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This Day in All Teams History
July 21st

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25 Fact(s) Found
1892 In a match up of 300 game winners at Philadelphia Baseball Grounds, Phillies’ submariner Tim Keefe sinks Jim "Pud" Galvin and the Browns, 2-0. The next time two National League pitchers with 300 or more victories will faced each other will occur in 2005 when Greg Maddux of the Cubs beats Astros ace Roger Clemens at Minute Maid Park, 3-2.
1921 The Indians and the Yankees bang out 16 doubles collectively to establish a new American League record. The Tribe, with nine of the two-baggers, beat the Bronx Bombers in Cleveland's League Park, 17-8.
1930 George Puccinelli and Jim Bottomley of the Cardinals and Dodgers Hal Lee and Harvey Henrick all homer appearing as pinch-hitters in one game.
1945 At Philadelphia's Shibe Park, the A’s and Tigers play the second longest game in major league history. After 4 hours and 48 minutes, innings, the 24 inning contest ends in a 1-1 tie with Les Mueller pitching 19 2/3 innings for Detroit.
1947 Frankie Frisch (.316) becomes the first switch-hitter inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 'Fordham Flash' is joined by Carl Hubbell, Mickey Cochrane, and Lefty Grove as the newest members to be enshrined at Cooperstown.
1956 In a 13-6 defeat to the Cubs, Dodgers' shortstop Pee Wee Reese becomes one of five active players to collect 2000 hits and teammate Junior Gilliam sets a major league record by handling 12 assists at second base.
1959 Under intense public pressure and the Massachusetts Committee Against Discrimination investigation, the Red Sox become the last club to integrate. Fourteen years after Boston passes on Jackie Robinson despite a successful tryout in 1945, Elijah 'Pumpsie' Green pinch runs and plays shortstop to become the first black to play for the team.
1961 With back-to-back homers in the top of the first at Fenway Park, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris continue their assault on Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record. The game’s decisive hit, however, is a pinch-hit grand slam by Johnny Blanchard with two-out in the ninth-inning which propels the Bronx Bombers past the Red Sox‚ 11-8.
1963 The usually mild-mannered Dodger manager Walter Alston is thrown out of both games of a doubleheader when the Braves sweep a twin bill from Los Angeles for the first and only time in Milwaukee, 7-2 and 13-7. To make matters worse, the has beer thrown in his face by a hometown fan as he leaves the second game. (My thanks to Lee for sharing this entry. He attended the game at County Stadium as 10-year old. -LP)
1970 Ignoring Clay Kirby’s bid for a no-hitter, Padres manager Preston Gomez, with his club trailing the Mets,1-0, in the eighth inning, decides to pitch hit for his starting pitcher. San Diego fails to keep New York hitless and loses the Jack Murphy Stadium contest, 3-0.
1975 Mets' infielder Joe Torre becomes the first player in National League history to hit into straight four double plays in one game. Felix Millan singles in four consecutive at bats against the Astros making the dubious mark possible.
1982 The Reds, 24 games below .500, fire manager John McNamara and replace him with third base coach, Russ Nixon. Cincinnati will only win 27 games of the 70 they play for their new manager, who will replaced at the end of next season after another last place finish.
1988 The Red Sox suspend Jim Rice for three days for shoving manager Joe Morgan. The Boston outfielder became upset when the skipper pinch hit for him using the light-hitting shortstop Spike Owen.
1993 Astros shortstop Jose Uribe walks on 3-2 count thanks to home umpire Harry Wendelstedt losing track of the pitches.
2000 Thanks to Harold Baines' four hits, the Orioles halt its 20-game Canadian losing streak defeating the Blue Jays, 9-5. It is Baltimore's first victory north of the border since June 13, 1998.
2003 At Dodger Stadium, Vladimir Guerrero hit his 226th career home run breaking Andre Dawson's club record. The Expos' right fielder hits his milestone round-tripper off Odalis Perez, a 454 feet shot over left field wall.
2004 Mark Buehrle faces the minimum 27 batters as the White Sox rout the Indians, 14-0. Throwing just ninety piches, the 25-year old southpaw allows only two hits with both runners being erased as result of a double play.
2004 A third piece of concrete, which apparently fell from the park's upper deck, is discovered at Wrigley Field by a club employee. Two other chunks have also fallen recently in different sections in the at 90-year-old stadium prompting Mayor Richard Daley to say he would not hesitate to close sections -- or all -- of the facility to protect fans from potential harm.
2004 Thanks to an unusual play in the outfield, David Newhan hits a rare inside-the-park homer at Fenway. Inexplicably, outfielder Manny Ramirez, from left field, cuts off the relay throw from center fielder Johnny Damon allowing two Orioles to score in Baltimore's 10-5 victory.
2005 Hideki Matsui plays in his 395th consecutive game to start his career breaking Al Simmons's 1926 American League record. The Japanese outfielder will also surpass Ernie Banks' NL mark of 424 en route to establishing the new major league record of 518 consecutive contests.
2006 Going deep in the third inning, 30-year old Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez collects his 2,000th career hit and at the same time becomes the youngest player to reach 450 home run plateau. Later in the day, Padres catcher Mike Piazza also becomes a member of the 2000 hit club with a second inning double to left at San Francisco's AT&T Park.
2006 Cory Lidle, recently obtained from the Phillies along with Bobby Abreu in trade-deadline deal, throws six scoreless innings to get the 2-1 win as the Yankees complete a five-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Dubbed the "Boston Massacre II", the lopsided series reminds fans of the rivalry of a similar meltdown in Boston in 1978.
2008 Jose Reyes fourth inning three-bagger in the Mets 7-5 victory over the Reds at Great American Ballpark makes him the franchise leader in triples. The speedy shortstop's 11th three-base hit this season, his the sixty-third of his career, all as a Met, puts the 25-year old infielder one ahead Mookie Wilson.
2008 Coming out of the bullpen in the eighth, Jimmy Gobble allows ten runs in two-thirds of an inning setting a franchise record for the most runs allowed by a Royals reliever in a game. The 26-year old southpaw, who will be placed on the 15-day disabled list the next day with a stiff lower back, faces gives up seven hits and walks four batters facing 13 Tigers.
2008 Randy Johnson becomes the first major leaguer to collect 2,000 strikeouts for two different teams. The southpaw, who fanned 2,162 batters pitching for the Mariners from 1989-98, whiffs Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez to earn the distinction.
25 Fact(s) Found