COOPERSTOWN _ Dmitri Young brought the Spaceman back to Earth in the fifth inning of Sunday's Hall of Fame Classic.
Young's three-run homer to left field off left-handed reliever Bill "Spaceman" Lee highlighted the Knucksies' 8-6 victory over the Wizards in the third annual Father's Day exhibition game at Doubleday Field.
"It feels great being here with all the legends and Hall of Famers and especially all these fans," said Young, a two-time All-Star who retired in 2008 with a .292 batting average in 13 seasons. "It made it that much more exciting for me, and to be able to step up and do what I did today, it makes this whole event even that much better."
Young finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs in winning the inaugural Bob Feller Player of the Game Award, which is given to the MVP.
"I'm real honored by it," Young said of the Feller Award, which is named after the Hall of Fame pitcher who had been the featured guest at the first two Classics. A World War II veteran, Feller died Dec. 15 at age 92 after a battle with leukemia. "Bob Feller represents not only baseball, but he represented our country and to be able to get that award, I feel honored."
The Hall announced a crowd of 5,687 fans, marking the first year attendance for the Classic failed to break 7,000.
The Knucksies, captained by Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro, took an 8-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth on Young's towering shot to left field.
Willie Wilson led off the Knucksies' final at-bats with a tapper down the first-base line against Lee, who took over on the mound at the start of the fifth. Lee flipped the ball backwards with his 19th-century-style glove, which looked like a leather driving glove, but Wilson narrowly beat the throw to first.
Frank Catalanotto followed with a single to right field two pitches later but was forced out when Oreste Marrero hit a fielder's choice to second. That left runners at the corners for Dale Murphy, a two-time National League MVP who singled to right field for a 5-3 lead.
"That broken-bat (single) that Murphy got, that broke my back," Lee said of the hit, which drove in Wilson and moved Marrero to second.
Young then drove his fourth pitch from Lee deep over the left-field fence to put the Knucksies ahead, 8-3.
"He saw it all the way," Lee said of the pitch, which was a curveball. "He stays back (in the batter's box) on everything. You've got to throw him hard and in, but I don't throw hard enough at my age."
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Young credited the 296-foot fence in left field.
"Bill Lee threw a curveball and it was a real good curveball except I got good wood on it," said Young, who hit four homers to win the pre-game Hitting Challenge. "Getting good wood on it with a short fence equals a home run."
Lee gave up six hits and four earned runs in one inning of relief.
"I made some good pitches," said Lee, the subject of the 2006 documentary film "Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey."
"I hadn't thrown in a long time," he continued. "This was probably my third appearance of the year. By the end of the game, I was throwing pretty good. My arm felt good."
The Wizards, captained by Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, rallied in the top of the sixth but ran out of time to complete the comeback. The Classic had seven innings or two hours _ whichever came first _ to be completed. The top of the sixth started just around the two-hour mark on this gorgeous day of sunshine and white, fluffy clouds, meaning the Wizards had one last chance to make amends.
A fielder's choice RBI by Jack Lazorko and a two-run "single" by Lee _ a grounder that second baseman Rick Wise intentionally allowed to roll under his glove _ pulled the Wizards to 8-6.
Lee's single moved Rick Lancellotti, who walked on four pitches, to second. The runners advanced on a wild pitch by Frank DiPino, who then walked Billy Sample to load the bases.
Reserve David Pearson followed with a pop up to shortstop Joel Bennett, a Windsor resident and former major league pitcher who caught the ball and doubled off Lee at second with a toss to Wise.
"I was in no man's land," Lee said. "You know, I got to score on that if it's a base hit and then when I saw that it wasn't going to be far enough to score, I started going back but I didn't get back in time. It was bang-bang, you know? Guy made a great play."
The double play ended the game after 2 hours and 12 minutes.
The Wizards jumped to a 2-0 lead with two runs in the second inning against Knucksies' starter Phil Niekro. They went ahead, 3-0, with Bennett pitching in the third as Doug Glanville doubled and scored on two wild pitches.
Catalanotto sparked a four-run rally for the Knucksies in the third with an opposite-field double to left that brought in Bennett. Hall of Famer Jim Rice then singled to center, putting runners at the corners, and Young followed with an RBI single to left.
Jon Warden walked to load the bases before Rice scored on a wild pitch to tie it at 3. Willie Wilson then walked to re-load the bases, and Young later scored the go-ahead run on an errant throw back to the pitcher's mound.
Wizards starter and Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage allowed one hit in two scoreless innings.
Hall of Famer Dick Williams managed both teams in the Classic, which did not include Tony Perez and Steve Garvey. Hall officials said Perez and Garvey didn't make it to Cooperstown because of personal reasons.
