Thursday, June 23, 2011

Browns Denny Galehouse is One of Four

The Mets' opponent in the 1973 World Series was the Oakland A's. Jon Matlack, who had already started 35 games (34 regular season, 1 postseason) was called upon to start Game 1. In doing so, he became only the fourth pitcher in major league history to start a World Series opener with a losing record (14-16) during the regular season.

The other pitchers to accomplish this rare feat were Alvin Crowder (9-11 with the 1934 Detroit Tigers), Denny Galehouse (9-10 with the 1944 St. Louis Browns) and Don Drysdale (13-16 with the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers). Matlack pitched well, but took the loss as the Mets' bats remained silent in the 2-1 defeat.