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This Day in Baseball History
June 30th

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44 Fact(s) Found
1894 Fred Clarke makes his major league debut, going 5-for-5 for the Louisville Colonels. The future Hall of Famer collects four singles and a triple.
1908 Red Sox legend Cy Young hurls his third career no-hitter, handcuffing the Highlanders at New York's Hilltop Park, 8-0. The 41-year-old right-hander pitched his first no-hitter in 1897 against the Reds and, in 1904, threw a perfect game facing the Philadelphia A's.
1909 The Cubs spoil the Pirates' debut at Forbes Field, 3-2. The new state-of-the-art ballpark, named for General John Forbes, an officer in the French and Indian War, is the first stadium made completely of steel and poured concrete.
1938 The Phillies lose the final game at the Baker Bowl, bowing to the Giants, 14-1. New York center fielder Hank Lieber hits the last homer in the history of the 51-year-old ballpark, which also served as the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles home for three seasons (1933-1935).
1948 At Briggs Stadium, Indians right-hander Bob Lemon throws the first American League nighttime no-hitter, blanking the Tigers, 2-0. The Tigers' home was the last park in the Junior Circuit to install lights, adding illumination only two weeks ago.
1950 Joe and Dom DiMaggio both homer in the same game for the only time in their careers when each goes deep in the Red Sox's 10-2 rout of the Yankees. Dom's sixth-inning solo shot off Joe Ostrowski pads Boston's large lead, and Joe's round-tripper to left field in the top of the eighth frame is much too little too late in the Fenway contest.
1954 In his major league debut, Joe Cunningham ties a National League record, driving in five runs in the Cardinals' 11-4 victory over the Reds at Crosley Field. The 22-year-old Redbird rookie first baseman, with his three-run homer and a two-run single, equals the mark established in 1922 by Walter Mueller, playing in his freshman year with the Pirates.
1961 Improving his record to 14-2, Whitey Ford becomes the first pitcher in American League history to win eight games in one month with a 5-1 victory over the Senators at Yankee Stadium. The left-hander's five-hitter is his third complete game during the span and the team's 22nd win in June.
1962 Sandy Koufax becomes the first Dodger southpaw to throw a no-hitter since Nap Rucker accomplished the feat in 1908, keeping the expansion Mets hitless in the team's 5-0 victory in Los Angeles. En route to fanning 13, the 26-year-old left-hander strikes out the first three batters he faces - Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, and Felix Mantilla, on nine pitches to start the game with an immaculate inning.

