Today in Baseball History -May 9

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This Day in Baseball History

May 9

"The trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money that's in it - not for the love of it, the excitement of it and the thrill of it." - TY COBB, Hall of Fame outfielder (1905-28)

1871 The first Hispanic player in major league baseball was Esteban Enrique Bellán. The 21-year old Cuban infielder plays for Troy Haymakers of the National Association.

1888 With a twelve-run lead, Louisville Colonels' right-handed pitcher Icebox Chamberlain holds the Kansas City Cowboys scoreless pitching left-handed for the last two innings .

1901 Indians' hurler Earl Moore holds the White Sox hitless for nine innings before giving up two hits in the tenth inning to lose, 4-2.

1937 The Reds' backstop Ernie Lombardi goes 6-for-6 as Cincinnati routs the Phillies, 21-10.

1943 Due to poor grade of rubber cement used to make baseballs because of wartime rubber shortages, a different type of baseball is put into play today with dramatic results. In eight games, six home runs are hit compared to a total of nine homers tallied in the season's first 72 games.

1961 In a 13-5 victory over the Twins, Jim Gentile becomes first major leaguer to hit consecutive grand slams in the same game. The Orioles' first baseman accomplishes the feat in the first two innings of the contest.

1967 Cardinals' outfielder # 9 Roger Maris hits his first National League home run on the ninth day of the month in seat 9 of section 9.

1973 For the second time in his career, Johnny Bench hits three homers off Steve Carlton. The Reds' backstop seven RBIs helps Cincinnati beat the Phillies, 9-7.

1977 The Blue Jays beat the Mariners, 12-4, when the two new American League's teams meet for the first time.

1979 At the Astrodome, substitute umpire David Pallone ejects the entire Cardinal bench after the players throw helmets and bats onto the field to protest a call. The minor league arbitrator was pressed into duty due to the major league umpire strike.

1984 At Comiskey Park, the first eight-hour game in major league history ends in the 25th inning when Harold Baines belts a home run giving the White Sox a 7-6 win over the Brewers. Tom Seaver, who will also start and pitch 8 1/3 innings in the nightcap, gets the win pitching one inning of relief.

1987 At Comiskey Park, Oriole Eddie Murray becomes the first major leaguer to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in consecutive games.

1995 Indians tie a major league record by scoring eight runs in the first inning before making an out. Seven of the runs score as the results of home runs including Kenny Lofton's leadoff round-tripper, Paul Sorrento's grand slam and Carlos Baerga's two run blast.

1999 After starting with a single, Marshall McDougal hits six consecutive home runs and drives in 16 runs in a 26-2 rout of Maryland. The Florida State's junior second baseman, who will become a member of the Rangers' 40-man roster, breaks existing NCAA records for runs batted in and homers in a single game.

1999 After 552 relief appearances, Mike Stanton starts a major league game breaking Gary Lavelle's record for most appearances prior to starting a game.

2001 Although the deed will not be officially recognized as tying a record because the game against the Reds goes extra innings, Diamondback southpaw fireballer Randy Johnson join Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood as the only pitchers ever to strike out 20 hitters over nine innings. After being pulled in the ninth, the three-time Cy Young Award winner does not get an opportunity to break Senators' Tom Cheney's major league mark of 21 strikeouts recorded in a 16-inning contest on September 12, 1962 against the Orioles.

2006 Delmon Young is suspended for 50 games by the International League for throwing a bat which hit a replacement umpire in the chest. The Devil Rays' top prospect, the brother of Tiger star Dmitri Young, was selected as the minor league player of the year by Baseball America in 2005.

2007 On his 22nd birthday, Jarrod Saltalamacchia makes his major league debut. With 14 letters in his last name, the Braves backstop has the longest surname in baseball history besting 15 other major leaguers played with 13 letters in their family name.

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