Bunning’s perfect Father’s Day recalled 50 years later
By Frank Fitzpatrick, The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He played 17 big-league seasons, won 100-plus games in each league, and is in baseball's Hall of Fame. He was an elected official in his native
But there have also been a few sour notes.
Bunning's only real shot at a
"Mentally, I've never gotten over it," Bunning said last week. "It was as close as I ever got."
Even more hurtful, perhaps, were the absences from family that baseball demanded.
"[For] all the times I missed something that you thought was important," an emotional Bunning told his children during his 1996 Hall induction speech, "I want you to know that I loved you then. And I hope you know I love you now."
But Bunning is fortunate. His career included one day -- ironically, a
Fifty years ago, on
"It's nice," he said, "to have something like that to remember about 1964."
That
Since leaving the
Barbara is a lawyer. David is a federal judge. Bill is an
Some of them, along with many of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren -- 24 in all -- will be with Bunning on Sunday as, 50 Father's Days later, the
Bunning will throw the ceremonial first pitch at
There were only seven Bunning children on
Countless times since then, the entire clan has viewed that game's ninth inning -- the only bit of film that survives.
"And all of them," Bunning said, "understand very clearly what a special
With her husband due to pitch the opener of a Phils-
They briefly visited the 1964 World's Fair adjacent to
At his
"I loved the heat," he said. "I sweated a lot, and I'd go through three jerseys every game. But I welcomed it because I knew I was in better shape than the hitters."
In the visitors' clubhouse, after donning a gray road jersey over a long-sleeved T-shirt, he smiled when he saw the lineup card. Manager
His mound opponent would be
In his first
Though he'd been hit hard the previous Wednesday in
Now, following his bullpen session, Bunning told catcher
Triandos had his doubts in the first inning, when the pitcher hung two offerings, fat curveballs that
"I told Gus if they weren't hitting those pitches, this could be one heck of a day," Bunning said.
The
The Phils led, 6-0, when, after 18 straight
"The pressure builds not just on the pitcher, but on the fielders," he explained. "I was trying to relieve it by talking."
It was a lesson he learned
"The only game I ever got Williams out four times," Bunning said. "Four pop-ups."
He'd been so emotionally drained by pressure that day that he collapsed afterward. Six years later, he was, if not cool, at least collected.
"He was silly on the mound whenever I went out to talk to him," Triandos, who died last year, recalled in 1989. "He was jabbering like a magpie."
Meanwhile, back at the
A hundred miles to the north, so did Mauch. After the sixth, he shored up Bunning's support, removing Covington, inserting
There were only a few subsequent scares. In the seventh, third baseman Allen cleanly fielded
A borderline 3-2 slider froze Taylor. Umpire
"It was there," Bunning said.
By the bottom of the ninth, the 32,026 fans were on their feet cheering for the
"Not since 1880," he told them, "has there been a perfect game in the
Shortstop
Bunning bore down. The burly outfielder slapped his first pitch hard to right.
With pitcher
"When I first faced him earlier that season, Mauch told me, 'This guy can't spell curveball,' " Bunning recalled. "That's all he was getting."
Stephenson flailed at the first pitch, pulling off badly.
"I must have faced him 18 or 20 times . . . and I never did get a hit," said Stephenson, who became more successful as a scout and college coach. "He always pitched me on the outside."
That's where Bunning threw the second pitch, a called strike.
"You can never possibly come any closer and not get it," Murphy told his listeners. "
Stephenson, thinking Bunning had set him up with two curves, geared for a fastball.
Fooled, he stabbed halfheartedly at a third straight breaking ball and missed.
It was
Bunning slammed his fist triumphantly into his glove and strode toward Triandos. The other
Back in
In
A
Bunning, a militant proponent of players' rights, responded instantly.
"How much?"
He agreed to do it for
Late that afternoon, Bunning and his traveling companions left the
"Everybody said we should go to Toots Shor's, so we did," he recalled. "But it was closed for
With no backup plan, they proceeded to the theater at 52d and
There, Bunning met golfer
"He said, 'I finally do something to get my picture on the front page and you have to go and knock me off,' " Bunning said.
Both athletes were introduced early by Sullivan. They stood, acknowledged the audience's applause, and sat back down.
When the show ended at
"We still hadn't eaten," Bunning remembered. "So we stopped at the first restaurant we hit."
It was at a
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