Memorial Stadium, in its 1954-1969 configuration
May 2, 1964: A day out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore turns tragic.
There were 20,000 teenagers who were invited by the Baltimore Orioles for "Safety Patrol Day." But that title turned out to be a cruel joke, as the top of an escalator is partially blocked by a wooden barricade. This caused some of the kids to fall back, and 46 of them are injured. One of them died: Her name was Annette Constantini, and she was only 14 years old.
Among the injured was 12-year-old Jenny Phillips, from Frederick, Maryland, who suffered an ankle injury. In a 2020 interview, the retired teacher, by then 67 years old, said, "I always avoid escalators, even now."
Most of the fans at the game -- the announced paid attendance, above and beyond the 20,000 freebies, was 4,974 -- didn't know what happened until they got home that day and watched the evening news. The game was tied 2-2, and went to extra innings. Each team scored a run in the 12th inning. In the top of the 13th, the Cleveland Indians scored 3 runs. In the bottom of the 13th, the Orioles got one back, but could get no closer, and lost, 6-4.
Much as he did in 1959, after pitching 12 perfect innings for Pittsburgh against Milwaukee, it was Harvey Haddix who fell apart for Baltimore in the 13th inning. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-5 with a walk.
Over the following days, the Orioles rounded up all of the names of the kids who were injured or affected by the escalator accident and sent them a letter. The Orioles gave all of the children team-signed baseballs from the 1964 team, two free tickets to a game of their choosing, and the opportunity to meet the players.
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May 2, 1964 was a Saturday. These other baseball games were played, and some of them also had weird occurrences:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were beaten in the top of the 10th inning, on a single by former Yankee Bill "Moose" Skowron. Tom Tresh hit a home run. Mickey Mantle only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.
* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Al Jackson pitched a 2-hit shutout, allowing only a single by Deron Johnson and, oddly, one by the opposing pitcher, Jim Maloney. But Maloney balanced that out by throwing a wild pitch that allowed a run while Jackson was at bat. Frank Robinson did not play. Pete Rose went 0-for-4.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dave Wickersham pitched a 6-hit shutout. Al Kaline went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. He did not hit a home run, but Eddie Mathews did. So did their former Brave teammate, Wes Covington, for the Phils, as did Johnny Callison.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. The Cards led 4-3 in the top of the 9th, but Gene Freese singled home 2 runs to win it. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4 with a walk. Willie Stargell did not play.
So the 3 teams that finished the regular season within 1 game of each other at the top of the National League standings -- Cincinnati, Philadelphia and St. Louis -- all lost on this day.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The game was tied 2-2 after 8 innings. In the top of the 9th, Harmon Killebrew hit a home run for the Twins. In the bottom of the 9th, Rocky Colavito singled home Ed Charles for the A's, and the game went to extra innings.
In the top of the 11th, with Dan Pfister pitching for the A's, the Twins did something that has only happened 11 times in major league history, and this was only the 3rd time: They hit 4 straight home runs. They were hit by Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Killebrew.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s, 9-0 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Colts became the Astros the next season. Bob Buhl pitched a 3-hit shutout. Ernie Banks went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Lou Brock went 3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. The Cubs, desperate for pitching, traded him a few weeks later anyway, to St. Louis, for Ernie Broglio. It didn't work out well for them. It worked out great for the Cardinals.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Chuck Hiller singled home the winning run in the top of the 12th inning. Duke Snider hit a home run -- for the Giants, against the Dodgers. It was the 404th home run of his career, which, at the time, ranked 6th all-time. He would hit only 3 more. Willie Mays went 1-for-6.
The NBA season had ended 6 days earlier, with the Boston Celtics beating the San Francisco Warriors for their 6th straight Championship. The NHL season had ended the day before that, with the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Detroit Red Wings for their 3rd straight Stanley Cup. And American football was out of season.
In English soccer, West Ham United of East London defeated Preston North End of Lancashire, 3-2 at the original Wembley Stadium in London, to win the FA Cup. I have a separate entry for that event.
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