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This Day in Baseball History
June 1st

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36 Fact(s) Found
1920 Babe Ruth, an accomplished hurler, acquired from Red Sox in the offseason for his hitting prowess, bats cleanup in the Yankees' lineup and wins, giving up four runs when he tosses four innings as the starter in the team's 14-7 victory over the Senators at the Polo Grounds. During his 15 seasons with New York, the 'Sultan of Swat' will take the mound just five times for the club, including a complete-game victory in 1933.

(Ed. Note: The 25-year-old slugger compiled a 94-46 won-loss record and a 2.28 ERA in 163 mound appearances with Boston. -LP)

1921 Dave Bancroft almost doesn't become the ninth Giant to hit for the cycle when he singles in the first, triples in the third, but then faints in the dugout after hitting an inside-the-park-home in the fifth inning. The 30-year-old shortstop recovers to take the field, completing the feat with a double in the next inning of the team's 8-3 victory over the Phillies at the Polo Grounds. 
1923 The Giants pound the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, 22-8. The Philadelphia contest marks the first time a team has scored in every inning of a game this century.

1925 Lou Gehrig, making the only appearance as a pinch-hitter in his 17-year career, begins his streak of playing in 2,130 straight games when he comes off the Yankee bench to hit for rookie infielder Pee-Wee Wanninger. Ironically, Wanninger is the player who ended Everett Scott's consecutive-game streak of 1,307 consecutive games when he started the May 5th contest in place of the team's regular shortstop. 
1937 White Sox right-hander Bill Dietrich, facing 29 batters, no-hits the Browns, 8-0, in a one-hour and 48-minute contest At Comiskey Park. The 27-year-old 'Bullfrog,' who will pitch 16 seasons for three American League teams, compiling a 108-128 record, is the tenth Pale Hose hurler to accomplish the feat in franchise history.
1939 Four years after participating in the first major league night game as the visiting team in Cincinnati's Crosley Field, the Phillies host their first evening tilt, bowing to Pittsburgh at Shibe Park, 5-2. The team's loss to the Bucs is not the first MLB contest played at night in Philadelphia or at Shibe Park because the A's, who share the ballpark with the NL team, lost to Cleveland playing under the lights two weeks ago in the first night game in American League history.
1939 Speaking to the Knights of Columbus in Cleveland, Yankee coach Johnny Schulte shares a team secret, telling the group of Lou Gehrig's scheduled examination at the Mayo Clinic. At first, the ailing first baseman denies the statement as a rumor but, in a few days, confirms the impending visit to Rochester, Minnesota.
1939 Only 487 people attend the Browns' 10-7 loss to the A's at Sportsman's Park. The last-place club will finish the season with the lowest attendance in the American League, attracting only 109,159 patrons, compared to the NL Cardinals, their tenants, drawing nearly four times as many fans this year.
1941 In front of the largest crowd in the American League this season, Johnny Sturm hits his first major league homer, an eighth-inning two-run blast into the right-field stands at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The round-tripper, which breaks a 1-1 deadlock, begins a streak in which one or more Yankees will hit a home run in 24 consecutive games, a record lasting 53 years.
1941 New York right fielder Mel Ott's 400th home run and 1500th career RBI help beat Cincinnati at the Polo Grounds, 3-2. 'Master Melvin' will finish his 22-year career with the Giants, hitting 511 home runs, the third-most in major league history, when he retires. 
1954 The Indians obtain Vic Wertz from the Orioles for Bob Chakales, a right-handed hurler who had compiled a 6-8 record during his four years with Cleveland. Tribe skipper Al Lopez plans to move the 29-year-old outfielder to first base to fill in for an ailing Al Rosen.
1955 Duke Snider blasts three home runs off different Braves' hurlers, accounting for six runs in the Dodgers' 11-8 win over Milwaukee. Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Roy Campanella also homer in the Ebbets Field contest, helping Brooklyn set a franchise record with six home runs.
1961 After playing just six games with the Braves, the team trades Billy Martin to the Twins for Billy Consolo. The fiery infielder will finish his 11-year career in the Twin Cities, spending the next eight years with the organization in various capacities, including managing the club to a first-place finish in 1969.
1962 In the nightcap of LA's sweep of a twin bill at Shibe Park, Don Drysdale beats the Phillies for the 13th consecutive time, continuing a streak that started four seasons ago. However, after today's 8-5 victory, the 25-year-old Dodger right-hander will drop his next seven decisions against Philadelphia.
1964 The exhibition game with their Williamsport farm club is rained out, much to the delight of the Mets. The team finished a ten-hour marathon at 11:25 pm, dropping a twin bill to the Giants yesterday, 5-3 and 8-6, including a 23-inning nightcap.
1966 Ron Santo, who will establish a modern-day Cubs mark by hitting in 28 consecutive games, goes hitless the day after the streak begins, but his run at the record stays intact. The Cubs' infielder receives four walks and is hit by a pitch in his five plate appearances, keeping his one-game streak alive in the team's 4-3 loss to Philadelphia at Connie Mack Stadium.
1975 California right-hander Nolan Ryan's 100th career victory is memorable when he no-hits the Orioles at Anaheim Stadium, 1-0. The Angels' fireballer ties Sandy Koufax's big-league mark, notching his fourth career no-hitter when he fans Bobby Grinch looking for his ninth strikeout of the game.

