The Jays started playing baseball again yesterday, even if it didn't count. So, naturally, I want to think about the last baseball game that most of us saw.
Remember? October 27, 2004; the final game of the 100th World Series. That night we all saw something we had never seen before.
No, not Boston winning a big game.
That night we saw the first four-pitcher shutout in World Series history: Derek Lowe started, followed by Bronson Arroyo, Alan Embree, and Keith Foulke.
There have been 107 shutouts in World Series play, and... here they are!
| Year | Starter/Winner | Team | Game # | Hits Allowed | Score | Losing Pitcher |
| 1903 | Bill Dineen | Bos (AL) | 2 | 3 | 3-0 | Sam Leever |
| 1903 | Bill Dineen | Bos (AL) | 8 | 4 | 3-0 | Deacon Philippe |
| 1905 | Christy Mathewson | NY (NL) | 1 | 4 | 3-0 | Eddie Plank |
| 1905 | Chief Bender | Phi (AL) | 2 | 4 | 3-0 | Joe McGinnity |
| 1905 | Christy Mathewson | NY (NL) | 3 | 4 | 9-0 | Andy Coakley |
| 1905 | Joe McGinnity | NY (NL) | 4 | 5 | 1-0 | Eddie Plank |
| 1905 | Christy Mathewson | NY (NL) | 5 | 6 | 2-0 | Chief Bender |
| 1906 | Ed Walsh | Chi (AL) | 3 | 2 | 3-0 | Jack Pfiester |
| 1906 | Miner Brown | Chi (NL) | 4 | 2 | 1-0 | Nick Altrock |
| 1907 | Miner Brown | Chi (NL) | 5 | 7 | 2-0 | George Mullin |
| 1908 | Miner Brown | Chi (NL) | 4 | 4 | 3-0 | Ed Summers |
| 1908 | Orval Overall | Chi (NL) | 5 | 3 | 2-0 | Bill Donovan |
| 1909 | George Mullin | Det | 4 | 5 | 5-0 | Lefty Leifield |
| 1909 | Babe Adams | Pgh | 7 | 6 | 8-0 | Bill Donovan |
| 1913 | Christy Mathewson | NY (NL) | 2 | 8 | 3-0 | Eddie Plank |
| 1914 | Seattle Bill James | Bos (NL) | 2 | 2 | 1-0 | Eddie Plank |
| 1917 | Rube Benton | NY (NL) | 3 | 5 | 2-0 | Eddie Cicotte |
| 1917 | Ferdie Schupp | NY (NL) | 4 | 7 | 5-0 | Red Faber |
| 1918 | Babe Ruth | Bos (AL) | 1 | 6 | 1-0 | Hippo Vaughn |
| 1918 | Hippo Vaughn | Chi (NL) | 5 | 5 | 3-0 | Sam Jones |
| 1919 | Dickie Kerr | Chi (AL) | 3 | 3 | 3-0 | Ray Fisher |
| 1919 | Jimmy Ring | Cin | 4 | 3 | 2-0 | Eddie Cicotte |
| 1919 | Hod Eller | Cin | 5 | 3 | 5-0 | Claude Williams |
| 1920 | Burleigh Grimes | Brk | 2 | 7 | 3-0 | Jim Bagby |
| 1920 | Duster Mails | Cle | 6 | 3 | 1-0 | Sherry Smith |
| 1920 | Stan Coveleski | Cle | 7 | 5 | 3-0 | Burleigh Grimes |
| 1921 | Carl Mays | NY (AL) | 1 | 5 | 3-0 | Phil Douglas |
| 1921 | Waite Hoyt | NY (AL) | 2 | 2 | 3-0 | Art Nehf |
| 1921 | Art Nehf | NY (NL) | 8 | 4 | 1-0 | Waite Hoyt |
| 1922 | Jack Scott | NY (NL) | 3 | 4 | 3-0 | Waite Hoyt |
| 1923 | Art Nehf | NY (NL) | 3 | 6 | 1-0 | Sam Jones |
| 1925 | Walter Johnson | Wsh | 4 | 6 | 4-0 | Emil Yde |
