Charles Robert Hendley (born April 30, 1939) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. A

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

, he appeared in all or parts of seven seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

for the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

(1961–1963),

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1964–1965),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

(1965–1967) and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

(1967).

Back-to-back 1965 battles with Koufax

Hendley's career was hampered by elbow miseries. But he is perhaps best remembered for hooking up with

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

left-hander

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

for two classic

pitchers' duel This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. ...

s while Hendley was a member of the 1965 Cubs. On September 9 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

, Hendley allowed only one hit, but Koufax threw a perfect game and defeated Hendley, 1–0. The one run Hendley gave up came in the fifth inning and was unearned. It came without the benefit of a hit: the Dodgers'

Lou Johnson Louis Brown Johnson (September 22, 1934 – October 1, 2020), nicknamed Sweet Lou, was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. Johnson's professional baseball career lasted for 17 seasons, and included 8 years in the majors: parts of 1960� ...

took a base on balls (Hendley's only free pass of the game), moved to second base on a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...

, stole third base, and came around to score on a throwing error by the Cubs' catcher. Although now trailing in the game, Hendley was still throwing a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

. Two innings later, however, Johnson got his club's only safety, a

pop fly In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fo ...

over the head of Cub

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

that fell for a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. The walk and bloop hit were the only baserunners that Hendley permitted. Koufax' no-hitter was his fourth (over four consecutive seasons) and his only perfect game.Noble, Marty (2015-09-09), "The Day Hendley Allowed Just One Hit, Koufax Was Perfect." MLB.com
/ref> He struck out 14 Cubs, including the last six hitters in a row. Five days later, the two pitchers faced each other in a rematch at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago W ...

. That time, Hendley gave up four hits and three bases on balls, but defeated Koufax 2–1.

Career

Born in Macon, Georgia, the , Hendley graduated from Lanier High School and attended

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,00 ...

. He signed with the Braves in 1958, and was in his fourth season in the Milwaukee organization when he made his MLB debut on June 23, 1961, a starting assignment against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He battled into the eighth inning of a 2–2 tie, but left the game with the

bases loaded B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the ...

and one out; two inherited runners then scored (one run was unearned), and Hendley took the 5–3 loss. He was a member of the Braves' starting rotation in both and , then was traded to the Giants in a six-player deal on December 3, 1963; one of the three players the Braves received was

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager. He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The first Dominican to play regularly in the ...

. Hendley was a member of the 1964 Giants' starting rotation, but began in the bullpen, making only two abbreviated starts among his first eight mound appearances. On May 28, Hendley,

Harvey Kuenn Harvey Edward Kuenn (; December 4, 1930 – February 28, 1988) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a shortstop and outfielder, he played with the Detroit Tigers (1952–1959), Clevela ...

and

Ed Bailey Lonas Edgar Bailey, Jr. (April 15, 1931 – March 23, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and later served on the Knoxville, Tennessee city council. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from through . A six-time All-S ...

were traded to the Cubs for Dick Bertell and

Len Gabrielson Leonard Gary Gabrielson (born February 14, 1940) is a retired outfielder in Major League Baseball. He graduated from the University of Southern California and played in the majors from 1960 through 1970, initially signing with the Milwaukee Brave ...

. Although Hendley would be sent to Triple-A

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

for seven games, he was able to return to a starting pitcher role for the Cubs upon his recall, leading to his two September matches against Koufax. In , Hendley became primarily a relief pitcher, earning seven saves for a Cub team that lost 103 games that season. The following year, he was traded to the Mets on June 12, where, although he was again largely used out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

, he registered the last two

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

s of his MLB career. The season also produced Hendley's only above-.500 record, as he won five of eight decisions. In his seven-season MLB career, Hendley won 48 games and lost 52, with a 3.97

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...

in 216

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

, 126 of them starts. He struck out 522 batters and allowed 329 bases on balls and 864 hits in 879

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

. He notched 25 complete games, six

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and 13 saves. He pitched at Triple-A for the Mets in 1968 and 1969 before leaving baseball. After retiring from the game, he went on to coach in his hometown of Macon at two high schools, posting winning records at each.

References

External links

Noble, Marty (9 September 2015), "The Day Hendley Allowed Just One Hit, Koufax Was Perfect"
MLB.com. Includes video tribute to Hendley, Koufax and

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

on 50th anniversary of the game {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendley, Bob 1939 births Living people Atlanta Crackers players Austin Senators players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Cedar Rapids Braves players Chicago Cubs players Jacksonville Braves players Jacksonville Suns players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Braves players New York Mets players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Macon, Georgia Tidewater Tides players Florida Instructional League Mets players