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Today in Baseball History
April 26th

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43 Fact(s) Found
1901 After two days of rain at Philadelphia's Columbia Park, 10,547 fans witness Connie Mack's A's making their American League debut, losing to the Senators, 5-1. In their inaugural season in the Junior Circuit, the Mackmen will finish in fourth place, compiling a 74-62 record.
1902 In his major league debut, Bronchos hurler, future Hall of Famer Addie Joss tosses a one-hitter, beating the hometown Browns, 3-0, at Sportsman's Park. In his rookie season with Cleveland, the 22-year-old right-hander will post a 17-13 record and a 2.77 ERA.
1904 At seventeen, Ty Cobb makes his pro baseball debut, hitting a homer and a double for Augusta in the South Atlantic League. The Tourists, however, will release the 'Georgia Peach' two days into the season.
1905 Jack McCarthy becomes the first and only major league outfielder to throw out three runners trying to score in one game. The 36-year-old flychaser's assists result in a double play, helping the Cubs to beat the Pirates at Exposition Park, 2-1.
1931 At Washington's Griffith Stadium, Lou Gehrig smashes an apparent home run over the fence, but when the ball bounces back to center fielder Harry Rice, baserunner Lyn Lary, who thinks the fly ball is the third out, returns to the dugout without crossing home plate. The Yankee first baseman, trotting around the bases with his head down in his usual modest manner, is ruled out for passing a runner and credited only with a triple.

(Ed. Note: Our thanks to frequent contributor J. Feehan, who corrected this entry and pointed out the lost home run/two RBIs occurred in the season when Gehrig tied Babe Ruth for the AL's lead with 46 round-trippers and established the still-standing mark of 184 RBIs in the Junior Circuit. -LP)
1941 Wrigley Field becomes the first ballpark to employ an organ to entertain fans when Roy Nelson provides the fans with a pregame serenade of classic and soulful tunes before Chicago drops a 6-2 decision to Max Lanier and the Cardinals. The organ, removed after the Cubs' homestand, will not return permanently to the 'Friendly Confines' until 1967.
1946 Right-handers Harry Feldman and Ace Adams defect from the Giants after the start of the season, signing with the Veracruz Blues for $10,000 along with a $10,000 bonus. The pair becomes the seventh and eighth players from the New York team to accept offers to play in the Pasquel brothers' 'outlaw' Mexican League.
1952 Art Houtteman, needing to retire just one more batter to author a no-hitter, throws a fastball to Harry Simpson, who rips the pitch for a single, spoiling the right-hander's chance for immortality. The Tigers' 13-1 triumph over the Tribe at Briggs Stadium marks the team's first victory this season after dropping eight decisions to start the campaign.
1957 Making his first big league start, Philadelphia's rookie right-hander Don Cardwell hurls a four-hitter, blanking the Giants at Connie Mack Stadium, 5-0. The 21-year-old Phillies hurler will compile a 102-138 (.425) record pitching for five teams during his 14-year career.
1959 Sadaharu Oh hits the first round-tripper of his world record 868 home runs. The Japanese first baseman will play his 22-year career with the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball.
1959 Willard Schmidt becomes the first major leaguer to be hit by a pitch twice in one inning. The Reds hurler is the third-inning target of Bob Rush and Lew Burette in Cincinnati's 11-10 victory over the Braves at Crosley Field.

(Ed. Note: Mets outfielder Frank Thomas, a teammate of Willard Schmidt who played at third base and in left field in the game, becomes the second player plunked twice in a frame in 1962.- LP)

