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This Day in Baseball History
August 27th

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40 Fact(s) Found
1897 Washington Senator (NL) 18-year-old right-hander Roger Bresnahan makes his major league debut, shutting out the St. Louis Browns, 3-0, en route to posting a perfect 4-0 record and a 3.95 ERA this season. The teenager's pitching time on the mound will be short-lived when the 'The Duke Of Tralee' switches to behind the plate to start a Hall of Fame career as a catcher.
1911 At Comiskey Park, Chicago hurler Ed Walsh, Sr. no-hits the Red Sox, 5-0. The future Hall of Famer's son, Edward Arthur, will also pitch for the White Sox from 1928-1932.
1937 Dodger right-hander Fred Frankhouse holds the Reds hitless for 7.2 innings before a heavy downpour ends the Ebbets Field contest. The right-hander's 5-0 victory will be one of the 31 "no-no's" erased when MLB redefines a no-hitter in 1991 as a game in which a pitcher throws nine innings or more without giving up a hit.
1938 In the first game of a twin bill at the Bronx ballpark, Joe DiMaggio hits three consecutive triples. The Yankee Clipper's offensive outburst helps the Bombers edge Cleveland, 8-7.
1938 Monte Pearson becomes the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Yankee Stadium, beating the Indians, 13-0. Thanks to two double plays, the 29-year-old right-hander faces the minimum of 27 batters when he records his tenth consecutive victory.
1939 With a 13-3 complete-game victory over the Tigers at Briggs Stadium, Yankee right-hander Red Ruffing wins his 20th game, a feat he has accomplished in four consecutive seasons. The 34-year-old American League All-Star starting pitcher, who will miss several weeks late in the season, finishes the season 21-7 for the eventual World Champs.
1946 While traveling in a caravan to East Douglas (MA) for an exhibition game against the Indians, Ted Williams, his wife, and two friends are involved in an auto accident when his new Pontiac hits a car owned by George Doncaster. Although no one is seriously hurt, including Doncaster's wife and daughter, the media widely reports the Red Sox outfielder's crash in Holliston on Sherborn Road.
1946 A committee formed to study integration, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey delivers its secretive report during an Owners' Meeting, defending the covert color barrier in professional baseball. The reasons cited include the black's lack of fundamentals and skills, the respect of Negro League contracts, the reluctance to lose rental revenues from the Negro League teams, and the fear of white fans not attending games if black players attracted more minorities to the ballpark.
1951 A prolonged delay occurs at Olean's (NY) Bradner Stadium when a skunk refuses to leave the infield during a Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League game between Batavia and the hometown Oilers. The minor leaguers try to shoo the crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk) mammal away but result in the players running off the field with the uninvited guest staying put for an hour before moving on, allowing the contest to resume, albeit with a lot fewer fans in the stands.
1951 Dodger right fielder Carl Furillo, in the top of the third inning in the team's 5-0 victory over Pittsburgh at Ebbets Field, throws out Mel Queen by two feet at first base, after the Pirates pitcher had apparently singled into right field. The 'Reading Rifle' will lead the NL in assists for the second consecutive season, with opponents becoming increasingly reluctant to challenge the Brooklyn outfielder's strong arm.
1951 Del Wilber hits three solo home runs in the Phillies' victory over Cincinnati in the nightcap at Shibe Park, making it the first time a player has accounted for all the runs in a 3-0 game with round-trippers. The 32-year-old catcher will hit a total of only 19 homers during his major league career.
1952 The Dodgers set the National League mark for consecutive games with a double play when they complete a twin killing in their twenty-third straight contest, a 10-5 loss to Chicago at Wrigley Field. The fifth inning 1-4-3 DP (Clyde King-Jackie Robinson-Gil Hodges) leaves Brooklyn two shy of the major league record.
1955 In his second big league start, Sandy Koufax two-hits the Reds at Ebbets Field, 7-0. The 19-year-old bonus baby, displaying the dominance he will feature during the 1960s, goes the distance, striking out 14 Cincinnati batters.
1960 Ernie Banks knocks in his 100th run of the season when he grounds out in the first inning of the Cubs' 5-4 victory over Philadelphia at Wrigley Field. The Chicago infielder, finishing the season with 117 RBIs, will be the last National League shortstop to reach the milestone until 1985, when Hubie Brooks accomplishes the feat with the Expos.
1974 Benny Ayala becomes 40th major leaguer and the first player in National League in 13 years to homer in his first major league at-bat, going deep off Astros' hurler Tom Griffin in the second inning of New York's 4-2 win at Shea Stadium. In 1961, Cubs rookie Cuno Barragan also accomplished the feat in the Senior Circuit, hitting what proved to be his only big-league home run.
1975 At Candlestick Park, nearly half the outs in the Giants' 9-1 victory over the Expos come via the strikeout. John Montefusco, who goes the distance to get the win, strikes out 14 Montreal batters, and the 'Count' and his teammates reciprocate by whiffing 11 times, including the three times he goes back to the dugout with a bat in his hands.
1975 Craig Kusick gains the dubious distinction of being hit by a pitch three times in one game, tying a major league record. The 11th-inning plunking of the Twins' first baseman leads to the decisive run in the team's 1-0 victory over Milwaukee.
