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Thread: 9-4-24 Reds vs Astros 6:40 PM

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    Member Maldez's Avatar
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    Re: 9-4-24 Reds vs Astros 6:40 PM

    Quote Originally Posted by Ky Fried Redleg View Post
    *********** THIS DAY IN REDS BASEBALL / THE REST OF THE STORY ********************

    Maybe the most bizarre incident to ever occur on a baseball field ...

    Been saving this one up for a few weeks. Allow me to take you back to this night, 53 years ago. September 4, 1971 . I was eight years old, a month from turning 9. It had been exactly two weeks and one day since I had seen my first Reds game, a 6-0 shutout of the Pirates at Riverfront. But on this night , the scene was Chavez-Ravine, Dodger Stadium . Oh, how I hated the Dodgers!!! The Dodgers had won the series opener by a run the night before. This was the middle game of a three game set. It was a Saturday night. I was in my grandparents' kitchen, eating cheese and crackers and tomato and drinking my favorite, a glass of chocolate milk. My pawpaw was eating the same thing, except he was drinking his favorite sud, a tall Pabst Blue Ribbon.

    I had my trusted Panasonic tuned to the game and was listening to Al Michaels and the Ol' Left-hander call the action. It was the bottom of the fifth inning. The sun had disappeared from view on the comfortable 75 degree night in Dodger Stadium. From my recollection, Al Downing was facing Jim McGlothin that night. In fact, it was Downing, I believe, who led off the bottom of the fifth by walking. Maury Wills followed with a single. Then Bill Buckner hit a grounder to third. Perez stepped on the bag, forcing out Downing. Next up, was Dodger CF, Willie Davis. And this is where all of the weirdness begins .

    With Davis at the plate and Buckner and Wills on at first and second, respectively, I remember Al Michaels describing what happened next. It was truly a surreal moment, in what had to be one of the most bizarre nights in baseball history . As the Reds shortstop made a move towards second base for a possible pickoff attempt of the speedy Wills , a massive sack of something fell out of the sky like a missile, landing about 10 feet or so from the Reds shortstop , almost at the exact spot where he had previously been positioned.

    Everyone--- announcers, players, fans, and ME, were in a state of disbelief. What was this bag that fell from the sky? Who dropped it , how did they drop such a huge bag, and why did they drop it? When it fell to earth between second and third base at Dodger Stadium , it exploded like a bomb, shooting its powdery contents across the infield. The grounds crew came out, examined the substance, determined its nature , and cleaned it up. The shortstop , who was still visibly shaken after the game, was somehow able to remain of sound enough mind to help turn a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Davis to end the most bizarre inning in MLB history. Btw, the bizarreness doesn't end there. Around the same time that the bag shot down from the sky, a chicken was seen running amok in the outfield grass. Yes, a huge bag of something rockets to the ground and a farm animal is seen grazing in the outfield of Dodger Stadium, all in that one "Twilight Zone" half-inning 53 years ago this very night.

    And now...for THE REST OF THE STORY. That Reds shortstop might very well owe his life to his counterpart on the Dodgers. That's right, on this night one shortstop likely saved the life of another, as the Reds shortstop would have been pounded into pancake batter if the bag had landed on him. Had Maury Wills, one of baseball's best base stealers, not singled and advanced to second base, the Reds shortstop would have been positioned precisely where the huge bag landed, and would have likely died in the most bizarre and grotesque fashion. Instead, the speedy Wills prompted the Reds to try and keep him close to the second base bag and , thus, tragedy was averted.

    And now you know...THE REST... OF THE STORY. Well, you will know the rest of the story when someone tells us who the Reds shortstop was that cheated death that night and what in the hell was in that mysterious bag that fell from the sky that Saturday night, exactly 53 years ago.


    Oh, it was almost a sidenote on this night, but the hated blue won the game 2-1 . Downing , who three seasons later, would surrender Aaron's 715th HR, won his 17th , besting McGlothlin. There were only nine hits in the game but one REALLY BIG MISS ...Thankfully!!!
    Great story....here's another take on it...https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/172...odger-stadium/The night a sack of flour fell from the sky at Dodger Stadium

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