Birthday greetings
May 11, 2010
Milt Pappas (1939).
From the Baseball-Reference “Bullpen”:
Milt Pappas came one batter short of throwing a perfect game for the Chicago Cubs on September 2, 1972. He had 2 balls and 2 strikes on hitter #27, Larry Stahl, and his last two pitches were ruled balls. He settled for the no-hitter, but he never forgave the umpire. In his frequent tirades against the umpire (Bruce Froemming) he usually tacitly implies that the pitch was in fact outside the strike zone. He’s argued that the last pitch in Don Larsen’s perfect game was a foot outside the strike zone but the ump gave Larsen the call, so this guy should’ve done it as well. His own catcher, Randy Hundley, has also made statements indicating that the pitch was outside. He screamed at the ump after the walk that he blew his chance to make history for himself. The reporters after the game asked Froemming if he realized he blew his chance to be remembered. “What are the names of the other umpires who called perfect games?” he replied. After a silent response Froemming finished with “That’s how famous I’d be.” Ironically, he’s more well-known for that call that any of the perfect game umps. And he got the call right.
Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer (1903) 
Tagged as:
Charlie Gehringer,
Milt Pappas
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