4/21/84: He got #4000, but...

It took 2 weeks later to get it in the C&D, but Pete Rose did join Ty Cobb as an exclusive member of the 4000 Club. He made it in the top of the 3rd off Card starter John Stuper, joining the "Georgia Peach" in baseball immortality. The milestone came in game 1 of a makeup doubleheader at Busch Stadium and you'd think Pete would be ecstatic about it in the postgame interview. Turns out though, it was very bittersweet.

Bottom of the 8th, Expos lead 2-1 on a 2-run homer by Terry Francona in the 4th, Steve Rogers on the mound and Lonnie Smith leading off. Smith laced a pitch to left field, Rose, who has caught a billion of these things, somehow was thinking about the postgame celebration and... Dropped. The. Ball. E-7. 2. Base. Error.

After Ken Oberkfell grounded to 2nd, Tom Herr lined a single to center that scored Smith with the tying run. Herr then stole 2nd, Steve Rogers gave way to Gary Lucas, who got George Hendrick on a popout to Gary Carter. PH David Green then singled home Herr with the go-ahead run, making it 3-2. Then came the 9th and a chance for "Monsieur 4000" to redeem himself.

Jeff Lahti retired PH Derrel Thomas on a fly to McGee in center. Then came Bruce Sutter, who struck out PH Chris Speier. Up stepped Rose to redeem himself, but his bid for 4001 died in CF. He did get 4000, but Rose did not come up smelling like one on a routine fly ball. They were able to celebrate 4000 between games, but what really mattered at the end was not the ball that dropped in the history books, but simply the ball that dropped in front of "Monsieur 4000."  

STL 3-6-0 MON 2-6-2 WP-Lahti LP-Rogers SV-Sutter HR-Francona GWRBI-Green STL 7-7 MON 5-9 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4/20/84: Dave Stewart 2-hits Don Mattingly, no hits rest of Yankees, 2-0

The emergence of Don Mattingly continued at Yankee Stadium , as he picked up 2 hits against Texas righty Dave Stewart . Trouble was the rest of the Yankees couldn't get anything past Stewart, as the Rangers blanked the Yankees by a 2-0 count on Stewart's gem. Stewart pitched 6 no-hit innings against the Yankees before Mattingly broke up the no-no in the 7th with a perfectly clean lead-off single. That would be the only hit off Stewart until the bottom of the 9th, when Mattingly lined a 2-out single to 2nd. PH Roy Smalley would line out to Wayne Tolleson at 2nd to end the game and Stewart's nifty 2-hitter. Just as Stewart was brilliant, so was his left-handed counterpart Ron Guidry , who struck out 9 Rangers, but made 2 mistakes which were the difference in the game. In the 4th, George Wright singled, followed by walk to Buddy Bell , giving the Rangers 1st and 2nd with nobody out. After Guidry caught Larry Parrish looking, Pete O'Brien caught a look at a Guidry cur...
Read more

4/21/84: Tigers come out smelling like a Rozema against ChiSox, 2-0

Dave Rozema , save for last-out relief help by Aurelio Lopez and Willie Hernandez , struck out 6 in limiting the White Sox to 5 hits in a 2-0 shutout in front of an enthusiastic crowd at " The Corner ."  "Rozey" got all the runs he needed in the 6th when Darrell Evans reached on a 1-out single and scored on a 2-run blast to left by Lance Parrish . Sox starter LaMarr Hoyt dodged a bases-loaded threat in the 5th and a 1st/2nd one in the 8th but still got the hard-luck loss as the Sox got blanked for the 2nd game in a row. In the ChiSox 9th, Rozema retired Carlton Fisk on a deep drive to left but after a single from Harold Baines and a walk to Greg Luzinski , Sparky brought out the "Hook" and brought in Aurelio Lopez to face Greg Walker , who "Stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by." For right-handed pinch-hitter Ron Kittle , the "Hook" came for Willie Hernandez, who blew out Kittle with a swin...
Read more

4/22/84: Astros finish sweep of Braves, 4-2

The Astros erupted for 3 runs on 6 hits in the 6th and held off a late Braves rally to complete a sweep of the struggling Atlanta ballclub by a final of 4-2.  The Astros got RBI singles from Jerry Mumphrey , Phil Garner and Alan Ashby to take a 3-1 lead in the 6th, chasing Brave starter Pete Falcone in the process. The Braves crept closer when Rafael Ramirez doubled home Albert Hall, making the score 3-2 but the Braves promptly gave the run back in the 8th when Phil Garner greeted Terry Forster with a leadoff double, then scored on Ashby's 2nd RBI single. The Braves had a great chance in the 8th when Dale Murphy led off with a walk, advanced to 3rd on a single by Bob Horner, who then took 2nd on a bases-loading walk by Chris Chambliss. Frank DiPino took over for Joe Niekro and got Jerry Royster to line to Enos Cabell at 1st and for good measure, got Bruce "Eggs" Benedict to lay one himself, grounding into an 6-4-3 rally-killing DP . The Braves could only muster a 1-out...
Read more