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This Day in Baseball History
June 27th

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35 Fact(s) Found
1911 At the start of the seventh inning at Boston's Huntington Avenue Grounds, Stuffy McInnis hits Ed Karger's warm-up pitch into short center field, leading to an inside-the-park home run against the out-of-position Red Sox outfielders. American League president Ban Johnson upholds the play on appeal, but the event causes a change in the no-warm-up rule implemented due to his concern that some games took over two hours to play.


A's infielder Stuffy McInnis (1911)
Library of Congress - George Grantham Bain Collection
1930 At Philadelphia's Shibe Park, Jack Quinn becomes the oldest player to hit a home run in major league history. The A's relief pitcher is nine days shy of his 47th birthday when he connects off Chad Kimsey for a solo shot, leading off the sixth inning in the team's 8-3 victory over the Browns.
1939 In front of 2,457 fans at Braves Field, the Dodgers, with Whit Wyatt pitching the first 16 frames, play 23 innings against Boston in a game that ends in a 2-2 tie when plate umpire Babe Pinelli called the five-hour and 15-minute contest at 8:15 pm due to darkness. The same teams at the same field played 26 innings to a 1-1 tie in 1920.
1940 To honor the lyricist of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, the Dodgers celebrate Jack Norworth Day at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. The songwriter and his partner Albert Von Tilzer, who wrote the music, had never seen a game when they created the song in 1908.
1958 At Comiskey Park, White Sox hurler Billy Pierce retires 26 consecutive batters before pinch-hitter Ed Fitzgerald doubles weakly inside the right-field line for the Senators' only hit. The 31-year-old southpaw strikes out the next batter, Albie Pearson, on three pitches to one-hit Washington, 3-0, en route to completing his third consecutive shutout.
1962 Pursued by all 20 major league teams, 17-year-old Bronx teenager Monroe High School standout Ed Kranepool, who sat as a guest on Opening Day in the owners' box with Mrs. Joan Payson and M. Donald Grant signs a contract with a $85,000 bonus as an amateur free agent with the Mets. The left-handed slugger will spend his 18-year career with the expansion team, establishing franchise records for hits, plate appearances, and games.
1963 Tigers' first baseman Norm Cash plays an entire game without recording a put out in the team's 10-6 loss to the Twins at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium. Six strikeouts, sixteen balls caught in the air, and two fielder choices account for the 24 outs made by the home team.
1964 Max Alvis is stricken with spinal meningitis, which will sideline the Indians' everyday third baseman for six weeks. The Jasper, Texas native will rebound nicely, making the American League All-Star team next season and in 1967.
1967 At Tiger Stadium, 32-year-old Al Kaline breaks his hand as he slams his bat into the bat rack after being struck out by Sam McDowell in the sixth inning of Detroit's 8-1 loss to the Indians. The future Hall of Famer (1980) will miss 28 games for the second-place team.
1972 Wade Blasingame's American League debut, his last career start, for the Yankees is inauspicious when the Tigers go deep three consecutive times in the bottom of the first inning. The first frame fireworks by Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton power Detroit over New York, 5-2.
1973 In the Cardinals' 15-4 rout of the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium, Joe Torre hits for the cycle. The St. Louis first baseman accomplishes the feat with a first-inning double, a home run in the third, a triple in the fourth, and a single with two outs in the ninth.
1973 In the opener of a twin bill at Shea Stadium, Buzz Capra pitches four innings of no-hit relief against the Phillies to get the save for starter George Stone as the Mets beat the Phillies, 7-6. A few hours earlier, the 25-year-old right-handed reliever had attended his dad's funeral in Illinois.
1973 Twenty days after pitching his high school team to a state championship, Rangers' rookie David Clyde pitches five innings, strikes out eight, and allows just one hit in his first major league start as Texas defeats the Twins, 4-3. A crowd of 35,698 fans, the first sellout at Arlington Stadium, sees the debut of the 18-year-old phenom, a $125,000 bonus baby.
1977 Willie McCovey becomes the first major leaguer to hit two homers in the same frame twice in his career when he smashes a solo shot and a grand slam in the Giants' ten-run sixth inning at Riverfront Park. The San Francisco first baseman, who also accomplished the feat in the first week of the 1973 season, home run heroics contributes to the team's 14-9 victory over Cincinnati.
1977 After offering the job to Twins legend Harmon Killebrew, the Rangers hire Billy Hunter as the team's manager, making him the club's fourth skipper this week. Texas had replaced the fired Frank Lucchesi with Eddie Stanky, who left after one game due to homesickness, making third base coach Connie Ryan, who refused to take the position full-time, the interim manager for six games.
1980 Dodger southpaw Jerry Reuss, facing only 28 batters, no-hits the Giants at Candlestick Park, 8-0. Shortstop Bill Russell's errant throw on Jack Clark's grounder with two outs in the first inning deprives the 31-year-old left-hander of tossing a perfect game.
1982 The Braves tie a major league mark with seven double plays in the team's 2-0 victory over Cincinnati. Atlanta turns four twin killings in the first four frames of the 14-inning Riverfront Stadium contest.
1984 After swiping second and third base at Candlestick Park, Dusty Baker, who had robbed only one bag this season, completes his stolen base cycle when he steals home in the Giants' 14-9 victory over Cincinnati. The San Francisco right fielder's third-inning thievery comes off three hurlers pitching to Reds' catcher Brad Gulden.
1986 The Reds catch Robby Thompson trying to steal a base four times, setting a major league record for nailing the same player in one game. The second baseman's futile attempts didn't matter when the Giants beat Cincinnati, 7-6, in the 12-inning contest played at Riverfront Stadium.
1987 Freshman first baseman Mark McGwire hits three homers and drives in five runs, helping the A's defeat the Indians, 13-3. 'Big Mac' will finish the season with 49 round-trippers, far surpassing the rookie record of 38, once shared by Frank Robinson and Wally Berger.
1993 Anthony Young sets a major league record when he drops his 24th straight decision, a 5-3 Mets loss to St. Louis at Shea Stadium. The hard-luck New York right-hander, surpassing the mark established by Boston Dove hurler Cliff Curtis in 1911, will extend the dubious streak to 27 consecutive defeats before winning a game.

