The Catbird Seat

Almanac Edition · every April 26 at once · from the makers of Tearing Up the Pea Patch

APRIL 26 · 1,161 GAMES ON THE RECORD · 1872–2025

On this date in 1974, Baltimore beat Oakland 6–5 in 14 innings while being out-hit 21 to 10. It took 4 hours and 4 minutes.

The Committee has looked at all 1,161 major-league games played on April 26, from 1872 to 2025, and this is the one that does not behave.

Also on this date

1887-04-26	NY4 at PH4	17–18
1898-04-26	CL4 at LS3	9–8	8.8	500 min
1998-04-26	Houston at Montreal	15–0	9.0	by 15
2007-04-26	San Francisco at the Dodgers	5–4	9.0	56,000 paid

Unfair afternoons — won while out-hit

1974-04-26	Oakland at Baltimore	5–6	14.8	hits 21-10
1980-04-26	Montreal at Atlanta	4–3	9.0	hits 6-16
1978-04-26	The Cubs at Philadelphia	4–2	9.0	hits 4-13

The Mirror Game — a line score this date shares with another day

1902-04-26	Cleveland at the St. Louis Browns	3–0	9.0	000000300 / 000000000
1902-04-26	Brooklyn at the New York Giants	1–4	8.5	000000100 / 00020002x
1904-04-26	The Boston Red Sox at the Philadelphia Athletics	2–1	9.0	100010000 / 100000000

By the decades

1870s 5 · 1880s 25 · 1890s 37 · 1900s 53 · 1910s 57 · 1920s 69 · 1930s 57 · 1940s 62 · 1950s 56 · 1960s 74 · 1970s 95 · 1980s 118 · 1990s 121 · 2000s 133 · 2010s 128 · 2020s 71

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THE CATBIRD SEAT is set by the Committee on Playing Rules of Tearing Up the Pea Patch, a Macguffin Co. game, Commissioner F. McCoy presiding. Almanac editions are compiled from the record by the Committee’s engine and read by no one before you; a surprising fact in them is a lead, not a verdict. The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at www.retrosheet.org. Wire service (RSS)