On September 16, 1924, Cardinals first baseman "Sunny Jim" Bottomley set the major league record for the most RBIs in a game, with a 6 for 6 performance in Brooklyn that knocked in a total of 12 runs. The performance led the way to a 17-3 win over the Dodgers. Bottomley knocked in two with a single in the first, doubled home another run in the second, parked a grand slam in the seats in the fourth, hit a two run blast in the sixth, then singled in two more runs in the seventh, before breaking the record with an RBI in the ninth.The record of 11 RBIs in one contest had stood since 1892, and the man who had set it was sitting there in ballpark managing the Dodgers. "Uncle Robbie" as they called him had been dealt a serious blow when it came to the hopes of the Dodgers playing in October. They were chasing the Giants, and were right on their heels, but they did not catch them. However, ole Uncle Robbie witnessed quite the performance, as Bottomley stormed past him in the history books. Coincidentally another Cardinal achieved the feat of 12 RBIs in one game, but it took awhile, as Mark Whiten matched him with 12 ribbies of his own with a four home run performance on September 7, 1993. It has not been accomplished since.
Something I think about often is how great we have it with technology. A quick google search will bring up a highlight video of Whiten's 12 RBI day, but we are not so lucky when it comes to something that happened oh so long ago. With that said, the newspaper clippings can put you right back in the moment. That's the main reason I started using the articles with the photos featured on my pages. The clippings in the photo today are actually form two different papers. I found the cartoon in a paper that was issued three years later, while the article to the side of it was on the newsstands the next day. Ya know "Sunny Jim" had big smile on his face when he woke up that morning.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO192409160.shtml
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