The Catbird Seat

Almanac Edition · every July 21 at once · from the makers of Tearing Up the Pea Patch

JULY 21 · 1,420 GAMES ON THE RECORD · 1873–2025

On this date in 1945, Detroit and the Philadelphia Athletics played to a 1–1 tie over 24 innings.

The Committee has looked at all 1,420 major-league games played on July 21, from 1873 to 2025, and this is the one that does not behave.

Also on this date

1890-07-21	Brooklyn at Cincinnati	11–20
1956-07-21	Philadelphia at the Milwaukee Braves	8–5	15.0	295 min
1910-07-21	The St. Louis Browns at the Yankees	2–19	8.5	by 17
1940-07-21	Detroit at the Yankees	3–2	9.0	68,590 paid

Unfair afternoons — won while out-hit

1898-07-21	Pittsburgh at the New York Giants	7–11	8.5	hits 18-11
1904-07-21	The New York Giants at the Cubs	4–3	9.0	hits 5-12
1921-07-21	The Philadelphia Athletics at the White Sox	1–2	13.5	hits 16-9

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

1894-07-21	CL4 at LS3	2–0		001001000 / 000000000
1898-07-21	Pittsburgh at the New York Giants	2–1	9.0	000000002 / 000100000
1898-07-21	The Cubs at Philadelphia	1–3	8.5	010000000 / 20100000x

By the decades

1870s 11 · 1880s 51 · 1890s 66 · 1900s 67 · 1910s 74 · 1920s 89 · 1930s 80 · 1940s 91 · 1950s 70 · 1960s 100 · 1970s 132 · 1980s 113 · 1990s 129 · 2000s 147 · 2010s 134 · 2020s 66

The Pea Patch Ledger

Today’s deal is the same nine for everyone. Beat the almanac’s strangest game to a story of your own.

Today's deal is waiting — play the daily Pea Patch →

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)