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This Day in Baseball History
June 21st

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44 Fact(s) Found
1900 Citing the Superbas' poor attendance at Brooklyn's Washington Park, National League president Ned Young discusses the possibility of transferring the franchise to the District of Columbia. En route to their second consecutive title, the reigning NL champions are averaging only a thousand fans on non-holiday dates.
1916 Red Sox right-hander Rube Foster, throwing a perfect game until issuing a walk in the seventh inning, tosses a 2-0 no-hitter against the Highlanders. The no-no is the first-ever thrown in Fenway Park, the team's home since 1912.


Red Sox right-hander Rube Foster(ca. 1914-1915)
Library of Congress - Harris & Ewing Photograph Collection

1921 At the Polo Grounds, Dave Bancroft hits for the cycle when he singles in the first, triples in the third, homers in the fifth, and doubles in the sixth in the Giants' 8-3 victory over the Phillies. According to a news report of the contest, the 30-year-old New York shortstop faints after returning to the bench after running around the bases for his inside-the-park home run but returns to the field to complete the rare event in the next frame. 
1941 In New York's 7-2 loss to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, Phil Rizzuto's round-tripper off Dizzy Trout leading off the seventh-inning extends the team's consecutive-game home run streak to 17, the twenty-eighth in that span of games, also a record. The historic homer, which ties the major league record established by Detroit, is only the light-hitting shortstop's second career home run.
1941 Lefty Grove's Fenway consecutive win streak, which started on May 3, 1938, ends at 20 games with a 13-9 loss to the St. Louis Browns. The future Hall of Fame southpaw, facing just 13 batters, allows six runs, yielding five hits and walking three in 1⅔ innings of work.
1947 Jack Chesbro's induction into the Hall of Fame makes him the only player enshrined in Cooperstown who played professional baseball for a team in the upstate New York village on the shores of Otsego Lake. The right-hander, who established the modern-era record (post-1901) for most victories in a season with 41 while pitching for the 1904 Highlanders, played for the Cooperstown Athletics after the Roanoke Magicians of the Virginia State League disbanded during the 1896 season.

(Ed. Note: Before Jack Chesbro's achievement, over 20 major league pitchers won 41 games or more in a season, including Hoss Radbourn, who won 60 (59?) games in 1884 and 48 in 1883. Our thanks to frequent contributor J. Feehan for adding to this entry -LP)

1951 Donald L. Barnes, at the request of Browns' owners William and Charles Dewitt, announces the sale of the controlling interest of the club to Bill Veeck, former owner of the Indians. The transaction arrangement ensures the new owner will keep the team in St. Louis, debunking the rumors of the franchise's shift to Milwaukee.
1952 National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues president George Trautman bans the signing of women, preventing 24-year-old softball shortstop standout Eleanor Engle from playing with the Harrisburg Senators. Commissioner Ford Frick will go one step further by formally prohibiting females from professional baseball, using the ruling to prevent teams from using women players as a publicity stunt.
1956 Orioles hurlers Connie Johnson and George Zuverink combine to one-hit the White Sox at Comiskey Park. Unfortunately, the one hit is a run-scoring double in the first frame of the team's 1-0 loss to Chicago's southpaw Jack Harshman, who also tosses a one-hitter gem in the two-hour and 12-minute contest.
1957 In his first major league start, bonus baby Von McDaniel, a recent graduate of Oklahoma's Hollis High School, two-hits the Dodgers at Busch Stadium, 2-0. The 18-year-old keeps Brooklyn hitless until Jim Gilliam's soft line drive spins out second baseman Don Blasingame's glove, followed by Hal Smith's failure handling sacrifice, giving the visitors two tainted infield safeties in the sixth inning.

(Ed. Note: Our thanks to frequent contributor J. Feehan, who attended this game as a youngster with his dad, for sharing his memories of the game. -LP)

1957 Going the distance in the Senators' 6-3 victory over Cleveland, Chuck Stobbs wins his first game since throwing a shutout against Baltimore last September. The 27-year-old right-hander snaps a 16-game losing streak, including dropping his first 11 decisions this year.
1959 Stan Musial, in the Cardinals' 5-1 victory over the Bucs at Busch Stadium, collects a pair of two-baggers, the first which breaks Honus Wagner's National League record of 651 career doubles. The southpaw-swinging Stan the Man moves to third place on the all-time major league list for two-base hits, trailing only American Leaguers Tris Speaker (793) and Ty Cobb (724).

(Ed. Note: Speaker's (one less) and Wagner's (eight less) totals were historically adjusted since Musial accomplished the feat. -LP)
1960 Richie Ashburn plays his first game in Philadelphia after being traded to the Cubs in the offseason. 'Whitey,' a fan favorite during his dozen years with the Phillies, strikes out looking to start his 1-for-6 day in an extra-inning loss at Shibe Park.
1964 Despite the four errors made by the Phillies, Rick Wise wins the first of his 188 major league victories when Philadelphia beats the Mets at Shea Stadium in the nightcap of a twin bill, 8-2. However, the 18-year-old rookie right-hander's accomplishment receives little fanfare when his effort follows Jim Bunning's perfect game in the opener.
1964 On an unseasonably warm Father's Day at Shea Stadium, Phillies' right-hander Jim Bunning becomes the first modern pitcher to toss a no-hitter in both leagues when he throws a perfect game to beat the Mets, 6-0. Gus Triandos, who caught  Orioles' Hoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter in 1958, becomes the first catcher to handle a no-hitter in each circuit.

