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Original Document
Haddix Pitches Twelve Perfect Innings and Loses, 1959

Milwaukee, May 27--Harvey Haddix, a slightly built 33-year-old Pirate lefthander, lost the greatest game ever pitched in the long history of baseball here last night but he took the 1-0 defeat like the man he is.

Haddix regretted the loss of the one-hit game more than he appreciated the glory of pitching 12 perfect innings before the Braves won the bitterly-contest battle in the 13th inning on an error, an intentional walk and a 'double.'

"I knew I had a no-hitter because the scoreboard is in plain view but I wasn't so certain about it being a perfect game," Haddix calmly related the details of baseball's finest pitching spectacle.
 
"I thought perhaps I might have walked somebody in the early innings but going down the stretch, my main idea was to win. We needed this one badly to keep going." 
 
The Braves went up and down in one-two-three order for the first 12 innings as the 19,194 fans realized they were witnessing one of the epics of baseball. Many of the fans cheered each Brave putout but when the Milwaukeeans finally broke through in the i3th inning, the local fans began yelling for the victory. 
 
ERROR GIVES BRAVES BREAKTHROUGH
 
 Felix Mantilla hit an ordinary grounder to Don Hoak in the Braves' 13th inning and in Hoak's haste to keep Haddix's streak going, he threw low into the dirt and the ball skipped off Rocky Nelson's left foot for an error. 
 
Ed Mathews sacrificed Mantilla to second and Haddix gave up his only walk of the night, an intentional pass to the major leagues' leading batter, dangerous Hank Aaron. 
 
Joe Adcock, who had fanned twice and grounded out the other two times, picked on Haddix's second pitch--a high slider--and sent it into right-center. 
 
Bill Virdon and Joe Christopher raced to the spot and Virdon made a frantic leap but the ball barely cleared the fence about 375 feet away.  The fans roared as Haddix and his Pirate teammates walked off the field heartbroken at the sudden turn of events.
 
But the excitement still wasn’t ended. Mantilla, who was on second base, scored easily but Aaron rounded second base then cut across the pitcher’s mound for the Brave’s dugout.
 
Adcock, seeing the umpire’s signal for a home run, simply kept running and passed Aaron between second and third base. The umpires stood on the field as Freed Haney and his coaches tried to regroup their runners.
 
Finally, Aaron and Adcock began retracing their steps from third to second but actually, Adcock was out when he passed Aaron. Adcock thus received credit for a double and a run batted in.
 
BUC’S 12 HITS TO NO AVAIL
 
 The run was unearned. Thus Haddix lost, 1-0, on one hit, although his teammates nicked Lew Burdette for 12 safeties but just couldn’t score….
 

Credit: Pittsburgh Press, May 27, 1959.
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