Home runs usually are a major factor in big innings.
As the World Series approaches, there are a pair of record innings from two different Fall Classics that are worth remembering.
The Philadelphia A’s and Detroit Tigers hold the mark for most runs scored in an inning at 10 with a home run playing a role in each outburst.
The A’s did it in a 10-8 come-from-behind win in the fourth game of the 1929 series against the Chicago Cubs, while the Tigers equaled that number against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968 during a 13-1 victory in game six.
Lost Ball in the Sun
The Cubs had just added another run in the top of the seventh inning as they held and 8-0 advantage in game four.
Al Simmons led off the bottom of the frame with what seemed to be a harmless solo homer against Charlie Root. Unfortunately for Root, five of the next six batters reach base allowing the A’s to cut their deficit in half at 8-4.
Art Nehf replaced Root on the mound and induced the next hitter, Mule Haas to hit a fly ball to center.
Cubs centerfielder Hack Wilson, who had been struggling that afternoon, lost the ball in the sun. The result as an three-run inside the park homer by Haas that made it 8-7.
Jimmie Foxx added a RBI single and Jimmy Dykes knocked in the final pair of runs with a double.
According to an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle the following day, A’s manager Connie Mark couldn’t describe his feelings about the winning rally.
“I’d like to be able to express to you the things I feel, but I can’t,” Mack said. “I’ll have to let it go at that.”
Two days later, the A’s kept the momentum and finished off the series with a 3-2 win over the Cubs in game five. Haas was at it again with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the contest at 2-2 to set up the game-winning hit by Bing Miller.
Detroit Explodes
The Detroit Tigers were trailing the Cardinals in the 1968 World Series three games to two as the two teams headed back to St. Louis for the sixth contest.
After scoring twice in the second inning off Cardinals starter Ray Washburn, the Tigers elevated any pressure they might have felt to get the series to a seventh game by exploding for 10 runs in the third frame.
Run-scoring singles by Al Kaline and Norm Cash made it 4-0 by the time that Jim Northrup stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Larry Jaster had replaced Washburn on the mound, but it didn’t matter to Northrup as he doubled Detroit’s advantage with a grand slam.
Kaline added another single to score two more, while Cash and Willie Horton finished the rally with RBI singles to sent the series to a deciding contest.
Just as the A’s had done nearly 40 years before, the Tigers capitalized on their success to win the next game 4-1.
Northrup provided the key hit in the seventh when defense played a role in the outcome of a series. Northrup blasted a triple to center that was misjudged by Curt Flood allowing two runs to score and give the Tigers the edge the needed for their first title since 1945.