| << Yesterday | This Day in Baseball History |
Tomorrow>> |
37 Fact(s) Found
| 1903 | In a 13-7 rout of the Corsicana Oil Cities, Paris Parasites left fielder Clyde Bateman hits four home runs to become the second player in Texas League history to accomplish the feat, joining Oil Cities' Jay J. Clarke. In less than two months, the 26-year-old slugger, who will lead the circuit in hitting and homers, makes history again when he throws a no-hitter for the Steers (the franchise's new name after moving to Waco on June 26th) against the Fort Worth Panthers. (Ed. Note- Clyde Bateman is also known as Quait Bateman - LP) |
| 1911 |
The Red Sox come back to beat the Tigers, 13-11, overcoming a nine-run deficit in the Bennett Park contest. Duffy Lewis' tenth-inning grand slam proves to be the difference in the game that also features Ty Cobb's first bases-loaded round-tripper.
|
| 1911 | En route to a 19-5 rout of the Cardinals, the Giants score 13 runs, tallying a record ten times before the first batter is retired, in the bottom of the first inning. of the Polo Grounds contest. Fred Merkle drives in six runs in New York’s first frame, including a three-run inside-the-park round-tripper in the Polo Grounds contest. |
| 1929 | Both teams wear numbers on their jerseys for the first time in major league history when the Indians host the Yankees at League Park in Cleveland. The numerals will become a permanent fixture on each club's attire. |
| 1942 | Braves' pitcher Jim Tobin, en route to a 6-5 victory over the Cubs, becomes the first modern-day hurler to hit three home runs in one game, equalling the feat of Guy Hecker, who hit three inside-the-park round-trippers playing for Louisville in 1886. 'Ironsides,' who pinch-hit a homer in the eighth inning of yesterday's contest, would have hit five consecutive blasts if his first-inning fly ball against the fence had gone out. |
| 1947 |
During the pregame infield practice, the Cincinnati fans directed racial slurs at Jackie Robinson during the Dodgers' first visit to Crosley Field this season. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a Southerner from Kentucky with friends attending the game and captain of the team, converses with the black infielder, putting his arm around his teammate's shoulder, a gesture that stuns and silences the crowd.
(Ed. Note: Although the teammates were good friends, various accounts questioned the year and place of the gesture. Further research suggests the incident most likely occurred in 1948, either in Cincinnati or Boston's Braves Field. - LP)
 Photo from Flickr by Gary Dunaier
|
| 1952 |
"He grabbed me by the shoulder and said, 'Larry, you're going to be in the big leagues and the first time you hit a home run, I'm going to be the announcer to tell the world about it.' Can you imagine that? He's 15 years old. I'll be damned if it didn't happen." - LARRY MIGGINS, recalling his prep school friend's prediction during a school assembly. Larry Miggins, who had shared his dreams of being a big leaguer with a Fordham Prep buddy, hits the first of his two major league round-trippers, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals' 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The friend turns out to be Brooklyn's play-by-play announcer Vin Scully, the 15-year-old classmate with aspirations of being a baseball broadcaster who had predicted he would call his friend's first big-league homer during that conversation. |
| 1952 | At Shaw Stadium, 19-year-old Bristol (VA) pitcher Ron Necciai strikes out twenty-seven batters when he no-hits Welch (WV) in a Class D Appalachian League game. In the ninth inning, catcher Harry Dunlop, encouraged by the fans, deliberately mishandles the third strike, allowing the hitter to reach base, giving the Gallatin (PA) native a chance to strike out 27 when he whiffs four batters in the frame. |
| 1954 | In an 8-1 victory over the Reds at Connie Mack Stadium, Robin Roberts gives up a leadoff home run to third baseman Bobby Adams. The 27-year-old right-hander then proceeds to retire the next 27 consecutive batters in one of the most memorable games of his Hall of Fame career. |
| 1955 | For the first time in his major league career, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate, finishing the game with three round-trippers - two from the left side and one batting right-handed. The switch-hitting slugger drives in all of his team's runs in the 5-2 victory over Detroit at Yankee Stadium. |
| 1958 | As a pinch-hitter, Stan Musial collects his 3000th hit in the sixth inning off Moe Drabowsky in the Cardinals' 5-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 'The Man,' the youngest player to reach the milestone, is the eighth major leaguer to accomplish the feat. |
| 1958 | San Francisco teammates Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer have four long hits each, driving in four and six runs in the team's 16-9 victory over the Dodgers at LA's Memorial Coliseum. The Giants' center fielder and shortstop combine for 28 total bases, with Mays hitting two homers, two triples, and a single and Spencer adding two round-trippers, a three-bagger, and a double to the offensive outburst. |
| 1958 | Phillies right-hander Robin Roberts gives up six hits in a complete-game effort, beating the Braves at Connie Mack Stadium, 5-2. The win marks the 31-year-old hurler's 191st career victory, which sets a franchise record, surpassing the mark established in 1930 by Pete Alexander. |
