BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

ON THIS DATE
May 23​

1901: The Cleveland Blues, later known as the Indians, scored nine runs with two outs in the ninth inning to beat the Washington Senators 14-13.
1910: In the top of the ninth inning in a game against Boston, Cincinnati’s Dode Paskert stole second base, third base and home plate. The theft gave the Reds a 6-5 win.
1924: Washington’s Walter Johnson struck out 14 in a 4-0 one-hitter over the White Sox for his 103rd shutout.
1925: Cincinnati pitcher Pete Donohue had five hits--four singles and a homer-- in beating the Phillies 11-2.
1935: The first major league night game, scheduled for Cincinnati, was postponed because of rain.
1948: Joe DiMaggio hit three consecutive home runs, the first two off Bob Feller, to lead the New York Yankees to 6-5 win over Cleveland.
1962: New York’s Joe Pepitone hit two homers in the nine-run eighth inning of the Yankees’ 13-7 triumph over Kansas City.
1970: The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants battled for 15 innings, with the Padres winning 17-16. Nate Colbert led San Diego with five hits and four RBIs.
1991: Tommy Greene, making the 15th start of his major league career, pitched a no-hitter and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Montreal 2-0.
2000: The Orioles defeat the Mariners’ 4-2. Seattle’s Rickey Henderson draws his 2’000th career walk in the 9th inning’ making him the third player to reach that level’ after Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.
2002: Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shawn Green became the 14th man in major league history to homer four times in a game and set a big league record with 19 total bases. He went 6-for-6, scoring six times with seven RBIs in a 16-3 win at Milwaukee.
2003: Jeremi Gonzalez earned his first major league victory in nearly five years as Tampa Bay beat Anaheim 3-1. Gonzalez won for the first time since June 28, 1998, while with the Chicago Cubs. He had elbow surgery in 1998 and ‘99 before the Cubs released him in 2001.
2005: Lefthander Mark Mulder of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes just the 12th National League pitcher since 1976 to throw a complete game shutout of 10 innings or more when he blanks the Astros, 1-0, in 10 innings. Greg Maddux posted the last extra-inning shutout in the National League in 1988.
2009: Jason Giambi hit his 400th homer in the Oakland Athletics’ 8-7 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming the 44th player to reach the milestone.
2011: Corey Hart hit his first three home runs this season and drove in seven to tie both club records, lifting Milwaukee to an 11-3 win over Washington.
2018: The Seattle Mariners sign a new 25-year lease to continue playing at Safeco Field. The lease will take effect at the expiration of the current 20-year lease at the end of the season, a lease which was signed when the ballpark opened in 1999.
2023: Gerrit Cole records the 2,000th strikeout of his career when he fans Jorge Mateo of the Orioles in the 2nd inning, becoming the third-fastest pitcher to the mark in terms of both games pitched (278) and innings pitched (1,714 2/3).

May 24
1918: Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski pitched 19 innings in the Indians’ 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Former pitcher Joe Wood hit a home run for the win.
1935: In the first major league night game in Cincinnati, the Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 before 25,000.


1936: Tony Lazzeri, batting eighth for the New York Yankees, drove in 11 runs with a triple and three home runs: two of them grand slams: in a 25-2 rout of the Philadelphia A’s.
1940: The New York Giants beat the Boston Bees 8-1 before 22,260 in the first night game at the Polo Grounds.
1940: The Cleveland Indians edged the Browns 3-2 in the first night game at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. The crowd of 24827 was the largest in attendance since 1922.
1947: Brooklyn’s Carl Furillo batted for Gene Hermanski: in the first inning: and hit a three-run homer. Why the move? Phillies manager Ben Chapman started righty Al Jurisch just to pitch to Brooklyn’s first two hitters: Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. Reese struck out and Robinson walked. Lefty Oscar Judd, warming up from the start, came in to pitch to the next three lefty hitters: Pete Reiser, Dixie Walker, and Hermanski. Reiser walked and Walker popped out. Furillo came in for Hermanski and connected to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. The Dodgers lost to Philadelphia 4-3 in 10 innings.
1964: Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins hit the longest home run in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, a 471-foot shot to left-center off right-hander Milt Pappas.
1984: Jack Morris led the Tigers to their 17th straight road win, setting an AL record. Morris allowed four hits and Detroit beat the California Angels 5-1.
1990: Chicago’s Andre Dawson was walked intentionally five times by the Cincinnati Reds to break the record shared by Roger Maris and Garry Templeton.
1992: The Braves’ John Smoltz sets a franchise record by striking out 15 batters in a 2-1 win over the Expos.
1994: The St. Louis Cardinals set a major league record by stranding 16 runners without scoring, losing to David West and three Philadelphia Phillies relievers 4-0.
1995: Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley became the sixth pitcher with 300 saves in a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

1998: Freshman Matt Diaz hit four homers, tying a school and regional record, and drove in seven runs as Florida State routed Oklahoma 23-2 to advance to the NCAA Atlantic II Regional final.

