In the fifth inning third baseman Toby Harrah drifted over in foul ground in pursuit of a pop fly off the bat of Willie Upshaw. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. But I wondered, Would this guy have a big league attitude? It was just the opposite. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Sports. The Tribe won, 3-0. Thats when Indians starter Len Barker tossed Doug Rader ( Texas Rangers) On Sunday, September 30, 1984, Mike Witt of the California Angels threw a perfect game against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Stadium. Those wild pitches in 1980 were no fluke. This was the second perfect game in the Cleveland teams history. Joe Tait. Len Barker. He was much more concerned about his brother coming in. Len Barker pitched the 10th perfect game in Major, Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 03:28, "Cleveland's Len Barker promised only a no-hitter", "Pitcher Perfect: Len Barker tosses MLB's ninth perfect game", "Thirty years later, Len Barker recalls perfect game", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Len_Barker%27s_perfect_game&oldid=1140450387, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 03:28. If you can help us improve this game story,contact us. Free and fast shipping on 100% authentic Len Barker sports memorabilia, collectibles and authentic autographs. The Indians defeated the Blue Jays 30, as Barker did not allow a baserunner. He was so overwhelming, few balls were even hit hard. While they got some decent seasons that decade from the likes of Toby Harrah, Mike Hargrove, Joe Carter, Bert Blyleven and Brett Butler and while they got a here-today-gone-tomorrow star turn from a kid named Joe Charboneau it was not a star-studded decade either. Former Cleveland Indians Len Barker smiles between pitches during the Lake Erie Crushers 3rd annual Cleveland Sports Legends Softball Game in Avon. Barker's most notable accomplishment occurred on May 15, 1981, as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Barker continued to pitch with an aching elbow in 1983. Bieber struck out 11. Len Barker knows time tells no lies. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Barker had a high leg kick and upbeat personality. The 24-year-old McKenzie then It was the 11th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Certainly not the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It was Joe Tait who called the play-by-play of Len Barker's perfect game on WUAB-TV. I say, 'No, it's something to be proud of.' 0 0 Less than a minute. 5 Bob Sudyk, Perfecto, The Sporting News, May 30, 1981: 11. He made out financially, however. Kuiper was one of his favorite players, and in a tribute video put out by the team, there are two clips: Tait calling the end of Len Barker's perfect game, and his call of Kuiper's homer. I had just signed that big contract and felt I owed it to the Braves to keep pitching.. Barker pitched reasonably well down the stretch, notching a 3.82 ERA despite only going 13 in his six starts after the trade. On Monday, October 8, 1956, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.It was the first postseason no-hitter since Claude Grier did so in the 1926 Colored World Series.Larsen's perfect game is the only perfect game in the history of the World Series; it was the first perfect You can watch the historic moment tonight at 7p.m. Al Woods pinch-hit for Danny Ainge. Through the Tribes Fantasy Camp, he met Dave Armstrong a former Vice President at Notre Dame College. Barker was traded, along with Bobby Bonds, from the Rangers to the Indians for Jim Kern and Larvell Blanks on October 3, 1978. After the seven-week players' strike, Barker went on to make the All-Star team for the only time in his career and he again led the AL in strikeouts, although his 3.91 ERA amounted to just a 94 ERA+. 15 Bruce Newman, Sports Illustrated, May 25, 1981. His elbow also was starting to bother him. "It was a very tedious process," he said, "but it was worth it once you saw the video that we were able to find.". I knew Len was a big league pitcher. SEATTLE (AP) Clevelands Zach Plesac lost his no-hit bid with no outs in the eighth inning when Seattles J.P. Crawford lined a clean single to center Thursday night. He spent his first 8 years of his 13-year Major League career with the Indians (1975-83), where he won the Gold Glove in 1976. At that time it was our job to get people in the park, and it still is.". R&J Promotions asked me to do a signed and numbered print honoring Cleveland Indians Len Barker and his perfect game. On May 15, 1981, Manning caught Ernie Whitt's fly ball, the final out of Len Barker's perfect game, in one of the most memorable images in Cleveland sports history; the Indians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0. He caught Ernie Whitts fly ball, on May 15, 1981, the final out of Len Barkers perfect game, in one of the most rememberable images in Cleveland sports history; the Indians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0. But I really didnt start thinking