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, and he struck out 12 batters. His 95 game score was the second highest by any pitcher in 1981, and the second best of his career. His Expo counterpart, Ray Burris, was also on top of his game. He too went 10 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and 4 walks, although he only struck out one batter. His 83 game score was tied for fifth highest by an Expo in 1981, and was the third best of his career. One could argue that this was one of the greatest pitchers' duels of all time, or at least of the decade. It was the only game in 1981 where both starters had at least a game score of 83. It was one of just two games since 1919 where both SP went 10 innings, with 0 runs and less than 4 hits. And to top it all off, it is the fifth most recent game where both starters had a WPA higher than .765.
Aside from the pitchers' duel, there are some other notable things about the box score. There were five future Hall of Famers playing, including Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, and of course the late Gary Carter, who played behind the plate for all 17 innings and threw out 3 baserunners. There were also five future managers, including Terry Francona, Brad Mills, Jerry Manuel, Larry Bowa, and Pete Rose. As alluded to before, there were six future members of the 1984 Cubs playing for the Phillies that day, including Bowa, Sandberg, Bob Dernier, Keith Moreland, Gary Mathews, and Warren Brusstar.
In addition to these oddities, Bryn Smith picked up his first career win, due to Dawson's sixth career walk-off hit. That hit handed Jerry Reed his first career loss. This must be a rare event (both pitchers picking up their first decisions in the same game), although I'm not sure how to look that up. Lonnie Smith became one of just 4 known players to have 2 caught stealing, a HBP, and a sac hit in the same game. Rodney Scott joined a group of 19 players with 4 PA and 2 steals as a sub.
Lastly, this game had even more impact, due to the fact that it was in the middle of a pennant race. The Phillies were the defending champions, and the Expos made the playoffs for the only time in team history in 1981. In fact, these two teams would hook up again in the first ever NLDS (due to the MLBPA strike) to decide the NL East crown. The Expos won the series 3 games to 2, but lost to the Dodgers in five in the NLCS on Rick Monday's home run.
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