MAY 5 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1857 Lee Richmond pitcher (first ever MLB perfect game 1880), born in Sheffield, Ohio (d. 1929) 1883 Charles "Chief" Bender HOF pitcher (only indigenous American in BHOF; World Series 1910, 11, 13; no-hitter 1910; Philadelphia A's)' 1925 Bob Cerv & Moose(Yankees) 1967 Charles Nagy pitcher (Olympic gold 1988; MLB All-Star 1992, 96, 99; Cleveland Indians) 1970 Juan Acevedo (Colorado Rockies 1981 Chris Duncan ******************
Today in Baseball History May 5th1904 Cy Young tosses the first perfect game in American League history, defeating Rube Waddell and the Philadelphia A's, 3-0. The Red Sox right-hander's gem is the first perfect game thrown in the majors since the decision to increase the distance between the mound and plate from 45 feet to 60 feet, six inches in 1893. 1913 American League president Ban Johnson suspends George Stovall indefinitely after the Browns' manager spit tobacco juice into Charlie Ferguson's face after being ejected by the umpire two days ago in the team's 11-8 loss to the Naps at Sportsman's Park. The banishment will last 17 days and end on the condition that the controversial skipper sends the arbitrator a letter of apology. 1917 Thanks to the St. Louis scorer's decision to turn Buck Weaver's first-inning questionable hit into an error, Browns' hurler Ernie Koob throws a no-hitter at Sportsman's Park. The southpaw beats Ed Cicotte and the White Sox, 1-0. 1925 At Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Ty Cobb establishes an American League record with 16 total bases, lasting until 2012 when Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton collects 18. The Georgia Peach's 6-for-6 performance, which includes three homers, two singles, and a double, helps the Tigers defeat the hometown Browns, 14-8. Cobb Chatting with Hank 1929 In the first Sunday home game the Braves ever play, Milt Gaston, with his brother Alex behind the plate, relieves Red Ruffing in the seventh inning to become the second pair of siblings in American League history to be batterymates. Tommy and Homer Thompson appeared in one game together for the Yankees in 1912 and were the first. 1930 The Red Sox trade Red Ruffing to the Yankees for $50,000 and Cedric Durst, who will hit .245 in 102 games during his only season in Boston. New York's new right-hander, a future Hall of Famer, will post a 231-124 (.651) record and an ERA of 3.47 during his 15 seasons with the Bronx ball club. 1953 In the second game of a twin bill at Milwaukee's County Stadium, Braves' hurler Max Surkont strikes out the hitter for the third out of the second inning and will continue to fan batters until there is one out in the fifth inning en route to a 10-3 victory over the Reds. The eight consecutive strikeouts establish a new major league record, surpassing the seven straight shared by Dazzy Vance (Robins/Dodgers, 1924) and Van Lingo Mungo (Dodgers, 1936). 1955 In his first major league start, Dodger rookie starter Tommy Lasorda ties a record, throwing three wild pitches in the first inning of the team's 4-3 victory over St. Louis at Ebbets Field. During his one inning of work, the future Dodgers' Hall of Fame skipper will be spiked by Wally Moon, covering a play at home plate after uncorking one of his errant pitches. 1955 When your luck is battin' zero Get your chin up off the floor Mister you can be a hero You can open any door, there's nothin' to it but to do it You've gotta have heart - 'You Gotta to Have Heart' lyrics from Damn Yankees The musical Damn Yankees, based on Douglass Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, opens on Broadway. The comedy, set in Washington, DC, during the Bronx Bombers' dominance in baseball in the 1950s, tells the tale of an aging Washington Senators fan's bargain with the devil to help his hapless team. 1958 Behind ten runs entering the final frame, the Giants score nine times in an unforgettable 11-10 loss to Pittsburgh. With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Don Taussig pops out to end the game and San Francisco's remarkable comeback attempt at Seals Stadium. 1962 In his fourth big league start, Bo Belinsky throws the first hitless game in Angels history and the first ever tossed at Dodger Stadium, beating the Orioles 2-0. The 25-year-old southpaw is only the tenth rookie to throw a no-hitter. 1965 In a match-up of eventual Hall of Famers at Shea Stadium, Phillies right-hander Jim Bunning beats the Mets, 1-0, for his sixth straight complete-game victory over the New Yorkers. The Philadelphia starter provides the game's lone run with a sixth-inning lead-off solo homer run off southpaw Warren Spahn, who also goes the distance, giving up just four hits. 1978 At Riverfront Stadium, Pete Rose becomes the 13th player in major league history to collect his 3000th hit, a single to left field off Montreal right-hander Steve Rogers. The Reds' legend reaches the milestone in his 16th major league season, quicker than any of the other dozen players who have accomplished the feat. 1980 For pushing his glove in the face of umpire Jerry Crawford, Bill Madlock is suspended for 15 days and fined $5,000 by National League president Chub Feeney. The fiery Pirates' infielder, called Mad Dog by his teammates, became upset after being called out on strikes with the bases loaded in the fifth inning of the Bucs' 2-1 victory over Montreal four days ago. 1982 At Candlestick Park, Mets catcher John Stearns goes deep off Greg Minton, becoming the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat in nearly four years. The Giant's 30-year-old right-handed reliever had faced 807 batters throughout 269 ½ innings without allowing a home run to establish a record that is unlikely to be broken. 1995 Thirty-three years after Don Zimmer played third base in the franchise's first contest, Edgardo Alfonzo becomes the 100th player in Mets history to cover the 'hot corner.' Howard Johnson played the most games at the position, appearing in 835 games for New York in eight seasons. 1999 Beating the Cubs, 13-6, the Rockies become only the third team in the 1900s to score a run every inning. The 1964 Cardinals accomplished the feat against the Cubs, and the Giants scored in every frame against the Phillies in 1923. 2000 Cardinals' first baseman Mark McGwire hits the longest home run in the 30-year history of Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field, but the 473-foot shot isn't enough as Ken Griffey Jr.'s homer leads the Reds past St. Louis, 3-2. 2000 For the first time in team history, the Rangers overcome an eight-run deficit, beating Oakland, 17-16, thanks to Mike Lamb's ninth-inning pinch-hit single scoring Iván Rodríguez. In The Ballpark in Arlington contest, the teams tie an American League record when 18 different players scored, including every starter, first accomplished during a Reds/A's contest on June 29, 1950. 2000 "We came for the gold, and we got it." - TOMMY LASORDA, manager of the U.S. Olympic team. Former big-league skipper Tommy Lasorda, 72, is named manager of the United States Olympic baseball team. The Hall of Fame pilot, who won four National League pennants and two World Series titles with the Dodgers, will add a Gold Medal to his accomplishments when Team USA beats heavily-favored Cuba in the contest known as the Miracle on Grass. 2004 Major League Baseball announces each team, based on the comfort level of the franchise, will promote the movie Spider-Man 2 during the first weekend of interleague play, June 11 to 13. The promotion, seen as an opportunity to market the game to younger fans, will include placing a Spider-Man logo on all the bases. (Ed. Note: MLB reverses its decision to have red-and-yellow ads appear on bases due to adverse fan reaction and the Yankees' lack of enthusiasm for the promotion, allowing the ads only during batting practice for just one game. -LP) ####################################################### 2004 Mets backstop Mike Piazza passes Carlton Fisk for most home runs hit by a catcher when he hits his 352nd round-tripper as a catcher. The Morristown (PA) native's 405-foot opposite-field historic homer comes off Jerome Williams' 3-1 fastball during the first inning of the Mets' 8-2 victory at Shea Stadium. 