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This Day in All Teams History
October 23rd

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25 Fact(s) Found
1910 Jack Coombs wins his third game of the World Series when he goes the distance to beat the Cubs at Chicago's West Side Grounds, 7-2. In addition to winning Game 5 to give Philadelphia the world championship, the A's right-hander also had complete-game victories in Games 2 and 3 of the Fall Classic.
1945 Dodger President Branch Rickey announces that the team has signed two black players, shortstop Jackie Robinson and pitcher Johnny Wright, to play with Brooklyn's Triple-A team in Montreal. The 26-year-old Negro League infielder will be the first black player in organized baseball since 1884.
1951 The Associated Press selects Giants skipper Leo Durocher as the Manager of the Year. Under his leadership, the Giants rallied from a 13½ game deficit in mid-August to win the pennant, beating the Dodgers in a three-game playoff series best remembered for Bobby Thomson's fabled home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding game at the Polo Grounds.
1952 The Pacific Coast League announces its teams will play a reduced 176-game schedule next season. However, the PCL clubs will continue to play 180 contests next season, similar to the past two years.
1958 The Associated Press names Danny Murtaugh as its major league Manager of the Year. In his first full year in the Pirates' dugout, the team improved by 22 games, 14 games over .500, finishing in second place, eight games behind Milwaukee.
1973 Boston trades first baseman Ben Ogilvie to the Tigers in exchange for Dick McAuliffe. The former Detroit shortstop will hit only .210 in 100 games for his new team next season, but in 1975, the Hartford native will become the manager of the club's Double-A farm team, the Bristol Red Sox, located in his home state of Connecticut.
1985 After months of debate, King County Executive Randy Revelle and team owner George Argyros sign a new lease calling for the Mariners to play in the Kingdome through the 1996 season. The deal contains a provision that allows the M's to leave Seattle after the 1987 season if attendance stays below 1.4 million and season ticket sales fall under the 10,000 mark.
1986 In Game 5 of the World Series at Fenway Park, Bruce Hurst throws a complete game to beat the Mets, 4-2, earning his second victory of the Fall Classic and bringing the team within one win of ending their 68-year World Championship drought. New York will dash the Red Sox Nation's hopes with two come-from-behind wins at Shea Stadium.
1993

"Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life" - Tom Cheek, radio voice of the Blue Jays.

Thanks to Joe Carter's dramatic ninth-inning three-run homer over the left-field wall, the Blue Jays beat the Phillies 8-6 to win their second consecutive World Championship. The Toronto outfielder becomes the second player to end the World Series with a home run, joining Bill Mazeroski, whose Forbes Field's round-tripper beat the Yankees in 1960.

