The man with a .000 average and 31 steals

On this date in 1976, Larry Lintz didn't steal a base, but did help the A's win a classic

Larry Lintz was a player who was both unappreciated in his time as an on-base weapon, and a player who could only have existed in his time, as the way that he got on base in 1976 was by hardly batting at all.

From Lintz’s SABR bio:

For the season, he went to the plate just four times, with two walks, a sacrifice, and a groundout. He appeared eight times in the field. He stole 31 bases — a good chunk of the team’s 341 for the season, still a record in the modern era — and got caught 11 times.

Lintz’s 31 steals in 1976 are the record for a player with zero hits in a season, beating 1974 A’s designated runner Herb Washington by two. The only other player to reach double figures in steals without collecting a hit was Terrance Gore, who stole 11 times in just 17 games for the 2016 Royals and was 0-for-3 at the plate.

One of Lintz’s plate appearances in 1976, the sacrifice, came on May 9. He’d entered as a pinch-runner for Hall of Famer Billy Williams in the ninth inning, and came to bat against another Hall of Famer, Catfish Hunter, in the 12th, after a leadoff walk to Sal Bando.

Still another Hall of Famer, Leonard Koppett, described what happened for The New York Times:

Graig Nettles made the play to first, after seeing that Bando had too good jump to be caught at second. But Bando, approaching second, noticed that no one was moving to cover third, and just kept running. He had the lead on Jim Mason, the shortstop, and Hunter reached him with the ball.

They got to third more or less together, and Umpire Bill Kunkel ruled Bando had a hand on the bag before he was tagged on the body.

The Yankees argued furiously, but the decision stood. Hunter pitched to Bert Campaneris, whom he had fanned on three pitches with runner on second and two out in the ninth, but this time Campy hit a high liner to right and Bando scored easily after the catch.

Lintz had also gotten plate appearances in the first two games of the Yankees-A’s series, grounding into a fielder’s choice in the opener before walking, stealing a pair of bases, and scoring a run in the middle contest. It was three and a half months before Lintz got to go to the plate again, and he drew a walk from Vern Ruhle of the Tigers on August 27, late in an 8-1 loss.

So, the game with the bunt was the only time in 1976 that Lintz batted and the A’s won. That’s not the only thing that makes the game notable. Did you notice that Lintz dropped his bunt against Catfish Hunter in the 12th inning? Hunter was a starting pitcher, and not pressed into relief that day — he was just still going in the 12th, and took the complete game, 11.2-inning loss.

The Yankees haven’t had a pitcher work that long to lose in a complete game effort since then, and only six other pitchers since then have gone the distance — that distance — to lose: Goose Gossage (11.2 IP) and Vida Blue (12 IP) that year, Dave Rozema (12 IP) and Randy Jones (12 IP) in 1978, Steve McCatty (14 IP) in 1980, and a 40-year-old Tommy John (12 IP) in 1983.

The last time any starter went 11 innings was… in Oakland: Dave Stewart, on August 1, 1990, a five-hit shutout of the Mariners in which Seattle starter Erik Hanson went 10 scoreless innings before three straight singles by Terry Steinbach, Walt Weiss, and Doug Jennings off Mike Schooler to win it in the 11th.

A month before that, the Yankees had their last starter who went that long, also 11.2 innings, also in a loss. Andy Hawkins, in the start after his no-hitter that no longer counts as a no-hitter because it was only eight innings because the 1990 Yankees stunk and lost 4-0, pitched 11 scoreless innings against the Twins in the Bronx. A leadoff walk in the 12th sparked a Minnesota rally, with RBI singles by Brian Harper and Gene Larkin making the difference and giving Hawkins a two-game line of 0-2 with a 0.92 ERA, .094 batting average against, and no extra-base hits allowed in 19.2 innings.

Things did not get better for the 1990 Yankees, but the 1976 team found only a speed bump in its 12-inning loss to the A’s. The Bronx Bombers went on to win their first pennant in 12 years, before losing to the Reds in the World Series. After that, they added Reggie Jackson and won back-to-back championships… and Hunter could tell from the start of 1977 that they had the potential to be special.

Lintz got more opportunities to hit with the 1977 A’s, though not many. In 41 games, he batted 40 times, going 4-for-30 with a double, eight walks, and 13 steals. His major league career ended with three pinch-running appearances for Cleveland in 1978. He was caught stealing by Thurman Munson as a pinch-runner for designated hitter Ted Cox, and pinch-hit for by Willie Horton when the DH spot came around again, but Cleveland went on to a 5-1 win over the Yankees despite it, with Rick Wise throwing a more conventional nine-inning complete game.