Rangers History Today: Back-To-Back Inside-The-Park Home Runs

On this date in Texas Rangers history, Toby Harrah and Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs in the same game.

On August 27, 1977, the Rangers were in New York to face the Yankees at Old Yankee Stadium. Ken Clay was on the mound for the Yankees. What happened next was just crazy.

First, Harrah came up in the seventh inning with the Rangers up 4-2. Texas had two runners on base and Harrah sent Clay’s pitch for a ride to right field. Sometimes, though, you need a bit of help to hit that inside-the-park home run. Right fielder Lou Piniella provided it, as he went full-bore into the right-field all to make the catch and failed.

The ball rolled away from Piniella, and before another Yankee could collect it, Harrah and the other two runners scored to give the Rangers a 7-2 lead. It was the first inside-the-park home run of Harrah’s career, and the second in Rangers history.

The third inside-the-park home run in Rangers history came one pitch later — yes, one pitch. Wills, the son of Major League legend Maury Wills, took the next offering from Clay and deposited it to center field over future Rangers outfielder Mickey Rivers. The ball caromed to Rivers’ glove, and he couldn’t pick it up and get it back to home plate before Wills scored to make it 8-2.

It was the first time in American League history that a team hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs in the same game.