The Catbird Seat

Almanac Edition · every September 17 at once · from the makers of Tearing Up the Pea Patch

SEPTEMBER 17 · 1,349 GAMES ON THE RECORD · 1872–2025

On this date in 1977, Texas beat Minnesota 5–4 in 16 innings while being out-hit 13 to 12. It took 5 hours and 12 minutes.

The Committee has looked at all 1,349 major-league games played on September 17, from 1872 to 2025, and this is the one that does not behave.

Also on this date

1884-09-17	Philadelphia at BFN	7–22
2019-09-17	San Francisco at the Boston Red Sox	7–6	15.0	354 min
1897-09-17	The New York Giants at the Boston Braves	0–17		by 17
1993-09-17	Texas at the California Angels	1–2	8.5	60,326 paid

Unfair afternoons — won while out-hit

1955-09-17	The White Sox at the Kansas City Athletics	12–8	10.0	hits 12-19
1999-09-17	Montreal at Atlanta	5–6	9.7	hits 12-5
1938-09-17	The Cubs at the New York Giants	4–0	9.0	hits 7-13

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

1894-09-17	BLN at Pittsburgh	4–1		001000210 / 001000000
1900-09-17	Cincinnati at Philadelphia	1–4	8.5	010000000 / 10000030x
1901-09-17	Detroit at the Philadelphia Athletics	1–4	8.5	010000000 / 10002010x

By the decades

1870s 7 · 1880s 48 · 1890s 61 · 1900s 63 · 1910s 71 · 1920s 76 · 1930s 85 · 1940s 82 · 1950s 61 · 1960s 84 · 1970s 120 · 1980s 125 · 1990s 110 · 2000s 132 · 2010s 135 · 2020s 89

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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)