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64 Years Ago Today - The Curfew Game


WillyM

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Saturday night, May 18, 1957.  White Sox at Baltimore.

A scheduling quirk had the White Sox scheduled to play in Baltimore on Saturday and in Boston on Sunday.  The Orioles were not so accommodating as to play the game in the afternoon, but they did schedule it to start an hour earlier than the usual 8:00 PM starting time for night games.  They also agreed that, since the White Sox needed to catch a train to get to Boston, the game would be played with a curfew time limit.  If the game lasted as late as 10:20 PM, it would be declared over at that time and the score would become final.  Nobody worried too much about the possibility of the game lasting as long as 3 hours and 20 minutes, since games in that era rarely lasted nearly that long.

It turned out to be a slow-paced game.  The Orioles took a 3-0 lead in the sixth, but the Chisox came back with four runs in the top of the seventh.  The score held at 4-3 into the ninth inning.  By the time the final Chicago batter was retired in the top of the ninth, it was getting very close to 10:20 PM.

White Sox pitcher Paul LaPalme completed his warmup pitches less than a minute before the curfew time.  Dick Williams stepped into the batter's box with only seconds to spare.  Had LaPalme simply held onto the ball, or had he thrown a pitch six feet wide of the plate, time would have run out and the game would have ended in a White Sox victory.

But LaPalme threw his first pitch where Williams could get a good hack at it, and he belted it over the wall for a home run.  Williams rounded the bases and the umpire looked at his watch and declared the game over, with the final score a 4-4 tie.

Back in those days, they didn't suspend tie games and continue them at a future date.  The game was later replayed in its entirety, and the Orioles won the replay.

Ironically, the home run hit by Williams was the only one he hit in an Oriole uniform that season.  He was traded to Cleveland less than a month later.

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1 hour ago, WillyM said:

Saturday night, May 18, 1957.  White Sox at Baltimore.

A scheduling quirk had the White Sox scheduled to play in Baltimore on Saturday and in Boston on Sunday.  The Orioles were not so accommodating as to play the game in the afternoon, but they did schedule it to start an hour earlier than the usual 8:00 PM starting time for night games.  They also agreed that, since the White Sox needed to catch a train to get to Boston, the game would be played with a curfew time limit.  If the game lasted as late as 10:20 PM, it would be declared over at that time and the score would become final.  Nobody worried too much about the possibility of the game lasting as long as 3 hours and 20 minutes, since games in that era rarely lasted nearly that long.

It turned out to be a slow-paced game.  The Orioles took a 3-0 lead in the sixth, but the Chisox came back with four runs in the top of the seventh.  The score held at 4-3 into the ninth inning.  By the time the final Chicago batter was retired in the top of the ninth, it was getting very close to 10:20 PM.

White Sox pitcher Paul LaPalme completed his warmup pitches less than a minute before the curfew time.  Dick Williams stepped into the batter's box with only seconds to spare.  Had LaPalme simply held onto the ball, or had he thrown a pitch six feet wide of the plate, time would have run out and the game would have ended in a White Sox victory.

But LaPalme threw his first pitch where Williams could get a good hack at it, and he belted it over the wall for a home run.  Williams rounded the bases and the umpire looked at his watch and declared the game over, with the final score a 4-4 tie.

Back in those days, they didn't suspend tie games and continue them at a future date.  The game was later replayed in its entirety, and the Orioles won the replay.

Ironically, the home run hit by Williams was the only one he hit in an Oriole uniform that season.  He was traded to Cleveland less than a month later.

Wow, great story!   And I've heard and read a lot of stories about the Orioles' early years, but never that one.

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