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This Day in Baseball History
July 3rd

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44 Fact(s) Found
1912 Giants' southpaw Rube Marquard wins his 19th consecutive game from the start of the season, beating Brooklyn at the Polo Grounds, 2-1. The 25-year-old future Hall of Famer, completing the campaign with a 26-11 record, compiles the most victories to begin a year without suffering a defeat.
1925 Milt Stock sets a National League mark by having his fourth consecutive four-hit game, going 16-for-23 to compile a .696 batting average during the streak. The 31-year-old second baseman's offensive output, which includes three singles and a triple, helps the Robins beat the Giants at Ebbets Field, 6-3.
1929 The Cubs and the Reds become the first teams to combine in turning nine double plays in a major league contest. Chicago, responsible for five twin killings, beats Cincinnati at Wrigley Field, 7-5.
1932 With a Boston law that prohibited games from being played within 1000 feet of a church on Sundays now rescinded, the first Sunday game takes place at Fenway Park with the Red Sox dropping a 13-2 decision. The team played Sunday games at Braves Field on Commonwealth Avenue until the legislature changed the law, having played their first home contest on the Christian day of worship on April 28, 1929.
1936 San Diego minor leaguer Ted Williams, pinch-hitting for the pitcher in the seventh inning in a game against the Angels, gets his first professional hit, a long single off the right-field fence at LA's Wrigley Field off Glen Babler. The 17-year-old Padres player stays in the PCL contest to replace the hurler he batted for, retiring the side in order but will be removed from the mound in the next frame when he gives up two home runs.
1939 Cardinal first baseman Johnny Mize accumulates 13 total bases, hitting two home runs, a triple, and a double. The 'Big Cat's' offensive output contributes to the Redbirds' 5-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
1939 At Briggs Stadium, Ben Chapman ties a major league record when he collects three triples in the team's 4-2 victory over the hometown Tigers. The Cleveland center fielder's trio of three-baggers will account for a third of his total for the season. 
1940 The Red Sox complete a 12-11 comeback over the A's, scoring six times in the bottom of the ninth in the Fenway Park afternoon tilt. Trailing by seven runs after seven innings, Boston ties the game in the final frame thanks to Ted Williams' three-run homer and wins with Jimmie Foxx's walk-off round-tripper.
1945 At Braves Field in Boston, the Cubs tally the most runs in their post-1900 history when they blast the Braves, 24-2. Phil Cavarretta, Don Johnson, and Stan Hack each score five times, tying a major league mark.
1947 The Indians purchase Larry Doby from the Newark Eagles. Tomorrow, the 22-year-old center fielder will hit a home run in his last at-bat in the Negro Leagues before becoming the first black to play in the American League, appearing as a pinch-hitter against Chicago at Comiskey Park in two days.
1948 Muskegon Clippers' center fielder Dick Lane hits five homers, including two in the fifth inning, when the team beats the Fort Wayne Generals, 28 to 6. The 21-year-old slugger goes 6-for-7, driving ten runs in the Central League contest. 
1949 At the Polo Grounds, New York southpaw Monty Kennedy, en route to a 16-0 rout of the Dodgers, hits a grand slam. Another 51 seasons will pass before Shawn Estes becomes the next Giants hurler to go deep with the bases loaded in 2000.
1952 In the fourth inning of a 14-2 victory over the Brunswick Pirates, Cordele A's third baseman Ralph Betcher hits a 407-foot blast over the center-field fence, accounting for the only home run the team will hit this season. 'Froggie,' a moniker given to the infielder because of his deep voice, records the only round-tripper in the 4,679 at-bats that the Philadelphia farm club, a fifth-place Class D team (66-73), will take during the 139-game Georgia-Florida minor league season.
1958 In their 35th home date in Los Angeles, the transplanted Dodgers reach the one million mark in attendance. Last season, the team drew only 1,028,258 fans, playing games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City (NJ) and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.
1965 As part of the Farmer's Night festivities at Municipal Stadium, which attracts the largest crowd in nearly two years, A's pitcher Diego Segui rides Charlie O., the team's mule mascot, to the mound at the start of the game against the Twins. The promotion features a milking contest between Kansas City's first baseman Ken Harrelson and Minnesota right-hander Al Worthington and a greased pig competition for the fans.
1965 After pinch-hitting a home run in a 10-8 loss to Cincinnati, the Phillies place Frank Thomas on waivers due to his confrontation with Dick Allen, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, who is batting .341. The veteran outfielder and the third baseman exchanged words during batting practice before the Phillies' game against Cincinnati at Connie Mack Stadium, before their infamous fistfight, with teammates forbidden to provide details of the incident to the press without facing a stiff fine imposed by the club.
1966 Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams in the same game and collects nine RBIs in the Braves' 17-3 rout of the Giants at Candlestick Park. The 26-year-old pitcher becomes the first National League player to hit two bases-loaded home runs in the same game.
1967 Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Randy Hundley all homer for the Cubs in the first, and Rico Carty and Felipe Alou also go deep for the Braves in the same inning in Chicago's 12-6 victory at Atlanta Stadium. The five round-trippers at the 'Launching Pad' tie a major league record for home runs hit by two teams in the same inning, but the barrage marks the first time the feat occurs in the opening frame.
1968 Luis Tiant strikes out nineteen Twins and scatters six hits in a ten-inning 1-0 complete-game victory against Minnesota at Cleveland Stadium. 'El Tiante,' who equals Sandy Koufax's record for 41 strikeouts for three consecutive games, becomes the second hurler to whiff more than 18 batters in an American League contest, behind only the 21 Baltimore batters punched out by Tom Cheney of the Senators in a 16-inning game in 1962.
1970 Improving his record to 12-5, All-Star Angels southpaw Clyde Wright, no-hits the visiting A's, 4-0, issuing three walks and recording one strikeout to the 29 batters he faces in the Anaheim Stadium contest. Skeeter, throwing only 98 pitches, completes his gem in one hour and 51 minutes.
1972 En route to a 15-3 rout of Detroit, the Orioles collect 17 hits and score 15 runs in the last four innings of the Tiger Stadium contest. During the nationally televised game, the O's set a franchise record when the team bangs out 21 hits. 
1973 Although neither starter will finish the game, the Perry siblings oppose one another for the only time in their careers. Jim gets a no-decision while his younger brother Gaylord takes the loss when the Tigers beat the Indians at Cleveland Stadium, 5-4.
1973 After waiting three hours to begin the game due to rain, the Reds beat the Giants at Riverfront Stadium, 6-3. At the end of the contest, Cincinnati treats the fans to the nation's earliest Independence Day celebration when the team begins launching fireworks at two o'clock in the morning.

