Kiners Korner Chronicles, No. 2: Seaver Strikes Out Nineteen

Welcome to the Kiners Korner Chronicles.

This site is dedicated to Ralph Kiner and the legacy of the greatest sports postgame show ever, Kiner's Korner.

While researching our book, Down on the Korner, my co-author Howie Karpin and I tracked down as many surviving episodes of Kiner's Korner as we could find. Now, you can watch those treasured broadcasts right here on this site and relive the conversations, the characters, and the unforgettable moments that made Ralph's show so special.

But our search also taught us something heartbreaking: for every conversation we recovered, dozens more were lost — taped over, thrown out, or gone forever.

So we're doing the next best thing. Through the power of AI and deep research into the old games, we hope to recreate a little bit of that magic. The game recaps are real, built from the box score. The interviews that follow are our best imagining of the conversations that were lost — what Ralph would have asked, and what his guest might have answered.

The Game

On a Wednesday afternoon at Shea Stadium, 14,197 fans watched Tom Seaver do something only one pitcher had ever done before. The 25-year-old Mets ace struck out 19 San Diego Padres — tying the major-league single-game record — in a complete-game 2-1 victory on April 22, 1970, that took two hours and forty-four minutes. He allowed just two hits and two walks over nine innings, throwing 136 pitches, and ran his record to 3-0.

His only mistake came early: Al Ferrara led off the second inning with a home run — the only run, and one of only two hits, Seaver allowed all afternoon. The other was a two-out single by Dave Campbell in the fourth, with Ferrara aboard on a walk. The Padres never threatened again. The finish was historic: Seaver struck out the last ten San Diego batters he faced in succession — a record at the time. In the ninth, Kelly, Gaston, and Ferrara — the same Ferrara who had homered hours earlier — all struck out.

Two runs were all Seaver needed, and Harrelson had a hand in both. In the first, Agee struck out, Harrelson singled, and Boswell doubled him home. In the third, Agee singled and Harrelson tripled him home. Jerry Grote was behind the plate for every one of the nineteen strikeouts, catching all 136 pitches.

San Diego's Mike Corkins deserved a better fate: seven innings, four hits, two runs, five walks, five strikeouts, taking the loss to fall to 0-2. Dave Roberts struck out two in a scoreless eighth for the Padres. Harry Wendelstedt called balls and strikes. For Seaver — 25 years old, in his fourth season, the hero of the 1969 world champions — it was a mark that tied Steve Carlton, who had set the record seven months earlier, on September 15, 1969 — also against the Mets.

Ralph's Guest

Dramatic recreation — not an authentic broadcast still.

The 25-year-old ace from Fresno, California — the hero of the 1969 world champions, in his fourth big-league season. Seven months earlier, Tom Seaver had watched Steve Carlton strike out 19 Mets; on April 22, 1970, he returned the favor against San Diego.

The Interview (imagined)

What follows is a dramatic recreation. The game was real. The conversation is our imagining of the Kiner's Korner segment that likely aired that night — the tapes of those early shows were erased long ago.

Ralph: Tom, nineteen strikeouts — the most any pitcher has ever recorded in a major-league game. And you struck out the last ten Padres you faced, one after another. Take me back to the late innings. When did you start to feel something historic was happening?

Seaver: Ralph, honestly, I try not to count during the game. You start thinking about numbers, and the next thing you know the ball is in the seats. But the crowd — fourteen thousand strong — they knew. By the eighth, every two-strike count, you could feel the whole ballpark leaning in.

Ralph: The ninth inning. Kelly, Gaston, and Ferrara — all three struck out. The tenth in a row to end it. Walk me through that inning.

Seaver: I just told myself, one hitter at a time. Kelly first, then Gaston. And then Ferrara — the one man who hurt me all day. Getting him for the last out, that felt like finishing the job the right way.

Ralph: Ah, Ferrara. He led off the second inning with a home run — your only real mistake on the afternoon. Two hits, two walks, one run, and that was it. What happened on that pitch?

Seaver: I left a fastball up where he could handle it, and he didn't miss it. That's the game. You make one bad pitch in a hundred and thirty-six, and sometimes that's the one they remember. I just didn't want to give him another one.

Ralph: You didn't. He walked in the fourth — the only other time he reached base all day — and then he struck out to end the ballgame. The man who gave you your only blemish became your nineteenth strikeout. There's a certain poetry in that.

Seaver: I'll take poetry over another home run any day, Ralph.

Ralph: Ha! Let me ask about Jerry Grote. He caught all nineteen strikeouts — every one of your hundred and thirty-six pitches. How much of today belonged to him?

Seaver: A lot more than he'll take credit for. Jerry knows what I want to throw before I do. When you've got a catcher who can think along with you, you just rear back and trust it. Today we were in perfect rhythm.

Ralph: Two runs was all the offense gave you, and Harrelson had a hand in both — he singled and scored on Boswell's double in the first, then tripled Agee home in the third. When you're dealing like this, is two runs a feast?

Seaver: Two runs is plenty when you're ahead. Harrelson played a terrific ballgame, and Boswell's double in the first — that was the big hit. You get the lead for a pitcher who's feeling good, and he can just attack.

Ralph: A hundred and thirty-six pitches, and you finished what you started — a complete game. Are you feeling it tomorrow?

Seaver: I'll feel it, sure. But you don't come out of a game like that. Not with a record on the line, not at Shea. My arm can rest tomorrow.

Ralph: A word for the other fellow — Mike Corkins. Seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts, and he takes the loss. He pitched a fine ballgame and ran into a buzzsaw.

Seaver: Mike threw well. That's the tough part of this game — sometimes you pitch your heart out and the other guy is just a little better that day. I know the feeling from the other side.

Ralph: Seven months ago, Steve Carlton struck out nineteen of your teammates — against this very club. Today you matched him. Did that cross your mind out there?

Seaver: A little, sure. When Steve did it, we all thought, well, that's a once-in-a-lifetime afternoon. To have my name next to his — that's humbling, Ralph. Records like that, you don't chase them. They find you.

Ralph: You're twenty-five years old, in your fourth season, three and oh, the hero of last October's world champions. Is this the best you've ever thrown a baseball?

Seaver: It's the most strikeouts, that's for sure. But the best feeling is still last October. Today was a wonderful afternoon. October is what we play for.

Ralph: Tom Seaver — nineteen strikeouts, a two-to-one win, and a place in the record book next to Steve Carlton. Thanks for stopping by.

Seaver: Thanks, Ralph. Always a pleasure.

Full box score — click to enlarge.

Recreation of the lost Kiner's Korner interview — not an authentic broadcast still. Box score: Retrosheet. The audio companion to this article — the Flag of Victory Polka, the disclaimer, and the full imagined interview — is available with this post.