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This Day in Baseball History
September 10th

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32 Fact(s) Found
1881 At Haymakers' Grounds, future Hall of Fame first baseman Roger Connor becomes the first major leaguer to hit a grand slam, giving the Troy Trojans a 7-4 walk-off victory over the Worcester Ruby Legs. The 23-year-old Waterbury (CT) native's sayonara slam, a home run that wins a game when a team is down by three runs in the bottom of the final inning, comes with two outs.
1914 The Braves suspend shortstop Johnny Evers for three days after he swears at umpire Mal Eason. The Boston captain, previously banned by the league on several occasions this season, claims he was talking to the ball, not the arbitrator.
1919 Cleveland's right-hander Ray Caldwell no-hits the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader sweep in New York, 3-0. The right-handed spitballer, released by the Red Sox in July, finishes the season by winning five of six starts for the Tribe with an ERA of 1.71.
1933 The inaugural East-West All-Star Game takes place at Comiskey Park, the site of the first major league Midsummer Classic played exactly one month ago. Gus Greenlee and Tom Wilson's idea to showcase the black talent in the Negro Leagues draws 20,000 fans, helping relieve some of the burden facing the financially-strapped club owners.
1950 The Red Sox sweep the home season series against the A's for the second consecutive year when the team beats the last-place club, 6-2. The winning streak at Fenway now extends to 22 wins without a loss against Philadelphia.
1950 In New York's 8-1 victory over the Senators at Washington, D.C.'s Griffith Stadium, Joe DiMaggio becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in the 39-year history of the ballpark. Joltin' Joe has hit a trio of round-trippers in a game three times, but he never accomplished the feat at Yankee Stadium.
1959 Memphis (TN) native Tim McCarver makes his major league debut when he flies out to right field as a pinch-hitter, making the last out in the ninth inning of the Cardinals' 7-4 loss to the Braves at County Stadium. The 17-year-old backstop from Christian Brothers High School, scouted by former Yankee Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey, turned down football scholarships from Notre Dame and Tennessee to play baseball.
1963 In the Mets' 4-2 victory over the Giants at the Polo Grounds, Carlton Willey retires the side in order, getting all three Alou brothers - Jesus, Matty, and Felipe - to make an out. The Dominican trio becomes the first three siblings to bat consecutively in the same inning.
1963 In the first inning of an 8-0 rout of the Cubs at Sportsman's Park, Cardinals left fielder Stan Musial becomes the first grandfather in big league history to hit a home run. The 42-year-old new grandpa accomplishes the feat in his first at-bat since his grandson's birth earlier in the day.
1964 With his office responsible for all the costs for teams not making it into the postseason, Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick authorizes the Phillies, Yankees, White Sox, and Orioles to print tickets for the World Series. Due to a historic late-season collapse by Philadelphia, the surging Cardinals win the National League pennant on the last day of the season and will play the Bronx Bombers in the Fall Classic.

1967 In the first game of a doubleheader, Chicago right-hander Joe Horlen, facing 28 batters, no-hits the visiting Tigers, 6-0. Detroit also goes scoreless in the nightcap when 26-year-old Cisco Carlos blanks the team at White Sox Park, 4-0.
1967 At Candlestick Park, Giants right-hander Gaylord Perry's 40-inning team record consecutive scoreless streak ends when the Cubs score an unearned run in the seventh inning of a 2-1 victory over Chicago Fergie Jenkins and Chicago. The future Hall of Famer will match his franchise mark with another string of scoreless innings in 1970.
1969 At Shea Stadium, the Mets move into first place for the first time in history. With their doubleheader sweep of Montreal, a 3-2 win in the opener, and a 7-1 victory in the nightcap, New York takes a one-game lead when the Phillies beat the second-place Cubs, 6-2.


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1970 The Perrys become the first siblings to win twenty games in the same season when Gaylord goes the distance in the Giants' 11-0 victory over the Astros at Candlestick Park. Big bother Jim recorded his 20th nine days earlier, also throwing a complete-game shutout in the Twins' 4-0 win over the Brewers at County Stadium.

1974 Lou Brock ties and then breaks Maury Wills's 12-year-old single-season stolen base record with his 104th and 105th swipes. The Cardinal left fielder's thievery against the Phillies doesn't help when the Redbirds drop the Busch Stadium contest, 8-2.