2004 Roger Clemens moves ahead of Steve Carlton (4,136) into second place on the career strikeouts list when he gets Raul Mondesi swinging in the fifth inning of the Astros' 9-2 victory over Pittsburgh at Minute Maid Park. Nolan Ryan's all-time mark of 5,714 whiffs appears out of reach for the 41-year-old 'Rocket,' who would still need over 1500 to challenge the record. 2008 At Coors Field, Derek Lowe throws 43 pitches before he retires the first Rockies batter of the game. The Dodgers starting pitcher never recovers from the 50-pitch, three-run first inning, leaving after the fifth of a 7-2 eventual loss to Colorado. 2008 In the 4,000th game played at Dodger Stadium, Joe Torre's Dodgers beat the Mets, 5-1. The Los Angeles skipper also managed the 1,000th game at the Astrodome (Mets - 1977) and Coors Field (Yankees - 2007), the 2,000th at Busch Stadium (Cardinals - 1991), the 3,000th at Angel Stadium (Yankees - 2003), and the 6,000th at Yankee Stadium (Yankees -2001). 2009 The Dodgers tie the major league record of 12 consecutive wins at home to start the season with their 3-1 victory over Arizona. L.A.'s 12-0 start at home equals the mark set by the Tigers in 1911. 2010 Satellite provider DirecTV and the Yes Network announce their plans to televise the first major league baseball game in three dimensions. The July 10th Safeco Field telecast between the Yankees and Mariners will be available to viewers with 3-D television sets in New York, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Idaho. 2010 Boston honors their former All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra with a special day before the Red Sox-Angels game at Fenway Park. During spring training, the two-time batting champ had signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of his original team. 2015 Mitch Harris becomes the first graduate of any military academy to earn a major league victory when the Cardinals beat the Cubs at Busch Stadium, 7-4. The 29-year-old Redbird rookie right-hander, the first Naval Academy midshipman in 94 years to appear in a big-league game, sails through a scoreless fourth inning in relief to notch the historic decision. 2021 John Means becomes the first individual Oriole hurler to throw a no-hitter since Jim Palmer accomplished the feat on Aug. 13, 1969. The lefty's gem, where he retires all 27 Mariners he faces, marks the first time a pitcher does not get credit for a perfect game due to the dropped-third-strike rule. (Ed. Note: On July 13, 1991, Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson threw a combined no-hitter in Baltimore. -LP)
ON THIS DATE May 6 1955: Roberto Clemente crashes Willie Mays’s birthday party in his second visit to the Polo Grounds, by banging a 430-foot triple over the birthday boy’s head in the midst of a decisive rally in a 3-2 Pirate win over the Giants. 1968: San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Lindy McDaniel sets a National League record playing his 225th consecutive game without committing an error. The streak includes 108 chances handled successfully since June 16, 1964. 1974: Oakland Athletics pitcher Paul Lindblad’s major league streak of 385 consecutive games without committing an error comes to an end when he makes an errant throw in a 6 - 3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. 1982: Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners became the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 at the Kingdome. 1984: Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles hit for the cycle in a 6-1 win over the Texas Rangers. Ripken completed the cycle with a solo homer in the ninth. 1994: Anthony Young won as a starter for the first time in more than two years as the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1. The win ended Young’s 29-game losing streak as a starter. Young’s previous win as a starter came on April 9, 1992 with the Mets. 1998: Rookie Kerry Wood tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, pitching a one-hitter to lead the Cubs over the Astros 2-0. 2005: San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman became the third pitcher in major league history to reach 400 saves in the Padres’ 6-5 victory over St. Louis. Hoffman joined Lee Smith (478) and John Franco (424) in the 400-save club. 2012: The Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep at Boston with a 9-6 win in 17 innings. In the first major league game since 1925 in which both teams put a position player on the mound, Baltimore designated hitter Chris Davis overcame an awful 0-for-8 day at the plate by pitching two scoreless innings and getting the win over Darnell McDonald, an outfielder Boston called upon once the Red Sox bullpen was also depleted. Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th off McDonald. 2012: Albert Pujols finally hits his first American League homer, breaking the longest homerless drought of his career, when he connects off the Blue Jays’ Drew Hutchison with a runner on in the 5th inning of the Angels’ 4-3 win. 2015: OF Bryce Harper has the first three-homer game of his career in leading the Nationals to a 7 - 5 win over the Marlins. 2021: The Angels designate for assignment veteran slugger Albert Pujols, for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release. Pujols is in the last season of a ten-year, $253 million contract, but his production has declined significantly in recent years and he has become a bench player of late. The 41-year-old Pujols is the active leader in games played, hits, home runs and RBIs. He states that he hopes to find another team that will give him a shot at a starting job. The Dodgers will take him on board in a few days. May 7 1917: Babe Ruth of the Red Sox allowed two hits as he outdueled Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators 1-0. Ruth knocked in the winning run with a sacrifice fly. 1922: Jesse Barnes of the New York Giants pitched the only no-hitter of the year, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0. 1925: Pittsburgh shortstop Glenn Wright made an unassisted triple play in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals when he caught Jim Bottomley’s line drive, stepped on second to double Jimmy Cooney, and tagged Rogers Hornsby coming from first. The Cardinals, trailing 9-4, scored six runs in the eighth inning to win 10-9 at Forbes Field. 1957: Cleveland pitcher Herb Score was hit on the right eye by a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald in the first inning. The ball broke Score’s nose and damaged his eye; he missed the rest of the season. 1959: A crowd of 93,103 came to the Los Angeles Coliseum on “Roy Campanella Night” to show its affection for the paralyzed Dodger catcher. The Dodgers were beaten by the New York Yankees 6-2 in an exhibition game that followed the ceremonies. 1960: Norm Sherry, a replacement catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a home run in the 11th inning to give his brother, relief pitcher Larry Sherry, a 3-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles. 1970: Wes Parker of Los Angeles Dodgers hit for the cycle in a 7-4, 10-inning win over the New York Mets. 1973: The Pittsburgh Pirates became the first team to score their five runs on five solo homers in a 5-4 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. Willie Stargell, Dave Cash, Richie Hebner, Manny Sanguillen and Al Oliver homered. 1986: Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Garry Maddox announces his retirement at the age of 36. Properly nicknamed “Secretary of Defense”, the slick-fielding Maddox won eight Gold Gloves. 1997: The Montreal Expos scored 13 runs to set an NL record for runs in a sixth inning during their 19-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. 1999: Tampa Bay’s first baseman Fred McGriff sets a major league record by homering in his 34th major league ballpark. 1999: Carlos Lee becomes the first player in Chicago White Sox history to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat in the Sox’s 7-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. 2005: Julio Franco of the Atlanta Braves goes 3 for 4, including his first home run of the season, in a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Franco, who turns 47 on August 23rd, becomes the second-oldest player in major league history to homer at 46 years, 257 days. Jack Quinn, a pitcher who accomplished the feat when he was 100 days older, hit a home run for the Philadelphia Athletics on June 27, 1930; Franco will eventually pass him as well. 2008: Carlos Gomez became the first Minnesota player to hit for the cycle in 22 years in a 13-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. 