| 1960 | The Phillies drop their third consecutive 1-0 decision, losing to Jim O'Toole and the Reds at Crosley Field. Giants' hurlers Jack Sanford and Sam Jones had shut out Philadelphia at Candlestick Park in the previous two days. |
| 1969 | With his daughter Jan and her classmates in attendance at chilly Wrigley Field, first baseman Ernie Banks drives in seven runs with two three-run homers and a double in the Cubs' 19-0 rout of San Diego. Following the consecutive no-run performances by Ferguson Jenkins and Ken Holtzman, Dick Selma adds another, making it the first time in 60 years that the team has shut out its opponents in three consecutive games. |
| 1970 | With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning at Wrigley Field, Gary Gentry gives up his only hit, a short fly hit by Ernie Banks that outfielder Dave Marshall gets a glove on but cannot hold. The Mets right-hander settles for a one-hit 4-0 victory over the Cubs, just missing the opportunity of being the first hurler in franchise history to throw a no-hit game if official scorer Jim Enright had ruled differently on the blooper to left field. |
| 1976 | Royals' third baseman George Brett collects at least three hits for the sixth consecutive game, batting an incredible .692. The 18-for-26 spree against the Orioles, Twins, and White Sox raises his season's batting average from .277 to .396 with his torrid pace at the plate. |
| 1980 | In the eighth inning of the Red Sox's 10-5 victory over the Twins, Fred Lynn's run-scoring triple completes the 13th cycle in franchise history. The Boston outfielder, who collected four RBIs, hit a double in the first inning, drove in two with a fourth-inning round-tripper, and pushed across another run with a single in the sixth frame of the Fenway Park contest. |
| 1982 | The Cubs become the first major league team to win 8,000 games when Allen Ripley and Lee Smith combine to shut out Houston in the team's 5-0 victory at the Astrodome. The milestone comes in the 15,337th contest in the 107-year franchise history. |
| 1985 | After trailing by eight runs, going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Yankees rally to beat the Twins, 9-8. The finishing touch is Don Mattingly's ninth-inning two-out, three-run walk-off home run at the Bronx ballpark. |
| 1985 | A day before his 43rd birthday, Tony Perez becomes the oldest player to hit a grand slam when he goes deep off Phillies' reliever Dave Rucker in the sixth inning of the Reds' 7-3 victory at Riverfront Stadium. The 42-year-old pinch-hitter breaks the seventy-year-old record held by Pirates' third baseman Honus Wagner, and the new mark will last until Julio Franco, 46, hits a base-loaded round-tripper in 2004. |
| 1991 | In the broadcast booth at Wrigley Field, Skip Caray and Chip Caray, the Braves' play-by-play announcers, join Cubs legend Harry Caray, the patriarch of the three-generation broadcasting family. The 77-year-old grandfather, known for his warm relationship with the Chicago fans, takes tremendous pride that his son and grandson have chosen to be baseball broadcasters. |
| 1993 | One day before his 40th birthday, George Brett hits his 300th career home run, joining Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays, and Al Kaline as the only players with three hundred homers and three thousand hits. A fan on a veterans' hospital outing, who happens to be blind, picks up the Royals' third baseman's historic ball. |
| 2000 | Todd Stottlemyre limits the opponents to one run in six innings to earn his 136th career victory when the Diamondbacks beat San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium, 6-2, making the Stottlemyres the first father and son to combine for 300 wins. The 35-year-old Arizona right-hander plans to give the game ball to his dad, Mel, who began chemotherapy early this season for bone marrow cancer. |
| 2000 | The Mets release a disgruntled Rickey Henderson a day after failing to hustle, turning a likely double into a single. When released, the 41-year-old stolen base leader is batting .219 with no homers and two RBIs. |
| 2001 | Still angry with umpire Mike Winters' ninth-inning check-swing call the night before, Devil Rays' manager Hal McRae gets thrown out before the game's first pitch when he steps out of the dugout to pick up his lost cause. |
| 2001 | Alex Rodriguez becomes the fifth-youngest (25 years, 289 days) player to hit his 200th career homer. Mel Ott accomplished the feat in 1934 at the youngest age (25 years, 144 days), followed by Eddie Mathews (25 years, 243 days), Jimmie Foxx (25 years, 267 days), and Mickey Mantle (25 years, 280 days). |
| 2002 | Thirty-eight home runs shy of the exclusive 500 mark, one-time 'Bash Brother' Jose Canseco, 37, retires due to injuries sustained in recent years. The former American League MVP, released by the Expos during spring training, had his best years in Oakland as a teammate of Mark McGwire. |
| 2007 |
In the comeback, which will become known as the Mother's Day Miracle, the Red Sox rally for six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Baltimore at Fenway Park, 6-5. Before the final frame, Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie had blanked the opponents on three hits before Boston crossed the plate six times, thanks to two singles, two doubles, three walks, and two errors.
