Kings of the Hill

It’s a box usually buried at the bottom of the sports pages called “This Date in Baseball.” It’s something only real sports nerds or historians would take the time to read. In tiny print, it lists what happened in baseball on that day in history. This weekend I glanced  down the list of things that happened on September 9th. Something suddenly jumped out at me as I read down the list. There were four no-hitters thrown on this date. One of them was a perfect game. Now, no-hitters don’t happen everyday. Since the modern era of baseball started in 1901, there have been 256. There have only been 23 official perfect games going back 140 years , including years before the modern era. I don’t know what the odds are that four of them would be thrown on the same date, but the sports historian in me, and the need to know what many might feel is useless information, I had to find out more.

George “Iron” Davis spent four years in the majors from 1912-1915. He commanded the highest salary at that time for a pitcher coming out of college. He first played for the New York Highlanders, before they became the Yankees. He was with the Boston Braves on that September 9th when he threw a no-hitter against the Phillies. He only had a career record of 7-10. His life after baseball was more interesting and tragic. He had earned a law degree from Harvard, and was fluent in five languages. He served in the army for two years. He settled in Buffalo, New York and studied philosophy, comparative religion, and astronomy at the University of Buffalo. Davis served as Councilman at Large on the Buffalo Common Council from 1928-1934. He ran for the Republican nomination for mayor of Buffalo and lost. He went on the practice law. But Davis must have been very troubled. On June 4, 1961, he hanged himself. He was 71.

Dick Fowler pitched for ten years in the majors for the Philadelphia As. He was Canadian and served in the Canadian army during World War II. He was just back from the war in 1945 on his fateful September 9th. In his first start in three years, he threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in Shibe Park. It was also his first shutout. It was the first no-hitter thrown by a Canadian until James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners threw one against the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this year. Fowler finished his career with record of 66-79. That was good enough to get him into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Who knew?

Three years later in 1948, it was Rex Barney’s turn to write history. Barney was a teenage phenom signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943. After returning from World War II in 1946, he struggled with wildness. But in 1948, Barney won 15 games and was second in the league in strikeouts. On September 9th, he threw a no-hitter against the rival New York Giants. He had to sit through a one hour rain delay. But, Barney didn’t stay long at the top of his game. The next year, he hurt his leg sliding. By 1950, his career was over. He finished 35-31. He went on to do some TV and radio baseball broadcasting. But it was as the public address announcer for the Baltimore Orioles that Barney made his mark. He was the announcer at the old Memorial Stadium from 1974-1997. His trademark phrase was a long, drawn out “Thank Youuuuuu” at the end of announcements. He was in the hospital when the last game was played at Memorial Stadium. But his famous “Thank Youuuuuu” was recorded and it was the last words heard at the end of the last game played there. Barney wrote two books about his life and career. He had regrets about his career. He said, “Believe me, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about what I could and should have been. It still hurts.” When Barney died on August 12, 1997, the Orioles now in the their new ballpark, honored his memory by keeping the public address system silent.

The last September 9th pitcher was very different from the first three. Sandy Koufax was one of the greatest pitchers of all time. In, 1965, he was at the peak of his career. He had already thrown three career no-hitters. On this day, he went a step beyond, by throwing a perfect game against the Cubs in Dodger Stadium. He struck out 14. The first lefty in history to be perfect. Koufax almost had to be perfect that day. Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley threw a one hitter, and both pitchers went into the 7th innning without giving up a hit. The Dodgers won 1-0 on an unearned run that scored a on wild throw. It was the only nine inning game in history where both teams shared one hit. It may have been the best game ever pitched. Hendley did get some revenge. Five days later at Wrigley Field, he beat Koufax 2-1 giving up just four hits. Koufax had one more great year. He retired after the 1966 season because of an arthritic elbow. He was only 30 years old. He finished his career 165-87 and was the youngest player elected to the Hall of Fame five years later.

They were very different men, with different abilities, who shared great success and great disappointment. But, for a few hours on one day in September they were kings of the hill. Everyone should get just one day like it.