1977 In an 8-2 win at Yankee Stadium, Ranger teammates Bump Wills and Toby Harrah hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches. The pair of IPHRs mark the first occurrence of the oddity in baseball history.
1978 Joe Morgan hits his 200th home run when he goes deep off Mike Krukow in the third inning of the Reds' 5-1 loss to the Cubs at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati second baseman becomes the first major leaguer to reach the milestone, having also stolen 500 bases.
1982 Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's 1974 single-season record of 118 stolen bases in the team's 5-4 loss to the Brewers. The A's outfielder, who will finish the season with 130, ends the day with 122 after swiping four bases in today's County Stadium contest.
1986 With one out in the bottom of the eleventh inning and the visiting Mets ahead of the Padres, 6-5, Lenny Dykstra's throw nails Gary Templeton at the plate when he tries to score from second base on Tim Flannery's single to center field. Knocked on his back by the runner, catcher John Gibbons throws a strike from a prone position to Howard Johnson, who tags out Flannery, trying to get to third base, ending the game with an unusual 8-2-5 double play.
1988 Kansas City's right-hander Mark Gubicza strikes out 14 Twins in the team's 4-1 victory at Royals Stadium, establishing a franchise record that lasts for 21 years. The mark will be eclipsed in 2009 by Zack Greinke, who will fan 15 batters against the Indians.
1994 Coquivacoa (Maracaibo, Venezuela) wins the Little League World Series in a rain-delayed contest, defeating Northridge City (CA), 4-3. Ten-year-old Yusmeiro Petit, the champs' backup second baseman, will become the first player to play on teams that win the Little League and Major League World Series when the Giants triumph in the 2012 and 2014 Fall Classics.
1997 In honor of first baseman Jim Thome's birthday, the Indians pull up their socks just below the knees. The Tribe will win 17 of 27 games en route to clinching the American League East flag while sporting this new look.
1999 In a 4-1 Expos loss to the Reds at Olympic Stadium, Vladimir Guerrero's hitting streak, the longest in the big leagues since 1987, ends at 31 consecutive games. The Montreal outfielder's accomplishment sets a franchise record.
2000 The Angels become the first American League team to have four players hit 30 home runs in the same season when Tim Salmon goes deep in LA's 10-9 victory over Cleveland at Edison Field. The Halos' right-fielder joins Mo Vaughn, Garret Anderson, and Troy Glaus to reach the plateau.
2001 In the Nippon Ham Fighters-Fukuoka Daiei Hawks contest, Michihiro Ogasawara doubles and tallies on Yukio Tanaka's single, breaking a 51-year-old Japanese record by scoring a run in 17 consecutive games. Indian Kenny Lofton (2000) and Yankee Red Rolfe (1939) share the major league record of 18 straight games.
2001 Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa, with his 17th dinger this month, ties the National League record for August homers, established by Willie Mays in 1965. Tiger first baseman Rudy York set the major league mark, going yard 18 times in the eighth month of 1937.
2005 Jeff Kent becomes the first player to hit 300 homers as a second baseman. The Dodger infielder, who surpassed Ryne Sandberg's total of 277 last September, is the major league leader at this position, with Joe Gordon holding the American League record with 246 round-trippers.
2005 After losing a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning against the Yomiuri Giants earlier in the season, Fumiya Nishiguchi (16-4) sees his perfect game against the expansion Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles go into extra innings. The Seibu Lions right-hander gives up a hit and has to settle for a 10-inning complete-game shutout.
2007 Citing the need for a fresh start, Drayton McLane, owner of the last-place Astros, fires skipper Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura. Bench coach Cecil Cooper is named interim manager, and long-time team executive Tal Smith is temporarily appointed Houston's general manager.
2007 Jake Peavy becomes the Padres' leader in career strikeouts when he whiffs Orlando Hudson looking at an inside fastball in the first inning of a 3-1 San Diego victory over the Diamondbacks at Petco Park. The right-handed fireballer, who fans 11 in the game, moves past Andy Benes, who had struck out 1036 batters, pitching for the Friars from 1989 to 1995.
2010 Braves starter Tommy Hanson, who begins the game without giving up a homer in his last 47.2 innings on the mound, sees his streak end when Marlin leadoff hitter Cameron Maybin drills the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats at Turner Field. Logan Morrison, the next batter, then connects off the Atlanta right-hander for his first major league round-tripper, making it the first time in franchise history that Florida has led off a game with back-to-back homers.
2010 The Nationals announce that 22-year-old right-hander Stephen Strasburg will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament, requiring about 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation. The rookie phenom, whose presence earlier in the season brought President Obama and his two daughters to Nationals Park to watch him pitch against the White Sox, finishes in his 12 starts with a 5-3 record en route to striking out 92 batters in 68 innings and compiling an ERA of 2.91.
2011 Justin Verlander becomes the first pitcher to win 20 games before September since the D-backs Curt Schilling reached the milestone in 2002. The right-hander (20-5) gives up four runs on eight hits, strikes out six, and walks three in six innings of work but gets the victory when the Tigers beat Minnesota at Target Field, 6-4.

