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This Day in Baseball History
October 14th

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28 Fact(s) Found
1905 In Game 5, Christy Mathewson blanks the A's for the third time as the Giants beat the A's 2-0 to win the World Series. It will be the only Fall Classic where every game ends in a shutout.
1906 The White Sox, known as baseball's 'hitless wonders,' complete their unbelievable World Series, upsetting their powerful crosstown rivals, beating the Cubs, 8-3, at South Side Park. The Cubs had won a record 116 regular-season games.
1908 As the result of a formative gathering of sports scribes from New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Cincinnati at the National League offices in New York in August, the Baseball Writers' Association of America holds its first meeting with forty-three founding members in attendance in Detroit. The mission of the BBWAA will be to improve working conditions for writers, promote uniformity of scoring methods, and limit the press box to working reporters, telegraphers, and other professional personnel who need to be there.
1908 In front of the smallest crowd in World Series history, Chicago, behind the strong pitching of Orval Overall, beat the Tigers in just 85 minutes to capture the Fall Classic. The 6,210 fans witnessing the fifth and final World Series game at Detroit's Bennett Park have no idea it will be the last time the Cubs will win a World Championship in the next 100+ years.
1952 The Reds obtain outfielder Gus Bell from the Pirates in exchange for Cal Abrams, Gail Henley, and Joe Rossi. The newest Cincinnati flychaser, considered one of general manager Gabe Paul's best acquisitions for the team, will become a fan favorite and hit .288 during his nine-year tenure in the Queen City.
1969 Thanks to two great catches by Tommie Agee at Shea Stadium, the Mets beat the Orioles to take a 2-1 game lead in the World Series. The center fielder's outfield heroics save at least five runs in the 5-0 victory over Baltimore. 
1972 In Game 1 of the World Series, Gene Tenace, who went 1-for-17 in the ALCS, becomes the first player in history to hit two home runs in his first two at-bats in the Fall Classic. The catcher's round-trippers in the second and fifth inning account for all of the A's runs in the team's 3-2 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium and earn the Oakland backstop a $5,000 bonus from the usually tight-fisted owner of the club, Charlie Finley.
1973 The contest in which Willie Mays gets his last hit, an RBI single that plates the decisive run in the 12th inning of the Mets' 10-7 victory over the A's in the second game of the World Series. The game, best remembered for the aging superstar's misadventures in the outfield when he loses two fly balls in the sun at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, takes four hours and 13 minutes to complete, making it the longest Fall Classic contest ever played.
1976 The Yankees dramatically win their 30th pennant on Chris Chambliss' home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The first baseman's walk-off solo shot beats the Royals in Game Five and deciding contest of the ALCS, 7-6.

Courtesy of The Deadball Era
1978 In the sixth inning of Game 4, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda argues unsuccessfully that the umpires should call interference on Reggie Jackson when a throw from Dodger shortstop Bill Russell caroms off his hip near first base, allowing Thurman Munson to score from second. New York eventually overcomes a three-run deficit with a 4-3 walk-off victory in ten innings at the Bronx ballpark, tying the World Series at two games apiece.

1983 At Veterans Stadium, Jim Palmer pitches two innings of scoreless relief, getting credit for the win when the Orioles beat the Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series, 3-2. The Hall of Famer becomes the only pitcher in baseball history to win a Fall Classic game in three decades.
1984 The Tigers' 8-4 clinching victory over the Padres marks the last time the World Series is played outdoors in sunlight. A scheduled daytime Fall Classic game will occur in 1987, but the contest is played indoors at the Metrodome in Minnesota.
1984 With the Tigers leading 5-4 in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, Kirk Gibson hits his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to the upper deck in right field, putting the game out of reach to give the Motor City its fourth World Championship in franchise history. Padres manager Dick Williams had ordered his pitcher to walk the Detroit right fielder intentionally, but after ignoring the walk sign at first, Goose Gossage convinces his skipper he can get the slugger out, only to be proven wrong two pitches later.
1985

"Go crazy, folks, go crazy." - JACK BUCK, Cardinals broadcaster's reaction to Ozzie Smith's unlikely home run during the 1985 NLCS against Dodgers.

