Harvey Haddix

Harvey Haddix Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies (1956–57), Cincinnati Redlegs (1958), Pittsburgh Pirates (1959–1963), and Baltimore Orioles (1964–65).<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj">Template:Cite web</ref>

A left-hander, Haddix is most notable for pitching 12 perfect innings in a game against the Milwaukee Braves on May 26, 1959; the Pirates lost the game in the 13th inning.<ref name="bbrefhaddixperfect">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="pressperfect">Template:Cite web</ref>

Haddix enjoyed his best season in 1953, pitching for the Cardinals. He compiled a 20–9 record with 163 strikeouts, a 3.06 earned run average (ERA), 19 complete games, and six shutouts.<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj"/> After five-plus seasons with the Cardinals, Haddix was traded to the Phillies. He also pitched for Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and finished his pitching career as an effective reliever with the Orioles.<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj"/><ref name="SI-TGGEP"/>

Haddix picked up the Game Seven win in the 1960 World Series, pitching in relief when Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run earned Pittsburgh the title.<ref name="bbrefmazwswalkoff">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Haddix was born in Medway, Ohio, located just outside Springfield. He was nicknamed "the Kitten" in St. Louis for his resemblance to Harry "The Cat" Brecheen, a left-hander on the Cardinals during Haddix's rookie campaign.<ref name="SI-TGGEP">Template:Cite web</ref>

Near-perfect game

Template:Main Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning against the Milwaukee Braves on May 26, 1959. He retired 36 consecutive batters in 12 innings, essentially relying on two pitches: fastball and slider.<ref name="bbrefhaddixperfect"/><ref name="almanacperfect">Template:Cite web</ref> However, Braves pitcher Lew Burdette was also pitching a shutout,<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/> which was seriously jeopardized on only three occasions: the 3rd inning, when a Pittsburgh base-running blunder negated three consecutive singles; the 9th, when Pittsburgh finally advanced a runner as far as third base;<ref name="pressperfect"/> and the 10th, when Pirates pinch hitter Dick Stuart came within a few feet of a two-run homer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A fielding error by third baseman Don Hoak ended the perfect game in the bottom of the 13th, with the leadoff batter for Milwaukee, Félix Mantilla, reaching first base. Mantilla then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Eddie Mathews, which was followed by an intentional walk to Hank Aaron. Joe Adcock then hit an apparent home run, ending the no-hitter and the game. However, in the confusion, Aaron left the basepaths and was passed by Adcock for the second out and the Braves won 2–0. Eventually the hit was changed from a home run to a double by a ruling from National League (NL) president Warren Giles; ultimately, only Mantilla's run counted, resulting in a final score of 1–0, but the Pirates and Haddix still lost.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/><ref name="nyttickertape">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Cquote

Haddix's Template:Frac-inning, one-hit complete game, against the team that had just represented the NL in the previous two World Series, is considered by many to be the best pitching performance in MLB history.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/><ref name="postdvorchak" >Template:Cite web</ref> Mazeroski later said of Haddix's dominance in the game, "Usually you have one or two great or spectacular defensive plays in these no-hitters. Not that night. It was the easiest game I ever played in."<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/>

After the game, Haddix received many letters of congratulations and support, as well as one from a Texas A&M fraternity which read, in its entirety on university stationery, "Dear Harvey, Tough shit." "It made me mad," recounted Haddix, "until I realized they were right. That's exactly what it was."<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/><ref>Tales from the dugout: the greatest true baseball stories ever told, Mike Shannon, McGraw-Hill Professional, 1997 Template:ISBN Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="blogspothaddixthisday">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Tales From The Pirates Dugout, John McCollister, Sports Publishing LLC, 2003 Template:ISBN Template:ISBN</ref>

In 1991, Major League Baseball changed the definition of a no-hitter to "a game in which a pitcher or pitchers complete a game of nine innings or more without allowing a hit." This retroactively disqualified Haddix, which some had considered to have thrown a perfect game because he retired the first 27 batters in order. Despite his having thrown more perfect innings than anyone in a single game, Haddix's game was taken off the lists of perfect games and no-hitters. Haddix's response was "It's O.K. I know what I did."<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/>

