(Updated June 16, 2023)
As a Cardinals rookie, Dick Hughes delivered a dominant strikeout performance against the Reds that stands out for its artistry and drama.
On May 30, 1967, Hughes was perfect for seven innings against the Reds at Cincinnati. Then a string of bad breaks and bizarre plays occurred. Hughes struck out 13 in eight innings but took the loss in the Reds’ 2-1 victory.
A right-hander, Hughes spent nine years in the minors. His vision was 20-75 in one eye; 20-300 in the other, according to The Sporting News.
In 1966, Hughes turned around his career by developing a slider and a no-windup delivery. He got his first call to the big leagues with the Cardinals in September 1966.
Hughes, 29, began the 1967 season in the Cardinals bullpen. He became a starter in May, swapping roles with Al Jackson.
Five days after pitching a two-hit shutout in the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory over the Braves in Atlanta Boxscore, Hughes was paired against Reds ace Jim Maloney at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 35 minutes by rain. Unfazed, Hughes retired the first 18 batters. Then play was halted another 55 minutes by rain.
Hughes retired the Reds in order in the seventh, keeping his bid for a perfect game intact, but the second delay had been damaging.
“My slider was not going where I wanted it to and, after the rain stopped the game (a second time), I began relying on my fastball.” Hughes said to the Associated Press.
Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst confirmed, “The delay in the game by rain took a little of the edge off Hughes.”
With the Cardinals ahead 1-0, Tony Perez, leading off the eighth for Cincinnati, swung at a 3-and-2 fastball and lofted a high fly to center. The ball hit off the wall at cozy Crosley for a 380-foot triple “that would have been an easy out in any other park,” The Sporting News reported.
With the perfect game bid ended, Hughes focused on trying to preserve the lead. After he fanned Deron Johnson for the first out, Vada Pinson batted. “Pinson tried to duck from a high pitch, which he later confessed he never saw and, presto, he had a bloop, score-tying double to short left,” The Sporting News reported.
Pinson’s fluke double plated Chico Ruiz, who ran for Perez, tying the score at 1-1.
Trying to set up a double play, Hughes issued an intentional walk to Johnny Edwards, but Leo Cardenas followed with a single, scoring Pinson and giving the Reds a 2-1 lead. Edwards advanced to third on the play, but Cardenas was thrown out at second, trying to stretch the single into a double.
Jim Maloney was due up next. Rather than lift him for a pinch-hitter and turn to a closer in the ninth, manager Dave Bristol opted to let Maloney bat and he ended the inning with a fly out.
Maloney was tiring. Orlando Cepeda opened the ninth with a single. Tim McCarver followed with another single, sending Cepeda to third.
Bristol lifted Maloney and brought in Don Nottebart to face Phil Gagliano, subbing for third baseman Mike Shannon, who had a viral infection.
Gagliano swung at Nottebart’s first pitch and grounded sharply to Cardenas at shortstop. Cepeda should have raced for home. Instead, he hesitated. Cardenas fielded the grounder and flipped to second baseman Tommy Helms, forcing McCarver. Though McCarver slid hard into him, Helms relayed a throw to first baseman Deron Johnson, completing the double play.
(In his book, “Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans,” McCarver recalled, “I hit Helms so hard on that play that I was concerned enough to call him after the game. In my entire career, that was the only time I called an opposing player to find out if he was OK.”)
On Helms’ throw, Cepeda broke for home. Deron Johnson spotted him and fired the ball to catcher Johnny Edwards, who tagged out Cepeda.
Triple play. Game over.
“Something, eh?” an astonished Dave Bristol said to the Associated Press. “First time I ever threw my cap into the stands.
“I sent Nottebart in to pitch, hoping he would throw a low ball for a grounder. He sure did.” Boxscore
Hughes finished with a pitching line of eight innings, three hits, two runs, one walk and 13 strikeouts. He held Pete Rose hitless, stopping a 25-game hit streak.
“If it hadn’t rained, we never would have got a hit off Hughes,” Chico Ruiz said. “Hughes was just great.”
