FanPost

Cubs whose second homer of game was walk-off

The Cubs have recorded 925 regular-season walk-off wins since the start of the National League in 1876.

In 191 of those games, the walk-off play was a home run.

But 14 of those 191 homers share an added distinction: they were the batter's second home run of the game.

...

The Cubs hit 10 walk-off homers in 1876-1900, then 9 more from the start of the Modern Era, in 1901, through the end of 1922.

Each was the batter's only homer of the day.

The Cubs began the 1923 season with a 4-game series at home against the Pirates. They lost on Opening Day, 3-2, then won by 7-2 and 10-5.

In the finale, on Friday, April 20, Pittsburgh scored single runs in the first and second innings, then added 2 in the fourth and 1 in the fifth to open a 5-0 lead.

A solo homer by Bernie Friberg got the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the inning.

In the sixth, the Pirates scored twice and the Cubs once, on a homer by Cliff Heathcote. A run in the top of the seventh left the Pirates in front by 8-2.

...

Gabby Hartnett, the Cubs' 22-year-old, second-year catcher, had grounded out and lined out in his first 2 trips to the plate. He led off the seventh with a single and trotted home 1 out later on a homer by Jigger Statz.

The Pirates made the score 9-4 in the eighth, when Pie Traynor was hit by a pitch and came home on a triple by Charlie Grimm. Two years later, Grimm would be traded to the Cubs, for whom he would play 12 years and manage, in 3 stints, for 14 years, the last in 1960!

Ray Grimes, leading off the Cubs' eighth, was safe on an error. Friberg then slammed his second homer, cutting the deficit to 3 runs.

Three batters later, the game was tied, as Hack Miller and John Kelleher singled, then Hartnett blasted a homer down the left field line.

Tony Kaufmann followed with a single and was bunted to second by Statz. Heathcote's single advanced Kaufmann to third, and a single by Grantham put the Cubs in front, 10-9. Grimes singled, too, driving in Heathcote.

A groundout and a foul popup completed an inning in which the Cubs scored 7 runs on 8 hits. Eight of the first 9 batters reached base, the only exception the sacrifice by Statz.

...

But the game wasn't over. Kaufmann walked the first 2 Pirates in the ninth and was replaced by Tiny Osborne. He got the next batter to ground to second baseman Grantham, who flipped the ball to shortstop Kelleher for a forceout. But Kelleher's throw to first, trying for a double play, was wild, allowing the lead runner to score and the batter to wind up on second.

Moments later, he completed the circuit, tying he game, on a single.

That batter was thrown out trying for a double. A fly to right ended the inning.

Kelleher, first up in the Cubs' ninth, also flied to right, setting the stage for Hartnett's historic second-homer walk-off.

"Hartnett's homer in the ninth was a real drive," Frank Schreiber wrote in the next day's Chicago Tribune. "The ball sailed over the bleachers in left field. One fan tried to stop it, but decided it was coming too fast and just touched the ball with his fingers as it topped the wall" and landed on Waveland Avenue.

...

The game-winning blast was the Cubs' sixth homer of the game. They had hit as many as 4 only once in the Modern Era, in a 10-2 rout of the Giants on Aug. 28, 1910.

They would hit 6 homers 5 more times -- in 1930, 1936, 1954, 1955 and 1962 -- before breaking the record with 7 in an 18-10 slugfest against the Mets in 1967. They hit 7 again in 1970 and 1977, both against the Padres, en route to winning by 12-2 and 23-6.

They have not hit 7 since then. They have finished with 6 in 25 games, including 2 in 2017 and 1 each in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They did it this year in a 13-4 win over the Braves on April 17 -- 3 days before the 98th anniversary of their first 6-homer game and Hartnett's unprecedented game-ending second homer.

..........

Here are short descriptions of each of the Cubs who have duplicated Hartnett's feat.

May 2, 1958: Walt Moryn

The Cubs trailed the Braves, 7-0, with 2 out and nobody on the sixth inning when "Moose" homered.

He flied out in the seventh, making him the only Cub to make an out between the first and last batters, as the Cubs erupted to score 6 runs and tie the game. Jim Bolger produced the first 3 runs with a home run. RBI singles by Ernie Banks and Dale Long drove in the next 2, then Banks raced home on a wild pitch.

Each team stranded a runner in the eighth, and the Braves 2 in the ninth. All reached on walks.

Banks struck out to begin the bottom of the ninth. Moryn then ended the game was a blast to deep right, for his fourth 2-homer game since joining the Cubs in 1956 and the Cubs' first second-homer walk-off in more than 35 years.

May 30, 1958: Walt Moryn

Exactly 4 weeks later, in Game 2 of a Memorial Day doubleheader, Moryn outdid himself.

Banks hit a leadoff homer in the fourth and Moryn followed with another, making the score Dodgers 7, Cubs 3.

He fouled out to start the sixth, but the Cubs scored 3 times before the inning ended, closing to within 7-6.

After the Dodgers scored once in the top of the seventh, Moryn homered with 2 out and nobody on in the bottom, then Chuck Tanner homered, too, to tie the game at 8.