| 1926 | Jesse Haines | StL | 3 | 5 | 4-0 | Dutch Reuther |
| 1930 | Bill Hallahan | StL | 3 | 7 | 5-0 | Rube Walberg |
| 1930 | Earnshaw/Grove (W) | Phi (AL) | 5 | 3 | 2-0 | Burleigh Grimes |
| 1931 | Bill Hallahan | StL | 2 | 3 | 2-0 | George Earnshaw |
| 1931 | George Earnshaw | Phi (AL) | 4 | 2 | 3-0 | Syl Johnson |
| 1933 | Earl Whitehill | Wsh | 3 | 5 | 4-0 | Fred Fitzsimmons |
| 1934 | Dizzy Dean | StL | 7 | 6 | 11-0 | Eldon Auker |
| 1935 | Lon Warneke | Chi (NL) | 1 | 4 | 3-0 | Schoolboy Rowe |
| 1939 | Monte Pearson | NY AL | 2 | 2 | 4-0 | Bucky Walters |
| 1940 | Bobo Newsom | Det | 5 | 3 | 8-0 | Junior Thompson |
| 1940 | Bucky Walters | Cin | 6 | 5 | 4-0 | Schoolboy Rowe |
| 1942 | Ernie White | StL | 3 | 6 | 2-0 | Spud Chandler |
| 1943 | Spud Chandler | NY (AL) | 5 | 10 | 2-0 | Mort Cooper |
| 1944 | Mort Cooper | StL | 5 | 7 | 2-0 | Denny Galehouse |
| 1945 | Hank Borowy | Chi (NL) | 1 | 6 | 9-0 | Hal Newhouser |
| 1945 | Claude Passeau | Chi (NL) | 3 | 1 | 3-0 | Stubby Overmire |
| 1946 | Harry Brecheen | StL | 2 | 4 | 3-0 | Mickey Harris |
| 1946 | Dave Ferriss | Bos (AL) | 3 | 6 | 4-0 | Murry Dickson |
| 1948 | Johnny Sain | Bos (NL) | 1 | 4 | 1-0 | Bob Feller |
| 1948 | Gene Bearden | Cle | 3 | 5 | 2-0 | Vern Bickford |
| 1949 | Allie Reynolds | NY (AL) | 1 | 2 | 1-0 | Don Newcombe |
| 1949 | Preacher Roe | Brk | 2 | 6 | 1-0 | Vic Raschi |
| 1950 | Vic Raschi | NY (AL) | 1 | 2 | 1-0 | Jim Konstanty |
| 1952 | Allie Reynolds | NY (AL) | 4 | 4 | 2-0 | Joe Black |
| 1955 | Johnny Podres | Brk | 7 | 8 | 2-0 | Tommy Byrne |
| 1956 | Don Larsen | NY (AL) | 5 | 0 | 2-0 | Sal Maglie |
| 1956 | Clem Labine | Brk | 6 | 7 | 1-0 | Bob Turley |
| 1956 | Johnny Kucks | NY (AL) | 7 | 3 | 9-0 | Don Newcombe |
| 1957 | Lew Burdette | Mil | 5 | 7 | 1-0 | Whitey Ford |
| 1957 | Lew Burdette | Mil | 7 | 7 | 5-0 | Don Larsen |
| 1958 | Larsen/Duren | NY (AL) | 3 | 6 | 4-0 | Bob Rush |
| 1958 | Warren Spahn | Mil | 4 | 2 | 3-0 | Whitey Ford |
| 1958 | Bob Turley | NY (AL) | 5 | 5 | 7-0 | Lew Burdette |
| 1959 | Wynn/Staley | Chi (AL) | 1 | 8 | 11-0 | Roger Craig |
| 1959 | Shaw/Pierce/Donovan | Chi (AL) | 5 | 9 | 1-0 | Sandy Koufax |
| 1960 | Whitey Ford | NY (AL) | 3 | 4 | 10-0 | Wilmer Mizell |
| 1960 | Whitey Ford | NY (AL) | 6 | 7 | 12-0 | Bob Friend |
| 1961 | Whitey Ford | NY (AL) | 1 | 2 | 2-0 | Jim O'Toole |
| 1961 | Ford/Coates | NY (AL) | 4 | 5 | 7-0 | Jim O'Toole |
| 1962 | Jack Sanford | SF | 2 | 3 | 2-0 | Ralph Terry |
| 1962 | Ralph Terry | NY (AL) | 7 | 4 | 1-0 | Jack Sanford |
