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This Day in Baseball History
June 14th

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32 Fact(s) Found
1870 At the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, the Cincinnati Red Stockings see their 130-game consecutive winning streak (81 official games and 49 exhibitions) end when they lose to the Atlantics in extra innings, 8-7. During the game, in an effort not to hit the ball to George Wright, the opponents' slick-fielding shortstop, hometown third baseman, and captain, Bob Ferguson, bats left-handed, becoming the first-known switch-hitter in baseball history.
1919 Batting only .198 in 25 games since being acquired last month from the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, Joe Wilhoit scratches out a first-inning single to begin the longest consecutive game-hitting streak in professional baseball history. The Wichita Jobbers' outfielder will hit safely in 69 Western League contests, collecting 153 hits in 297 at-bats for an astounding .515 batting average.
1926 In what will turn out to be one of John McGraw's worst trades, the Giants deal outfielder Billy Southworth, batting .328 at the time, to the Cardinals for Heinie Mueller, who will hit only .265 over two seasons for New York. The Redbirds' new fly chaser, a future Hall of Famer, will play an important role in the team's world championship this season.
1933 New York manager Joe McCarthy and infielder Lou Gehrig are thrown out of the game, resulting in the suspension of the Yankee skipper for three games. Fortunately, his first baseman isn't, and the Iron Horse's consecutive game streak stays intact at 1,249 contests.
1948 In front of a crowd of 12,622 at Ebbets Field, Jackie Robinson, who hits a third-inning two-run homer, and Cleveland's Larry Doby, the only two African-American big leaguers, play against each other for the first time. In the Sunday evening charity exhibition game, the Dodgers beat the first-place Indians, 6-2, raising $15,000 for the Brooklyn Amateur Baseball Federation, which benefits sandlot ballplayers in Flatbush.
1952 After purchasing Hank Aaron from the Indianapolis Clowns for $10,000, the Braves sign the 18-year-old Negro League player, assigning him to the Eau Claire Bears, their Class-C farm team. The future home run king, named the Northern League's Rookie of the Year when he hits .336 and nine homers in 87 games, will play second base for the Wisconsin minor league team.
1952 Warren Spahn goes the distance in the Braves' 3-1 loss to the visiting Cubs, whiffing 18 batters in 15 innings. The Boston southpaw, who homers for the team's lone run, becomes the sixth pitcher to compile 18 or more strikeouts in a game but the first hurler who needed extra frames to accomplish the feat.
1953 Before 74,708 fans at Cleveland Stadium, the Yankees sweep the Indians, 6-2 and 3-0, to extend the team's winning streak to eighteen straight games. The Bronx Bombers' string of consecutive victories ends with a 3-1 loss to the Browns at home in the team's next game, and one win shy of the franchise mark of 19 set in 1947.
1956 Frank 'Trader' Lane lives up to his nickname when the Cardinals GM completes a seven-player deal with the Giants. The Redbirds swap future Hall of Famer second baseman Red Schoendienst, catcher Bill Sarni, and southpaw Dick Littlefield to the Jints for shortstop Alvin Dark, outfielder Whitey Lockman, backstop Ray Katt, and left-hander Don Liddle.
1963 In a 10-3 win over the Reds at Crosley Field, Mets outfielder Duke Snider hits his 400th career homer off of Bob Purkey. With his sweet left-handed swing, the future Hall of Famer will finish his 18 years in the major leagues with 407 round-trippers.
1963 At Cleveland Stadium, Willie Kirkland becomes just the second major leaguer, joining Vern Stephens, to hit two extra-inning home runs in the same game. The Indian outfielder's 11th-inning round-tripper ties the game at two runs apiece, with his homer in the 19th resulting in a 3-2 walk-off victory over Washington, extending the Senators' losing streak to ten games.
1965 Reds starter Jim Maloney, who strikes out 18 batters, no-hits the Mets for ten innings but loses 1-0 when Johnny Lewis connects for a homer in the eleventh in the Crosley Field contest. In August at Wrigley Field, the right-hander will again give up no hits through the first nine innings but records a no-hitter when his teammate Leo Cardenas connects in the top of the tenth, providing the only run in Cincinnati's 1-0 victory over Chicago.
1966 The Florida State League's Miami Marlins edge Sparky Anderson's St. Petersburg Cardinals, 4-3, in organized baseball's longest uninterrupted game ever played. The FSL contest, which takes six hours and 59 minutes to complete, ends when southpaw Michael Hebert tosses a perfect 1-2-3 bottom half of the 29th inning after he doubled, eventually scoring on a sac fly in the top of the frame.
1969 Reggie Jackson accumulates 11 total bases and drives in ten runs in Oakland's 21-7 rout of the Red Sox. The A's outfielder's offensive output in the Fenway Park contest includes a pair of two-run homers, a double, and a single.
1969 After playing nine years in New York, the Yankees trade 30-year-old Tom Tresh to the Tigers for outfielder Ron Woods. The 1962 Rookie of the Year, who grew up in Detroit, will retire at the end of the season after batting .224 in 94 games for his new team.
1974 Thanks to Denny Doyle's one-out double plating Mickey Rivers in the 15th inning, the Angels beat the Red Sox and Luis Taint, who goes the distance facing 56 batters in the 4-3 walk-off loss to the Halos. California starter Nolan Ryan, throwing an unbelievable 235 pitches, whiffs Cecil Cooper six consecutive times in the Anaheim Stadium contest en route to striking out 19, a feat the 27-year-old right-hander will accomplish three times this season.
1975 The Angels trade Denny Doyle to the Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later (Chuck Minor) and cash. Boston's new slick-fielding second baseman will play a pivotal role in the team's championship season, compiling a 22-game hitting streak and batting .310 after arriving from California.
1978 The Phillies trade outfielders Jay Johnstone and Bobby Brown to the Yankees for right-hander Rawly Eastwick. Philadelphia's new reliever will compile a 2-1 record this season, appearing in 51 games.
1985 The fans at Olympic Stadium give Gary Carter a standing ovation when he steps to the plate in his first at-bat in Montreal since being traded in the off-season to the Mets for backstop Mike Fitzgerald, flycatcher Herm Winningham, third baseman Hubie Brooks, and right-hander Floyd Youmans. The 32-year-old catcher, who will be the only player inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing an Expos hat, has a terrific homecoming, singling three times with two walks in New York's 4-1 victory.
1985 After retiring two seasons ago, Earl Weaver returns to the Orioles dugout, replacing his successor Joe Altobelli, who won a world championship in his first year with the club. In the 105 games remaining, 'Earl of Baltimore' will guide the team to a 53-52 record, retiring for good at the end of next season after the O's finish in seventh place.
1989 In a 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays at County Stadium, Robin Yount's consecutive games streak ends. The Brewers center fielder established a new club record by playing in 276 straight contests.
1990 The National League announces plans to expand from 12 to 14 teams. The two new franchises that will begin playing in 1993 are the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies.
1995 Mike Benjamin goes 6-for-7, with five singles and a double, driving in the winning run in the 13th inning of the Giants' 4-3 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. The Giant third baseman sets a major league record by getting 14 hits in three games.
1996 After breaking Lou Gehrig's record, Cal Ripken continues to set new standards for consecutive games when he surpasses the world record of 2,216th straight contests established by Sachio Kinugasa, on hand at Kauffman Stadium to see his global accomplishment eclipsed. The former Hiroshima Carp third baseman set the previous mark in 1987 while playing in the Japanese Central League.
1998 With a 4-2 victory over Cleveland, the Yankees tie a major league record by winning or splitting their 24th consecutive series. The Bronx Bombers equal the mark shared by the 1912 Red Sox and the 1970 Reds.
2002 Due to the 14 interleague contests in National League ballparks, a designated hitter doesn't come to bat in a full slate of major league games for the first time since 1972. Visiting hurlers will get plenty of opportunities to swing the bat, as there isn't a home game scheduled in an American League park for ten consecutive days.
2005 Ichiro Suzuki (696th game - 2005) becomes the third-fastest big league player to reach the 1000-hit mark behind Chuck Klein (683rd game - 1933) and Lloyd Waner (686th game - 1932). The 31-year-old Mariners outfielder also holds the record in Japan for being the quickest player to attain 1,000 hits, reaching the milestone in 757 games.
2005 After being asked to investigate in the seventh inning, the umpires examine Brendan Donnelly's glove for a foreign substance and discover illegal pine tar. The Angel pitcher, who claims he uses the material to control sweating, is tossed, resulting in his skipper Mike Scioscia and Nationals manager Frank Robinson exchanging angry words, which incites a brawl, clearing both benches and bullpens.

