RetroSimba

(Updated April 20, 2020)

Tired of Del Unser pounding his pitches, Lynn McGlothen decided to pound Unser with a pitch.

On April 20, 1976, the Mets hit three two-run home runs off McGlothen in the first two innings at St. Louis and led 6-0.

Felix Millan and Unser hit home runs in the first inning and John Milner hit one in the second. Unser’s home run upset McGlothen the most.

Unser wasn’t a power hitter, but against McGlothen he swung like Babe Ruth. The year before, Unser hit two home runs against McGlothen.

When Unser came up again in the third inning, McGlothen nailed him in the left elbow with a pitch.

Enough is enough

“There are game situations where a pitcher goes out to hit a batter. This was one,” McGlothen said to the Associated Press. “He hit two home runs off me last year … I didn’t want to see it happen again.”

Said Unser: “If he’s upset because I hit a hanging curve, that’s his problem.”

McGlothen said a pitcher “has a right to try to contain the hitters. If a pitcher feels like he’s been intimidated, he has to do something.”

“I felt like I had a right to retaliate,” McGlothen told United Press International. “I threw that baseball to hit Unser. Let me make that perfectly clear.”

In response, Mets pitcher Tom Seaver told the New York Daily News, “He’s dumb if that’s his level of intelligence. If he couldn’t get the guy out, he should have walked off the mound.’

Storm the field

When McGlothen batted in the Cardinals’ half of the third, Mets starter Jon Matlack threw a brushback pitch. In the fourth, McGlothen threw two pitches near Matlack. The third struck Matlack in the hip.

Dave Kingman, the Mets’ 6-foot-6 right fielder, charged out of the dugout and rushed toward McGlothen, who “stepped off the mound, threw off his glove and struck a fighting pose,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Players from both dugouts stormed onto the field and fights erupted. “There was no bloodshed, but there were some bruises,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

Before Kingman could reach McGlothen, he was tackled by Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez, who told the Post-Dispatch, “He tried to bowl me over, and he did, but I tried to tackle him and I delayed him enough.”

In his book “I’m Keith Hernandez,” Hernandez said facing Kingman was “like a freshman defensive back in high school taking on an all-state fullback.”

“I barely had time to brace myself,” Hernandez said. “I remember being lifted off the ground from the initial shock of the attack, crashing onto the turf on my backside, and desperately trying to hang on to the V-neck of (Kingman’s) jersey as he literally crab-walked over me to get to Lynn.”

Charlie Galati, who charted pitches for the Cardinals, told the Post-Dispatch: “It looked like Mel Gray trying to block Otis Sistrunk.”

(Gray was a receiver for the St. Louis football Cardinals and Sistrunk was an imposing defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders.)

Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons, who chased after Kingman, said, “Kingman ducked under me, and I flew over, hooking my knee.”

McGlothen told The Sporting News he was punched from behind by his former Cardinals teammate, Mets first baseman Joe Torre.

Cardinals left fielder Lou Brock said several Cardinals connected with shots to Kingman.

McGlothen and Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst were ejected. So was Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson.

No respect

Asked about McGlothen, Matlack said, “I really think I have no respect for the man.”

Said McGlothen: “I don’t think either one of us was trying to hurt anyone. I was throwing below the waist. If you want to mark a guy, you throw from the ribs up.”

Defending his pitcher, Schoendienst said, “(McGlothen) was wild all night. I’m surprised he hit anybody if he was trying.”

Regarding Unser, Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch, “I always said that when a batter digs in, he’s digging his own hole and inviting the pitcher to come after him … When a batter goes into the ball like Unser, he stands a pretty good chance of being hit.”

The Mets won, 8-0. McGlothen was fined $300 and given a five-day suspension by National League president Chub Feeney. Boxscore

Five months later, on Sept. 19, 1976, Unser, who’d been traded by the Mets to the Expos in July, faced McGlothen in Montreal and hit a solo home run. Boxscore