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This Day in Baseball History
August 23rd

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44 Fact(s) Found
1906 At American League Park in Washington, DC, the White Sox establish a new American League record, winning their 19th consecutive game with a 4-1 victory over the hometown Senators. In 2002, the A's will string together 20 straight wins to surpass the AL mark but will fall one short of the major league mark established by the 1935 Cubs
1907 The day after his 25th birthday, Pirates right-hander Howie Camnitz tosses an unofficial no-hitter, beating the Giants, 1-0, in an agreed-upon shortened five-inning nightcap of a Polo Grounds twin bill. The Kentuckian, called Red by his teammates, finishes his 11-year career with a 133-106 (.556) record, including a 25-6 mark for the eventual World Champion Bucs in 1909.
1931 Attempting to break Walter Johnson's consecutive game-winning streak of 17 games, Lefty Grove loses when Browns' hurler Dick Coffman throws a three-hit shutout, his only whitewash this season, against the A's. Reserve outfielder Jimmy Moore, playing in place of the absent Al Simmons, misjudges a fly ball, leading to the decisive run and the Philadelphia hurler's meltdown in the locker room.
1936 The Indians' seventeen-year-old rookie pitcher, Bob Feller, makes his first major league start, striking out the first eight batters he faces in the team's 4-1 over the Browns at Cleveland's League Park. 'Rapid Robert' will finish the game with 15 strikeouts, the highest total in a debut for a starting pitcher and one shy of the American League 1908 mark established by A's southpaw Rube Waddell.
1942 Between games of a doubleheader between New York and Washington, Babe Ruth appears in pinstripes for the first time in seven years to face former Senator fireballer Walter Johnson, helping to raise over $80,000 for the Army-Navy Relief Fund. To the delight of nearly 70,000 enthusiastic fans at Yankee Stadium, the 47-year-old Bambino goes deep on the 54-year-old hurler's fifth pitch. Then, after hitting a barely foul upper-deck blast on the 15th and final pitch of the at-bat, he rounds the bases tipping his cap before leaving the field with the Big Train to a thunderous standing ovation.

1952 Augie Donatelli ejects Bob Elliott from the Sportsman's Park contest when the Giants' third baseman protests a strike two call and begins kicking dirt on the arbitrator during his plate appearance. Bobby Hofman, replacing the New York corner infielder in the batter's box, will also be thrown out in the same at-bat when he vehemently disputes a called third strike.
1958 Gil Hodges hits his 14th career grand slam in the Dodgers' 10-1 victory over Milwaukee at LA Memorial Coliseum. The first baseman's bases-full round-tripper establishes a new National League record but is far fewer than Lou Gehrig's major league mark of 23. 
1958 Nellie Fox's 98 consecutive games without striking out ends when lefty Whitey Ford whiffs him in the White Sox's 7-1 victory over the Yankees in the Bronx. The Chicago second baseman last struck out on May 16th against another southpaw, Cleveland's Dick Tomane.
1961 In the 14-0 rout of the Reds at Crosley Field, the Giants score twelve runs in the top of the ninth with ten hits and three Cincinnati errors. Orlando Cepeda, Felipe Alou, Jim Davenport, Willie Mays, and John Orsino go deep in the frame to tie a major league team record with five round-trippers, joining the 1939 Giants and 1966 Twins, in addition to setting a record for total bases in one inning with 27.
1961 Dave Philley ties Sam Leslie's 29-year-old major league record with his 22nd pinch hit of the season. The historic moment occurs in an Orioles' 7-5 extra-inning victory over the A's when the 41-year-old singles in the top of the 7th pinch-hitting for Hoyt Wilhelm at Municipal Stadium.
1967 Twelve-year-old Robert Stratta throws the eighth no-hitter in Little League World Series history when Chicago's Roseland North team beats Rota, Spain, in the quarterfinals, 1-0. The future transplant surgeon doesn't allow the ball to leave the infield, retiring the last 11 batters he faces, retiring eight on strikeouts.
1972 Joining Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Alex Johnson, Dick Allen becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit a ball into the center field bleachers at Comiskey Park. The gargantuan blast nearly nails White Sox announcer Harry Caray, who is doing play-by-play from the grandstands.
1975 Making his first major league start, 23-year-old Indian rookie Rick Waits tosses a complete game, beating Kansas City, 7-1. The southpaw from Atlanta allows only five hits facing 34 batters in the Royals Stadium contest. 
1979 Rickey Henderson swipes three bases in the A's 8-6 victory over the Indians at Cleveland Stadium. At 20 years, 241 days old, the rookie outfielder becomes the youngest player to accomplish the feat.
1982 Home plate umpire Dave Phillips ejects Mariners starter Gaylord Perry from the game for applying a foreign substance to the ball, making the ejection the first since the 1940s for doctoring the ball. Although suspected for years of cheating, the 43-year-old right-hander evaded detection until today.
1989 In front of an enthusiastic crowd at Williamport's (PA) Stadium, Victoria Brucker becomes the first girl on an American team to play in the Little League World Series, walking twice, hitting a single, and scoring three times in San Pedro's (CA) 12-5 rout of Tampa (FL). Although the 12-year-old is the first female ballplayer to get a hit and score a run in the annual international tournament for youngsters, Victoria Roche was the first to appear on an LLWS roster, earning the distinction in 1984 as a reserve outfielder on a Brussels team that won the European regional championship.
1989 The second-longest shutout in big-league history ends when Rick Dempsey hits a home run in the top of the 22nd inning, giving the Dodgers an eventual 1-0 victory over the Expos at Olympic Stadium. The Astros blanked the Mets for 24 frames en route to a 1-0 win at the Astrodome in 1968.

