<< Yesterday | This Day in Baseball History |
Tomorrow>> |
41 Fact(s) Found
1888 | Kansas City third baseman Jumbo Davis makes five errors in the team's 10-3 loss to St. Louis at Sportsman's Park. The 26-year-old Cowboys infielder will commit 100 errors in 628 chances, finishing the season with a .841 fielding percentage for the American Association club. |
1903 |
At Boston's South End Grounds, Beaneater hurler Wiley Piatt loses both ends of a doubleheader to the Cardinals, 1-0 and 5-3. The 28-year-old southpaw, known as Ironman to his teammates, goes the distance in each game.
|
1904 | George Diggins, the New England League Concord (NH) Marines' nine-year-old mascot, participates in their Class B game in Lowell after the ejection of the team's centerfielder and their second baseman becomes ill. The youngest professional player in the game's history doesn't have an opportunity to field any balls playing right field, striking out in his only at-bat in the contest played at Alumni Field, also known as Spalding Park. |
1924 | The Pirates, trailing 7-2, scoring five ninth-inning runs, tie the game when left-hander Emil Yde's two-out bases-loaded double off Pete Alexander plates three runs. The Pittsburgh reliever, thrown out at home for the final out of the frame, redeems himself in the 14th inning, tripling in the winning run in the Bucs' 8-7 walk-off win over the Cubs at Forbes Field. |
1934 | New York's first baseman, Lou Gehrig, triples in the seventh inning to complete the first of his two career cycles, the other occurring in 1937. Rookie right-hander John Broaca, who ties a major league record when he strikes out five consecutive times, goes the distance to beat the Pale Hose at Yankee Stadium, 13-2. |
1937 | Augie Galan becomes the first National Leaguer to hit a homer from each side of the plate. The switch-hitter's pair of round-trippers, a homer from the left side off Freddie Fitzsimmons in the fourth frame and from the right side in the eighth against Ralph Birkofer, helps the Cubs beat Brooklyn at Wrigley Field, 11-2. |
1937 | Right fielder Ben Chapman makes a third of the putouts in the Red Sox' 4-2 victory over the Browns. In the Fenway outfield, the 28-year-old Birmingham (AL) native makes seven of the nine catches consecutively, ending the seventh by handling Bill Knickerbocker's fly ball and then accounting for all the outs defensively in the final two frames. |
1943 | With the first pitch thrown at 6 p.m., the Cubs right-hander Hi Bithorn shuts out the Cardinals, 6-0, in a twilight game at Wrigley Field. Under current baseball interpretations, the two-hour, 17-minute contest, played on one of the longest daylight days of the year, would be considered a night game, but no lights are needed (good thing because there aren't any). |
1950 | Hank Sauer enjoys a 4-for-4 day at the plate, stroking two home runs and two doubles. The 33-year-old All-Star outfielder's 12 total bases help the Cubs defeat Philadelphia at Shibe Park, 11-8. |
1961 | The Orioles and the Angels set a major league record using 16 pitchers, eight by each side. Ron Hansen's 14th-inning homer off Halo right-hander Ron Kline gives Baltimore the eventual 9-8 victory at L.A.'s Wrigley Field. |
1968 | Bobby Bonds hits a grand slam in the third at-bat of his first major league game, going deep off Dodger right-hander John Purdin in the Giants' 9-0 victory at Candlestick Park. The 22-year-old San Francisco outfielder joins Philadelphia National pitcher Bill Duggelby (1898 - first at-bat) as the only player to hit a bases-loaded home run in his major league debut. |
1971 |
Pirates left fielder Willie Stargell hits the longest home run in the history of Veterans Stadium off starter Jim Bunning in the second inning of a 14-4 Pirates rout of Philadelphia. The Phillies eventually commemorate the spot in Section 601 where the ball landed 458 feet from home plate with a black "S" inscribed within a yellow star inside a white circle, later painted black when the Hall of Famer died in 2001.
