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This Day in Baseball History
May 23rd

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38 Fact(s) Found
1890 The Giants and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys established a National League record when the teams combine to steal seventeen bases in a single game. New York will win the Polo Grounds contest, 17-10.
1901 Scoring nine runs in the bottom of the ninth at Cleveland's League Park, the Blues, later known as the Indians, stun the Senators, 14-13. The incredible comeback, consisting of six singles, two doubles, a walk, a hit batsman, and a passed ball, comes after two outs.
1901 White Sox reliever Clark Griffith, the team's pitcher-manager, decides to walk Napoleon Lajoie intentionally with the bases loaded. The strategy proves successful when he induces the next three batters to ground out to complete the 11-9 victory at Chicago's South Side Park.
1910 In the top of the ninth inning in a game against Boston, Cincinnati's outfielder Dode Paskert steals second base, third base, and home plate. The thievery proves to be the margin of victory when the Reds edge the Doves, 6-5.
1918 Provost Marshal Enoch Crowder issues a "work-or-fight" order, initially setting July 1st as the deadline for players to enter the needed war workforce or face induction into military service. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, ignoring Woodrow Wilson's letter stating that the president saw "no necessity" for curtailing play, allows the major leaguers to compete through Labor Day, with rosters staying intact for the shortened season and the World Series.
1924 Senator right-hander Walter Johnson strikes out 14, including six consecutive batters to tie an AL mark, en route to tossing a 4-0 one-hitter over Chicago. A fourth-inning single by Harry Hooper spoils the Big Train's bid for his second career no-hitter.
1935 In Cincinnati, rain postpones the first-ever scheduled major league night game, but the team will face the Phillies tomorrow night. The Reds will play eight evening contests this season, including one against every club in the National League.
1936 With the Reds trailing by three runs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning at Crosley Field, Sammy Byrd hits Cy Blanton's pitch for a game-ending home run, giving Cincinnati an incredible come-from-behind 4-3 victory. The 29-year-old outfielder becomes the third major leaguer to hit an ultimate grand slam, A round-tripper in the home team's final at-bat, and erases a three-run deficit, resulting in a one-run victory.
1945 The Braves send pitcher Red Barrett and $60,000 to the Cardinals for Mort Cooper, who had threatened to leave St. Louis over a salary dispute. After the early season swap, the newest Redbird goes 21-9 for his team, while Boston's newcomer, a twenty-game winner for the previous three seasons, posts a modest 7-4 record for the sixth-place club.
1948 Yankees' slugger Joe DiMaggio hits three consecutive home runs, the first two off future Hall of Famer Bob Feller. The trio of round-trippers helps the Bronx Bombers defeat the Tribe, 6-5.
1954 The White Sox send infielder Grady Hatton, obtained from Cincinnati in April, and $100,000 to the Red Sox in exchange for George Kell, the 1949 American League batting champion. Chicago acquires the 31-year-old six-time All-Star third baseman, who started the season with a .311 lifetime batting average, as a significant defensively and offensively upgrade at the hot corner.
1962 Joe Pepitone homers twice to become the second player in Yankee history to hit two home runs in the same inning when the Bronx Bombers score nine times in the eighth inning of a 13-7 rout of Kansas City. As a rookie in 1936, Joe DiMaggio became the first pinstriper to accomplish the feat.
1963 Mets' first baseman Gil Hodges is immediately named the Senators' manager, replacing Mickey Vernon when the teams complete the deal that sends Waterbury (CT) native Jimmy Piersall to New York. The 33-year-old part-time outfielder, who will bat only .194 in 40 games for his new team, will be released in July after drawing the ire of manager Casey Stengel for running the bases backward to celebrate his 100th career home run.
1965 Mets' outfielder Ron Swoboda takes his position wearing a batting helmet - on his foot. After kicking the protective headgear, which gets stuck on his spikes, manager Casey Stengel orders the young player to go out to the field.
1965 In the first inning of a 5-2 loss to San Francisco, Jimmy Wynn cannot catch Jim Ray Hart's two-out routine fly ball when he loses the ball in the glare of diffused Texas sunlight streaming through plastic panes of the newly-opened Astrodome. The base-clearing inside-the-park three-run home run results in painting the ballpark's ceiling, leading to the use of Astroturf next season because the grass will be unable to be grown due to the reduced amount of light.
1970 After a 17-16, 15-inning loss, the Giants replace manager Clyde King with Charlie Fox, their Phoenix PCL affiliate skipper. The 19-23 club recovers, going 14 games over .500 and finishing third under their new field boss.
1980 In the early morning of the players' planned walkout, the MLBPA and the owners reach a preliminary four-year agreement, pushing the free agency discussion to the following season. The unresolved issue over free-agent compensation will lead to a 50-day strike, resulting in the cancellation of 712 games next year.
1984 The Tigers win their 16th consecutive road game, defeating the Angels, 4-2. Detroit's victory ties an American League record established by the Senators in 1912.
1991 In front of a sparse Olympic Stadium crowd of 8,833, Tommy Greene, making his 15th start as a major leaguer, no-hits the Expos, 2-0. The Phillies' right-hander joined the rotation, replacing Danny Cox, who had suffered a pulled groin in his last start. 
1991 At the Metrodome, Kirby Puckett strokes five singles and a triple in the Twins' 10-6 loss in 11 innings to Texas. The outfielder's performance marks the second time he collected six hits in a game, making him the fourth post-1900 major leaguer, along with Doc Cramer, Jim Bottomley, and Jimmie Foxx, to have accomplished the feat twice during their career.
1991 With his fourth-inning swipe of second base at Shea Stadium, Andre Dawson becomes the third member of the 300/300 club with his 300th stolen base. The 36-year-old Cubs outfielder, who has also hit 354 home runs, joins Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays in reaching the milestone.
1993 The team Hall of Fame inducts owner Ewing Kauffman at Royals Stadium. The public appearance will be the philanthropist's last trip to the Kansas City ballpark, to be renamed in his honor shortly before his death on the first day of August.
1998 Carl Pavano pitches seven strong innings in his major-league debut for the Expos, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out six in the team's 3-2 walk-off win over the Phillies at Olympic Stadium. Montreal acquired the 22-year-old Southington (CT) native in the Pedro Martinez trade with the Red Sox and a player named later (Tony Armas).
1998 David Wells extends his American League record consecutive outs streak to 38 when Boston leadoff hitter Darren Lewis grounds out to begin the contest. The Yankee southpaw, who authored a perfect game in his last outing, had also retired the final ten Kansas City batters he faced in the start before the 'perfecto.'
1999 Brady Anderson gets hit twice by a pitch in the same inning to set an American League record. The Oriole leadoff man, the third major leaguer to accomplish the feat, scores twice when the Birds tally ten runs in the first inning, routing the Rangers at Camden Yards, 16-5.
2000 Mariners outfielder Rickey Henderson draws his 2,000th career walk, becoming only the third player in baseball history to reach the milestone. Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Ted Williams are the only other major leaguers to have accomplished the feat.
2002 Shawn Green hits four home runs in one game to become the 14th player in major league history, the second this month, to accomplish the feat. The Dodger right fielder's 6-for-6 performance in Milwaukee's Miller Park, which includes a single and double, breaks Joe Adcock's 1954 mark for total bases by one, with a total of 19.