1961 In the eleventh game of the season, Roger Maris hits his first homer of the campaign in the Yankees' 13-11 victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium. The fifth-inning blast off Paul Foytack begins the New York's right fielder's historic quest for the single-season home run record.
1962 Catcher Harry Chiti is traded to the Mets from the Indians for a player to be named later. New York returns the backstop to Cleveland on June 15 to complete the deal, making him the first player to be traded for himself.
1973 After six tries, the defending world champion A's finally win their first series of the season when they beat Cleveland, 3-2, at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Although Darold Knowles blows the save, costing Catfish Hunter his first win of the year, Oakland, who had split the first two games with the Tribe, tallies in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off victory.
1977 The Rangers trade Lenny Randle, who is suspended for the spring training altercation in which he fractured manager Frank Lucchesi's cheekbone, to the Mets for a player to be named later (infielder Rick Auerbach) and cash. New York's new skipper, Joe Torre, replaces Joe Frazier and shifts the 28-year-old second baseman to third base.
1980 Steve Carlton hurls his sixth career one-hitter, establishing a National League record when he blanks the Cardinals at Veterans Stadium, 7-0. During his 24-year tenure in the major leagues, the Phillies' southpaw never throws a no-hitter in his 709 career starts.
1982 Gene Michael, taking over for the manager who replaced him last season, becomes the Yankee skipper for the second time in two years. Previously, 'Stick' compiled a 48-34 record with the Bronx Bombers but was fired before the end of the strike-shortened 1981 season in favor of Bob Lemon.
1988 Keith Hernandez hits two homers and drives in seven runs to reach the 1000 RBI milestone. The Mets' first baseman's offensive output, which includes an eighth-inning grand slam off Charley Puleo, contributes to the Mets' 13-4 rout of the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
1989 After overrunning Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith's fly ball down in the left-field corner, Giants outfielder Kevin Mitchell recovers by reaching back and catching the ball in foul territory with his bare right hand. The National League's eventual MVP's amazing play occurs in the first inning of the Giants' 3-1 loss to the Redbirds at Busch Stadium.

1990 Ranger hurler Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's major league record of throwing twelve one-hitters when he beats the White Sox, 1-0. The only hit allowed by the 43-year-old right-hander is Ron Kittle's single to right field on a check-swing in the second inning.
1990 Ken Griffey Jr. sticks his right spike into the padded wall at Yankee Stadium, elevating to rob Jesse Barfield's 200th career homer, reminiscent of a play his dad made playing for the Bronx Bombers five seasons ago. The 20-year-old Seattle sophomore centerfielder's grab, an achievement that introduces baseball fans to an exuberant budding superstar, marks the first of many home run thefts he will accomplish during his Hall of Fame career with the Mariners and Reds.

1993 Vince Coleman accidentally strikes Dwight Gooden's right shoulder blade with a golf club while practicing his swing in the Shea Stadium clubhouse. The right-hander is not seriously hurt but will skip his scheduled start tonight, pitching instead in tomorrow's afternoon's game.
1994 Brady Anderson collects four extra-base hits in the Orioles' 10-4 win over the A's at Camden Yards. The Baltimore outfielder's two doubles and two homers each occur while leading off an inning.
1995 In the debut of Coors Field, the Rockies defeat the Mets in 14 innings, tying the National League record for the number of innings played in a season opener. After New York's first baseman Rico Brogna collects the ballpark's first home run, a fourth-inning line drive off Bill Swift, Dante Bichette ends the contest with a walk-off blast in the 14th frame, giving Colorado a dramatic come-from-behind 11-9 victory.

1997 In the Cubs' 7-6 win over the Pirates at Wrigley Field, Ryne Sandberg hits his 267th career home run as a second baseman, breaking Joe Morgan's record for the most homers at that position. The mark will remain until 2004, when Jeff Kent of the Astros records his 268th dinger as a second sacker.
2000 Expo outfielder Vladimir Guerrero's 100th career home run contributes to the team's 9-2 victory over Colorado at Olympic Stadium. The Montreal clean-up hitter's milestone round-tripper is hit over the center-field fence, leading off the eighth inning on a pitch thrown by Julian Tavarez.
2000 The St. Louis Cardinals set a major league record by hitting 50 home runs in April. Homers by pitcher Rick Ankiel, Jim Edmonds, and Fernando Tatis in the 7-0 victory over the Brewers help break the mark established by the 1997 Indians with 49.
2001 Hideo Nomo misses becoming the fifth pitcher since 1900 to hurl two no-hitters in a single season when former Gold Glove right fielder Darren Lewis barely misses catching Torii Hunter's blooper in the top of the seventh inning. The hit, which many consider a questionable call by the scorer, is the only hit given up by the Red Sox right-hander in the team's 2-0 victory over the Twins.
2001 After two and a half years in the post, embattled Kevin Malone, called a distraction Dodgers chairman Bob Daly, resigns as the team's general manager. Despite having the league's largest payroll, Los Angeles has failed to make the playoffs during his tenure, compiling a mediocre 178-176 record.
2002 Not wanting to assign blame for the Rockies' worst start in history, GM Dan O'Dowd dismisses Buddy Bell, who managed the club for the last two seasons. Colorado names Clint Hurdle, the team's hitting coach for the past six years, the franchise's new skipper.
2002 At Wrigley Field, Odalis Perez is perfect for six innings against the Cubs, only giving up Corey Patterson's bad-hop infield single leading off the seventh in the Dodgers' 10-0 rout of the Cubs. The 24-year-old southpaw faces the minimum 27 batters in his first career shutout when Chris Stynes, the next hitter, grounds into a double play.
2005 With three homers during his first three trips to the plate, Alex Rodriguez becomes only the 11th major league player to bat in ten or more runs in a game. The highest-paid player in baseball history is one RBI shy of the American League record of 11 set by fellow Yankee Tony Lazzeri in 1936 and two short of the major league mark of 12 shared by Jim Bottomley (1924) and Mark Whiten (1993) of the Cardinals.