(Ed. Note: The Stargell star was originally a wooden plaque placed on the wall above an exit, but after being stolen twice, the team painted the disc on the wall. - LP) |
1972 | After a five-year legal battle, Bernice Gera finally becomes the first woman professional umpire when she works a minor league game in Geneva, New York. When Auburn manager Nolan Campbell vehemently argues a play where she first signals Terry Ford safe at second on a double play and then reverses her decision, the new arbitrator is brought to tears and will resign between games of the twin bill. |
1976 | After striking out to lead off the game for his 21st consecutive hitless at-bat dating back to June 6, Mike Phillips hits for the cycle in the Mets' 7–4 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The New York third baseman doubles in the third, triples in the fifth, and homers in the seventh, finishing the feat with a single in the eighth inning. |
1976 | Toby Harrah becomes the first shortstop in major league history to play in both ends of a twin bill without taking a single fielding chance. The Ranger infielder's inactivity at Arlington Stadium isn't due to a lack of hitting, as Texas splits the doubleheader, winning the opener 8-4 before dropping the nightcap to the White Sox, 14-9. |
1984 | Dodger infielder Bill Russell plays his 1,953rd game to become the team's leader in games played. The shortstop, who will extend the mark to 2181 during his 18-year tenure with the club, is hitless in three trips to the plate but will walk twice in LA's 9-4 loss to San Diego at Chavez Ravine. |
1985 | After a line-drive foul ball drills Yankee batboy off the bat of Bronx Bomber catcher Butch Wynegar, the team mandates batboys near the on-deck circle must wear batting helmets. All major league teams will soon adopt the new rule of having batboys wearing protective helmets while on the field. |
1988 | Appearing in his 1,000th consecutive game, a feat that only five other players have accomplished, Cal Ripken goes 2-for-4, including a first-frame home run off Bruce Hurst, in the Orioles' 10-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 27-year-old Baltimore infielder, who will break Lou Gehrig's record in 1998 when playing in his 2,131st straight game, joins Lou Gehrig (2,130), Everett Scott (1,307), Steve Garvey (1,207), Billy Williams (1,117), and Joe Sewell (1,103) in reaching the milestone. |
1989 | The Mets, with flyball pitcher Sid Fernandez on the mound, play a nine-inning game without recording an infield assist, beating the Phillies at Shea Stadium 5-1. The Amazins set a National League record, tying the major league mark established by the 1945 Indians as the only teams to accomplish the unusual fielding feat. |
1995 |
The Astros rout the Cubs, 19-6, to set a club record for runs in one game. After scoring a lone tally in the fourth, Houston puts up crooked numbers for the rest of the game, including a nine-run eighth inning.
|
1995 |
Andres Galarraga becomes the fourth player in big-league history to hit a home run in three consecutive innings. The Rockies' first baseman's accomplishments in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings help Colorado beat the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium, 11-3.
|
1996 | Mark McGwire hits his 300th career home run off Tiger hurler pitcher Omar Olivares in the A's 10-8 loss to Detroit at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The 32-year-old first baseman will finish his 16-year career with 583 round-trippers, a total tainted by his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. |
1998 | Sammy Sosa breaks the major league record for homers in a single month when he hits his 19th dinger in June, a seventh-inning solo shot off Brian Moehler in the Cubs' 6-4 loss to Detroit at Tiger Stadium. The Chicago slugger surpasses the mark set by Rudy York, the Tigers' rookie catcher who finished with 18 after homering twice on the last day in August in 1937 at the same ballpark, then known as Navin Field. |
1999 | Entering the game at the top of the eighth inning in an eventual 9-8 Oriole loss to the Yankees at Camden Yards, Jesse Orosco sets the major league record for the most relief appearances. The Baltimore reliever surpasses the mark previously set by Kent Tekulve, who had been summoned out of the bullpen 1,050 times. |
1999 |
At Bank One Ballpark, Jose Jimenez, facing only 28 batters, outduels Randy Johnson, throwing a no-hitter en route to blanking the Cardinals 1-0, with the contest's only run scoring on Thomas Howard's ninth-inning single plating Darren Bragg. The 25-year-old right-hander, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the frame, becomes the 20th major league and the first since 1973 rookie to throw a no-hitter.
|
2000 |
After leading off in the bottom of the first with a round-tripper, Darin Erstad ends the game in the bottom of the 11th inning with a walk-off home run, giving the Angels a 7-6 victory over Minnesota at Edison Field. The Anaheim DH joins Billy Hamilton (1893 Phillies) and Vic Power (1957 A's) as the third major leaguer to have hit both a leadoff and walk-off home run in the same game.
|
2001 | In the first professional baseball game in Brooklyn after a 44-year absence, the short-season Class A minor league Cyclones win their home opener at Keyspan Park, defeating the Mahoning Valley (OH) Scrappers 3-2 in 10 innings. The name of the New York-Penn Mets farm team refers to the famous roller coaster at the nearby amusement park on Coney Island. |
2002 | In a game broadcasted throughout Latin America, skippers Luis Pujols of the Tigers and Tony Pena of the Royals become the first major league managers born in the Dominican Republic to oppose each other in a game. Hipolito Mejia, the president of the Dominican Republic, is on hand to watch Raul Ibanez's double, triple, and homer, and four RBIs lead the hometown Royals to an 8-6 comeback victory over Detroit. |
2003 | Todd McFarlane, who also owns Mark McGwire's No. 70 home run ball, pays $450,000 plus fees at the Lelands.com Auction for Barry Bonds' record-breaking 73rd home run ball. ESPN's SportsCenter airs the Valley comic book icon and toymaker's bid for the historical sphere live. |
2004 |
Larry Walker's tenth-inning home run, his third of the game, proves to be the difference in the Rockies' 10-8 victory over Cleveland at Jacobs Field. The Colorado right fielder also hit homers off Jason Davis in the second and sixth frames.