about it until the last inning. Not only is that the last perfect game in Tribe history, it's the last no-hitter by a Cleveland pitcher. Im going for journalism just like my grandpa, hopefully to be a play-by-play announcer one day. Leonard Harold Barker III (born July 7, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. On April 16, 1978, at Fenway Park, Barker (then with the Texas Rangers) threw a pitch that sailed upward onto the screen above and behind the backstop. Watching that now serves a bit like a prequel to the 1981 documentary, because Len Barker threw the franchise's second perfect game on May 15, 1981. All rights reserved (About Us). He also had nicknames. Least of all could Indians starting pitcher Len Barker. He is now in his 11th year as head baseball coach at Notre Dame College in South Euclid. By the ninth inning we decided if there was going to be a base hit, it would have to come off a breaking pitch.. Hassey, who also caught Len Barkers perfect game of May 15, 1981, became the first major-league catcher to handle two of them. 9 TSN broadcast of the perfect game, accessed via YouTube.com. Clevelands 11-0 victory over Detroit on Aug. 15. Rick has the longest tenure of Joe Tait called Len Baker's perfect game in 1981. It was Barker who threw a perfect game on May 15, 1981. Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of Len Barker's perfect game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. But it was his curve that was breaking and giving the Jays fits. I work for a great school and this is a great place to live., Former Indians pitcher Len Barker keeps an close eye on his pitchers at Notre Dame College.The Plain Dealer, The storied career of Dick Schafrath includes wrestling a bear, Browns scribbles after first preseason game, Terrys Talkin Browns: Stefanski calling plays, Joe Schobert traded, Browns Training Camp Scribbles: Jadeveon Clowney, Donovan Peoples-Jones. len barker perfect game announcersguardrail common sensorguardrail common sensor He completed 27 of 91 starts. I could throw anything, anywhere I wanted. That day, May 15, was one of them. There were some nice plays by Toby Harrah and Duane Kuiper in the infield. Barker did not pitch as well after the new contract was signed. On Friday, May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Stadium, the 10th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. The next year, Barker's ERA ballooned to 6.35, and he only managed a 29 record. The final out of the game was a flyout caught by Rick Manning in short center field. If those lack of strikeouts was because of something lacking in his fastball that night, Barker and his catcher Ron Hassey figured it out by the fourth inning. ", Kuiper, now a San Francisco Giants broadcaster, offers some of the best insight, at one point saying, "I had one guy tell me that nobody is going to show up in September, and I told him 'I've been there when it didnt matter. Manning has the longest tenure of any television announcer in team history. Cleveland has the longest no-hitter drought in the majors its last one was Len Barkers perfect game in 1981. broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I helped do the work. PHILLIES 10, ANGELS 0 You The 24-year Bieber struck out 11. He last pitched in the majors for the Brewers in 1987, working in 11 games. Date: Jul 28, 2011. Although he led the American League in strikouts, he finished with an 8-7 record. He signed with the Montreal Expos a few weeks later and spent the season with their top affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. If I had to run to the pitchers mound, I would have gotten it, said Manning.8. Len Barker had a 15-11 record and a 3.90 ERA in 1982.Plain Dealer Historical Collection. It got to the point where it felt like someone was stabbing my elbow on every pitch, said Barker. That cloud hung over the ever-changing city, still defined then by its rust-belt image. Because of the situation, it makes those plays seem better than they actually were. He also handled Len Barkers perfect game in 1981. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. This material may not On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Stadium, the tenth perfect game in Major League Baseball history. In his 30 seasons since 1990, Hamilton has called all 92 postseason games the Guardians have played over that span, including three World Series' (1995, 1997, 2016). Certainly not the 7,290 who sat through a misty, wet game that began with a first-pitch temperature of 47 degrees, which fell to the 30s by the time the final out was recorded. Pinch-hitter Ernie Whitt ended the game by flying out to center fielder Rick Manning, setting off a celebration and capping the first perfect game in the majors since Catfish Hunter of the As blanked the Twins on May 8, 1968. That starting staff included Bert Blyleven, John Denny, Rick Waits and Barker. They had suffered 21 straight scoreless innings entering the game as well. Longest No-Hitter Droughts By Team. During the strike we hear Manning played for a softball team sponsored by DaVinci's Pizza. Jacoby would be a two-time All-Star who would hit 120 homers in an Indians jersey. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Home/slovenia address format/ len barker perfect game announcers. I never had it in my mind he would do it until he did it. TOM HAMILTON, the Voice of the Guardians, will enter his 31st season of calling Cleveland Guardians baseball games on the radio in 2020. He was battling kidney disease and liver cancer. Barker was selected for the 1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held in Cleveland on August 9. Well, everybody except for the Toronto Blue Jays. But a perfect game? [2] Barker never once reached ball three against any Blue Jay hitter. Years later many more Tribe fans would swear they were there. After his playing career, Barker returned to the Cleveland area and founded a construction company with a business partner. Indians president Gabe Paul's policy of not allowing women in the clubhouse was broken that night when DiBiasio escorted Toronto sportswriter Alison Gordon into the clubhouse. Castro hit a ball sharply to shallow right on McKenzies 100th pitch. Close. There's great footage of the Strat-O-Matic game held in the stadium - a creative response to the strike but a move not seen as favorable by league officials. That got WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto thinking back to the last time a Cleveland pitcher did it: Lenny Barkers perfect game in 1981. Dennis Manoloff (@dmansworld474) March 10, 2021 on SportsTime Ohio! Underwood uses clips of the city, the stadium (seen often as a cavernous expanse of empty seats) and smart interviews. The answer? He looked awesome to me, said Woods of Barker.6 It was the last of 11 strikeouts for Barker; all of them were of the swinging variety. On August 28 Ted Turner and the Braves, who were fighting to win a second straight NL West crown, acquired him for Brett Butler, Brook Jacoby, and Rick Behenna. I think I missed about five games that season. You never know if making a catch in the early innings will or wont mean something later.3 In the sixth inning, second baseman Duane Kuiper ranged to his right on a one-hop groundball to throw out Rick Bosetti. It was probably closer to 6,000 in terms of bodies in the seats although at least 60,000 claim to have seen it. But Barker had help from his friends. It wasnt breaking much, but the rotation was so tight it was almost the perfect curve.. He threw 246 1/3 innings, leading the American League with 187 strikeouts and 14 wild pitches. Elwell ended up at a golf course, hunched over the front seat of the car, listening to the remainder of the game. Butler would go on to star for the Indians, Giants, and Dodgers over the course of a 17-year career that would not end until 1997. Barker's pitching was so consistent that he never once reached ball three against any Blue Jay hitter! It would be delayed to Aug. 9. Hed spend that season as a minor leaguer in the Expos system. He was overpowering in 1980 when he had a 19-12 record with a 4.17 ERA. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Nobody showed up anyway. And the National League would win, 5-4. The Indians finished .500 or better just twice that decade. If a baseball season can be viewed as a smooth sail across calm waters until season's end, 1981 was a turbulent storm that shook players, fans and the league to a standstill. Indians play-by-play announcer Matt Underwood has captured the tone of Cleveland in 1981, when a baseball strike hit, the Indians hosted the All-Star Game, and Len Barker was perfect. Or a walk. Barker would go on to have a 1981 season that looked a lot like his 1980 season in a lot of ways. Miller batting one spot behind Jos Ramrez hit a Bieber is trying to pitch the seventh no-hitter in the major leagues this season, which would tie for the most since 1900 and be one shy of the mark set in 1884. Partly due to this, he did not make the major leagues for good until 1979. Still, the night made him a legend here. The other challenge was a technical one: Only a few machines were available for Underwood to view the 3/4-inch tape. In his play-by-play role, Underwood stays up on current players and teams, but in him is a historian who can create a deft snapshot of an era or a portrait of a player. Said his 92-year-old grandmother after his perfect game, "I'm very proud of him. [8], List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders, "Pitcher Perfect: Len Barker tosses MLB's ninth perfect game", "Former Indians DH Travis Hafner joins Notre Dame College baseball staff", Play-by-play account of Barker's perfect game, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Len_Barker&oldid=1132420587, September 14,1976,for theTexas Rangers, September 26,1987,for theMilwaukee Brewers, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 8 January 2023, at 20:12. I was in my second season as the Tribes baseball writer for the Plain Dealer. The 1981 Blue Jays may have had a lot of easy outs in that lineup, but they had no easy-out pitchers. 