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This Day in Baseball History
September 17th

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54 Fact(s) Found
1900 At Philadelphia Park, Tommy Corcoran leaves his shortstop position and digs around the third base coaching box with his spikes. The Reds' captain uncovers a metal box with an electrical device with attached wires inside, most likely used by the Phillies in a sophisticated scheme to steal signs.
1903 In a game shortened due to darkness, the Americans clinch their first AL pennant when they beat the Cleveland Naps at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, 4-3. Boston will defeat the Pirates, five games to 3, in the first World Series the fledgling circuit plays against an established National League foe.
1912 At Brooklyn's Washington Park, Casey Stengel makes an impressive major league debut when he collects four hits, drives in two runs, and swipes a pair of bases in the Dodgers' 7-3 victory against the Pirates. The likable outfielder from Kansas City finishes the season with a .316 batting average (18/57) in his first 17 games with Brooklyn.
1916 George Sisler outduels the Senators' legend Walter Johnson, 1-0. The game will mark Gorgeous George's last big-league pitching victory; however, the former Browns' hurler will become a member of the Hall of Fame as a first baseman, finishing his 15-year major league career with a .340 lifetime batting average.


Browns' George Sisler (1919)
Gunnison Valley News - Unknown author

1920 For the first time in major league history, two players hit for the cycle on the same day when Tigers outfielder Bobby Veach, who goes 6-for-6, and Giants first baseman George Burns accomplish the unique feat. This rare event will not occur again until 2008 when Diamondback shortstop Stephen Drew and Mariner third baseman Adrian Beltre each collect a single, double, triple, and a home run in different games played on September 1.
1930 Earl Averill, with three consecutive home runs, drives in eight runs in the Indians' 13-7 victory over the Senators at Cleveland's League Park. The Tribe's 28-year-old center fielder adds another homer in the nightcap to set an American League record with 11 RBIs in the twin bill.
1938 In the top of the seventh inning of the Cubs' 4-0 victory over New York at the Polo Grounds, Ripper Collins hits his last career home run, finishing with 135 round-trippers during his nine-year tenure in the major leagues. The Chicago first baseman remains the all-time switch-hitter home run leader for 18 years until Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle surpasses his total in 1956.
1939 American League President Will Harridge overturns umpire Cal Hubbard's decision to award the Yankees a 9-0 forfeited victory over the Red Sox, ordering the contest replayed from the seventh inning. The Red Sox fans, protesting the deliberate outs New York was making to take advantage of the 6:30 Sunday curfew, had thrown a barrage of garbage onto the playing field, making it impossible to continue the Fenway Park contest.
1941 In front of only 3,585 fans in St. Louis, twenty-year-old Stan Musial makes his major league debut against Boston, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. 'Stan the Man' will collect 3,630 hits during his 22-year Hall of Fame career, 1815 at home and 1815 on the road.
1947 Not waiting for the end of the season, The Sporting News, in a full-page splash in today's issue, names Dodger Jackie Robinson as the publication's Rookie of the Year. Although the Brooklyn infielder faced the challenges of being the century's first black big-leaguer, 'The Bible of Baseball' makes the selection based on his hitting, running, defensive play, and value to the team, according to the article written by legendary publisher J.G. Taylor Spink.
1951 In the bottom of the ninth, Joe DiMaggio scores the winning run on a squeeze bunt by Phil Rizzuto off Cleveland starter Bob Lemon, giving the Yankees a 2-1 walk-off victory. The dramatic win breaks the tie for first place with the Tribe, and the Bronx Bombers will stay in front for the rest of the season.
1953 Ernie Banks becomes the first black player to appear in a Cubs game. The former Kansas City Monarch infielder, who makes an error and is hitless in three at-bats, will hit 512 home runs and win the MVP award twice during his 19-year Hall of Fame career.
1953 Reds GM Gabe Paul announces he has fired manager Rogers Hornsby without explaining the dismissal of the 57-year-old Hall of Famer. The Rajah, who has lost six managerial positions during his long baseball career, will be replaced on an interim basis by coach Buster Mills, who will take over the 64-82 club with eight games left to play in the season.
1954 The California community of Avila names Bobby Avila, finishing the campaign with a league-leading .341 for the eventual American League champs, as the town's honorary mayor in recognition of the Indian second baseman's outstanding contributions to the team's success this season. In 1980, the thirty-year-old infielder will become the mayor of his home city of Veracruz before serving two three-year terms in the Mexican Congress. 
1957 In his first at-bat in 17 days, Ted Williams homers off KC's Tom Morgan, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning of the Red Sox' 9-8 victory at Fenway Park. Boston's 'Splendid Splinter' had been sidelined with pneumonia since September.
1963 Dodger ace Sandy Koufax tosses a four-hitter, blanking St. Louis at Sportsman's Park, 4-0. The southpaw's scoreless effort establishes a National League record for shutouts thrown by lefties in a season with 11, five shy of Grover Cleveland Alexander's major league mark set in 1916 with the Phillies.
1964 Seattle mayor J.D. Dorm Braman publicly admits his attempt to bring the Indians to the Emerald City. Other suitors for the disgruntled franchise, whose board of directors will vote to keep the team in Cleveland next month, include Oakland and Dallas.
1964 Thanks to the efforts of Charlie Finley (seen below wearing a wig), the Beatles, who had planned for a day of rest in New Orleans on the only free date scheduled during their American tour, play a concert in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. The group's manager Brian Epstein, who had initially turned down the A's owner's offers of $50,000 and $100,000 to have the lads from Liverpool perform in the City of Fountains, agrees on $150,000, about six times the going rate, enabling the Fab Four to earn $4,838 per minute, the largest sum ever paid for a musical concert.