Ozzie Smith provides one of the most memorable moments in Cardinal history by hitting a dramatic homer to win Game 5 of the NLCS. The round-tripper was the first left-handed home run of the Wizard's career, which spans 3,009 major league at-bats.

1986 After their dramatic come-from-behind 7-6 extra-inning win to stave off elimination in California, the Red Sox defeat the Angels again. Boston's 10-4 victory at Fenway Park evens the ALCS at 3-3.
1992 Canada gets its first pennant when the Blue Jays clinch the American League crown with a 9-2 victory over the A's in Game 6 of the ALCS. Toronto captures the World Series, beating the Braves in six games.
1992 Francisco Cabrera's ninth-inning, two-out pinch-hit single drives in two runs, giving the Braves a stunning comeback victory, 3-2, over the Pirates in Game 7 of the NLCS. The backup catcher had only three hits during the regular season.

1997 At Turner Field, Kevin Brown tosses an 11-hit complete game to capture the Marlins' first National League pennant. The flag, captured in only the fifth year of the team's existence, is clinched in Game 6 of the NLCS when Florida beats Tom Glavine and the Braves, 7-4.
2000 Roger Clemens strikes out a record-setting 15 batters and one-hits the Mariners, 5-0, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the ALCS. Al Martin's seventh-inning double broke up the Rocket's bid for a no-hitter in the Safeco Field contest.
2002 Japan's Seibu Lions, ending the regular season with a record of 90-46-1, post the Pacific League's highest win total in 46 years. Alex Cabrera fails to hit a home run in the team's last five games and has to settle with tying the single-season home run record with 55, along with Sadaharu Oh (1964) and Tuffy Rhodes (2001).
2003 Holding a 3-0 lead over the Marlins and needing only five more outs to go the World Series for the first time since 1945, the Cubs give up eight runs on five hits, three walks, and an error. The team appears to come apart after a fan, later identified as Steve Bartman, sitting along the left-field line at Wrigley Field, tries to snag a foul ball that was about to be caught by Chicago outfielder Moises Alou for the second out of the inning.
2003 The Giants announced the renaming of Pac Bell to SBC Park. The new moniker will change again after the 2005 season due to the SBC merger with AT&T.
2005 After negotiations break down with their skipper, the A's interview five candidates to replace outgoing manager Ken Macha, apparently a top choice for many other teams. GM Billy Beane and his former field boss agree to a surprising new three-year deal a week later.
2006 With a 6-3 victory in Game 4 of the ALCS, Jim Leyland's Tigers sweep the A's to win the American League pennant for the first time since 1984. Magglio Ordonez's dramatic walk-off three-run homer sets off a wild celebration at Comerica Park by the fans, who suffered through a historic 119-loss season just three years ago.
2006 Silas Simmons, the oldest former professional baseball player of all time, celebrates his 111th birthday. The 17th-oldest person in the country, born the same year as Babe Ruth, is joined by former players of the Negro Leagues and receives a 1913 Homestead Grays jersey with No. 111 stitched beneath his name from Steve Henderson of the Devil Rays at his home in the Westminster Suncoast retirement community in St. Petersburg.
2010 In a widely anticipated hiring, the Braves sign Fredi Gonzalez to replace their long-time legendary manager Bobby Cox, who retired at the end of the season. Atlanta's new skipper, who served as the team's third-base coach from 2003-06, was unexpectedly fired in June by the Marlins, a move thought to be prompted by the benching of Hanley Ramirez for not hustling.
2015 In a game that includes the benches-clearing twice, the Blue Jays advance to the ALCS, defeating the Rangers, 6-3, in the decisive game 5. Toronto overcomes a one-run deficit, thanks to Texas's three straight errors to start the bottom of the seventh inning, followed by a three-run homer hit by Jose Bautista, who annoys his opponents with an exaggerated bat flip while admiring his third-deck shot at the Rogers Centre.

2020 In the Dodgers' 15-3 victory in Game 3 of the NLCS, the team put together the highest-scoring inning ever in a postseason game, scoring 11 runs against the Braves, collecting seven hits, three walks, and a hit batter during the 32-minute first frame at Globe Life Field. LA surpasses the mark the Cardinals established last season of deciding Game 5 of the NL Division Series, crossing the plate ten times in the first inning against Atlanta.
28 Fact(s) Found