Travesty and Fiasco.
Those were two words that appeared in newspaper headlines to describe a 20-6 Chicago White Sox victory over the Kansas City A’s on April 22, 1959.
Everything seemed to be fine as the A’s grabbed an early lead to excite what crowd (7,446) there was at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.
Chicago’s Early Wynn, who would go on to a 22-10 record and win the Cy Young Award, started for the White Sox.
Wynn got only five outs and left in the second inning as the A’s scored five times in the frame and led 6-1 to set a tone for the evening.
Unfortunately, that was all of the offense the A’s could muster as the White Sox eventually responded to build a 8-6 advantage after six innings before everything went wrong for the A’s.
The 11-Run Inning
The modern day record for runs in an inning is 17, which was established by the Boston Red Sox in a 23-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on June 18, 1953. Boston had 14 hits in the seventh that day as the Red Sox blasted the Tigers.
Six years later, although the White Sox would not come close to the record, they did score 11 runs against the A’s to go on top 19-6.
Here’s where the earlier mentioned travesty and fiasco come into play. The White Sox scored 11 times on just one hit. That’s right, one hit.
Tom Gorman entered the contest in relief of Ned Garver, Bud Daley and Russ Meyer in the top of the seventh, so pitching was not at a premium in the affair.
Gorman faced six batters. After two errors, Gorman gave up a two-run single to Johnny Callison. There was another error on the play and Callison ended up at third.
With three straight walks, Gorman’s night was over. The last base on balls to Earl Torgeson, which was charged to him, forced in the third run.
Mark Freeman began his time on the mound during Torgeson’s at bat and then walked Nellie Fox, which produced the fourth run.
Jim Landis was the first White Sox batter to fail at the plate as he grounded back to Freeman, who got a force out at home. Freeman’s prosperity didn’t last as he walked Sherm Lollar to add another run.
With one out, George Brunet would be get the call to pitch and he would go on to finish the contest. Brunet walked the first two batters he faced and then he hit Callison before Luis Aparicio walked to pick up a RBI.
Eventual winning pitcher Bob Shaw struck out, but Brunet walked Bubba Phillips and Fox for the final two runs of the inning.
One of the strangest innings in baseball history came to an end when Landis grounded out to the pitcher for the second time.
The scoring line was 11 runs, one hit, three errors and three left on base. The White Sox sent a total of 17 hitters to the plate and A’s pitchers walked 10 batters and hit another.
Landis and the Go-Go Sox
Although Landis had a rough inning against the A’s, he was a part a White Sox team that won the American League pennant in 1959 before falling in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series. He batted .272 that year and finished second on the squad with 20 stolen bases behind Aparicio, who had 56 steals.
Landis played 11 seasons in the majors and with the White Sox from 1957-1964. He played in both 1962 all-star games and won five gold gloves. Over his final three years, he played with the A’s, Tigers, Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros.
In addtion to Wynn’s pitching honor, Fox was named the AL Most Valuable Player in 1959 as he topped the White Sox with a .302 batting average.
Editor’s note: The Milwaukee Journal headline for a UPI story was “White Sox Victorious Over Athletics by a 20 to 6 Score in Baseball Travesty.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette AP story was a little smaller and used “Chisox Take 20-6 Fiasco.” Both stories were published on April 23, 1959.