The Day in Sports : COUNTDOWN TO 2000 / A day-by-day recap of some of the most important sports moments of the 20th Century: SEPT. 11, 1959 : It Was a Rare Occasion When Pirates’ Face Lost

One of the remarkable statistics in the baseball record book is in the section dealing with consecutive wins in one season by pitchers.

The modern baseball leader is the New York Giants’ Rube Marquard, who won 19 consecutive in 1912.

But close behind is Pittsburgh’s Elroy Face, who won 17 in a row in 1959.

So? So, Face was a relief pitcher.

Face actually won 22 in a row, if you track his streak back into the 1958 season. It came to an end 40 years ago tonight at the Coliseum, when the World Series-bound Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 victory.

Face, appearing in his 99th game since his last defeat--May 20, 1958--gave up a ninth-inning single to Charlie Neal to drive in Jim Gilliam with the winning run.

It was the end of the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Face’s streak against the Dodgers too. He had beaten them seven consecutive times.

In 1959, Face finished 18-1, one of the greatest seasons ever by a reliever. He stands sixth all-time among relievers with 96 wins.

Now 71, Face was interviewed recently by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and talked about the streak.

“Maybe a starter will break it one day, but I don’t think a reliever will ever do it,” he said.

San Francisco Giant manager Bill Rigney, the paper said, once said of Face: “I’d rather see anybody relieve than that little Face. When he comes in, you know your rally is over.”

Luck, Face said, was with him in ’59. Five times he entered games with the lead and lost it, only to see his Pirates rally to win.

His reward after that season? A $5,000 raise, to $37,500.

*

Also on this date: In 1985, Pete Rose singled off San Diego’s Eric Show for the 4,192nd hit of his career, surpassing Ty Cobb as baseball’s all-time hit leader. . . . In 1966, Nolan Ryan made his major league debut with the Mets, striking out three, giving up a hit and a run in two innings against Atlanta.