Pitchers Hitting Inside-the-Park Home Runs
Posted by Raphy on February 16, 2011
Here are all the inside the park home runs by pitchers that are registered in the batting event finder. (Due to the limits of play by play data collection this is obviously not a complete historical list even within the batting event time frame.) It looks like no pitcher has done it since Joaquin Andujar in 1979. Also of note was Mel Stottlemyre's inside-the-park grand slam in 1965. As has been mentioned by Statboy and Gerry in the comments of an earlier post, Stottlemyre and Deacon Phillippe are the only pitchers in MLB history to accomplish this feat.
| Yr# | Gm# | Date | Batter | Tm | Opp | Pitcher | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | RBI | WPA | RE24 | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1954-05-15 | Jim Hearn | NYG | CHC | Johnny Klippstein | down 2-0 | b3 | -2- | 1 | 2 | 0.18 | 1.58 | 1.44 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF; Lockman Scores | |
| 2 | 1 | 1955-07-09 | Jim Hearn | NYG | BRO | Clem Labine | ahead 0-8 | b5 | 1-- | 2 | 5 (3-1) | 2 | 0.01 | 1.87 | .03 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF (Line Drive); Westrum Scores |
| 3 | 1 | 1956-04-17 | Frank Lary | DET | KCA | Alex Kellner | tied 0-0 | b5 | --- | 1 | 1 | 0.15 | 1.00 | .88 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF | |
| 4 | 1 | 1956-08-11 | Mickey McDermott | NYY | BAL | Hal Brown | down 10-4 | b9 | --- | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.00 | .01 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF | |
| 5 | 1 | 1965-07-20 | Mel Stottlemyre | NYY | BOS | Bill Monbouquette | ahead 1-2 | b5 | 123 | 0 | 4 | 0.11 | 2.19 | 1.64 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF (Fly Ball to Deep CF); Pepitone Scores; Boyer Scores; Repoz Scores | |
| 6 | 1 | 1966-05-10 | Bob Gibson | STL | @CHC | Ted Abernathy | ahead 0-4 | t7 | --- | 2 | 1 | 0.03 | 1.00 | .18 | Inside-the-park Home Run to LF | |
| 7 | 1 | 1969-05-30 (2) | Tom Griffin | HOU | @PIT | Bob Moose | down 4-2 | t2 | --- | 2 | 1 | 0.10 | 1.00 | .38 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF | |
| 8 | 1 | 1970-08-08 | Skip Pitlock | SFG | HOU | Wade Blasingame | down 3-0 | b5 | --- | 2 | 1 | 0.09 | 1.00 | .40 | Inside-the-park Home Run to CF | |
| 9 | 1 | 1979-08-14 | Joaquin Andujar | HOU | MON | Bill Lee | tied 0-0 | b2 | 1-- | 2 | 2 | 0.21 | 1.88 | .85 | Inside-the-park Home Run to LF; Howe Scores |
February 16th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Great list!
I remember Stottlemyre's inside-the-park grand slam. It rattled around behind the monuments in deepest center field at the old Yankee Stadium while he circled the bases. He was just a kid then, in his first full season, so he had pretty good speed.
I didn't realize until today that it was just one of two I-T-P slams by a pitcher in history.
February 16th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Very cool. Interesting how they are mostly bunched up in a couple of fairly tight timeframes and then none in the past 20 years.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Butch Henry hit one on 05/08/1992.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Not only that, it was Henry's first ML hit and the only home run of his career.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
In one of the Ken Burn's shows (9th Inning), Bill Lee mentions that he would have got one as well, this before they took the bat out of his hand. Guess that would have been 1972 when he got his only triple.
February 16th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Walter Johnson's home run log shows 5 IPHR. His one grand slam was not one of them.
February 16th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
I don't know, why bother doing these things when you miss guys like Henry? It's not an impressive use of a tool if it doesn't work properly.
Butch Henry hit his in the top of the 2nd inning. He gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd, and had to come out of the game after that. Must have been tired.
February 17th, 2011 at 1:04 am
@7
125 minute rain delay in the top of the 3rd inning of the Butch Henry game. That's probably why he was pulled. Drabek stayed in the game for the Pirates, though.
All the google newspaper images from the next day confirm the IPHR. The retrosheet event file has the pitch sequence, the HR and hit location, just no "IP" designation. The SABR Tattersall/McConnell HR log doesn't have the "IP" either. I guess someone can submit a request to both sources to get those fixed (or maybe there's an explanation).
Several players have hit two HR's in one game. Many before 1920 and the parks were more cavernous (no outfield seats in some of them). Chief Bender was one of those in 1906 (not in the PI, but his HR log shows this). Oddly, Chief Bender was playing LF that day.
February 17th, 2011 at 1:11 am
@1 I read about Mel Stottlemyre's inside-the-park homerun
on Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". So when I saw the title I think at least I knew one, example although I never witnessed one, of course.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:26 am
Mickey McDermott could really hit--.252 lifetime average and 25 pinch hits lifetime.
February 17th, 2011 at 10:30 am
That 1979 Astros/Expos game would be fun to watch. Andujar and Bill Lee were both characters. I can only imagine Andujar tearing around the bases - although I would think an OF falling down would have to have been involved.
Those were 2 up-and-coming teams just getting good (Astros won the West in 1980 and Expos won the East in 1981.
Not to mention those Astros uniforms!!!!
February 17th, 2011 at 10:35 am
So I checked the box score for the 1979 game. Lee and Andujar had a true pitcher's duel. Both pitched complete games with the final score 2-1 Astros.
Andujar's Inside the park HR was a 2-run job that would account for all the Astros runs. Also, Bill Lee had the lone RBI for the Expos.
February 17th, 2011 at 11:33 am
^ That could lead to another interesting list - most runs in a game, all RBIs by pitchers.
February 17th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Gibson doesn't surprise me -- he was, after all, a superb all-around athlete who even played for the Harlem Globetrotters. But Jim Hearn was the biggest surprise. I remember not believing it when he did it the first time; the second, I knew better than to just laugh it off, even though he did it against one of my favorite Dodgers.
February 17th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I'm guessing that Tom Griffins IPHR was the second game of a double-header. That's what the (2) means, right?
February 17th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Great list. The amazing thing is Jim Hearn did it twice.
February 17th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
The 1957 Phillies program indicates that Curt Simmon's only career homerun was an inside-the-parker hit over the head of Pittsburgh's Bobby DelGreco. Curt also tripled and then stole home against the Phillies as a member of the Cardinals in 1963
February 17th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
@17
Yep. Simmon's "HR Log" has the IPHR. No play-by-play information for that game though which I presume is why the Play Index doesn't find it. That game is on Retrosheet's "Most Wanted" list.
February 18th, 2011 at 12:09 am
Billy O'Dell ,Orioles... 5/19/59 in 2-1 win over White Sox ...My understanding is that batted ball hit wooden foul line.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:51 am
I think McDermott should have stopped on 3rd base. No, really, I do! His team was down by 6 runs when he came up with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. As a fan watching a game, I always feel somewhat deflated by a 9th-inning HR that still leaves my team behind. Somehow, having a baserunner (instead of the HR) gives more of a feeling that "we've got something cooking."