From 1970 through 1980 the Cubs were sort-of contenders while the Pirates were dominating the National League by winning the NL East six times and also taking two World Series during that span.
The Cubs went 74-121 against the Pirates over those 11 seasons, by far their worst record against any team in that span (.379 winning percentage, the next worst was against the Astros, .424). One of those 195 games, though, rose above to become the worst of the worst.
No game epitomized the dominance of the Pirates
over the Cubs than the game played at Wrigley Field half a century ago today. The Pirates were close to clinching the NL East title and the Cubs were on their way to a 75-87 season, and had gone 6-11 against the Pirates for the ‘75 season. This would be the final game of the year between the two teams.
The 1975 Cubs had gotten off to a surprisingly good start — they were 20-10 in late May and led the N.L. East by 4½ games. But that team’s pitching was horrific — they led the league in most runs allowed and it wasn’t close, they gave up 88 more runs than the next-worst team — and an 11-21 June put them under .500 and on their way to a fifth-place finish.
By September, crowds at Wrigley Field had dwindled and on this Tuesday afternoon, the Pirates, who would go on to win the division title, were the Cubs’ opponent to finish up a homestand. Just 4,932 paid to see this game.
The Bucs began hitting in the first inning. Surprisingly, it was staff ace Rick Reuschel who took the initial pounding. He faced nine batters. Eight of them reached base and all of them scored in what wound up a nine-run inning. It didn’t get any better with Cubs relievers that afternoon, and they need to be named: Tom Dettore, Oscar Zamora, Buddy Schultz and Reuschel’s brother Paul. Paul Reuschel actually stopped the bleeding by throwing two scoreless innings to wrap things up. Yes, the score was 22-0 after seven innings!
Every Pirates starting player had at least one hit and scored at least one run, including starting pitcher John Candelaria, who threw a three-hit shutout. The Cubs’ three hits, all singles, were by Jose Cardenal, Andre Thornton and Dave Rosello.
The most significant thing in this game, however, happened in the ninth inning:
Rennie Stennett, the Pirates’ second baseman, came up in the eighth inning having gone 6-for-6 with five runs scored. He tripled past a stunned Champ Summers in right field. There were two out at the time and he was stranded. The Pirates sent five men to bat in the ninth inning and with a couple more hits Stennett would have come up again.
The seven hits in a nine-inning game is a unique occurrence in MLB’s Modern Era (it was also done by Wilbert Robinson in 1892). In fact, seven or more hits in any length game has only been done four other times, last in 2016 by Brandon Crawford — here’s the entire list.
I wasn’t at this game, but Mike Bojanowski was, and here’s what he told me about Stennett’s seventh hit when I wrote about this game back in 2015 on its 40th anniversary:
It was a slicing line drive to right, Champ Summers charged it, then pulled up to play the first hop. The ball had so much spin that after it landed it bounced almost straight left, hit the brick wall just beyond the bullpen mounds and rolled down the drainage gutter that used to be along both foul lines. By the time Summers ran it down and threw it in, Stennett had made third base, and was then removed for a pinch-runner: Willie Randolph, playing in his 24th major-league game. I knew of Wilbert Robinson’s record, and so paid particular attention. As it happened, Stennett’s spot in the order nearly came up again. Note the time of game.
You can see Mike’s scorecard from this game below.
Per Stennett’s SABR biography, he almost wasn’t even in this game:
“I got to the ballpark and I wasn’t supposed to play that day. I had twisted my ankle and it was badly swollen,” recalled Stennett. “But I taped up the ankle and I played. The first time up I hit a ball between (Cubs) first baseman Andre Thornton and the bag, and in my mind that told me that day I was gonna do good because as a right-handed hitter, when I’m hitting the ball to the right side, I know I’m hitting good. That was a shot, and it triggered something. I felt all I had to do was make contact and I was going to get a hit.”
Stennett was a pretty good player who had several good years for the Pirates while they were winning NL East titles on a regular basis in the early and mid 1970s. In August 1977 he suffered a severe leg and ankle injury that ruined his career. He was done after 1981 at age 30.
The previous Modern Era record for biggest shutout, 21-0, had been set Aug. 13, 1939, the Yankees defeating the Athletics. The largest 19th century shutout happened Aug. 21, 1883, 28-0, Providence vs. Philadelphia
The 22-0 shutout has been matched once since this Cubs debacle. On their way to a 101-win season, the Yankees were shut out 22-0 by Cleveland Aug. 31, 2004 at Yankee Stadium. Cleveland had to score six runs in the ninth to match the Pirates’ feat. The Cubs nearly matched this blanking — against the Pirates, no less! — with a 21-0 victory April 23, 2022 at Wrigley Field.
The 22-0 shutout of the Cubs by the Pirates happened 50 years ago today, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 1975. The Cubs, coincidentally, play the Pirates at PNC Park this evening. Perhaps they can exact some revenge.
