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This Day in Baseball History
September 16th

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55 Fact(s) Found
1903 In their 14-7 victory over Cleveland at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, the first-place Americans score in every inning, making it 11 consecutive frames that at least one player has crossed the plate. The fledgling American League team will also tally in the first six innings of its next game to extend the scoring streak to 17 straight frames.

1914 The Yankees hire shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh to replace Frank Chance as the team's skipper. During his 20-game tenure as the player-manager, the 23-year-old infielder will finish the season with a 10-10 record for the sixth-place club.
1922 After listening to excessive bench jockeying from the Giants dugout, Reds' hurler Adolfo Luque becomes so enraged he throws down his glove and bolts into the New York dugout. The Cuban native, known for his fiery temper, punches Casey Stengel on the jaw and is ordered to return to his bench by the police, who are busy trying to prevent the Polo Grounds overflow crowd from rioting.
1924 Cardinal first baseman Jim Bottomley goes 6-for-6, including two homers, driving in a record twelve runs when the team beats the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 17-3. The previous mark of 11 RBIs in one game was established in 1892 by today's opposing Dodger manager, Wilbert Robinson.
1926 En route to a 23-3 rout of the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, the Cardinals cross home plate 12 times during the third inning, including a dozen consecutive batters reaching base on seven singles, two doubles, two walks, and an outfield fielding error. The twelve tallies establish a franchise record for the Redbirds.
1931 At Rickwood Field, Birmingham Barons starter Ray Caldwell outduels Dizzy Dean to beat the Texas League's Houston Buffaloes, a Cardinals farm team, 1-0, in Game One of the Dixie Series. The 43-year-old right-hander posted a 19-7 record with an ERA of 3.45 during the regular season for the Southern Association team.
1938 Johnny Rizzo becomes the first Pirates player in franchise history to hit 20 home runs in a season. The 25-year-old rookie outfielder from Texas, who becomes hurt next season and never playing regularly for the Bucs again, finishes the campaign batting .301 with 23 round-trippers and 111 RBIs.
1940 In a 16-4 Browns rout of the Yankees at Sportsman's Park, Johnny Lucadello becomes the first player in big-league history to hit his first two career home runs from different sides of the plate in the same game. The 21-year-old second baseman, who joins Wally Schang as only the second player in American League history to accomplish the feat, will hit just three more home runs during his six-year career.
1942 The Phillies, bowing to the Cubs in the nightcap of a twin bill, 4-1, become the first major league team to have five consecutive 100-loss seasons. From 1938 to the end of this season, the team will compile a 227-532 (.299) record under three different managers.
1948 Joe DiMaggio's 300th career homer is the lone run that Detroit starter Fred Hutchinson gives up in his 2-1 complete-game win over New York at Briggs Stadium. The 'Yankee Clipper' joins Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, Chuck Klein, and Hank Greenberg as the eighth major leaguer to reach the milestone.
1948 At Cleveland Stadium, Larry Doby's first-inning grand slam off Sid Hudson proves to be the difference when the Indians hand the Senators their 16th consecutive defeat, 6-3. The four-run homer extends the 24-year-old sophomore outfielder's hitting streak to 21 games.
1952 Pacific Coast League's Sacramento manager, former major league All-Star second baseman Joe Gordon, pinch-hits homers in both ends of a doubleheader. The first one, a grand slam, wins the game, 4-1.
1953 A fact-finding committee appointed by the American League approves the relocation of the St. Louis Browns but does not specify any city for the new home for the franchise. In March, by a 5-2 vote, the Junior Circuit thwarted Bill Veeck's plan to shift the club to Baltimore, eventually approving the transfer when the controversial owner agreed to give up his interest in the team.
1955 In the eighth inning of the A's 13-7 victory over Chicago, Kansas City infielder Alex George makes his major league debut at Municipal Stadium. The 16-year-old shortstop handles two chances cleanly and strikes out in his only at-bat.
1960 Warren Spahn pitches a no-hitter, beating the Phillies at County Stadium, 4-0. The 39-year-old southpaw sets an all-time Braves record with 15 strikeouts en route to his 20th victory of the season, marking the tenth time he has reached the plateau.


