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This Day in Baseball History
July 19th

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41 Fact(s) Found
1902 In front of a near-capacity crowd, John McGraw, the last-place team's third skipper this season, begins his 30-year tenure as the Giants' manager, playing shortstop in a 5-3 loss to the Phillies at the Polo Grounds. The fiery 29-year-old Mugsy left the fledgling American League Orioles midseason, bringing three key players from Baltimore, first baseman Dan McGann, catcher Roger Bresnahan, and right-hander Joe McGinnity, all of who started in today's game.
1909 During the top of the second inning of a 6-1 win over the Red Sox at Cleveland's League Park, Neal Ball executes the first unassisted triple play in the post-1900 era of baseball. The Naps (Indians) shortstop catches an Ambrose McConnell line drive, steps on second to double up Heinie Wagner, and then tags Jake Stahl for the third out as he comes from first base.


Naps' shortstop Neal Ball (1911)
Library of Congress - Benjamin K. Edwards Collection
1910 Cy Young wins his 500th game when the Naps beat the Senators in 11 innings at American League Park, 5-4. During his 22-year major league career, pitching for five teams from 1890-1911, the 43-year-old right-hander compiled 511 victories, 94 more than Walter Johnson, who is second on the all-time list.
1911 Former circus acrobat Walter Carlisle completes an unassisted triple-play for Vernon (LA) of the Pacific Coast League when he catches a ball in shallow center field, flips and touches second base, and beats the runner back to first base.
1912 Future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard wins his 20th game when the Giants beat St. Louis at the Polo Grounds, 6-3. The 25-year-old right-hander, who will finish the season with a 26-11 record, reaches the coveted milestone quicker than any other hurler in history.
1915 The Washington Senators steal eight tainted bases in one inning off catcher Steve O'Neil in the team's 11-4 victory over the Indians at League Park. The first-inning thievery includes a balk considered a stolen base by the rules of the time and a series of odd plays scored differently today.
1920 Babe Ruth, with the first of his two homers in the nightcap of a twin bill against Chicago at the Polo Grounds, becomes the first player to hit 30 home runs in a season. The historic homer, a two-run, fourth-inning shot off Dickey Kerr, breaks his season mark of 29, and the 'Rajah of Rap' will finish the season with a resounding 54 round-trippers.
1924 Cardinals hurler Hi Bell goes the distance in both games of a Sportsman's Park doubleheader, beating the Braves, 6-1 and 2-1. The 27-year-old rookie right-hander from Kentucky will be the last National League pitcher to record two complete-game victories in one day.
1927 The Giants honor John McGraw, the team's manager since 1902, with a Silver Jubilee celebration, showering 'Mugsy' with gifts that include a huge silver loving cup, a silver platter, and a silver cane for his 25 years of service to the club. During the pregame ceremony at the Polo Grounds, the rain doesn't dampen the spirits of the enthusiastic crowd of 25,000 fans, which includes Mayor Jimmy Walker, many former players, Commissioner Landis, George M. Cohan, and Commander Richard E. Byrd.
1933 Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell hits a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning off his brother after Wes had gone deep in the top of the frame in the Indians' 9-8 victory at Fenway Park. The pair of round-trippers marks the third time brothers have homered in the same game, but it is the first time siblings on opposing teams have accomplished the feat.
1936 Seventeen-year-old Iowa farm boy Bob Feller makes his major league debut, pitching one inning of relief against the Senators in Washington, D.C. The hard-throwing 'kid' allows no hits and no runs, striking out none and walking two batters.

(Ed. Note: Feller believed the box score was wrong, claiming he struck out Buddy Lewis in his autobiography.)

