<< Yesterday

This Day in Baseball History
August 11th

Tomorrow>>
47 Fact(s) Found
1907 At Robison Field, Cardinal southpaw Ed Karger pitches a seven-inning perfect game in the nightcap of a doubleheader, beating the Boston Doves, 4-0. A prior agreement between the clubs shortened the contest, making the 24-year-old Texan's gem the only major-league abridged perfect game or no-hitter that was not the result of weather or darkness.
1912 Shoeless Joe Jackson completes the stolen base cycle when he swipes home in the seventh inning of the Indians' 8-3 victory over New York at Cleveland's League Park. The 25-year-old outfielder made his way around the bases by stealing second and third base before his thievery of the plate to complete the deed.
1926 At Cleveland's Dunn Field, Indian outfielder Tris Speaker hits his 700th career double in the third inning off James Edwards in a 7-2 loss to the White Sox. The 'Grey Eagle' will establish a major league mark for two-baggers, collecting 792 during his 22-year career.
1929 At League Park in Cleveland, Babe Ruth hits Willis Hudlin's first delivery in the second inning over the right-field fence to record his 500th career home run. The Bambino has more than twice the number of round-trippers than the Phillies' Cy Williams, who is #2 on the all-time list with 237.
1940 Bees hurler Nick Strincevich completes an unusual 1-1 unassisted twin killing when he doubles up Joe Vosmik, the runner trying to score on attempted squeeze play signaled by Dodger skipper Leo Durocher. The Boston southpaw catches Vito Tamulis' bunt in the air and continues running until he steps on third base, completing the double play to end the top of the seventh inning in the team's 3-0 loss to Brooklyn at Braves Field.
1942 At Cleveland Stadium, a quirky rule results in a doubleheader's first game suspension due to darkness but allows the Tigers to beat the Indians in the nightcap, 3-2. The umpires halted the scoreless opener in the 14th inning because the major league edict states games started in daylight can not finish under artificial lights, with the rule not applying to the second game of the twin bill because the contest started after the sun went down.
1946 The Phillies snap their 18-home-game losing streak against the Dodgers, sweeping a doubleheader at the Shibe Park, 7-6 and 6-4. Brooklyn, who hadn't lost in Philadelphia since May 5th, 1945, set a major league mark with their dominance in the City of Brotherly Love.
1950 Vern Bickford, throwing just 97 pitches, no-hits the Dodgers at Braves Field, 7-0. The 29-year-old right-hander hurls the first hitless game for Boston since Jim Tobin accomplished the feat, also against Brooklyn, on April 27, 1944.
1951 WCBS-TV televises the first baseball game broadcast in color, a Dodgers’ 8-1 victory over the visiting Braves in the first game of a twin bill. Brooklyn's announcers Red Barber and Connie Desmond provide the play-by-play commentary for the Ebbets Field contest, detailing Ralph Branca’s victory over eventual 20-game winner Warren Spahn.
1951 At Texas League Park in Tulsa, OK, Bob Turley of the San Antonio Missions strikes out 22 Oilers in a 16-inning game called due to darkness with the score tied 3-3. When the Class-AA minor league season ends, the 20-year-old right-hander will join the Browns, making his major league debut for the last-place team on September 29th.
1955 Ted Williams collects his 2000th career hit with a first-inning bloop single off Bob Turley in the team's 5-3 loss at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox outfielder will finish his 19-year Hall of Fame career with 2654 hits.
1959 Gil Carter, a pitcher for the Carlsbad, New Mexico entry in the Sophomore Baseball League, reportedly hits a ball that travels 730 feet from home plate. The left-field blast may be the longest home run ever hit. 
1961 In front of packed County Stadium in Milwaukee, Warren Spahn scatters six hits to beat the Cubs, 2-1, for his 300th victory. *The 40-year-old Braves' southpaw, who finishes his career with 363 wins, the most of any left-hander in the game's history, is the thirteenth major league hurler to reach the milestone.
1963 In the second game of a doubleheader, Auburn's Paul Alspach strikes out 24 New York-Penn League Pirate batters en route to a 1-0 victory at Batavia's MacArthur Stadium. The 21-year-old Mets farmhand's performance breaks the NYPL's strikeout record of 20, previously shared by Jerry Kleinsmith (Jamestown, 1948) and Ron Owen (Hornell, 1955). 
1967 Al Downing, en route to a 5-3 complete-game victory at Cleveland Stadium, strikes out the side in the second frame on nine consecutive pitches. The Yankee southpaw's immaculate inning victims are clean-up batter Tony Horton, Don Demeter, and Duke Sims.
1968 As a pinch-hitter, Gates Brown has two walk-off hits in Detroit's twin bill sweep of the Red Sox at Tiger Stadium. His pinch home run off Lee Stange in the 14th inning ends the opener, 5-4, and the first game hero, coming off the bench in the ninth frame of the nightcap, singles to right off Sparky Lyle, scoring Mickey Stanley to give the team from the Motor City a 6-5 victory.
1970 With a 6-5 victory over the Astros, Phillies' right-hander Jim Bunning becomes the first pitcher since Cy Young to win 100 games in both leagues. During his nine years with the Tigers, the future U.S. Senator compiled a 118-87 record in the American League.
