Hubbell throws 18 scoreless innings in victory
Fans packed the Polo Grounds and expected two games. The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants treated supporters to the equivalent of three.
On July 2, 1933, the Giants took the first game of the doubleheader against the Cardinals 1-0 in an 18-inning affair. New York pitcher Carl Hubbell gave his teammates and the fans a day to remember, throwing a complete game shutout.
Hubbell’s outing included 12 strikeouts, six hits and no walks.
“It probably was the greatest game I ever pitched,” Hubbell told the Associated Press in 1963.
The New York starter matched Tex Carleton’s 16-inning shutout before the Cardinal righty was pulled in favor of a pinch-hitter in the 17th inning. The pinch-hitter came in a critical moment of the game as the Cardinals put the go-ahead run at second base with only one out – and St. Louis manager Gabby Street knew they needed to capitalize. In what was just the third time the Cardinals had a runner in scoring position, the skipper opted for right-handed hitter Bob O’Farrell.
But O’Farrell struck out looking before Hubbell ended the inning on a Pepper Martin groundout.
The Cardinals then turned to Jesse Haines for relief, and the 39-year-old continued the scoreless match. The Giants put runners on first and second but failed to score in their half of the 17th inning. New York stranded 19 baserunners in the game.
As the stalemate advanced into the 18th, Hubbell returned to the mound. The nifty left-hander surrendered a two-out double to Ripper Collins before he retired Joe Medwick on a fielder’s choice to complete his second game’s worth of innings.
In the bottom half of the inning, the game was finally decided.
The Giants’ Jo-Jo Moore worked a leadoff walk before a sacrifice advanced the runner into scoring position. After an intentional walk brought Hubbell to the plate, New York manager Bill Terry rejected the idea to copy his counterpart’s pinch-hit decision. Hubbell grounded into a 5-4 fielder’s choice and advanced the winning run to third base. Hughie Critz did the rest.
The second baseman drove a single through the heart of the infield and ended the four-hour, three-minute marathon. The New York Daily News said that after Critz’s game-winner a “deafening roar went up and straw hats, torn programs, and other debris rained upon the turf.”
“I was really happy to see that hit because I was beginning to believe nobody was going to score,” Hubbell told the AP.
Amidst the celebration, Hubbell said he wasn’t tired but returned to the clubhouse where trainers immediately worked to keep his arm from stiffening up.
“You don’t notice it during the course of such a game,” Hubbell, who would be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1947, told the AP. “All that tension builds up nervous energy. About an hour after the game, I noticed it all right. That’s the longest I ever pitched.”
Noah Douglas is the 2025 communications intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development
