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This Day in Baseball History
July 15th

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47 Fact(s) Found
1901 Christy Mathewson becomes the first rookie to throw a no-hitter in baseball history in the modern era. The 20-year-old right-hander, who will hurl another no-hit game in 1905, holds the Cardinals hitless in the Giants' 5-0 victory at Robison Field in St. Louis.
1939 National League president Ford Frick orders two-foot screens affixed inside all foul poles after Billy Jurges of the Giants and umpire George Magerkurth spit at each other after a disputed call down the left-field line at the Polo Grounds. The American League will soon follow the Senior Circuit lead, installing screens in their ballparks.
1941 At spacious Mann Field in Newport (AR), the Paragould Browns' Clarence "Hooks" Iott goes the distance, striking out 30 Newport Dodgers in a 16-inning Class D Northeast Arkansas League game that ends in a 1-1 tie. In September, the 21-year-old southpaw, who struck out 25 Batesville Pilots in a nine-inning game last month, will make his major league debut for the Browns, throwing two innings against the White Sox without recording a strikeout.
1950 Citing the competition of television and radio, the Colonial League ceases its operation. Established in 1947, the four-year-old circuit of Class B clubs featured teams from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
1952 Trailing in their final turn at-bat by six runs, Eddie Joost's walk-off grand slam off Satchel Paige gives the A's a dramatic 7-6 victory over the Browns at Shibe Park. 'Old Satch,' who yielded a game-ending bases-full round-tripper to Sammy White two weeks ago at Fenway Park, becomes the first hurler in major league history to give up two walk-off grand slams in the same season.
1952 Tigers' first baseman Walt Dropo, who went 5-for-5 yesterday, continues his sizzling skein, collecting four more consecutive hits (nine straight singles) in the first game of a twin bill against the Senators. In the Griffith Stadium nightcap, the Detroit infielder will extend the streak to 12 when he triples, singles, and doubles in his first three at-bats before fouling out to the catcher in the top of the seventh inning.
1960 Home plate umpire Frank Dascoli stops play for 24 minutes after San Francisco's first baseman Willie McCovey hits a pitch into shallow left field that no one can see because of the dense fog. The Giants' infielder second-inning invisible triple doesn't deter the Dodgers when they win the Candlestick Park contest, 5-3.
1960 Brooks Robinson becomes the first Oriole to hit for the cycle when he strokes a two-run triple to center field off Turk Lown in the ninth inning. The third baseman's 5-for-5 performance and three RBIs contribute to Baltimore's 5-2 victory over the White Sox at Comiskey Park.
1962 In the seventh inning of the nightcap of a twin bill split with the Pirates at Forbes Field, Cardinals' left fielder Stan Musial establishes a new National League record with his 10,428th-time at-bat. 'Stan the Man,' who will finish his 22-year career with 10,972 plate appearances, surpasses Honus Wagner's mark set in 1917.

(Ed. Note: Upon further research, the Flying Dutchman gains two additional at-bats. -LP)