Neither team scored in the eighth. The Dodgers got a leadoff single in the ninth and bunted the runner to second, but he was left there.

The Dodgers turned to their fifth pitcher of the day to work the ninth: 23-year-old left hander Sandy Koufax. On a 2-2 count, he gave up a single to Banks. Moryn then walloped a 1-1 pitch high and far over the wall in center, for his third home run and a 10-8 victory.

Aug. 8, 1963: Ron Santo

The Cubs held a 3-0 lead over the Dodgers through 4 innings, only to fall behind, 4-3, in the top of the fifth.

Larry Sherry came on in relief in the bottom half. Billy Williams, the first batter to face him, truck out. Santo, the second, drilled a 1-0 pitch for a game-tying homer.

In the bottom of the 10th, Williams led off against Sherry and was retired again, this time on a fly ball.

Santo, on a 1-1 delivery, lined his second homer to win the game.

Fun fact: the Cubs' first attempt to play a night game at Wrigley Field, on Aug. 8, 1988, was the 25th anniversary of Santo's second-homer walk-off.

Aug. 20, 1968: Willie Smith

The fifth anniversary of Santo's feat was just 12 days in the past when Smith duplicated it, carrying the Cubs past the Braves, 6-5.

He hit a 3-run homer to cap a 4-run first inning.

The Braves responded with a 3-run shot in the second, then added runs in the sixth and seventh to go in front, 5-4.

The Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth. After a strikeout, Glenn Beckert delivered a game-tying sacrifice fly.

The Braves went down in order in their half of the 10th. Banks struck out and Santo flied out in the Cubs half. Then Smith whacked his walk-off homer.

The homers were Smith's first since being traded to the Cubs on June 28 for Lou Johnson. It was his second career 2-homer game; he never would have another.

He would have 1 other walk-off homer in his 3 seasons as a Cub: a 2-run blast in the 10th inning on Opening Day of 1969 that beat the Phillies, 7-6.

May 28, 1970: Jim Hickman

After Billy Williams drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, Hickman homered to tie the Pirates at 6.

Pittsburgh regained the lead in the eighth on a 2-out double and RBI single.

Glenn Beckert popped up to begin the Cubs' ninth. But Billy Williams singled and Hickman homered to win the game.

Hickman had hit 4 previous walk-off homers, 2 as a Cub, and would hit 3 more. It was his sixth 2-homer game, third as a Cub, and 2 more would follow. None would include a walk-off homer.

April 22, 1980: Barry Foote

The Cubs and Cardinals played a wild game in which both teams scored in each of the first 3 innings, then the Cards tallied 5 runs in the fourth to take an 11-6 lead.

They led, 12-11, with 1 out in the eighth, when Foote homered to deep left, tying the game.

In the ninth, the Cubs put runners on second and third with 1 out. After a strikeout, a walk set the stage for Foote to deliver a game-winning slam to deep right.

It remains the only walk-off slam by a Cub that was the batter's second homer of the game.

May 8, 1990: Andrew Dawson

Dawson struck out in the first against the Braves, but the Cubs scored 5 runs against future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine anyway, the first 3 on a bases-loaded double by Curt Wilkerson.

The Braves tied the score at 5 in the top of the seventh. The Cubs regained the lead with a run in the bottom.

Two runs in the eighth put the Braves in front, 7-6. An RBI single by Ryne Sandberg in the Cubs' half knotted the score.

A 2-out wild pitch in the top of the ninth made the score 8-7. Dawson homered on the first pitch in the bottom half and when the next 3 Cubs made outs, the game went into extra innings.

Both teams went 1-2-3 in the 10th.

The Braves got a leadoff double in the 11th. After a bunt, an intentional walk put runners on the corners. The strategy paid off when the next batter hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

In the Cubs' 11th, Sandberg swung at the first pitch and grounded out. Mark Grace swung at the first pitch and singled.

Dawson worked the count to 2-1, then slammed a ball over the wall in center field.

July 4, 1991: Mark Grace

The Cubs' 3 previous second-homer walk-offs had come roughly 10 years apart, in 1970, 1980 and 1990.

But Grace joined the select group of batters with a walk-off second homer less than a year after Dawson did it, and on Independence Day, no less.

Dawson opened the scoring with a 2-run homer in the first.

In the fifth, with the score 2-2, Grace followed Jerome Walton's leadoff single with a go-ahead drive down the right field line.

The Cubs doubled their lead in the sixth when the Pirates' pitcher threw away a bunt, allowing 2 runners to score.

George Bell's 2-run homer in the seventh gave the Cubs an 8-2 cushion.

But Pittsburgh got an RBI single in the eighth, then a walk loaded the bases and a grand slam made the score 8-7. Back-to-back doubles in the ninth, the second by Barry Bonds, tied the game.

Neither team advanced a runner past first until the bottom of the 11th. Grace, leading off, drilled an 0-2 pitch for his second homer and jogged around the bases to a tumultuous welcome at home plate.

April 17, 1996: Sammy Sosa

Sosa's 2-run homer in the third increased the Cubs' lead over the Reds to 5-2, but a 2-out double in the seventh tied the score at 6.

