Skip to main content

Walk-Off Pier 6 Brawl

For those unfamiliar with what game Governor Patterson was talking about during his interview with Kevin Burkhardt during Tuesday's Mets game.

On May 4, 1964, the Mets and Braves clashed in Milwaukee (not Atlanta, yet) in more ways than one. The game itself was a great pitchers duel between Mets hurler Galen Cisco and Braves moundsman Denny Lemaster.

The Mets, losers of 13 of 16 entering, got a run right off the bat, when third baseman Charley Smith clubbed a leadoff home run. They would not score again. In fact, Lemaster was the master, allowing only one hit the rest of the way.

The Braves took the lead in the home second when Moises Alou's father, Felipe singled in two runs following an error by Mets centerfielder Joe Christopher.

The Mets didn't really threaten again until the ninth inning when, with one out, Ron Hunt singled, than advanced to second on a Christopher single. Their biggest power threat, Frank Thomas followed, with a ground ball to third base, apparently not well struck enough for the Braves to try to turn a double play. After third baseman Eddie Mathews got the force out at second, Hunt decided to gamble, and kept on running around third to try to score.

The resulting throw home to Braves catcher Ed Bailey arrived in more than enough time, and Hunt tried to overpower Bailey at home plate. Bailey had Hunt by two inches and 20 pounds, so you can imagine that didn't go well. In fact, not only was Hunt out to end the game, but he'd done enough to set Bailey off, and the result was a bench-clearing brawl.

If you've ever heard Bob Murphy's play-by-play call of this event, he refers to it as "A Real Pier 6 Brawl," one in which, as the story goes, Dennis Menke made like Pedro Martinez on Don Zimmer to Mets manager Casey Stengel, then feared he'd killed the "Ole Professor." (no damage was done).

For those curious, the phrase "Pier 6 Brawl" apparently dates back to long ago bare-knuckle boxing matches on Staten Island and was popularized by wrestling announcer Gordon Solie. The Urban Dictionary website I visited refers to it as similar to a "slobberknocker," which doesn't quite roll off the tongue as well, in my opinion. In fact, it sounds like a more apt description, at this point, for someone like Elliott Spitzer.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Re: Spitzer...

Zing!

David Patterson is exactly the governor this state needs after years and years of the wrong kind of fans from both parties.

If he's good at being governor, all the better.

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu