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This Day in Baseball History
September 25th

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66 Fact(s) Found
1907 Pirates' third baseman Honus Wagner, in the 14-1 rout of New York at the Polo Grounds, swipes four bags, including second, third, and home in the second inning. Outfielder Fred Clarke also has four stolen bases for Pittsburgh.
1925 The Cardinals fine and suspend Rogers Hornsby for the remainder of the season when he refuses to play a game against the Robins. The Redbird infielder claims to feel ill despite the team doctor's opinion, who believes the infielder is well enough to take the field.
1929 At Fenway Park, a telegram is shared at home plate with the Yankees during the fifth inning, informing the team of the death of their manager, Miller Huggins. The crowd rises, and the centerfield flag is lowered to half-staff when home plate umpire Bill McGowan requests a moment of silence in memory of the Bronx Bomber skipper.
1930 With four games remaining in the campaign, Cubs skipper Joe McCarthy (442-331) 'resigns' and is replaced by Rogers Hornsby, named by owner William Wrigley Jr. as Chicago's player-manager for the following year. McCarthy, who was not offered a contract for the upcoming season with his team still mathematically alive in the pennant race, will agree in October to manage New York, winning seven World Series in his 15 seasons with the Yankees.
1932 At home, the sixth-place Cardinals play their last games of the campaign with a doubleheader split against Pittsburgh, having drawn 279,219 fans to Sportsman's Park during the season. The Columbus Red Birds, the team's minor league affiliate in the American Association, outdraw their parent club, attracting over 310,000 patrons, thanks to a new stadium, night games, and radio broadcasts.
1941 Combined with a Cardinal defeat, the Dodgers win their first pennant in 21 years when they beat Boston at Braves Field, 6-0. Whitlow Wyatt throws a five-hitter, and Pete Reiser hits a homer in the winning cause.
1949 After spending 113 days in the air at Municipal Stadium waiting for the Tribe to take first place or face elimination from the pennant race, Charley Lupica climbs down from his flagpole perch in front of a cheering crowd of 33,977 attending the Indians' final home game. After leaving his nest, shifted five miles from his confectionery store to the ballpark on a hydraulic lift, the wobbly loyal fan kisses the home plate, receiving a new automobile from team owner Bill Veeck, in addition to receiving a 50-foot flagpole as a souvenir.
1954 A crowd of 14,175 Fenway faithful fans pays tribute to retiring Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams, playing his last game at home. The Splendid Splinter's retirement lasts only until May, when his divorce becomes finalized, keeping his contract from being part of the settlement.
1954 Early Wynn loses his bid for a no-hitter when the Tigers scratch out two ninth-inning hits, producing a meaningless run in the Indians' 11-1 triumph at Cleveland Stadium. The victory is the Tribe's 111th of the season, surpassing the 1927 Yankees for the most wins in American League history.
1955 At age 20, Al Kaline becomes the youngest player to win a batting title, finishing his sophomore season with a .340 average. Ty Cobb was one day older than the Tiger outfielder when he claimed the crown, batting .350 in 1907, also playing for Detroit.
1956 Dodger right-hander Sal Maglie, walking only two batters, no-hits the Phillies at Ebbets Field, 5-0. The 39-year-old Barber's gem helps second-place Brooklyn to keep pace in the pennant race, staying a half-game behind the Braves with the victory.

1957 In his final plate appearance of the season, 36-year-old Stan Musial, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning for Lindy McDaniel, singles home the tying run in the Cardinals' eventual 4-1 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee's County Stadium. The St. Louis first baseman, who does not play in the season-ending three-game series against the Cubs, finishes the campaign with a .351 batting average, 18 points higher than runner-up Willie Mays, to capture his seventh and final National League batting crown.


Stan Musial -1957

1960 The Yankees clinched the American League flag with a 4-3 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. The title will be 70-year-old Casey Stengel's tenth and last pennant after being dismissed and replaced by the team's hitting coach, Ralph Houk, when the Bronx Bombers lose the World Series to the Pirates in seven games.
1960 Eddie Yost, dubbed the 'Walking Man' due to his propensity for getting base on balls, hits his 28th career leadoff home run in the Tigers' 6-5 victory over the A's at Detroit's Briggs Stadium, establishing a record for round-trippers to start a game. The third baseman's total will be surpassed in 1975 by Yankee outfielder Bobby Bonds, who will extend the mark to 35 during his 14-year major league tenure.
1962 After appearing in 62 games over two years, Dodger reliever Ed Roebuck suffers his first loss. The LA right-hander gives up a tenth-inning home run to Colt .45s outfielder Al Spangler, breaking the 2-2 deadlock at Chavez Ravine.
1963

Team owner August A. Busch announces the Cardinals will permanently retire Stan Musial's uniform #6. Stan the Man is also appointed the Redbirds' vice president, a duty he'll begin at the end of this season after completing his 22-year Hall of Fame career as a player.

1965 At the alleged age of 60, Satchel Paige becomes the oldest major leaguer. The future Hall of Fame right-hander blanks the Red Sox for three innings, striking out one and yielding a lone hit to Carl Yastrzemski as the starter in the A's 5-2 victory at KC's Municipal Stadium.
1965 At age 34, Willie Mays becomes the oldest player to slug 50 home runs in a single season. The Giants' center fielder was also the youngest to accomplish the feat, hitting 51 homers in 1955.
1965 Twins right-hander Mudcat Grant throws a one-hitter to beat the Senators at D.C. Stadium, 5-0, becoming the first black player in the American League to win twenty games. Don Blasingame's third-inning double spoils the 30-year-old right-hander's bid for a no-hitter.
1965 Willie Mays, who hit 51 round-trippers in 1955, joins Ralph Kiner as the second National Leaguer to have more than one 50-home run season. The milestone homer, a fourth-inning two-run blast off Bob Sadowski, helps the Giants beat Milwaukee at Candlestick Park, 7-5.
1966 The Mets, for the first time in the franchise's five-year history, will not end their season in last place. The Amazins, who will finish ahead of the Cubs, clinch ninth place by beating Cincinnati at Crosley Field, 8-4.


BaseballReference
1968 After going for 1-for-3, Mickey Mantle, with two outs in the ninth inning, steps up to the plate for his last Yankee Stadium at-bat. The aging superstar works out a walk against Cleveland starter Luis Tiant, who will strike out the next batter to complete a 3-0 complete-game victory at the Bronx ballpark.
1973

"I look at the kids over here, the way they're playing, the way they're fighting for themselves, and it tells me one thing: 'Willie, say good bye to America'." - WILLIE MAYS, bidding farewell to his fans at Shea Stadium.

Willie Mays Night takes place in Flushing as the Mets honor the fan-favorite player in an emotional 55-minute ceremony at Shea Stadium after their 2-1 victory over the Expos. The 'Say Hey Kid' tells the crowd of more than 50,000 fans, "Just to hear you cheer like this for me and not be able to do anything about it makes me a very sad man. This is my farewell."

1974 In the first-of-its-kind operation, Dr. Frank Jobe transplants a tendon from Tommy John's right wrist to the Dodger pitcher's left elbow. The revolutionary ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, which will become a standard surgical procedure better known as Tommy John surgery, enables the southpaw to win an additional 164 games, which is more than half of his career, with 288 victories.
1979 Behind the solid pitching of Frank Tanana, the Angels defeat the Royals, 4-1, to win their first American League West title. Jim Fregosi's 88-74 team, finishing three games ahead of second-place Kansas City, loses the best-of-five ALCS to Baltimore in four games.
1980 The Padres become the first team in baseball history to have three players steal more than 50 bases in a season when Jerry Mumphrey and Ozzie Smith swipe their 50th sack in a 5-3 extra-inning loss to Cincinnati. Fellow Friar Gene Richard, who will lead the club with 61 stolen bases, reached the milestone at the end of last month.
1980 Brian Kingman loses his 20th game when the White Sox defeats the A's at the Oakland Coliseum, 6-4. The 26-year-old right-hander, who will win his next decision to finish the season with an 8-20 record, will become the last 20-game loser of this century and the first to hurl for a winning team since Dolf Luque posted a 13-23 mark for the 1922 second-place Reds.
1984 New York's pinch-hitter Rusty Staub becomes only the second player to hit a round-tripper as a teenager and one after his 40th birthday when he blasts a walk-off home run off Larry Anderson to give the Mets a 6-4 victory over Philadelphia at Shea Stadium. Ty Cobb was the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat.
1986 The Orioles suffer the 82nd of their 89 defeats this season, a 9-3 loss to Milwaukee at County Stadium, assuring the Birds will finish below .500 for the first time in 18 seasons. The last time Baltimore lost more games than it won in a campaign was in 1967 when the sixth-place team compiled a 76-85 record under Hank Bauer. 
1986 The Astros win the National League West when Mike Scott doesn't yield a hit in his 2-0 complete-game victory over the Giants. The game marks the first time a title has been clinched with a no-hitter, although Allie Reynolds' second no-no of the season assured the Yankees a tie for the 1951 American League pennant.
1987 A’s rookie Mark McGwire sets an Oakland team record for home runs, going deep for the 48th time this season when he connects off Bobby Thigpen in the bottom ninth inning to tie the score in the team’s eventual extra-inning 2-1 loss to the White Sox. The 23-year-old first baseman’s Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum round-tripper breaks the mark Reggie Jackson established in 1969.

1987 Benito Santiago sets the modern (post-1900) major league record for rookies with a first-inning single, extending his streak to 27 consecutive games with a hit. The 22-year-old Padres catcher surpasses the previous standard set in 1943 by White Sox outfielder Guy Curtright and ties James Williams, who established the all-time longest-hitting streak by a freshman while playing for the 1899 Pirates.
1989 The Red Sox announce the team will not exercise its option on 36-year-old Jim Rice, who will retire at the end of the season. Also, Bob Stanley, the club's all-time saves leader with 173, reports he will also call it quits when this year's campaign is over.
1989 Wade Boggs extends his own modern major league record when he collects his 200th hit for the seventh consecutive season. The Red Sox third baseman goes 4-for-5 in Boston's 7-4 victory over the Yankees at Fenway Park.
1996 Giants slugger Barry Bonds draws an intentional walk, which gives him the National League record with 149 bases-on-balls in a season. The free pass is issued in the seventh inning by LA's Mark Guthrie with two outs and a runner on third base in the team's 7-5 loss at Dodger Stadium.
1997 NBC's hit TV show "ER" airs live, using the Cubs telecast in the background in various scenes to authenticate the telecast's claim of not being pre-recorded. The medical drama cuts to the game just as Brad Ausmus hits a three-run homer, much to the Astros' catcher's delight, who is taping his favorite program to watch later, not knowing he would be part of the cast.

1997 Eleven years after the club won its last title on the same date, the Astros clinch the NL Central Division by beating the Cubs, 9-1. Houston manages to capture the flag despite only having played five games over .500.
1997 Joe Carter, donning the uniform number 43 to honor recently fired manager Cito Gaston, becomes the Blue Jays' career home run leader, hitting his 203rd round-tripper in a 4-3 victory over Baltimore. George Bell, who spent nine seasons in Toronto, had set the franchise mark in 1990.
1997 Pedro Martinez records his final strikeout for the Expos, fanning Dale Daulton in Montreal's 3-2 victory over Florida at Olympic Stadium. The 25-year-old right-hander, who establishes a franchise strikeout record with his 305th this season, will be traded to the Red Sox in the off-season for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas. 
1998 The Bronx Bombers, with a 6-1 win over the Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium, set an American League record with their 112th win to surpass the 1954 Indians. The 1906 Cubs, who finished the season with a 116-36 record, are the only team to end a campaign with more victories than the 1998 New York club, who will finish the campaign with 114.
1998 Sammy Sosa hits #66 and his final round-tripper of the season, a 462-foot blast at the Astrodome, to take the lead in the home run race. Less than an hour later, Mark McGwire will also hit his 66th, en route to his record-setting 70, in the Cardinals' 6-5 victory over Montreal, tying the Cub outfielder in the historic home run race.
1998 Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his league-leading 56th homer of the season and 350th of his career, becoming the youngest player to reach the milestone. The 28-year-old outfielder drives in five runs in the Mariners' 15-4 rout of Texas, who still manages to cop their second consecutive American League West Division title thanks to an Anaheim loss to Kansas City.

1999 For the first time in fifty years, a major leaguer drives in 159 runs when Manny Ramirez gets two RBIs in the Indians' 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays at the SkyDome. The Cleveland right fielder will finish the season with 165 ribbies and matches Ted Williams' and Vern Stephens' output with the Red Sox in 1949.
2000 For only the second time since 1900, three teams played in the same twin bill when the Indians beat the White Sox in the opener, 9-2, and then lost the nightcap to the Twins, 4-3, at the Jake. In 1951, at Sportsman's Park, the Cardinals played host to the Giants, winning 6-4 before bowing to the Braves, 2-0.
2001 Richie Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz hit three home runs in the Brewers' 9-4 victory over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark. The teammates' accomplishment marks the first time in major league history that two players on the same team have gone deep three times in the same game.
2003 Surpassing Mel Ott and Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa becomes the first National Leaguer to have at least 100 RBIs for nine straight seasons. The Cubs' right fielder also joins Rafael Palmeiro and Jimmie Foxx as the only players in major league history to hit 35 home runs and 100 RBI for nine consecutive seasons.
2003 Carlos Delgado becomes the 15th player in big-league history and only the fifth American League player to hit four home runs in one game. The Blue Jays first baseman's first homer was the 300th of his career, and his barrage gives him 41 for the season.

2003 Friends, family, associates, and former players gather at Shea Stadium on Bob Murphy Appreciation Night to honor the long-time broadcaster. Doing play-by-play for the team since the first game of its inaugural season in 1962, the Hall of Famer calls the last of his more than 6,000 Mets games following the pregame ceremonies.
2007 Brewers' first baseman Prince Fielder becomes the youngest major leaguer to hit 50 home runs in a season, going deep twice in the team's 9-1 victory over the Cardinals at Miller Park. The 23-year-old cleanup hitter and his father, Cecil, who hit 51 round-trippers with the Tigers in 1990, are the first father-and-son to accomplish the feat.
2008 The Diamondbacks, defending division champions, lose to St. Louis, 12-3, allowing the Dodgers to clinch the NL West. Unlike his former team, the Yankees, Los Angeles first-year skipper Joe Torre's 13-year postseason streak continues.
2008 In his ninth complete game, Roy Halladay, giving up six hits and two runs, posts his second 20-win season with an 8-2 victory over the Yankees at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays right-hander, en route to the Cy Young Award, compiled a 22-7 record in 2003.