2013 Marlon Byrd is traded by the Mets, along with John Buck and cash, to the Pirates for a player to be named later (Vic Black) and minor leaguer Dilson Herrera. Although the outfielder is no longer on the roster, the team follows through on its planned promotion, giving away Marlon Byrd T-shirts before tonight's game.

2015 In their game against Seattle, the White Sox wear collared blue and white v-neck retro jerseys, reminding fans of the infamous look of the team during a few games in 1976 until the end of the 1981 season. The Throwback Thursday promotion at US Cellular Field features the unique uniforms designed by then-owner Bill Veeck, who believed his team, at the time, may not have been the greatest in baseball but could be the most stylish club in the major leagues.

2017 With his eighth-inning two-run shot off Padres' southpaw Clayton Richard in the Marlins' 6-2 victory, Giancarlo Stanton becomes the first National Leaguer to hit 50 home runs since Prince Fielder accomplished the feat playing for the Brewers in 2007. The Miami right fielder is the sixth player to reach 50 before September, but unlike the others, he doesn't finish with at least 60 homers.
2017 The Mariners commit five errors in one inning in the team's 10-1 loss at Yankee Stadium, equaling a feat last accomplished in 1977 by the Cubs. Seattle's dubious defense, which includes three miscues by shortstop Jean Segura with contributions from third baseman Cory Seager and left-fielder Ben Gamel, opens the floodgates for a six-run first frame for the Bronx Bombers.

2017 En route to tying a franchise record by homering in five consecutive games, Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins sets a major league record when he smashes his 11th home run in his first 18 games, going deep off Koji Uehara. In addition to his outstanding offense, the 24-year-old outfielder's diving catch of Javier Baez's sinking liner in left field initiates a 7-4-3 triple play in the team's 6-3 victory over the Cubs at Citizens Bank.
40 Fact(s) Found