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This Day in Baseball History
October 11th

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36 Fact(s) Found
1909 At Bennett Park, Honus Wagner becomes the first player to steal three bases in a World Series contest. The Pirates' third baseman's thievery enables Pittsburgh to beat Detroit, 8-6, in Game 3 of the Fall Classic.
1911 Ty Cobb (Tigers - AL) and Frank Schulte (Cubs - NL) receive cars for being the first-ever Most Valuable Player in their respective leagues. The new honor, known as the Chalmers Award, is sponsored by Chalmers Automotive, a Detroit-based automobile company.
1915 In front of the largest crowd ever to see a World Series game, 42,300 fans watch the Red Sox beat the Phillies in Game 3 of the Fall Classic, 2-1. The contest, which is played at the National League home of the Braves to accommodate more Boston patrons, ends when Duffy Lewis singles with two outs to score Harry Hooper in the bottom of the ninth inning.
1929 The Cubs become the first National League team to win a Fall Classic contest since 1926 when the Redbirds beat the Yankees in Game 7. Chicago breaks the Senior Circuit's ten-game World Series skid in Game 3 with a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia at Shibe Park.
1947 The Yankees trade Joe Gordon, a future Hall of Fame second baseman who will leave the Bronx after playing in precisely 1,000 games and collecting exactly 1,000 hits, to the Indians for Allie Reynolds, known as Superchief by his teammates due to his Creek heritage. The trade works well for both teams when Cleveland's newest infielder plays a significant role in the Tribe's World Championship next season, with the Bronx Bombers' recently arrived right-hander compiling an impressive 131-60 (.686) record during his eight years with the team.
1948 In Game 6 of the Fall Classic, the Indians beat Boston at Braves Field, 4-3, to capture the team's second World Series title in franchise history. Bob Lemon wins the game, with Gene Bearden pitching the final one and two-thirds innings to earn the save.
1958 Bill Mazeroski weds Milene Nicholson at Sacred Heart Church in Braddock (PA) after his manager, Danny Murtaugh, ordered him to call her after he spotted his second baseman watching the young female fan in the stands during a rain delay last season. The skipper's advice works well for the 22-year-old All-Star infielder when he and his bride stay married for over six decades, raising two sons.
1959 At Syracuse's MacArthur Stadium, middleweight champion Carmen Basilio umpires an exhibition game between Mickey Mantle's AL All-Stars and Willie Mays' NL All-Star barnstorming squads. The contest, which costs only $2.50 to attend, features a home-run hitting competition between Braves slugger Hank Aaron and Indians right fielder Rocky Colavito, who led the American League in home runs this season. 
1964 In Game 4 of the World Series, Ken Boyer's sixth-inning grand slam off Yankee starter Al Downing gives the Cardinals a 4-3 victory over the Yankees. The St. Louis third baseman is the second National Leaguer to hit a postseason bases-loaded round-tripper.

(Ed. Note: In Game 4 of the 1962 World Series Yankee Stadium, Giants second baseman Chuck Hiller became the first National League player to hit a grand slam in the Fall Classic. - LP)

1965 In Game 5, a 7-0 victory over the Twins at Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis becomes the second player to steal three bases in a World Series game. The L.A. center fielder joins Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner, who accomplished the feat on the same date 56 years ago against Detroit in Game 3 of the 1909 Fall Classic.
1967 Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith, and Rico Petrocelli, his second of the game, all go deep off Dick Hughes in the bottom of the fourth inning at Fenway Park, marking the first time three teammates hit home runs in the same inning in a World Series game. Boston's eventual 8-4 victory over St. Louis knots the Fall Classic at three games apiece.
1967 With a year remaining on his contract to manage Washington, Gil Hodges inks a three-year deal to become the Mets skipper, ending the speculation that Yogi Berra, a coach with the team, would replace the recently-resigned Wes Westrum. New York agrees to pay significant reparations to the Senators and send a player from the 40-man roster to Washington to get the fan-favorite former Dodger.
1968 The Giants name Clyde King as the team's new manager, replacing Herman Franks. San Francisco fires their new skipper, who will guide the club to 90 victories next season after the team blows an 8-0 lead in a contest against the Padres in May of 1970.
1968 The Cardinals trade outfielder/first baseman Bobby Tolan and right-hander Wayne Granger to the Reds for Vada Pinson. The National League Champion Redbirds obtain the former All-Star Gold Glove outfielder to replace Roger Maris, who retired after the season ended.
1970

