Did Rick Wise have the best individual performance for one game?

I'm not sure it's the best, but it's pretty darn amazing.

He hit 2 home runs in a game in which he pitched a no-hitter.

The best individual performance for a pitcher is a perfect game, regardless of how he does as a hitter in that same game. As for non-perfect games, his no-hit 2 homer performance may be the best.

Well, Don Larsen still pitched a perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series... I think all that cancels out the HR.

Pitching a no hitter and hitting two home runs is certainly a good days work!!

Well, to be honest, I don't know his pitching line, there is no need to look it up since you know, but I can tell... wait a minute. I was thinking of Tony Cloninger who hit 2 grand slams against the Giants (or should I say My Giants!).

So I had to research it after all . . .

"Rick started his career in 1964 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He remained with that organization through the 1971 season. During that final season he hit the record books for pitching a no-hitter and hitting two home runs in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the first and only pitcher ever to do so. Five weeks later, on August 28th, he once again hit 2 home runs in a game against the Giants, one being a grand slam."

Cloninger's grand hitting performance

JULY 12, 1966

by WAYNE MINSHEW The Sporting News

TSN ARCHIVES

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Tony Cloninger set a record for RBIs by a pitcher with two grand slams and an RBI single in Atlanta's 17-3 win over the Giants in San Francisco on July 3, 1966.

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This past Friday, April 23, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Fernando Tatis made history by becoming the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning. Tatis hit two grand slams off Dodgers starter Chan Ho Park in the third inning in a 12-5 St. Louis win at Los Angeles. Before Tatis' big inning, only nine other players had hit two grand slams in one game. Of those nine, only one was from the National League -- Braves pitcher Tony Cloninger who shocked the San Francisco Giants by slugging two grand slams at Candlestick Park on July 3, 1966. Here's how The Sporting News covered Cloninger's achievement.

It was the fourth inning of the Braves-Giants game at San Francisco. The Braves had the bases loaded, tow out and Tony Cloninger, who had already hit one grand slam homer in the homer, was at the plate facing lefty Ray Sadecki.

Joe Torre, on third, got his lead.

"Hey Joe," said Braves third base coach Grover Resinger. "Tony's gonna hit another one and set an all-time record. I feel it."

"Go on," said Torre. "I've been up five years, and I've never seen anyone come close to hitting two in one game."

A pitch later, Sadecki tried to a fastball, and Cloninger sliced it toward right field. Giants' center fielder Willie Mays and right fielder Jesus Alou sped toward the ball, with Mays appearing to have a chance.

However, Willie, seeing he couldn't make the play, gave up and watched as the ball cleared the fence and youngsters started to chase after it.

Resinger went a little bit wild at third base, and Torre almost embraced Cloninger as he touched the plate with his second grand slam homer of the game.

In the 90-year history of the National League, no player had ever smacked two grand slams in one game.

Not Hack Wilson, not Mays, not Ralph Kiner, not Rogers Hornsby, not Johnny Mize.

Four inning later, Cloninger singled in another run, giving him nine RBIs for the game.

That bettered a record for most RBIs in a game by a pitcher. Vin Raschi, then with the Yankees, accounted for seven on August 4, 1953.

And there's more. In his last four pitching starts, Thumpin' Tony had driven in an amazing total of 18 runs, giving him 19 RBIs for the season. He also had hit four home runs.

Cloninger, in recent days, hasn't done too badly at his main baseball objective, either -- pitching. The 17-3 victory over the Giants was his sixth win in his last seven decisions and his fifth route-going job over the span. It made Tony's record 9-7 after a notoriously slow start.

"Funny thing," he said after his big day at San Francisco, "nobody asked me about my pitching."

yes he did.