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:
10-27-199
1 RHP
Jack Morris
(Minnesota Twins)
10-27-1985
RHP
Bret Saberhagen
(Kansas City Royals)
10-17-1971
RHP
Steve Blass
(Pittsburgh Pirates)
10-10-1968
RHP
Bob Gibson
(St. Louis Cardinals)
10-10-1968
LHP
Mickey Lolich
(Detroit Tigers)
10-12-1967
RHP
Bob Gibson
(St. Louis Cardinals)
10-14-1965
LHP
Sandy Koufax
(Los Angeles Dodgers)
10-15-1964
RHP
Bob Gibson
(St. Louis Cardinals)
10-16-1962
RHP
Ralph Terry
(New York Yankees)
10-10-1957
RHP
Lew Burdette
(Milwaukee Braves)
10-10-1956
RHP
Johnny Kucks
(New York Yankees)
10-04-1955
LHP
Johnny Podres
(Brooklyn Dodgers)
10-10-1945
LHP
Hal Newhouser
(Detroit Tigers)
10-08-1940
RHP
Paul Derringer
(Cincinnati Reds)
10-09-1934
RHP
Dizzy Dean
(St. Louis Cardinals)
10-12-1920
RHP
Stan Coveleski
(Cleveland Indians)
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, but
Sandy Koufax
,
Gibson
(1965),
Kucks
. 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!