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This Day in Baseball History
October 10th

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35 Fact(s) Found
1904 On the last day of the season, with one day of rest, Pilgrims right-hander Bill Dinneen beats Jack Chesbro when the 41-game winner uncorks a ninth-inning wild pitch, snapping a 2-2 tie against the Highlander. Boston's Big Bill completes all 37 games he started during the season, throwing 337.2 consecutive innings, with his final effort giving the team their second straight American League pennant.
1920 Indians' Bill Wambsganss becomes the only player in World Series history to complete an unassisted triple play when he makes a leaping catch, steps on second base, and tags the runner arriving from first base. Silence engulfs Cleveland's League Park as the hometown fans try to digest what they have just witnessed.
1920 Outfielder Elmer Smith becomes the first player to hit a grand slam in World Series history when the Indians defeat the Robins and Burleigh Grimes, 8-1. Cleveland's starter Jim Bagby contributes to his cause, blasting a three-run home run to become the first pitcher to hit a home run in the Fall Classic.
1923 In the first postseason game ever played at Yankee Stadium, veteran Giants outfielder Casey Stengel becomes the first player to hit a World Series homer in the Bronx ballpark, breaking a 4-4 deadlock in the top of the ninth inning with an inside-the-park round-tripper off Joe Bush. The Game 1 matchup is the first Fall Classic contest broadcast nationally.
1924 With the score tied at 3-3 and one out in the bottom of the 12th in Game 7 of the World Series, Senators' backstop Muddy Ruel lifts a high catchable foul pop-up, which Giant catcher Hank Gowdy misses when he stumbles over his mask. Given a second chance, Ruel then doubles and eventually scores the winning run, making the Senators World Champs.
1948 Until the Dodgers host the 1959 Fall Classic at the LA Coliseum, the largest crowd to attend a World Series game jam into Cleveland's Municipal Stadium to witness a showdown between two future Hall of Famers. Braves' southpaw Warren Spahn beats Bob Feller and the Indians in Game 5 of the Fall Classic, 11-5, in front of 86,288 fans.
1951 In Game 6 of the Fall Classic, the Yankees become World Champions for the 14th time in franchise history when they beat the Giants in the Bronx ballpark contest, 4-3. Hank Bauer delivers the signature blow, a three-run triple hit in the sixth inning off of Game 1 winner Dave Koslo.
1956 In Game 7 of the World Series, Johnny Kucks, allowing just three singles, blanks Brooklyn, 9-0, to give the Yankees their 17th World Championship in franchise history. In the last postseason game played at Ebbets Field, the 24-year-old right-hander ends the game by striking out Jackie Robinson, which turns out to be the Dodger infielder's final major league at-bat when he decides to retire after being traded to the Giants in the off-season.
1957 With a 5-0 victory over the defending World Champions in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Milwaukee captures its first World Series championship since the 'Miracle Braves' won the title representing Boston in 1914. The Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic is right-hander Lew Burdette, who hurled three complete-game victories, including today's shutout.
1957 Starting Game 7 on just two days rest, Lew Burdette pitches the Braves to a World Championship as he blanks the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium, 5-0. The 30-year-old right-hander, named the Series MVP, tosses 24 consecutive scoreless innings and posts a 0.64 ERA in his three Fall classic victories.
1961 The three-round National League expansion draft begins at the circuit's headquarters in Cincinnati when the Colt .45s select former Giant shortstop Eddie Bressoud, and the Mets pick Hobie Landrith, a catcher who also played for San Francisco last season. Houston and New York choose 16 players, two from each of the existing clubs, at 75,000 per player, adding two/three more players at $50,000 in round two, and then in the final round picking four players from a premium list at $125,000 apiece, costing the new owners a staggering $3,650,000 for 45 players of questionable talent.
1962 In Game 5 of the World Series, Tom Tresh belts an eighth-inning homer off Jack Sanford to give the Bronx Bombers a 5-3 comeback win over the Giants at Yankee Stadium. Mike Tresh, the rookie shortstop's dad, who hit only two home runs in his dozen big league seasons, left his seat behind home plate before the at-bat, moving to the standing-room section in Yankee Stadium, hoping to bring his son good luck.
1963 The Mets announce the club has 'traded' coaches with the Giants, bringing Wes Westrum to New York in exchange for Cookie Lavagetto, recovering from a serious illness, and requested a position nearer to his home in Oakland. Mets manager Casey Stengel met and became fond of his new coach during the recent All-Star Game and will be replaced by him as the team's second skipper in franchise history when the 75-year-old 'Old Perfessor' retires in 1965.
1964 At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle, facing Barney Schultz, slams the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning over the fence at the Bronx ballpark, giving New York a dramatic 2-1 walk-off victory and two games to one advantage over St. Louis in the Fall Classic. The Mick's game-winning round-tripper, his 16th Fall Classic round-tripper, breaking the previous mark set by Babe Ruth, makes him the fifth major leaguer to end a World Series game with a home run.
1968 Bob Gibson, who sets the mark for total strikeouts (35) in a World Series, goes the distance in his eighth consecutive World Series game, losing Game 7 to Detroit, 4-1. The only time the St. Louis Cardinal right-hander, who will compile a 1.89 postseason ERA, didn't finish a Fall Classic contest was in his first appearance in 1964 when he tossed eight innings against the Yankees.
1968 In the fifth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, Dal Maxvill pops out to first base, becoming the first major leaguer to go 0-for-22 in the Fall Classic. The Cardinal shortstop surpasses the single series infamous mark previously shared by Gil Hodges (1952 - Dodgers), Red Murray (1911 - Giants), Billy Sullivan (1906 - White Sox), and Jimmy Sheckard (1906 - Cubs).
1970 In the first World Series game played on artificial turf, Boog Powell, Ellie Hendricks, and Brooks Robinson homer to power the Orioles past the Reds, 4-3. In Game 1 of the Fall Classic, Baltimore's offensive output overcomes Cincinnati's 3-0 early lead at Riverfront Stadium.
1973 In the fifth and deciding game, the Mets win their second National League pennant in franchise history, beating the Reds, 7-2. Tom Seaver, who gives up seven hits in 8.1 innings, bests Cincinnati right-hander Jack Billingham in the Shea Stadium showdown.
1973 During oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Potter Stewart is handed a note with the startling news that Vice President Agnew had just resigned. The message also informs the glum Republican Justice, a big Reds fan, that the Mets are ahead of Cincinnati in the NLCS, 2-0.
1976 The Royals gain their first postseason victory in franchise history when they beat the Yankees, 7-3, in Game 2 of the ALCS. Kansas City southpaw Paul Splittorff, pitching 5.2 innings in relief, is credited with the victory.
1978 Before the start of Game 1 of the World Series, the Dodgers retire Jim Gilliam's uniform #19, honoring their coach who died suddenly two days ago due to a massive brain hemorrhage. The 49-year-old former All-Star LA infielder will become the team's first player not inducted into the Hall of Fame to receive this tribute.
1982 In Game 5, the Brewers capture the American League flag, beating the Angels at County Stadium, 4-3. Milwaukee becomes the first team to overcome a 0-2 start in a best-of-a-five-game LCS, winning the remaining three games against California, all played at home.

