1965 - Dodgers' Drysdale vs. Mets' Spahn
It was like an all-time fantasy pitchers' duel at Shea Stadium but it actually took place
SHEA STADIUM - June 11, 1965
The Sports Time Traveler has been following the 1965 Mets day-by-day since the start of the season.
Last night’s game was one of the highlights of this journey.
The largest crowd of the season so far, 55,023 were jammed into Shea Stadium on Friday night. The main reason for such a large crowd is that this was the 2nd of 4 times the Dodgers would be playing at Shea this year, and any Dodger’s fan who is a teenager, here in 1965, is just old enough to remember the Dodgers’ playing in Brooklyn.
The Dodgers came into the game in 1st place in the NL at 34 - 22. The Mets came into the game in their familiar last place position at 20 - 35.
But what a treat these fans had last night. They got to see two of the greatest pitchers of the era face off against each other. Dodgers’ Don Drysdale, 1962 Cy Young winner, was facing the Mets’ Warren Spahn, the winningest lefty pitcher of all-time, and a man who might have won at least 3 Cy Young awards if they had started giving them out before the middle of his career. Spahn is now 44, and the Mets picked him up after he was unceremoniously dumped by the Braves after 20 years of loyal service to them.
Spahn, who has won 360 games, might be well past 400 wins if he had not also given 3 years of loyal service to Uncle Sam during WW II.
At 44, Spahn has proved he can still pitch. Even though he comes into the game with a 4 - 6 record, he has thrown quality starts in nearly every outing this season. Spahn doubles as the Mets’ pitching coach, and if he could just have seen fit to take himself out of games after 5 or 6 innings, he could be having a truly stellar season. But that’s not how things are done here in 1965, where the top starting pitchers are expected to throw complete games. For example, Don Drysdale, who entered the game with a 10 - 3 record, has already thrown 8 complete games.
Take a look at 44 year old Warren Spahn’s prior starts this season:
April 14 vs. Astros - No hits until 2 outs in the 5th. No runs through 6 innings.
April 20 at Dodgers - No runs through 8 innings. Allowed 1 run in a complete game win.
April 25 at Giants - No runs through 7 innings. Allowed 3 runs in a complete game win.
April 30 at Reds - No runs through 4 innings.
May 5 vs. Phillies - No runs through 5 innings. Allowed 1 run in a complete game loss.
May 11 vs. Cardinals - No runs through 6.
May 16 vs. Reds - 1 run through 4-1/3 innings.
May 20 vs. Braves - No runs through 4 innings.
May 24 vs. Phillies - 1 run through 7-2/3 innings. Allowed 2 runs in a complete game win.
May 28 vs Pirates - 1 run through 7 innings.
June 1 vs. Cubs - 1 run through 3-1/3 innings.
June 6 vs. Pirates - No runs through 4-2/3 innings.
Adding up all those “no run” and “1 run” starts, Spahn has allowed 4 earned runs in the opening 67 innings of the games he has pitched. That’s an ERA of around 0.50. But his actual ERA is 3.71 since he clearly tires and gives up runs in the middle and late innings of games.
Opening Pitch of Friday Night’s Game
Warren Spahn threw the first pitch to Maury Wills at 8pm. Wills grounded out. Spahn allowed just a single to Ron Fairly in the rest of the frame.
Drysdale sent the Mets’ batters down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 1st.
Spahn then one-upped Drysdale. He struck out the side in the 2nd.
Drysdale went 1-2-3 again in the bottom of the 2nd.
Spahn faced just 3 batters in the top of the 3rd. After Wills singled with one out, he was caught stealing. And Spahn then struck out Tracewski to retire the side for his 4th K.
Drysdale completed his first trip through the Mets order without allowing a baserunner, his third consecutive 1-2-3 inning.
Dodgers 0 Mets 0 - end of 3 innings
Spahn went 1-2-3 to the Dodgers’ 3-4-5 batters in the 4th.
Drysdale had yet another 1-2-3 inning in the 4th. He was perfect through 4 innings.
Leading off the top of the 5th, catcher Johnny Roseboro took Spahn deep and cleared the wall at the 358 foot mark in right. Spahn had allowed the 1st run of the game. But he then set down the Dodgers’ 1-2-3- after that.
Drysdale lost his perfect game when Mets’ centerfielder Johnny Lewis singled to lead off the bottom of the 5th. Minutes later, a 2 out single by Mets’ left fielder Joe Christopher tied the game at 1.
In the top of the 6th, Spahn got the top of the Dodgers’ order 1-2-3.
In the bottom of the 6th, Drysdale allowed 1 single and nothing else.
Dodgers 1 Mets 1 - end of 6 innings
In the top of the 7th, Spahn had his 4th 1-2-3 inning, and ended it by getting Roseboro to strike out looking for his 6th K.
Drydale allowed a double in the the bottom of the 7th but stranded the runner there.
In the top of the 8th, Spahn got the Dodgers’ Jim Lefebvre to fly out and Al Ferrara to ground out. Spahn had now set down 11 Dodgers in a row since giving up the Roseboro homer.
Next up was the pitcher Drysdale. It was all set up for Spahn to get his 5th 1-2-3- inning. He got Drysdale to a 3 and 2 count. On the payoff pitch, Drysdale smacked it over the 396 foot sign in centerfield. Spahn kicked the resin bag in disgust according to Steve Jacobson of Newsday. When he returned to the dugout after retiring the side Spahn, “Threw his cap against the wall and pounded a towel into the cushion-covered bench.”
In the bottom of the 8th, Drysdale threw another 1-2-3 inning.
In the top of the 9th, Spahn threw is 5th 1-2-3 inning. It was the 2nd time he’d goine 1-2-3 through the top of the Dodgers’ order.
The Mets were down 2 - 1 and down to their last 3 outs. But they had the heart of their order coming up in the bottom of the 9th.
Unfortunately this is the 1965 Mets, and the heart of their order on any given day doesn’t strike fear into the likes of Don Drysdale.
The first batter was catcher Jesse Gonder. Gonder came into the game batting .278 He lined out to 1st base.
The second batter was Johnny Lewis. He came into the game batting .251. Lewis popped up to 3rd.
Next up was 20 year old Ed Kranepool. Kranepool was the Mets’ best hitter. He was having a truly great start to the season. Batting .333, he had been among the league leaders all spring. Drysdale struck him out. Game over. Dodgers win 2 - 1.
Don Drysdale improved his record to 11 - 3 by throwing a 1 run 4 hitter.
Warren Spahn’s record dropped to 4 - 7. But he had just thrown perhaps his best game of the year, a complete game 5-hitter. Two bad pitches for home runs, had cost Spahn. But his effort did not go unnoticed. Jacobson wrote, “Spahn pitched as good a game as the old man could ask.” That was a reference to Mets’ 74 year old manager Casey Stengel.
The Mets had just lost their 7th game in a row. Across those 7 games they’ve scored just 7 runs. The Mets have score 1 run or less in 6 of Spahn’s 7 losses. His 4 - 7 record really should come with an asterisk.
And so Warren Spahn’s string of great starts was extended by one more, even though he lost. He had allowed just 1 run through 7-2/3 innings. That’s now just 5 earned runs in 74-2/3 innings as the start of games this season.
If only the 44 year old pitching coach knew when to quit the game.