A Baseball Game Butch Will Never Forget

When I started playing baseball at the age of 7, I knew absolutely nothing about the game. My coach, Marion “Runt” Maxwell, asked me what position I played, to which I replied, “I bat!” Well, batting was fun, but eventually I became a pitcher. I watched major league baseball on TV, and I tried to imitate the pitching styles of Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and other great pitchers. I practiced with my friends, and if no one was around then I just threw the baseball at a target I had drawn with chalk on the side of our barn. During all of the years that I played, I was the starting pitcher for the Darlington Indians.

When I was in junior high, I watched some great high school pitchers. Two of the best were Steve Burkle from Linden and Steve Powers from New Market…and then later on…Don Evans from Waveland. I developed a good fast ball and a big, slow curve, and during Pony League, when I was 13 years old, I managed to throw a couple of no-hitters. I had good success against the other Montgomery County teams…all except for New Ross, who always had great hitters…and an outstanding pitcher, Pat Evans. We came close a couple of times, but could never manage to beat those Blue Jays. In high school, I came close to throwing no-hitters on a couple of occasions, but “close doesn’t count.”

When I was a senior in 1966, my Grandpa gave me a Babe Ruth autographed bat. It was too long and too heavy for me, but I told him I would use it in our next game against the Warriors down at Alamo. I doubt that there were twenty boys total in their high school, but they always seemed to have good players, such as Glenn Williams, Wayne Denham, Steve Hallett, and Don Myers, who provided stiff competition. During warm-up, my arm felt really strong that afternoon, and in the first inning, I struck out all three batters. During the progression of the game, I struck out every batter that stepped up to the plate, and to top things off, I hit two home runs with the Babe Ruth bat…both ending up beyond centerfield into the cornfield…a miracle!

By the end of the fifth inning in this six-inning game, I had struck out all fifteen batters and had not walked anyone. If I could just do the same in the last inning, I would not only have my first high school no-hitter, but also a perfect game. But then the Alamo coach made a substitition. A boy, appearing to be not even 5 ft. tall, walked up to the plate…and crouched down, bat resting on his shoulder. His strike zone was perhaps 6 inches. He was sent in to just get a walk and get on base. I knew he wasn’t even going to swing his bat. Guess what? I threw three straight strikes…I could not believe it! I then struck out the next batter…one more to go.

However, in that last inning, since we were so far ahead, our coach made some substitutions to allow other boys to play. Our new first base man was a very nice and intelligent boy, but unfortunately his baseball skills left a lot to be desired. Alamo’s last batter stepped up to the plate. I threw my fast ball right down the middle. He swung at it, and hit a little dribbler right toward the first base man, who was standing only four or five feet from the bag. But instead of fielding the ball and stepping on the bag for the easy out, he went over and stood on the bag…and let the ball dribble into the outfield. I couldn’t believe it. Alamo now had their first runner on a base, and my perfect game was over. I then struck out the next batter to end the game. After the game was over and we shook hands, our coach informed me that the Alamo coach had, instead of scoring an error on our first base man, had scored the little puny dribbler as a hit! So…I had struck out all 18 batters in the six-inning game, but had not been given credit for a no-hitter.

I learned several lessons that sunny afternoon down at Alamo. A Babe Ruth bat is lucky. The hometown coach is the official scorer. If you’re ahead and the coach puts in a sub, it is best to pray…and don’t count your chickens until they’ve hatched. Oh yes, the sub who ruined my no-hitter…he became an attorney. Go figure.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.