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"THERE GOES THE GREATEST HITTER
WHO EVER LIVED" ... Ted Williams
Pete Daley thrills the crowd
with a ninth inning walk-off hit
September 6, 1957
... Pete Daley came through in the clutch and
led the Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Orioles. He doubled home Ken
Aspromonte with two outs in the ninth inning to produce the win.
The Orioles out-hit the Sox 10-5, but the local team was better at
making their hits count. Jackie Jensen knocked out his 20th homer
with a man on in the seventh inning and Gene Stephens singled in
another big run in the eighth to set the stage for the drama in the
ninth inning.
The game was deadlocked at 2-2 as the Sox came up in the bottom of
the ninth. Hal Brown was on the mound for the O's and walked Jensen
to start the inning. Billy Loes came in to replace Brown and got
Mickey Vernon on a fly ball. Ken Aspromonte was up next and forced
Jensen at second. It didn't take long for Daley to come through. He
banged a solid double to left-center that bounced off the wall and
never was retrieved. It was deep enough to score Aspromonte all the
way from first base. By the time centerfielder Jim Busby was able to
get to the ball, Aspromonte was crossing the plate and Daley was
gliding into second base.
The Orioles got to Sox starter, Bob Porterfield, for a run in the
third inning on Willie Miranda's base hit, a sacrifice and an infield
hit, that produced a throwing error by Billy Klaus. Meanwhile, Hal
Brown didn't allow the Sox a hit until the fifth inning and had them
shutout thru six.
So going into the seventh inning, down 1-0, Jensen went to work.
Frank Malzone was walked on four pitches and Jackie pumped a homer
into the left field net, putting the Sox up 2-1.
The Orioles came right back in the eighth inning. Porterfield gave
way to Ike Delock, who gave up back-to-back doubles to Bob Boyd and
Billy Goodman. Goodman moved over to third on a sac fly and scored as
Bob Nieman grounded out to Klaus, who tried to get Goodman at the
plate, but was too late with the throw, and Baltimore was up 3-2.
Then after Jim Bridewiser singled to left, Gene Stephens thrilled the
crowd with a tremendous throw that got Nieman at the plate for the
final out.
With one out in the Sox half of the eighth, Jimmy Piersall drew a
walk. After Klaus flew out, Piersall stole second and came home with
the tying run when Stephens slapped the ball into right center. The
came the ninth inning and the heroics by Daley. |