1946 During a contest between Chicago and the Red Sox, Red Jones ejects 14 members of the White Sox for their bench jockeying initiated when the ump warns Chisox hurler Joe Haynes after he knocks down Ted Williams with a pitch. Although reported for years that a ventriloquist sitting behind the visitors' dugout raised the ire of the arbitrator, interviews with the participants more than sixty years later reveal many believe third-base coach Mule Haas precipitated the incident by making rude sounds and infuriating remarks.
1960 Pedro Ramos one-hits Detroit in the Senators' 5-0 victory at Briggs Stadium. Rocky Colavito's lead-off single to centerfield in the eighth inning spoils the Washington right-hander's bid for a no-hitter.
1960 In his major league debut, Giants' rookie righty Juan Marichal one-hits the Phillies at Candlestick Park, 2-0. Philadelphia's lone hit is a two-out eighth-inning single by pinch-hitter Clay Dalrymple.
1964 In his major league debut, 23-year-old Indian rookie Luis Tiant throws a complete game, a four-hit shutout, to beat Whitey Ford and the Yankees in New York, 3-0. The popular Cuban right-hander will compile a 229-172 record (.571) pitching for six teams during his 19 years in the big leagues.


Luis Tiant (1965)
1966 In the first major league game to be played entirely on artificial turf, dubbed Astroturf, Houston beats the Phillies at the Astrodome, 8-2. Due to a limited supply of the material, only the resurfaced infield was ready before the Astros' April home opener, with the installation of the outfield, covering painted dirt, occurring during an extended road trip and first used after the All-Star Break.
1966 In his final at-bat in the major leagues, Cardinals starter Tracy Stallard grounds out to the shortstop in the Redbirds' 10-9 victory over Atlanta. During his seven-year tenure, the right-hander, best known for giving up Roger Maris's 61st home run, sets a major league record by failing to get a base-on-balls in his 247 plate appearances.
1967 Tom Matchick's two-run home run gives Detroit a dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory over Baltimore at Tiger Stadium. The rookie shortstop's round-tripper, the first of only four he will hit in his six-year major league career, comes with two outs off Moe Drabowsky.
1969 Washington starter Joe Coleman throws his third consecutive shutout when he blanks the Bronx Bombers, 4-0. The 22-year-old right-hander, the Senators' first-round pick (third overall) of the amateur draft in 1965, faces only 29 batters in his two-hit masterpiece in New York.
1972 Luke Walker singles off Cecil Upshaw to break an 0-for-39 drought at the plate. The Pirates' southpaw pitches three innings of one-hit shutout baseball to pick up a save in the 8-3 victory over the Braves at Three Rivers Stadium.
1973 To quell a controversy over deserving players not being selected for the All-Star Game, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn grants permission to both leagues to increase their roster size to 29 players for next week's contest in Kansas City's Royals Stadium. The National League selects fading superstar Willie Mays, with the Junior Circuit adding Nolan Ryan, not originally picked by American League manager Dick Williams, even though the Angel right-hander was the first pitcher since Johnny Vander Meer, the starter in the 1938 Midsummer Classic, to toss two no-hitters before the break.
1974 Dick Bosman no-hits the A's at Cleveland Stadium. The 30-year-old right-hander misses a perfect game because of his fourth-inning throwing error, which gives Oakland their lone baserunner in the Indians' 4-0 victory.
1975 At Candlestick Park, Doug Rader, batting eighth, plays the entire game without getting an official at-bat. The Cardinals walk the Giants catcher four times, three intentionally, to get to John Montefusco, San Francisco's starter, who goes 0-for-4 at the plate but tosses a complete game to get the win in San Francisco's 5-2 victory.
1977 With a four-run first inning, the National League coasts to a 7-5 All-Star win over the AL. The victory of the Mid-Summer Classic at the renovated Yankee Stadium marks the Senior Circuit's sixth straight victory and their 14th in the last 15 games.
1980 Roy Lee Jackson retires the last 19 batters he faces en route to a complete-game victory in the Mets' 13-3 rout of the Reds. The 26-year-old right-hander benefits from his teammates' 20-hit barrage in the Riverfront Stadium contest.
1982 In front of 29,000 enthusiastic fans at Washington's RFK Stadium, the American League beats the NL in the first-ever Old-timer's All-Star Classic, 7-2. Warren Spahn gives up a lead-off homer, over the shortened left-field fence, to 75-year-old Luke Appling, a Hall of Fame infielder who played his entire career with the White Sox.

