Loss a blessing in disguise

“The Greatest Game Ever Pitched,” an event honoring the 50th anniversary of Harvey Haddix’s 12 perfect innings, was held at the Heritage Center on Saturday, May 30. Staff photo by David Jablonski

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer Updated 12:11 PM Sunday, May 31, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — If he or any of his teammates had been able to get Harvey Haddix a run 50 years ago, Bill Virdon would not have been sitting on a stage at the Heritage Center on Saturday, May 30.

Haddix would not be as famous. He would not have thrown 12 innings of perfect baseball, only to lose 1-0 in the 13th.

But the Clark County native would have been a winner that night against the Milwaukee Braves.

“We wouldn’t be sitting here, but Harvey wouldn’t have cared,” said Virdon, who played 11 seasons for the Pirates and managed in the big leagues for 13 seasons. “He would have liked to have (won) the game.”

All these years later, everyone has gotten over that defeat.

They’re just glad to be talking again about Haddix, who died in 1994.

The sold-out event on Saturday was titled, “The Greatest Game Ever Pitched,” not “The Greatest Game Ever Lost.”

“I just feel like we were not supposed to win,” Virdon said. “It was just one of those games.”

Here are some other highlights from the event:

Galen Cisco, former Ohio State football and baseball player who was a pitching coach in the big leagues at the same time that Haddix was: “Harvey’s the type of guy who stuck to the basics. He was a very fundamentally-sound guy when he was pitching. He tried to translate that to his pitchers. He was a no-nonsense guy on the field.”

In addition to the live interviews, there were taped interviews played and letters read at the event, including:

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who attended the game as a 25-year-old fan: “It took a tough set of circumstances to beat Harvey Haddix that night. I’ve watched baseball for 65-70 years, and that’s one of the great performances I’ve ever seen. ... It was one of the great nights of my young baseball career, and it’s something I will never forget.”

Former Pirate Vern Law: “Sitting on the edge of the bench, I was begging for someone to drive in a run for him so his name could be added to the other great pitchers, who achieved that ‘no-hit’ status.”

Baseball legend Nolan Ryan: “Harvey Haddix was my first pitching coach when I joined the big leagues playing for the New York Mets. I was 19 years old, never having had a professional pitching coach and was new to New York City. Harvey could not have been, from my perspective, more of the right person at the right time for me. I remember him as always being positive and energetic.”

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