1987 Thanks to Indian hurler Phil Niekro's 9-6 win over the Tigers, the Niekro brothers pass the Perrys (Gaylord and Jim) with 530 combined victories. Phil and Joe will end their careers with 539 wins, making them the most successful sibling combination in major league history.
1992 The Astros use their top pick, the No. 1 overall selection, to draft Cal State Fullerton infielder Phil Nevin over Derek Jeter, a shortstop from Kalamazoo Central High who will be drafted sixth overall by the Yankees. Houston, aware of the huge bonuses given to the previous top draft picks, possibly did not select the future Hall of Famer because the team believed the high school standout was seeking compensation of at least $1 million to forego playing baseball at the University of Michigan.
1995 The Diamondbacks name Joe Garagiola Jr. their first general manager. The son of the former major league catcher and TV personality will stay in the post until 2005 when he will leave Arizona to become MLB's Senior Vice President of baseball operations.
1997 Billy the Marlin's head, missing since Navy SEAL Lou Langlais, dressed as the mascot, lost the costume's five-pound head to a gust of wind when parachuting during the team's Opening Day ceremonies two months ago, resurfaces at Pro Player Stadium. Victor Rowe and Mike Zinniger, rewarded by the team with season tickets for returning the noggin, spotted the five-pound appendage, unscathed, aside from a scratch on the neck, on a retaining wall yesterday while traveling on the Florida Turnpike a few miles from the stadium.