Warren Spahn - 1958 issue of Baseball Digest

1963 After winning 19 of their last 20 games, the Cardinals face the first-place Dodgers, needing a victory to tie their opponent in the standings. In front of an enthusiastic Busch Stadium crowd, Stan Musial's seventh-inning home run, the 475th and last big-league round-tripper of his career, ties the game at 1-1, but LA scores two runs in the ninth to win the game en route to sweeping the three-game series to clinch the pennant.

(Ed. Note: Our thanks for inspiring this entry to frequent contributor John Feehan, who attended this game as a passionate 18-year-old Redbird fan. -LP)

1965 In front of only 1,247 fans at Fenway Park, Red Sox right-hander Dave Morehead, the league leader in losses this season with 18, no-hits the visiting Indians, 2-1. On the same day, ninth-place Boston, who will lose 100 games, fire their general manager, Pinky Higgins.
1966 Bob Gibson notches his 20th victory when he goes the distance to beat Chicago at Wrigley Field, 3-1. The Cardinal right-hander becomes the first pitcher in over forty years to have consecutive 20-win seasons for a second-division team.
1967 In the 11th inning at Connie Mack Stadium, Rick Joseph hits a walk-off grand slam in the Phillies' 8-4 victory over the Dodgers. Two batters are walked intentionally by Ron Perranoski to face the weak-hitting Philadelphia pinch-hitter, who responds with his first career home run and his only round-tripper this season.
1968 American League President Joe Cronin fires umpires Al Salerno and Bill Valentine, citing their incompetency for their dismissal. The veteran men in blue claim the firings were due to their efforts to organize the Junior Circuit arbitrators after the pair met with their National League counterparts who had formed a union in 1963.
1969 The Red Sox fire skipper Dick Williams with one year left on his contract due to several things, including a lack of communication with the players, according to General Manager Dick O'Connell. As a rookie manager in 1967, Williams led Boston to their Impossible Dream American League pennant.
1972 Phillies' rookie third baseman Mike Schmidt hits his first career home run, breaking Expos' Balor Moore's 25 consecutive scoreless inning streak. Michael Jack Schmidt will finish his 18-year career with 548 round-trippers.
1972 Glen Beckert goes 0-for-6 in the Cubs' 18-5 victory over the Mets at Wrigley Field, leaving 12 men on base to set a new major league mark. The Chicago second baseman strands the bases loaded in the first and seventh, leaves two runners on twice when he bats two times in the team's seven-run third and fails to plate other teammates in the fifth and seventh, the first of his two plate appearances in the frame.
1975 Rennie Stennett ties a major league mark established in 1892 with his 7-for-7 performance in a nine-inning game. The Pirates' second baseman gets two hits in one inning twice, the first and fifth frames, in the Bucs' 22-0 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the most one-sided shutout since 1900.
1975 Mike Vail fails to break the major league rookie record for consecutive games with a hit shared by Richie Ashburn (1948, Phillies) and Alvin Dark (1948, Braves). The 23-year-old freshman left fielder has plenty of opportunities to hit safely in his 24th straight game, coming to the plate eight times in the Mets' 18-inning marathon with Montreal, a 4-3 victory over the Expos at Shea Stadium.
1979 At Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers hold Catfish Hunter Day to honor their future Hall of Fame pitcher, who will retire at the end of the season at 33. A 20-year-old left-hander named Dave Righetti makes his major league debut for the hometown team, giving up three runs on three hits while issuing six walks in five innings against the Tigers.
1980 En route to a 22-9 record with the second-place A's, Mike Norris gets his 20th victory of the season when Oakland beats Texas at Arlington Stadium, 4-2. The 25-year-old right-hander will compile a 58-59 career mark during his ten years in the major leagues with Oakland.
1987 Indian first baseman Joe Carter, swiping his career-high 30th base, becomes the tenth major leaguer to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. Four players, including Mets teammates Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry and A's slugger Jose Canseco, become the newest members of the 30/30 club this season, an accomplishment previously attained only eleven times.
1988 On a wet, dreary night in a game delayed by two hours and 27 minutes, Tom Browning pitches the first perfect game in Reds' history, striking out eight and allowing only eight balls to leave the infield in his 1-0 victory against the Dodgers. Over three starts, including the perfect game, the 28-year-old southpaw retires 40 consecutive batters - one shy of the major league record established in 1972 by Giants' right-hander Jim Barr.