1989 In the 11th frame of an eventual 22-inning 1-0 loss, the Expos' Youppi! becomes the first mascot to be thrown out of a game when Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda complains to the umpires about the hairy orange giant's behavior at Olympic Stadium. The LA skipper takes exception to the loud noise caused by the furry creature's running leap onto the visitors' dugout before sneaking back into a front-row seat.

1992 The Clearwater Phillies beat the Winter Haven Red Sox, 1-0, in the Class A Florida State League contest, marking the first time in 40 years neither team records a hit in a professional game. The lone run crosses the plate in the seventh inning thanks to a pair of walks and two sacrifice bunts.
1998 Barry Bonds becomes the first player in major league history to hit 400 home runs and steal at least 400 bases (438). The Giant slugger reached the unmatched plateau with his 26th homer of the year against Marlin southpaw Kirt Ojala in a 10-5 San Francisco victory.
1998 Leading off the bottom of the eighth inning at County Stadium against the Padres, Bob Hamelin hits his fourth pinch-hit home run of the season, tying the score at nine runs apiece. The round-tripper sets the franchise mark for the most pinch-hit home runs hit by a Brewer in a season.
1998 With his 50th and 51st dingers, Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa joins Mark McGwire (53) of the Cardinals in hitting 50 home runs, making it only the second time two National League hitters have reached the plateau in the same season. Pirates outfielder Ralph Kiner and Giants first baseman Johnny Mize hit a league-leading 51 round-trippers in 1947.
1998 Although Scott Rolen has started all but one game this season and appeared in every contest, Phillies manager Terry Francona makes an unpopular decision not to play his third baseman. It's Scott Rolen T-shirt Day, a promotion for kids 14 and under, and many of the Veterans Stadium fans voiced their disappointment about not being able to watch the 23-year-old infielder play on his special day.
1999 Joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire, Mariner outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the third player in major league history to hit 200 homers in a four-season span. Junior's 39th helps Seattle beat the Indians, 4-1.
2000 At Comerica Park, fans flee their seats as swarms of small insects invade the stands during the first inning. The six-legged pests do not affect the players, and the game continues uninterrupted, with the Tigers edging the Mariners, 6-5.
2000 Team president Bob Graziano apologizes to the female couple told to leave Dodger Stadium two weeks ago when some fans complained after the couple shared a celebratory kiss during a game. The pair felt the ejection by eight security guards was discriminatory because their friends, a man and a woman, also kissed but were not asked to leave.
2001 In his major league debut, Rockies right-hander Jason Jennings throws a complete-game shutout, blanking the Mets at Shea Stadium, 10-0. Additionally, the 23-year-old rookie enjoys a 3-for-5 day at the plate, including a solo home run leading off the ninth inning off Donnie Wall.
2001 In the Angels' 7-6 loss to the Red Sox at Edison Field, Bengie Molina, with three singles and a double, establishes a franchise record with nine consecutive hits, a mark previously shared by four players with eight straight safeties. The 27-year-old backstop also becomes the first Halo to record consecutive four-for-four games since Tim Salmon accomplished the feat in 1994.
2001 Arizona left-hander Randy Johnson becomes the first pitcher to strike out 300 batters in four consecutive seasons. The Big Unit's 16-strikeout performance isn't enough as the Pirates beat the Diamondbacks, 5-1, ending the southpaw's eight-game winning streak.
2002 During a minor-league baseball promotion at Disney's Wide World of Sports, a participant collapses and dies running from the outfield fence to the infield after appearing to have suffered a seizure. The 28-year-old woman was among approximately 250 fans hoping to find a small hidden box containing a diamond after the Orlando Rays and Jacksonville Suns game.
2003

In front of a full house at Yankee Stadium, Ron Guidry's uniform 49 is retired on the lefty's special day. 'Louisiana Lightning,' who played his entire career in New York, posting a 170-90 record for the Bronx Bombers, is surprised the club hasn't just honored him with a day but has retired his jersey and placed a plaque in Monument Park in his honor.

