The Catbird Seat

Almanac Edition · every April 28 at once · from the makers of Tearing Up the Pea Patch

APRIL 28 · 1,151 GAMES ON THE RECORD · 1873–2025

On this date in 1985, The Mets beat Pittsburgh 5–4 in 17 innings while being out-hit 18 to 6. It took 5 hours and 21 minutes.

The Committee has looked at all 1,151 major-league games played on April 28, from 1873 to 2025, and this is the one that does not behave.

Also on this date

1996-04-28	Montreal at Colorado	21–9	9.0
2019-04-28	The Cubs at Arizona	6–5	15.0	336 min
1873-04-28	PH2 at ELI	23–5		by 18
1946-04-28	Cleveland at Detroit	3–1	12.0	57,149 paid

Unfair afternoons — won while out-hit

1985-04-28	Pittsburgh at the Mets	4–5	17.5	hits 18-6
1979-04-28	Baltimore at Oakland	5–8	8.5	hits 16-6
2010-04-28	Philadelphia at San Francisco	7–6	11.0	hits 8-17

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

1899-04-28	The Boston Braves at Philadelphia	0–6	8.5	000000000 / 00301002x
1899-04-28	St. Louis at Pittsburgh	5–1	9.0	000210200 / 000000001
1900-04-28	St. Louis at the Cubs	3–1	10.0	0000000003 / 0000000001

By the decades

1870s 1 · 1880s 23 · 1890s 49 · 1900s 56 · 1910s 52 · 1920s 63 · 1930s 65 · 1940s 64 · 1950s 52 · 1960s 86 · 1970s 107 · 1980s 92 · 1990s 128 · 2000s 121 · 2010s 130 · 2020s 62

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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)