(Ed Note: My thanks to NPC editor Steve Basford, who attended the contest and stayed for the fireworks, for sharing this fact and the photo of the game-day ticket! -LP)

1977 On his 24th birthday, Angel left-hander Frank Tanana tosses his 14th consecutive complete game with his 6-4 victory over Oakland at Anaheim Stadium. The win improves the southpaw's record to 12-5, but he will finish the season at only 15-9, due to a 'tired' arm.
1983 At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the Rangers score 12 times in the 15th inning, making it the most runs scored by a team in extra innings. Texas beats the A's in the previously tied game, 16-4.

1987 Paul Splittorff, the team's all-time leader in victories, is inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame, along with late manager Dick Howser and infielder Cookie Rojas. The slender southpaw was the first player selected by the franchise to appear on its major league roster. 
1987 On Dick Howser Day at Royals Stadium, the former manager, who died last month from brain cancer, is inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. The club honors their late former manager (1981-86) by retiring his uniform number 10, the first retired in the franchise's history.
1994 In a ceremony considered by many to be long overdue, the Indians retire the uniform number 14 worn by Hall of Famer Larry Doby, the first black to play in the American League. On this date exactly 47 years ago, Cleveland owner Bill Veeck purchased the 23-year-old from the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League.
1995 In a slugfest at Coors Field, Andres Galarraga enjoys a 6-for-6 performance at the plate when the Rockies collect 21 hits. The first baseman's offensive output, which includes two homers and five RBIs, contributes to Colorado's 15-10 victory over Houston.

1996 In a 10-6 Mets victory over Philadelphia, Alex Ochoa enjoys a 5-for-5 day at Veterans Stadium. With his eighth-inning homer, the 24-year-old right fielder becomes the sixth player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.

2001 The Padres hit four sacrifice flies in one game, including two in the second inning, to tie an NL record. The last one, lifted by shortstop D'Angelo Jimenez in the sixth inning, gives the Friars an eventual 6-5 victory over Colorado at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium.