2009: New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera gave up home runs to consecutive batters for the first time in his major league career, with Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria connecting in the ninth inning of Tampa Bay’s 8-6 victory. Rivera had not given up back-to-back homers in 862 games coming in. 2009: The Boston Red Sox tied a modern major-league record with 12 runs in an inning before making an out in a 13-3 win over Cleveland. The Red Sox tied the mark set by the Brooklyn Dodgers on May 24, 1953. 2009: The Dodgers’ star outfielder, Manny Ramirez, is suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance. He is the most prominent player yet caught under Major League Baseball’s PED policy implemented in 2005. 2010: Starlin Castro hit a three-run homer in his first major league at-bat and drove in a record six runs during the Chicago Cubs’ 14-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Castro added a bases-loaded triple, sliding headfirst into the record books with six RBIs, the most ever in a modern day debut: one more than the previous mark shared by four players. 2011: Justin Verlander threw his second career no-hitter, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 9-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. The only runner Verlander allowed came with one out in the eighth inning when J.P. Arencibia walked on a full count. 2011: Andre Ethier’s 30-game hitting streak ends in a 4-2 Dodgers loss to the Mets. Ethier, who goes 0 for 4, ends up one game short of the franchise record of 31 games held by Willie Davis since 1969. 2016: Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in Milwaukee’s seven-run 10th inning for his third homer of the game, and the Brewers beat Cincinnati 13-7. 2016: New York’s Bartolo Colon became the oldest player to hit his first major league home run, connecting less than three weeks before his 43rd birthday, to help the Mets to a 6-3 victory over the Padres. 2018: George Springer ties an Astros team record by going 6 for 6 in a 16-2 win over the Athletics. He has a double, homer and single by the end of the 4th inning, but fails in his next three at-bats to get the triple that would have completed the cycle as he hits a single each time. 2019: Mike Fiers pitches his second career no-hitter as the Athletics defeat the Reds, 2-0. 2022: Less than two weeks after getting his 3,000th hit, Miguel Cabrera reaches another milestone with his 600th career double, only the 18th player to that total. Only two others - Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols - have compiled his combination of 3,000 hits, 600 doubles and 500 home runs. May 8 1906: Philadelphia manager Connie Mack needed a substitute outfielder in the sixth inning of a game against Boston and called on pitcher Chief Bender. Bender hit two home runs, both inside the park. 1907: Boston’s Big Jeff Pfeffer threw a no-hitter to give the Braves a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Boston. 1929: Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the first by a left-hander in the majors in 13 seasons. 1935: In the first game of a doubleheader, Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds hit four doubles in consecutive innings (sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth) off four different Phillies pitchers. Lombardi also singled to send the Reds past Philadelphia 15-4. 1946: Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky scored six times, an American League record, in a 14-10 win over the White Sox. Pesky, who was 4-for-5 with a walk and two RBIs, matched Mel Ott’s National League mark for runs scored in a game. 1963: A Stan Musial home run against the Dodgers gives him 1,357 extra-base hits, surpassing Babe Ruth’s major league record. He will get 20 more; his record will later be broken by Hank Aaron. 1963: Pirates LF Willie Stargell’s first major league homer and Cubs P Bob Buhl’s first major league hit in 88 at-bats highlight a 9-5 Chicago win over Pittsburgh. 1966: Frank Robinson became the only player to hit a home run out of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The shot over the left-field wall came off Cleveland right-hander Luis Tiant. The Orioles won 8-3. 1966: The St. Louis Cardinals closed old Busch Stadium with a 10-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants. 1966: Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson hits the only ball ever completely out of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The shot clears the left-field single-deck grandstand’s rear wall, 451-feet away, going an estimated 541 feet. 1968: Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland A’s pitched a perfect game to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0. 1983: Darryl Strawberry gets his first major league hit, a single that scores Danny Heep, in a 10-5 Mets win over the Reds. 1984: Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett had four singles in his first major league game, and the Twins beat the California Angels 5-0. 1994: Danny Tartabull, Mike Stanley and Gerald Williams hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the Yankees in the 6th inning of New York’s 8-4 win over Boston. 1994: The Colorado Silver Bullets, the first women’s team to play a pro men’s team, lost 19-0 to the Northern League All-Stars. Leon Durham hit two homers and Oil Can Boyd started for the All-Stars. The Silver Bullets had two hits, struck out 16 times and made six errors. 1998: Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire hits his 400th career home run in a 9-2 loss to the Mets. He is the 27th player to reach 400, and does so in fewer at bats than anyone in history, 4,726. Babe Ruth had taken 127 more at-bats, having held the old record. 2000: Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 12th home run of the season, against the San Francisco Giants. The homer ties “Big Mac” with Jimmie Foxx for ninth place on the all-time list with 534 career homers. McGwire needs just two taters to catch number eight on the list, Mickey Mantle, at 536. 2001: Randy Johnson became the third pitcher to strike out 20 in nine innings, but didn’t finish the game in which the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Cincinnati 4-3 in 11 innings. Johnson, the first left-hander to strike out 20, missed a chance to join Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood as the record-holders for a nine-inning game because Arizona could not finish off the Reds in regulation. 2001: The Devil Rays edge the Orioles, 4-3, as Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff joins Mark McGwire, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Eddie Murray and Reggie Jackson as the only players to homer off 300 different pitchers in their career. 2009: In his first game of the season after missing six weeks because of hip surgery, Alex Rodriguez hits the first pitch he sees from Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie for a three-run home run in a 4-0 Yankees win that ends a five-game losing streak. CC Sabathia pitches a four-hit shutout in his best performance since signing a huge free agent contract over the winter. 2010: Jody Gerut hit for the cycle and drove in four runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers pounded the Arizona Diamondbacks 17-3. Gerut hit a solo home run in the second inning, singled in the third, drove in a run with a triple in the fifth and added a two-run double in the ninth. 2012: Josh Hamilton became the 16th player to hit four home runs in a game. His four two-run drives came against three different pitchers, carrying the Texas Rangers to a 10-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. 2015: Bryce Harper hit two more home runs, giving him five in two games, and Danny Espinosa also connected twice to power the Washington Nationals to a 9-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. The 22-year-old Harper became the youngest in major league history to hit five homers in two games. 2018: James Paxton of the Mariners becomes only the second-ever Canadian-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter, after Dick Fowler in 1945, turning the trick against the Blue Jays in a 5-0 win.
