April 16, 1969, Los Angeles: Dodgers 9, Padres 1 (box score)
The Padres dropped their fifth straight in front of 12,180 at Dodger Stadium. Right-hander Bill Singer went the distance, holding the visitors to a single unearned run on just four hits. The 25-year-old Singer would go on to win 20 games for the first time in his career.
San Diego scored first, courtesy of errors by second baseman Jim Lefebvre and right fielder Bill Russell in the second inning. The Dodgers countered with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning. They then added at least one more run in each of the following frames except the fourth, when Padres starter Dick Kelley retired the bottom of the lineup in order.
The Dodgers benefited in part from homers in four consecutive innings. Andy Kosco launched a two-run shot to left in the fifth, while Tom Haller, Wes Parker, and Willie Crawford added solo blasts in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.
Bright spots for the Padres? None, really. They’d lost five games in a row and been outscored, 41-3, in the process. They’d faced exactly five pitchers during that stretch:
| Date | Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11 | Ray Sadecki | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Apr 12 | Juan Marichal | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Apr 13 | Gaylord Perry | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Apr 15 | Claude Osteen | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Apr 16 | Bill Singer | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference. | |||||||
Even accounting for the fact that two of these pitchers ended up in the Hall of Fame, this was a putrid offensive showing by the Padres. The worse news? They were scheduled to face Marichal again the following night — in San Francisco.
Trivia: Haller’s homer in the sixth came off Kelley. Five years and one day earlier, Kelley had made his big-league debut. Then pitching for the Milwaukee Braves, Kelley entered in the third inning of a game against the Giants. He walked the first batter he faced, Haller.
Bonus trivia: In that same game, Kelley failed to retire any of the five batters he faced. He was pulled for another pitcher making his big-league debut, Phil Niekro.
Elsewhere in the world: The Beatles were recording Old Brown Shoe and possibly also Something.
Very bad memories associated with the title of this post, and they have nothing to do with the dreadful 1969 Padres.
I’m pretty sure streaks of terror ran across my face when I read that title.
can you please tell me who was the third baseman for LA Dodgers seasons 1969-70 thank you