“It was as if [Boston] Mayor Menino were to trade the USS Constitution to Baltimore for the USS Constellation." - HERB CREHAN, referring to the Red Sox dealing Tony Conigliaro to the Angels in his book Red Sox Heroes of Yesteryear.

During the O's/Reds World Series, the Red Sox trade fan-favorite Tony Conigliaro, Ray Jarvis, and Jerry Moses to the Angels for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum, and Ken Tatum. The deal stuns the baseball community and crushes the former Boston outfielder, who fans admire for his courageous comeback after being hit in the left cheekbone by a Jack Hamilton pitch that caused a severe eye injury.

1971 At Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, Pat Nixon becomes the first First Lady to toss a ceremonial first pitch at a major league game. Richard's wife, a frequent visitor at Washington DC's Griffith Park with her then vice-president husband and daughters in the 1950s, does the honors before Game Two of the World Series, a contest that hometown Orioles handily beat the Pirates, 11-3.
1972 Bobby Winkles, former head baseball coach at Arizona State, becomes the first major league skipper taken from the collegiate ranks since Hugo Bezdek managed the Pirates in 1917. The Angel coach, who compiled a 524-173 record en route to three national championships with ASU, replaces the recently fired Del Rice, who spent one season with the fifth-place (75-80) Halos.
1972 In the fifth and deciding game of the NLCS at Riverfront Stadium, George Foster scores the winning run from third base in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch thrown by Bob Moose, giving the Reds a dramatic 4-3 walk-off victory over the Pirates. Earlier in the inning, Johnny Bench hit a home run off Dave Giusti to tie the score.

1973 Less than two weeks after leaving the Yankees for the second time in his career, Ralph Houk signs a three-year deal to be the Tigers manager, a team in a rebuilding mode. The Major, replacing a fiery Bill Martin, fired by the team at the end of August, will compile a 363-443 (.450) record during his five seasons in the Motor City.
1975 As the first host of Saturday Night Live, George Carlin compares baseball to football in the opening monologue of the ground-breaking show. The comedian jokes the national pastime is a gentler game, portraying the sport as pastoral and played in a park as opposed to football, where the objective is to march downfield and penetrate enemy territory in a stadium.

1976 With Davey Johnson in the on-deck circle, Japanese home run king Sadaharu hits his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth's much-heralded career home run total. Two seasons ago, Johnson was also in the lineup, batting in the hole, when Henry Aaron passed the Sultan of Swat with his 715th round-tripper to become the all-time major league home run leader.

(Ed. Note: Jack Lind, a member of the Brewers during Aaron's two-year tenure with the club (1975 to 1976), is the only other player to be a teammate of both home run kings. - LP)

1978 Rookie right-hander Bob Welch strikes out Reggie Jackson with two men on base and two out in the top of the ninth inning, dramatically preserving a 4-3 Dodger victory over the Yankees in Game 2 of the Fall Classic. The relief performance will put the 21-year-old in the national spotlight.

1981 The Expos post their first-ever playoff series triumph, winning NLDS when they beat the defending World Champion Phillies, 3-0, behind Steve Rogers' six-hit complete-game shutout at Veterans Stadium. The franchise will not advance to another postseason until 2019 when the team takes the Wild Card game as the Washington Nationals.
1992 After participating in a game against the Dolphins in Miami, NFL Falcons' cornerback Deion Sanders flies to Pittsburgh, hoping to become the first athlete to play in two professional leagues on the same day. However, the traveling outfielder will not be in the lineup for the Braves' 7-1 loss in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium that evening.
1999 An ailing Pedro Martinez, with both starters ineffective in the decisive Game 5 of the ALCS and the score tied at 8-8 in the fourth, enters the game and doesn't yield another hit to the Indians for the next six innings. Troy O'Leary collects a grand slam and a three-run home run following intentional passes to Nomar Garciaparra, contributing to the Red Sox' 12-8 victory at Cleveland's Jacobs Field.