1 ago. After debuting with the Rangers in September 1976, Barker spend the next three seasons only intermittently sticking in rotations with Texas and Cleveland before going 19-12 with . Barker hung a curveball one of his only bad pitches of the night to Bosetti to lead off the ninth, but Bosetti only got a piece of it and fouled out. The Tribe also had Andre Thornton, Tom Veryzer, Ron Hassey and Jerry Dybzinski, a homegrown product from Cleveland State and Collinwood High School. Luis Leal started for Toronto. Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. I had just picked up a writing award when someone came to our table and said, Its the seventh inning, Barkers got a no-hitter going. [1] The trade was initiated by the Braves, who were in a tight race for first in the National League West Division with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barker was traded to Atlanta in the middle of the 1983 season. I had total command. That is my dream goal, Kyle said. 43, May 15, 1981. Len Barker pitched a Perfect Game on May 15, 1981 for the Cleveland Indians against the Toronto Blue Jays (3-0). Now the bow needed to be drawn to check for further balancing of limbs. Always said his arm was fine. When he pitched poorly, hed say, I was awful, just terrible., Len Barker at Tribe Fest 2019.Marc Bona, cleveland.com. On that cool night in Cleveland, Barker shut down the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, Barkers father-in-law, Bill Elwell, was having trouble picking up the broadcast of the game at his home in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The miserable weather forced Elwell to leave his home and find a spot where he could clearly listen to the ballgame. Hernndez was the third pitcher to throw a perfect game that season but still stands as the last man to complete the feat. He was already head coach. We rushed to our car and arrived at the park just in time to see the final three outs and yes, write a story. Len Barker has pitched a perfect ball game. DUNEDIN., Fla. Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the spring training game against Tampa Bay with right knee discomfort. Speed always was a big part of his game. The strike began, with one of the initial casualties being the All-Star Game, which was scheduled for Cleveland on July 14. That also meant it was the first perfect game against a lineup with a DH. This has become home, he said. "While labor discord hovered over baseball like a dark storm cloud there was sunny optimism that 1981 would be the year of the Indians," viewers hear. Kuiper backed up Hall of famer Joe Morgan his first season in San Francisco, and batted .255 in three-plus seasons platooning at second for the Giants before being released by the club on June 28, 1985. They dont even talk to you on the bench. He was 31. The late-'90s years when the Indians owned the top of the division. You start to feel it when its that close.. The Indians put out a statement that included the fact that Tait would often joke that one of his favorite calls was the one on Kuiper's homer in 1977. McKenzie said the same thing happened to him last Sunday. Or a baserunner in what became Clevelands 11-0 victory over Detroit on Aug. 15. It was Joe Tait who called the play-by-play of Len Barker's perfect game on WUAB-TV. There are no excuses for stopping the game we love while squabbling how to divvy it up, he said. By 1981, he carried several starts into the fifth inning without allowing a hit. This article was published in SABRs No-Hitters (2017), edited by Bill Nowlin. Barker serves as the head coach for Division II Notre Dame College in South Euclid. Underwood digs out great footage of the city - "pivotal moments," he says - as well as then-and-now interview clips with players. He has been at the school since 2010, when he started as pitching coach. Barker, who was 25 at the time, was tall 64 and had consistent mid-90s gas, which was fairly rare in baseball in those days. He also has three children, Carly, Troy and Lyle with his previous wife, Bonnie. It was the first Indians no-hitter since Dennis Eckersley blanked California on May 30, 1977. In 1980, he moved to the television broadcast booth for WUAB with Bruce Drennan, a role he filled until 1987. On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Stadium, the tenth perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Baseball in Cleveland in the 1980s was a pretty dreary affair. On May 6 Cleveland right-hander Bert Blyleven had pitched eight hitless innings against these same Blue Jays at Torontos Exhibition Stadium. I was with my wife Roberta at a banquet downtown in the old Stouffers Hotel on Public Square. He struck out on three pitches. Barker made the AL All-Star team in 1981. He last pitched in the majors for the Brewers in 1987. His control also had vastly improved. Barkers mother, Emogene McCurry, was listening to the game from her home in Trevose, Pennsylvania. Six up, six down and on it went. 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