(Ed. Note: In 1914, Brooklyn's first baseman Jake Daubert established the National League record with four sacrifices in one game when the Dodgers dropped an 8-7 decision to Phillies at Ebbets Field. - LP)

2002 Indian first baseman Jim Thome, in the team's 11-8 loss at Yankees Stadium, homers in his seventh consecutive game. The seventh-inning solo shot, off southpaw David Wells, leaves the Indians' slugger one shy of the major league record shared by Dale Long (1956, Pirates), Don Mattingly (Yankees, 1987), and Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993, Mariners).

2005 During the fireworks display at Pawtucket's McCoy Stadium, two shells misfire, landing in the stands. Four or five employees of the Telstar Display Fireworks suffer minor burns, and some fans are injured when they stumble to escape from the mishap.
2006 Barry Bonds (41), Steve Finley (41), and birthday boy Moises Alou (40) become the first trio of 40-year-olds to start a game in the same outfield. The senior flycatchers combine to go 4-for-11 with two stolen bases to help the Giants defeat Philadelphia, 5-3.
2009 Albert Pujols' 8th-inning home run with the bases loaded proves to be the difference in the Cardinals' 7-4 victory over the Reds. The grand slam, the tenth of his career, establishes a new franchise record, moving the Santo Domingo (DR) native past Redbird Hall of Famer Stan Musial.
2010 With homers in his first two at-bats, Twins' DH Jim Thome passes franchise legend Harmon Killebrew with 574 round-trippers and moves into tenth place on the all-time home run list. The team plays a previously recorded message from the much-beloved Hall of Famer in which he congratulates the designated hitter on the career accomplishment.

2013 Max Scherzer becomes the first pitcher in 27 years to begin the season 13-0 when the Tigers beat the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, 6-2. In 1986, Red Sox right-hander Roger Clemens started the year with 14 victories and no losses.
2013 CC Sabathia, throwing 121 pitches in seven innings, collects his 200th career win when the Yankees beat the Twins at Target Field, 3-2. With the victory, the 32-year-old southpaw continues his nearly six-year winning streak over Minnesota, compiling an 11-0 record and a 2.01 ERA in his last 12 starts against the team.
2013 In his final attempt to play major league baseball after being given a 100-game suspension in 2011 for taking performance-enhancing drugs, Manny Ramirez agrees to a minor league deal with the Rangers. Due to his decreased bat speed while playing for the PCL's Round Rock Express, the 41-year-old outfielder/DH will be released by Texas next month, ending his controversial 19-year major league career with a lifetime .312 batting average.
2013 Yasiel Puig becomes the first player named Player of the Month in the first month he plays in the major leagues in the 55-year history of the award. The Dodger outfielder played in 26 games in June, compiling a .436 batting average, with his 44 base hits being the second-most ever by a first-month player, only behind Joe DiMaggio's total of 48 in 1936.
2014 Used car salesman Andrew Rector files a $10 million defamation suit in the Bronx Supreme Court against the Yankees, MLB, ESPN, and the broadcast's play-by-play man Dan Shulman and commentator John Kruk. The 26-year-old claims the commentary and photos of him at the April 13th nationally televised at Yankee Stadium showed him in a false light, damaged his reputation, and the fact that he was napping was not an issue of legitimate public concern.
2014 Rays manager Joe Maddon, known for keeping his team loose throughout the long season by implementing fun and innovative ideas, uses Tommy Tutone's song, 867-53O9 Jenny, as the inspiration for his lineup. The last-place team's batting order against Detroit has the center fielder (8) leading off, followed by the shortstop (6), then left fielder (7), with the third baseman (5) batting cleanup, and so on, with the second baseman and catcher to bat in the eighth and ninth position.

2016 At Fort Bragg, the Marlins beat the Braves, 5-4, in the first regular-season MLB game in North Carolina. The contest, witnessed by 12,500 spectators of mostly current or former service personnel jammed into a temporary stadium constructed in less than four months, was staged on a military base to pay tribute to America's Armed Forces.
2019 Joining Max Scherzer (2) and Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg becomes the third National pitcher to throw an immaculate inning. In the fourth inning of the team's 3-1 over the Marlins in Washington. The 30-year-old right-hander retires Garrett Cooper (looking), Neil Walker (swinging), and Starlin Castro (looking) on nine consecutive strikes.
44 Fact(s) Found