1993 The BBWAA selects Chicago slugger Frank Thomas as the American League's Most Valuable Player. The first baseman, ranked among the top ten of the league's nine offensive categories, batted .317 with 41 home runs and knocked in 128 runs for the division-winning White Sox.
1999 Scoring more than nineteen NFL teams, the Red Sox establish a major league record for most runs and the biggest margin of victory in a postseason game, scoring in every inning but the sixth in their 23-7 rout of the Indians. John Valentin collects seven RBIs in the Fenway Park contest as the Red Sox knot the five-game series at two games apiece.

2000 In Game 1, the Mariners (9) and Yankees (13) combined for 22 strikeouts to set an ALCS record. Seattle wins the contest behind the solid pitching of Freddie Garcia, who rings up eight Bombers in 6.2 innings in the team's 2-0 victory in the Bronx.
2003 The Cubs take a 2-1 game advantage in the NLCS when they beat the Marlins in extra innings at Pro Player Stadium, 5-4. The eventual winning run scores in the top of the 11th when Doug Glanville triples off Florida's Brandon Looper to plate Kenny Lofton, who had singled with one out in the frame.
2003 Kenny Lofton sets an NLCS record and ties the ALCS mark with six hits in six consecutive at-bats. Gary Matthews (Phillies-1983), Will Clark (Giants-1989), Steve Buechele (Pirates-1991), and Javy Lopez (Braves-1996) all held the previous NL distinction with five consecutive hits, with Blue Jays' DH Paul Molitor establishing the major league standard in 1993, now shared with the Cub flychaser.
2005 The Phillies fire Ed Wade as their general manager, although the team( 88-74) has had three straight winning seasons and missed a chance of being the wild card by only one game this season. Philadelphia has not played in the postseason for 12 consecutive years, including the last eight seasons with Wade calling the shots.
2005 Rafael Palmeiro avoids perjury charges when a Congressional subcommittee decides not to prosecute him following its investigation. The former Orioles' first baseman/DH had piqued the legislators' interest when he tested positive for steroids four months after pointing his finger at the committee during a Capitol Hill hearing, emphatically denying that he had used performance-enhancing substances.

2008 Earlier in the day, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel learns of his mother's death at a Virginia hospital. The grieving skipper, one of ten of June's children, stays with the team and directs his club to an 8-5 victory against the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park in Game 2 of the NLDS.
2009 In Matt Holliday's first at-bat at home since his critical error allowed LA to stage an amazing comeback victory, the Cardinals' left fielder receives a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 47,296 at Busch Stadium. The former NLCS MVP award winner (Colorado - 2007), who will become a free agent after the season, is touched by the fans' reaction and appreciative of their support.
2009 The Dodgers advance to their second consecutive National League championship series, beating St. Louis, 5-1, to complete a three-game sweep of the Redbirds in the NLDS. Vicente Padilla's solid pitching and Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez's timely hitting close out the series, best remembered for Matt Holliday's error on James Loney's ninth-inning two-out liner, leading to a stunning two-run walk-off rally in Game 2.
2010 Behind the solid starting pitching of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, the Phillies complete the franchise's first playoff sweep when Hamels throws a five-hit complete-game victory, beating the Reds at Great American Ball Park, 2-0. Philadelphia will have an opportunity to become the first team to win three consecutive National League pennants since the war-time Cardinals raised flags from 1942 to 1944.

2011 At the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Nelson Cruz, who also went deep in the seventh frame to tie the game, hits the first walk-off grand slam in playoff history when his 11th-inning round-tripper off Ryan Perry beats Detroit, 7-3. The victory in Game Two gives Texas a 2-0 advantage in the seven-game ALCS series. 

2019 After compiling a .497 winning percentage in his two seasons at the helm, the Phillies fire their manager Gabe Kapler. The dismissal marks the available eighth managerial vacancy that includes skippers needed by the Mets, Pirates, Angels, Royals, Cubs, Padres, and the Giants, who will hire the former Philadelphia pilot next month as their 37th manager to replace the retiring Bruce Bochy.
35 Fact(s) Found