On this date in 1969, Chicago Cubs outfielder Jimmy Qualls hit a clean sinking single into left-center with one out in the ninth inning to break up a perfect game by Tom Seaver.
The scene of the crime was a packed Shea Stadium and a dejected Seaver had to settle for a one-hit, 4-0 shutout. He would walk off the mound to a three minute standing ovation from the 59,088 fans who were there that day.
It was one of 31 hits Qualls had during his career, and for Tom Terrific it was one of five one-hitters he would throw for the Mets.
Eventually, Seaver would get his no-hitter, but it was while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, much to the chagrin of Mets fans who were still happy for their former star who had been traded during the Midnight Massacre a year earlier.
When asked which meant more to him, the one-hitter or the no-hitter, Seaver said: “The one-hitter. I had better stuff that night and we were making a move on the Cubs.”
“My wife, Nancy, came on the field after that game in 1969 and said: ‘You lost your perfect game,’” Seaver said. “But I said: ‘Hey, I just threw a one-hitter and we won the game 4-0.
The Mets would shock the world later that year, but it would have never happened without “The Franchise.”
Seaver finished 25-7 that season with 2.21 ERA, 208 strikeouts, five shutouts and 18 complete games. He would go onto win his first of three Cy Young Awards and would finish second in the MVP voting.
After Johan Santana pitched his no-hitter, there was a little blurb in the Daily News about Qualls who said he was happy that the Mets finally got their no-no.
But there was also this little nugget regarding his own fateful hit against Tom Seaver:
“Qualls heard about it from New Yorkers — first when he stood at first base at Shea Stadium, then when he got home and opened threatening mail. He recalled tears in the eyes of Seaver’s wife, who was sitting in a box seat.”
There was also a brief encounter with the Hall of Fame pitcher in a later series, when Seaver yelled, “You little (expletive). You cost me a million bucks!”
I gotta admit, that gave me a good chuckle.