1991 Darren Lewis scores four runs and steals three bags without getting a hit. In four of his five plate appearances, the Giants' leadoff hitter reaches base via a walk in San Francisco's victory over the Braves at Candlestick Park, 8-5.
1993 At the age of 41, Twins' Dave Winfield becomes the 19th major leaguer to collect 3000 hits when he singles to left off A's ace Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-4 extra-inning victory over Oakland at the Metrodome. Joining Al Kaline, the Minnesota DH becomes the second player to reach the milestone, having never played a day in the minors.

1996 A fifth-inning triple off Royal southpaw Jose Rosado gives Twins Paul Molitor his 3000th hit, becoming the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat with a three-bagger. The 'Ignitor' reaches this milestone in the same season in which he also collects 200 hits, making him the only player to accomplish both feats in the same campaign.

1996 Benito Santiago hits a trio of home runs in his three first at-bats in the Phillies' 6-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The 31-year-old native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, also went deep in his last at-bat in yesterday's contest in Chicago, giving the Philadelphia backstop four consecutive homers in four at-bats.
1997 Phillies hurler Curt Schilling, in a 3-2 victory at Veterans Stadium, whiffs nine Mets to become the thirteenth pitcher in major league history since 1900 to record 300 strikeouts in a season. The right-hander will reach the milestone again next year with Philadelphia and in 2002 with the Diamondbacks.
1998 Tom Gordon ties Jose Mesa's major league single-season record established in 1995 with his 38th consecutive save. The 30-year-old right-handed closer also set a franchise mark with his 41st save when the Red Sox beat Baltimore, 4-3.
1998 Cleveland's Manny Ramirez ties a major league record with homers in four straight at-bats and five in two games. The Indian right fielder, who homered in his final three at-bats last night, goes deep in the first off Twin Bob Tewksbury and takes a 3-2 pitch to left in the fifth for his fifth homer in six at-bats.
1998 Four batters strike out in one inning for only the 30th time in major league history, marking only the 12th time the feat occurs consecutively. Thanks to Randy Knorr's passed ball, Marlin rookie Kirt Ojala accomplishes the deed in the fourth inning of the Marlins' 3-2 defeat to the Expos.
1998 In front of 49,891 patrons at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium, Sammy Sosa ties Mark McGwire by hitting his record-setting 63rd home run. The 434-foot eighth-inning two-out blast off Brian Boehringer is a tie-breaking grand slam, with 'Slammin' Sammy collecting all six RBIs when the Cubs beat the Padres, 6-3.
1999 Doug Glanville collects five hits, including a double and a home run, in the Phillies' 8-6 victory at the Astrodome, ending Houston's win streak at 12, a franchise record. The 29-year-old center fielder will enjoy another five-hit performance next season against Cincinnati.
2000 With a sixth-inning blast in a 7-6 loss to the hometown Cardinals, Cub outfielder Sammy Sosa joins Mark McGwire (1997-99) as the only major leaguer to hit 50 home runs in three straight seasons. Babe Ruth had three 50+ homer seasons but did not accomplish the feat in consecutive years.
2002 Giant left fielder Barry Bonds walks three times, breaking his record for bases on balls in a season with 178. Approximately one-third of the free passes given to the San Francisco slugger have been intentional (60 out of 178).
2004 The Red Sox become the fourth team in big league history to sell out an 81-game home season. The Indians (1996-2000), Rockies (1996), and Giants (2000) are the other clubs that have accomplished the feat.
2005 Youppi!, who started at Olympic Stadium with the Expos, is named the first official mascot of the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first to switch from Major League Baseball to the NHL. The acquisition, reportedly at the cost of six figures, was made possible when the city's baseball franchise left the hairy orange arm-waving giant behind in favor of an eagle called "Screech" when they moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals.

