Samuel Rodriguez asked, in our Facebook Baseball Almanac Group , “How many pitchers threw a complete game in the seventh game of the World Series ? Please tell me the names, team and year. I only remember the great Jack Morris in 1991 with the Minnesota Twins.”
What a GREAT question! There are probably a few more of these pitchers than you’d expect. A Game Seven is not terribly common, then to get to that point and have a single pitcher stay on the mound the entire game, and simply leave the bullpen there to watch, risky.
Here is a list of every pitcher in World Series History who has taken the mound in a Game Seven, and threw a complete game:
10-16-1909 RHP Babe Adams (Pittsburgh Pirates)
NOTE : During the 1921 World Series , Phil Douglas threw a complete game during Game 7, on October 12, 1921 , but it was an 8-game series that year. The following day, October 13, 1921 , both pitchers went the distance, Art Nehf winning the complete game (it was a shutout), and Waite Hoyt losing his complete game.
This also happened in the 1919 World Series . Eddie Cicotte went the distance in Game 7 , but there was a Game 8 played on October 9, 1919 , and Hod Eller threw a complete game win that historic day, for the Reds.
In the 1912 World Series , Jeff Tesreau threw a complete game during Game 7 , for the Giants, but this also had a Game 8, which featured Christy Mathewson pitching 9.2 innings, a losing walk-off effort.
Lastly, during the 1903 World Series , both Deacon Phillippe and Cy Young pitched complete games, during Game 7 , and Phillippe lost his bid. Three days later, a Game 8 was played, Phillippe went the distance again, lost again, and his opponent was Bill Dineen , who earned the complete game shutout that day.
Almost every one of them gets an “A” on their world series report card, and a handful of them get an “A+” because they not only let their bullpen sit & watch, but they threw a complete game shutout as well! Those with shutouts were Morris , Saberhagen , Koufax , Terry, Burdette , Podres , Dean , Coveleski , Kucks , and Adams .
Two of them, however, get an “A-” because they actually lost their complete game! Or maybe that should be reflected on the manager’s report card? Let us know! Gibson (1968) and Phillippe lost their complete game efforts.
Some notable stats, so you don’t have to visit every box score, the fewest hits allowed was three, by Kucks , Sandy Koufax , and Gibson (1967). The most, eleven, by Phillippe . The most strikeouts was ten, by Newhouser , Koufax , and Gibson (1967). The fewest, one, by Adams , Coveleski, Derringer , and Kucks .
The Game 7 Complete Game MVP? Bob Gibson , he might have lost one, and he might not have gotten a shutout, but he does have three of these unique pitching feats in the Baseball Almanac . Agree? Disagree? Tell us!