MAY 11 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1937 Vince Naimoli businessman and MLB team owner (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) 1955 Robin Yount, American Baseball HOF shortstop/center fielder (AL MVP 1982, 89; 3 x MLB All Star; Milwaukee Brewers; 3,142 hits) 1958 Orel Hershiser A pitcher (LA Dodgers, Cleveland Indians), 1959 Tim Raines HOF left fielder (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1996, 98, 2005; NL batting champion 1986; Montreal Expos, NY Yankees, Chicago WS), 1960 Mickey Tettleton catcher (Texas Rangers) 1961 Mark Parent catcher (Detroit Tigers 1970 Paul Shuey pitcher (Cleveland Indians) 1975 Kip Harkrider infielder (Olympic bronze 1996) 1978 Dan Dickau 1979 Bobby Korecky ************************************** Today in Baseball HistoryMay 11th 1904 After tossing 23 innings of no-hit baseball, Cy Young's streak ends.The stretch includes six innings today, two innings on April 25, six on April 30, and the perfect game against the A's on May 5. 1919 Reds' right-hander Hod Eller throws a no-hitter, defeating the Cardinals, 6-0. The ace of the eventual world champs strikes out eight while walking three batters on a cold day at Cincinnati's Redland Field. 1923 Establishing several Pacific Coast League marks, Pete Schneider hits five home runs and a double, driving in 14 runs as Vernon routs Salt Lake City, 35-11. 1932 Eighth-grader Joe Schultz, Jr. singles, swipes two bases, and scores as a pinch-hitter in a Texas League game. The manager's fourteen-year-old will become a second-string catcher in the major leagues. 1946 The Red Sox's early-season winning streak ends at 15 consecutive victories when right-hander Tiny Bonham, giving up just two hits in the Yankee Stadium contest, blanks the team, 2-0. Boston, who will easily capture the AL pennant, started the season 21-3 before today's loss against New York. 1946 Boston loses to the Giants, 5-1, in the first night game played at Braves Field. The 37,407 fans, the largest crowd in thirteen years, are surprised when their hometown heroes take the field wearing shiny satin uniforms designed to reflect the light generated by the electricity used for the evening contest. 1949 The White Sox beat the Red Sox, 12-8, scoring in every inning of the Comiskey Park contest. A team tallying in every frame has occurred only five times in American League history 1950 Connecticut Senator Abe Ribicoff introduces legislation designating June 26 as National Baseball Day, honoring the birthday of Major General Abner Doubleday, once promoted as the inventor of the national pastime. The bill, which did not pass, would authorize the President to issue an annual proclamation urging citizens to celebrate the day with special events and ceremonies. 1950 Although traveling by air is still a rarity in the major leagues, a train strike forces many clubs to fly to their next scheduled games. By the mid to late 50s, teams will begin flying regularly, coinciding with franchises moving further west and an increasing number of night games. 1950 Ted Williams makes inappropriate gestures directed at the Red Sox fans sitting in the outfield stands, first toward left field, then center field, and finishing with right field after the fans boo him for misplaying a ball. As the jeering continues, the Splendid Splinter becomes the Splendid Spitter during his next at-bat, when he steps out of the box and expectorates to show his displeasure. 1955 At Wrigley Field, with the help of an Ernie Banks first-inning grand slam off Russ Meyer, Chicago snaps Brooklyn's 11-game winning streak, 10-8. The bases-filled homer will be Mr. Cub's first of five this season. 1956 In the bottom of the ninth inning at Forbes Field, 25-year-old rookie Danny Kravitz's walk-off grand slam off Jack Meyer erases a three-run deficit, giving the Pirates a dramatic 6-5 victory over the Phillies. The backup backstop's round-tripper is the first of his career. 1956 The Cardinals and Phillies swap hurlers, with St. Louis sending Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller, and Ben Flowers to Philadelphia in exchange for Herman Wehmeier, Murry Dickson, and a player to be named. The trade is completed and expanded a few days later when infielder Solly Hemus is sent to the 'City of Brotherly of Love' for Redbird utility player Bobby Morgan. 1962 Minnie Minoso suffers a fractured skull and breaks his wrist when he runs into the left-field wall chasing Duke Snider's triple in the Cardinals' 8-5 loss to L.A. at Busch Stadium. In mid-July, the St. Louis outfielder will return to the lineup, only to have a bone in his forearm broken with a pitch thrown by Craig Anderson of the Mets a month later. 1963 Sandy Koufax takes a perfect game into the eighth inning before walking Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch but will finish the Dodger Stadium contest with the second of four career no-hitters, blanking the Giants, 8-0. The Los Angeles southpaw beats San Francisco ace Juan Marichal, who will also author a no-hitter next month. 1971 In front of a sparse crowd of 2,992 at Cleveland Stadium, Indians starter Steve Dunning hits a second-inning grand slam off A's right-hander Diego Segui in Cleveland's 7-5 victory over Oakland. It will take another 37 years before another American League hurler goes deep with the bases loaded when Felix Hernandez of the Mariners accomplishes the feat against the Mets in 2008. 1972 After promising the club would never trade him, the cash-strapped Giants send Willie Mays, the only remaining player that moved to the West Coast with the team, to New York, the city where he began his Hall of Fame career in 1951, for right-hander Charlie Williams and $50,000 cash. Horace Stoneham, unable to guarantee his aging superstar an income when the outfielder retired, extracts a promise from the Mets that they will pay the 'Say Hey Kid' $50,000 annually for ten years after the future Hall of Famer stops playing. 1977 Trying to snap the Braves' 16-game losing streak, Ted Turner, the team's owner, takes over as field manager. The skid continues as the Pirates defeat Atlanta, 2-1, and National League president Chub Feeney informs the new skipper he cannot manage again because a rule prohibits a manager from owning a financial stake in the club. 1980 In the top of the seventh inning, Phillies' leadoff batter Pete Rose steals home after swiping second and third base to become the first National League player in 52 years to complete the stolen base cycle in one frame. In 1928, Brooklyn's Harvey Hendrick accomplished the feat in the eighth inning of an Ebbets Field contest against Chicago. 1991 After a heckler calls him 'Joey,' a name he dislikes, and references his problems with alcohol, Albert Belle responds by picking up a foul ball and nailing the offensive offender in the chest from 15 feet away. Although the fans supported his action, the Indian outfielder was fined and suspended for one week. 1993 In the top of the seventh of a tied game at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, Jay Bell leads off the inning by grounding out to Phillies' shortstop Juan Bell. Of course, umpire Wally Bell rings up the Pirate infielder at first base. 1994 At Shea Stadium, en route to a two-inning save in Montreal's 4-3 victory over the Mets, Expo right-hander Mel Rojas strikes out the side in the top of the ninth, needing just nine pitches to end the game. The 28-year-old reliever fans David Segui, Todd Hundley, and Jeff McKnight to complete his immaculate inning, each swinging at strike three. 