Pirates' Ken Brett authors a near-perfect Memorial Day worth remembering

Back in the old days, when finances didn’t matter, MLB teams played doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays.

That’s why it was such a surprise Monday when Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play man Joe Block mentioned that the Memorial Day doubleheader with the Cincinnati Reds was the first between the two old National League teams.

(By the way, this was not a scheduled doubleheader; it was created by an April rainout.)

Block’s comment did conjure up a good memory, though, one of the most memorable holiday doubleheaders in Pirates’ history.

It was May 27, 1974, Memorial Day, when Pirates played two against a sorry San Diego Padres team at Three Rivers Stadium.

Were the Padres bad? How about this story:

In an early-season loss to the Houston Astros, owner Ray Kroc — the McDonald’s guy who had purchased the franchise in January — was so upset with his team’s efforts that he pulled rank on the public address announcer, grabbed the microphone and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, I suffer with you.”

When a streaker appeared on the field — that was the fad at sporting events in the ’70s — Kroc hollered over the PA system, “Get that streaker out of here. Throw him in jail!”

When the man disappeared, with security in frantic chase, Kroc continued his speech, proclaiming, “I’ve never seen such stupid baseball playing in my life.”

Astros infielder Doug Rader was so offended, even though Kroc was talking about the Padres, he said, “He’s not talking to a bunch of short-order cooks.”

The next day, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Marvin Miller, head of the players association, demanded Kroc apologize.

Didn’t matter. The Padres ended up with the worst record in baseball (60-102) while the Pirates won the National League East.

Back to Memorial Day in Pittsburgh, Brett, the brother of Hall of Famer George Brett, had quite an afternoon.

In the first game, he took a perfect game into the ninth inning. Padres catcher Fred Kendall, whose son Jason played 15 years in the majors (nine as the Pirates’ catcher), interrupted Brett’s date with destiny when he singled to open the inning on a 1-2 count. It would have been the first perfect game in the National League since the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax beat the Cubs, 1-0, Sept. 9, 1965.

It was one of five games that season where a pitcher took a no-hitter into the ninth, including gems by former Pitt player Doc Medich (New York Yankees) and Nolan Ryan (California Angels). A season and a half later, the Pirates traded for Medich, using Brett, Dock Ellis and Willie Randolph as bait.

Big thanks to @esh714 for reminding me that Brett was traded 1 1/2 years later to the Yankees, with Willie Randolph and Dock Ellis, for Pitt's Doc Medich. Then, Medich was traded to Oakland a season later in the big Phil Garner trade.

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) May 28, 2019

A couple of tidbits about the game:

— Brett ended up winning, 6-0, in a game in which he walked no one. He also contributed an RBI single.

— No walks is one reason the game took only 1 hour, 38 minutes to play.

— The game was played 15 years almost to the day (May 26, 1959) of Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix’s 12 perfect innings in Milwaukee.

In the second game, Brett offered even more drama: He ripped a two-run, pinch-hit triple off the left-center field in the seventh inning to help the Pirates erase a 3-1 Padres lead. The Pirates won it in the ninth, 8-7, on Richie Hebner’s walkoff home run.

Brett, who played 14 years in the majors, was one of the best-hitting pitchers of his era. He hit. 310 that year, .250 the year before with four home runs and 16 RBIs.