By Zane Miller
On Saturday, May 19th, 1956, the Boston Red Sox took on the Kansas City Athletics at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, with the Red Sox off to a solid start to the year with a winning record at 14-11, while the Athletics struggled at 9-17. This would be the final game of a three-game series between the teams, as the Red Sox won the other two by scores of 6-1 and 4-5, respectively.
Boston had George Susce at starting pitcher for the afternoon matchup, taking a 1-0 record through the games he had played in to this point in the season. Meanwhile, Kansas City sent up pitcher Lou Kretlow, a 10-year veteran of the league who had taken a 1-4 record prior to their game against the Red Sox.
In the first inning, Kretlow retired the Red Sox side with only one hit allowed, as first baseman Mickey Vernon nabbed a double. The Red Sox followed with a shutout of their own in the bottom of the frame, with Athletics center fielder Hector Lopez becoming the team’s first baserunner of the game with a walk.
The score would remain at 0-0 through the first four innings of play, as Susce held Kansas City to two hits and two walks, while Kretlow also allowed just a pair of hits and walks apiece to maintain a scoreless afternoon. However, neither pitcher would be credited with a win by game’s end.
In the top of the fifth, the Boston offense finally came alive, as George Susce helped to set up his own run support with a two-out double (keep in mind that this game took place before the designated hitter was incorporated into AL games in 1973). This enabled Red Sox second baseman Billy Goodman to hit an RBI single off of Kretlow, plating Susce to provide Boston a 1-0 lead.
Through a scoreless bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, it would be the Athletics’ turn to spark their offense late in the ballgame. With left fielder Gus Zernial getting a double, it set up first baseman Harry Simpson to drive in the run on another RBI single. Although Simpson would be caught stealing soon after, the momentum would not stop for Kansas City, as they claimed back-to-back walks. Future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter would step in to pinch hit for right fielder Johnny Groth and would take advantage of the opportunity, drilling yet another RBI single to put the Athletics into the lead for the first time in the game.
In the seventh, the Red Sox offense went back to work, immediately getting a pair of singles from Faye Throneberry and Goodman. Third baseman Frank Malzone capitalized to tie the game at 2-2 with the fourth RBI single of the game. As Athletics pitcher Moe Burtschy came on in relief of Kretlow, the RBI single streak would be broken later in the inning with right fielder Jackie Jensen nailing an RBI triple, scoring both Goodman and Malzone to retake the lead for Boston.
Reliever Bob Porterfield would replace Susce for the Red Sox in the bottom half of the inning, and would get off to a shaky start by allowing a single and a walk with no outs. Despite this, Porterfield would cut down the next three batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
Tom Gorman took over for Kansas City in the eighth and would have a much less adventurous inning, retiring the side in order to keep the deficit at 4-2. However, the score would not stay that way for much longer.
The bottom of the eighth saw Athletics catcher Joe Ginsberg reach with a double, although an error by Throneberry at left field gave Ginsberg third base on the play. This allowed Slaughter to claim his second RBI of the game on a groundout, cutting the Red Sox lead in half.
Gorman pitched a second of relief as the Red Sox would once again be unable to do much against the reliever, going down with no runs scored to leave it at a one-run game in the bottom of the ninth.
Instead of opting for another pitcher to finish out the final inning, the Red Sox kept Porterfield on for a third inning of work. The first batter he faced would be pinch hitter Tim Thompson, who came in to bat for Gorman. Thompson would put the ball in play, as Malzone would commit an error at third base to allow the him to reach, putting even more stress into an already tough situation for Porterfield. While he would get the next batter, shortstop Joe DeMaestri, out on a flyball, Hector Lopez would come back up again for Kansas City.
Lopez was the first baserunner of the game for the Athletics back in the first inning, but he would also be the last runner for the game as well. Down by a run, Lopez hit the afternoon’s only home run to deep left field for a walkoff victory, as the Athletics sealed a 5-4 win to end the series on a high note for the team.
With the win, the Athletics jumped to 10-17, while the Red Sox dropped to 14-12. However, the Red Sox would hold on to their winning record by season’s end, finishing with a 84-70 showing. The Athletics, on the other hand, would continue to have a dreadful season overall, dragging their way to a 52-102 record as they would be the last team to finish with over 100 losses in a season until the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961.
Link to stats database: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KC1/KC1195605190.shtml
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