In the 10th, Mark Grace coaxed a 5-pitch leadoff walk. On a 2-1 delivery, Sosa homered for an 8-6 victory.

It was the Cubs' 10th second-homer walk-off in 17,673 games since the start of 1876. They had played 11,422 games in the 73 years, less than 3 days, since Hartnett had been the first to do it on April 20, 1923.

May 5, 1996: Sammy Sosa

Only 18 days passed before Sosa became only the second Cub with a pair of second-homer walk-offs

After the Mets scored a run in the top of the first, Sosa hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom.

New York took a 4-3 lead in the fourth. The Cubs pulled even in the bottom and the score remained 4-4 going to the ninth.

An error and a single put runners on first and second with 1 out, but pitcher Turk Wendell speared a line drive and fired to first for a double play.

Sosa then worked the count to 3-1 and ended the game with a soaring fly into the left field bleachers.

April 16, 2004: Moises Alou

With 2 down in the third and a runner on first, Alou homered. Aramis Ramirez then hit a solo shot, tying the game at 4.

The Reds broke the deadlock by scoring 5 runs in the top of the sixth.

Ramirez had preceded his home with an RBI single in the first. He doubled home a run in the sixth, then drove home 2 more with another double in the seventh. But the Cubs still were behind, 9-7, and the Reds tallied 1 more run in their half of the eighth.

In the bottom half, Todd Hollandsworth slugged a 2-run homer, making the score 10-9.

The Reds loaded the bases in the ninth but did not score.

The Cubs needed only 8 more pitches to win the game. Sosa homered on a 3-2 count, then Alou followed suit on a 1-0 offering.

Alou had 3 more 2-homer games in 2004, the last of his 3 seasons as a Cub. He had 8 multi-homer games, including a 3-homers in a loss to the Cardinals on July 4, 2003. None of the homers in those games was a walk-off.

He had hit 1 previous walk-off homer for the Cubs, in 2002 vs. the Rockies. He hit 1 more, against the Giants, on May 19, 2004, a little more than a month after his second-homer walk-off.

Sept. 14, 2004: Corey Patterson

Patterson provided all the offense for the Cubs against the Pirates.

They trailed, 2-0, from midway through the second inning until the bottom of the eighth. Michael Barrett was hit by a pitch and Jose Macias grounded to first.

Patterson took a ball, then tied the game with a drive over the wall in left-center.

He was hit by a pitch in the 10th, but stranded at second when Ramirez struck out on 3 pitches for the third out.

In the 12th, Barrett grounded out on the first pitch he saw. Macias did the same, on the second.

Patterson swung at the second pitch, too -- and the ball landed over the wall in center field to win the game.

Patterson had had 3 previous 2-homer games, the last just a week earlier. He would have 1 more in 2005, his last season as a Cub.

He had hit a walk-off homer on Aug. 25 and would hit another in April of 2005.

Alou and Patterson became the Cubs teammates to enjoy second-homer walk-offs in the same season. In the 2 previous seasons in which the Cubs had a pair of second-homer walk-offs, the same batter hit both both: Walt Moryn in 1958 and Sammy Sosa in 1996.

June 20, 2008: Aramis Ramirez

April 20 had been the 85th anniversary of Hartnett's second-homer walk-off. Two months later, Ramirez became the 11th Cub to follow in Hartnett's footsteps.

In the opener of a weekend series against the White Sox, Derrek Lee and Ramirez hit back-to-back homers to open the seventh, tying the score at 3.

Kerry Wood came in to pitch for the Cubs in the ninth. He gave up a leadoff double, but preserved the tie with a popup, fly ball and strikeout, the last against A.J. Pierzynski, who had slugged a 2-run homer off starter Ted Lilly.

"Pierzynski tried to check his swing on a high 2-2 fastball," Paul Sullivan wrote in the Tribune, "but catcher Geovany Soto appealed to third base umpire Mike Everitt and Pierzynski was emphatically called out.

"That led to a made-for-ESPN tantrum that included a helmet slam and a bat flip."Just as the crowd had settled down from Pierzynski's theatrics, Ramirez took [new reliever Scott] Linebrink deep and sent Cubs fans into a higher orbit."

...

Since Ramirez's second homer beat the Sox, 4-3, through Wednesday, the Cubs have played 2,070 more games.

In those games, a Cub has hit 2 homers 144 times, most recently by Matt Duffy on Saturday against the Pirates.

A Cub has hit 26 walk-off home runs, most recently by Jason Heyward, Wednesday against the Reds.

None has done both with a single swing.

...

The Cubs' 14 second-homer walk-offs to date, from Hartnett in 1923 through Ramirez in 2008, took place in a span of 13,417 games.

That is an average of once every 939 games, so the current drought of 2,070 games is more than double the average.

Clearly, the Cubs are overdue for a player to hit 2 homers, the second ending a game.

I'm putting my money on Frank Schwindel to do it.

FanPosts are written by readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue, and as such do not reflect the views of SB Nation or Vox Media, nor is the content endorsed by SB Nation, Vox Media or Al Yellon, managing editor of Bleed Cubbie Blue or reviewed prior to posting.