1970 With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Carl Taylor's walk-off grand slam caps a five-run rally, giving the Cardinals a dramatic comeback victory over San Diego, 11-10. The pinch-hitter delivers his 'sayonara slam' on the first pitch he sees from Ron Herbel. 
1973 During the Yankees' Old-Timers' Game, Mickey Mantle homers off his old teammate and best buddy, Whitey Ford. After launching a shot that lands foul in the Bronx ballpark's upper deck, the slugger sends the southpaw's next pitch over the fence, much to the delight of the large crowd.
1979 Joining Ted Williams (four seasons) and Jimmie Foxx (five seasons), Red Sox slugger Jim Rice becomes the third player in franchise history to hit 30 home runs in three consecutive seasons. The Red Sox outfielder's first-inning homer isn't enough when Milwaukee beats Boston at Fenway Park, 9-6.
1980 In the third inning of a 3-1 Yankee victory over the White Sox, Reggie Jackson connects off Britt Burns for his 400th career home run. Mr. October will finish his 21-year career with 563 dingers, placing him sixth on the all-time list when he retired in 1987.
1981 Ray Searage gets credit for the win when he pitches two-plus innings of hitless relief in New York's 4-2 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. With his eighth-inning single, the southpaw is the only Met player to have compiled a 1.000 batting average (1-for-1) and a 1.000 winning percentage (1-0) while playing with the team.
1982 Terry Felton's career record drops to 0-14 when the right-hander takes the loss when the Twins drop a 6-3 decision to the Angels. The 24-year-old right-hander, who will not win a game in 55 major league appearances, establishes a new mark for the worst individual start in baseball history, surpassing Guy Morton's 1914 record of 13 consecutive losses from the beginning of a career.
1986 Breaking the mark set by Max Carey and Fred Clarke, Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose sets a National League record with the tenth five-hit game of his career. The 45-year-old 'Charlie Hustle' singles four times and doubles in the 13-4 loss to San Francisco.
1987 Oakland A's first baseman Mark McGwire breaks Al Rosen's American League rookie record, established in 1950, and ties the major league mark shared by Frank Robinson (1956) and Wally Berger (1930) when he hits his 38th homer of the season. The unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year will finish the season with 49 homers, smashing the existing major league record.
1991 In only his second big league start, 21-year-old White Sox southpaw Wilson Alvarez becomes the 16th rookie to throw a no-hitter, beating the Orioles, 7-0. Only Browns' hurler Bobo Holloman, who threw a no-no in his first major league start in 1953, accomplished the feat in fewer starts.
1994 Randy Johnson's pitch to strike out A's Ernie Young will become the last ball thrown in the major leagues for seven and a half months. The longest work stoppage in baseball history will cancel the remaining games on the schedule, including the postseason, and will impact the start of the 1995 campaign.
1994 Tony Gwynn raises his average to .394, going 3-5 in the Padres' 8-6 victory against Houston at the Astrodome. Tomorrow, a work stoppage prematurely ends the season, making the San Diego right fielder the closest to bat .400 since Ted Williams accomplished the feat, hitting .406 for the Red Sox in 1941.
1998 When 26,472 fans attend the Devil Rays' 2-1 walk-off win over Baltimore at Tropicana Field, the team surpasses the two-million mark in home attendance in their inaugural season. Tampa Bay joins the Rockies, Marlins, and Diamondbacks as the only expansion teams to reach this mark.
1998 Observance of a moment of silence in memory of Detective John Gibson takes place at Fenway Park. The Waltham, Massachusetts resident, one of the police officers killed at the U.S. Capitol last month, was a lifelong Red Sox fan.
2001 For the third and final time, Jason and Jeremy Giambi homer in the same game when both brothers go deep off Sterling Hitchcock in Oakland's 8-6 victory over New York at Network Associates Coliseum. The A's teammates first accomplished the feat last season and again in June.
2001 En route to his 11th victory when the Giants beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 9-4, Livan Hernandez goes 4-for-4, including a home run. The Cuban right-hander has collected eight consecutive hits, enjoying a 3-for-3 performance against the Phillies on August 5 and 2-for-3 against the Pirates on the last day in July.
2001 For the first time in his 16-year career, Barry Bonds, en route to establishing a new big league single-season record with 73, hits his 50th homer of the season. The 36-year-old Giants outfielder reaches the milestone in his 117th game, the fewest since 1999 when Sammy Sosa attained the mark in 121 contests.
2002 Keeping with the tradition of commemorating former players in the Hall of Fame, the Cardinals unveiled the 11th statue outside Busch stadium - an airborne Ozzie Smith. The bronze likeness, created by sculptor Harry Weber, captures the former shortstop stretched horizontally to the ground, trying to field a grounder in the hole.