2006 In a game that included Shawn Green's bat hitting him on the top of the head, Mike Piazza became the 41st major leaguer to collect 400 career home runs. The Padres backstop also extended his record for most home runs by a catcher to 377.

2006 At 47, Julio Franco becomes the second-oldest player to steal a bag when he swipes second base in the eighth inning of the Mets' 9-7 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park. In 1909, Arlie Latham, who played two games at second base for the Giants, purloined a sack as a 49-year-old.
2006 Ranger reliever Francisco Cordero blows his third consecutive chance to save a game when the A's tie the game 4-4 in the ninth and then score two in the next frame to beat the Rangers, 6-4. The Dominican closer's fifth-blown save establishes a big-league mark for the first month of the season and overshadows the sixth straight game that the Texas outfielder Kevin Mench has homered, a grand slam that sets a team record.
2008 Dodger batterymate Russell Martin misses Brad Penny's 96-mph fastball, which knocks out umpire Kerwin Danley, who loses consciousness briefly. After the players leave the field, the home plate arbitrator is placed on a stretcher, leaving the Dodgers-Rockies game in an ambulance.
2008 Sara Tucholsky, a Western Oregon college senior, goes deep over the center-field fence but suffers a torn knee ligament rounding first, making her unable to continue her trip around the bases. In the ultimate display of sportsmanship, Central Washington senior Mallory Holtman and other opposing players carry their injured opponent around the bases, turning a potential two-run single and an out if the hurt player received assistance teammates back to a three-run homer.

2008

"We can't tell you to survive the storms of life, we can tell you to dance in the rain, and you can do it. You really can do it. Very difficult, but possible." - VIN SCULLY, delivering the commencement address at Pepperdine University.

Vin Scully receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, the institution's highest honor. The Dodgers' Hall of Fame broadcaster delivers a stirring commencement address to the 2008 Class of Seaver College, telling the graduates that achieving dreams may be "very difficult, but possible."

2008 On Ralph Kiner Day, Alhambra dedicates a bronze statue to honor its native son for his "accomplishments and contributions to the game of professional baseball and sports broadcasting." The former Pirates slugger, a member of the Hall of Fame, spent his youth in the California city and graduated from its local high school in 1940.

bronze statue of Ralph Kiner

Bronze Statue of Ralph Kiner
posted on Flickr by Kent.
2011 On the first pitch he sees in the major leagues, Alexi Amarista strokes a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning of the Angels' 8-3 victory over Oakland. The 22-year-old rookie second baseman dedicates the hit to the memory of his dad, murdered five months ago during a home-invasion robbery in his Venezuelan hometown of Barcelona Anzoategu.
2012 Using a home-grown starting lineup for the first time since 1971, New York beats Miami when Heath Bell walks four batters in the ninth inning, including Justin Turner's 13-pitch at-bat that knots the score before he gives up a game-winning two-out single to the rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Forty-one years ago, Gil Hodges used a lineup of all former Mets farmhands that included Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Tim Foli, Ted Martinez, Mike Jorgensen, Duffy Dyer, John Milner, and Jerry Koosman.
2013 Anibal Sanchez breaks Mickey Lolich's franchise record of 16 strikeouts when he retires the side on strikes in the eighth inning of the Tigers' 10-0 rout of Atlanta. In his eight innings of work, the 29-year-old Venezuelan right-hander gives up just five hits en route to his 17-strikeout performance in the Comerica Park contest.
2017 🇿🇦 Gift Ngoepe becomes the first player born and raised in Africa to make his major-league debut when he appears in the lineup as part of a double switch in the Pirates’ 6-5 over the Cubs at PNC Park. The 27-year-old second baseman, who hails from Pietersburg, South Africa, hits safely in his first at-bat, sending a single up the middle off Jon Lester in the fourth inning.
43 Fact(s) Found