Posted By:
Max WederI think this would rank down on my list of bonehead plays. While the Angels did lose by four runs, a search of the boxscore at http://www.retrosheet.org shows that the Angels were trailing 5-1 when Foytack got in his groove. As well, there were two outs at the time and Rigney may have been saving his bullpen. By the time 2 home runs were hit, it would have been 7-1. Even though 1963 wasn't 1968 in terms of lack of scoring, I'm sure Rigney realized a comeback from 6 or 7 runs behind was very unlikely, thus switching the pitcher would have little effect on the game outcome. He did remove Foytack after the fourth homer.
The Angels scored 4 in the top of the 7th to make the final score closer.
There have been numerous instances in history where a pitcher has allowed more than four runs without getting the third out, by allowing a combination of walks and hits. No doubt we are drawn to the Foytack example by the starkness of how the runs were scored.
Max