2008 Mark Reynolds strikes out for the 200th time, breaking the major league record set last year by Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. By season's end, the Diamondbacks' third baseman will extend the dubious mark to 204.
2009 In a position where the Mets could not field a reliable everyday player for decades, David Wright establishes a franchise record by starting his 836th game at third base for the Mets, surpassing his hitting coach and friend Howard Johnson. More than 120 players, beginning in 1962 with Don Zimmer, have appeared at the hot corner for the team, but only ten have appeared in as many as 200 games during the club's 47-year history.
2009 New York clears the fence for the 127th time at the new Yankee Stadium to break the franchise record for most home runs hit by the team at home. Alex Rodriguez's third-inning poke off Jon Lester in the Bronx Bombers' 9-5 victory over Boston puts this year's squad ahead of the 2004 and 2005 clubs, who both went deep 126 times in the old stadium.
2010 In the game where he sets a team record for striking out, Brandon Inge drives in the winning run with a walk-off single in the 13th inning of the Tigers' 11-10 victory over Minnesota. With the second of his three whiffs, the Detroit third baseman surpasses the franchise record of 1,099, playing over 1,000 fewer games than Lou Whitaker, who previously held the infamous mark.
2010 Bobby Cox, who will retire after the season ends, earns his 2,500th major league victory as a manager when the Braves blank Washington at Nationals Park, 5-0. The veteran skipper joins Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Tony La Russa as the fourth field boss to reach this milestone.
2010 Limiting the A's to one hit in 1.1 innings of work in the Rangers' 4-3 victory, Neftali Feliz records his 38th save of the season. The freshman closer surpasses Mariners' Kazuhiro Sasaki's mark of 37 in 2000, establishing the record for the most saves by a rookie closer.
2012 With Zack Greinke fanning 13 batters during his five-inning outing and the bullpen adding another seven, the Angels' staff combines for 20 strikeouts in the team's 5-4 victory over Seattle, tying the record for the most ever recorded in a nine-inning game. The Anaheim starter's performance makes him the first hurler since 1920 to whiff 13 opponents in an outing that lasts less than six innings.
2013 In the final game he plays at Coors Field, Todd Helton homers in his first at-bat, a second-inning solo shot in Colorado's 15-5 loss to Boston. The 40-year-old first baseman, who announced his retirement last week, has spent his 17-year career with the Rockies.
2013 Marking only the second time in nearly two decades, the Yankees are mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs when they drop an 8-3 decision to the Rays. The Bronx Bombers last failed to play beyond the regular season in 2008 after failing to rehire Joe Torre, who led the team to 12 consecutive postseason appearances during his tenure with the team.
2014

"I owe too much to this organization for the next two years to risk getting hurt for an incentive. My outing (Sept. 12) got rained out and the last inning of my last start got rained out, so for whatever reason, it wasn't meant to be. There's a lot bigger problems out there. I'm proud of my season." - PHIL HUGHES, explaining why he turned an offer to pitch for a $500,000 bonus.

Phil Hughes, who finished the final start of his season one out short of reaching 210 innings to receive a $500,000 contract incentive because of yesterday's 66-minute rain delay, is given the opportunity to make a brief relief appearance for the Twins. The right-hander also turns down the club's offer, saying he would not interested in being given a half-a-million-dollar bonus. 

2014 Derek Jeter makes his last game at Yankee Stadium very memorable when he drives in the winning run in the ninth inning with an opposite-field one-out single off of Evan Meek in the team's 6-5 walk-off win over Baltimore. The Captain's heroics help the Bronx Bombers overcome blowing a three-run lead in the top of the frame.

2017 In the second inning of the Cubs' 10-2 rout of the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, Addison Russell dives into the stands chasing a foul ball, spilling a fan's nachos onto the playing field. In the next frame, the Chicago shortstop hand delivers a fresh order of cheese-covered tortillas to the grateful Redbird fan.

(Ed. Note: Our thanks to Luke Yothment for inspiring this entry.)

2018 Max Scherzer whiffs Marlins rookie Austin Dean after a ten-pitch at-bat to record his 300th strikeout of the season. In his final appearance of the year, the Washington ace fans ten hitters to precisely reach the plateau in the team's 9-4 win at Nationals Park, becoming just the third pitcher to accomplish the feat in the past 15 years.
2020 Dusty Baker will become the first major league skipper to manage five teams to the postseason as the Astros clinch a spot in the MLB's expanded 16-team Fall Frenzy when the Dodgers beat the Angels. The three-time National League Manager of the Year (1993, 1997, 2000) had previously won a playoff spot with the Giants (1997, 2000, 2002), Cubs (2003), Reds (2010, 2012, 2013), and Nationals (2016, 2017).
2020 At Yankee Stadium, the Marlins clinch their first playoff berth since 2003 when they beat the Bronx Bombers, 4-3. Miami finishes second behind the Braves in the NL East, compiling a 31-29 mark in the COVID-19-shortened season, their first winning season in 11 years.
66 Fact(s) Found