Ken Singleton greeted Red Sox reliever Dick Radatz by socking a two-run homer to break a 3-3 tie, and the Orioles staved off elimination defeating Boston 5-3 in Game 3 of their ALDS. Singleton's second tater of the series made a winner of Urban Shocker who was a four-time 20 game-winner for the St. Louis Browns between 1920-1923.
Shocker employed his patented spitball to keep the potent Boston lineup at bay for seven innings. Shocker was one of 17 pitchers who were allowed to continue to offer the spitball after 1920. He also had his changeup baffling Boston hitters. After breaking the third finger on his right hand, it was left crooked at the top joint. He credited this "hooked" finger for giving his changeup a significant drop. Shocker realized his World Series championship dream with the 1927 Yankees pitching with progressive heart disease which would eventually lead to his untimely death at the age of 37.
Baltimore took a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning on a solo bomb by Brady Anderson and a Cal Ripken Jr. RBI double. Ripken drove in George Sisler who was a perfect 3-3 to spike his ALDS batting average to an incredible .700. Above are the batting leaders of this series to date. Quite fittingly, Sisler and Williams sit atop the leaderboards for each team with Sisler batting over .400 (.407 and .427) twice in his career and Williams the last man to bat over .400 with a .406 clip.
Boston then got off the mat with back to back jacks by Carl Yastrzemski and David Ortiz to tie things up. Ted Williams gave Boston their first lead of the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, but it would be quite brief.
Despite a relatively short 5.1 inning outing, mythical Boston starter Cy Young fanned 10 Orioles. Like Shocker, Young had a devastating spitball and had it dancing in Game 3. In a remarkable career filled with historic firsts, the fifteen-time 20 game-winner (in five of those seasons he actually won 30 games) threw the first pitch of the first-ever World Series and tossed the first perfect game in American League history against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 5th, 1904. It was also the first one registered from the 60 foot 6-inch distance.
The home half of the sixth began unraveling after Young plunked Sisler. Surprisingly, Sisler swiped second and Cal Ripken Jr. picked up his second ribbie of the game driving him in with a single to right. With the game now tied, Boston summoned Dick "The Monster: Radatz into the fray. Radatz still holds the American League records for strikeouts by a relief pitcher in a season setting down 181 batters in 1964. Dick also won 15 games twice as a reliever going 15-6 in 1963 and 16-9 in his record-setting season of 1964. Sadly by 1966, his meteoric career had taken a dreadful tailspin in Boston, and he was traded to Cleveland. He never regained his dominant form, and his playing days were over after the 1969 season.
Radatz tried to sneak a fastball in on Singleton but it tailed back over the plate enough for Ken to slap it into the left-field seats. The switch-hitting Singleton collected 246 career homers and was an all-star three times with Baltimore. His best season came in 1979 which saw him register career bests in homers (35) and RBI (111) while slashing .295/405/.553. He finished second that year to California's Don Baylor for the AL MVP.
After Shocker threw up a goose egg in the seventh, Darren O'Day and Gregg Olson did their part in protecting the lead with Olson grabbing the save. In six seasons in Baltimore, Olson made his only all-star team in 1990 when he saved a career-best 37 games. In total, he saved 160 ball games in 6 seasons as an Oriole with an admirable 2.26 ERA in 320 appearances.
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