The Athletics Score Ten Runs in One Inning to Stun the Cubs

On October 12, 1929, the Philadelphia Athletics trailed the Chicago Cubs 8-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 4 of the World Series. They scored 10 runs before the inning was over and won 10-8. It remains the greatest single-inning comeback in postseason history.

The Cubs had dominated through six innings, with starter Charlie Root cruising and the Shibe Park crowd sitting in near silence. The seventh began unremarkably. Al Simmons hit a solo home run, and four singles followed to make it 8-4 before Cubs manager Joe McCarthy pulled Root. Art Nehf came in and retired nobody. John Quinn replaced him and walked two batters, forcing in a run.

Then came the play that broke the game open. Mule Haas lofted a fly ball to center field, directly at Hack Wilson. The afternoon sun had dropped low enough to blind Wilson, and the ball sailed over his head for a three-run inside-the-park home run. The score was tied 8-8. The Athletics kept hitting. By the time the Cubs finally recorded the third out, Philadelphia had batted around twice and sent 15 men to the plate.

The Athletics, managed by the 66-year-old Connie Mack, won the World Series the next day in equally dramatic fashion, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth to erase a 2-0 deficit. Mule Haas tied that game with a two-run homer, and Bing Miller doubled home the winning run. The back-to-back late-inning collapses destroyed the Cubs' confidence, and the 1929 Series became a cautionary tale about leads that seem comfortable until they vanish.