Pinch of Davey Johnson Spices Up Record Book

Twenty-one years ago today in Philadelphia, pinch-hitter Davey Johnson of the Philadelphia Phillies walked to the plate to face the Dodgers’ Terry Forster.

It was the ninth inning, one out, bases loaded, a 1-1 tie.

Johnson hit a grand slam to win the game, 5-1.

So what?

It was his second pinch-hit, grand slam of the season. He had hit one April 30.

According to the Sporting News’ “Complete Baseball Record Book,” only three pinch-hitters have hit two grand slams in a season, and Johnson was the first.

Mike Ivie of the Giants also did it in 1978, on May 28 and June 30.

The other was Darryl Strawberry, in 1998.

Here are three more statistical footnotes for Johnson, now the Dodgers’ manager:

* With a single in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the 1966 World Series, he became the last man to get a base hit off Sandy Koufax.

* In 1973, he hit 43 home runs and tied Rogers Hornsby’s major league record for most home runs in a season by a second baseman, 42. (One of Johnson’s home runs was as a pinch-hitter.)

* Johnson’s home run improvement from five in 1972 to 43 in 1973 is the greatest single-season home run improvement in baseball history.

Added oddity: The next highest homer total in Johnson’s 13-season career was 18, in 1971.

Also on this date: In 1932, in Philadelphia, Lou Gehrig became the first 20th century player to hit four home runs in a game in a 20-13 Yankee win. Gehrig nearly hit a fifth homer in the ninth inning when left fielder Al Simmons caught his long drive at the fence. . . . In 1989, the Dodgers played the longest game in club history, a 5-4, 22-inning loss at Houston that lasted 7 hours 14 minutes.