1996 On 'John Franco Day,' the New York veteran reliever and eight other players are ejected from the game due to participating in a fifth-inning bench-clearing brawl at Shea Stadium. After the team celebrated his 300th career save, the closer's unavailability in the ninth resulted in three hurlers combining to give up the tying runs in the team's eventual 7-6 walk-off win over Chicago. 1996 Al Leiter pitches the first no-hitter in the Marlins' brief existence, beating the Rockies, 11-0. The news earlier of the ValuJet crash in the Everglades tempers the celebration at Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium. 1998 Striking out 13 Diamondbacks, Cubs' Kerry Wood sets a major league record for strikeouts in consecutive games with 33 in two games. Luis Tiant (1968 - Indians), Nolan Ryan (1974 - Angels), Dwight Gooden (1984 - Mets), and Randy Johnson (1997 - Mariners) shared the previous record for strikeouts (32) in two starts. 1999 For the first time this century, two opposing starting major league pitchers with the same name face one another. The Rockies' southpaw Bobby M. Jones bests right-hander Bobby J. Jones and the Mets in the Coors Field contest, 8-5. 2000 At 37, Joe Strong becomes the oldest player to make his big-league debut since pitcher Diomedes Olivo played for the Pirates in 1960 as a 41-year-old. The 'seasoned' rookie throws 1⅓ hitless innings. 2000 Manny Ramirez tags a first-inning grand slam and adds a two-run homer in the sixth, leading the Indians to a 16-0 rout of the Royals. The victory, stopping Kansas City's winning streak at five games, is Cleveland's most lopsided shutout in 45 years when the Tribe beat the Red Sox 19-0. 2000 The Brewers beat the Cubs, 14-8, at Wrigley Field in four hours and twenty-two minutes. The length of the contest breaks the National League record and ties the mark set by the Orioles and Yankees on September 5, 1997, for the longest non-extra-inning game ever played. 2000 Aaron and Bret Boone, sons of former major league catcher Bob and the grandsons of Ray, also a former big leaguer, hit home runs in the same game for the second time in their careers. Bret's pair of two-run homers, a shot in the top of the first and an inside-the-parker in the sixth, is offset by his younger sibling's walk-off round-tripper in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Reds an 11-9 victory over the Padres at Cinergy Field. 2001 The Cardinals send Rick Ankiel (1-2, 7.13), who threw five wild pitches to the backstop yesterday, to their Triple-A club in Memphis to work on overcoming his unexplainable lack of control. The young lefthanded fireballer has walked 25 batters in 24 innings this season. 2001 In the sixth inning of a 7-2 loss to the Mariners, Carlos Delgado surpasses Joe Carter as the Blue Jays' all-time home run leader as he hits his 204th homer with the team. The Toronto first baseman, the current American League leader with 14 round-trippers, acknowledges the standing ovation from the SkyDome crowd with a curtain call. 2002 The Devil Rays snap their 15-game losing streak, a franchise record, thanks to Randy Winn's three-run walk-off homer. The right fielder's ninth-inning two-out blast comes off Jorge Julio, giving Tampa Bay a 6-4 victory over Baltimore at Tropicana Field. 2002 At Citizens Bank Park in the bottom of the eighth, Arizona reliever Byung-Hyun Kim strikes out the side on nine pitches, whiffing Scott Rolen and Mike Lieberthal swinging and then fans Pat Burrell, taking a third strike to complete his immaculate inning. The Diamondback right-hander blows a save in the next frame but picks a win when the team scores a run in the tenth for an eventual 6-5 victory over the Phillies. 2003 The Marlins, six games under .500, fire manager Jeff Torborg, criticized for the poor performance of the pitching staff after a rash of recent injuries to the team's young arms. Veteran 72-year-old skipper Jack McKeon becomes the franchise's sixth manager, posting a 75-49 record for the remainder of the season en route to winning the National League pennant and beating the Yankees in six games to become World Champions. 2003 In his last at-bat on the current homestand, 38-year-old first baseman Rafael Palmeiro drives a 3-2 fastball thrown by Indian hurler David Elder to become the second player this season and 19th overall to hit his 500th career home run. The 370-foot shot over the right-field wall at The Ballpark in Arlington makes Raffy the first native of Cuba to reach the coveted milestone. 2004 Playing for the St. Paul Saints, Marc Turndorf pops up a $5,601 pitch in an auctioned at-bat. The Los Angeles man had the winning eBay bid for the opportunity to hit for the Northern League team. 2004 Pittsfield city officials and historians release a 1791 document they believe is the earliest written reference to baseball. The 213-year-old bylaw, used to protect the windows of the town's new meeting house by prohibiting anyone from playing baseball within 80 yards of the building, was uncovered by baseball historian John Thorn while researching the origins of baseball. 2004 After missing yesterday's game to become an American citizen, Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez, much to the delight of the Fenway faithful, leads his teammates out of the dugout waving an American flag to celebrate his first day as a citizen of the United States. As the 31-year-old native of the Dominican Republic comes to bat, the PA system plays Neil Diamond's song America. 2005 The Red Sox end a game for the second consecutive day by hitting a walk-off home run off the same pitcher, a feat accomplished only five previous times in major league history. A's closer Octavio Dotel, who also gave up Kevin Millar's decisive blast yesterday, is victimized today by Boston backstop Jason Varitek, who goes deep in the ninth to beat Oakland, 6-5. 2006 After he breaks his left wrist while attempting to make a diving catch, Hideki Matsui's streak of playing in every game since starting his MLB career in 2003 ends at 518 games. The 31-year-old Yankees' left fielder established the big-league record for consecutive games to start a career, surpassing Hall of Fame infielder Ernie Banks, who played in 424 contests at the start of his playing days with the Cubs from 1953 to 1956. 2008 At Shea Stadium, a 13-minute delay occurs at the beginning of the ninth of the Mets' 8-3 victory over the Reds when David Ross bats out of order, making an out in Corey Patterson's place in the lineup. The confused umpires eventually make the correct call, telling Ross to bat again, now with one out, without his teammate having an opportunity to come to the plate. 2009 At AT&T Park, Randy Johnson records his 298th career victory when the Giants beat the Nationals, 11-7, in a game that featured pitchers with a combined height of 163 inches, making the matchup the tallest in baseball history. The 6-foot-10' Unit' and 6'9" Daniel Cabrera reached new heights by an inch, surpassing the previous mark established in 2004 by Cabrera and Mark Hendrickson, a southpaw that is 81 inches tall. 2009 In a 13-5 loss to the Reds at Chase Field, Josh Wilson keeps his career ERA at 0.00 by hurling a scoreless ninth inning to become the fifth Diamondbacks position player to pitch for the team. The Diamondbacks infielder also threw one inning for the Devil Rays in 2007. 