| 1963 | Don Drysdale | LA | 3 | 3 | 1-0 | Jim Bouton |
| 1965 | Claude Osteen | LA | 3 | 5 | 4-0 | Camilo Pascual |
| 1965 | Sandy Koufax | LA | 5 | 4 | 7-0 | Jim Kaat |
| 1965 | Sandy Koufax | LA | 7 | 3 | 2-0 | Jim Kaat |
| 1966 | Jim Palmer | Blt | 2 | 4 | 6-0 | Sandy Koufax |
| 1966 | Wally Bunker | Blt | 3 | 6 | 1-0 | Claude Osteen |
| 1966 | Dave McNally | Blt | 4 | 4 | 1-0 | Don Drysdale |
| 1967 | Jim Lonborg | Bos | 2 | 1 | 5-0 | Dick Hughes |
| 1967 | Bob Gibson | StL | 4 | 5 | 6-0 | Jose Santiago |
| 1968 | Bob Gibson | StL | 1 | 5 | 4-0 | Denny McLain |
| 1969 | Gentry/Ryan | NY (NL) | 3 | 4 | 5-0 | Jim Palmer |
| 1971 | Nelson Briles | Pgh | 5 | 2 | 4-0 | Dave McNally |
| 1972 | Billingham/Carroll | Cin | 3 | 3 | 1-0 | John Odom |
| 1973 | Koosman/McGraw | NY (NL) | 5 | 3 | 2-0 | Vida Blue |
| 1975 | Luis Tiant | Bos | 1 | 5 | 6-0 | Don Gullett |
| 1979 | Candelaria/Tekulve | Pgh | 6 | 7 | 4-0 | Jim Palmer |
| 1981 | John/Gossage | NY (AL) | 2 | 4 | 3-0 | Burt Hooton |
| 1982 | Mike Caldwell | Mil | 1 | 3 | 10-0 | Bob Forsch |
| 1983 | Scott McGregor | Blt | 5 | 5 | 5-0 | Charles Hudson |
| 1985 | John Tudor | StL | 4 | 5 | 3-0 | Bud Black |
| 1985 | Bret Saberhagen | KC | 7 | 5 | 11-0 | John Tudor |
| 1986 | Hurst/Schiraldi | Bos | 1 | 4 | 1-0 | Ron Darling |
| 1988 | Orel Hershiser | LA | 2 | 3 | 6-0 | Storm Davis |
| 1989 | Dave Stewart | Oak | 1 | 5 | 5-0 | Scott Garrelts |
| 1990 | Rijo/Dibble/Myers | Cin | 1 | 9 | 7-0 | Dave Stewart |
| 1991 | Jack Morris (10 IP) | Min | 7 | 7 | 1-0 | Alejandro Pena (relief) |
| 1993 | Curt Schilling | Pha | 5 | 5 | 2-0 | Juan Guzman |
| 1995 | Glavine/Wohlers | Atl | 6 | 1 | 1-0 | Jim Poole (relief) |
| 1996 | Maddux/Wohlers | Atl | 2 | 7 | 4-0 | Jimmy Key |
| 1996 | Pettitte/Wetteland | NY (AL) | 5 | 5 | 1-0 | John Smoltz |
| 1998 | Pettitte/Nelson/Rivera | NY (AL) | 4 | 7 | 3-0 | Kevin Brown |
| 2001 | Randy Johnson | Ari | 2 | 3 | 4-0 | Andy Pettitte |
| 2003 | Josh Beckett | Fla | 6 | 5 | 2-0 | Andy Pettitte |
| 2004 | Lowe/Arroyo/Embree/Foulke | Bos | 4 | 4 | 3-0 | Jason Marquis |
Games marked in bold were the final game of that year's Series. Which also means that the following men took the mound with everything on the line, with the World Series all tied up; and went out and threw a shutout to lead their team to ultimate victory: Babe Adams, Dizzy Dean, Johnny Podres, Johnny Kucks, Lew Burdette, Ralph Terry, Sandy Koufax, Bret Saberhagen, and Jack Morris. (What about Stan Coveleski in 1920, you ask? They played best of 9 series from 1919 through 1921, and Coveleski's Indians were ahead 4 games to 2.)
