Chicago Cubs: The day two teams combined for 45 runs

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The antipathy of falling just short in baseball, by a run, no less, is excruciatingly painful for the most diehard of fans across the game. It happened to the Chicago Cubs on a hot May afternoon in the craziest way possible in 1979.

Spanning the grandiose passage of four-plus decades worth of time, bad luck has befallen the Chicago Cubs for a long while. The late-70s were no different for the time. The Cubs were not atrocious over that period but still faced hard luck in other areas.

One such moment came on a sunny May afternoon, in a regular-season game versus the Philadelphia Phillies, and, most importantly, Phillies all-star Mike Schmidt. What a time to have been alive and bore witness to such a lofty affair.

While not egregiously bad at the tail end of the 70s, the Cubs did not farewell. And while a routine regular-season game may not carry much weight in terms of popularity, what was about to be put in motion, like that of a merry-go-round, and remains as one of the wildest most unexplainable games in Wrigley Field history.

Chicago Cubs: A wild beginning

On a brisk Thursday in front of a crowd of fewer than 15,000 spectators, starting pitcher, Dennis Lamp was tasked with bringing the Cubs a dub. Opposing Lamp was 24-year-old Randy Lerch. The team was barely keeping their heads above water, at 16-15, while the Phillies were in a much better spot early on, at 23-10.

Leading up to that day, Lamp had been quite useful. He boasted a 3.05 ERA with two complete games, one of them being a shutout with a single walk. Lerch, meanwhile, was in a similar boat with a 3.19 ERA. Lerch also had posted two complete games himself leading up to that circus of an afternoon.

Right off the bat, fans knew they would be in for a possibly crazy ride. Lamp faced just seven batters with the following at-bats as a result: single, double, fielders choice, home run, single, single, home run. It was a nightmare. And for the Cubs pitchers, it was only beginning.

Chicago Cubs: Fighting back early

Down a touchdown after only a half-inning, the day seemed to be over before it even began. That is until the team stepped to the plate in the bottom half of the first. Chicago hammered out three straight singles to get on the board before power-hitting Dave Kingman stepped to the dish and hammered a three-run home run to put the Cubs within three runs.

Lerch left was replaced after just a third of an inning, like Lamp. The combined line scores: 2/3 innings pitched, 11 hits, 11 earned runs, zero strikeouts, three home runs allowed. Following two more hits, the Cubs had brought it within a run, and we were only through an inning.

It was as though for one glorious day, the baseball gods wanted just a little more entertainment from both teams and helped by bringing the gift of offense to the crowd of only under 15,000. However, if fans thought it was out of control by that point, they would be in for a treat.

Chicago Cubs: What in the world is happening?

By the bottom of the third inning, the Phillies took a 15-6 lead following more singles, doubles, and another home run. The Cubs offense had fallen stagnant in the middle innings and, by the fourth, were down 17-6. In the bottom half of the inning, Kingman launched his second home run of the day, followed by a solo shot from Steve Ontiveros. Chicago had a pulse.

Philadelphia responded gallantly with another four spot in the top half of the fifth, courtesy of strategic small-ball. Coming into the bottom half of the fifth, down 21-9, wildly, the Cubs began mounting yet another comeback. After quickly loading the bases again, Mike Vail walked to cross a run, and then Bill Buckner hammered a grand slam to once again make it a perfect football score of 21-14.

A couple of batters later and the Cubs were within five runs. For just an air of time, the game stayed pat, and then, at the bottom of the sixth, hell broke loose again. Chicago plated another three runs, including Kingman’s third home run of the day. It was a two-run ball game.

(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: A wild finish

Fast-forwarding to the bottom half of the eighth inning, Philadelphia led 22-19. As had become customary, the team knocked out three straight singles to bring their run total to 20. After a couple more singles, the game was finally tied, 22-22.

It stayed tied into extra innings, where, at the top of the 10th, the aforementioned “Cubs killer” Mike Schmidt untied the game with a solo home run, his second of the day. The Cubs were sent down in order in the bottom half, and the final score of 23-22 showered dismayed fans as they left Wrigley after a four-hour affair.

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The final tally for the day: 50 hits, 45 runs, four errors, 11 home runs. Only Phillies reliever Rawly Eastwick and Cubs reliever Ray Burris did not allow a run, which is funny in its own right as each guy had an ERA of above six at the time. Remembering this game as one of the wildest in history is an understatement. Chicago fought bravely and fell short. Even so, it remains a big part of baseball history, something the Cubs know a lot about.

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The antipathy of falling just short in baseball, by a run, no less, is excruciatingly painful for the most diehard of fans across the game. It happened to the Chicago Cubs on a hot May afternoon in the craziest way possible in 1979.

Chicago Cubs: A wild beginning

Chicago Cubs: Fighting back early

Chicago Cubs: What in the world is happening?

Chicago Cubs: A wild finish

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