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This Day in Baseball History
October 15th

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35 Fact(s) Found
1892 On the last day of the season, Charles Bumpus Jones goes the distance in his first major league start, allowing no hits in the Reds' 7-1 victory over the Pirates at Cincinnati's League Park. The 22-year-old right-hander becomes the first major league rookie to throw a no-hitter.
1917 The White Sox win the World Series in six games when they beat the Giants at the Polo Grounds, 4-2. When the New York infielders leave home plate uncovered in the fourth inning, Eddie Collins scurries home, scoring the eventual winning run with Giants' third baseman Heinie Zimmerman chasing him with the ball toward the plate.
1917 A letter signed by 24 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox members and manager Pants Rowland contains complaints about not receiving their full share after beating the New York Giants. The written request, discovered as a tattered document more than 40 years later among boxes stored at the Hall of Fame library, may explain the 'Black Sox' motivation for fixing the Fall Classic two years later.
1923 At the Polo Grounds, the visiting Yankees score five runs in the eighth inning, beating the Giants in Game 6 of the Fall Classic, 6-4. The victory over their crosstown rivals gives the franchise its first World Championship.
1925 The Pirates become the first team to win a World Series after being down three games to one when the Bucs beat Washington and Walter Johnson in Game 7, 9-7. Kiki Cuyler's bases-loaded double in the eighth inning proves to be the difference.
1946 In Game 7 of the World Series, the Cardinals beat the Red Sox, 4-3, when Enos Slaughter streaked home from first on a long single into the left-center gap by Harry Walker, who stayed a first to avoid making the last out before the run score. The play surprises everyone, including cut-off man shortstop Johnny Pesky who hesitates, as legend has it, throwing the ball home.
1964 Bobby Richardson establishes a World Series record in the Game 7 loss to the Cardinals, playing in thirty consecutive Fall Classic games. The Yankee second baseman shares the record for the most hits (13), RBIs (12), and runs scored (8) in a seven-game series (1960).
1964 In his final postseason game, Mickey Mantle hits a three-run homer to the opposite field off right-hander Bob Gibson, his third dinger of the series. In the 7-5 loss to the Redbirds in the Fall Classic finale, the Sportsman's Park round-tripper extends the Mick's World Series record to 18.

1964 The Cardinals defeat the Yankees in Game 7 at Sportsman's Park, 7-5, to capture their seventh Fall Classic, becoming the first team with a losing record (39-40) at the All-Star break to be World Champs. Bob Gibson, who struck out a record 31 batters in 27 innings during his three starts, is selected as the World Series Most Valuable Player.
1964 The Boyer brothers hit home runs in Game 7 of the World Series, Ken for the Cardinals and Clete for the Yankees. Both siblings accomplish the feat in their last at-bat of the Fall Classic.
1968 Orioles right-hander Roger Nelson is selected first by the Royals in the American League expansion draft. The Pilots then choose Don Mincher, a first baseman from the Angels, as the franchise's first choice.
1969 In Game 4 of the Fall Classic at Shea Stadium, Tom Seaver and the Mets beat the Orioles in ten innings, 2-1. The game features a run-saving ninth-inning diving grab of Brooks Robinson's line drive with two on by Ron Swoboda and a controversial play in the tenth when J.C. Martin unquestionably gets in the way of Pete Richert's throw without the umpire calling interference on the baserunner.
1969 During the third inning of Game 4 of the Fall Classic, Earl Weaver becomes the first manager thrown out of a World Series game in 34 years. The 'Earl of Baltimore,' who umpire Shag Crawford had previously warned, is quickly ejected after protesting a strike call from the bench.
1970 Brooks Robinson captures the World Series Most Valuable Player Award after batting .429 (9/21) and driving in six runs during the five-game set against Cincinnati. The Orioles third baseman becomes the first player to be named the MVP in the Fall Classic, an All-Star game (1966), and his league (AL-1964).
1972

"I must admit, I am going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at the third-base coaching line one day and see a Black face managing in baseball." - JACKIE ROBINSON, Hall of Famer, baseball pioneer, and civil rights activist, remarks after receiving an award commemorating his breaking of the color line 25 years ago.

In his last appearance at a major league ballpark, Jackie Robinson, speaking before Game 2 of the World Series nine days before his death, urges baseball to hire a black manager. The owners do not hire an African-American skipper until 1975, when the Indians employ Frank Robinson to run the team.