If you actually do the counting, 90 of these efforts were complete game shutouts tossed by a starting pitcher. As you can imagine, we have seen this less and less often. Of the first 62 World Series shutouts, from 1903 through 1957, exactly one involved a relief pitcher: Lefty Grove took over when George Earnshaw was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th inning of a 0-0 tie in the 5th game of the 1930 series. The A's scored twice in the 9th for a 2-0 win.
There have been 45 shutouts pitched in the 46 World Series played since 1958. Just 29 of those have been old-fashioned complete games from the starter. In fact, Randy Johnson's blanking of the Yankees in the 2001 classic was the first CG shutout since Curt Schilling, blanked the Blue Jays in 1993. There had been four shutouts in between: two started by Andy Pettitte, and one each from Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. But each of those had been turned over to the bullpen.
Lefty Grove, in relief of Earnshaw, is the only man to win a shutout in relief. On two occasions a reliever has taken the loss, both times in a Series-deciding game. Jim Poole relieved Dennis Martinez in the fifth inning (OK, why?) of a scoreless tie in 1995. He retired his man (Fred McGriff) but allowed a solo HR to Dave Justice in the 7th. And surely everyone remembers Alejandro Pena being scored upon in the 10th inning in 1991; Pena was working in relief of John Smoltz.
Jack Morris' effort that night was not the only extra-inning shutout in World Series play. In the 6th game of the 1956 series, Clem Labine of the Dodgers pitched 10 shutout innings, and then led off in the bottom of the inning. He made an out, but the Dodgers scored a run anyway, on a walk to Jim Gilliam, a sac bunt (with one out? Meet Walter Alston) and an RBI single by Jackie Robinson, to give him the 1-0 victory.
Morris' game, great as it was, is obviously not the best World Series pitching performance. Morris does get bonus credit because it was: a) a seventh game, and b) a 1-0 game. Which is very similar to the circumstances behind Ralph Terry's 4-hitter to beat Jack Sanford and the Giants in 1962. That's the game that ended with the tying run (Matty Alou) on third base and the winning run (Willie Mays) on second base. Terry worked to Willie McCovey (what? No LOOGY?) and induced a screaming line drive that fortunately (for the Yankees) went straight into Bobby Richardson's glove at second.
Eleven days earlier (this was a World Series with a bunch of rain-outs), Sanford had pitched a shutout to beat... Ralph Terry. This is something we find quite a bit, actually; the same guys who pitch the shutouts are often taking the loss when some other guy throws a shutout. It stands to reason: these are the best pitchers on the best teams, they're the guys who are going to be taking the ball.
One man stands out, however, as the poster boy for hard luck in October. Gettysburg Eddie Plank of the old Philadelphia A's was on the hill four times when the other guy threw a shutout. Four times! That's harsh. And naturally, Eddie Plank is the only man to lose two World Series game by 1-0 scores: once on an unearned run in the 4th (1905), and once on a 9th inning single (1914).