2000: For the third time in major league history a team blew a seven-run lead twice in a week. The Houston Astros lost a 7-0 lead at home against Philadelphia after blowing a 9-2 lead in the ninth inning at Milwaukee two days earlier.
2001: Jon Lieber of the Chicago Cubs threw a 79-pitch, one-hit shutout in a 3-0 blanking of the Reds. It was the first shutout of the Reds in an NL-record 208 games.
2006: Adam Wainwright homered in his first major league at-bat and pitched three innings of relief to earn the win in St. Louis’ 10-4 victory over San Francisco. Wainwright, who had no batting practice since spring training, hit the first pitch he saw out to left in the fifth for a solo homer.
2007: John Smoltz of Atlanta pitched seven shutout innings and became baseball’s first pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves with a 2-1 win over the New York Mets.
2007: Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-6 with a homer in his 1,000th major league game. Suzuki compiled 1,414 hits in those games: the second most by a player in his first 1,000 games since 1900. Hall of Famer Al Simmons (1924-44) had 1,443 hits in that span.
2009: Milwaukee’s Mike Cameron homered in the Brewers’ 6-3 loss at Minnesota, becoming the 20th player in major league history to have 250 home runs and 250 steals. He has 291 career steals.
2010: Omar Vizquel, who already owns the record for most games played at shortstop, reaches another mark, tying Luis Aparicio’s total for second-most hits at the position, 2,764.
2011: Chicago’s Carlos Quentin hit three home runs to lead the White Sox to an 8-6 win over Texas. The game was delayed nearly 3 hours by heavy rain and hail. Quentin’s third homer: a solo shot off Dave Bush in the ninth: made it 8-6.
2013: Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Minnesota’s Joe Mauer broke it up with a one-out single, and that was the only hit the Detroit right-hander allowed in the Tigers’ 6-0 victory over the Twins.
2015: On the day they retire Bernie Williams’ number 51 and unveil a plaque in his honor in Monument Park, the Yankees suffer their 10th loss in 11 games to fall to .500. The Rangers’ 5-2 win completes a three-game sweep, as a two-run homer by Adam Rosales off Chris Capuano, and two RBIs by Prince Fielder, account for the bulk of the damage.
2019: Trevor Story of the Rockies becomes the fastest shortstop to the 100-homer mark when he connects off Shawn Armstrong of the Orioles in the 7th inning. It comes in his 448th game, whereas Alex Rodriguez had needed 470.

May 25
1906: Jesse Tannehill’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox snapped a 20-game losing streak: 19 at home: for the Boston Red Sox.

1935: Babe Ruth, winding up his career with the Boston Braves, hit three homers and a single at Pittsburgh, but the Pirates won 11-7. Ruth connected once off Red Lucas and twice off Guy Bush.

1941: Boston’s Ted Williams raised his batting average over .400 for the first time during the season. Williams finished the season batting. 406.

1951: Willie Mays, a highly touted rookie for the Giants, went 0-for-5 in his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.
1982: Ferguson Jenkins became the seventh pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in the Chicago Cubs’ 2-1 loss at San Diego. Jenkins reached the milestone by striking out Garry Templeton in the third inning.


2001: Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs allowed one hit and struck out 14 in a 1-0 win over the Brewers. Wood took a no-hit bid into the seventh before giving up a leadoff single to Mark Loretta.
2001: Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Sox tossed a one-hitter and struck out 14 in a 4-0 win over Toronto. Nomo faced one batter over the minimum of 27, giving up a leadoff double in the fourth to Shannon Stewart.
2002: Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers homered twice in a 10-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, setting a major league record with seven homers in his last three games.
2005: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1, in 12 innings, as manager Tony La Russa wins his 823rd game with the Cardinals, passing Whitey Herzog for second place on the franchise list. La Russa is 218 victories behind Cardinals leader Red Schoendienst.
2009: Jim Thome passes Mike Schmidt for 13th on the all-time home run list, as the White Sox thump the Angels, 17-3.
2009: Cleveland rallied from a 10-0 deficit in the fourth as Victor Martinez’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth capped a seven-run inning and lifted the Indians to an 11-10 victory over Tampa Bay. The Indians became the first team in the majors to win after trailing by 10 runs since the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 16-15 on May 8, 2004.
2011: Andruw Jones hit a pair of two-run homers, Mark Teixeira also hit a two-run shot and Mariano Rivera made a milestone appearance in New York’s 7-3 victory over Toronto. Rivera pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation, the 1,000th game he’s played for the Yankees. The 11-time All-Star closer became the first player in major league history to reach the plateau for one team and the 15th to make it overall. Jones homered in the second inning and Teixeira in the third off Jo-Jo Reyes, who matched a major league record by making his 28th consecutive start without a win.
2011: Infielder Wilson Valdez wound up as the winning pitcher when the Philadelphia Phillies needed 19 innings to outlast the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Valdez threw a hitless 19th inning in his first professional pitching appearance. He became the first position player to become a winning pitcher since Colorado catcher Brent Mayne on Aug. 22, 2000.
2012: Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam and tied his career high with eight RBIs, Josh Hamilton hit his 19th home run of the season and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3. Cruz’s grand slam came in the seventh inning and gave Texas a 14-1 lead. He also had a three-run double in the first and an RBI single in the sixth.
2013: Angel Pagan became the first San Francisco player to end a game with an inside-the-park homer, connecting with a runner aboard in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Giants a 6-5 victory over Colorado. The last major leaguer to hit an inside-the-park home run that ended a game was Rey Sanchez for Tampa Bay on June 11, 2004: also in a 10-inning victory over Colorado.
2014: Josh Beckett of the Dodgers records the first no-hitter of the year by blanking the Phillies, 6-0. It is the first no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo pitched one in 1996, and the first nine-inning no-hitter by an opposing pitcher in Philadelphia since Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos back in 1969.
2019: The Padres set a franchise record with 7 homers in a 19-4 win over the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe hit two each while Austin Hedges blasts a grand slam off Edwin Jackson. Cal Quantrill is the beneficiary of this power display as he records his first career victory a short distance from his hometown of Port Hope, ON, while another local boy, Josh Naylor from Mississauga, ON, collects his first three big league hits for the Padres in the game.
2021: By working home plate in a game between the Cardinals and White Sox, Joe West sets a new career record with 5,376 games as an umpire, passing Bill Klem, whose last game was in 1941.
2022: Anaheim City Council votes unanimously to cancel the sale of Angel Stadium and surrounding land to Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno, following the resignation of Mayor Bill Sidhu on corruption charges a few days earlier. The $350 million sale had been agreed in December 2019 but not yet finalized, and was at the center of an FBI investigation that led to accusations that Sidhu had provided insider information to the team and in return demanded kickbacks in the form of campaign contributions. The city councillors are now no longer convinced that the proposed deal reflects the city’s best interests, and are willing to risk a breach of contract lawsuit from Moreno in order to examine a potential deal again, starting from scratch.