1962 Due to unusually thick fog at Colt Stadium, the game against the Reds is called after seven innings, giving the Colt .45s a 7-3 victory over Cincinnati. The shortened contest allows Houston's skipper, Harry Craft, to get to the hospital in time for the birth of his first daughter.
1967 Cookie Rojas, who joined the Phillies in 1964, plays his ninth different position for the team when he takes the mound in a 12-3 loss to San Francisco. In his ninth-inning appearance, the All-Star infielder allows no runs and gives up just one hit, ending the frame by getting future Hall of Famer Willie Mays to fly out to right field in the Connie Mack Stadium contest.
1970 The Braves ruin the debut of Riverfront Stadium, defeating the Reds, 8-2. Hank Aaron hits the park's first home run off Cincinnati's starter Jim McGlothlin in the first inning.
1973 With an 8-7 extra-inning loss to LA at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds finish the day 11 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Led by the eventual National League MVP Pete Rose, who will win the batting title with a .338 average, Cincinnati will go on a 60-26 tear to capture the Western Division by 3.5 games.
1977 At Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Cliff Johnson joins Joe DiMaggio and Joe Pepitone as the only players in Yankee history to hit two home runs in the same inning. The designated hitter goes deep twice in the eighth as the Bronx Bombers score eight runs in an 11-5 win over the Blue Jays.
1978 On an 0-2 pitch thrown by Jamie Easterly, Giant first baseman Willie McCovey launches his 500th career home run over the left-field fence, becoming the 12th player to accomplish the feat. Stretch's historic homer occurs in the second inning of the opener of a doubleheader sweep from the Braves at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, 10-9 and 10-5.
1978 Larry Doby replaces Bob Lemon as skipper of the White Sox to become the second black to manage in the majors. Lemon will move on to New York to replace Billy Martin, piloting the Yankees to a World Championship, and Cleveland will dismiss Doby from his only managerial stint at the end of the season after posting a 37-50 record with the fifth-place Pale Hose.
1983 Lance Junker hits two grand slams in the ninth inning of the Redwood Pioneers' 16-5 victory over the Class-A Padres at Reno's Moana Stadium. The 23-year-old California League slugger, batting for the second time in the frame, becomes the third professional player to accomplish the feat, joining Ken Myers (1947 - Las Vegas/Sunset League) and Armando Flores (1952 - Laredo Apaches/Gulf Coast League).
1985 Pedro Guerrero ties a major league record by hitting 15 home runs in June when he goes deep off Bruce Sutter in his final at-bat of the month. The eighth-inning two-run round-tripper will be the difference in the Dodgers' 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Chavez Ravine.
1986 In front of 7,026 enthusiastic fans at Tim McCarver Stadium in Memphis, Auburn standout football star Bo Jackson makes his pro baseball debut, singling and driving in a run in his first at-bat in the Chicks' 9-5 loss to Columbus (GA) in a Southern League game. The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, who batted seventh as the designated hitter, will finish the night 1-for-4.
1988 Being six votes shy five minutes before the midnight deadline on the last day of the legislature session, Illinois Governor James Thompson lobbies his lawmakers to approve a new ballpark to keep the White Sox from moving to Florida. Following the drama on TV, Floridians are shocked when the stroke of midnight is delayed by three minutes, long enough to secure the 60th vote needed to approve the $150-million stadium, depriving the Sunshine State of its first major league baseball team.
1995 At the Metrodome, Indians' designated hitter Eddie Murray collects his 3000th hit off Twins' right-hander Mike Trombley to become the 20th player to accomplish the feat. 'Steady Eddie' joins Pete Rose as only the second switch-hitter to reach the milestone.

1997 Rangers' hurler Bobby Witt becomes the first American League pitcher to hit a home run in a regular-season game since Roric Harrison went yard for the Orioles at the end of the 1972 season. The 33-year-old right-hander's round-tripper off Ismael Valdes helps Texas beat the Dodgers in interleague action at Chavez Ravine, 3-2.

1998 With an eighth-inning homer against the Diamondbacks, Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa extends his major league record for home runs in a month, hitting his 20th round-tripper in June. At the start of July, the Chicago outfielder has gone deep 31 times, four less than Mark McGwire, who also homered today.
2000 Mike Piazza's tiebreaking three-run homer completes a ten-run miracle comeback when the Mets stun the Braves, 11-8, after trailing 8-2 with two outs in the eighth inning. The team scored nine runs with two outs, and the ten runs equal the most ever scored in an inning by the Mets.
2001 In his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut, Roger Connor is honored with a four-foot-high marble monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery. The gravestone, which also includes the names of his wife and grandson, notes that the one-time all-time home run leader is a member of baseball's Hall of Fame.

Roger Conner's Gravesite
2002 The Yankees become the first team in the American League since the 1956 White Sox to have four infielders and a catcher on the All-Star roster. The fans vote for first baseman Jason Giambi, second baseman Alfonso Soriano, and backstop Jorge Posada to be starters in the Midsummer Classic, with shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Robin Ventura selected by AL skipper Joe Torre.
2003 Scoring four runs in the 12th inning in the team's eventual 8-7 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field, the Diamondbacks win their 12th consecutive game, setting a franchise mark. During the winning streak, two or fewer runs provided the margin of victory in nine games, with five decided in the team's final at-bat.
2005 After loading the bases in the top of the ninth, Chad Cordero gets Ryan Doumit to fly out to deep right field, recording his 15th save in June to tie Lee Smith and John Wetteland for the most recorded in a single month. Washington's 7-5 victory over Pittsburgh at RFK Stadium puts the first-place team 4.5 games ahead of Atlanta.
2006 In the fastest game ever played in the seven-year history of Seattle's Safeco Field, the Rockies defeat the hometown Mariners, 2-0. Colorado starter Josh Fogg faces the minimum of 27 batters, tossing a two-hitter in the one-hour, 52-minute contest, the quickest in Rockies' history.
2006 The Reds' 47th homer, which establishes a club for June, is a game-ending grand slam hit by Adam Dunn. The dramatic dinger, given up by closer Bob Wickman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, powers Cincinnati over Cleveland, 9-8.
2006 In a 5-2 loss to the Marlins, which stops their winning streak at 11, the Red Sox play their 17th consecutive errorless game. The accomplishment establishes a new big league mark, surpassing the Cardinals, who played 16 straight error-free games in 1992.
2007 Making his major league debut in center field at Fenway Park, Jacoby Ellsbury becomes the first person from the Navajo tribe to play in the major leagues. The 23-year-old member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, who will play a significant role in the Red Sox World Championship, batting .360 in 11 total postseason games, is put out by the catcher unassisted in his first big-league at-bat.
2007 On Disability Awareness Night, the Fenway Faithful supports the cause by assisting a young autistic man. The enthusiastic Red Sox crowd of 38,000 fans continues singing the national anthem when the nervous singer has trouble getting through the song during the pregame ceremony.

