Named baseball games (like the PineTar Game)

The Game Room
1

During last nights playoff game Bob Costas brought up a point. There are very few regular season baseball games that become so legendary the they become known with a special nickname. It came up because of the death of Bruce Sutter. In the “Sandberg Game” Ryne Sandberg went 5 for 6 and hit two game tying home runs off of Sutter in back to back innings. Then there is of course the Pine Tar Game where George Brett lost his mind. What other regular season games have been granted a title like that? I’m sure this will thread creep into other sports but I think it’s less likely in baseball due to the large amount of regular season games.

2

Does The “Bucky f’ing Dent” game count? Yanks over Red Sox 1978?

“The Shot heard ‘Round the world’” game count Giants over Dodgers in 1951?

If these count, there are several more I believe.

3

The “Disco Demolition Night” game.

It’s hard to imagine that the explosion that ensued was condoned by White Sox management. Pieces of vinyl flew into the air. A hole was blown into center field, with chunks of the baseball field flying into the stands, and smoke filled the arena and stayed there on the windless night.

With the deed done, Dahl took a final ride around the stadium as his fans cheered, and then he left the field. It was time for the second game to begin.

Baseball players trickled back onto their singed diamond and began to warm up, but the anti-disco crowd wasn’t done. First a few, then a flood of people stormed the field. There was no one there to stop them. The mob, fired up on booze, pot, and anti-disco fever, began to run the bases. They dug up home plate and slid down the giant foul ball pole. They broke glasses full of beer and lit records that hadn’t been put in the box on fire. One witness claimed to have seen a couple getting it on behind third base. It was utter mayhem on the field at Comiskey Park.

White Sox owner Bill Veeck tried to gain control, pleading over the intercom for everyone to, “Please clear the park or we’ll have to call off the game and close the park.” Announcer Harry Caray pleaded with people to return to their seats so the next game could start, even going so far as to sing a round of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in an effort to soothe the music-mad mob.

But no one listened. In the end, the White Sox had to forfeit a game that could clearly no longer be played on the increasingly ruined field and the riot police were called in to deal with the crowd.

4

Both were in one game loser goes home playoff games. Those rare occurances would have made them notable on its own. The key to my question (and what Costas brought up) is the rarity of a regular season game to get a label that lives on years later. Something really special or out of the ordinary must happen.

5

Yes perfect example.

6

Fair enough. Though both are considered regular season games.

No easy to remember name, but the “Bobby Murcer Tribute to Munson game” where following Munson’s funeral Bobby hit a homer and a walk off single IIRC. August 6, 1979.

Munson was my favorite player as a kid. I was in a state of shock when he died.

7

The ‘Ten Cent Beer Night’ game.

The June 4, 1974, night game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians was one for the record books. Whether because of the cheap beer, the hot weather, college students home for summer, or the full moon, the things that made the game memorable had little to do with playing baseball. It is history that deserves to be remembered.

One quote that needs to be mentioned:

The late Tim Russert, known for being the longtime moderator of the show Meet the Press, was 24 at the time and attended the game. In a statement that perhaps defined much of the crowd that night, he said:

“I had $2 in my pocket, you do the math”.

8

“Cal passes Lou” September 2, 1995. I think most baseball fans remember that one. Cal Ripken breaks Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game record.

Probably most of the Perfect Games could count. For me, “Boomer Well’s Perfecto” really stands out. May 17, 1998.

9

Some that should have a name that don’t, and this is coming from a non-fan:

  • the one where Kirk Gibson “one armed” a home-run
  • the perfect game that was taken away by a bad call. From the Detroit Tiger pitcher.
10

That was a World Series game.

11

The “8/8/88” game was the first night home game at Wrigley Field, thanks to lights which had finally been installed that season. It was a big-deal event, the announcers were wearing tuxedos, etc., and the Cubs had chosen that date due to the symmetry of the date’s numbers.

But, it being the eternally unlucky Cubs, that inaugural night game got rained out in the 4th inning, and it didn’t actually count as a game; the first official night game at Wrigley was played on the 9th.

12

I’ve referred to that as Galarraga’s Perfect Game when talking about it, and people know what I mean. I mean, it was perfect, except for the blown call of an ump who almost immediately admitted he blew the call. Wikipedia has dubbed it “Galarraga’s Near-Perfect Game.” (ETA: Holy shit, that was 12 years ago. Time really speeds up when you have kids. I woulda sworn it wasn’t more than five or six years ago.)

13

I think it would be fair to list his name in the lists of perfect games since he clearly did it and the umpire agrees…and we can see on replay.

Am I right that Galarraga faded after this and was not able to maintain the skill level to remain in the MLB? In other words, he was dropped?

14

June 2, 2010 was the near-Perfecto.
It could be argued he was never great or even all that good. 2008 being by far his good year.
Career ended effectively 2 years later.

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Awards
2007 25 TEX AL 0 0 6.23 3 1 2 0 0 0 8.2 8 6 6 2 7 0 6 0 0 0 40 76 7.28 1.731 8.3 2.1 7.3 6.2 0.86
2008 26 DET AL 13 7 .650 3.73 30 28 0 0 0 0 178.2 152 83 74 28 61 2 126 6 0 6 746 119 4.88 1.192 7.7 1.4 3.1 6.3 2.07 RoY-4
2009 27 DET AL 6 10 .375 5.64 29 25 1 0 0 0 143.2 158 93 90 24 67 1 95 6 0 1 642 80 5.47 1.566 9.9 1.5 4.2 6.0 1.42
2010 28 DET AL 4 9 .308 4.49 25 24 0 2 1 0 144.1 143 75 72 21 51 1 74 4 3 4 617 93 5.09 1.344 8.9 1.3 3.2 4.6 1.45
2011 29 ARI NL 3 4 .429 5.91 8 8 0 0 0 0 42.2 47 36 28 13 22 2 28 1 1 1 198 67 7.29 1.617 9.9 2.7 4.6 5.9 1.27
2012 30 HOU NL 0 4 .000 6.75 5 5 0 0 0 0 24.0 28 20 18 6 18 1 17 2 1 1 120 61 7.43 1.917 10.5 2.3 6.8 6.4 0.94
6 Yrs 26 34 .433 4.78 100 91 3 2 1 0 542.0 536 313 288 94 226 7 346 19 5 13 2363 91 5.43 1.406 8.9 1.6 3.8 5.7 1.53
15

There’s Merkle’s Boner in 1908 and Babe Ruth’s Called Shot in 1932.

16

Specific plays, though I suppose that the games, themselves, are probably referred to by those plays. That said, Ruth’s called shot (if it actually was that) was in a World Series game, which the OP asked to exclude.

17

The Bartman game.
Does Buckner get his game?

18

Both of those were also playoff games, which, again, the OP excluded.

19

Ernie Shore’s near perfect game: the greatest relief appearance ever was on June 23rd, 1917. The Red Sox Starter, Babe Ruth, walked the first batter and was thrown out for arguing balls and strikes, then punched the umpire.

After order was restored Ernie Shore came on in relief. Some reports say he picked the runner off first, others say the runner was caught stealing. In any case, he retired the next 26 batters. Officially, it’s a combined no-hitter but my Macmillan lists it as a perfect game.

20

How about the game Gehrig finally sat out?