Back of Beatle ticket for '64 concert in KC
1965 In front of a capacity crowd at the Bronx ballpark, the Yankees pay tribute to Mickey Mantle in the first of three special days held in his honor. Before appearing in his 2000th career game, 'The Mick' tells the fans that he hoped to play another 15 years, but in reality, he will play his last major league contest in 1968.
1966 At Yankee Stadium, New York celebrates Bobby Richardson Day in honor of their All-Star second baseman, retiring at the end of the season. After leaving the playing field in his prime to spend more time with his family, the 31-year-old infielder returns to the game to become the head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina, where he will compile a 221-92-1 record with the Gamecocks.
1968 At Candlestick Park, Giants' hurler Gaylord Perry (14-14) no-hits the Cardinals and Bob Gibson, 1-0, with the game's only run scored on Ron Hunt's first-inning home run. For the first time in major league history, the feat is accomplished in successive games when Redbird hurler Ray Washburn returns the favor tomorrow by no-hitting San Francisco, 2-0.
1968 With their 98th victory, Detroit clinches the American League pennant for the first time in 23 years, beating the Yankees, 2-1, when Don Wert's ninth-inning single plates Al Kaline for the walk-off win at Tiger Stadium. Twenty-six-year-old right-hander Joe Sparma goes the distance, limiting the third-place Bronx Bombers to five hits.
1973 Rick Waits makes his major league debut when he pitches the ninth inning of the Rangers' 10-3 victory over Chicago at Arlington Stadium. Although the 21-year-old right-hander starts the frame with an eight-run lead, he inexplicably gets credit for a save.


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1975 Mets right-fielder Rusty Staub, in a 5-2 loss to Chicago at Shea Stadium, homers off Ray Burris in the fourth frame for his 98th RBI of the season, establishing a new team record. 'Le Grand Orange' surpasses the franchise mark set by Donn Clendenon in 1970.
1977 With his third-inning round-tripper off Jim Crawford at Tiger Stadium, Yankees DH Dave Kingman becomes the first player to homer for four teams in one season. The much-traveled veteran will hit a total of 26 home runs this year, playing for the Mets (9), Padres (11), Angels (2), and the Bronx Bombers (4).
1981 Dodgers southpaw Fernando Valenzuela ties White Sox freshman Ewell Russell's 1913 rookie record when he hurls his eighth shutout of the season, blanking Atlanta on three hits. The 20-year-old Mexican's 2-0 victory breaks the previous National League mark shared by Irving Young (Braves, 1905), Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies, 1911), and Jerry Koosman (Mets, 1968).
1982 In the bottom of the seventh at Shea Stadium, Dave Kingman knots the score at 2-2 against the Redbirds when he hits the final homer of his league-leading season total of 37. The 33-year-old Mets slugger will finish the season hitting just .204, the lowest batting average ever for a player who wins a home run crown.
1983 At Riverfront Stadium, 53,790 faithful fans celebrate Johnny Bench Night. The future Hall of Fame catcher does not disappoint the regular-season record crowd, responding with a two-run homer and a single in the Reds' 4-3 loss to the Astros.
1983 The White Sox beat Seattle, 4-3, clinching their first American League divisional title. The Comiskey Park victory secures the club's first postseason berth since the Go-Go Sox won the American League pennant in 1959.

