Leave it to Lou Brock to find a hole in a five-man infield.
On June 27, 1972, the Expos put five players on the infield in an attempt to escape a jam against the Cardinals.
Brock did what the Expos hoped he would _ hit a ground ball _ but it eluded the infielders and bounded into the outfield for a game-winning hit.
Stacking the infield
After a loss to Sam McDowell and the Giants dropped their record to 24-32, the Cardinals won six in a row heading into a Tuesday night doubleheader versus the Expos at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
The Expos’ starting lineup in Game 1 featured a pair of former Cardinals (Tim McCarver, making his second career start at third base, and center fielder Boots Day), two future Cardinals (right fielder Ron Fairly and first baseman Mike Jorgensen) and a St. Louis native (second baseman Ron Hunt).
After the Cardinals came back from a 3-0 deficit and tied the score, the game went to extra innings.
In the 11th, with the bases loaded and one out, Brock came to bat against closer Mike Marshall, who was working his fourth inning. Marshall’s signature pitch was a screwball, which batters tended to hit on the ground.
Hoping for a ground ball to create either a force at the plate or a double play, if Marshall couldn’t get Brock to strike out or hit a pop-up, Expos manager Gene Mauch removed left fielder Jim Fairey and sent utility player Hector Torres to the infield.
Because Brock batted left-handed, the Expos put three infielders on the right side _ first baseman Mike Jorgensen, shortstop Tim Foli (positioned to the right of second base) and second baseman Ron Hunt (stationed between Jorgensen and Foli), according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
On the left side were third baseman Bobby Wine (who had replaced McCarver in the sixth inning) and Torres (positioned to the left of second base).
The two outfielders, Ron Woods in center and Ken Singleton in right, played shallow in case of a pop fly.
Getting it done
Jorgensen at first base moved in a bit from his normal fielding spot so that if Brock did ground the ball to him he could attempt a short throw to the plate. Jorgensen also didn’t want to be too far from the bag in case he needed to beat Brock there to field a relay throw on a double play.
Brock, a spray hitter, did the unexpected, slashing a grounder down the first-base line. The ball zipped past Jorgensen for a single, scoring Scipio Spinks from third with the winning run. Boxscore
“He hit it to the (Expos’) strong point, the right side, and still hit it past them,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said to the Post-Dispatch.
Stunned that Brock, who hit .233 for his career against Marshall, drove the ball where he did, Mauch said, “If I’d have had seven infielders, I wouldn’t have put one right there.”
Brock seemed surprised, too. “It must have been 1967 since I last hit a ball to that spot,” he told The Sporting News.
RetroSimba 
Wonder when was the last time a closer worked four innings.
Yep. Some closers don’t work 4 innings in a week now.
An archived ESPN article noted that Kent Tekulve of the 1987 Phillies pitched 9 days in a row, totaling 9.1 innings and allowing one run. Mike Marshall worked 8 days in a row, totaling 14.2 innings, in his Cy Young Award season with the 1974 Dodgers.
Rich Gossage twice pitched four days in a row and worked multiple innings in four of those appearances. Among those who worked 6 days in a row, including stints with multiple innings, were Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith _ all Hall of Famers.
Nice post. That single was the only hit that Lou Brock would have against Mike Marshall in six plate appearances that year, but he made it count. How the game has changed. Not only did Mike Marshall pitch more than three innings of relief, he also swung the bat for the Expos to lead off their half of the 11th.
Thanks, Phillip. As you note, Mike Marshall was not an automatic out at the plate. He began his career in the minors as an infielder. Against the Cardinals in his career, he had 3 hits and 3 RBI. His lone home run in the majors came in a start for the Seattle Pilots at Fenway Park in Boston. He hit the home run against Red Sox reliever Fred Wenz.
Hey Mark, what do you think of the rule to be put into effect next season? No more than two fielders on either side of second base? I don’t like it. Why rob a team, a manager, of strategy? Plus, I like that the shift opens up spaces. Inspire a batter to try and poke the ball the other way. Funny, that in this situation, Brock hit right into the shift and yet the ball still found a hole! Woulda made Wee Willie Keeler proud – “Hit ’em where they ain’t.”
Hi, Steve. I agree with you _ and for the reasons you state. If baseball wants to reduce defensive shifts, batters should learn to hit the opposite way. It doesn’t require adding another rule. Someday, a team will have the courage to build a lineup that goes against the current mindset, and when that happens, the other 29 lemmings will follow suit.