The Main Event

  • July 4, 1979: Steve Carlton won 1-0 victory over the Mets at the Vet, allowing only one hit — a double to Elliott Maddox in the 7th. He retired the first 19 batters he faced. The team also lost three starting pitchers that day due to injuries: Larry Christenson was dealing with bone spurs from an earlier bicycling accident, Dick Ruthven had an elbow injury, and Randy Lerch broke his thumb when he, his wife, and another couple were mugged outside of a restaurant.

On July 4, 1979, Steve Carlton delivered one of the best-pitched games of his Hall of Fame career, throwing a complete-game one-hitter to beat the New York Mets 1-0 at Veterans Stadium. Facing Mets left-hander Andy Hassler, Carlton retired the first 19 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning. That bid ended with one out in the seventh when Mets right fielder Elliott Maddox lined a double into the outfield — the only hit New York would manage all afternoon. It was the fifth one-hitter of Carlton’s career, tying a modern National League record, and by some accounts it’s remembered as the best single game he ever pitched. The whole affair moved briskly, wrapping up in just 1 hour and 51 minutes.

Carlton struck out nine Mets and didn’t walk a single batter, a testament to how precisely he was locating his slider and fastball that day. After Maddox’s double broke up the perfect game, an error allowed a Mets runner to reach base as well, briefly putting men on first and third, but Carlton bore down and worked out of it without allowing a run. He needed just those two baserunners all day and cruised through the rest of the lineup to close out the shutout.

Three Pitchers Lost to injuries on the Same Day

The Phillies placed three starting pitchers on the disabled list on July 4, 1979.

  • Dick Ruthven went on the disabled list with bone chips in his pitching elbow. It was a chronic, wear-and-tear issue rather than a single dramatic incident, but it sidelined him nonetheless.
  • Larry Christenson had broken his collarbone earlier in the year after falling off his bike during a charity bicycle ride. By July, he was dealing with a bone spur connected to that injury, which is why he landed on the Disabled List (DL) – as it was called back then. Christenson had already opened the season on the DL with elbow trouble and missed the season’s first month, so 1979 was an unusually injury-riddled year for him. He finished the season 5-10.
  • Randy Lerch and his wife went to dinner with another couple after the Phillies’ game on July 3. Leaving the restaurant around 12:45 a.m., they were attacked by a group of young men. Lerch suffered a broken bone in his right wrist, and missed roughly a week, returning to the rotation on July 11. At the time of the injury he was 4-7 with a 3.61 ERA, and the Phillies’ offense had been giving him little support — they’d scored two runs or fewer in five of his seven losses that year.

A season gone Sideways

The pitching injuries were emblematic of a rough year for the Phillies. After a hot start that had them at 24-10 in mid-May with a 3.5 game division lead, the club went just 60-68 the rest of the way and finished fourth, 14 games behind the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Manager Danny Ozark was fired late in the season and replaced by Dallas Green, setting the stage for the Phillies’ World Series winning 1980 season. Carlton’s one-hitter stands out as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing summer for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for July 4

  • July 4, 1883 – Trailing 11 to 9 at the end of the 7th inning, the visiting team from Providence left to catch a train to New York for the day’s second game. Philadelphia was awarded a win by forfeit.
  • July 4, 1892 – In a contest of 300-game winners, the Phils’ Tim Keefe faces St. Louis’ Pud Galvin, who won the contest 9-2.
  • July 4, 1900 – In Chicago, the Colts sweep the Phillies, winning 10-4 and 5-4, in 12 innings. A number of fans fire pistols to celebrate the holiday but no injuries occur.
  • July 4, 1905 – In a day-night doubleheader between Boston and Philadelphia, the A’s take the morning game, 5 -2, using pitchers Eddie Plank, Andy Coakley and Rube Waddell on the mound to beat Jesse Tannehill. The afternoon contest proves a classic as Philadelphia’s Waddell bests Cy Young in a 20-inning marathon, when the Athletics prevail, 4 – 2. Boston outhits the A’s, 15 to 13, but the 38-year-old Young loses on an error, hit batsman and two hits. Young walks nobody in the 20 innings, while 1B Bob Unglaub records 31 putouts. Philadelphia C Ossee Schreckengost works 28 innings in one day, a major league record.
  • July 4, 1908 – The Phillies were no-hit over 10 innings by the Giants’ George Wiltse. Wiltse lost the chance for a perfect game in the 9th inning when he hit George McQuillen with a pitch.
  • July 4, 1967 – Clay Dalrymple draws six walks in a double-header sweep of Houston (two in the first game and four in the night-cap), setting a team record and tying the league record.
  • July 4, 1976 – Tim McCarver hits an apparent grand slam but has the home run taken away when he passes Garry Maddox on the basepaths. The Phils beat the Pirates anyway, 10-5.
  • July 4, 1989 – Dickie Thon breaks up the Reds’ Tom Browning‘s perfect game bid with a double in the ninth, Steve Jeltz then doubled him in to break up the shut-out. The Reds hold on to win, 2-1.
  • July 4, 2005 – Released Amaury Telemaco, who would pitch six of his nine seasons with the Phillies. Telemaco missed the entire 2002 season with a shoulder injury.

ICYMI

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Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for July 4

  • Milt Reed (born 1890) – A middle infielder with the 1913-1915 Phillies. Reed hit .214 in 57 games over those three seasons.
  • Bobby Malkmus (born 1931) – Born in Newark, NJ, Malkmus was an infielder with the Phillies from 1960-1962.
  • Dan Larson (born 1954) – Made seven starts and 14 relief appearances with the Phillies between 1978-1981.
  • Jared Hughes (born 1985) – Went 2-1, 3.91 in 25 relief appearances for the 2019 Phillies.
  • Jim McTamany (born 1863) – Played some center field for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1891, which was the final season in the majors for McTamany, wrapping up a seven-year MLB career.

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