1981 With Dave Righetti, Ron Davis, and Goose Gossage combining to shut out Oakland, 4-0, the Yankees sweep the A's to capture their thirty-third American League pennant. The Bronx Bombers will face the Dodgers in the World Series for the third time in the last five Fall Classics.
1982 Willie McGee becomes the third rookie to hit two home runs in the same World Series game. Going deep off Brewers starter Pete Vuckovich in the fifth and seventh innings in Game 3 of the Fall Classic, the Cardinals' center fielder joins Charlie Keller (1939) and Tony Kubek (1957), each accomplishing the feat in the third game of their respective Fall Classics.
1986 In the longest postseason game ever played (4 hours and 42 minutes), the Mets clinch their third National League crown, beating Houston in sixteen innings at the Astrodome, 7-6. Trailing 3-0, Lenny Dykstra and Ray Knight spark a ninth-inning rally, which sends the game into extra innings.
1986 After being down three games to one in the ALCS, the Red Sox pull off one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history by defeating the California Angels 8-1 to win the American League pennant. In Game 5, Boston was one strike away from elimination before rallying with four runs in the ninth inning en route to an extra-inning victory at Anaheim Stadium, bringing the series back to Fenway Park.
1988

"In the year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened." - VINCE SCULLY, commenting on Kirk Gibson’s dramatic World Series walk-off home run.

In his only plate appearance in the Fall Classic, a limping Kirk Gibson, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Game 1, sends a two-out, 3-2 pitch from relief ace Dennis Eckersley over the right-field fence, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the A's. The round-tripper marks the first time a World Series game ends on a come-from-behind home run in the final inning.

1996 The Devil Rays name Jamie Reed as the club's head trainer. The 37-year-old Annapolis (MD) native, formerly the Orioles assistant trainer, is the first on-field major league hire for the new expansion team.
1997 After a vote during an afternoon conference call, the owners place the Devil Rays in the American League East Division, moving the Tigers to the AL Central to make room for the expansion team. The decision follows nine months of futile realignment efforts after the expansion Diamondbacks became a National League franchise in January.
1997 Major League Baseball approves a resolution creating a 16-team National League and a 14-team American League for the upcoming season. The plan puts the expansion Devil Ray in the AL Eastern Division, and the NL's newest team, the Rockies, will play in the circuit's Western Division.
1997 Thanks to an 11th-inning homer by Tony Fernandez, the Indians defeat the Orioles, 1-0, to win the American League Championship Series in six games. It is the Tribe's second pennant in three years.
2001 The Yankees beat the A's 5-3 to win the ALDS. The Bronx Bombers become the first team to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games at home.
2001 After losing their first playoff appearance to the Mets in 1999, the Diamondbacks win their first postseason series, beating the Cardinals in only their fourth year of existence. Tony Womack's two-out game-winning hit in the NLDS's deciding fifth game gives Arizona the 2-1 victory.
2002 Kirk Gibson signs a three-year deal to become Detroit's new bench coach. The aggressive former outfielder joins the staff of the newly hired skipper, Alan Trammell, a former 1984 World Champion Tiger teammate.
2003 Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan who deflected a foul ball in Game 6 of the NLCS, releases a statement explaining his actions. During a tearful apology, the 26-year-old human resources company worker asks Chicago fans to redirect their negative energy into positive support for the team during Game 7 of the championship series.
2007 The Rockies record their 21st victory in 22 games, beating the Diamondbacks 6-4 to complete a four-game sweep of the NLCS. The Coors Field’s triumph over the number one seed in the National League playoffs advances Colorado to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
2008 In Game 5 of the NLCS, the visiting Phillies beat the Dodgers, 5-1, to win their first pennant since 1993. Southpaw Cole Hamels, the series MVP, hurls his third postseason gem, and Jimmy Rollins starts the Philadelphia attack with a leadoff home run to start the game.
2011 With another home run in the Game 6 clincher, a 15-5 Ranger rout of Detroit, Nelson Cruz sets a new record for the most round-trippers in a postseason series with six. The Texas right-fielder, who ended the regular season in a slump, is named the ALCS Most Valuable Player for his outstanding contribution to his team's success in the championship series.
2012 The Reds sign Dusty Baker to a two-year contract extension, giving their 63-year-old manager another chance to take the team beyond the first round of the playoffs. In two of the last three years, Cincinnati has participated in the postseason, including this season's heartbreaking loss in the NLDS, dropping the previous three decisions at home in a five-game series to San Francisco.
2014 After winning the wild-card game over the A's, beating the Angels in the first three games of the best-of-five ALDS series, the Royals improved their playoff record this season to 8-0 when they swept the Orioles in the ALCS with a 2-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City has won 11 straight postseason games, counting the final three games of the 1985 World Series, second-best only to the 1927-1932 and 1998-1999 Yankees, who both won a dozen straight.
2017 Twenty-nine years later, Justin Turner follows Kirk Gibson into franchise folklore when he hits a postseason walk-off three-run home run in the 12th inning of LA's 4-1 victory over the Cubs in Game 2 of the NLCS. In his only Fall Classic appearance, a hobbled Kirk Gibson came off the bench in 1998 to hit one of the most memorable round-trippers in World Series history, giving the Dodgers a come-from-behind victory against the A's in Game 1.
2020 In Game 5 of the ALDS, the Astros become the first team in postseason history to hit a leadoff and walk-off home run in the same game. George Springer led off the Petco Park contest with a homer in the bottom of the first, and Carlos Correa's ninth-inning game-ending round-tripper gave Houston a 4-3 victory over the Rays.
35 Fact(s) Found