(Ed. Note - Sadly, AY will die on this date in 2017 at 51, losing his battle with brain cancer. - LP)
1999 The Mariners beat the Rangers, 5-2, in the 1,765th and last major league game at the Kingdome. The final contest, attended by 56,530 fans in 'the Accident on the Occidental,' features a first-inning Ken Griffey, Jr. three-run homer, who also makes a great over-the-fence catch to rob Juan Gonzalez of a three-run round-tripper.

2002 In the hunt for a playoff spot, the Expos acquire the Indians' #1 starter, right-hander Bartolo Colon, and Tim Drew as part of a six-player deal, which sends first baseman Lee Stevens and three minor league prospects, and cash to Cleveland. Montreal's farmhands, infielder Brandon Phillips, southpaw Cliff Lee, and outfielder Grady Sizemore will all become major league All-Stars.
2003 In the fifty-minute first inning at Fenway Park against the Marlins, the Red Sox establish a major league record by scoring ten runs before making an out. With a single, double, and triple, leadoff hitter Johnny Damon ties former Boston outfielder Gene Stephen's modern major league mark with three hits in an inning when the home team equals an American League record for most runs in the first frame with 14.
2007 In his 325th game, Ryan Howard becomes the fastest player to hit 100 home runs, accomplishing the feat 60 contests quicker than the previous mark set by Ralph Kiner in 1948. The Phillies slugger's milestone round-tripper is memorable when he launches a 505-foot shot, the longest blast ever hit at Citizens Bank Park.
2008 In a 15-6 Mets victory over the Yankees at the Stadium, Carlos Delgado, with a double, three-run homer, and a grand slam, establishes a new team record with 9 RBIs in one game. The first baseman, who breaks Dave Kingman's 1976 club mark, also surpasses Sky King on the all-time home run list with the first of his two homers, moving into 34th place with his 443rd career round-tripper.

2010 Josh Hamilton hammers the longest home run to date at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington when he sends a pitch 485 feet over the right-center field wall. The Texas outfielder's second-inning two-run round-tripper off Roy Oswald contributes to the team's 10-1 rout of the Astros.
2010 In a surprising transaction between last-place teams, the Indians send Russell Branyan back to the Mariners in exchange for Class AAA outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and shortstop Juan Diaz. The swap allows the Tribe to put Matt LaPorta, acquired from Milwaukee in the trade for CC Sabathia two years ago, at first base, and the move signals that Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik wants his players to know that winning is still a priority for the M's.
2010 The Dodgers seek bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court, citing MLB's refusal to sign off on a transaction that would provide the team with $385 million. Although there will be no disruptions for the team, the filing of Chapter 11 permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations, giving owner Frank McCourt time to find a media deal to ensure the club's long-term financial stability.
2010 In the fifth inning of an eventual 2-1 Rays' loss to Arizona, Evan Longoria confronts B.J. Upton in the dugout after the outfielder doesn't appear to hustle after Rusty Ryal's deep drive to left-center field, allowing the hit to become a triple. The nose-to-nose exchange becomes heated, and Upton, who takes exception to his third baseman's criticism, needs to be restrained by his teammates.
2011 The Dodgers seek bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court, citing MLB's refusal to sign off on a transaction that would provide the team with $385 million. Although there will be no disruptions for the team, the filing of Chapter 11 permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations, giving owner Frank McCourt time to find a media deal to ensure the club's long-term financial stability.
2016 At Great American Ball Park, Cubs' third baseman Kris Bryant becomes the third major leaguer to collect five extra-base hits in one contest and the first with three home runs and two doubles. The 24-year-old Chicago infielder's offensive output joins the ranks of Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton (Camden Yards, 2012) and Braves first baseman Joe Adcock (Ebbets Field, 1954), having both hit four homers and a double to accomplish the feat.

2016 With approximately 100 fans in attendance after a 3½-hour rain delay, the Rangers rally to beat the Yankees 9-6. Kirby Yates, replacing Aroldis Chapman in the ninth with a runner on first and no outs and the team ahead 6-5, plunks three batters and yields two-run singles to Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus, giving Texas an eventual 9-6 victory at 2:44 am in the Bronx ballpark.
2019 The Mets and New York City honor Hall of Fame right-hander Tom Seaver by changing the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way and renaming 126th Street "Seaver Way." Although the 'Franchise' is unable to attend the ceremony after a decision to retire from public life due to a dementia diagnosis, his children and grandchildren are on hand to hear the announcement that the team has commissioned a statue of their loved one to be placed In front the ballpark's entrance. 
2021 Pirates' starter Max Kranick retires all 15 batters he faces, throwing five perfect innings before torrential rain delays the Busch Stadium contest for 64 minutes. The 23-year-old right-hander, removed from the game after play resumes, gets the victory when the team beats the Cardinals, 7-2, becoming the first hurler since 1893 with a perfect start of at least five innings in his major-league debut.
35 Fact(s) Found