2012 The Mets play their 8,000th game in franchise history, dropping a 6-5 decision in Miami when closer Frank Francisco allows the tying and winning runs to score in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Amazins have compiled a 515-485 record during the thousand-game span, with third baseman David Wright being the team's top home run hitter and run producer with 143 round-trippers and 595 RBIs. 2014 In his first appearance of the season, Aroldis Chapman strikes out three consecutive batters after issuing a leadoff walk and records a save in the Reds’ 4-1 victory over Colorado. During a spring training game in March against Kansas City, the Cincinnati All-Star closer was struck in the head by a line drive, which resulted in surgery to repair fractures near his nose and left eye. 2016 Max Scherzer ties a major league mark when he strikes out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, joining Roger Clemens (1986, 1996 Red Sox), Kerry Wood (1998 Cubs), and Randy Johnson (2001 Diamondbacks). The 31-year-old right-hander, who goes the distance in Washington's 3-2 victory over the Tigers at Nationals Park, has an opportunity to establish a new record with two out in the ninth, but James McCann grounds into a force out at second base, ending the contest. 2022 With his triple in the ninth inning, Christian Yelich completes his third career cycle, hitting a ground-rule double in the first inning, a two-run homer in the third, a single in the fifth in the Brewers' 14-11 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Milwaukee outfielder becomes the sixth major leaguer to accomplish the feat, joining Trea Turner, Adrián Beltré, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel, and John Reilly. (Ed. Note: All three of Christian Yelich's cycles occur while playing the Reds. In 2018, he 'cycled' twice against the team in a span of twenty days. - LP) 2024 The Cubs score six of their seven runs in the fifth inning thanks to six bases-loaded walks in the team’s eventual 10-9 loss to Pirates at PNC Park. The number of free passes in one frame is the most in 65 years when the White Sox drew eight in a 1959 contest against the A’s.
MAY 12 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1866 Lafayette "Lave" Cross [Vratislav Kriz] MLB baseball infielder, 1892-1907 (Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, and 5 other teams 1925 Yogi Berra HOF catcher, coach and manager (18 x MLB All-Star; 13 x World Series; NY Yankees; AL MVP 1951, 54, 55), and Purple Heart recipient 1935 Felipe Alou, Dominican baseball utility (MLB All-Star 1962, 66, 68; SF Giants, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves) and manager (Montreal Expos 1992–2001, SF Giants 2003–06) 1957 Lou Whitaker, MLB 2nd baseman (Detroit Tigers, 1978 AL Rookie of the Year 1966 Rafael Bournigal, infielder (Oakland A's), 1967 Cara Coughenour, pitcher (Colorado Silver Bullets), 1978 Josh Phelps ************************************** Today in Baseball History May 12th1884 Umpire Van Cort infuriates the visiting Detroit Wolverines when he calls their batter out on a third-strike foul tip in a National League contest played at the South End Grounds. Mike Hines, the Beaneaters' backstop, clearly did not catch strike three because the ball became wedged in his catcher's mask. 1910 Issuing just one walk, which spoils his bid for a perfect game, A's right-hander Chief Bender, who is part Chippewa, throws a 4-0 no-hitter at Shibe Park against the Cleveland Naps. The home plate umpire is Bill Dinneen, who tossed a no-hit game against the White Sox playing with the Pilgrims (Red Sox) in 1905, making him the only person in big-league history to both throw a no-hitter and call one as an umpire. 1915 White Sox hurler Red Faber hurls only 67 pitches in his complete-game 4-1 victory over the Senators. The future Hall of Fame right-hander keeps his pitch count by needing to throw just three pitches to retire the side in both the third and fifth innings. 1937 Ducky Medwick hits two home runs and two doubles at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl. The Cardinal outfielder's 12 total bases contribute to the Redbirds' 15-3 rout over the Phillies. 1941 After five undistinguished seasons of being called the Bees, the National League club in Boston reverts to its original name. New owners of the Braves had hoped to change the team's image by renaming the franchise. 1941 Lefty Grove wins his twentieth consecutive game at Fenway Park, the longest home-park streak in the big leagues. The 41-year-old southpaw starter established the new record by going the distance in the Red Sox's 8-4 victory over the Yankees. 1948 On WBZ-TV, the first Red Sox game ever televised from Fenway becomes must-see TV when Boston scores three times in the bottom of the tenth inning for a 6-5 walk-off victory. Bobby Doerr's three-run home run dramatically ends the contest after the White Sox tallied two runs at the top of the frame to break the 3-3 deadlock. 1950 Ted Williams apologizes to Red Sox fans for the 'insulting' gestures he made after being booed by the Fenway Faithful for allowing the eventual winning run to score on his second error of yesterday's game. In response to the patrons' vocal displeasure, the 'Splendid Splinter' had bowed three times to various sections of the Boston ballpark and made an obscene gesture with his finger. 1955 After Sam 'Toothpick' Jones walks the bases full in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs right-hander whiffs Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente, and Frank Thomas to preserve his 4-0 no-hitter against the Pirates. Unfortunately, only 2,918 fans are on hand at Wrigley Field to witness the first no-hitter ever thrown by a black player and the ninth rookie to throw a hitless game. 1956 At Ebbets Field, Carl Erskine tosses his second career no-hitter when he holds the crosstown rival Giants hitless in the Dodgers' 3-0 victory. The 29-year-old right-handed 'Oisk' also threw a no-no against the Cubs in 1952. 1956 Don Ferrarese gets his first major league victory, blanking the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium, 1-0. The Orioles' rookie southpaw loses a no-hitter when Andy Carey leads off the ninth inning with a single. 1958 In a 12-3 rout of their West Coast rival, Willie Mays homers twice against the Dodgers in the LA Memorial Coliseum contest. The Say Hey Kid's second round-tripper, a fifth-inning shot off Ed Roebuck, is the first grand slam hit by a San Francisco Giant. 1962 Craig Anderson, who will not win another major league game, dropping his next 19 decisions, including 16 this season, gets credit for the victory for both ends of a twin bill when the 5-17 Mets beat the Braves at the Polo Grounds, 3-2 and 8-7. The victories account for the first doubleheader sweep in franchise history and mark the first time a major league team has accomplished the feat with two walk-off homers, thanks to the ninth-inning heroics of Hobie Landrith and Gil Hodges. 1966 The first game played at Busch Memorial Stadium is an extra-inning affair. Lou Brock plates Curt Flood with a 12th-inning single off future Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Braves in their new ballpark. 1968 Luis Tiant improves his record to 5-2 when he tosses his fourth consecutive shutout, blanking the Orioles in the first game of a twin bill at Memorial Stadium, 2-0. 'El Tiante,' finishing the season with a 21-9 record, will post a league-leading 1.60 ERA in 34 appearances for the Tribe. 1968 The Mets play their 1000th game in franchise history, losing to Chicago at Wrigley Field in the first game of a doubleheader, 4-3. The Amazins compiled a 332-664 record with four contests ending in a tie but will start their next 1000 matchups with a resounding 10-0 rout of the Cubs in the nightcap. 1969 Cardinals right-hander Bob Gibson strikes out the side on nine pitches, whiffing Len Gabrielson (swinging), Paul Popovich (swinging), and John Miller (looking) in the seventh inning of the Cardinals’ 6-2 decision over the Dodgers at Busch Stadium. The 33-year-old right-hander becomes the seventh hurler in National League history to accomplish the feat.
