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This Day in Baseball History
June 17th

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36 Fact(s) Found
1915 Cubs right-handed reliever George Washington Zabel, called into the game with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, throws 18 and 1/3 innings of the Cubs' 4-3 victory over the Robins at Chicago's West Side Park. 'Zip,' establishing the major league record for the longest relief stint in one game, beats Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who tosses a 19-inning complete game.

Cubs' reliever Zip Zabel (1914)
Library of Congress - George Grantham Bain Collection

1930 Phillies right fielder Chuck Klein, who collects 53 hits in 110 at-bats for a .482 batting average during the streak, sets a modern-day franchise record when he hits safely in 26 consecutive games. The 25-year-old Hoosier Hammer repeats the feat later in the season, matching the accomplishment with a hit in every contest from July 12 to the first game on August 3.
1941 In the Yankees' 8-7 loss to Chicago, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is extended to 30 straight games when his seventh-inning grounder takes a bad hop off Luke Appling's shoulder. The Yankee Clipper's fortunate hit also breaks the team's record for hits of 29 consecutive games, previously shared by Roger Peckinpaugh (1919) and Earle Combs (1931).
1942 During the second game of a twin bill in Boston, Paul Waner, standing on first base, gestures to the official scorer, Jerry Moore of the Boston Globe, not to credit him with a hit on the ground ball in the hole that Reds shortstop Eddie Joost knocked down. Big Poison doesn't want a questionable roller to be his historic 3000th hit, which the Braves right-fielder will collect with a clean single after tomorrow's off day.
1943 Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin hits a three-run pinch homer in both ends of a doubleheader, becoming the first major leaguer to come off the bench to go deep in each game of a twin bill. Boston defeats Philadelphia in the opener 5-4 but drops the nightcap at Fenway Park, 8-7.
1944 Although continuing to play in the minors until 1955, Ed Levy appears in the 40th and final game of his three-year tenure in the major leagues. Yankee team president Ed Barrow asked the Irish Catholic first baseman, born Edward Clarence Whitner in 1911, to use his stepfather's surname to help the club attract more Jewish fans to the Bronx ballpark.
1956 Joe Adcock's ninth-inning home run off Brooklyn right-hander Ed Roebuck, his second round-tripper of the game, proves to be the game-winner in the Braves' 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The first baseman's blast to left field clears an 83-foot wall at the 350-foot mark and becomes the only homer to land on the roof at Ebbets Field.

(Ed. Note: Joe Adcock hits his third round-tripper of the day when he goes deep off Don Newcombe in the team’s 3-1 victory in the nightcap. The Milwaukee slugger will finish with 13 career home runs at Ebbets Field, the most of any visiting player.)

1956 Fred Haney, named yesterday to replace Charlie Grimm, wins two games in his managerial debut with the Braves when the team sweeps a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 5-4 and 3-1, starting a streak of 11 consecutive victories. The club's former coach will compile a 341-231 (.596) record, guiding Milwaukee to two pennants and a world championship during his four seasons at the helm.
1958 Tiger third baseman Ozzie Virgil, who became the first black to play for the team eleven days ago, collects four singles and a double in his first home game at Briggs Stadium. The 26-year-old Dominican's 5-for-5 performance at the plate helps Detroit beat the Senators, 9-2.
1960 Joining Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Mel Ott, Ted Williams becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit 500 career home runs when he goes deep off the Tribe's moundsman Wayne Hawkins. 'Teddy Ballgame's' two-run blast proves to be the difference when the Red Sox beat the Indians at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, 3-1.
1962 In a play indicative of the struggling Mets, first baseman Marv Throneberry's apparent first-inning triple becomes an out on an appeal play for missing second base in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds. According to legend, when New York manager Casey Stengel questions the call, he is told by an umpire, "Don't bother arguing, Casey, he missed first base, too."
1962 Gene Woodling, purchased from the Senators for a reported $45,000, substantially more than the $20,000 waiver fee, becomes the first major leaguer to play for the Yankees and the Mets. In his National League debut, the 39-year-old outfielder goes 2-for-4, scoring two runs for the new expansion team in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.
1962 In the second inning of Game 1 of a twin bill against the Yankees, Jerry Kindall, Bubba Phillips, and Jim Mahoney, the bottom of the Indians' lineup, hit consecutive home runs, helping Dick Donovan improve his record to 10-2. The Tribe also takes the nightcap to complete a four-game sweep of the World Champs, much to the delight of the largest home crowd in eight seasons.
1970 At Candlestick Park, Willie Mays (615) and Ernie Banks (504) go deep in the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Giants. The round-trippers mark the first time in baseball history that two players with 500 career home runs have homered in the same game.
1971 Don Kessinger goes 6-for-6, stroking five singles and a double. The Cubs' leadoff hitter's perfect performance at the plate contributes to the team's 7-6 ten-inning victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
1974 After completing the first 1000 games in franchise history with a winning percentage of .332, the Mets compile a 517-482-1 record in their next thousand contests. During the span, Tom Seaver won 12% of the team's victories, and New York won two National League pennants and a World championship.
1976 At Shea Stadium, 27-year-old Dave Kingman hits a walk-off homer to deep left field, giving the Mets a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. Sky King's game-ending blast comes off Charlie Hough with one out in the 14th inning.
1978 The crowd at Yankee Stadium initiates a new baseball tradition when they begin to rhythmically clap each time there are two strikes on the batter, inspired by Ron Guidry's 18-strikeout performance, establishing a new American League mark for southpaws. The left-hander's performance in the 4-0 victory over the Angels will lead the team's television announcer, Phil Rizzuto, to coin a new nickname, referring to the Lafayette native as 'Louisiana Lightning.'
1980 At Cleveland Stadium, the Indians temporarily closed 10,500 bleacher seats due to rowdy fans who pelted Milwaukee's outfielders Gorman Thomas and Sixto Lezcano with various objects during yesterday's 5-3 loss to the Brew Crew. The Tribe will reopen the section at the end of the month, putting tighter security and limiting the sale of beer.
1987 Dick Howser, former manager of the Royals and Yankees, loses his courageous battle against cancer, succumbing to a brain tumor. After three surgeries to remove the disease, the 51-year-old frail-looking skipper had tried to make a comeback with Kansas City but had to resign after one day of spring training workouts, becoming physically too weak to perform his duties.
1992 Believing the Dodgers lowballed his contract offer, Mike Piazza takes exception to the team, giving a reported bonus of $500,00 to top draft pick Ryan Luzinski. Next season, he will be selected as the National League's Rookie of the Year and will hit .331 in seven seasons for LA, and the 220-pound catcher from Holy Cross High (Delran, NJ) will never play in a major league game.
1993 Baseball owners vote overwhelmingly, 26-2, in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time since 1969. The new system, beginning in 1994, will double the number of teams that qualify for postseason play to eight by realigning each league to three divisions and adding two wild-card teams.
2001 Blake Stein ties an American League record when he records eight consecutive strikeouts in the Royals' 5-2 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park. The right-hander's streak started by striking out Richie Sexson for the last out of the first inning and ended after he fanned Mark Loretta to begin the fourth frame.
2003 Mets starter Jae Seo and two relief pitchers, David Weathers and Armando Benitez, combine to one-hit Florida, 5-0. The contest is the third consecutive one-hitter the team has played; Steve Trachsel limited the Angels to one single two days ago, and last night, Dontrelle Willis beat New York, 1-0, yielding just one safety.
2003 The Phillies enter a 25-year naming rights agreement to call their new home Citizens Bank Park, promoting one of the nation's largest commercial holding companies. At Philadelphia's latest ballpark, a gigantic Liberty Bell, towering 100 feet above street level, will come to life after every Phillies' homer.