May 26
1916: Benny Kauff of the Giants was picked off first base three times by Boston’s Lefty Tyler. The miscues didn’t hurt as New York won its 14th consecutive road victory beating the Braves, 12-1.
1925: In Detroit’s 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Ty Cobb became the first to collect 1,000 career extra-base hits. He finished his career with 1,139.
1929: Pinch-hitters Pat Crawford of the Giants and Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit grand slams in New York’s 15-9 victory.
1930: Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians, who fanned only three times in 353 at-bats during the season, was struck out twice in the same game by Pat Caraway of the White Sox.
1937: Billy Sullivan and Bruce Campbell appeared for the Cleveland Indians as pinch hitters. Each hit a home run, making this the first time two American League pinch hitters hit home runs in the same game. The Indians beat the Athletics, 8-6.
1956: Cincinnati Reds pitchers John Klippstein, Hershell Freeman and Joe Black combined for 9 2-3 hitless innings, but lost 2-1 in 11 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies.
1959: Harvey Haddix of Pittsburgh pitched 12 perfect innings before losing to Milwaukee 1-0 in the 13th on an error, a sacrifice and Joe Adcock’s double.
1962: Sandy Koufax struck out 16 Phillies to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 victory.
1969: Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 500th career double, becoming only the third major leaguer to reach 500 doubles and 500 home runs.
1995: Southern California and Fresno State combined for an NCAA postseason baseball record of 39 runs in the Trojans’ 22-17 win in the West Regional. USC scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break the record of 37 set by the Trojans and Houston in 1990.
1996: The Chicago White Sox became the 16th team in AL history to hit four homers in one inning in their 12-1 win over Milwaukee. Frank Thomas, Harold Baines and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers and Chad Kreuter added another in Chicago’s seven-run eighth.
1997: Chicago’s Sammy Sosa and the Pirates’ Tony Womack hit inside-the-park homers in the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 2-1 win. It was the first time two inside-the-park homers had been hit in the same inning in 20 years.
2004: Daryle Ward hit for the cycle and tied his career best with six RBIs in Pittsburgh’s 11-8 win over St. Louis.
2006: Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.
2008: Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5. The Phillies batted around three times and had season-highs in hits (19) and runs.
2011: The hot-hitting Boston Red Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 14-1 in an eight-inning, rain-shortened game. The Red Sox, who beat Cleveland 14-2 the previous day, scored at least 14 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998.
2016: Major League Baseball hands out a suspension of 82 games to Braves OF Hector Olivera, following a domestic violence incident in April. It is by far the most severe penalty yet handed out under baseball’s new domestic violence policy.
2018: Mike Trout has the first five-hit game of his career and drives in 4 runs to lead the Angels to an 11-4 win over the Yankees.
2021: Commissioner Rob Manfred issues his ruling following the completion of the investigation of allegations of improper behavior towards a number of women against former manager and coach Mickey Callaway. Callaway is found guilty of violating Major League Baseball policies and is declared ineligible for the remainder of this season and all of 2022, after which he may apply for reinstatement. For their part, the Angels fire him from his position of pitching coach, from which he has been suspended since the allegations surfaced in February, and the Indians, who were Callaway’s employer when some of the offensive incidents took place, state that they will take steps to ensure a more respectful environment in which employees feel empowered to denounce workplace harassement in the future.
2023: Craig Kimbrel becomes the eighth pitcher to record 400 career saves in Philadelphia’s 6 - 4 win over the Braves, barely two weeks after Kenley Jansen became the seventh.


May 27
1904: Dennis McGann of the New York Giants stole five bases in one game to set a major league record.
1937: Carl Hubbell, working in relief for the New York Giants, won his 24th straight game over two seasons. Hubbell pitched two innings and Mel Ott hit a ninth-inning home run to beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2. Hubbell’s string started July 17, 1936.
1955: Norm Zauchin of the Boston Red Sox knocked in 10 runs with three home runs and a double in the first five innings of a 16-0 victory over the Washington Senators.
1960: Baltimore catcher Clint Courtney used the “big mitt” for the first time to catch knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm. The mitt, designed by Paul Richards, was 50 percent larger than the standard. Nothing got by Courtney as the Orioles beat the New York Yankees 3-2.
1968: Montreal and San Diego were awarded National League franchises as the league expanded for the first time in seven years.
1974: Pittsburgh’s Ken Brett beat the San Diego Padres 6-0 with a two-hitter and in the second game of the doubleheader, hit a pinch-hit triple to give the Pirates an 8-7 victory.
1981: Seattle’s Lenny Randle dropped to his hands and knees in an attempt to “encourage” Amos Otis’ slow roller to go foul. Umpire Larry McCoy accused the Mariner third baseman of blowing the ball foul and gave the Kansas City outfielder the single. Randle explained he was merely yelling at the ball not to stay fair. The Royals won 8-5.
1986: At Cleveland, the Boston Red Sox were leading the Indians, 2-0, in the sixth inning when the game was delayed then called on account of fog.
1995: Oakland’s Steve Ontiveros pitched 3-0 one-hitter against the New York Yankees. Luis Polonia got the only hit for New York.
1997: Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. broke his own major league record for home runs hit through May by connecting for his 23rd of the season in an 11-10 loss to Minnesota. Griffey’s homer broke the mark he set in 1994.