It's bad enough to lose 1-0, and it's really bad when it was an unearned run. Here, Eddie Plank has company in his misery. Roger Peckinpaugh's 1st ininng error led to the only run Waite Hoyt would allow in his 1-0 loss to Art Nehf in 1921. In 1986, Tim Teufel's 7th inning error led to the only run Ron Darling would allow in a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox. And while it's hard to feel sorry for any of today's Atlanta Braves, John Smoltz could use a little luck. Five years after matching Jack Morris zero for zero only to have his bullpen lose in ten, Smoltz's outfielders (Dye and Grissom) got crossed up behind him in his 1996 start against the Yankees. Grissom's error put leadoff man Charlie Hayes on second, where he eventually scored the game's only run.
One other tough defeat invites our sympathy. Bob Feller took a 1-hitter to the 8th inning of the first game in 1948. He allowed a walk to Phil Masi, a sac bunt, and an RBI single. But there was more to it than that: this was one of the most controversial games in World Series history. The Indians attempted to pick Masi off at second, and just about every witness thought they had succeeded. The umpire saw it differently and called Masi safe. Feller lost his two-hitter to Johnny Sain.
Exactly one of these World Series shutouts was settled by a walk-off homer. In 1949, Tommy Henrich of the Yankees led off the bottom of the 9th with a leadoff blast against Don Newcombe, making a winner of Allie Reynolds. Three other times a HR accounted for all the scoring in a 1-0 game. Paul Blair (off Claude Osteen) and Frank Robinson (off Don Drysdale) hit solo HRs to win 1-0 games for the Orioles in 1966, behind Wally Bunker and Dave McNally. We already came across Dave Justice homering off reliever Jim Poole, to break up a scoreless tie in the deciding game of the 1995 series.
One of the great pitching performances in World Series play doesn't even make this list. On October 10 1906, Ed Reulbach of the Cubs gave up just a solitary seventh inning single en route to a 7-1 victory over the White Sox. The Sox scored their only run earlier on a walk, a wild pitch, and a Joe Tinker error. Claude Passeau of the Cubs one-hit the Tigers in 1945, allowing a second inning single to Rudy York. Jim Lonborg of the Impossible Dream 1967 Red Sox was four outs away from a no-hitter when Julian Javier doubled in the 8th inning. And in 1995, Tom Glavine allowed just a 6th inning single to Tony Pena; Mark Wohlers worked the 9th in Atlanta's 1-0 victory.
Don Larsen, of course, did them all one better. Larsen is probably the only man in ML history to ever post a 3-21 win-loss record (for Baltimore, in 1953.) He was a hard thrower with shaky control; in his two best seasons, over 319.1 IP, he walked a total of 183 batters. But his game on October 8 1956 still stands as the only perfect game and the only no-hitter in World Series history. Larsen was once asked if he ever got tired of talking about his perfect game. He answered "No, why would I?"
I trust no one will be surprised to learn that the decade which featured the most World Series shutouts was the 1960s. This was the Second Dead Ball Era - more accurately, it was the High Mound and High Strike Zone Era. There were 17 shutouts thrown in the World Series from 1960 through 1969.
While 17 is the most shutouts during a decade, we realize that a decade is a purely random cutoff point. There were a couple of periods when World Series shutouts were even more common than in the 1960s.
One is the 1903-09 Period - this is the Original Dead Ball Era, and in those six World Series (no series in 1904), there were no less than 14 shutouts. In 1905 Series alone, won 4-1 by the Giants, each of the five games was a shutout. But even if you put that aside, you're left with 9 shutouts in 5 series.
Still, this was the Dead Ball Era - we're not too surprised. What we don't expect are the 15 shutouts pitched in the 8 series played from 1917-1923. This was the great Time of Transition, when they cleaned up the baseballs, when they started swinging for the fences. But there were three shutouts in each of the 1919, 1920, and 1921 series. Probably just One of Those Things?
