The Sports Time Traveler is following the 1966 baseball season exactly 60 years ago each day.
This week I experienced something special - one of the greatest displays of home run heroism ever. And it was by a name you might not expect. It wasn’t Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron or the other famous home run hitters of this era.
It was by Art Shamsky.
Here’s a picture of 24-year-oldArt Shamsky that appeared in the August 16, 1966 Cincinnati Post:
I now take you back now to 4 games that I followed this week in the newspaper archives in 1966.
As always, the dates in the bylines are when I read about the games in the newspaper archives. The actual games took place the prior day.
GAME 1 - Crosley Field, Cincinnati - August 13, 1966
Last night here in Crosley Field, the 1st place Pirates brought their Late Night Lightning show to Cincinnati. The Pirates are the best hitting team in baseball by a wide margin, and that’s why they came here in 1st place in the National League, 2 games ahead of the Giants and 3 in front of the defending World Series Champion Dodgers.
Going into the bottom of the 8th inning the Reds were down 8 - 7 to the powerful Pirates.
Reds’ manager Dave Bristol had inserted Art Shamsky into the game in left field in the top of the 8th. Shamsky took the pitcher’s spot in the batting order, so that he could come to the plate as the 3rd batter in the bottom of the 8th.
Art Shamsky is in his 2nd season. Even though Art came into the game hitting just .224, he has power. Art hit 92 homers in 5 seasons in the minors, including 25 for the old San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1964.
And playing part-time this season, Art already has 12 home runs in just 151 at bats. But he hasn’t launched one out in nearly month, since he homered in both ends of a doubleheader back on July 14th.
With 1 man on and 1 out, Art Shamsky stepped in against Al McBean in a crucial situation with Reds down a run. McBean was one of the top relief pitchers in baseball the prior two seasons with an ERA just a shade over 2, and 40 saves across 1964 and 1965.
Shamsky slugged an Al McBean pitch over the right field wall for a 2-run homer to put the Reds up 8 - 7.
But the Pirates tied the game in the top of the 9th on a Jerry Lynch homer.
At 8 - 8, the game went to extra innings.
Willie Stargell homered in the top of the 10th to put the Bucs up 9 - 8.
The Pirates had Roy Face pitching at this point. Face was a great reliever. He had led the National League in saves in 1958, 1961 and 1962, and was having another strong season in 1966. He entered the game with a 2.54 ERA and 16 saves. He was primed for save number 17 after he had struck out the side in the 9th inning and struck out the Reds’ leadoff batter, Johnny Edwards to start the 10th.
Now 2 outs away from saving the game, and having struck out the last 4 Reds’ batters, Art Shamsky stepped in against Roy Face. Shamsky blasted his 2nd homer of the game to tie it up at 9, and the game continued on to the 11th inning.
The Pirates scored twice in the top of the 11th, and were in a strong position to wrap up the victory with Face still pitching.
In the bottom of the 11th, Face got 2 outs and then issued a walk.
The next batter was Art Shamsky.
Pirates’ manager Harry Walker decided to take Face out and have Billy O’Dell, a lefty, pitch to the lefty hitting Art Shamsky.
The strategy didn’t work. Shamsky smashed another homer, his 3rd of the game, and it tied the game at 11 in the 11th inning.
Now it was up to the Reds’ pitchers to stop the Pirates late night lightning. That was too tall a task. The Pirates scored 3 times in the top of the 13th.
Art Shamsky never had a chance to come up again.
The final score was Pittsburgh 14 - Cincinnati 11.
Even though the Pirates were the victors, Art Shamsky’s 3 home run performance for the Reds was so majestic that the Pittsburgh Press, adorned the top of the sports section with this photo of Art being greeted at home plate by his teammates after one of the 3 homers:
Pete Rose was so impressed by Art Shamsky’s performance at the plate that he told this to Earl Lawson in this morning’s Cincinnati Post (8/13/1966):
Three times Art Shamsky had come up, late in the game, in the 8th, in the 10th and 11th, and all three times he either put the Reds ahead or tied the game, when it was absolutely needed.
Yet, because the Reds lost, Art Shamsky didn’t think of himself as a hero.
Lester J. Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote this:
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler
I’ve come back to the present to inform you of two records which no newspaper mentioned at the time in 1966.
Art Shamsky became the only player in major league baseball history to hit 3 home runs in a game he didn’t start. That record has never been matched.
In addition, there were 11 home runs in the game, which set a new National League record and tied the major league record. That record has since been broken and stands at 13.
The Pirates won the “home run derby” 6 - 5. And in winning the game, the Pirates remained 2 games up on the Giants, but pulled 4 ahead of the defending World Series Champion Dodgers.
Now back to 1966.
GAME 2 - Crosley Field, Cincinnati - August 14, 1966
A day after Art Shamsky hit 3 dramatic home runs, each of which either put the Reds ahead or tied the game, he found himself sitting in the dugout for the entire game. With the Pirates starting rookie left-hander Woody Fryman, righty Deron Johnson got the start in left field.
It turns out there is someone who can shut down the Pirates late night lightning. Jim Maloney is one of the top starters in baseball here in 1966. Last year, in 1965, he pitched more no-hitters than Sandy Koufax (2 to 1). He came into last night’s game with a 12 - 4 record and a 2.71 ERA.
Maloney only allowed 2 hits in shutting out the Pirates 11 - 0.
