OK Solberg: 00:01

I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Beautiful day. Maybe it's gonna rain tomorrow. I hope so. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.

OK Solberg: 00:12

Spring wheat $6 and a penny, $6.01 per bushel. Now on April 15 in PAYS, just a few days ago, 39 head steer calves, 487lbs per head at $5.68 a pound, I hope to shout, and a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.06 a pound. But, guys, there's more, much more.

OK Solberg: 00:42

If anyone's counting, if anyone is paying attention hey. If anyone is listening, they know it's been a long time since I even mentioned the word baseball. Well, that streak is over. Today is the day. And besides, the Dodgers are off to a great start this season. As of yesterday morning, 16 wins and only six losses.

OK Solberg: 01:09

Now I have a bible verse and then a story. The bible verse will explain why I'm talking about baseball today. It's from Luke 6:45 Luke six forty five. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

OK Solberg: 01:29

Again, where was it? Luke 6:41 Jesus was speaking there and it's saying what is dear to the heart of a man will come out of his mouth. Well, in case you don't know it, I like baseball. So it's gonna come out of my mouth.

OK Solberg: 01:46

Now here's a story, a story about a pitcher who did something pitchers are almost never asked to do, hit. His name was Tony Kloninger. He was known for his arm, a strong one, a right hander who who took the mound for the Atlanta Braves in the 1960's. Well, his job was simple. Get out, keep runs off the board, and hand the game over.

OK Solberg: 02:16

Now on hitting, that was someone else's responsibility because pitchers you see are not usually hitters. In fact, throughout baseball history, most pitchers have struggled at the plate. Many batted well under 200. Some barely made contact at all. In fact, listen.

OK Solberg: 02:40

Some pitchers couldn't connect with the ball one time out of 40, and if they hit a foul, some would smile and think their hitting slump was over just from hitting a foul because at least they made contact. Now since hitting is rare for pitchers, what about home runs? Well, that's even rarer yet. What about a grand slam home run? Rarer still.

OK Solberg: 03:07

Rare is hen's teeth. But remember what I told you, Montana's own Dave McNally was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, and he, the pitcher, hit a grand slam home run-in the world series. Right? Only one to ever do it. Check out his life-sized bronze statue in Billings just off 27th Street across from Perkins.

OK Solberg: 03:30

So understand this. A grand slam requires something very specific. The bases must be loaded. First, second, and third all occupied. No room for error.

OK Solberg: 03:44

No empty base. Just pressure waiting. And even that is uncommon. In a typical Major League Baseball game, the bases might be loaded once, maybe twice, but in a 3rd of all games, bases are never loaded in the entire game. It takes a sequence, hits, walks, timing to even create the opportunity.

OK Solberg: 04:11

If you run the odds on the average, there is 2 games out of 3 that even that ever has the bases loaded once. So understand it doesn't always even happen in every single game. Now imagine this, a pitcher comes to the plate, bases loaded, a pitcher. And instead of a weak grounder or a strikeout, he hits it out of the park. Oh, he got all of that one.

OK Solberg: 04:38

That alone is rare enough to be remembered. But on 07/03/1966, something happened at San Francisco Giants' home field that defined the ordinary. Tony Kwanerjen stepped in, bases loaded, and he hit a grand slam, four runs, a pitcher doing the improbable. But the game wasn't over, guys. Later, it happened again.

OK Solberg: 05:06

The same game, the bases loaded once again. Tony came up again, and once again, he swung. And once again, a ball left the park. Another grand slam, two in one game by a pitcher. That there places the moment in a category almost untouched in the history of baseball.

OK Solberg: 05:29

Tony Kloninger drove in nine runs that day, a record for a pitcher that still stands among the most remarkable offensive performances from the mound. The final score, well, the Braves defeated the Giants 17 to 3, but the score is not the story because somewhere in that game, the unexpected roles were rewritten. The man on the mound became the man at the plate. Just thought you'd like to know.

OK Solberg: 06:00

So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.