2004 At New Hampshire's Holman Stadium, the Atlantic League's Nashua Pride celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Watergate break-in by giving away Richard Nixon bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans in attendance. The independent minor league's promotion, which included free entrance to anyone named Woodward or Bernstein and eighteen and a half minutes of silence to match the time of the gap in the infamous Watergate tape, had no reports of stolen signs during the game.

Nixon Bobblehead
2007 Columbus Clippers outfielder Brandon Watson, with a base hit against the Ottawa Lynx, extends his hitting streak to 43 games, breaking a 95-year-old International League record. The Nationals farmhand surpasses the mark set by Jack Lelivelt in 1912 when he played for the Rochester Hustlers.
2007 At the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Blue Jay Frank Thomas strokes his record-setting 244th round-tripper as a designated hitter in a 4-2 loss to Washington. The third-inning solo shot off Micah Bowie moves the 39-year-old veteran past Edgar Martinez for the most home runs hit by a DH in major league history.
2008 In the Mariners' 5-4 win over Florida at Safeco Field, Felix Hernandez strikes out the side on nine pitches to become the 13th pitcher in American League history to throw an immaculate inning. King Felix's fourth frame victims include Jeremy Hermida (swinging), Jorge Cantu (swinging), and Mike Jacobs (looking).

2008 Cecil Cooper of the Astros and Ron Gardenhire of the Twins become the first two managers fined by Major League Baseball for failing to comply with the pace of game regulations. Last month, the MLB asked the teams to help enforce existing rules to decrease the time required to complete a big-league contest.
2008 After a 9-6 victory against the Angels in the first game of a West Coast road trip, the Mets fire manager Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first-base coach Tom Nieto shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern time. The team's 18th manager, who compiled a 302-253 record in 3+ seasons with New York, will be replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel on an interim basis until the end of the season.
2009 At the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez passes Carlton Fisk for the most games caught in a career when he makes his 2,227th appearance behind the plate. The veteran backstop, also known as Pudge, establishes the mark against the Rangers, the team he broke in with as a 19-year-old in 1991.

2009 At Fenway Park, fans attending tonight's game will have an opportunity to win food and prizes, along with one lucky patron sitting 500 feet from the plate, receiving a pair of tickets for a future contest. The Red Sox are treating their fans to celebrate the 500th straight sellout at home, marking a streak that began on May 15th, 2003, in which almost 18 million have seen the club compile a 326-173 record over the first 499 games of the record span.
2013 Max Scherzer becomes the second Tiger starter in the 104-year history of the franchise to begin the season at 10-0 when Detroit beats Baltimore at Comerica Park, 5-1. George Mullin, known as Wabash to his teammates, started the 1909 season with an 11-0 record en route to a 29-8 record for the eventual American League champs.
2014 With their ninth straight victory, the Royals take over the lead in the American League Central, beating last year's Cy Young Award winner, Max Scherzer, and the Tigers at Comerica Park, 11-4. The last time Kansas City had sole possession of first place after playing 70 games was on June 25, 1980, when they led Chicago by 8.5 in the AL West en route to winning the American League pennant.

2021 The Astros tie a major mark, recording their tenth consecutive multi-homer game when Jose Altuve's sixth-inning solo shot follows Michael Brantley's three-run homer in the first inning in the team's 10-2 victory over the White Sox. The Orioles also hit at least two homers in ten straight contests in 2019.
36 Fact(s) Found