August 9, 1963: Hickman Hits Grand Slam in 9th
From The Met Wiki
| Date: August 9, 1963 |
| Mets starter: Roger Craig |
| Mets: 7 |
| Cubs: 3 |
| Winning pitcher: Roger Craig |
| Key player(s): Jim Hickman, Roger Craig |
| Key play: Hickman's grand slam |
The Mets faced the Cubs on a Friday night at the Polo Grounds. The teams played a two-and-one-half hour game that ended dramatically. Jim Hickman hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to break a tie and give the Mets a 7-3 win.
After losing his previous 18 decisions, Mets' starter Roger Craig changed his uniform number from 38 to 13 in an effort to reverse his fortunes. The superstitious move began well as Craig shut down Chicago on two hits with four strikeouts through the first four innings. Roger was then given a 1-0 lead on Frank Thomas's home run off Cubs' starter Paul Toth in the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, Craig's luck turned bad as solo homers by Andre Rodgers and Lou Brock put Chicago ahead, 2-1. The Mets came back with run-scoring singles by the Dukes (Carmel and Snider) to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom half. Craig and Toth then pitched hitless ball in the sixth and seventh innings.
Billy Williams led off the eighth inning with a triple for the Cubs. Ron Santo followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Williams and tie the game at 3-3. Craig completed the inning with no further scoring and shut down Chicago in the top of the ninth.
Joe Hicks got a one-out single off Toth in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hicks moved to third base on Al Moran's two-out double and pinch-hitter Tim Harkness was walked intentionally by Cubs' reliever Lindy McDaniel. Batting with the bases loaded, Hickman hit a grand slam to end the game. The Mets had an exciting victory and the number-changing Craig's losing streak was over.