2006 Russ Ortiz (0-5, 7.54) becomes the highest-paid player to be cut by a major league team. Although the team still owes $22 million of the $33 million of the four-year deal signed in December 2004, the Diamondbacks designate the 32-year-old righty for assignment, meaning the club has ten days to trade, waive, or release the pitcher, who has a 1-14 record in his last 19 starts.
2010 After only seven days in the major leagues, Stephen Strasburg is named National League Player of the Week. The Nationals' right-handed flamethrower starts his career 2-0 with 22 strikeouts, second to only Karl Spooner, who fanned five more batters in his first two major league starts with the Dodgers in 1954.
2014 Jimmy Rollins becomes the Phillies' all-time hits leader when he singles in the fifth against Chicago's Edwin Jackson for his 2,235th hit for the 132-year-old franchise. At the end of the frame, Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Famer who set the previous mark, greets the 35-year-old switch-hitting shortstop with a high-five and a hug at first base, with the entire team coming out from the Philadelphia dugout to offer their congratulations on the milestone hit.

2015 The Blue Jays, with their 13-5 rout of the Red Sox at Fenway Park, win their 11th straight game, tying a franchise record, a mark accomplished three times previously. Tomorrow, a 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Mets at Citi Field snaps the team's consecutive victory streak.
32 Fact(s) Found