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On this date in area sports history …
Fifteen years ago on this date, Jan. 8, 1994, one of the area’s most accomplished athletes, pitcher Harvey Haddix, died at the age of 68. Complete story on the jump.
Haddix is best known for pitching what many consider to be the greatest game ever, a 12-inning perfect game for the Pittsburgh Pirates that he lost in the 13th inning. That game took place 50 years ago this year, May 26, 1959.
Published Jan. 9, 1994
HARVEY HADDIX DIES. CLARK COUNTY NATIVE, WHO GAVE BASEBALL ONE OF ITS GREAT PITCHING PERFORMANCES, LOSES BOUT WITH EMPHYSEMA AT AGE 68.
By Dave Shedloski, Sports Editor
Harvey Haddix was probably the most renowned athlete this area has ever produced, a common man who gained a measure of fame for a most uncommon baseball achievement.
Haddix, who pitched 12 perfect innings in a Major League game only to lose in the 13th, died at 5:58 a.m. Saturday morning at Community Hospital. He was 68.
Haddix, who had waged a four-year battle with emphysema, compiled a record of 136-113 as a pitcher for the Cardinals, Phillies, Reds, Pirates and Orioles from 1952 to 1965. But he will best be remembered for his May 26, 1959, effort with the Pirates against the Milwaukee Braves when he retired 36 straight batters before losing in 13 innings, 1-0.
“I’ve always said (that) probably made me more popular than if I had won the game,” Haddix said in 1991 after a special committee appointed by then Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent took away formal recognition of his feat as a no-hitter.
Still, people who knew Haddix remembered him as a common man who never let his renown go to his head.
“He was just a down-home kind of guy; just a common fella,” said Bill Joseph, a lifelong friend. “You would have never known he’d been at the top if you’d been around him. He was just such a nice guy.”
“There’s no doubt, he was the best around,” said Bill Mote, who tapped Haddix as pitching coach for his Dayton AA Amateur baseball teams. “We were fortunate to have a bona fide expert in our midst. He paid his dues. He was one of the greats, I think.”
The left-handed Haddix, who was born Sept. 18, 1925 in Medway, began his major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1952. Just 5 feet 9 and about 160 pounds, he gained a reputation in 14 major league seasons as a fiery competitor with a good fastball and curve and tremendous control.
“He was one hell of a competitor,” said Springfield native Brooks Lawrence, who played with Haddix in St. Louis in 1954 and Cincinnati in ‘58. “I knew him a long time. He wasn’t a complicated guy. Just a nice guy to be around. And a heck of a pitcher.”
Along with his 136 victories, and a career 3.63 ERA, Haddix was a Gold Glove winner and a member of the NL All-Star team from 1953-55.
He was a 20-game winner in 1953, going 20-9, but did not receive rookie of the year honors because he had been deemed to have pitched too many innings (42) the previous season, which Haddix believed was unfair.
Haddix also was the winning pitcher in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series when Bill Mazeroski’s solo home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Pirates to a 10-9 win over the New York Yankees.
But the highlight of Haddix’ career was his effort against the Braves on that May night in 1959 when he set a record that seems as unsurpassable as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.
Haddix retired 36 batters in a row before the Braves’ Felix Mantilla reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice by Eddie Mathews. After Henry Aaron was walked intentionally, Joe Adcock hit a towering home run, ending the no-hitter and the game.
The score officially was 1-0 because Adcock inadvertently passed Aaron, who advanced only to second before heading across the diamond to the dugout.
Haddix, inducted into the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, retired as a player in 1965. He then spent another 13 years as a pitching coach for various teams. His professional career spanned 41 years.
“He was a great role model for the little guys in sports,” Mote said. “He wasn’t a big guy physically, but he showed them he could compete with anyone. He had tremendous desire and ability.”
Marcia, his wife of 36 years, said Harvey enjoyed life.
“He told me just a short time ago that if nothing else, he sure had a great time getting in the (ailing) condition he was,” she said. “I know he was well thought of.”
Haddix also is survived by a son, Harvey III, two daughters, Teri Hixon and Ann Crabtree, all of Springfield, three brothers, Edwin and Benjamin of South Vienna and Frederick of South Charleston, and several nieces and nephews.
Private services will be held at the convenience of the family. Burial will be in Asbury Cemetery.
“It’s a great loss. He did a lot for baseball. He did a lot for this area,” said Joseph, who like Haddix was an avid smoker before both quit about five years ago. “He was such a fighter. I’m going to miss him. There will never be another one like him.”
Haddix, himself, seemed to sense his place in the baseball annals after the disappointing ruling in 1991.
“I know one thing,” Haddix said then, “I’ve done something nobody else has done - retire 36 in a row. That’ll still be there.”
And maybe for a long time to come.
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