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This Day in All Teams History
July 31st

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41 Fact(s) Found
1897 St. Louis hurler John Grimes establishes a major league record which still stands today by hitting 6 batters in a nine-inning game.
1912 Ty Cobb goes 1-for-4 in Detroit's 4-1 victory over Washington at Navin Field. The Tiger outfielder's single is his 68th hit in 137 at-bats (.535) during July, the most ever collected in a single month by a major leaguer.
1930 Thanks to Lou Gehrig's offensive output, the Yankees edge the Red Sox, 14-13. The 'Iron Horse' collects eight RBIs with with a grand slam and two doubles in the Fenway Park contest.
1932 In front of major league record crowd of 80,184, the Indians play their first game at Lakefront Stadium losing to Philadelphia and Lefty Grove, 1-0. With the exception of the 1933 season, the Tribe, who prefer League Park, will not play a full schedule at their new huge horseshoe home until 1947, when the ballpark will become known as Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
1934 At Cincinnati's Crosley Field, the Cardinals beat the Reds 8-6 in 18 innings. Redbird hurler Dizzy Dean gets the win defeating Tony Freitas in a game in which both starting pitchers go the distance.
1954 At Ebbets Field, using a borrowed bat, Brave Joe Adcock hits four home runs in one game as well as a double to set a big league mark with 18 total bases in a 15-7 victory over the Dodgers.
1959 Earl Wilson, the first black pitcher to play for the Red Sox, hurls 3.2 innings walking nine and leaves the game with a 4-0 lead.
1961 Due to heavy rain, the second 1961 All-Star game ends in a 1-1 tie at Fenway Park with a Rocky Colavito's home run accounting for the American League's only run. Jim Bunning, the American League starter, pitches three perfect innings again (he also did it in 1957) making him the only all-star hurler to accomplish the feat twice.
1963 In the sixth inning with two outs at Cleveland Stadium, the Indians hit four consecutive home runs as Woodie Held, Pedro Ramos, Tito Francona and Larry Brown all go deep off recently acquired Paul Foytack of the Angels. The former Tiger will become the first pitcher in major league history to allow a team to go deep in four straight at bats in a single inning.
1971 Orioles' hurler Pat Dobson wins his eighth decision of the month blanking the Royals, 4-0. It is the 12th consecutive victory since June 16th for the Depew, N.Y native.
1971 In a game that sees at least one team score in every inning until the ninth, the Giants beat Pittsburgh at Candlestick Park, 15-11. San Francisco's rookie first baseman Dave Kingman's seventh-inning grand slam proves to be the difference.
1972 White Sox slugger Dick Allen becomes the seventh major leaguer to hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game. The homers pace the White Sox over the Twins, 8-1.
1981 The fifty-day old baseball strike is settled as owners and players agreeing on a pooling systems for free-agents compensation. The All Star game will mark the end of baseball's first ever mid-season work stoppage.
1982 Phillies' second baseman Manny Trillo boots a Bill Buckner's grounder to end his errorless streak at 479 chances setting a major league record.
1983 Orioles Gold Glover Brooks Robinson, Giants ace Juan Marichal, ten-time American League All-star infielder George Kell, and long-time Dodger skipper Walter Alston are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Marichal, the Dominican Dandy, becomes the first latin player to be enshrined at Cooperstown.
1989 The Mets obtain Frank Viola, last season's American League Cy Young Award winner, from the Twins for Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, Jack Savage and David West. 'Sweet Music' hits a sour note in New York posting 38-32 record in 82 starts with a team which fails to make the play-offs during his 2 1/2 year tenure in the Big Apple.
1990 At County Stadium, Ranger righty Nolan Ryan wins his 300th game defeating the Brewers, 11-3. The 43 year old from Alvin, Texas will compile 324 victories during his 27-year big league career.
1995 The Mets trade former two-time Cy Young Award winner right-handed pitcher Bret Saberhagen and left-handed pitcher farmhand Dave Swanson (the player to be named later) to the Rockies for righties Juan Acevedo and Arnold Gooch.
1996 The Tigers deal first baseman Cecil Fielder to the Yankees for outfielder Ruben Sierra and minor league prospect Mat Drews. It is the first swap in major league history in which two players with more than 220 home runs are traded for one another.
2001 The Red Sox acquire Expos' reliever Ugueth Urbina for two minor league pitchers, Tomo Ohka and Rich Rundles. The hard throwing closer was nearly traded to the Yankees earlier in the season, but the deal was nixed when the Caracas, Venezuela native failed a physical.
2002 A plan to sell beer outside Boston's Fenway Park is approved on a trial basis by city officials. During the 14 games, brew will be available three hours before game time to one hour after games start to game ticket-holders who pass through a turnstile.
2002 The Rangers, in a 17-6 victory over the Yankees, hit six doubles in the second inning, all off Mike Mussina. New York's starting pitcher joins Hall of Famer Lefty Grove as only the second pitcher in major league history to allowed that many two-baggers in one frame.
2003 Breaking his own record set a week later during last season, John Smoltz becomes the fastest pitcher to record 40 saves. The Braves' closer throws a scoreless ninth in the team's 7-4 victory over the Astros to establish the new mark.
2004 With homers in his first two at-bats off Jorge Sosa, Carlos Delgado hits his fifth home run in five consecutive at-bats off the Devil Rays' right-hander. The Blue Jays' slugger streak started with a homer last September 10, was extended to streak to three on September 25 as the Tampa Bay hurler gives up the first two dingers in Delgado's four homer day on September 25.