2004: Carlos Pena was 6-for-6 with two home runs, five RBIs and four runs in Detroit’s 17-7 victory over Kansas City.
2009: Daisuke Matsuzaka and the rest of Boston’s pitchers tied a modern-day record with six wild pitches. Matsuzaka tied a franchise record set 80 years ago with four, while relievers Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson also sent catcher George Kottaras scrambling. It was just the fifth time since 1900 that a team threw six wild pitches in a game.
2010: Florida International’s Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 50 games, after a third-inning single against Western Kentucky. Wittels moved within eight games of matching the NCAA Division I record of 58, set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.
2012: Taylor Sewitt threw 11 shutout innings of relief, entering the game with no outs in the first, to help Manhattan College beat Canisius 3-2, for the school’s second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.
2012: Paul Konerko hit a tiebreaking three-run homer: his 400th with the White Sox: and Chicago routed the Cleveland Indians 12-6. The offensive outburst gave Chicago nine or more runs in four consecutive games. The White Sox last accomplished that feat June 27-30, 1938.
2015: Cubs pitcher Jon Lester sets a new record for most hitless at bats to begin a career with 58 at bats without a hit.

May 28
1918 -- Boston’s Joe Bush pitched a 1-0 one-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and drove in the lone run. The only Chicago hit was by Happy Felsch. It occurred when he threw his bat at the ball on a hit and run.
1939 -- Philadelphia pitcher Robert Joyce was victimized two straight days by New York’s George Selkirk. Joyce gave up two homers to Selkirk a day earlier. Joyce came on in relief on this day and gave up two more homers to Selkirk. Selkirk ended with four homers in four at-bats against the same pitcher over two successive games. The Yankees won 9-5.
1946 -- The Washington Senators beat New York 2-1 in the first night game at Yankee Stadium. The first ball was thrown out by General Electric president Charles E. Wilson.
1951 -- After going 0-for-12 in his first three major league games, Willie Mays of the New York Giants hit a home run off Warren Spahn in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Braves.
1956 -- Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a home run in his eighth consecutive game, a major league record. Long connected off Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine at Forbes Field.
1968 -- The American League announced the league will be split into two divisions. The East division will consist of Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Washington. California, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland and Seattle will make up the West.
1979 -- George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit for the cycle and added another home run to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 in 16 innings.
1986 -- Joe Cowley of the Chicago White Sox set a major league record by striking out the first seven batters he faced. He lasted 4 2-3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers.
1995 -- The White Sox and Tigers set a major league record with 12 homers, and combined for an American League-record 21 extra-base hits in Chicago’s 14-12 victory in Detroit.
1998 -- Arizona manager Buck Showalter intentionally walked Barry Bonds with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the Diamondbacks held on to beat San Francisco 8-7.
2003 -- Atlanta became the second team in major league history to start a game with three straight homers in its 15-3 win over the Reds. Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs off Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first. The Padres did it against the Giants on April 13, 1987.
2006 -- Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in behind Hank Aaron and his long-standing record of 755.
2007 -- Adrian Beltre tied a franchise record with four extra-base hits, including two homers, as Seattle pounded the Los Angeles Angels 12-5.
2010 -- Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera hit three homers in a 5-4 loss to Oakland. Oakland’s Ben Sheets gave up three runs -- on Cabrera’s first two homers -- worked seven innings in his longest start of the season.
2012: The Cubs end a twelve-game losing streak, their longest since 1997, with an 11-7 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field.
2010 -- Matt Cain pitched a one-hitter to match a career best, giving up only a two-out double in the second to Mark Reynolds, and San Francisco beat Arizona 5-0.
2013: The Mets honor Yankees great Mariano Rivera, who has announced his retirement at the end of the year, by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the two teams from the Big Apple at Citi Field, with retired Mets closer John Franco acting as his catcher for the occasion.
2016: In the 3rd inning of a game against the Dodgers, Mets P Noah Syndergaard is ejected for throwing at Chase Utley, in apparent retaliation for Utley’s aggressive slide which injured Mets SS Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS. Umpire Adam Hamari also tosses Mets manager Terry Collins for arguing his decision, then Utley gets his revenge when he opens the score with a solo homer off Logan Verrett in the 6th and adds a grand slam off Hansel Robles in the 7th. The Dodgers hit five homers in total as they win the game, 9-1.
2019: Derek Dietrich continues his unlikely homer binge as he hits three, all two-run shots, in leading the Reds to an 11-6 win over the Pirates. With 17 homers this year, he has already topped his career high, and 12 of his last 17 hits have gone over the fence. For the Pirates, rookie Kevin Newman hits his first career homer, a grand slam off Lucas Sims.
2023: Spencer Strider of the Braves becomes the fastest starting pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season, doing so in his 61st inning in an 11 - 4 win over the Phillies. Last year, Strider set the record for the fastest pitcher to reach 200 Ks in a season.

May 29
1916 -- Christy Mathewson defeated the Boston Braves 3-0 for the New York Giants’ 17th consecutive road win.
1922 -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled organized baseball was primarily a sport and not a business, and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations. The suit had been brought by the Federal League’s Baltimore franchise.
1928 -- Bill Terry hit for the cycle to lead the New York Giants to a 12-5 win over Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Terry became the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.
1942 -- New York’s Lefty Gomez, self-described as the worst-hitting pitcher in baseball, banged out four hits while pitching a 16-1 four-hitter against Washington.
1946 -- In a reverse integration role, Edward Klep became the first white to play in the Negro leagues in a game played in Grand Rapids. Klep pitched seven innings for the Cleveland Buckeyes against the American Giants in his debut with the Negro American League team.
1956 -- Dale Long went hitless for the Pirates, ending his major league record streak of home runs in eight consecutive games. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat Pittsburgh, 10-1.


1965 -- Philadelphia’s Richie Allen hit a 529-foot home run over the roof of Connie Mack Stadium off Chicago’s Larry Jackson in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory.
1976 -- Houston’s Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher and hit a home run off his brother, Phil Niekro. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1. It was the only home run hit by Joe in his 22-year major league career.

1990 -- Oakland’s Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s 62-year-old American League stolen base record, but the Toronto Blue Jays still beat the Athletics 2-1. Henderson’s 893rd steal came in the sixth inning.