MAY 13 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1934 Leon Wagner outfielder (MLB All-Star 1962, 63; LA Angels 1962 Sean McDonough sports newscaster 1971 Michael Sirotka pitcher (Chicago White Sox 1977 Robby Hammock (Arizona Diamondbacks 1978 Barry Zito, (Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants **************************************
Today in Baseball History1903 In a 13-7 rout of the Corsicana Oil Cities, Paris Parasites left fielder Clyde Bateman hits four home runs to become the second player in Texas League history to accomplish the feat, joining Oil Cities' Jay J. Clarke. In less than two months, the 26-year-old slugger, who will lead the circuit in hitting and homers, makes history again when he throws a no-hitter for the Steers (the franchise's new name after moving to Waco on June 26th) against the Fort Worth Panthers. (Ed. note- Clyde Bateman is also known as Quait Bateman - LP) 1911 The Red Sox come back to beat the Tigers, 13-11, overcoming a nine-run deficit in the Bennett Park contest. Duffy Lewis' tenth-inning grand slam proves to be the difference in the game that also features Ty Cobb's first bases-loaded round-tripper. 1911 In the bottom of the first inning, en route to a 19-5 rout of the Cardinals, the Giants score 13 runs, tallying a record ten times before the first batter is retired in the Polo Grounds contest. In New York's first-frame offensive barrage, Fred Merkle collects six RBIs, including a three-run inside-the-park round-tripper. 1929 Both teams wear numbers on their jerseys for the first time in major league history when the Indians host the Yankees at League Park in Cleveland. The numerals will become a permanent fixture on each club's attire. 1942 Braves' pitcher Jim Tobin, en route to a 6-5 victory over the Cubs, becomes the first modern-day hurler to hit three home runs in one game, equalling the feat of Guy Hecker, who hit three inside-the-park round-trippers playing for Louisville in 1886. 'Ironsides,' who pinch-hit a homer in the eighth inning of yesterday's contest, would have hit five consecutive blasts if his first-inning fly ball against the fence had gone out. 1947 During the pregame infield practice, a barrage of racial slurs is directed at Jackie Robinson by the Cincinnati fans during the Dodgers' first visit to Crosley Field this season. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a Southerner from Kentucky with friends attending the game and captain of the team, converses with the black infielder, putting his arm around his teammate's shoulder, a gesture that stuns and silences the crowd. Note: Although the teammates were good friends, various accounts put the year and place of the gesture in question. Further research suggests the incident most likely occurred in 1948, either in Cincinnati or Boston's Braves Field. 1952 "He grabbed me by the shoulder and said, 'Larry, you're going to be in the big leagues and the first time you hit a home run, I'm going to be the announcer to tell the world about it.' Can you imagine that? He's 15 years old. I'll be damned if it didn't happen." - LARRY MIGGINS, recalling his prep school friend's prediction during a school assembly. Larry Miggins, who had shared his dreams of being a big leaguer with a Fordham Prep buddy, hits the first of his two major league rounDtrippers, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals' 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The friend turns out to be Brooklyn's play-by-play announcer Vin Scully, the 15-year-old classmate with aspirations of being a baseball broadcaster who had predicted he would call his friend's first big-league homer during that conversation. 1952 At Shaw Stadium, 19-year-old Bristol (VA) pitcher Ron Necciai strikes out twenty-seven batters when he no-hits Welch (WV) in a Class D Appalachian League game. In the ninth inning, catcher Harry Dunlop, encouraged by the fans, deliberately mishandles the third strike, allowing the hitter to reach base, giving the Gallatin (PA) native a chance to strike out 27 when he whiffs four batters in the frame. 1954 In an 8-1 victory over the Reds at Connie Mack Stadium, Robin Roberts gives up a leadoff home run to third baseman Bobby Adams. The 27-year-old right-hander then proceeds to retire the next 27-consecutive batters in one of the most memorable games of his Hall of Fame career. 1955 For the first time in his major league career, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate, finishing the game with three round-trippers - two from the left side and one batting right-handed. The switch-hitting slugger drives in all of his team's runs in the 5-2 victory over Detroit at Yankee Stadium. 1958 As a pinch-hitter, Stan Musial collects his 3000th hit in the sixth inning off Moe Drabowsky in the Cardinals' 5-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 'The Man,' the youngest player to reach the milestone, is the eighth major leaguer to accomplish the feat. 1958 San Francisco teammates Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer have four long hits each, driving in four and six runs, respectively, in the team's 16-9 victory over the Dodgers at LA's Memorial Coliseum. The Giants' center fielder and shortstop combine for 28 total bases, with Mays hitting two homers, two triples, a single, and Spencer adding two round-trippers, a three-bagger, and a double to the offensive outburst. 1958 Phillies right-hander Robin Roberts gives up six hits in a complete-game effort, beating the Braves at Connie Mack Stadium, 5-2. The win marks the 31-year-old hurler's 191st career victory, which sets a franchise record, surpassing the mark established in 1930 by Pete Alexander. 1960 The Phillies drop their third consecutive 1-0 decision, losing to Jim O'Toole and the Reds at Crosley Field. In the previous two days, giants' hurlers Jack Sanford and Sam Jones had shut out Philadelphia at Candlestick Park. 1969 With his daughter Jan and her classmates in attendance at chilly Wrigley Field, first baseman Ernie Banks drives in seven runs with two three-run homers and a double in the Cubs' 19-0 rout of San Diego. Following the consecutive no-run performances by Ferguson Jenkins and Ken Holtzman, Dick Selma adds another, making it the first time in 60 years that the team has shut out its opponents in three consecutive games. 1970 With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning at Wrigley Field, Gary Gentry gives up his only hit, a short fly hit by Ernie Banks that outfielder Dave Marshall gets a glove on, but he cannot hold on to the ball. The Mets right-hander settles for a one-hit 4-0 victory over the Cubs, just missing the opportunity of being the first hurler in franchise history to throw a no-hit game if official scorer Jim Enright had ruled differently on the blooper to left field. 1976 For the sixth consecutive game, Royals' third baseman George Brett collects at least three hits, batting an incredible .692 during the span. The 18-for-26 spree against the Orioles, Twins, and White Sox raises his season's batting average from .277 to .396 with his torrid pace at the plate. 