1967 A Roberto Clemente line drive fractures Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson's right fibula during a 6-3 loss to the Pirates. The injury will sideline the Redbird right-hander until Labor Day, but he will recover enough to allow only three earned runs in three complete World Series game victories over the Red Sox.
1969 Richard Nixon becomes the first president to witness a triple play. In a 7-3 Senator victory at RFK Stadium, the Tigers pull off the around-the-horn triple killing on an Ed Brinkman grounder in the bottom of the fifth inning.
1969 In a twin bill split with the Braves, Lee May hits two home runs in each contest, driving in five runs in both ends of the doubleheader. Despite the All-Star first baseman's performance, the Reds drop the opener 9-8 but come back to win the nightcap, 10-4.
1969 In the Braves' first game after the All-Star break, Hank Aaron goes deep off Clay Carroll in the fifth inning of the team's 9-8 comeback victory over Cincinnati at Crosley Field. The round-tripper, the 534th home run of his career, moves the 'Hammer' into fourth place on the all-time list, ahead of Jimmie Foxx and only two behind Mickey Mantle.
1971 The Pirates, trailing 1-0, tie the game in the ninth and then knot the score again in the 13th and 16th innings before finally beating the Padres 4-3. Roberto Clemente's one-out walk-off homer off Danny Coombs ends the Three Rivers Stadium contest in the 17th frame.
1973 In the game which features Norm Cash trying to use a piano leg to bat in the ninth inning, Nolan Ryan, en route to striking out 17 batters, becomes the fourth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same year when the Angels defeat the Tigers, 6-0 in front of 41,411 fans in Detroit. Johnny Vander Meer (1938 Reds), Virgil Trucks (1938 Tigers), and Allie Reynolds (1951 Yankees) have also accomplished the rare feat.
1980 Establishing a new mark for home runs by a catcher, Johnny Bench of the Reds breaks Yogi Berra's record by hitting his 314th round-tripper as a backstop. The future Hall of Famer has also hit 33 dingers while playing other positions.
1985 At the Metrodome in Minnesota, Reds' right fielder Dave Parker wins the first Home Run Derby, a new tradition to take place the day before the All-Star Game. Although these hitting exhibitions have occurred in the past, the event marks the first time Major League Baseball acknowledges the contest.
1985 The day before the All-Star Game in Minneapolis, the Players' Association announces they have set a strike date for August 6. The union will keep its word, but the season will resume two days later.
1986 The 1986 All-Star Game, a 3-2 American League victory played in the Astrodome, is the last contest Dick Howser will manage in the major leagues. The Royals skipper, later diagnosed with a brain tumor, suffers from apparent mental lapses, admitting he felt ill during the game.
1988 For the second time this season, Red Sox fireballer Roger Clemens strikes out sixteen Royals, going the distance in the team's 3-1 victory in the opener of a twin bill. Boston also takes the nightcap of the Fenway Park doubleheader in the managerial debut of Joe Morgan, who replaced John McNamara at the helm.
1990 In an 8-5 White Sox victory at Yankee Stadium, Bobby Thigpen becomes the quickest player to reach 30 saves in a season. The Chicago closer will establish a major league record this campaign, saving 57 games for the South-siders.
1993 Cal Ripken, Jr. hits his 278th homer as a shortstop, breaking Ernie Banks' record. The Hall of Famers will play different infield positions during their careers, with 'Mr. Cub' going deep a total of 512 times for Chicago, and the 'Iron Man' clearing the fences on 431 occasions for the Orioles.
1994 After being confiscated in the first inning of the Indians-White Sox contest at Comiskey Park, Albert Belle's bat, suspected of being corked, is placed in umpire Dave Phillips' locker for further examination. The theft of the piece of wood, taken and replaced by a burglar who gains access to the umpire's room by squirming through an overhead crawl space, becomes evident when pieces of ceiling tile litter the floor and the name on the 'clean' bat now reads, Paul Sorrento.

(Ed. Note: In 1999, as a member of the Yankees, Jason Grimsley admitted to being the bat burglar during an interview with the New York Times. -LP)

1996 After making 2,216 consecutive starts at shortstop, Oriole Cal Ripken returns to third base for the first time since June 30, 1982. The 2,216 straight starts are a major league record at any position.
1997 En route to a 16-2 rout of the Padres, the Giants set the NL record for the most runs in a seventh inning. Thirteen Giants cross the plate during the big inning at Qualcomm Stadium.
1999 At the Oakland Coliseum, in the fifth inning of an 11-9 win over San Francisco, A's hurler Brad Rigby puts Barry Bonds on first base with a free pass, giving the Giants left fielder the major league record for intentional walks with 294. Hank Aaron set the previous mark.
1999 The Mariners play a home game outdoors for the first time in franchise history. Under an open retractable roof, Seattle's debut at the $517.6 million Safeco Field becomes forgettable when closer Jose Mesa squanders a ninth-inning lead by walking four batters in the team's 3-2 loss to the Padres.
1999 The Brewers postpone their scheduled game against the Royals at County Stadium to show respect for the three workers who died during the construction team's new stadium. A massive crane broke in half while lifting a 400-ton portion of the roof, causing the deaths and damaging the partially completed Miller Park.
2000 The American Tobacco Company's near-mint condition 1909 Honus Wagner card goes for $1.1 million in an eBay online auction. The high bidder will pay $1.265 million, including a 15 percent buyer's premium for the 91-year-old Hall of Fame Pirate shortstop card.
2003 At the All-Star Game played in Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Angels outfielder Garret Anderson goes 3-for-4, including a two-run homer and a double, helping the American League beat the NL, 7-6. Pinch-hitting in the eighth inning, Rangers' third baseman Hank Blalock hits a go-ahead two-run homer off the usually untouchable reliever of the Dodgers, Eric Gagne.
2004 Eric Gagne surpasses Jeff Shaw for the most career saves in franchise history, collecting his 130th save in a Dodger uniform. The 28-year-old right-handed closer pitches a perfect ninth, striking out the side, in the team's 5-2 victory over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark.
2005 With an RBI double off Joel Pineiro at Safeco Field, Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 26th player to collect 3000 hits. The Orioles' first baseman joins Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Eddie Murray as one of four major leaguers to record 3,000 hits and hit 500 home runs.