2000 -- Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde turned the 10th unassisted triple play in regular-season history during a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. With runners on first and second in motion, Shane Spencer hit a line drive to Velarde who caught the ball, tagged out Jorge Posada (running from first) and stepped on second to beat Tino Martinez.
2002 -- Roger Clemens recorded the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) were the others to have 100 double-digit strikeout games.
2002 -- In an article in Sports Illustrated former NL MVP Ken Caminiti stated that about 50 percent of current major league players used some form of steroids.
2003 -- Colorado, behind Todd Helton’s three home runs and Ron Belliard’s five hits beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 12-5. Helton added a single and drove in six runs.
2010 -- Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. It was the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of perfect games in the same season. Halladay faced three Marlins pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, Wes Helms struck out, and Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out. Halladay struck out 11 and went to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.
2013 -- Chris Davis went 4 for 4 with two home runs, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame three homers by Ryan Zimmerman to beat the Washington Nationals 9-6.
2013 -- Dioner Navarro had the first three-homer game of his career, connecting from both sides of the plate at Wrigley Field to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Navarro drove in a career-high six runs and scored four times.
2014: Diamondbacks pitcher Josh Collmenter faces the minimum 27 batters in spite of allowing three hits in a complete game shutout defeat of the Cincinnati Reds. The three Reds baserunners were erased on double plays.
2015: Lewis-Clark State wins their 17th NAIA baseball title.
2021: The Twin’s Josh Donaldson scored the two-millionth run in major league history.

 

MIKE BIANCHI SENTINEL SPORTS

When it comes to the Orlando Dreamers and the burgeoning public campaign to bring Major League Baseball to Central Florida, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings hasn’t exactly grabbed a bat and sprinted out of the dugout.

He hasn’t thrown out the ceremonial first pitch. He hasn’t been photographed in an Orlando Dreamers cap. He hasn’t rushed to a microphone to declare that MLB in Orlando is a grand slam just waiting to happen.

And you know what?

That’s OK.

As much as I’m on the baseball bandwagon and as much as I think Orlando has a real shot at landing the Tampa Bay Rays if they become available, Mayor Demings is probably playing it smart by staying quiet, even if I wish he’d say, “If the Rays need a new home, Orlando’s only 85 miles away, and we’re open for business, baby!”

There are some critics who believe Demings is anti-baseball, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say this is all part of his master plan. If we’re talking baseball metaphors, Demings knows it’s not quite time to swing for the fences. He’s not trying to be the showboating slugger. He’s the patient leadoff hitter, working the count, waiting for the right pitch. In short: he’s playing small ball. And for a man whose job is to protect the financial interests of 1.5 million Orange County residents, that’s exactly what he should be doing.

“I’m open to the (baseball) conversation,” Demings told Ryan Elijah of Fox 35 earlier this week. “The conversation has to work both for the ownership groups and it has to work for our community. I’m very interested in seeing how many dollars the ownership groups will bring to the table to make it a reality. If it doesn’t have the right balance, it won’t see the light of day. If it has the right balance, it has a chance.”

I believe if the Rays leave Tampa, Orlando would not only have a chance; we would be a lock. According to Gov. Ron DeSantis, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it clear that he wants to keep a second team in Florida, besides the Miami Marlins. And it certainly appears Orlando’s effort is gaining financial and political momentum.

Orlando resident Rick Workman, the founder of the largest dental services corporation in the country, has agreed to be the anchor investor while another longtime Orlandoan — John Morgan, the founder of the largest injury law firm in the country — has said he is willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the project.

Orange County Commissioner Michael Scott, who represents the International Drive tourism district near the proposed stadium location, came out earlier this week and endorsed the baseball effort. In addition, the International Drive Chamber of Commerce, made up of many influential business leaders in the tourism district, has invited the key figures in the baseball effort — Workman, Morgan, Dreamers co-founder Jim Schnorf and Dreamers frontman and MLB Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin — to a panel discussion next month.

Still, there is much work to be done. Yes, it’s fun to dream about Orlando having a baseball team, but dreams don’t pay for stadiums. And stadiums, especially in 2025, don’t come cheap.

Any team that relocates or expands into Orlando is going to want a stadium — a state-of-the-art, domed/retractable-roofed, fan-friendly stadium with all the bells and whistles. (Hey, it’s Orlando, how about a roller coaster in center field?) And any stadium of that scale will require a public-private partnership. That’s not speculation. That’s straight from Manfred.

 

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Gorman Thomas
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ON THE ROAD FOR A FEW DAYS VISITING OLD PALS

 

Today in Baseball HistoryMay 24th​

1909 After beating the Cardinals a record 24 consecutive times, Giants legend Christy Mathewson finally loses to the Redbirds, 3-1. The winning streak spanned five years, starting in May of 1904.

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1918 Indians right-hander Stan Coveleski hurls for 19 innings in the Tribe's 3-2 victory over the Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Joe Wood's home run proves to be the difference.

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1918 A day after Secretary of War Newton D. Baker issued the work-or-fight edict, American League president Ban Johnson announces that the circuit would cease operation for the duration of WW I. The team's owners defy their once-formidable leader, having their teams play until Labor Day.

1935 The era of nighttime baseball begins as 25,000 fans watch the Reds beat the Phillies 2-1 in the first major league game ever played under the lights. At the White House, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a gold telegraph key during the Crosley Field pregame ceremonies, sending an electric signal to a table near first base, where MacPhail flips the switch to illuminate the stadium for the contest's 8:30 pm start, a time selected to ensure the departure of daylight.
(Ed. Note: The game, initially scheduled for yesterday, was postponed due to the threat of rain and cooler temperatures that had lower attendance to around 20,000, about a third less than stadium capacity. -LP)

1936 At Shibe Park, second baseman Tony Lazzeri becomes the first major league player to hit two grand slams in the same game when the Yankees annihilate the A's, 25-2. The bases-full homers enable the future member of the Hall of Fame to establish a new American League record with 11 RBIs.