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1993 Mike Piazza, the sixty-second round pick of the 1988 draft, is the BBWAA's unanimous choice for the Rookie of the Year award in the National League. The Dodger catcher is the first player to hit over .300 (.318), connect for more than 30 homers (35), and drive in at least 100 runs (112) in the Senior Circuit as a freshman since Wally Berger accomplished the feat in his initial major league season with the Braves in 1930.
1995 Former Astros GM Bob Watson is named the Yankees' new general manager, replacing Gene Michael. Watson will stay in the position for just two seasons, but during his tenure, the team will win its first World Series since 1978, establishing the groundwork for the very successful Bronx Bomber clubs of the late 1990s.
1996 After the Yankees lose the first two games of the Fall Classic at the Stadium, David Cone limits the Braves to four hits and one run in six innings en route to New York's 5-2 win. The contest marks the first of 14 consecutive World Series victories en route to the Bronx Bombers' four titles in five years.
1998 The Dodgers hire Davey Johnson to manage the second-place club, taking over the reins from Bill Russell. The former Mets, Reds, and Orioles skipper, who has finished first with every team he has ever led, will see his streak end in LA when he compiles a 163- 161 (.503) record.
2000 Although lacking big league managerial experience, Pirates hitting coach Lloyd McClendon is named the team's skipper, replacing the recently-fired Gene Lamont. During the new manager's five-year tenure in the Pittsburgh dugout, the struggling Bucs will compile a 336-446 (.430) record.
2002 The fans participating in the Major League Baseball and MasterCard promotion select Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak in 1995 as baseball's most memorable moment. Hank Aaron's 715th homer to pass Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, Mark McGwire breaking Roger Maris' single-season home run record, and Lou Gehrig's farewell speech round out the top five events selected by the fans.
2002 Joining Roberto Clemente and Thurman Munson, Darryl Kile will become the third player to appear on the 2003 Hall of Fame ballot before the mandatory five-year waiting period. The 33-year-old Cardinal pitcher, a victim of heart disease, was found dead in his Chicago hotel room in June.
2002 In Game 4 of the World Series, the Angels intentionally walk Barry Bonds three times, setting a new record for a Fall Classic game. Halos' starting pitcher John Lackey, who issues all the free passes to the Giants' left fielder, does not factor in the decision in San Francisco's 4-3 victory at Pac Bell, which deadlocks the series at two.
2005 For the 14th time in World Series history, a walk-off home run ends the contest when Scott Podsednik's ninth-inning blast in Game 2 at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field beats the Astros, 7-6. Bill Mazeroski remains the only player to accomplish the feat in the seventh game of the Fall Classic.

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2005 On the verge of the first World Series game in Texas, much to the Astros' chagrin, MLB rules Houston must play Game 3 of the Fall Classic with its Minute Maid Park roof open. The team had a much better record (38-17) in the enclosed ballpark during the regular season than in games started in the open air (15-11).
2006 Extending his scoreless streak to 24.1 postseason innings, dating back to 2003 with the Twins, Kenny Rogers blanks the Cardinals for eight innings when the Tigers beat the Cardinals 3-1 to even the World Series at a game apiece. The "Gambler's" recent playoff success comes under suspicion as TV cameras spot a dark substance on the right-hander's pitching hand in the first frame, which he claims to be only mud.

2010 The Giants capture their twenty-first National League flag when they defeat the Phillies, 3-2, in Game 6 of the NLCS at Citizens Bank Park. The decisive blow is Juan Uribe's two-out tie-breaking home run off Ryan Madson in the eighth inning.
2012

"I love Fidel Castro, I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that m**r is still here." - OZZIE GUILLEN, praising the Cuban dictator during an interview with Time magazine.

With three seasons and $7.5 million remaining on their skipper's four-year contract, the Marlins dismiss their controversial manager, Ozzie Guillen, who had verbal feuds with Nationals' rookie Bryce Harper and his players, including closer Heath Bell during a disappointing last-place finish. The 48-year-old Venezuelan-born skipper did not endear himself to the Miami fan base after praising Fidel Castro in an early-season interview, which led to a five-game suspension by MLB for his comments about the Cuban dictator.

2014 After aggressively trying to sign their manager to a third contract extension, the Rays announce Joe Maddon has exercised his contract's opt-out clause. During his nine-year tenure with Tampa Bay, a franchise perceived as perennial losers before his arrival, the popular skipper compiled a 754-705 record, leading the team to the playoffs four times, including winning two AL East titles and one appearance in the World Series.
2015 The Royals win their second straight American League flag when they eliminate the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS played at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City scores the go-ahead run in their 4-3 victory in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lorenzo Cain races home from first base on Eric Hosmer's RBI single.

2018 The Dodgers become the first team to use an all-right-handed lineup in a World Series game due to the dominance of Red Sox southpaw starter Chris Sale facing left-handed swingers, who batted a paltry .170 against him during the regular season. The strategy proves effective when Los Angeles pounds out five hits and scores three runs during the left-hander's four innings of work, but the team still loses Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Fenway Park, 8-4.


25 Fact(s) Found