BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

9/11
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1892 Ernie Koob pitcher (no-hitter 1917; St. Louis Browns), born in Keeler, Michigan (d. 1941)

1926 Eddie Miksis player, born in Burlington, New Jersey (d. 2005)
1944 John McSherry MLB baseball umpire, 1971-96 (World Series - 1977, 87; All-Star Game - 1975, 82, 91), born in The Bronx, New York City (d. 1996)

1958 Don Slaught catcher (California Angels, NY Yankees), born in Long Beach, California
1964 Ellis Burks outfielder (Colorado Rockies), born in Vicksburg, Mississippi

1969 Eduardo Perez player, born in Cincinnati, Ohio

1979 Frank Francisco pitcher, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1983 Jacoby Ellsbury player, born in Madras, Oregon

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1886 At Washington's Swampoodle Grounds, backstop Connie Mack makes his major league debut when the Nationals, in a rare victory, edge the Philadelphia Quakers, 4-3. As a manager, the journeyman catcher posts the most big-league wins and losses, compiling a 3731-3948 (.486) record with the Pirates and A's during his 53-year managerial career.

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Roger Connor becomes the first and only player to hit a ball out of the original Polo Grounds (110th Street and Fifth Avenue). The Giants' first baseman receives a $500 gold watch from stockbrokers and others to honor his accomplishment.
1902 In the bottom of the 11th inning, John Malarkey hits a game-ending homer off St. Louis right-hander Mike O'Neill to give the Beaneaters a 4-3 win in the first game of a twin bill at Boston's South End Grounds. Malarkey becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to earn a victory by hitting a walk-off home run.
1912 Eddie Collins steals six bases when Philadelphia beats the Tigers at Detroit's Navin Field. 9-7. The A's second baseman, who will swipe six bags again in September, will end the season with 66 stolen bases, second behind Clyde Milan's league-leading 88.

1915 Eddie Plank of the Federal League's St. Louis Terriers records his 300th victory when he defeats the Newark Peppers 12-5. The future Hall of Famer (1946) is the ninth player and first southpaw to reach this milestone.

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1918 In the earliest conclusion of the Fall Classic, Boston's Carl Mays three-hits the Cubs 2-1, with the Red Sox winning the World Series in six games. Baseball shortened the regular season by a month to meet many major leaguers' obligation to leave their team after being drafted into the military to serve in World War I.

1923 At Yankee Stadium, Red Sox hurler Howard Ehmke misses being the first pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters, tossing a one-hitter in the team's 3-0 victory against New York. The only safety given up by the 29-year-old right-hander is a first-inning infield hit to lead-off batter Whitey Witt, a grounder misplayed by Boston's third baseman Howard Shanks that is ruled a single by the official scorer.

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1928 Yankee shortstop Mark Koenig's routine catch of A's pinch-hitter Ty Cobb's pop fly behind third base will mark the last time the 'Georgia Peach' swings a bat in the big leagues. The aging 41-year-old, the all-time hits leader, will announce his retirement six days later, ending a 24 year Hall of Fame career.

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1938 Free admission and giveaways of small bats and bags of peanuts highlight Lefty O'Doul Day at Seals Stadium for youngsters under 14. Between games of the PCL doubleheader against the Oakland Oaks, the kids have a chance to scramble for autographed balls thrown by the San Francisco Seals players.
1942 Paul Gillespie homers in his first major league at-bat, hitting a solo shot off Harry Feldman in the second inning of the Cubs' 4-3 loss to New York at the Polo Grounds. The Chicago reserve catcher will become the first of only two players in baseball history, along with John Miller (1966-1969), to a hit home run in their first and last big-league at-bats, when he blasts a round-tripper in his final plate appearance in 1945.
1947 Ralph Branca becomes the youngest pitcher to win twenty games in the National League. The 21-year-old Dodger right-hander, who finishes the season with 21 victories, reaches the plateau in his third attempt when Brooklyn beats the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park, 4-3.

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1948 For the 16th consecutive season, the Phillies will have a losing season when the team loses its 78th game of the year, dropping a 13-2 decision to the Braves at Shibe Park. The drought, which began in 1933, will be the longest in big-league history until the Pirates suffer through twenty downtrodden years from 1993 to 2012.
1954 New York first baseman Whitey Lockman pinch-hits a grand slam off Cincinnati right-hander Howie Judson. The seventh-inning four-run round-tripper propels the first-place Giants to an eventual 7-5 victory over the Reds at the Polo Grounds.
1955 After working the count full with two outs in the ninth, Del Crandall hits a grand slam, giving the Braves a dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory over Philadelphia. Milwaukee had entered the final frame at County Stadium behind 4-0 before the backstop abruptly ended the game with his 'ultimate grand slam.
1955 In his first and only major league appearance, Fred Van Dusen, entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning for the Phillies, is hit by a pitch thrown by Humberto Robinson of the Braves. The 18-year-old bonus baby's career ends with an on-base percentage of 1.000 but without a batting average.
1956 Frank Robinson ties Wally Berger's 1930 National League rookie record for home runs with his 38th in the Reds' 11-5 victory over the Giants at the Polo Grounds. Mark McGwire (1989 Cardinals, 49), Aaron Judge (2017 Yankees, 52), and Pete Alonso (2019 Mets, 53) will extend the major league mark for freshman homers.

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1959 At Memorial Stadium, two twenty-year-old Oriole hurlers throw complete-game shutouts in a twin bill sweep against the White Sox. Jack Fischer wins the opener 3-0, and Jerry Walker pitches 16 innings, beating the Pale Hose in the nightcap, 1-0.