1940 The Browns host the first major league game played in St. Louis under the lights. A Friday evening crowd of 24,827, the largest attendance figure in 18 years, watches Bob Feller and the Indians beat the home team at Sportsman's Park, 3-2.

1940 The hometown Giants, in the first night game played at the Polo Grounds, beat the Braves, 8-1. The Manhattan ballpark's $125,000 lighting system works well, allowing the 22,260 patrons to follow the nocturnal contest without any difficulties.

1941 The Braves sign 'Big Poison' Paul Waner after Brooklyn releases the 38-year-old right fielder. The former Dodger joins his younger brother' Little Poison' Lloyd on the Boston roster.

1947 Carl Furillo hits a three-run homer as a pinch-hitter in the first frame of the Dodgers' 4-3 ten-inning loss to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field. The unusual first-frame substitution results from Phillies manager Ben Chapman using right-handed starter Al Jurisch to pitch to the first two Brooklyn hitters before bringing in southpaw Oscar Judd to face the next three lefty hitters, including Gene Hermanski, the batter replaced by Furillo.

1950 Nat Clifton's Harlem Globetrotter contract is purchased by the New York Knicks, making the talented athlete the first black to sign a deal to play in the National Basketball Association. Before his career in the NBA, 'Sweetwater' played first base for the Chicago American Giants in the Negro Leagues.

1956 In Detroit, Mickey Mantle goes 5-for-5 with an intentional walk in the Yankees' 11-5 victory over the Tigers. "The Commerce Comet's" offensive output includes a homer and four singles.

1957 With scouts from all the major league teams watching the game, 18-year-old New Britain (CT) High School senior Steve Dalkowski, author of two scholastic no-hitters last month, strikes out 24 New London batters. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound standout will sign with the Orioles, one of nine clubs to show interest in the southpaw, for the maximum allowable $4,000 bonus but may have received another unreported $12,000 and a new car.

1957 During an off-day at Fenway Park, Ted Williams, using his shotgun, shoots approximately 35 pigeons sitting on a chair in front of the bullpen of the empty ballpark, predictably upsets the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. However, Red Sox owner and avid sportsman Tom Yawkey's participation in the Kid's target practice helps quell the outrage directed at the superstar ballplayer.

1957 In his first big-league at-bat, Frank Ernaga hits a third-inning home run to deep left field off future Hall of Fame southpaw Warren Spahn in Chicago's 5-1 victory over Milwaukee. The rookie right fielder follows his Wrigley Field round-tripper with a three-bagger in the next frame to become the first Cubs player to have hit a home run and a triple in his major league debut.

1964 Seven of the twenty major league teams do not cross home plate, setting the mark for shutouts in one day. The Twins, White Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals, and Giants do not score a run against their opponents.

1964 Harmon Killebrew tags the longest homer ever hit in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The Twins left fielder's 471-foot shot, which clears the hedge in left-center field, is hit off Milt Pappas in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Orioles.

1964 After being first proposed in 1959, a groundbreaking ceremony finally marks the start of construction of the Civic Center-Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The development of the area, located amid a blighted area near the city's core that includes Chinatown, is seen by city officials as the start of a new era in St. Louis.

1965 With the sun's glare making fly balls challenging to track during day games, the team paints the Astrodome's clear plastic panes. The $20,000 decision to cover the roof, which reduces the ambient lighting by 40%, prevents the ballpark's natural grass from growing and will lead to the use of Astroturf next season.

1967 Tommy McCraw, with eight RBIs, drives in more than half of the runs in the White Sox' 14-1 rout of Minnesota at Metropolitan Stadium. The Chicago first baseman's offensive output includes a pair of three-run homers and a two-run round-tripper.

1969 For the first time since the start of the season, a span of forty-one games, Don Kessinger does not reach base. The Cubs Gold Glove shortstop grounds out four times and hits into a fly-ball double play in his last at-bat during Chicago's 7-5 loss to the Padres at San Diego Stadium.

1972 At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Don Rose homers on the first pitch he sees in his first major league at-bat. The right-hander's third-inning round-tripper, his only career home run, and the last hit by an American League hurler for thirty years proves to be the difference in the Angels' 6-5 victory over the A's, earning the 25-year-old his only win in the big leagues.

1973 In a 19-inning marathon, LA outfielder Willie Davis collects six hits in a 7-3 loss to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The two clubs establish a National League mark by hitting into nine double plays.

1976 Bert Campaneris steals five bases, one shy of the major league mark, in the A's 12-7 victory over the Twins at the Oakland Coliseum. The fleet shortstop will swipe 54 bases, the third-best in the American League this season.

1978 In an inning which lasts over an hour, 15 players score before the first out is recorded when the Florida State League's Tampa Tarpons beat Daytona Beach, 18-2.

1984 The Tigers equal the major league mark set by the 1916 Giants with their 17th consecutive road victory when the team defeats the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, 5-1. The win, a Jack Morris four-hit complete game, breaks the American League record of 16, established by the Senators in 1912.

1986 A "drunk" Billy Martin is "fired" as the co-host of Saturday Night Live by executive producer Lorne Michaels after slurring his lines during a skit. In retaliation, the often-unemployed Yankee manager "sets fire" to his dressing room at the end of the show, which is the season's finale.

1991"I can only hope that one day those teammates who have found it convenient to criticize me will realize that we are all in this together. If only we can concentrate more on the games than complaining and bickering and pointing fingers, we would all be better off." - Text from Gregg Jefferies' Open Letter.
In an open letter read on WFAN, a New York sports-talk radio station, Gregg Jefferies, in response to the negative attention from Mets fans, pleads his case about being treated fairly. The embattled infielder's plea leads to a players-only meeting, prompting David Cone to agree with the 23-year-old second baseman that the anonymous derisive quotes from teammates are unfair and should be banned.