2004 The long anticipated trade of Nomar Garciaparra is finally accomplished as the Red Sox shortstop is traded to the Cubs as a four-team deal which includes the Twins and Expos. Boston acquires shortstop Orlando Cabrera (Expos) and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (Twins) with Nomar, prospect Matt Murton and cash to Chicago which had shipped minor league southpaw Justin Jones to the Minnesota for Mientkiewicz, who in turn is sent along with Cubs' shortstop Alex Gonzalez, relief pitcher Francis Beltran and minor leaguer Brendan Harris to Beantown, which sends the trio of Gonzalez, Beltran and Harris to the Expos for Cabrera.
2004 Ten minutes prior to the trading deadline, Steve Finley gives the Diamondbacks permission to deal him to the Dodgers. The trade sends the four-time gold glove center fielder and backstop Brent Mayne to Los Angles for minor league catching prospect Koyie Hill, flycatcher Reggie Abercrombie and southpaw Bill Murphy, who acquired in yesterday's trade with the Marlins.
2004 A minute before the trading deadline, the Yankees deal the talented but underachieving Jose Contreras (8-5 with a 5.64) and $3 million to the White Sox for All-star pitcher Esteban Loaiza (9-5, 4.86). Both hurlers are 32 years old.
2004 After a close call which goes against the Katy Cowboys, Kacy Clemens’ dad is asked to leave the youth baseball game. According to the league officials,who will later apologize calling it a case of mistaken identity,Roger Clemens is ejected from son's championship game for arguing the call and spitting sunflower seeds at an umpire's leg.
2005 The almost traded Manny Ramirez comes off the bench and has the game-winning hit in the eighth against the Twins in the Red Sox victory. The embattled Boston outfielder, has caused much consternation in the Red Sox nation this week due to his refusal to play and hustle for his short-handed team.
2005 Among thousands high-spirited Red Sox and Cubs fans and the 48 Hall of Famers sitting on the dais, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg are enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Also inducted are Padres announcer Jerry Coleman, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, and sportswriter and broadcast analyst Peter Gammon, recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award.
2005 At Yankee Stadium, the Molina brothers, Bengie and Jose, both homer off Randy Johnson. The Angel teammates join Hank and Tommie Aaron, Matty and Jesus Alou, Aaron and Bret Boone , Billy and Tony Conigliaro, Al and Tony Cuccinello, Rick and Wes Farrell, Vladimir and Wilton Guerrero, Graig and Jim Nettles, Cal and Billy Ripken and Paul and Lloyd Waner as siblings who have gone deep in the same game.
2006 The Dodgers trade infielder Cesar Izturis to the Cubs for 300-game winner Greg Maddux. The last minute deadline deal, in which the future Hall of Famer waived his no-trade clause, gives the 40-year hurler an opportunity to go to a contender.
2006 Hitting his third grand slam within a calendar month, Carlos Beltran becomes the ninth player to equal the big league record. The Mets center fielder bases-filled homer is the Mets sixth tying the 1996 Expos and 1999 Indians for most by a team in a calendar month.
2006 With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, Orlando Hudson hits a home run from both sides of home plate. Batting left-handed in the third inning, the Diamondbacks' second baseman goes deep off Mark Prior for his first career grand slam, then right-handed nails a Glendon Rusch pitch for a two-run homer in the seventh contributing to Arizona's 15-4 victory over the Cubs.
2007 The trading deadline prompts a busy day for the Braves as they deal eight players in three different transactions. Slugger Mark Teixeira and southpaw reliever Ron Mahay are obtained from the Rangers for the highly touted rookie backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia and four minor leaguers, and the team gets bullpen help from the Royals and Padres as Octavio Dotel and Royce Ring come to Atlanta respectively with Kyle Davies will now pitch for Kansas City and Wil Ledezma and Will Startup will begin to hurl for San Diego.
2007 Hitting eight home runs in a 16-3 rout of the White Sox, the Yankees tie a franchise record for round trippers. The Bronx Bombers' barrage, which includes two long balls by left fielder Hideki Matsui, equals the power surge of the game played in 1939 against the A's in Philadelphia's Shibe Park.
2008 At Yankee Stadium, a trio of Angels hit three-run home runs as the team blast the Bronx Bombers, 12-6. The homers, all hit by LA's outfielders, Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Rivera, account for nine of the dozen runs scored as the club improves its record to 68-40, the best in baseball.
2008 In a surprise trading-deadline deal, the Reds send future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox in exchange for right-hander Nick Masset and minor league infield prospect Danny Richar. The All-star outfielder, who had to approved the move to Chicago, is completing his final season of a nine-year contract, and didn't expect Cincinnati to pick up the $16.5 million club option for 2009.
2008 In a three-team swap, the much anticipated departure of Manny Ramirez from Beantown is finally accomplished with the unhappy outfielder being traded to the Dodgers. Former Pirates player Jason Bay will now roam left field for the Red Sox, with Pittsburgh receiving outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen from Boston as well as getting third baseman Andy LaRoche and right-hander Bryan Morris from Los Angeles to complete last-minute trading deadline deal.
2009 In a stunning last-minute deal, the White Sox obtain Jake Peavy from the Padres for four pitching prospects, Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Dexter Carter and Adam Russell. The 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner, presently on the disabled list, had previously refused to waive his no-trade clause to join Chicago in a siimilar deal proposed in May.
2009 The Marlins acquire Nick Johnson from the Nationals in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Aaron Thompson. The 30-year-old injury-prone first baseman’s ability to get on base should provide more scoring opportunities for a Florida team vying for a Wild Card berth.
41 Fact(s) Found