1984 On the seventeenth anniversary of his first major league round-tripper, Reggie Jackson connects off Kansas City pitcher Bud Black in the bottom of the seventh inning for his 500th career home run. The milestone four-bagger proves to be the only run the Angels would score in the Royals' 10-1 victory.

1984 Mets rookie Dwight Gooden ties a major league record shared by Luis Tiant (1968 Indians) and Nolan Ryan (1974 Angels) with 32 strikeouts in two consecutive games. The 19-year-old Dr. K, who strikes out 16 Phillies in the team's 2-1 loss at Veterans Stadium, also fanned sixteen Buc batters in his last start, a 2-0 complete-game victory at Shea Stadium.

(Ed. Note: The eventual go-ahead run scores on Doc's eight-inning wild pitch and a balk, his second of the game.)

1988 Jeff Reardon, who hurls a perfect ninth inning, becomes the first pitcher to save 40 games in both leagues when the Twins defeat the White Sox, 3-1. The Dalton (MA) native also saved 42 games for the Expos in 1985.
1990 The Blue Jays set a major league single-season attendance record when 49,902 fans watch the home team beat the Yankees, 6-4. Toronto will finish the season with 58 consecutive sellouts at the SkyDome with a total attendance of 3,885,284.
1993 Ranger right-hander Nolan Ryan, in his next to last major league appearance, fans California catcher Greg Myers for his 5,714th and final career strikeout. The 'Ryan Express' will end his 27-year career ranking first all-time in strikeouts.
1995 Ken Caminiti ties Eddie Murray's 1987 major league mark, becoming the first National Leaguer to hit a homer from both sides of the plate in consecutive games, going deep off RHP Turk Wendell and southpaw Roberto Rivera of the Cubs. The switch-hitting third baseman homered right-handed off Larry Casian and cleared the fence in deep right-center field yesterday, batting lefty on a pitch thrown by Steve Trachsel.
1996 Dodger right-hander Hideo Nomo no-hits the Rockies, 9-0, at Coors Field, becoming the only big-league hurler to accomplish the feat in the thin air of Denver. Tornado Boy's performance in Colorado is the best-attended no-no and is the only hitless game with a paid attendance of more than 50,000 fans.

1998 At 107, Chet Hoff dies in Daytona Beach, Florida, giving the southpaw the longest life span of any major leaguer. Before WW I ended his playing career, 'Red' played for the New York Highlanders (1911-13) and St. Louis Browns (1915), compiling a 2-4, 2.49 record.
1998 The Braves become the first team since the 1915 Red Sox to have five pitchers win 15 or more games in the same season. Joining Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Kevin Millwood, southpaw Denny Neagle becomes the latest Atlanta hurler to accomplish the feat when he scatters six hits over six innings in a 1-0 victory over Arizona.
2000 Due to conditions created by Hurricane Gordon, the Devil Rays postpone their scheduled game against the A's at Tropicana Field, becoming only the third contest in a domed stadium affected by a weather event. The other postponements included a 1976 game between the Astros and the Pirates when ten inches of rain fell in Houston, making the Astrodome inaccessible, and a 1983 tilt between the Twins and Angels because the Metrodome's roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow.
2001 After a six-day hiatus, major league teams play games for the first time since the September 11th terrorist attacks. A new baseball tradition begins with the singing of God Bless America, and Cardinal announcer Jack Buck captures a nation's mood by reading his original poem, We Shall Overcome, during the seventh-inning stretch at Busch Stadium.