1993 Indian starter Tom Kramer faces only 28 batters when he beats Texas at Cleveland Stadium, 4-1. The rookie right-hander, who will not return to the major leagues after this season, allows just one baserunner, DH Julio Franco, who hits a fourth-inning home run.

1993 The Mets play their 5000th game in team history, losing to Philadelphia at Veterans Stadium, 6-3. Although New York has a record of 527 wins and 473 losses in the last thousand games, the franchise is still 338 games under .500 since its first contest in 1962.

1994 The Cardinals set a major league record at Busch Stadium when they leave 16 men stranded on the bases without scoring. The Phillies take advantage of the Redbirds' lack of timely hitting and beat St. Louis, 4-0.

1994 In a 13-6 Oriole win over Milwaukee at County Stadium, Cal Ripken hits his 300th career home run, a three-run shot to deep left field off Teddy Higuera in the third inning. The 33-year-old future Hall of Fame infielder will finish his career in 2001 with 431 round-trippers.

1995 Tossing a scoreless ninth inning in the A's 5-2 win over the Orioles at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Dennis Eckersley records his 300th career save. The Oakland right-hander becomes the sixth reliever to reach the milestone in major league history.

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In the NCAA Atlantic II Regionals, future major league outfielder Matt Diaz hits four home runs in Florida State's 23-2 routing of Oklahoma. The Seminoles freshman's offensive output, including seven RBIs, ties the school and tournament record for round-trippers.


2000 Shawn Estes pitches a seven-hitter and becomes the first Giants pitcher in 51 years (Monty Kennedy-1949) to hit a grand slam en route to handing the Expos their worst defeat in franchise history, 18-0. The San Bernardino native misses joining Tony Cloninger as the only major league pitcher to hit two slams in a game when he hits a long foul ball before singling with the bases loaded in the eighth inning.

2000 Mark McGwire becomes the fastest player to hit 20 home runs in one season, reaching the mark in 35 games. 'Big Mac' accomplishes the feat in six fewer contests than Mickey Mantle (1956) and his own record (1998).

2000 The commissioner's office suspends sixteen Dodger players and three coaches for going into the stands during the Wrigley Field scuffle with fans on May 16. The suspensions totaling 60 games for players and 24 games for coaches is the harshest penalty ever handed down by major league baseball.

2000 Ahead by seven runs after five innings of play at Enron Field, the hometown Astros find a way to lose to the Phillies, 9-7. In Milwaukee, two days earlier, with a 9-2 advantage in the bottom of the ninth inning, Houston blew another seven-run lead in the eventual ten-inning, 10-9 loss to the Brewers at County Stadium.

2001 Needing just 78 pitches, Jon Lieber blanks the Reds at Wrigley Field, 3-0. After taking a perfect game into the sixth inning, the Cubs right-hander gives up a one-out single to Juan Castro and issues one walk while facing a minimum of 27 batters in the contest that takes one hour and 48 minutes to complete.
(Ed. Note: Cincinnati establishes a new National League record, going 208 games without being blanked, with the 1931-33 Yankees (308) and the 1978-79 Milwaukee Brewers (212) being the only teams with longer streaks.- LP)


2001 Lana Blefary, the wife of former Oriole outfielder Curt Blefary, scatters the ashes of her husband's remains at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Although little of the demolished stadium remains, she can still fulfill her husband's last wishes.

2002 When a container drops from a low-flying plane, hitting and bouncing off the stadium roof onto the street, Seattle hazardous materials crews close off the roads around Safeco Field for about an hour. The object turns out to be the remains of an unidentified man's cremated ashes.

2003 Broadcasters Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall become the first non-players featured on a Reds-produced bobblehead. The popular promotion also marks the team's first dual bobblehead.

2006 Carl Crawford, leading the Devil Rays to a 10-8 victory over the Blue Jays, goes 5-for-5 to tie the franchise record for hits in a game. The Tampa Bay left fielder collects five hits, including a home run, scores five runs, and steals four bases in his career night at the Rogers Centre.

2006 Swinging on the first pitch in his first major league at-bat, Adam Wainwright homers in the fifth inning of the Cardinals' 10-4 win over San Francisco at AT&T Park. The 24-year-old right-hander also tosses three innings in relief to record his second career victory.


2007 In his 1,000th major league game, Ichiro Suzuki goes 3-for-6, giving the Mariner outfielder a career total of 1,414 hits. Only Hall of Famer Al Simmons compiled more in the same span of games, collecting 1,443 from 1924-1931 for the Philadelphia A's.

2019 The Twins hit three homers against the White Sox Field in their 11-4 victory at Target Field, joining the 1999 Seattle Mariners as the only other club with 100 home runs in their first 50 games of the season. Minnesota's barrage is part of the MLB teams combining to blast the second-most homers in a single day, going deep 59 times in 14 games, second only to the 62 big flies launched in 16 games on July 2, 2002.

2019 Major League teams combine to hit the second-most home runs in a single day in baseball history, going yard 59 times in 14 games, second only to the 62 round-trippers blasted on July 2, 2002, in sixteen contests. With the 'Twins' three homers against the White Sox at Target Field as part of today's barrage, Minnesota joins the 1999 Seattle Mariners as the only two teams with 100 home runs in their first 50 games of the season.

 

ON THIS DATE
May 25​

1906: Jesse Tannehill’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox snapped a 20-game losing streak --19 at home -- for the Boston Red Sox.

1935: Babe Ruth, winding up his career with the Boston Braves, hit three homers and a single at Pittsburgh, but the Pirates won 11-7. Ruth connected once off Red Lucas and twice off Guy Bush.

1941: Boston’s Ted Williams raised his batting average over .400 for the first time during the season. Williams finished the season batting. 406.

1951: Willie Mays, a highly touted rookie for the Giants, went 0-for-5 in his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies.

