Former Big-Leaguer Adcock Dies

Joe Adcock hit four home runs in a game, but probably will be remembered more for a homer that didn't count as one.

Adcock, the first baseman for the 1950s Milwaukee Braves championship teams, died Monday at his home in Coushatta, La. He was 71, and had Alzheimer's disease.

With the homer that wasn't, Adcock broke up baseball's longest no-hitter.

On May 26, 1959, Pittsburgh's Harvey Haddix retired the first 36 Braves he faced pitching 12 perfect innings.

In the 13th, the Braves' Felix Mantilla reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice by Eddie Mathews. After Hank Aaron was walked intentionally, Adcock hit the ball out of Milwaukee's County Stadium to end the no-hitter and win the game.

But the score was listed as 1-0 because Adcock inadvertently passed Aaron on the bases.

Instead of a homer, Adcock was credited with a one-run double.

Adcock recalled the game when Haddix died in January, 1994.

"He knew what he had in mind when he let the ball loose," Adcock said. "The wind had been blowing in all night and maybe it was a freak because when I came to bat, the flag in center field was still.

"I was thinking he'd been keeping the ball away from me all night and maybe he'd do it again, and he did and I hit it."

Adcock came to the majors in 1950 with Cincinnati and was traded to the Braves in 1953, the team's first year in Milwaukee. He played on the Braves' World Series championship team in 1957 and National League pennant winner in 1958.

His best season was 1956 when he hit 38 home runs and batted .291.

On July 31, 1954, he had the most productive game in history, hitting four homers and a double for a record 18 total bases as the Braves beat the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. At the time, Adcock was the fifth player in the modern era to homer four times in a game. Five players have done so since.

On April 29, 1953, Adcock became the only player during the New York Giants' tenure of more than a half-century in the Polo Grounds to hit a home run into the distant center-field bleachers. He connected off New York's Jim Hearn.

Nine years later, during the New York Mets' temporary stay in the Polo Grounds, Lou Brock of the Chicago Cubs and Aaron, still a teammate of Adcock, performed the feat on consecutive days.

In 1963, Adcock moved to the Cleveland Indians and finished his playing career after three seasons with the California Angels. He had a .277 lifetime batting average with 336 home runs.

"I had the pleasure of knowing Joe as a teammate and a friend for many years," Aaron said. "I learned a lot from him as a player, but as good a player as he was, he was an even-better human being."

Adcock managed the Indians in 1967, finishing eighth in the American League with a 75-87 record.

Adcock was born on Oct. 30, 1927, in Coushatta and graduated from Coushatta High School. stint on a basketball scholarship to Louisiana State ended when he was signed by the Reds.

During his offseasons, Adcock started breeding thoroughbreds and developed Red River Farms, which he continued running after his retirement.

"He bred thoroughbred race horses and enjoyed his grandchildren," daughter Jan Adams said of her father's life after baseball.

In addition to Adams, Adcock is survived by his widow, Joan; a son, Jay, who runs the horse business his father founded; daughters Jill Kennedy and Jeannie Worsham; his sister, Mary Ann Brown; and eight grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

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