2000 The Yankees' eight hits in the eighth inning in Game 2 set an ALCS record and contribute to the Bronx Bombers' 7-1 victory over the Mariners. The new mark surpasses the accomplishments of the Orioles (Game 1 - 1970), the Yankees (Game 2 - 1981), and the Blue Jays (Game 3 - 1985), who each had seven hits in one inning of a championship series.
2002 Buck Showalter, who compiled a 563-504 (.527) managerial record in six seasons with the Yankees and Diamondback, is hired by the last-place Rangers to replace Jerry Narron, let go two days ago as the team's skipper. The Cubs, Mets, Devil Rays, and Brewers had also expressed an interest in the 46-year-old ESPN commentator.
2003 In Game 4, the Cubs (6) and Marlins (8) tie the NLCS homer record by hitting 14 dingers in the championship series. The total, which will expand to 23 in the seven-game series, was established by the Giants and Cardinals last year.
2004 The Astros, after seven tries during their 43-year history, finally win a postseason playoff series when they eliminate the Braves in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS, 12-3. The Houston victory marks the third consecutive year that Atlanta has lost a decisive Game 5 of the division series at home in Turner Field.

2005 The last-place Pirates name Jim Tracy as the team's manager to replace the recently fired Lloyd McClendon. The selection of the former Dodger skipper, who will guide the Bucs to a 135-189 record during his two seasons at the helm, marks the first time Pittsburgh has looked outside the organization in nearly two decades to hire its field boss.
2006 On a rainy mid-week afternoon in Manhattan, Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger die as their four-seat plane crashes into an Upper East Side high-rise building. Manny Acta, the Mets' third base coach, is not sure he will be able to go to his home after tonight's scheduled Game 1 of the NLCS at Shea Stadium due to damage to the Belaire Condominiums caused by the crash.
2009 In the final game played at the Metrodome, the Yankees advance to the ALCS by defeating the hometown Twins, 4-1. A costly eighth-inning base-running blunder by Nick Punto ends Minnesota's hopes of a comeback over a talented New York team, including Alex Rodriguez, who went 5-for-11 with two homers and six RBIs in the three-game division series sweep.
2009 Jonathan Papelbon, who had never given up a run in any of his previous 26 postseason innings, allows two inherited runners to score in the eighth and yields another three runs in the ninth, giving the Angels, trailing 5-1 going into the sixth inning, a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox. The Halos' comeback victory at Fenway completes a three-game sweep of the ALDS over a team that historically had been their nemesis, losing their past four postseason encounters with Boston.
2009 Admitting to a blown call, which led to the decisive run in the Rockies' 6-5 Game 2 NLDS loss to the Phillies at a very chilly Coors Field, home plate umpire Jerry Meals, after watching a post-game replay, states the ball that glanced off Chase Utley's leg should not have been in play. To make matters worse, in the same at-bat where the ball was foul, umpire Ron Kulpa ruled the runner safe on a close call, which appeared to have the Philadelphia infielder beat at first base.
2010 With their 3-2 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS at Turner Field, the Giants advance to the National League Championship Series to play the Phillies. After the last out, the San Francisco players come onto the field to salute the opposing manager, Bobby Cox, who is retiring after 29 years in the dugout.

2012 For the first time since the divisional playoffs began in 1995, all four series will go the distance to a Game 5 when the Nationals and Orioles knot their respective series against the Cardinals and Yankees. Washington and Baltimore join the A's and Giants, who also forced a decisive game with victories over the Tigers and Reds in yesterday's LDS games.
36 Fact(s) Found