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2008 A pair of demolition companies, which agree to work free of charge in exchange for the scrap metal, begin knocking down Tiger Stadium, starting with the bleachers in left-center field. The 96-year-old ballpark has been vacant since the Tigers started playing in nearby Comerica Park nearly nine summers ago.

2012 In the Padres' 8-4 victory over Colorado, Yasmani Grandal becomes the first player to homer from both sides of the plate for his first two major league hits. The San Diego catcher, who had one at-bat in his debut four weeks ago against Arizona, flew out in the second inning before connecting for his historic homers in the fourth and sixth frames of the Coors Field contest.
2013 On the day of Seattle's 39th annual Pride Parade, the Mariners become the first major league team to fly a rainbow gay pride flag. The move comes a few days after the Supreme Court's landmark decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
2013

"When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000." - DELCIANNA WINDERS, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation.

Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, joining Luis Gonzalez of the Dodgers, becomes only the second player to hit a homer into the 10,000-gallon touch tank at Tropicana Field. The round-tripper draws the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who requests the team to return the 30 or more captive cownose rays to their natural habitat because the animals are subject to harassment, loud crowds and at the risk of being injured by baseballs.

2014 Rajai Davis becomes the second Tigers player since World War II to hit a game-ending grand slam with his team trailing by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, joining Alan Trammel, who is in the ballpark celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1984 World Championship. The 33-year-old outfielder goes deep off Oakland's Sean Doolittle, who hangs a curveball that gives Detroit the dramatic 5-4 victory in front of a sold-out Comerica Park.
2015 Chris Sale, making his 100th career start, becomes only the second major league pitcher to record 10-plus strikeouts in eight straight starts when he whiffs 12 batters in the White Sox's 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The 26-year-old southpaw joins Pedro Martinez, who accomplished the feat in 1999 with the Red Sox.
2016 The Orioles break the record for home runs hit in June when left fielder Hyun Soo Kim goes deep off Taijuan Walker, leading off the seventh inning in the team's 5-3 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field. The team's 56th round-tripper this month surpasses the mark established by the 1996 A's.
2016 Coastal Carolina wins its first national championship in any sport with a 4-3 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of the College World Series finals. The Chanticleers become the first team in sixty years to win the title in its first CWS appearance, a feat also accomplished by Minnesota in 1956.

2017 Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak's home run against the Red Sox is the 1,070th stroked in the majors in June, breaking the record for the most round-trippers hit in a month in baseball history set in May 2000. At the end of today's games, 33 dingers will increase the new monthly mark to 1,101.
2021 On his twenty-eighth birthday, Trea Turner completes his third career cycle when he triples in the sixth inning of Washington's 15-6 rout of the Rays at Nationals Park. Joining Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, and John Reilly, the Nats' shortstop becomes the fourth major leaguer to accomplish the feat three times.

2023 In a 6-2 loss to the Diamondbacks at Angels Stadium, Shoehi Ohtani reaches base three times, with two walks and a solo shot, ending one of the most remarkable months in baseball history. The southpaw swinging slugger hit .394 with 15 round-trippers and 29 RBIs over 27 games, and as a right-handed hurler, he won two of four decisions with a 3.26 ERA and 37 strikeouts. 
44 Fact(s) Found