1980 In the eighth inning of the Red Sox's 10-5 victory over the Twins, Fred Lynn's run-scoring triple completes the 13th cycle in franchise history. The Boston outfielder, who collected four RBIs, hit a double in the first inning, drove in two with a fourth-inning round-tripper, and pushed across another run with a single in the sixth frame of the Fenway Park contest. 1982 The Cubs become the first major league team to win 8,000 games when Allen Ripley and Lee Smith combine to shut out Houston in the team's 5-0 victory at the Astrodome. The milestone comes in the 15,337th contest in the 107-year history of the franchise. 1985 After trailing by eight runs, going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Yankees rally to beat the Twins 9-8. Don Mattingly's ninth-inning two-out, three-run walk-off home run at the Bronx ballpark is the finishing touch. 1985 A day before his 43rd birthday, Tony Perez becomes the oldest player to hit a grand slam when he goes deep off Phillies' reliever Dave Rucker in the sixth inning of the Reds' 7-3 victory at Riverfront Stadium. The 42-year-old pinch-hitter breaks the seventy-year-old record held by Pirates' third baseman Honus Wagner, and the new mark will last until Julio Franco, 46, hits a base-loaded round-tripper in 2004. 1991 In the broadcast booth at Wrigley Field, Skip Caray and Chip Caray, the Braves' play-by-play announcers, join Cubs legend Harry Caray, the patriarch of the three-generation broadcasting family. The 77-year-old grandfather, known for his warm relationship with the Chicago fans, takes tremendous pride that his son and grandson have chosen to be baseball broadcasters. 1993 One day before his 40th birthday, George Brett hits his 300th career home run, joining Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays, and Al Kaline as the only players with three hundred homers and three thousand hits. A fan on a veterans' hospital outing, who happens to be blind, picks up the Royals' third baseman's historic ball. 2000 Todd Stottlemyre limits the opponents to one run in six innings to earn his 136th career victory when the Diamondbacks beat San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium, 6-2, making the Stottlemyres the first father and son to combine for 300 wins. The 35-year-old Arizona right-hander plans to give the game ball to his dad, Mel, who began chemotherapy early this season for bone marrow cancer. 2000 The Mets release a disgruntled Rickey Henderson a day after failing to hustle, turning a likely double into a single. When released, the 41-year-old stolen base leader is batting .219 with no homers and two RBIs. 2001 Still angry with umpire Mike Winters' ninth-inning check-swing call the night before, Devil Rays' manager Hal McRae gets thrown out before the game's first pitch when he steps out of the dugout to pick up his lost cause. 2001 Alex Rodriguez becomes fifth-youngest (25 years, 289 days) player to hit his 200th career homer. Mel Ott accomplished the feat in 1934 at the youngest age (25 years, 144 days), followed by Eddie Mathews (25 years, 243 days), Jimmie Foxx (25 years, 267 days), and Mickey Mantle (25 years, 280 days). 2002 Thirty-eight home runs shy of the exclusive 500 mark, one-time 'Bash Brother' Jose Canseco, 37, retires due to injuries sustained in recent years. The former American League MVP, released by the Expos during spring training, had his best years in Oakland as a teammate of Mark McGwire. 2007 In the comeback, which will become known as the Mother's Day Miracle, the Red Sox rally for six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Baltimore at Fenway Park, 6-5. Before the final frame, Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie had blanked the opponents on three hits before Boston crossed the plate six times, thanks to two singles, two doubles, three walks, and two errors. 2008 Along with the Red Sox' loss, the Rays' 2-1 victory over the Yankees in 11 innings puts the team in sole possession of first place for the first time in franchise history. The win makes Tampa Bay seven games over .500 (23-16), a mark never accomplished during the first 11 seasons of the club's existence. 2009 Ryan Zimmerman's Nationals-record consecutive hit streak comes to an end at 30 games when he grounds into a ninth-inning force play, ending the day 0-for-3 with two walks in the team's 6-3 victory at AT&T Park. Only two Washington ballplayers, Hall of Famers Heinie Manush and Sam Rice, have had longer hit streaks than the Nats' third baseman. 2010 Trey Hillman, who compiled a 152-207 record in his two-plus years with the club, is fired by the Royals. The popular and well-respected 47-year-old, who piloted the team to a 12-23 record this season, including today's victory, will be replaced by the team's current baseball operations assistant and former Brewers manager, Ned Yost. 2013 Thanks to a seventh-grade history class project, a three-mile stretch of the Kansas K-79 highway, from K-16 highway to Circleville, is designated by the Kansas legislature as the Barnes Brothers Memorial Highway in honor of Ozzie and Virgil. The McAlister middle schoolers' research about the siblings, who grew up in the community and played with the Braves, Giants, and Dodgers in the 1910-20s, brought to light many of their major league accomplishments, including being participants in the first brother matchup in big-league history. 2013 Justin Upton, playing In his first game at Chase Field since the January trade that sent him to Atlanta in a seven-player deal, collects four hits, including a home run and a double. The first overall pick by Arizona in the 2005 amateur draft receives a mixed reaction from the crowd, with slightly more cheers than boos during Atlanta's 10-1 rout of the Diamondbacks. 2015 Corey Kluber becomes one of five pitchers to strike out 18 or more batters without issuing a walk, joining Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Kerry Wood. The 29-year-old right-hander, who goes eight innings to get the victory when the Indians beat St. Louis 2-0 in the Progressive Field contest, also ties Johnson for the most strikeouts in a start lasting less than nine innings. 2016 Chris Heisey's pinch-hit home run, his third this season, marks the first time the Nationals have had two pinch-hitters go deep in the same game. Earlier in the contest, Stephen Drew, coming off the bench, blasted a game-tying two-run shot in the sixth inning of Washington's eventual 5-3 victory over Miami. **********
MAY 14 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1936 Robert Smith, American baseball administrato 1952 Rick Waits, baseball pitcher (Rangers, Indians, Twins) 1953 George Brett Hall of Fame 3rd baseman (13 x MLB All Star; World Series 1985; AL MVP 1980; KC Royals) 1956 Dan Patrick sportscaster 1955 Robin Yount HOF shortstop/center fielder (AL MVP 1982, 89; 3 x MLB All Star; Milwaukee Brewers; 3,142 hits 1967 John Smoltz, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher 1958 Orel Hershiser pitcher (LA Dodgers, Cleveland Indians l HOF left fielder (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1996, 98, 2005; NL batting champion 1986; Montreal Expos, NY Yankees, Chicago WS 1st since Ty Cobb to steal 70 & drive in 70 runs HOF left fielder (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1996, 98, 2005; NL batting champion 1986; Montreal Expos, NY Yankees, Chicago WS **************************************
