On July 10, 1932, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 18–17 in 18 innings in a Major League Baseball game played at League Park in Cleveland. Several major-league records were set during the game; for example, Johnny Burnett of the Indians became the only player to hit safely nine (or even eight) times in a game, while Cleveland's 33 hits and the teams' combined 58 hits are also single-game records. Pitcher Eddie Rommel secured the win for the Athletics, pitching an American League-record 17 innings in relief after Philadelphia's Lew Krausse gave up three runs in the first inning. The 29 hits Rommel allowed are a major-league record; the 14 runs against him are the most given up by a winning pitcher.
Coming into the game, the Athletics, who were the three-time defending American League champions, trailed the New York Yankees in the standings by 7 games. Sunday baseball was still illegal in Philadelphia, forcing the Athletics to make one-game road trips on some Sundays, including July 10. With his pitching staff exhausted by six games in the previous three days, the owner and manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, took only two pitchers on the train trip to Cleveland, giving the rest of the staff the day off. With no chance of being relieved except by a position player, Rommel pitched with mixed effectiveness, giving up six runs in the seventh inning but only two runs in the final nine innings of the game. He aided his own cause by getting three hits in seven at bats. Cleveland's Wes Ferrell took the loss after Jimmie Foxx got his sixth hit of the game and then scored. Foxx had already batted in eight runs, having hit three home runs and accumulated sixteen total bases, tying a record that has since been broken.
The victory brought the Athletics to within six games of the Yankees, but they came no closer. Philadelphia finished the season in second place, and the Athletics did not win the pennant again for forty years. Neither Krausse nor Rommel pitched in the major leagues after 1932. The July 10 game was the 171st victory of Rommel's MLB career; he never won another major league game.
Background
The 1932 Philadelphia Athletics were the three-time defending American League champions, winners of the 1929 and 1930 World Series, and were owned and managed by Connie Mack. The success did not translate to the balance sheet, however, as the Depression led to declining attendance. Successful players expected to be paid well, and Mack had lost a considerable amount of money in the 1929 stock market crash. The Cleveland Indians, on the other hand, had not won a World Series since 1920. By the late 1920s, they were under new ownership, who were determined to spend freely to acquire talent, and after a seventh-place finish in 1928, finished in the top half of the American League standings the next seven years. In 1928, the voters of Cleveland had approved the construction of a new stadium with 78,000 seats, the largest baseball stadium built to that point. At the time of the July 10, 1932 game, it was within three weeks of opening. In the meantime, the Indians played all home games at League Park.
By early July 1932, the Athletics were in second place in the American League, behind the New York Yankees. The schedule called for the Athletics to play doubleheaders at their home field, Shibe Park, each day from Thursday, July 7 to Saturday, July 9, against the Chicago White Sox. The Athletics won four of six of those games, and were 7 games behind the Yankees at the end of play on July 9.
The Indians were to play a five-game series on those dates at the Washington Senators, with doubleheaders Thursday and Saturday. Cleveland won four out of those five games to advance from fifth to fourth in the American League. Both the Athletics and Indians were then to travel to League Park in Cleveland for a single game Sunday, before both teams went to Shibe Park to begin a four-game series with a Monday doubleheader. Thus, the Athletics were to play nine games in five days, and the Indians eight.
The single game in Cleveland was necessitated because until the 1934 season, Sunday baseball was illegal in Pennsylvania. Thus, the Athletics and other Pennsylvania teams were required to play road games out of the state on Sundays. The Athletics had played a single Sunday home game in 1926 to test the law, but it had been upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The previous Sunday, July 3, the Athletics had gone to Washington to play a one-game series against the Senators.
It was not unusual for teams on such one-day road trips to give some players the day off, in part to economize on train tickets, and Mack took only two pitchers with him to Cleveland, Lew Krausse and Eddie Rommel. Another reason for giving the rest of the pitching staff the day off was their exhaustion after three doubleheaders in as many days. The two pitchers were the team's only relief pitchers: Krausse was a rookie, and Rommel a 12-year veteran in his final season. Rommel, who had pitched five innings over the previous two days, was surprised to be asked to come to Cleveland. Mack also gave two position players the day off. One of them was Mickey Cochrane, his starting catcher, though he included two other catchers among the eleven players he took to Cleveland. According to Sam Otis, sports editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in reporting on the game, Cleveland manager Roger Peckinpaugh was nearly as bad off for pitching as was Mack. The Indians allowed a half dozen players to skip the one-day trip to Cleveland.
The game
First through sixth innings
About 10,000 fans came to League Park for the game, which began at 3 p.m. Rommel pitched batting practice for the Athletics, while Krausse was the starting pitcher; Clint Brown started for Cleveland. Brown got off to a shaky start, giving up two runs due to three Athletics hits and his own throwing error. The Indians scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a home run by Earl Averill, putting them up 3–2. Mack allowed Krausse to hit in the top of the second inning as the team lacked any pinch hitters other than the one spare catcher, then sent Rommel to the mound for the bottom of the second inning. Neither team scored in that inning. In the top of the third, Brown gave up a solo home run to slugger Jimmie Foxx, his 31st of the season, to tie the score.