2005 The Royals establish the longest losing streak of any big league Kansas City franchise. Their 16th consecutive loss, an 11-3 decision to the Mariners, is one more than the 1884 Unions, the first team to play professionally in the City of Fountains.
2005 Mike Stanton's first appearance for the Nationals is memorable when the southpaw balks home the winning run without throwing a pitch, giving the Brewers a 4-3 victory at Miller Park. Chris Magruder scores the winning run from third base in the bottom of the tenth, thanks to the call by first base ump Paul Schrieber, who saw the lefty step toward home plate as he threw over to first in an attempt to pick off Rickie Weeks.
2006 Vladimir Guerrero knocks in his 1000th career RBI, plating Orlando Cabrera with a two-out single in the first inning as Los Angeles beats the Devil Rays at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, 9-2. The 30-year-old Dominican outfielder becomes the seventh-fastest player ever to reach the milestone.
2007 With his third stolen base, a fifth-inning swipe of second, in a 5-4 loss against the Rangers in Los Angeles, Chone Figgins steals his 187th base in an Angel uniform to break the franchise record. Gary Pettis, who set the previous mark for the Halos in 1987, is in the ballpark as a coach for the visiting Rangers.
2007 In front of a sellout crowd of 44,872 at Citizens Bank Park, the 125-year-old Phillies become the first franchise to lose 10,000 games when St. Louis beats the team, 10-2. During the ninth inning, the hometown fans cheer as the much-heralded milestone becomes a reality.
2008 Dan Uggla becomes the first player in All-Star Game history to make three errors. The Marlins second baseman, who has two miscues in the 10th and one in the 13th in the American League 4-3, 15-inning victory at Yankee Stadium, doesn't fare much better at the plate, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and grounding into a double play with runners on first and third in the 10th inning.
2008 Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig's wool warm-up jacket, given to his friends Marion and Ray Parker in 1941, is won with a $325,000 bid on the Hunt Auctions site at the All-Star FanFest at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. The woolen team jacket, most likely, is the one he wore to bring out the Yankee lineup card at Detroit's Briggs Stadium in 1939 when his streak of 2,130 consecutive games ended.
2008 Rangers shortstop Michael Young's sac fly scores the Twins Justin Morneau ending the four-hour and fifty-minute marathon, making the contest the longest All-Star Game ever played. The American League wins its 11th consecutive victory, beating the National League, 4-3, in the fourth Mid-Summer classic played at Yankee Stadium.
2009 The Phillies and Pedro Martinez finalized a one-year deal worth $1 million. The three-time Cy Young winner, who has compiled a 214-99 record during his 17 seasons in the big leagues, was immediately placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a shoulder strain.
2011 The Braves become the third team to notch their 10,000th victory in baseball history when they beat the Nationals at Turner Field, 11-1. The franchise, which played its first game in 1876 as the Boston Red Caps, joins the Giants and Cubs in reaching the milestone.
2013 Bruce Bochy names Matt Harvey the National League's starter in tomorrow's Midsummer Classic at Citi Field. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander is the first Mets pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Dwight Gooden got the nod in 1988 and will become the sixth hurler to start in his home ballpark.
2014 A baseball glove (c. 1935) worn and autographed by Lou Gehrig goes for a bid of $287,500 at an auction held in conjunction with the MLB All-Star FanFest in Minneapolis. Other items sold by Hunt Auctions at the event include:
  • Roy Campanella's Hall of Fame induction ring ($86,250).
  • A Jackie Robinson bat ($80,500).
  • Harmon Killebrew's 1958 Senators home jersey ($40,250).
2015 Kirk Nieuwenhuis, recently reacquired by the Mets from the Angels after they sold him to the Halos in May, hits three home runs in his first three at-bats, helping the team complete a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 5-3 victory at Citi Field. The outfielder's first three homers of the season mark the tenth time in franchise history a player has gone deep three times in a game, but the 27-year-old is the first to accomplish the feat at home.
2017 Cody Bellinger becomes the first Dodger rookie to hit for the cycle when he collects a seventh-inning triple in the team's 7-1 victory over the Marlins in Miami. The 22-year-old freshman goes 4-for-5, driving in three runs en route to his historic accomplishment.

2019 Joining Willie Mays (1961) and Orlando Cepeda (1961), Brandon Crawford becomes the third Giants player since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958 to drive in eight runs in a single game. In a record-setting 19-2 victory over the Rockies, the 32-year-old shortstop is also the first Giants player with two homers and eight RBIs in a game since Mays' 1961 performance.
47 Fact(s) Found