GAME 3 - Crosley Field, Cincinnati - August 15, 1966
Last night the Pirates started righty pitcher Vern Law. And yet Reds’ manager Dave Bristol still started Deron Johnson in left field over Art Shamsky.
The game was scoreless until Manny Mota doubled in the top of the 7th to drive in a run and put the Pirates ahead 1 - 0.
In the bottom of the 7th, with a runner on base and 2 outs, and the catcher Johnny Edwards coming up, Bristol decided to have Art Shamsky pinch hit.
Bill Ford in the Cincinnati Enquirer described Art’s at bat:
Art Shamsky’s home run put the Reds up 2 - 1.
It was also a historic homer.
In 4 consecutive plate appearances, Art Shamsky had hit 4 home runs.
But once again, Reds’ pitchers couldn’t contain the Bucs hitting.
Manny Mota hit a 2-run homer in the 9th to put Pittsburgh ahead 4 - 2. And once again Art Shamsky never got another turn at bat.
Here was the headline of the sports section today in the August 15, 1966 Cincinnati Enquirer:
After the game, Art Shamsky told Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati post:
GAME 4 - DODGER STADIUM, LOS ANGELES - August 16, 1966
Last night the Cincinnati Reds visited Dodger Stadium to play the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers started lefty pitcher Claude Osteen. And that meant that Dave Bristol did not put Art Shamsky in the lineup again, even though Art had hit 4 home runs in his last 4 plate appearances.
In the top of the 8th inning, with the Reds down 4 - 2, Art was sent in as a pinch hitter to lead off.
Here’s how Earl Lawson described it in the Cincinnati Post:
Art had come through again, albeit with a single. And then Tommy Helms hit into a double play.
The home run streak was over. And the Reds lost the game 4 - 3.
But history had already been made by Art Shamsky.
Earl Lawson also reported in today’s Cincinnati Post that the Baseball Hall of Fame asked earlier in the day for Art Shamsky’s bat that he used to hit the 4th home run the day before.
Art Shamsky’s bat was to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
And after last night’s game Earl Lawson posted this quote from Art’s teammate, pitcher Sammy Ellis:
Art Shamsky may not have thought of himself as a hero, but he was recognized as one by teammates, sportswriters, and the Hall of Fame, for his home run heroics.
SPECIAL NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler
I’ve come back to the present to inform you that sportswriters of the time in 1966, without access to the internet, were at a loss to properly assess the historic nature of Art Shamsky’s 4 home runs in 4 plate appearances.
Prior to Art Shamsky in 1966, only 7 players had ever hit 4 home runs in 4 consecutive plate appearances, and that list didn’t the #1 all-time HR leader Babe Ruth, #2 all-time Jimmie Foxx, or #3 all-time Willie Mays.
Here in 2026, the feat of 4 homers in 4 consecutive plate appearances has now been achieved 26 times.
But Art did something none of the other 25 did. Something totally unique. Something that qualifies for hero status.
The Hero Factor
Art Shamsky is the only player in major league baseball history to have 4 consecutive plate appearances in which he hit a home run to put his team in the lead or tie the game.
And even more astonishing is that all 4 of Art’s homers were late in the game (7th inning or later), meaning they were all in “hero time,” when the team truly needed those home runs.
Players to hit 4 home runs in 4 consecutive plate appearances:
Bobby Lowe - May 30, 1894
Lou Gehrig - June 3, 1932
Jimmie Foxx - June 7–8, 1933
Ralph Kiner - September 11 - 13, 1949
Rocky Colavito - June 10, 1959
Johnny Blanchard - July 21, 22 & 26, 1961
Mickey Mantle - July 4 - 6, 1962
Art Shamsky - August 12 & 14, 1966
Mike Epstein - June 15–16, 1971
Deron Johnson - July 10–11, 1971
Mike Schmidt - April 17, 1976
Mike Schmidt - July 6–7, 1979
Larry Herndon - May 16 & 18, 1982
Bo Jackson - July 17 & August 26, 1990
Manny Ramirez - September 15–16, 1998
Mike Cameron - May 2, 2002
Shawn Green - June 14–15, 2002
Troy Glaus - September 15–16, 2002
Carlos Delgado - September 25, 2003
Albert Pujols - April 16–17, 2006
Carlos González - May 30–31, 2012
Scooter Gennett - June 6, 2017
J.D. Martinez - September 4, 2017
José Abreu - August 22–23, 2020
José Altuve - September 4–5, 2023
Eugenio Suárez - April 26, 2025
Players to come to the plate 4 consecutive times and hit a home run to tie the game or put their team in the lead:
Art Shamsky - August 12 & 14, 1966
There is only one player in major league baseball history on that last list.
That qualifies as perhaps the greatest display of home run heroics.
QUOTE FROM ART SHAMSKY
Following the publication of this article last week, I was honored to receive this quote from Art Shamsky himself:
“Being part of ‘69 Miracle Mets and the home run record in Cincinnati in 1966 are two of the biggest highlights of my baseball career. Today fans still want to talk with me about both of those feats.”
BOOKS BY THE SPORTS TIME TRAVELER
If you enjoyed this article, you will love my books on baseball. You can find them on Amazon or get a personalized, autographed copy on ETSY at these links:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07JCC1Q7H/allbooks
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SportsTimeTravelerUS