1982 Tony Gwynn doubles off southpaw Sid Monge for his first major league hit. The 22-year-old rookie outfielder, who will end his Hall of Fame career with 3,141 hits, goes 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly in the Padres' 7-6 loss to Philadelphia at Jack Murphy Stadium.
1989 Joe Carter blasts a trio of homers in the Indians' 10-1 rout of Minnesota, marking the second time he has gone deep three times in a game this season. The Cleveland outfielder's fourth three-home run career contest ties Lou Gehrig for the American League record.
1995 The Devil Rays name Chuck LaMar as the franchise's first general manager. Under the leadership of the former Braves assistant GM, the expansion team will compile a 518-777 (.400) record during the first eight years of its existence.
1998 Contributing to the Blue Jays' 9-3 victory over the Yankees, Carlos Delgado becomes the first player to reach the SkyDome's fifth deck with his Ruthian home run to right field. The Toronto's first baseman's 19th round-tripper of the season, snaps a 0-for-29 slump.
1999 In a 7-6 interleague victory over Cincinnati, Jeff Weaver becomes the first Tigers pitcher to hit a double in 27 years. The last Detroit hurler to accomplish the feat was Chuck Seelbach, who banged a two-bagger off Lloyd Allen of the Angels on August 20, 1972.
2000 The Blue Jays, hoping to strengthen their rotation during the pennant race with the first-place Yankees, trade minor league infielder Michael Young to Texas for Esteban Loaiza, who will post a disappointing 5-7 record down the stretch for the short-term contenders. The Rangers' newest prospect will develop into a perennial All-Star shortstop, batting .301 during his 13 seasons with the Texan team.
2001 Arizona southpaw Randy Johnson sets a major league record for strikeouts by a reliever when he fans 16 batters, completing last night's suspended game stopped in the top of the third inning. The 'Big Unit' gets the victory when the Diamondbacks beat the Padres, 3-0, in the Qualcomm Stadium contest.

2004 In Pacific Coast League action at Portland's PGE Park, minor leaguer Tagg Bozied hits a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Tacoma Rainiers, 8-5. Upon his arrival at home plate, the Beavers' first baseman, jumping for joy, ruptures the patella tendon to his left knee and needs to be taken to Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital by ambulance.

2005 Winning their second consecutive 1-0 contest, the Red Sox limit the Kansas City offense to four hits. The last time two straight 1-0 games occurred in Fenway Park was in 1916, when Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore blanked the Yankees and A's, respectively, on June 22 and 23 for the eventual World Champs.
2009 Ian Kinsler becomes the fifth major league baseball player to hit a lead-off and walk-off home run for his team in the same game. The Rangers' second baseman led off the bottom of the first inning with a round-tripper off Francisco Liriano, ending the contest in the bottom of the 12th with a game-ending two-run blast off R.A. Dickey to give Texas a 6-4 victory over Minnesota.

2013 A surprise sixth contender participates in the Presidents Race when Sharknado, a character from the SyFy original movie about sharks being brought on land by a waterspout, ambushes George, Tom, Teddy, and Bill in the Nationals Park dash. Although Sharknado successfully blows past four of his competitors but does not pass Abe, who, thanks to the wind to his back, secures a first-place finish.

2013 Houston's Brandon Barnes, who goes 5-for-5, scores three times and drives in two runs in the Astros' 10-7 loss to Seattle at Minute Maid Park collects the eighth cycle in franchise history. The Astros center fielder joins Cesar Cedeno (1972, 1976), Bob Watson (1977), Andujar Cedeno (1992), Jeff Bagwell (2001), Craig Biggio (2002), and Luke Scott (2006) when his eighth-inning double completes the historic accomplishment.

2014 Reminiscent of the White Sox's infamous 1979 Disco Demolition Night promotion, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees' farm team in the Class A South Atlantic League, admit fans who bring Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus items to the game for one dollar. At the end of the Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park contest, the team blows up the pop singers' albums and memorabilia in a giant box.
2015 During the Reds' 5-3 loss to the Indians at Great American Ball Park, Aroldis Chapman records his 500th career strikeout, setting a major-league record for the fewest innings needed to reach the milestone. The Reds closer accomplishes the feat in 292 frames to break Craig Kimbrel's previous mark of 305 established by the Padres reliever earlier this season.
2015 After a two-and-a-half-hour delay, the Angels finally call off their game against the Red Sox, the team's first postponement because of inclement weather, ending a streak of 1,609 consecutive contests. The last rainout in Anaheim washed out the contest against the White Sox on June 16, 1995.
41 Fact(s) Found