He was not on the list.
Milt Pappas, the former Cubs pitcher who famously came one
pitch from a perfect game, died Tuesday, Beecher police have confirmed.
Pappas was 76.
Pitching for the Cubs on Sept. 2, 1972, Pappas, then 33, had
a perfect game against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field. With two outs in
the ninth, pinch-hitter Larry Stahl worked the count to 3-2 before plate umpire
Bruce Froemming called a close pitch a ball.
Pappas then began yelling obscenities from the mound, half
of them in Greek.
Pappas got the next batter out, securing a no-hitter.
"To this day, I just don't understand it," Pappas
said in 2009.
Pappas, who was born in Detroit in 1939, pitched in the
majors from 1957 to 1973, the last four years for the Cubs.
Cubs executive chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement
Tuesday the organization was sad to learn of Pappas’ death and that “we will
always consider him part of the Chicago Cubs family.”
Pappas was seen often at Wrigley Field and stayed connected
to the franchise at the Cubs Convention and other events.
“Milt will forever be remembered for one of the most
dramatic pitching performances in team history as he delivered a no-hitter that
neared perfection in 1972,” Ricketts said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with
his friends, relatives and fans as we mourn this loss.”
Pappas was preceded in death by his wife, Carole, whose body
was found inside her car in a Wheaton pond in 1987, after she had been missing
for five years.
Her death was ruled accidental and an autopsy confirmed she
had drowned after driving her car into the water. She had gone missing in
September 1982 after she left the family’s home to do some shopping.
Milt Pappas said he had no idea why his wife ended up in the
body of water less than a mile from the family’s home in Wheaton.
“That’s a question that may never be answered,” Milt Pappas
told the Tribune in 1987. “Why she went that way; why nobody saw a car fly
through the air into the pond.”
Pappas pitched in 520 games with the Orioles, Reds, Braves
and Cubs during his career, including 465 starts. He was 209-164 and struck out
1,728 and had a 3.40 ERA in 3,186 innings. Pappas also delivered 43 shutouts
during his career.
The starting pitcher for the American League in the 1965
All-Star game, Pappas gave up first-inning home runs to Willie Mays and Joe
Torre. After that season, Pappas was one of three players the Orioles traded
for Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who won the MVP and Triple Crown and led
Baltimore to the World Series title in 1966.
Aside from being known for his near-perfect game with the
Cubs, Pappas was remembered for one of the 298 home runs he allowed -- Roger
Maris’ 59th in 1961, when Maris surpassed Babe Ruth’s then-record 60 home runs
by one.
Pappas said in 1998 that he told Commissioner Ford Frick he
threw nothing but fastballs to Maris because he was upset that baseball was
going to put an asterisk next to Maris’ record if he didn’t break Ruth’s record
in 154 games.
Pappas also hit some during his career, 20 to be exact,
including four in 1962 while with the Orioles. He also drove in 67 runs in 17
seasons.
In 1971 while with the Cubs, Pappas turned in the 10th
National League perfect inning by striking out three Phillies on nine pitches
in the fourth inning of a 6-1 loss on Sept. 24.
Pappas was the first 200-game winner to never win 20 games
in a season. Pappas’ no-hitter in 1972 was the only one the Cubs were involved
with – for or against – until Carlos Zambrano threw one for them in September
2008.
Pappas, a three-time All-Star, moved to Beecher in 1990 and
married his second wife, Judi Bloome. In 2013, he was seriously injured in a
one-car crash in Kankakee County after he hit a utility pole.
He is survived by his wife, Judi, and children Steve from
his first marriage and Alexandria from his second marriage. A daughter,
Michelle, from his first marriage, died last year.
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