2006 Angels center fielder Chone Figgins, in a 12-6 loss to the Rangers in Texas, triples in the ninth inning to become the fifth player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. 'Figgy' joins Jeff DaVanon (2004), Dave Winfield (1991), Dan Ford (1979), and Jim Fregosi (1964, 1968) to accomplish the feat for the Halos.

2006 The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston's grand reopening ceremony for its Roxbury facility, which underwent a $7-million renovation, has some community leaders upset with its new name unveiled at the event. The previous Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, created the foundation that donated $3 million to renovate the facility, with some believing it's wrong to name the clubhouse after him because of his racially motivated policies, including not signing Jackie Robinson and the team becoming the last to integrate. 
2006 Stealing second base in the first inning in an 8-5 victory over the Brewers at RFK, Alfonso Soriano becomes the fourth player in major league history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a single season. The Nationals' outfielder joins Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), and Alex Rodriguez (1998) as the only players to record 40-40 seasons.
2007 Todd Jones becomes the 21st major leaguer to record 300 career saves. The milestone doesn't come easy as the Tigers' closer gives up three hits and a run in Detroit's 6-4 win over the Twins at the Metrodome.
2007 David Wright, homering in the seventh inning of a 10-6 loss to Philadelphia at Shea Stadium, becomes the 30th member of the 30-30 club. The New York third baseman, returning to the dugout, is greeted by hitting coach Howard Johnson, who, along with Darryl Strawberry, are the other Mets to have stolen thirty bases and hit 30 homers in the same season.
2007 In a dramatic at-bat, Jim Thome becomes the third major leaguer this season and the 23rd overall to hit 500 career home runs. The historic homer comes in the bottom of the ninth on a full count as the White Sox DH strokes a two-run walk-off round-tripper to beat the Angels at U.S. Cellular Field, 9-7.

2007 Washington announces that the press box in Nationals Park, the team's new home scheduled to open next season, will be named the "Shirley Povich Media Center," in honor of the late Hall of Fame Baseball writer. The Washington Post's long-time sports columnist and reporter covered the Senators' first World Series championship in 1924 and continued to write for the paper until he died in 1998.
2008 Derek Jeter becomes the all-time hits leader at the soon-to-be-demolished Yankee Stadium. The team's shortstop and captain surpasses Lou Gehrig's record with a first-inning single in a 6-2 loss to the White Sox, bringing his total to 1,270 at the 85-year-old ballpark.

2009 The Tigers pay tribute to 91-year-old Ernie Harwell, their long-time broadcaster (1960-2002), who recently revealed he has inoperable cancer. During the 4-3 victory over Kansas City, a ceremony in the third inning includes a three-minute video tribute followed by the Hall of Fame announcer thanking the admiring and supportive fans attending the game at Comerica Park.

2010 Nyjer Morgan, following appeals, will serve an eight-game suspension in place of the two original bans that totaled 15 games. Nationals outfielder, initially given a seven-game suspension for deliberately throwing a ball into the stands, is suspended for another eight games the following week for instigating a brawl with Florida.
2012 The Orioles, with their 9-5 victory over Oakland, are assured of having their first winning season since the team finished first in the AL East in 1997. The Birds will finish the campaign with a 93-69 record for a second-place finish but will earn a spot in the postseason as the play-in Wild Card team.
2014 With an 8-2 win over the Blue Jays, the Orioles cop their first AL East crown since 1997, when Davey Johnson managed the club to 98 victories. The Camden Yards victory marks the earliest Baltimore has clinched a division title (151st game) since 1971 and the first time the Birds had captured the flag at home in 35 years.
55 Fact(s) Found