Ozzie Smith
Ozzie Smith by Adam Fagen on Flickr
licensed under CC BY NC-SA 2.0
2002 Sammy Sosa's grand slam and a run-scoring double against the Rockies give the Cubs' slugger 14 RBIs over two games, establishing a new National League record. The previous mark was 13, shared by Nate Colbert (Padres-1972) and Mark Whiten (Cardinals-1993).
2003 By fanning Jeff Kent in the seventh inning at Wrigley Field, Kerry Wood became the fastest major leaguer to record his 1,000th career strikeout, needing only 134 games to reach the milestone. The 26-year-old All-Star right-hander surpasses Roger Clemens, who needed 143 games to accomplish the feat.

2003 Pawtucket's right-hander Bronson Arroyo throws the second perfect game in three years for the team and fourth in the 120-year history of the International League, beating Buffalo at McCoy Stadium, 7-0. In 2001, Tomo Ohka, a member of the Expos two seasons later, set down 27 consecutive batters for the PawSox in a 2-0 victory over the Charlotte Knights in the same Rhode Island ballpark.
2004 During the memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in front of pews packed with Mets fans, team owner Fred Wilpon and former broadcast partner Gary Thorne deliver eulogies remembering the late Hall of Famer Bob Murphy. At the age of 79, 'Murph' after supplying 42 years of Happy Recaps for the Mets and a half-century broadcasting big-league games that included stints with the Red Sox and Orioles, lost his battle with lung cancer.

2005 Mets outfielders Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron, running at full speed in an attempt to catch David Ross' seventh-inning short fly to short right-center, dive head-first into each other, causing a horrific on-field collision. Right fielder Cameron, who suffers a broken nose and multiple fractures of both cheekbones, will undergo facial surgery in San Diego, with his teammate faring a bit better, suffering a concussion and a small fracture in his cheekbone.

2008 The Reds trade pleasantly surprised Adam Dunn to the Diamondbacks for minor league right-hander Dallas Buck and two players to be named. Cincinnati continues unloading the team's marquee players with Dunn, the major league leader in home runs (tie), and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. dealt for prospects as the team begins rebuilding.
2010 In an 8-2 victory over Milwaukee at Miller Park, the Diamondbacks become the seventh team to hit four consecutive home runs in an inning. In the top of the fourth inning, Adam LaRoche, Miguel Montero, Mark Reynolds, and Stephen Drew connect off Dave Bush, making the right-hander only the third hurler in major league history to yield four straight round-trippers.  
2014 Much to the delight of the 21,479 hometown fans at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals, who haven't made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1985, beat Oakland, 3-2, to take a half-game lead in the AL Central. South Korean first-time visitor Sung Woo, the team's recent good luck charm, well known to Royals fans for his long-time enthusiastic support for the Kansas City club thanks to his active participation on Twitter under the handle @Koreanfan_Kansas City, hangs the "W" on the outer wall of the Royals Hall of Fame.
2015 The Blue Jays, Rays, Marlins, Mets, Indians, Cubs, Royals, White Sox, Twins, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Padres, Dodgers, and Giants all win, marking the first time every home team is victorious in a full slate of games. The unique occurrence became a reality when the last two completed games ended in extra innings in Cleveland and Seattle, with the host clubs enjoying a walk-off victory.
2015 The Blue Jays equal a franchise record with their eleventh straight victory, a 4-2 win over the A's at Toronto's Rogers Centre. The streak is their second 11-game run, making the team the first since 1954 Indians to achieve the feat twice in the same season.
2016 Rockies rookie outfielder David Dahl singles to right field off Rangers starter Lucas Harrell, extending his hit streak to 17 straight games to start his big league career. The 22-year-old freshman's streak, in which he is batting .365 (23-of-63), equals the mark established by Reds' third baseman Chuck Aleno, who also hit in his first major league 17 games in May of 1941.
2020 Although considered the home team in some of the 13 short-season away contests to start the season, the Blue Jays play their 'home' opener at Buffalo's Sahlen Field, necessitated due to Canada's COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Toronto closer Anthony Bass gives up a game-tying three-run homer to Marlins' backstop Francisco Cervelli on a 3-0 pitch, but the team prevails in the bottom of the 10th when Travis Shaw delivers a bases-loaded single for a walk-off 5-4 victory.

(Ed. Note - The contest marks the first time a major league team has called Buffalo home since the 1915 Federal League's Buffalo Blues.)

2020 For the first time in over a century, games are played at three different New York major league ballparks when the Toronto Blue Jays face the Marlins at Buffalo's Sahlen Field, joining contests at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium. The last time this happened in the Empire State occurred on September 8, 1915, with the Polo Grounds (Yankees), Ebbets Field (Dodgers), and Federal League Park (Buffalo Blues) hosting big-league teams.
47 Fact(s) Found