Ex-Phillie Rick Wise remembers era of "pure baseball"

Rick Wise still remembers the roar of the crowd after he walked a batter with the bases empty in the second inning of a three-run game. After all, the Shea Stadium crowd had finally found something it could cheer about.

In the first game of the doubleheader, future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning hurled a perfect game as the Phillies downed the Mets on Father's Day 1964. As the World's Fair buzzed outside and those inside the stadium focused on Bunning's performance, Wise picked up his first career win as an 18-year-old rookie in the second game of the doubleheader.

On Saturday night, Wise took the field at Citizens Bank Park along with 40 other former players as part of the team's alumni weekend.

Wise went on to win 75 games for the club and post a 188-181 career record in 18 seasons with five teams. In Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, he pitched one inning of relief for Boston and earned the win in one of the most memorable games in baseball history.

Among the group of alumni on Saturday was 95-year-old Freddy Schmidt, the oldest living Phillie. A pitcher, Schmidt spent part of the 1947 season with the club. Dick Allen and Johnny Briggs were there as well. Both broke into the big leagues with Wise during the ill-fated 1964 season.

Bunning, Steve Carlton, and Mike Schmidt, the team's three living Hall of Famers, were honored, as was Friday's Wall of Fame inductee, John Kruk. The most recent Phillie to return was Scott Eyre, who joined the team as a waiver-wire pickup in 2008 before becoming a vital cog in the team's run to the World Series title.

On an early summer's night 40 years ago, Wise pitched himself into baseball lore. Then 25 years old, he pitched a no-hitter at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium while also hitting two home runs and knocking in two in a 3-0 victory over the Reds. He remains the only pitcher to hit two home runs while throwing a no-hitter. Wise went on to hit six home runs in 1971 and added a second multihomer game later that year.

Eight years after debuting, Wise was dealt to St. Louis before the 1972 season for Steve Carlton, who was introduced on Saturday as the "greatest Phillies pitcher ever." Carlton would go on to win 329 games in his career and help lead the Phillies to the franchise's first World Series title, in 1980.

Wise said he loved the era he played in, and classified it as "pure baseball." The game did not receive the type of exposure it does now, which Wise said made it simpler. There were just 20 teams then in the majors, 10 fewer than today. Instead of wild cards and division winners, only the pennant winners advanced to the postseason, landing immediately in the World Series.

"It was winner takes all," Wise said. "You still had to grind out 162 games in six months."