During the Rockies-Cardinals broadcast Aug. 12, 2011, the night CC Sabathia of the Yankees and Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs each gave up five home runs, Mike Shannon told listeners he witnessed Bob Gibson yield five solo homers to the Giants in a game won by St. Louis, 6-5.
Shannon’s storytelling is fun, but his memory isn’t accurate.
Gibson surrendered four homers in a game three times, twice to the Giants, but never was touched for five.
The last Cardinals pitcher to give up five homers in a game was Scott Terry.
On June 4, 1989, at St. Louis, Terry started for the Cardinals against the Cubs and gave up six hits in 4.1 innings _ five of those hits were home runs.
Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston, who entered the game with a .187 batting average and one homer, each hit two solo homers against Terry and Mitch Webster added a two-run shot in the Cubs’ 11-3 victory. Boxscore
Terry, a right-hander, entered the game having allowed just three homers in 58.2 innings over 10 starts that season. He gave up as many homers in that one game as he did the entire 1988 season for St. Louis (five homers in 129.1 innings).
“Not only does it hurt your confidence,” Terry told The Sporting News afterward, “but it’s embarrassing.”
Said Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog to the Associated Press: “There were no cheap ones. Those hits were deep. I’ve never seen the ball carrying like that.”
After Sandberg smacked his second solo homer with one out in the fifth, giving Chicago a 6-3 lead, Herzog lifted Terry for left-hander Frank DiPino, a former Cub. DiPino threw a waist-high brushback pitch to the first batter he faced, Mark Grace, who charged the mound, prompting both benches to empty.
Though the melee was brief, it was costly. Grace partially separated his shoulder and was ejected. St. Louis third baseman Terry Pendleton bruised his elbow and left the game.
“It was not my intention to hit him,” DiPino told The Sporting News, “but I’ve got to show some protection for myself. They’ve just hit five home runs ahead of me and I’m going to lay one over the middle of the plate? It doesn’t work that way. It was a purpose pitch. I threw it where I wanted to throw it. But I didn’t do it so he would charge the mound.”
Said Grace to the Associated Press: “(DiPino) didn’t like me last year, even when we were teammates.”
DiPino responded to The Sporting News: “We weren’t the best of friends … I just don’t like guys who are cocky.”
As for Gibson, who was one of many Cardinals pitchers to give up four homers in a game, Shannon may have been thinking about Aug. 28, 1963, when the Giants beat St. Louis, 5-3, at San Francisco. Tom Haller hit two solo homers, Orlando Cepeda added a solo blast, and Chuck Hiller hit a two-run shot against Gibson. Boxscore
The Giants also hit four homers against Gibson on May 8, 1973, at San Francisco. Bobby Bonds hit two homers _ a solo shot on Gibson’s first pitch of the game and a two-run blast _ and Willie McCovey and Dave Kingman also launched solo homers against Gibson in the Giants’ 9-7 victory. Boxscore
“If you get one hit off Bob Gibson, it’s a good night,” Bonds told reporters, “so this one is great.”
In the other game in which Gibson allowed four homers, the Cardinals beat the Mets, 8-5, at St. Louis. Charlie Smith hit a two-run homer and Jesse Gonder, Johnny Lewis and Jim Hickman all had solo shots against Gibson. Boxscore
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