It was July 18th, 1948, the White Sox were scheduled to play a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics. The Sox were terrible at 25-50 coming into the day. The game was played at Philly's Shibe Park. The dimensions of the park at the time were 334-468-329 (LF-CF-RF). There was no reason to get excited about a game in the middle of a really bad season. That would all change afterward.
The first game of the double header began and this game would be very special by the end. The White Sox won, 12-11 in extra innings. Several players had decent games. Luke Appling had 3 hits, Cass Michaels had 4 hits and Don Kolloway had 5 hits in the game. 5'10" Pat Seerey also put up a nice 4 hit afternoon.
This box score would be relatively interesting but eventually forgettable, except for one minor detail: all of Pat Seerey's four hits were home runs. At the time, his four home run game was only the fifth such game in MLB history. Seerey came into the game hitting just .231 that season. After the game, he got a lot of press and attention and was even featured in Sports Illustrated, in the photo above kissing the bat he used to hit his fourth home run of the game. In the game, he hit two home runs off of A's starter Carl Scheib, one off reliever Bob Savage and his last off reliever Lou Brissie in the 11th inning that gave the White Sox the win.
So who was Pat Seerey and what happened to him? He was an Arkansas kid, who came from Little Rock. Pat got into the game very early after some time in the minors, being called up at age 20 in 1943 to the big league Cleveland Indians. He got to play during the war years, when MLB was pretty thin of great talent in their lineups.
Despite the fact that many great pitchers were out of the league between most of 1944 to 1946, Seerey still managed to put up high strikeout totals, leading the league in strikeouts all three of those seasons, and four times overall in his career. He did have one other pretty special game on July 13th, 1945. He racked up 4 hits against the Yankees that day, with three home runs and eight RBI. He clearly had his moments.
Despite the fact that many great pitchers were out of the league between most of 1944 to 1946, Seerey still managed to put up high strikeout totals, leading the league in strikeouts all three of those seasons, and four times overall in his career. He did have one other pretty special game on July 13th, 1945. He racked up 4 hits against the Yankees that day, with three home runs and eight RBI. He clearly had his moments.
He was never a great player, and through the end of May 1948 with the Indians, he was keeping himself in the lineup despite bland statistics. He was traded to the White Sox for Bob Kennedy at the beginning of June. This trade was very unpopular in Chicago at the time. Bob Kennedy was never great, but remained in the league for several seasons after the trade and won a World Series title with the Indians that first year of the trade in 1948. Seerey would put together a very typical season for the White Sox post-trade, at .229/18/64.
In 1949, Seerey was cut from the roster after only four games and never played again in MLB. He attempted to revamp his career in the minor leagues, bouncing around between seven teams in four leagues between 1951 and 1953. He was out of baseball at the end of 1953, at the age of 28.
In his era, a player of his type was not wanted by most clubs. He was the lower average slugger who struck out a lot. This type of hitter is more prevalent in today's game because GMs are more willing to deal with lower average/higher strikeout totals for good power production from the player. Seerey had decent power, being fourth in the league in home runs in 1946 with 26.
Pat Seerey was not a great player and had a forgettable career (.224/86/261), except for the four home run game. He was part of a trade that didn't work out for the White Sox, but he forever became a part of White Sox lore, thanks to his legendary performance in the first game of a double header on July 18th, 1948.
Fun Fact: The second game of the double header on July 18th, 1948 ended after the 5th inning due to a 7 PM curfew on Sundays. The A's won that game 6-1. Pat Seerey went 0-2 with a walk and scored the only run for the White Sox.
Random Thought: Why would you schedule a double header on a Sunday knowing that there is a 7 PM curfew?
In his era, a player of his type was not wanted by most clubs. He was the lower average slugger who struck out a lot. This type of hitter is more prevalent in today's game because GMs are more willing to deal with lower average/higher strikeout totals for good power production from the player. Seerey had decent power, being fourth in the league in home runs in 1946 with 26.
Pat Seerey was not a great player and had a forgettable career (.224/86/261), except for the four home run game. He was part of a trade that didn't work out for the White Sox, but he forever became a part of White Sox lore, thanks to his legendary performance in the first game of a double header on July 18th, 1948.
Fun Fact: The second game of the double header on July 18th, 1948 ended after the 5th inning due to a 7 PM curfew on Sundays. The A's won that game 6-1. Pat Seerey went 0-2 with a walk and scored the only run for the White Sox.
Random Thought: Why would you schedule a double header on a Sunday knowing that there is a 7 PM curfew?
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