By IAIN HIGGINS
June 26, 1965
MLB journeyman and future International League Hall of Fame pitcher Billy Short was Rochester’s lifeblood that Saturday night. He blanked the Atlanta Crackers on the mound and finished his 22nd scoreless inning, completed his fifth game in a row and picked up his fourth straight win, a 2-0 victory, in front of a crowd of 1,340.
Short gave up just three hits in his nine innings pitched. He walked two and fanned six batters.
He found himself in a jam in the fifth as subsequent errors put Atlanta runners on second and third with no outs, but two strikeouts and an infield out kept the Crackers scoreless.
The Red Wings won off a single hit in the second inning, courtesy of future Wings manager Andy Etchebarren, who doubled to right, then reached third on a sacrifice from Short and scampered home after Larry Maxie’s wild pitch.
Bob Saverine navigated the infield without a hit in the sixth to score Rochester’s second run. He reached first on a walk, headed to second on bunt from Lou Jackson, moved to third when Maxie lost control of a pitch again. Saverine reached home on a Manny Jimenez RBI groundout.
Atlanta almost rallied again in the sixth as a walk and a scratch hit put runners at first and second. Atlanta singled in the seventh and a doubled in the eighth, but Short stayed cool and kept both runners from reaching home.
Between 1960 and 1969 Short bounced up and down between the majors and minors. In those nine years he donned a uniform for the Yankees, the Orioles, the Red Sox, the Pirates, the Mets, and the Reds. Short pitched his only major league shutout with Baltimore on July 1, 1966 against the Twins.
Etchebarren went on to play 15 years in the majors. He was the starting catcher for the 1966 World Series champion Orioles and played with the 1970 Orioles who also won the fall classic. After managing for one season in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system, Etchebarren spent 11 years coaching in the Orioles’ organization. He returned to Rochester in 2001 and 2002.
Crackers 0 Red Wings 2
| Atlanta | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Robinson lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Saverine 2b | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Aaron 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jackson cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Beauchamp 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Breeding 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| McKnight 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Jimenez lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Barton c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Demeter 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Phillips cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Garrett rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ott 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bowman ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Etchebarren rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Maxie p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Short p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sadowski ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Totals | 23 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Atlanta 000 000 000-0
Rochester 001 001 00x-2
E- McKnight, Saverine, Johnson, Barton; LOB- Atlanta 8, Rochester 5; 2B- Etchebarren, Robinson; SB- Phillips; S- Short, Jackson.
| Atlanta | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Maxie L, 4-3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Short W, 5-2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
HBP- By Short (Phillips); WP- Maxie (2).
Time- 2:21; Attendance- 1,340.
Also On This Date: On June 26, 1969, first baseman Elijah Johnson had a double and two RBIs to lead Rochester to a 4-2 victory over Buffalo. The win was Rochester’s 16th in their last 19 games and put them within two and a half games of International League leading Louisville.
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