June 23, 1971: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Rick Wise of the Phillies hit a home run off Ross Grimsley in the 5th inning. He hit another home run off Clay Carroll in the 8th.
Wise was also the Phillies' pitcher. And he pitched a no-hitter. On the road. Against "The Big Red Machine." In fact, the only thing keeping him from a perfect game was a walk issued to Dave Concepción in the 6th.
Only 3 other pitchers have pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run in the same game: Wes Ferrell of the 1931 Cleveland Indians, Jim Tobin of the 1944 Boston Braves, and Earl Wilson of the 1962 Boston Red Sox. But Wise pitched a no-hitter and hit 2 home runs.
This game formed the front half of one of my favorite baseball oddities. The last out of this game was a line shot by Pete Rose, caught by the Phillies' 3rd baseman, John Vukovich. The next no-hitter pitched by a Phillie was on August 15, 1990, as they beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. It was pitched by Terry Mulholland, supported by a home run by Darren Daulton. Mulholland didn't hit a home run himself, much less 2. But, like Wise, he came within 1 baserunner of a perfect game: Rick Parker reached on an error in the 7th inning. And the last out was a line shot by Gary Carter, caught by the Phillies' 3rd baseman, Charlie Hayes. Vukovich was a coach for the Phillies on this occasion.
In between these no-hitters, both with the last out caught by the Phillies' 3rd baseman, was the entire career of Mike Schmidt, the greatest Phillies player and the greatest 3rd baseman ever, but a player who was never on the winning side of a no-hitter.
A rookie on the Phils' ill-fated 1964 team, Wise finished the 1971 season at 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA, for a team that finished 67-95, 30 games out of 1st place. He should have been treated as the team's ace for years to come. But he was one of those players who had a habit of wearing out his welcome. Shortly before Spring Training in 1972, the Phillies engineered a "my headache for your headache" trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, giving them Wise for Steve Carlton. It was the best trade in Phillies history.
The trade could have worked out for the Cards, as Wise went 16-16 and 16-12 over the next 2 years. But after the 1973 season, they traded him and outfielder Bernie Carbo to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Reggie Smith and pitcher Ken Tatum. That trade also could have worked out well for both teams, but the Cards gave up on Smith too soon, too.
Wise was the leading winner in the Sox rotation that won the 1975 American League Pennant. In Game 6 of that year's World Series, Carbo hit a key home run, and Wise turned out to be the winning pitcher. But those 2, along with Bill Lee, Fergie Jenkins and Jim Willoughby, became known as the Loyal Order of Buffalo Heads, annoying manager Don Zimmer. Wise was shipped off to the Cleveland Indians. He went 9-19 for them in 1978, but for a better-hitting team, like the '78 Red Sox, he could have made a difference. Even for a poor Indians team, he went 15-10 in 1979.
In his 18-year career, he went 188-181, had a 3.69 ERA, and 1,647 strikeouts. He later served as a minor-league pitching coach, and is still alive as of June 23, 2022.
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June 23, 1971 was a Wednesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees' only home run of this game was the game-winner, in the bottom of the 13th inning, by... Gene Michael, 1 of only 15 that "Stick" would hit in his career. Al Kaline went 1-for-5 with a walk.
* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Just another day at the office for "The Lumber Company": Roberto Clemente went 4-for-5 (but no RBIs), and Willie Stargell went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Cleon Jones hit a home run for the Mets.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 7-5 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. Boog Powell hit 2 home runs. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Milwaukee Brewers won the opener, 6-0. Bill Parsons pitched a 5-hit shutout. The California Angels won the nightcap, 9-5.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4 with a walk. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Rod Carew went 1-for-5.
* The San Diego Padres swept a doubleheader from the Houston Astros, 3-2 and 4-3 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). In the opener, Tommy Dean singled Enzo Hernandez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Lou Brock and Joe Torre both had RBI singles in the top of the 10th inning.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Juan Marichal didn't quite match Rick Wise, but he did pitch a complete game and hit 1 home run. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Ernie Banks, in his final season, did not play.