(Ed. Note: In addition to being behind the mike for today's game, Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy, doing play-by-play for the Red Sox in 1958, called Bunning's no-hitter in the Tigers' 3-0 victory at Fenway Park. - LP)

1967 In retaliation for Joe Foy getting struck in the helmet in the top of the frame, Red Sox starter Jim Lonborg promptly plunks opposing pitcher Thad Tillotson in the back, igniting a bench-clearing brawl in the second inning of the Yankees' 8-1 loss to Boston at the Stadium. The five-minute melee results in no ejections but doesn't quite settle the matter, with Reggie Smith getting brushed back in the third, and Dick Howser leaves the game in the fifth after being hit in the head with a pitch.

1969 En route to a 14-4 victory over the A's, the Twins score a club-record 11 runs in an inning, setting a major league mark for runs crossing the plate in the 10th frame. In the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum contest, sixteen Minnesota batters collect eight hits and four base on balls, including Harmon Killebrew delivering the big blow with a three-run homer off Lew Krausee. 
1970 At Cleveland Stadium, Cesar Gutierrez goes 7-for-7, including six singles and a double, in Detroit's 9-8 victory over the Indians in 12 innings. The 27-year-old Venezuelan shortstop will finish his brief four-year major league career with a .235 lifetime batting average.
1976 Ranger right-hander Bert Blyleven one-hits the A's, giving up only a fifth-inning single to Ken McMullen in his 1-0 gem at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The 25-year-old starter, obtained from the Twins on June 1, will toss another one-hit 1-0 victory for Texas in five days when he beats the White Sox in ten innings.
1978 On the first pitch in his first at-bat, Dave Machemer hits his only major league home run. The rookie second baseman, batting leadoff for the visiting Angels, starts the Halos' eventual 5-2 victory over Minnesota with a long fly over the left-field wall at Metropolitan Stadium.
1986 Bo Jackson, the collegiate football standout who will eventually spend four seasons with the Oakland Raiders, signs a three-year contract worth just over $1 million with the World Champion Royals, who drafted him in the fourth round, 105th overall. The Auburn running back had been selected first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Heisman Trophy recipient turned down the Buccaneers' more lucrative offer when the team refused his choice to play two sports.

NYT Bo Jackson Takes Royals Over N.F.L

1987 On Father's Day, for the second consecutive game, a bench-clearing brawl occurs between the Reds and Braves in Atlanta after a pitch hits a batter. Tracy Jones, struck by a ball thrown by Jim Acker, ignites the fight when he belatedly charges the mound when the reliever comes within 25 feet of home plate.
1988 At Tiger Stadium, Detroit scores six times in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat a stunned Yankees team, 7-6. Allen Trammell ends the game dramatically, hitting a two-out walk-off grand slam off Cecilio Guante.
1989 At Yankee Stadium, Carlton Fisk surpasses Yogi Berra as the American League leader for career home runs by a catcher when he goes deep down the left-field line off Andy Hawkins, leading off the second inning. The 41-year-old White Sox future Hall of Fame backstop's 307th homer helps beat the Yankees, 7-3.
1998 On Father's Day, the New York Times publishes Michael Bouton's open letter to the Yankees, asking the franchise to reconsider its long-time snub of his dad, Jim, the team's former 21-game winner and controversial author of Ball Four. Thanks to his son's efforts, Jim Bouton's banishment from Yankee Stadium will end next month when the team invites the right-hander to return to the Bronx ballpark for the first time in nearly thirty years to participate in the team's Old-Timers' Day.