1977 The expansion Blue Jays rout the first-place Yankees at the Stadium, 19-3. Toronto third baseman Roy Howell leads the way with two home runs, two doubles, and a single, resulting in 13 total bases and nine RBIs.
1980 Expos right-hander Bill Gullickson ties Jack Coombs (1906 Boston Americans) for the most strikeouts in a game by a rookie when he whiffs 18 Cubs in the team's 4-2 victory at Olympic Stadium. In 1998, Chicago's Kerry Wood will establish a new freshman mark and equal the major league record when he strikes out 20 Astros in a Wrigley Field contest.
1980 Bill Gullickson whiffs 18 batters, the most ever recorded by a rookie in a major league game. The Expos 21-year-old right-hander throws a complete-game four-hitter, beating Chicago at Olympic Stadium, 4-2.
1985 Cardinal starter Danny Cox, who appears annoyed by George Foster stepping out of the box several times during the at-bat, hits him with a first-inning pitch, causing both teams to charge onto the Shea Stadium field. Minutes after the teams return to their respective dugouts, Howard Johnson blasts a grand slam to give the Mets an eventual 5-4 win and a one-game lead over the Redbirds in the tight NL East race.
1985 Keith Hernandez receives a two-minute standing ovation from the Mets fans in his first game back at Shea after testifying in a Pittsburgh courtroom. The New York first baseman, who responds with a run-producing single against his former team, admitted on the witness stand to have used cocaine while playing for the Cardinals.
1992 Cardinals vice-chairman Fred Kuhlman tells reporters that a "security check" revealed issues involving the two out-of-state investors, Vince Piazza and Vincent N. Tirendi, part of the six-man group trying to buy the Giants and move the franchise to Florida. The remark costs baseball $6+ million to settle a suit that includes a letter of apology from acting Commissioner Bud Selig to Vince Piazza, whose son Mike started his major league career nine days before his father's rejection by the MLB owners.
1997 In a 7-6 loss to the Giants, Cardinal Mark McGwire becomes the second player in major league history to hit 50 home runs in consecutive seasons. Babe Ruth accomplished the feat twice in the 1920-21 and 1927-28 seasons.
1999 At Yankee Stadium, Boston starter Pedro Martinez allows just one hit, a second-inning solo home run to Chili Davis, en route to a complete-game 3-1 victory. Fanning 17 batters, the Red Sox right-hander extends his own record to 40 consecutive innings with at least one strikeout per frame.

2000 On his 37th birthday, Diamondback southpaw Randy Johnson becomes the 12th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters. Florida third baseman Mike Lowell is the Big Unit's historical victim, whiffing on four pitches to end the fourth inning. The lefty's first strikeout of the game, his 300th of the season, ties Nolan Ryan for accomplishing the feat in three consecutive years.

2003 Javy Lopez homers off Phillies' righty Vicente Padilla to give the Braves a franchise-record 216 home runs for the season. The 1996 Orioles hold the major league mark with 257, and the Astros established the National League record at 249 in 2000.
2006 Francisco Rodriguez becomes the youngest pitcher to notch his 100th career save when he retires the side in order in the ninth inning of the Angels' 4-3 victory over Toronto. The 24-year-old right-handed closer breaks the previous mark held by Gregg Olson, who accomplished the feat with Baltimore in 1992.
2007 At Safeco Field, A's backstop Kurt Suzuki and DH Dan Johnson hit grand slams in the team's 9-3 victory over Seattle. The Oakland catcher's bases-loaded homer comes in the top of the second inning off Horacio Ramirez, with his teammate accomplishing the same feat with two outs in the ninth off Ryan Rowland-Smith.
2007 Hitting his 20th home run of the season, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies breaks Ernie Banks' National League rookie record for most home runs by a shortstop in a single season. The Cubs Hall of Famer, who compiled 512 homers, hit 19 dingers as a freshman in 1954.
2008 With a 4-2 victory over the visiting Yankees, the Angels clinch the division flag on the earliest date in the history of the American League West. The Halos, the first club to secure a postseason spot this season, have finished in first place four times in the past five seasons.
2013 With three doubles and a home run, Mark Trumbo ties a franchise record with four extra-base hits and becomes the first player in Angels' history to collect five hits and score five runs in the same game. However, the Anaheim first baseman's ten total bases yield only two RBIs in the Halos' 12-6 victory over Toronto at the Rogers Centre.
2020 Bobby Dalbec homers in five straight games when he got deep off Rays freshman southpaw Josh Fleming in the fifth inning of Red Sox's 4-3 victory at Tropicana Field. The 25-year-old rookie first baseman ties a franchise mark shared by Jimmie Foxx (1940), Ted Williams (1957), Dick Stuart (1963), George Scott (1977), and José Canseco (1995).
2023 After only hitting one triple in previous 1,305 plate appearances, Kyle Tucker hits two in the sixth inning in the Astros' 12-2 victory over the Padres at Minute Maid Park. The Houston right fielder becomes the first player in franchise history to hit a pair of three-baggers in the same frame. 
32 Fact(s) Found