|
| 2008 |
Along with the Red Sox's loss, the Rays' 2-1 victory over the Yankees in 11 innings puts the team in sole possession of first place for the first time in franchise history. The win makes Tampa Bay seven games over .500 (23-16), a mark never accomplished during the first 11 seasons of the club's existence.
 |
| 2009 | Ryan Zimmerman's Nationals-record consecutive hit streak ends at 30 games when he grounds into a ninth-inning force play, ending the day 0-for-3 with two walks in the team's 6-3 victory at AT&T Park. Only two Washington ballplayers, Hall of Famers Heinie Manush and Sam Rice, have had longer hit streaks than the Nats' third baseman. |
| 2010 | Trey Hillman, who compiled a 152-207 record in his two-plus years with the club, is fired by the Royals. The popular and well-respected 47-year-old, who piloted the team to a 12-23 record this season, including today's victory, will be replaced by the team's current baseball operations assistant and former Brewers manager, Ned Yost. |
| 2013 |
Thanks to a seventh-grade history class project, a three-mile stretch of the Kansas K-79 highway, from K-16 highway to Circleville, is designated by the Kansas legislature as the Barnes Brothers Memorial Highway in honor of Ozzie and Virgil. The McAlister middle schoolers' research about the siblings, who grew up in the community and played with the Braves, Giants, and Dodgers in the 1910-20s, brought to light many of their major league accomplishments, including being participants in the first brother matchup in big-league history.
|
| 2013 | Justin Upton, playing In his first game at Chase Field since the January trade that sent him to Atlanta in a seven-player deal, collects four hits, including a home run and a double. The first overall pick by Arizona in the 2005 amateur draft receives a mixed reaction from the crowd, with slightly more cheers than boos during Atlanta's 10-1 rout of the Diamondbacks. |
| 2015 |
Corey Kluber becomes one of five pitchers to strike out 18 or more batters without issuing a walk, joining Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Kerry Wood. The 29-year-old right-hander, who goes eight innings to get the victory when the Indians beat St. Louis 2-0 in the Progressive Field contest, also ties Johnson for the most strikeouts in a start lasting less than nine innings.
|
| 2016 | Chris Heisey's pinch-hit home run, his third this season, marks the first time the Nationals have had two pinch-hitters go deep in the same game. Earlier in the contest, Stephen Drew, coming off the bench, blasted a game-tying two-run shot in the sixth inning of Washington's eventual 5-3 victory over Miami. |
| 2020 |
"Im not playing unless I get mine. Im not splitting no revenue. I want all mine. Bro, y'all got to understand, too, because yall going to be like: Bro, play for the love of the game. Man, whats wrong with you, bro? Money should not be a thing. Bro, Im risking my life. What do you mean, It should not be a thing? It 100% should be a thing." - BLAKE SNELL, Rays' southpaw commenting on a Twitch stream about his salary during the 2020 season. Strongly disagreeing with the owners' proposal to base salaries on a 50-50 revenue split with the players, Rays' southpaw Blake Snell, invoking many fans' ire, indicates he will not pitch this year for reduced pay. The 27-year-old left-hander, recipient of the 2018 AL Cy Young Award, will receive $43,210 for each day of the schedule, the prorated share of his salary when the season does start. |
37 Fact(s) Found