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2003 En route to capturing the American League Cy Young Award, Roy Halladay pitches his fourth consecutive complete game when the Blue Jays beat Detroit at Tiger Stadium, 6-0. 'Doc' will finish the season 22-7, with eight victories coming from his nine complete games.
2004 Barry Bonds, connecting off Jake Peavy's third-inning slider at SBC Park, hits his 700th career home run. The historic homer touches off a fireworks display and the unfurling of a gigantic light tower banner featuring Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, the two other players to reach the milestone.

2005 The Padres, trailing 5-0 with two outs, shock the Nationals in the bottom of the ninth when they tie the score thanks to Khalil Greene's first career grand slam. San Diego will complete the amazing comeback when Ramon Hernandez hits a three-run walk-off homer with two out in the 12th frame, beating Washington at Petco Park, 8-5.
2006 Mariners' outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, in a 7-4 loss to the Royals in Kansas City, singles in his first two at-bats, extending his own major league record for consecutive 200-hit seasons to begin a career to six. The Japanese native also steals his 33rd straight base, an American League single-season record.
2006 The Red Sox sweep a doubleheader from the Yankees in New York for the first time in thirty years. Boston had not beaten their arch-rivals twice in one day since July 31, 1976, and Independence Day of 1973 was the last time they accomplished the feat at Yankee Stadium.
2006 At Turner Field, Marlin infielder Dan Uggla hits his 26th home run off Atlanta hurler Chad Paronto, breaking the record for the most home runs in a season by a rookie second baseman. Hall of Fame infielder Joe Gordon had established the previous mark, playing with the Yankees in 1938.
2007 On the Today Show, Marc Ecko, who made millions from his clothing brand, announces the opportunity for the public to vote on the fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball. The 35-year-old fashion designer, who paid $752,467 for the ball at an online auction, has set up a website, www.vote756.com, which gives the fans the option of voting to:
  • Send the ball directly to Cooperstown.
  • Branding it with an asterisk before sending it to the Hall of Fame.
  • Putting the ball on a rocket ship and launching it into outer space.
2008 Jesse Carlson earns the victory when the Blue Jays rally from a 6-0 deficit to beat the Orioles, 8-7. The 27-year-old southpaw rookie reliever from Berlin (CT), who has held his opponents scoreless in his last 12 appearances, notches his seventh victory in relief, the most by any Toronto reliever since Paul Quantrill won 11 in 2001.
2010 Joe Torre, who will compile a 2326-1997 (.538.) managerial record during his 30 seasons as a skipper with Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees, and the Dodgers, announces he will be retiring at the end of the month. Los Angeles immediately hires the team's hitting coach, Don Mattingly, to replace the 70-year-old, who will accept a position in February to assist Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig as the new Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations.
2014 Brandon McCarthy throws nine pitches, has nine strikes, and records three outs, retiring Wil Myers, Nick Franklin, and Matt Joyce in the seventh inning of the Yankees' 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. The 31-year-old right-hander pitches the fifth Immaculate Inning in franchise history, joining Al Downing (1967), Ron Guidry (1984), A.J. Burnett (2009), and Ivan Nova (2013) in accomplishing the feat.

2016 Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson hits two extra-inning home runs in the same game, giving the team a 3-2 victory over the Twins at Citi Field. The Grandy Man ties the game leading off in the 11th inning and then hits a two-out walk-off solo homer in the next frame, the club's 201st home to set a franchise mark.

2018 Christian Yelich becomes the fifth player to complete two cycles in the same season and the first to accomplish the feat against the same team twice in one year. In less than three weeks, the Brewers outfielder repeats the rarity against Cincinnati when he singles in the first inning, doubles in the third, homers in the fifth, and strokes a two-run triple off reliever Jesus Reyes in the sixth inning of the team's 8-0 victory at Miller Park.

2020 Chase Anderson allows five home runs in the fourth inning of the Blue Jay's 10-7 loss at Yankee Stadium. In a span of 14 pitches, the right-handed reliever throws gopher balls to Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres, with the first three round-trippers hit back-to-back-back on the first pitch thrown in each respective at-bat.

2020 The Yankees, for the first time in franchise history, hit five home runs in one inning, equally an MLB mark accomplished on six previous occasions. The Bronx Bombers' barrage against the Blue Jays occurs in the fourth inning when Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres go deep in the team's 10-7 victory in New York.
54 Fact(s) Found