The biggest rally-killing game in NY Mets history

It wasn’t the darkest of days for the 1975 New York Mets. They still had Tom Seaver. Less than two full years removed from the 1973 NL Pennant, there was reason for optimism. Although they’d finish 82-80, it wasn’t close to as bad as things got in the latter part of the decade and the start of the 1980s.

One day, smack dab in the middle of the wild 1970s, felt a little different. July 21, 1975, was a unique situation where their future skipper and a Hall of Famer killed four rallies in one day.

Up against the Houston Astros, Joe Torre did the impossible and managed to kill four rallies with four double play ground balls in a 6-2 loss.

Joe Torre grounding into four double plays is a Mets feat we hope to never see again

Torre wasted no time getting his rally-killing ways under way. After a one out single by Felix Millan, he grounded the ball back to the mound and both players were erased to end the inning. In the bottom of the third, with runners on first and second, he hit the ball a little further but a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning. The Mets were already trailing 5-1 and because of Torre, they weren’t going to climb much closer.

Torre wouldn’t hit again until the sixth inning when Millan singled to leadoff the inning. Going for some sort of double play hat trick, this was a 4-6-3 double play. Millan’s three singles had all been erased by Torre worm burners. Would his contributions ever matter?

You already know the answer. The 8th inning was Torre’s last chance at redemption. Once more with runners on first and second base following a Millan single, Torre grounded into a double play. It was another of the  6-4-3 variety. The next batter did walk and pushed the runners to the corners for Dave Kingman who had already homered earlier in the day. A fly out ended the inning.

No other player in MLB history has grounded into more than 3 double plays in a game. Torre was no stranger to erasing two runs with one swing. He led the league in his career three times and would finish 1975 with 22 GIDP in only 400 plate appearances.

Because he pitched a complete game, Astros pitcher Ken Forsch earned a record of his own. He gets the distinction of forcing the same player to ground into a double play the most times in a game.

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This article was originally published on risingapple.com as The biggest rally-killing game in NY Mets history.