Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Former Dirtbag Mike Gallo Gettin' It Done In World Series

Even if his Houston Astros now stand at the edge of the abyss...okay, in a deep hole down 3-0...Mike Gallo has been perfect in his 2 relief appearances thus far. In game 2, he pitched .2 innings, inducing ground outs by both batters he faced. [Box Score]. And in the game 3 marathon last night (more below), Mike pitched .1 inning and retired the only batter faced on another grounder. [Box Score].

The game last night tied an 89 year old record for the longest World Series game in innings (14). The only other 14 inning game in World Series history was game 2 in 1916. Last night the Astros used 8 pitchers, and the White Sox 9. In that 1916 game, Babe Ruth pitched a complete game 2-1 victory for the Boston Red Sox over the Brooklyn Robins. Taking the loss, Sherry Smith also pitched a complete game! (Courtesy of Retrosheet.org). The game last night also set a new record for a World Series game in length of time (5 hours, 41 minutes), topping the old record set in game 1 of the 2000 Series by 50 minutes.

Update/Correction: Actually, the game last night was the longest, in innings, in World Series history - not tied with game 2 in 1916. Game 2 in 1916 ended when Boston scored the deciding run with 1 out in the bottom of the 14th. From Retrosheet.org, here's how that half inning went:

RED SOX 14TH: Hoblitzell walked; Lewis out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Hoblitzell to second]; MCNALLY RAN FOR HOBLITZELL; GAINER BATTED FOR GARDNER; Gainer singled to left [McNally scored]

The game last night went 14 full innings. Another amazing fact about the 1916 game: They played 2 outs short of 14 full innings in 2 hours, 32 minutes. Here's the pitching line:
Brooklyn Robins       IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
Smith L(0-1)          13.1   7   2   2   6   2   0

Boston Red Sox        IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
Ruth W(1-0)           14     6   1   1   3   4   1

Now, if all the Astros would just perform as well as Mike Gallo, this World Series might be more of a contest. The Astros tied the game in the 8th inning. Over the final 6 innings, they did not have a single hit. But they did draw 8 walks, had a hit batter, and another reach 1st on an error. Over those 6 innings, they left 10 on base, 5 in scoring position. And for that I stayed up past my bedtime!

Back to Mike Gallo. This is the kind of stuff I like to read about Major League baseball players (from the Houston Chronicle):

"Before the game, we let kids down by the dugouts to get autographs. The best place to stand is at the ends of the dugouts, especially the side closest to the first base. The players are pretty good about signing balls and hats, especially Morgan Ensberg and Mike Gallo. ..." said Rob Matwick, the Astros' senior vice president for ballpark operations and customer service.

That's class.

Mike has a journal on his World Series experience going here at LongBeachState.com. And Doug Kirkorian has a nice piece on Mike here in the Long Beach Press-Telegram (alternate copy here).

And Matthew Waxman at Sports Illustrated has this:

Playing for the Long Beach State Dirtbags (yes, that's really the baseball team's nickname) Astros pitcher Mike Gallo earned the nickname "Pepe" because "he acted like he was on caffeine [all] the time." Gallo said his CWS experience helped prepare him for the WS and that "The Dirtbags will be in my heart when I am out there on the mound."

'Nuf said.

posted on 10/26/2005 by Jeff Agnew

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