By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Frank Bertaina threw a fastball, belt-high, challenging Columbus the way he had all night. After two days of military duty in Washington, he retired the first 20 batters and grinded his way into a full count with two outs in the seventh after starting Chuck Goggin’s at-bat with three straight balls.
The payoff pitch was the only mistake Bertaina made all night, as Goggin drilled it into Silver Stadium’s left-centerfield gap and motored his way to a triple. Bertaina recovered, striking out George Kopacz to retire the side and setting the last six Jets batters down in order for the one-hit, complete game shutout as Rochester won 4-0 on June 6, 1970.
“It was a little better than I would have liked,” Bertaina told the Democrat and Chronicle of the triple, “but I knew he wasn’t going to walk, that’s for sure.”
One pitch away from the third nine-inning perfect game in International League history, Bertaina found more luck at the plate than his overmatched opponents. He hit his first home run in three years in the bottom of the seventh, driving Tom Frondorf’s offering over the right field fence for a two-run shot.
Frondorf pitched well, trading zeroes with his counterpart for four innings until Mike Ferraro broke the deadlock with a home run to left. Frondorf pitched all eight innings for Columbus, allowing seven hits including the two homers and doubles by Bobby Grich and Don Baylor.
Bertaina’s historic outing was one of 12 wins he recorded for Rochester that season, and one of 11 complete games, en route to the best season in the International League that year.
The home run wasn’t Bertaina’s last, either; he hit one more before the season’s end.
Columbus batting
Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
Wilbert Hammond | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jose Martinez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Chuck Goggin | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
George Kopacz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Angel Mangual | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Milt May | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ron Davis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pablo Cruz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Thomas Frondorf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ron Campbell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Rochester batting
Batter | ab | r | h | rbi |
Tom Shopay | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bobby Grich | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Don Baylor | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Roger Freed | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Tom Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Mike Ferraro | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Enzo Hernandez | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Jimmie Schaffer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Frank Bertaina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Totals | 30 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
Columbus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rochester 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 X
LOB- Columbus 1, Rochester 3 2B- Grich, Baylor 3B- Goggin HR- Ferraro (5), Bertaina (1)
Frondorf 8 7 4 4 1 2
Bertaina 9 1 0 0 0 14
Also on this day: Rochester native Bob Sekel and relief pitcher Dave Johnson combined for a one-hitter in Sekel’s Silver Stadium debut, a 4-1 victory over Syracuse in 1974… Rochester turned four double plays and Jose Herrera’s RBI double broke a tie in the ninth as the 2000 Red Wings won their third straight game, a 4-2 victory over Charlotte.
Leave a Reply