1997 When Wilton Guerrero scurries to pick up pieces of his shattered bat after grounding out to start the game, home plate ump Steve Ripley becomes suspicious and discovers that the rookie used an altered bat. Crew chief Bruce Froemming immediately ejects the Dodgers' second baseman from the contest, and the 21-year-old infielder will also receive an eight-day suspension and a $1,000 fine for using a corked bat.
2000 As owners struggle over realignment, the players' association suggests a more straightforward plan that only moves the Astros from the NL Central to the AL West, thus creating two 15-team leagues. The owners' ideas would include the newest franchises, the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks, switching circuits, eliminating the NL wild-card, and the AL Central, which consists of six teams with only four to go along with six divisions.
2001 Tomo Ohka, throwing just 77 pitches, 59 of which are strikes, becomes the first Pawtucket Red Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game and the third in the 118-year history of the International League when he beats the Charlotte Knights, 2-0. In 2003, at the same Rhode Island ballpark, Bronson Arroyo duplicated the feat when he retired all 27 batters he faced in a 7-0 victory over the Buffalo Bisons at McCoy Stadium.
2001 CC Sabathia, throwing fewer than five innings as the starting pitcher, gets credit for the win in the Tribe's 7-4 triumph over New York. Since the Indians did not record an out in the sixth, the rookie right-hander is credited with the victory because rules allow a starter to be eligible for a win in a rain-shortened game even if he only pitches four innings.
2003 After being taunted by Twinkie-waving fans in the left-field bleachers, the not-so-svelte Lance Berkman, during a pitching change in the seventh inning, gestures to his Wrigley Field tormentors to throw him one of the sponge cake snacks, which he promptly chows down, much to the delight of the crowd. The Astro outfielder goes deep in the next inning, hitting a sugar-fueled two-run home run in the team's 9-3 win over the Cubs.
2003 In the Blue Jays' 11-8 victory over Boston at the SkyDome, Roy Halladay gives up seven doubles, five of them in the third inning. Red Sox players hitting two-baggers in the third frame include Bill Mueller, Todd Walker, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Trot Nixon.
2005 The Houston Chronicle prints an obituary for the last-place Astros after the team finishes the season's first two months with a 19-32 won-loss record. The club, finishing 14 games out, will win the National League pennant as the Wild Card, being swept in the World Series by the White Sox.

2007 After being ejected from the game against the Chattanooga Lookouts, Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman kicks dirt on home plate and draws the umpire's strike zone in the soil before tossing third base into the outfield. Crawling to the mound, the minor-league skipper continues his tirade, throwing the rosin bag like a hand grenade at the ump, and then literally takes second base when he exits AT&T Field.

2008 Mike Lieberthal, signing a one-day contract for a mere four dollars, can retire happily as a member of the Phillies. The team's popular former backstop, who spent the first 13 of his 14 major league seasons with Philadelphia, throws out the ceremonial first pitch, receiving a loud cheer from the large crowd at Citizens Bank Park.
2009 In a 5-2 victory over the Indians at Progressive Field, the Yankees set a major league record by playing 18 straight games without committing an error. The new mark, which surpasses a string put together by the 2006 Red Sox, will end tomorrow when Bronx Bomber backstop Jorge Posada throws the ball into center field, trying to gun down a would-be base stealer.
2011 Francisco Cordero becomes the twenty-second reliever in major league history to record 300 saves when he tosses a perfect ninth inning to nail down the Reds' 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Milwaukee. The 36-year-old closer notched 60 saves while playing two seasons with the Brewers before signing as a free agent with Cincinnati in 2008.
2011 Stunning the crowd, Teddy, it appears, has finally won a President's Race at Nationals Park, ending his winless streak. Unfortunately, because TR sped into first place riding a Segway, he is quickly and emphatically disqualified by Screech, the team's mascot.

2012 Johan Santana, who did not pitch last year due to shoulder surgery performed at the end of the 2010 season, no-hits the Cardinals at Citi Field, 8-0, thanks to the third base ump's blown call on a fair ball and an outstanding defensive play by outfielder Mike Baxter. The 33-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner's 134-pitch effort ends the Mets' streak of over fifty seasons, spanning 8,020 games, without a no-hitter.

2020 New York Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Kalish dismisses Lenny Dykstra's defamation lawsuit against Ron Darling, ruling the revelation could not damage the player's already tarnished reputation. The dispute follows the publication of 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game, where the former Mets' pitcher alleged the plaintiff shouted racist remarks toward Red Sox starter Oil Can Boyd before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series.
2021 Bob Melvin, at the helm since 2011, surpasses Hall of Famer and current White Sox pilot Tony La Russa for most managerial victories in Oakland A’s history. The team’s 12-6 triumph over the Marlins at T-Mobile Park garners the two-time Manager of the Year (2007 Diamondbacks, 2012 A’s) his 799th win as the skipper of the West Coast club.
36 Fact(s) Found