Rommel walked with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, sparking a Philadelphia rally: three singles scored two Athletics runs, making the score 5–3 Philadelphia. In the bottom of the inning, however, Cleveland converted three hits, two walks, and a wild pitch from Rommel, into three runs to take the lead 6–5. Philadelphia failed to score in the top of the fifth, leaving two men on base who had reached on a hit and an error, and Brown led off the bottom of the fifth with a hit. Shortstop Johnny Burnett, who had already singled in the first, second and fourth innings, scored Brown with a double to make the score 7–5 Indians. Mule Haas led off the top of the sixth with a double, and came around to score on a single by Al Simmons, cutting the Indians lead to 7–6. In the bottom of the sixth, two hits led to one Indians run, extending the lead to 8–6.
Seventh through ninth innings
In the top of the seventh, Dib Williams tripled with two out, and was brought home by a single by Rommel, cutting Cleveland's lead to 8–7. Willis Hudlin replaced Brown on the mound, and walked the next two batters to load the bases. The fans booed Peckinpaugh, who was coaching first base, disagreeing with the choice of Hudlin as relief pitcher. Otis stated that Brown "was obviously not himself" and that Hudlin was "helpless" in getting the ball over the plate. The manager then sent in Wes Ferrell to pitch. Ferrell, the ace of the Cleveland staff, had pitched a complete game on Friday, two days before. Jimmy Dykes cleared the bases with a double to give the Athletics a 10–7 lead. Simmons then singled and Foxx hit a two-run home run, his second of the game, to make the score 13–7 Athletics.
Burnett led off the seventh with his fifth hit of the game; three more Cleveland hits followed, cutting the lead to 13–11. Mack called time, and the reporters in the press box speculated he would relieve Rommel, sending in Dykes, the third baseman, to complete the game, as Dykes had been called upon to do in 1926 and 1927. Instead, Mack replaced the catcher, sending in Ed Madjeski for Johnnie Heving. This one change of catchers, along with the three pitching changes, were the only substitutions in the game as each team used only eleven players–Philadelphia had brought only eleven players. Otis suggested that the change in catchers might have led to Rommel's increased effectiveness in the upcoming innings.
When play resumed, Glenn Myatt walked to put runners on first and second. Then Bill Cissell attempted a sacrifice bunt, but popped the ball into the air towards Rommel. Seeing a chance at a double play, Rommel deliberately did not catch the ball, then threw towards second base. The ball went into center field, however, and a run scored, cutting the lead to 13–12. Rommel threw his cap in disgust. He had planned what to do in that situation for years, but when the opportunity arrived, he muffed it. Two more runs followed on a single by Dick Porter before Rommel could strike out Burnett to end the inning, but Cleveland now led 14–13. With Cleveland now in the lead, the fans cheered Peckinpaugh for several minutes.
There was no scoring in the eighth inning, and Ferrell retired the first two batters in the top of the ninth. With Philadelphia down to its final out, Dykes hit a ground ball towards first base, which should have ended the game. Instead, the ball went through the legs of first baseman Ed Morgan, and Dykes was safe. Simmons walked, and Foxx hit the ball down the left field line for a double. The ball became lodged against the bench in the bullpen, and two runs scored, giving Philadelphia a 15–14 lead.
Willie Kamm led off the bottom of the ninth for Cleveland with a double. Ferrell struck out and Porter hit a sacrifice fly to right field, sending Kamm to third base. Burnett got an infield hit, his sixth hit of the game, with the throw to home plate too late, tying the game at 15–15. Averill singled to send Burnett to third base, and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Joe Vosmik sent a fly ball to center field that looked like the game winner, but Haas made a spectacular catch to retire the side and send the game to extra innings.
Extra innings
With the teams having scored thirty runs in the first nine innings, they scored none in the next six, as Rommel and Ferrell matched each other inning for inning. According to baseball historian Lee Allen, "Rommel must have wondered what he had to do to earn his pay check". To that end, he singled with two outs in the top of the tenth, but was out trying to extend it to a double. Outside League Park on Lexington Avenue, streetcars sat empty, waiting to transport the crowd home, but the fans remained in their seats in the ballpark.
In the top of the eleventh, Simmons singled and Foxx walked; a groundout sent Simmons to third base but he was stranded there when the third out was made. In the bottom half of the inning, Burnett got his seventh hit, a double, tying the major league record set by Wilbert Robinson in 1891. This was with one out; following an intentional walk to Averill, Vosmik hit into a double play to retire the side. In the bottom of the twelfth, Morgan doubled, and with one out, Cissell singled, but Morgan was tagged out at home plate. Kamm grounded out to end the threat. Burnett's eighth hit, a single, in the bottom of the thirteenth, went for naught as he was left on first base.