June 4, 1977 – Yankees 8, White Sox 6
- Sal Maiorana
- Jun 4, 2017
- 2 min read
CHICAGO – Whenever you hear the name Wally Pipp, one thing - and one thing only - comes to mind. He was the Yankee first baseman who, in 1925, was going through a slump, so manager Miller Huggins decided to give a guy named Lou Gehrig some playing time.
On June 2, 1925, Gehrig started in place of Pipp, who not only was scuffling but had also been hit in the head by a ball in batting practice. Gehrig didn’t miss a game for the next 14 years – 2,130 in all, a streak that seemed unassailable until the indestructible Cal Ripken came along.
Pipp played only 20 more games in pinstripes and in 1926, he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds. However, what is usually lost in the whirlwind of the launching of Gehrig’s streak is that for 11 years, Pipp was one of the best Yankee players in the first 20 years of their existence. Not only was he the starting first baseman on the Yankees’ first World Series championship team in 1923, Pipp produced 1,577 hits, 833 RBI and a .282 batting average in 1,488 games.
That hit total ranked 10th in Yankee history until this night, when Roy White moved past him with an RBI single that delivered the first run in what became a seven-run second inning which, as it turned out, was a rally the Yankees needed to win the game.
Down by a touchdown and an extra point, the White Sox rallied throughout the incredibly hot 92-degree evening and, after pulling within 8-6, had the winning run in the batters’ box in the form of Richie Zisk. Earlier in the game, Zisk had hit his major-league-leading 15th bomb, and it was a bomb as it cleared the roof in left field at Comiskey Park.
“I’ve seen some longer ones hit, but I think it’s the longest one I’ve ever given up,” said Don Gullett, who yielded the homer. The ballpark opened in 1910, and this was just the 18th ball ever hit on or over the roof.
Here's a video clip of the home run.
With Sparky Lyle trying to nail it down for the Yankees in the ninth, Alan Bannister and Jorge Orta hit back-to-back two-out singles, and Zisk followed with a laser of a liner that went right to White in left. “If they hit the ball hard at somebody, it’s still an out,” Lyle opined with a smirk. It was true, but if Zisk had gotten a couple millimeters under that pitch, he would have cleared the roof again.
Gullett made his first start since experiencing shoulder stiffness two weeks earlier, was not great. He gave up five hits and five runs (four earned) in six innings, but he improved to 4-2 thanks to the big Yankee second inning. The big blow was a single by Thurman Munson that, thanks to an error, resulted in three runs scoring. Chris Chambliss had an RBI triple, and Reggie Jackson an RBI double as well.
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