2002 The Dodgers set a franchise mark when the team hits eight homers in one contest, bashing the Brewers, 16-3. Shawn Green's four round-trippers account for half of the record-breaking barrage, with Brian Jordan, Hiram Bocachica, Adrian Beltre, and Dave Hansen contributing home runs in the Miller Park contest.
2004 Mets shortstop Kaz Matsui surpasses Tommie Agee's 1969 team record when he sets a franchise mark with his fifth leadoff home run of the season, becoming the first Mets player to accomplish the feat in consecutive games. The 28-year-old Japanese infielder is also the first big leaguer to have his first five career round-trippers when batting first in the first inning of a game.
2004 The River City Rascals, a member of the independent Frontier League, announce a 'Sports Criminals Night,' which will turn T.R. Hughes Ballpark into a giant cell block, complete with a 'dugout jail' for fans during the June 2nd game against the Rockford Riverhawks. After the community's protests, the team cancels the event, intended to humorously poke fun at the media's coverage of athletes in trouble.
2008 Six weeks after his successful thyroid cancer surgery, Diamondback hurler Doug Davis allows just one run over seven innings in an 11-1 win over the Braves at Turner Field. The 32-year-old southpaw joins Red Sox starter Jon Lester, who threw a no-hitter earlier this week, to serve as an inspiration for cancer patients and their families.
2008 Giving up just one run in 6.1 innings in the Giants' 8-2 victory over the Marlins, southpaw Barry Zito avoids becoming the first starter in franchise history to start a season 0-9. The former Cy Young Award winner, who signed a $126 million deal with San Francisco before last season, has posted a 12-22 record since donning the orange and black.
2009 At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Jason Giambi hits his 400th career home run. The A's designated hitter goes deep off Dan Haren, leading off the fourth inning in an 8-7 loss against Arizona and becoming the 44th major leaguer to reach the milestone.
2011 In a profile piece by Jeffrey Toobin for The New Yorker, Fred Wilpon comments candidly about some of the 'stars' on his payroll. The embattled Mets owner is critical of the often injured Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran and calls David Wright a nice kid but "not a superstar.”

Madoff’s Curveball by Jeffrey Toobin
2011 Chasing a sixth-inning foul pop near the Rangers dugout in the sixth inning, A.J. Pierzynski nearly makes contact with George W. Bush, sitting in the owner's box with his wife, Laura. The ball drops harmlessly into the stands, but the former president takes the opportunity to converse with the startled White Sox catcher.

2011 In the Brewers' 11-3 win over the Nationals at Miller Park, Corey Hart hit his first three homers of the season, driving in seven runs to tie both franchise records. The Milwaukee right fielder goes deep with two-run blasts in the first and fifth off Washington starter Tom Gorzelanny to reach the 100th career homer run milestone and then adds a two-out three-run shot in the eighth, becoming the tenth Brewers player to hit three in one game.
2020 The Nationals cancel their virtual World Series ring ceremony, scheduled to air on television and stream online when the players decided to wait to be together in person to receive their championship jewelry. The team will still unveil the ring's design tomorrow, the day initially selected for the presentation, because the date marks the anniversary of Washington's turnaround from a 19-31 record to a Game 7 victory in the Fall Classic.

(Ed. Note: The 23.2-carat ring designed by Jostens features significant highlights in the team's championship campaign, including a depiction of Baby Shark inspired by Gerardo Parra's walk-up song and the club mantras "Go 1-0 Every Day" and "Fight Finished." - LP)

2023 The first-place Rays suffer their largest margin of defeat in franchise history, dropping a 20-1 decision to the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. In a 2002 Fenway contest, the team was defeated by the Red Sox, 22-4. 
38 Fact(s) Found