NYT Michael Bouton's letter to the New York Times

1998 The Dodgers, 12.5 games behind the division-leading Padres, release Bill Russell, replacing the 36-38 skipper with Glenn Hoffmann, manager of the organization's Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes. In the front office, Tommy Lasorda assumes the general manager duties of the third-place club from Fred Claire.
1999 Blue Jay Tony Fernandez becomes the Dominican-born career hits leader with his 2,178th hit to move ahead of Julio Franco. The shortstop's hit plated the winning run with two outs in the ninth in Toronto's 2-1 victory over Kansas City.
2000 Eric Chavez becomes the 13th A's player in the 100-year history of the franchise to hit for the cycle when he doubles (2nd), singles (4th), and triples (5th) off Mike Mussina and completes the rare event with a home run (7th) off Jose Mercedes in the team's 10-3 win over Baltimore. Oakland's 22-year-old third baseman is the seventh-youngest major leaguer to accomplish the feat.
2001 Returning to the major leagues after a stint with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League, Jose Canseco starts as the designated hitter for the White Sox. The former All-Star, who has hit 446 career home runs (23rd all-time), didn't get any offers after being released by the Angels in the spring.
2002 During the New York-Penn League game between the New Jersey Cardinals and the Staten Island Yankees, a fan hops a fence and goes onto the field to argue an umpire's call at first base. The 38-year-old woman, who will face disorderly person charges, is at the game with her eight-year-old daughter's Brownie troop.
2002 Luis Castillo hits safely in his 35th consecutive game, tying Fred Clarke (1895), Ty Cobb (1917), and George Sisler (1924-25) for the tenth-longest streak in major league history. The Marlins' infielder's third-inning infield hit off knuckleballer Steve Sparks' glove also surpasses Benito Santiago's 1987 streak, the longest established by a Latin player.
2003 Tied 2-2 after nine innings at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, the Red Sox and Phillies exchange runs in the twelfth, and then when Boston tallies twice in the thirteenth, the hometown team scores three times in the bottom of the frame to win the interleague contest, 6-5. Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra goes 6-for-6 for the day, all singles.
2005 General manager Dan O'Brien meets face to face with Reds skipper Dave Miley (125-164) to inform the third-year manager of his decision to fire him. As a result, former Ranger manager Jerry Narron becomes the 58th manager in Reds' history.
2005 After building a 10-2 lead at Yankee Stadium, the Devil Rays lose to the Bronx Bombers 20-11, making it the second time in franchise history the team is ahead by eight or more runs and loses by nine or more tallies. With no other club in baseball history achieving this dubious distinction, the D-Rays now have accomplished the feat twice with their 1999 defeat to the Indians.
2005 Giving up 13 runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Devil Rays become the first team in history to yield that many tallies in one inning twice during the same season. Both times, New York was the benefactor as the visiting Tampa Bay hurlers also had a 13-run meltdown in April at Yankee Stadium.
2006 Jose Reyes becomes the ninth player in Mets history to hit for the cycle. The 23-year-old shortstop hits a leadoff homer in the first, followed by a double in the third, then a triple in the fifth, and completes the feat with an eighth-inning single in the team's 5-4 loss to the Reds at Shea Stadium.

2009 Tony La Russa gets his 2,500th victory as a manager when the Cardinals defeat Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, 12-5. Joining Connie Mack and John McGraw, the Redbird skipper, who also piloted the White Sox and A's, becomes the third major league manager to reach the milestone.
2011 At the Ballpark in Arlington, many of the 33,533 fans in attendance at the Rangers' game against the Astros, including former President George W. Bush, wear red or blue sunglasses provided by Reliant Energy, shattering the previous Guinness World Record of 424 patrons wearing shades after dark. Mitch Moreland helps Texas see the light when he goes deep leading off the 11th inning to give the team a 5-4 walk-off victory.
2015 Melissa Mayeux becomes the first female to be placed on Major League Baseball's international registration list, making her eligible to be signed by pro teams on July 2. The 16-year-old shortstop of the French U-18 junior national team campaigned successfully to abolish the country's "no-girls-allowed" rule so she could keep competing with the boys.
2016 🇮🇱 Dean Kremer becomes the first-ever Israeli to sign a contract with a Major League baseball team when he comes to terms with the Dodgers after being selected in the annual amateur draft earlier this month. The 20-year-old right-hander won Europe's Most Valuable Pitcher award in 2014 and 2015 and has hurled for Israel's national baseball team for the past three seasons.
2016 Astro backstop Erik Kratz, who tossed an ineffective inning in an 11-1 rout by the Angels in April, becomes the first modern player to catch and pitch for two teams in the same season, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in relief in the Pirates' 15-4 loss to the Giants at PNC Park. The 36-year-old journeyman backstop, obtained earlier in the month from the Halos, allows two hits, striking out Brandon Belt for the first out of the frame.
2019 On his first trip back to Busch Stadium, Albert Pujols receives a warm welcome from the Cardinals fans, getting standing ovations during warm-ups, a scoreboard tribute, his first three at-bats, and a curtain call upon leaving the game. During his 11-year tenure with the Redbirds before becoming a free agent seven seasons ago, the Angels' first baseman won three MVPs, a Rookie of the Year award, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, two World Series rings, and the 2004 NLCS MVP.

2021 Needing only 197 games, nine-year veteran Yu Darvish overwhelming becomes the fastest pitcher to record 1,500 career strikeouts, easily eclipsing Randy Johnson, who needed nine more starts to reach the milestone. The Padres' right-hander establishes the mark with the 11th and final strikeout of his six innings of work against the Dodgers.
2021 Jacob deGrom extends his scoreless innings streak to 30 innings, blanking the Braves for five innings in the Mets' 4-2 victory at Citi Field. The 33-year-old right-hander becomes the first hurler in history to go a dozen straight starts of giving up to one or no earned runs, surpassing the mark established by Hall of Famer Bob Gibson for the Cardinals in 1968.

BaseballReference

44 Fact(s) Found