Monty Swartz's One Long Day
A twelve-inning goodbye, a shot that still echoes, a swing that waited 25 years for company, and a door that finally opened.
Ed. 10.03.26
Monty Swartz's One Long Day (1920)
The Reds kept rookie Monty Swartz around all summer without using him in a game. On the last day of the season, they finally handed him the ball against the Cardinals. He went the distance, all 12 innings, gave up 17 hits in a 6-3 loss, and went 2 for 4 at the plate. He never pitched in the majors again. Some careers are short. His was long, but only for an afternoon.
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1951)
Seventy-five years ago today, Brooklyn led 4-1 in the ninth inning of the deciding playoff game at the Polo Grounds. A Whitey Lockman double made it 4-2 with two aboard, and Ralph Branca came in to face Bobby Thomson. On the second pitch, Thomson drove it into the left-field seats, and the Giants won the pennant. October 3 has never been kind to the Dodgers: they also lost playoff deciders on this date in 1946 and 1962.
The Last of Their Kind (1972)
In the second game of a doubleheader at Cleveland, Orioles rookie Roric Harrison took Ray Lamb deep for his first big-league homer, and Baltimore won 4-3. The designated hitter arrived the next spring, and no American League pitcher homered again for nearly 25 years, until Bobby Witt connected in an interleague game in 1997. Harrison grabbed a souvenir on his way out of a world that was about to disappear.
A Door Opens in Cleveland (1974)
Two years later, Cleveland made a different kind of history. The Indians named Frank Robinson player-manager, the first Black manager in major league history. Robinson was already the first player to win MVP in both leagues. On Opening Day 1975, he put himself in the lineup as the designated hitter and homered in his first at-bat. Cleveland beat the Yankees 5-3. Some barriers fall with a swing.