The longest span between World Series shutouts is three years, and it's happened four times. Babe Adams pitched a shutout to win the 1909 series for the Pirates, and it wasn't until 1913 when another was tossed, against the A's by Christy Mathewson. Jesse Haines of the Cardinals shut out the Yankees in 1926; the next shutout had to wait until the Cardinals were back, in 1930, when Wild Bill Hallahan blanked the A's. Lon Warneke of the Cubs shut out the Tigers in a losing cause in 1935; that was the last until Monte Pearson helped cap off the great Yankee run of the late 30s with a two-hit gem against Cincinnati in 1939. And finally, after Luis Tiant shut down the Big Red Machine in 1975, the next scoreless effort didn't come until John Candelaria and Kent Tekulve teamed up to beat the Orioles in 1979.
Twenty-six shutouts have been thrown by pitchers now in the Hall of Fame. Cy Young wasn't one of them, although he did pitch for the Boston Pilgrims in the very first World Series. But Walter Johnson, the only other man to win more than 400 games, and the man who pitched more shutouts than anyone, tossed one in the 1925 Series. Christy Mathewson and Warren Spahn are the other 300 game winners to throw World Series shutouts.
The other Hall of Famers to pitch shutouts in the World Series are: Burleigh Grimes, Jim Palmer, Bob Gibson, Joe McGinnity, Miner Brown, Whitey Ford, Waite Hoyt, Stan Coveleski, Don Drysdale, Ed Walsh, Sandy Koufax, and Dizzy Dean.
At the other end of the scale... Josh Beckett is still the pitcher with the fewest career wins amongst the group that have thrown World Series shutouts. But Beckett is now up to 26 wins, and the men he's chasing are standing very, very still. Ernie White won just 30 games, but he shut out the Yankees in the 1942 series. Duster Mails (1920) won just 32 games. And, checking in with just 37 victories plus a World Series shutout, we have... Bill James?
No, not that one. There are, however, a couple of fairly celebrated authors in these records: Christy Mathewson, whose 1912 "Pitching In A Pinch" is one of the first outstanding baseball books; and the old Bulldog himself, Jim Bouton, who lost a 1-0 heartbreaker, thanks in part to his own wild pitch, to Don Drysdale and the Dodgers in 1963. Anyway, there were actually two pitchers named Bill James, both active in the 1910s. The one from the Miracle Braves is Seattle Bill James, who came from California strangely enough. Seattle Bill went 26-7, 1.90 for the Braves in 1914. Possibly the 332 IP he worked that year damaged his arm, as he won only five more games afterwards. Seattle Bill is not to be confused with Big Bill James from Detroit, who went 65-71 in a career that ended with the 1919 Black Sox. Big Bill's name came up in connection with the rampant crookedness of the day, but he was cleared of all charges.
Only ten men have thrown multiple World Series shutouts. There are five pitchers not in the Hall of Fame who have thrown two World Series shutouts: Lew Burdette, Allie Reynolds, Bill Hallahan, Art Nehf, and Bill Dineen. Dineen and Burdette both did their work in a single series: Dineen in the very first World Series in 1903, and Burdette in Milwaukee's comeback against the Yankees in 1957.
Sandy Koufax in 1965 and Whitey Ford in 1960 also threw a pair of shutouts in the same World Series. Koufax and Ford are both in the Hall of Fame, and so is Bob Gibson who pitched shutouts in 1967 and 1968. So of course is Miner Brown, who went Gibson one better. Brown pitched World Series shutouts in 1906, 1907, and 1908. No one else has done that.
The only pitcher since Brown to throw that many World Series shutouts was Whitey Ford. This is not too shocking: Ford started and won (and lost) more World Series games than anyone, ever. Ford started 4 shutouts, but he only completed three of them. After pitching three in a row, and breaking Babe Ruth's record for consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play, he injured his ankle in the 6th inning of Game 4 in 1961. Jim (The Undertaker) Coates finished the 7-0 victory.
Christy Mathewson is still the only man to pitch four World Series shutouts. Mathewson's record of four WS shutouts could, conceivably, be broken someday. Maybe. It's possible.
But his other shutout record seems utterly safe. Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the same World Series - the 1905 series, when all five games were shutouts. Needless to say, it's hard to imagine anyone ever improving on that.
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