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This Day in All Teams History
June 17th

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21 Fact(s) Found
1915 In relief, Cubs right-hander George Washington Zabel throws 18 and 1/3 innings of the Cubs' 4-3 victory over in Dodgers at West Side Park. 'Zip', establishing the major league record for longest relief stint in one game, beats Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who tosses a 19-inning complete-game.
1941 In the Yankees' 8-7 loss to Chicago, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is extended to 30 straight games when his seventh-inning grounder takes a bad hop off Luke Appling's shoulder. The 'Yankee Clipper's' fortunate hit also breaks the team's record for hits in consecutive games, previously held by Roger Peckinpaugh (1919) and Earle Combs (1931) who both had 29.
1942 During the second game of a twin bill in Boston, Paul Waner, standing on first base, gestures to the official scorer, Jerry Moore of the Boston Globe, not to credit him with a hit on the ground ball in the hole that was knocked down by Reds shortstop Eddie Joost. 'Big Poison' doesn't want a questionable roller to be his historic 3,000 hit, which the Braves right-fielder will collect with clean single after tomorrow's off day.
1943 Red Sox player-manger Joe Cronin becomes the first major leaguer to pinch-hit home runs in both ends of a doubleheader. Boston splits the Fenway Park twin bill against the Philadelphia A's, winning the opener 5-4 and dropping the nightcap 8-7.
1944 Although he will continue to play in the minor leagues until 1955, Ed Levy appears in his 40th and final game of his three-year tenure in the major leagues. The Irish Catholic first baseman, born as Edward Clarence Whitner in 1911, is asked to start using his stepfather's surname by Yankee team president Ed Barrow to help the club attract more Jewish fans to the Bronx ballpark.
1958 Ossie Virgil, who became the first black to play for the Tigers 11 days ago, goes 5-for-5 in his first home game at Briggs Stadium. The Dominican's performance helps Detroit to beat the Senators, 9-2.
1960 At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, Ted Williams hits his 500th career home run off of Wayne Hawkins. 'Teddy Ballgame's' two-run blast proves to be difference when the Red Sox beat the Indians, 3-2.
1962 Gene Woodling becomes the first major leaguer to play for both the Yankees and the Mets. In his National League debut, the 38-year old outfielder goes 2-for-4 scoring two runs for the new expansion team in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.
1970 At Candlestick Park, Willie Mays (615) and Ernie Banks (504) both homer in the Cubs’ 6-1 victory over the Giants. It is the first time in baseball history two players with 500 career home runs have gone deep in the same game.
1971 Don Kessinger goes 6-for-6, stroking five singles and a double. The Cubs leadoff hitter's perfect performance at the plate contributes to the team's 7-6 ten-inning victory over Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
1978 Ron Guidry strikes out 18 batters in the Yankees' 4-0 victory over California to establish a new American League mark for southpaws. The left-hander's performance will lead the team's television announcer, Phil Rizzuto, to coined a new nickname referring to the Lafayette Native as 'Louisiana Lighntning'.
1978 Inspired by Ron Guidry's performance, the crowd at Yankee Stadium initiate a new baseball tradition when they begin to rhythmically clap each time there is two strikes on the batter. The 'Gator' strikes out 15 Angels in six innings and finishes the game with 18 Ks, establishing a new American League mark for left-handers.
1987 Dick Howser, former manager of the Royals and Yankees, loses his courageous battle against cancer succumbing to a brain tumor. After three surgeries to remove the disease, the 51-year old frail-looking skipper had tried to make a comeback with Kansas City but had to resign after one day of spring-training workouts, becoming physically too weak to perform his duties.
1993 Baseball owners vote overwhelming, 26-2, in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time since 1969. The new system, beginning in 1994, will double the number of teams that qualify for post-season play to eight by realigning each league to three divisions and adding two wild card teams.
2001 Blake Stein strikes out 11 Milwaukee batters, including eight consecutively, in 5.2 innings. The right-hander’s effort will fall short when the Royals lose the Miller Park contest, 5-2.
2003 The Phillies enter into a 25-year naming rights agreement to call their new home Citizens Bank Park, promoting one of the nation's largest commercial holding companies. At Philadelphia's newest ball park, a gigantic Liberty Bell, towering 100 feet above street level, will come to life after every Phillies homer.
2004 At New Hampshire’s Holman Stadium, the Nashua Pride of the independent Atlantic League celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Watergate break-in by giving away Richard Nixon bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans in attendance. The minor league promotion, which included free entrance anyone named Woodward or Bernstein and 18 1/2 minutes of silence to match the time of the gap in the infamous Watergate tape, had no reports of stolen signs during the game.
2008 Cecil Cooper of the Astros and Ron Gardenhire of the Twins become the first two managers to be fined by Major League Baseball for failing to comply with pace of game regulations. Last month, all the teams were asked to help enforce existing rules in an effort to decrease the amount of time it takes to complete a big league contest.
2008 After a 9-6 victory against the Angels in the first game of West Coast road trip, the Mets fire manager Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first base coach Tom Nieto, shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern time. The team's 18th manager, who compiled a 302-253 record in 3+ seasons with New York, will be replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel on an interim basis until the end of season.
2009 Calling his 2,227th game behind the plate, backstop Ivan Rodriguez breaks Carlton 'Pudge' Fisk's record for the number games caught in the major leagues. The Astros catcher, also known as Pudge, establishes the mark against the Rangers, the team he broke in with as a 19-year old in 1991.
2009 Fans attending tonight's game at Fenway Park will have an opportunity to win food and prizes along with one lucky patron, sitting 500 feet from plate, receiving a pair of tickets for a future contest. The Red Sox are treating their fans to celebrate the 500th straight sellout at home, a streak begun on May 15, 2003, in which almost 18 million has seen the club compile a 326-173 record over the first 499 games of the record span.
21 Fact(s) Found