|
2006 | With his White Sox trailing 9-2, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi hits a three-run bomb in the eighth and then delivers a game-tying grand slam in the ninth during an eventual 13-inning loss to the Astros at U.S. Cellular Field. Teammates Scott Podsednik (6/23) and Joe Crede (6/24) also hit home runs with the bases full in the two previous games of the series, making it the first time the team hits a grand slam in three consecutive games. |
2007 | In his second Pacific Coast League start, Manny Parra of the Nashville Sounds throws the eighth perfect game in PCL history. The 24-year-old Brewers' farmhand mows down 27 consecutive Express (Astros) batters en route to a 3-0 victory at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. |
2007 | A distraught spectator jumps onto the field and charges the mound toward Bob Howry after the Cub reliever blows an 8-3 ninth-inning lead to Colorado at Wrigley Field, making it within a few feet from his intended target before security guards tackled him. The right-hander wins when Alfonso Soriano hits a game-ending two-run single in the bottom of the frame to give Chicago an improbable 10-9 victory. |
2010 |
At Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies serve as the away team when their scheduled visit to Canada to play Toronto moves to Philadelphia due to security concerns raised due to the G20 Summit. The Blue Jays, batting last and employing a designated hitter in the National League ballpark, lose to Roy Halladay and 'the visitors' 9-0. (Ed. Note - thanks to Lee Cohen for helping us clarify the date of the first game in the series. -LP) |
2010 |
Needing 149 pitches to accomplish the feat, Edwin Jackson no-hit the Rays at Tropicana Field, 1-0. The Diamondbacks' right-hander walks eight batters and hits another en route to joining Randy Johnson as the second pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter.
|
2011 | In front of a sold-out crowd of 42,130 fans at AT&T Park, the Giants beat the Indians, 1-0, with the game's lone run scoring on a bases-loaded seventh-inning balk. In an inning that features a stand-up triple by Nate Schierholtz and two errors by Tribe second baseman Cord Phelps, southpaw Tony Sipp allows the run when he flinches before delivering a pitch to Emmanuel Burriss, balking home Miguel Tejada. |
2013 | In a matchup of Japanese starters, Ranger All-Star Yu Darvish and Yankee right-hander Hiroki Kuroda each get a no-decision, with both hurlers failing to make it into the seventh inning. New York wins the Bronx ballpark contest with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki hits a walk-off home run. |
2014 | Tim Lincecum throws a no-hitter against the Padres for the second time in less than a year, allowing only one runner in the Giants' 4-0 victory at AT&T Park. The 30-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner is the second hurler to have kept the same club hitless twice, joining Indians' Hall of Famer Addie Joss, who threw a pair of hitless games against the White Sox in 1908 and 1910. |
2014 | With his 11-strikeout performance in the Rays' 5-1 victory over the Pirates, David Price has whiffed at least ten batters in five straight games, marking the 22nd time a pitcher has accomplished the feat in major league history. The 28-year-old southpaw joins an impressive group of hurlers that includes Pedro Martinez (6), Randy Johnson (8), Nolan Ryan (3), Curt Schilling (1), J.R. Richard (1), Dwight Gooden (1), and Johan Santana, who, in 2004, was the last to accomplish the deed. |
2021 | Philadelphia right-hander Aaron Nola ties Tom Seaver's record when he whiffs Michael Conforto in the bottom of the fourth for his 10th consecutive strikeout, equaling the mark set by the Hall of Famer in 1970. Mets' Pete Alonso doubles into the right-field corner to preserve the Franchise's place in the record book in the team's 2-1 walk-off victory over the Phillies at Citi Field. |
2022 | At Yankee Stadium, starting pitcher Cristian Javier (7), Héctor Neris (1), and closer Ryan Pressly (1) combine to throw a no-hitter, blanking the Bronx Bombers, 3-0, in the Astros' 14th no-no in franchise history. Martín Maldonado becomes the first backstop to catch multiple combined hitless games, having accomplished the feat in Houston's combined effort in 2019. |
41 Fact(s) Found