Sept. 25, 1964 - Philadelphia’s Frank Thomas (pictured) is playing with a broken thumb. It doesn’t hurt as much as a broken heart, which is what Frank figured he would get if he just sat there and watched a pennant flit away.
So, Thomas hacked the cast off his right hand tonight, and he played all 12 innings as the Braves beat the Phillies, 7-5.
The Phils have lost five in a row now, and seven of their last eight, and their lead over the Reds has shrunk to 1½ games with seven left to play.
It is a storybook kind of thing, disobeying the doctors to shed the cast, taking batting practice for the first time and shelling baseballs into the bleachers, ignoring the pain and risking severe damage to hands he is so proud of he will catch anyone’s fastball barehanded.
But storybook things are not happening to the Phillies these grim nights. If they were, they would have won tonight’s game.
They were behind 3-1 with two out in the eighth, and Johnny Callison hit a homer off lefthander Billy Hoeft to tie it.
They were behind 5-3 with two out in the 10th, and Richie Allen hammered an inside-the-park home run that caromed crazily off the scoreboard to tie it.
And at the end, they were behind 7-5 with two out in the 12th and the tying runs on base. But they didn’t tie it because Tony Cloninger came out of the bullpen to get Johnny Herrnstein to ground out.
Thomas didn’t get any hits, but he nearly tore Rico Carty’s glove off with a liner that allowed a run to score in the fourth inning.
“The first time in the batting cage,” said Philadelphia manager Gene Mauch afterward, “Thomas hit two balls in the upper deck. The first time he swung in the game, he nearly broke the ball in half.
“When he told me he was taking the cast off, I said okay. I was glad to have him. When Thomas played before, whatever needed to be done, he got it done.”
When Thomas played 33 games in a row, the Phillies won 21. Without him, they were 7-9. “I felt disgusted,” he said. “There was only one way to find out if I still could play. How much damage can you do to a break that’s broken?
It was frustrating sitting on the bench. I know I can help this club. The thing is, if the good Lord wants us to win it, we’ll win it.
“This is a funny game. Cincy beat us three in a row. We might go on the road and beat the Cardinals three straight and the Reds twice. That’s what makes this game so fair and wonderful.”
Thomas will play again tomorrow with his broken thumb protected by tape and an aluminum cast. He figures he has all winter to mend.
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