In May 1989, Milwaukee's Bob Buhl revealed that the Braves pitchers had been stealing signs from Pittsburgh catcher Smokey Burgess, who was exposing his hand signals due to a high crouch.<ref name="bouchetteimperfect21">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bouchetteimperfect23">Bouchette, op. cit., p. 23.</ref> From their bullpen, Braves pitchers repeatedly repositioned a towel to signal for a fastball or a breaking ball, the only two pitches Haddix used in the game. Despite this assistance, the Milwaukee offense managed just one hit.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/><ref name="bblibraryhaddix">Template:Cite web</ref> All but one Milwaukee hitter, Aaron, took the signals.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/>

Career overview

Over his 14-year career, Haddix had a 136–113 record with 1,575 strikeouts, a 3.63 ERA, 99 complete games, 21 shutouts, 21 saves, and 2,235 innings pitched in 453 games (285 as a starter).<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj"/> He was in the spotlight in the 1960 World Series against the Yankees. After winning Game 5 as a starter, Haddix relieved late in Game 7 and was credited with the win when Bill Mazeroski hit his famous Series-ending walk-off home run.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/> Haddix went 2–0 in the 1960 Series, with a 2.45 ERA.<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj"/>

In 1964, Haddix served solely as a relief pitcher for the Orioles, pitching Template:Frac innings, with five wins, ten saves, and a 2.31 ERA. He was the runner-up for the Gold Glove Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As a hitter, Haddix was better than average, posting a .212 batting average (169-for-798) with 95 runs, 37 doubles, 9 triples, 4 home runs, 64 RBI, 4 stolen bases and 46 bases on balls. Defensively, he recorded a .957 fielding percentage, which was the league average at his position.<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj" />

Jim Palmer said he learned a lot about pitching from Haddix during the veteran's time with the Orioles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Haddix later followed his former teammate Harry Brecheen into the ranks of major league pitching coaches, working with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Pirates for 14 years spanning 1966 to 1984.<ref name="retrohaddix">Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

A heavy smoker in his playing days, Haddix died from emphysema in 1994 in Springfield, Ohio, at age 68.<ref name="SI-TGGEP"/><ref name="nytimeshaddixobit">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career highlights

• 3-time All-Star (1953–1955)<ref name="bbrefhaddixmaj"/>
• 3-time Gold Glove Award (1958–1960)<ref name="bbrefggaward">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Co-Player of the Month for May 1959
• Major League record, Most consecutive batters retired in one game (36) achieved on May 26, 1959<ref name="top100">Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

Haddix Field, the Little League baseball park in New Carlisle, Ohio, is named for Haddix.

Haddix's near-perfect game is memorialized by The Baseball Project, whose song, "Harvey Haddix", appears on their debut album, Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (2008).

External links

• {{#if:||* }}Career statistics from {{#invoke:String|join|Template:Space·Template:Space|{{#if: 115289

| MLB | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata MLB Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: 22417 | ESPN | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata ESPN Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: h/haddiha01 | Baseball Reference | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata.shtml Baseball Reference Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: 1005184 | Fangraphs | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata Fangraphs Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: haddix001har | Baseball Reference (Minors) | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata Baseball Reference (Minors) Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: H/Phaddh101 | Retrosheet | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata.htm Retrosheet Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}|{{#if: | Baseball Almanac | {{#if: Template:Wikidata | Template:Wikidata Baseball Almanac Template:EditAtWikidata}} }}}}{{#if: h/haddiha01 haddix001har 22417 1005184 115289 H/Phaddh101

         Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata Template:Wikidata
  | 
  | Template:Main other Error: Template:Baseballstats must contain at least one valid parameter name.
  }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters | check
  | unknown = Template:Main other
  | preview = Page using Template:Baseballstats with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"
  | ignoreblank = y | br | brm | espn | fangraphs | id | mlb | retro | nobullet | almanac
  }}

• Template:SABR Baseball Biography Project
• Greatest Baseball Moments, at ESPN
• Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Haddix's Perfect Loss
• Template:Find a Grave