2006 Carlos Delgado's 400th career home run, his second of the game, proves significant when his fourth-inning grand slam dramatically closes the gap in the Mets' eventual 8-7 comeback victory over the Cardinals at Shea Stadium. The bases-loaded home run is New York's ninth of the season, establishing a new club record.
2006 Joining the 1989 Pirates, the Royals became the second team in big-league history to have a ten-run first inning and not win the game. At Kauffman Stadium, the home team takes an early 10-1 lead before losing to the Indians in ten innings, 15-13.

2006 With his 16th bunt single of the season, Houston center fielder Willy Taveras extends his hitting streak to 26 games to set an Astros record. Second baseman Jeff Kent set the previous mark in 2004.
2007 With his 1,150th victory as the Bronx Bombers skipper, Joe Torre passes Casey Stengel for second place on the Yankees' all-time managerial win list. Joe McCarthy compiled a franchise record, winning 1,460 contests during his 16-year tenure in the dugout.
2008 🇰🇷 At Beijing's Wukesong Baseball Field, South Korea, not favored to compete for a medal, upsets Cuba to win the gold in the Olympic final. Due to their heroics on the diamond, the unbeaten squad, which finished with a 9-0 record, will not have to report for two years of military duty.
2008 At a protest meeting, parents and teammates demanded that Jericho Scott continue pitching in the Youth Baseball League of New Haven. The nine-year-old, a right-hander with pinpoint control of a 40-mph fastball, was banned from the mound for throwing too hard.

(Ed. Note: Tragically, 16-year-old Jericho Scott, an honor student still playing baseball, was killed in 2015 in a drive-by shooting on his way home to have pizza and wings with his brother. Thanks to contributor L. Cohen for following up on the entry and sharing this sad news. -LP)

2009 After making an error and a poor play allowing a batter to reach on an infield hit, Eric Bruntlett redeems himself when he turns the Mets' attempted double steal into a game-ending unassisted triple play, marking only the 14th regular-season triple-killing. The rare event occurs when the second baseman snares Jeff Francoeur's line drive for the first out, steps on second to double up Luis Castillo, and then tags the runner coming from first base, Daniel Murphy, for the last out of the Phillies' 9-7 Citi Field victory.

2011 The Angels formally announce signing their #1 starter, 28-year-old right-hander Jered Weaver, to a five-year contract extension reported to be worth $85 million. The American League All-Star Game starter, eligible to become a free agent after the 2012 season, compiled a 14-6 record and a league-leading 2.10 ERA this season.
2013 At a Dodger Stadium press conference, LA announces Vin Scully will continue broadcasting Dodgers' games for his 65th consecutive season. Some of the historic moments the Hall of Fame broadcaster has called include Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, 19 no-hitters, four by Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron's 715th home run, and Kirk Gibson's dramatic walk-off in the 1988 Fall Classic.
2014 The Yankees honor their former manager Joe Torre, retiring his #6 and unveiling a plaque in the stadium's Monument Park. During his dozen years in the Bronx Bombers dugout, the Hall of Fame skipper compiled an 1173-765 (.605) record, winning six pennants and four World Series titles.
2019 After two and a half innings, Miami, wearing futuristic uniforms, trails Philadelphia, 7-0, before tying the game with a seven-run outburst in the third frame. The Fish build an eight-run margin in the highest-scoring game in the history of Marlins Park, beating the Phillies, 19-11.
2019 Ronald Acuña becomes the fourth Brave and the quickest to have a 30-30 season in franchise history when he steals second base in the team's 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Mets at Citi Field. The 21-year-old outfielder joins Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, and Ron Gant, who did it twice (1990 and 1991), in accomplishing the feat.

(Ed. Note: Acuña achieved the accomplishment in his 130th game, bettering Gant's 1991 mark by 19 games). - LP)

2024 With his two-out ninth-inning walk-off grand slam in the Dodgers' 7-3 victory over the Rays, Shohei Ohtani becomes the sixth and quickest major leaguer to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, accomplishing the feat his 126th game, two fewer than the previous mark established by Nationals' left fielder Alfonso Soriano Earlier in the Chavez Ravine contest, the Japanese superstar swiped his 40th base making it possible to join 40-40 club on the same night.
44 Fact(s) Found