1982: Ferguson Jenkins became the seventh pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in the Chicago Cubs’ 2-1 loss at San Diego. Jenkins reached the milestone by striking out Garry Templeton in the third inning.

2001: Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs allowed one hit and struck out 14 in a 1-0 win over the Brewers. Wood took a no-hit bid into the seventh before giving up a leadoff single to Mark Loretta.

2001: Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Sox tossed a one-hitter and struck out 14 in a 4-0 win over Toronto. Nomo faced one batter over the minimum of 27, giving up a leadoff double in the
fourth to Shannon Stewart.

2002: Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers homered twice in a 10-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, setting a major league record with seven homers in his last three games.

2005: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1, in 12 innings, as manager Tony La Russa wins his 823rd game with the Cardinals, passing Whitey Herzog for second place on the franchise list. La Russa is 218 victories behind Cardinals leader Red Schoendienst.

2009: Jim Thome passes Mike Schmidt for 13th on the all-time home run list, as the White Sox thump the Angels, 17-3.

2011: Andruw Jones hit a pair of two-run homers, Mark Teixeira also hit a two-run shot and Mariano Rivera made a milestone appearance in New York’s 7-3 victory over Toronto.

 

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In 2001 Barry Bonds posted 411 Total Bases…in 476 AB
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Capt. Elmer J. Gedeon, MLB player KIA while piloting a B-26 bomber on a mission over France during WWII (1944)


First Lieutenant Harry O'Neill, former Philadelphia A’s catcher KIA during WWII (Iwo Jima - March 1945)
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Capt. Edward L. Grant, the first major league player to die in combat during WWI.
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UF BASEBALL Florida makes 17th consecutive NCAA appearance
Tourney caps recovery by Gators
Florida makes 17th consecutive NCAA appearance
By Jackson Castellano Orlando Sentinel correspondent
GAINESVILLE — In a season that began with a program-worst 1-11 conference start for the Florida Gators, things have returned to normalcy. The Gators went on a surge to finish 15-15 in the SEC and, despite falling short of a hosting spot, are back in the NCAA tournament for the 17th straight season.

Florida is set to play in the Conway, South Carolina, regional as a No. 2 seed starting Friday. The Gators will compete with Coastal Carolina, Eastern Carolina and Fairfield for a chance to move into a Super Regional against the survivor from among host Auburn, NC State, Stetson or Central Connecticut State.
The Gators will open against ECU at noon on ESPN2.

“I told the team at the end, ‘You probably need to take some time to reflect back on what just happened,’” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said about Monday’s announcement. “Just to be 1-11 and end up at 15 wins in the league, no one’s ever done that since the league expanded (in 1992).”

The regional bracket is double elimination, meaning teams must lose twice before their seasons are officially over. A regional can be won in as few as three games if a team goes undefeated or in as many as five games if a team makes it through the losers bracket and defeats the winners bracket champion twice in the regional final.

ECU went 33-25 during the regular season with a 13-14 conference record and a No. 66 RPI ranking.
The Pirates were sitting on the bubble before sweeping the American Athletic Conference tournament to earn an automatic qualifying bid.
While they are hot at the right time, the Pirates don’t match up well against Florida. ECU lags behind in nearly every statistical category. And with a 3-8 record against Quadrant 1 teams, East Carolina generally performs worse against good programs.

Fairfield may be the toughest No. 4 seed of any regional. With a No. 70 RPI ranking, the Stags had the resume to potentially earn a No. 3 seed. While its competition this year wasn’t the fiercest as Fairfield went 2-2 in just four Q1 and Q2 matchups, it’s definitely not the first team Florida wants to see if it’s on the ropes in the losers bracket.

The biggest challenger of the regional, as it’s designed, is the hosting Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Coastal won a nation’s best 48 games, is No. 8 in RPI and won its last 10 games on the way to a Sun Belt title and an automatic bid. In a rowdy environment that’s seen record-breaking crowds this season, it could be the Chanticleers’ regional to lose.

Florida will be able to do whatever it prefers when it comes to pitching through regionals. Each of its usual weekend starters — Liam Peterson, Pierce Coppola and Aidan King — will be on over a week’s rest come May 30.

With the tougher opponents likely waiting later in the bracket, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the Gators to throw Coppola first on another short stint post-injury before moving to bullpen arms such as Luke McNeillie, Billy Barlow or Blaine Rowland.

The Gators will also look for a big weekend from closing pitcher Jake Clemente, who’s dominated with a 3.37 ERA and 7 saves after making the switch from starter to bullpen arm early in the year. Clemente will likely get the nod for any save situation during the week.
Beyond that, Florida has no other healthy pitchers who could throw leverage innings in relief, much less as a starter. The best case is making it through the bracket in as few games as possible.
“Obviously our job is not finished,” O’Sullivan said.

The Gators will be hoping to get shortstop Colby Shelton back after he had surgery on a hamate bone injury a few weeks ago. Shelton is a mainstay for the Gators with a solid glove and a team-best .377 batting average. His availability will be a huge factor in Florida’s chances against the Conway slate.
“Hopefully we get Colby back for the regional, and that’s kind of what we’re shooting for,”O’Sullivan said. “It’s just been a lot of disruption. We got guys moving around, but they hung in there.”
Were the Gators to win their regional bracket, the Super Regional opponent could be Auburn. The Tigers are one of six SEC teams Florida didn’t play in the regular season. Auburn had a strong year to earn the No. 4 national seed, especially offensively. Five of its 11 qualified hitters are batting over .300, with none hitting under .240.

That includes former Florida player Deric Fabian, brother of former fan favorite Jud Fabian. Deric Fabian transferred ahead of the 2024 season after struggling to carve out a significant role in Gainesville.

 

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Today In 1984: The Boston #RedSox finally retire the uniform numbers of Ted Williams #9 and Joe Cronin #4 in a ceremony at Fenway Park!
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Babe Ruth with the National Guard.