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1959 The Dodgers end Elroy Face's consecutive win streak at 22 with a 5-4 victory over the Pirates. The winner of only three major league career victories, Chuck Churn snaps the reliever's run, who will finish the season with an 18-1 record.

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1964 At Milwaukee's County Stadium, Braves' southpaw Denny Lemaster throws a one-hitter, beating the Reds and Jim Maloney, who gives up only two hits, 1-0. The only run of the two-hour and six-minute contest scores on a sac fly by Felipe Alou plating Gene Oliver in the bottom of the eighth inning.

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1966 In his debut, Nolan Ryan whiffs the first batter he faces, making Braves pitcher Pat Jarvis the first strikeout victim the right-hander will claim during a 27-year Hall of Fame career. The 19-year-old Mets right-hander fans three batters during his two-inning Shea Stadium stint in relief en route to setting a major league mark of 5,714 career strikeouts.

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1966 In his first major league at-bat, John Miller hits a round-tripper off Lee Stange in the second inning of the Yankees' 4-2 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. The 22-year-old outfielder, whose total of 10 hits in his 32 big-league games includes two home runs, will become the second player, joining Paul Gillespie, to hit a homer in his first and last plate appearance when he goes deep as a pinch-hitter for the Dodgers in his final turn at-bat in 1969.
1968 Tying a dubious major league record, Cubs right-hander Ferguson Jenkins loses his fifth 1-0 decision of the season when the Mets and Jim McAndrew beat Chicago with a lone run at Wrigley Field. The Canadian-born hurler will finish the season with a 20-15 record but is 20-6 in games where his team scores a run.

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1969 Implementing an innovation he conceived, team owner Ewing Kauffman announces plans to start the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy. Presently a scout, Syd Thrift, will be named the director of the program, designed to develop gifted athletes into major-league ready ballplayers for the organization.
1974 In a game that will feature a record 202 batters, the Cardinals defeat the Mets in the seven-hour and four-minute Shea Stadium contest, 4-3, with Hank Webb taking the loss after making an errant pickoff throw in the top of the 25th inning that leads to the eventual winning run. Redbird Ken Reitz's two-strike, two-out home run had tied the game in the top of the ninth, making the extra innings necessary.
1975 Not satisfied with the Yankees' offer, the White Sox withdraw their waivers on 40-year-old Tom Seaver, blocking New York's attempt to obtain the future Hall of Fame right-hander. The Bronx Bombers, 1.5 games behind Blue Jays and in need of pitching, also showed interest in the 13-10 hurler because the acquisition would help win the daily battle for media coverage in the Big Apple with the crosstown Mets, the team that considers him the 'Franchise.'

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1979 The Expos beat the Cubs at Olympic Stadium, 8-6, for their 82nd win of the campaign. The victory ensures Montreal of a winning season for the first in the 11-year history of the franchise.

 

1979 The Expos beat the Cubs at Olympic Stadium, 8-6, for their 82nd win of the campaign. The victory ensures Montreal of a winning season for the first in the 11-year history of the franchise.
1985 At Riverfront Stadium in front of 47,237 hometown fans, Reds' player-manager Pete Rose collects his 4,192nd career hit to pass Ty Cobb, who had his last at-bat 57 years ago on this date, to become the all-time major league hit leader. Padres right-hander Eric Show gives up the historic hit, a first-inning single to left field, in Cincinnati's eventual 2-0 victory over San Diego.

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1987 With his 30th stolen base, Mets third baseman Howard Johnson becomes the first National League infielder to become a 30-30 club member. The other players in the Senior Circuit to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season are outfielders Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Bobby Bonds, Dale Murphy, and Eric Davis.

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1987 In the opening game of a critical series against the Mets at Shea Stadium, Terry Pendleton hits a ninth-inning game-tying home run in the Cardinals' eventual 6-4 overtime victory with two outs and two strikes. The Redbird's third basemen's dramatic long ball smashes the car windshield of New York starter Ron Darling, who pitched one-hit ball before leaving in the top of the seventh due to spraining his thumb fielding Vince Coleman's bunt in the last inning.
1991 Three Atlanta hurlers pitch the first combined no-hitter in National League history. Kent Mercker, Mark Wohlers, and Alejandro Pena join forces to hold the opposing batters hitless in the Braves' 1-0 victory over the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium.

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1996 Having hit a home run off right-hander Francisco Cordova earlier in the game, Ken Caminiti goes deep in the bottom of the seventh inning off southpaw Matt Ruebel, making it the fourth time this season he has homered from both sides of the plate in a game. The Padres' third baseman breaks his own major league record, which he established last year when he accomplished the feat three times.

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1997 In a 9-5 Mets victory over the Expos at Shea Stadium, slow-footed John Olerud legs out an eighth-inning three-run triple to center field off Steve Kline, completing the first of two career cycles. The 29-year-old New York first baseman becomes the seventh player in the franchise's 33-year history to accomplish the feat.

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1998 Dropping an 8-2 decision against division-leading Atlanta, the Marlins lose their 100th game of the season, becoming the first team from being World Series champions to having triple digits defeats the next season. Florida, which has never had 100 defeats during its six-year existence, will compile a 54-108 (.333) record to finish last in the five-team National League East.
1998 Kevin Malone is named the Dodgers' general manager, replacing Tommy Lasorda, who becomes the team's senior vice president. The "new sheriff in town" tenure in Los Angeles features high-profile players signing huge contracts, including Kevin Brown's seven-year deal making the right-hander the first $100 million man in baseball.
1999 Facing just one batter, Doug Jones records his 300th career save when he gets the final out in the A's 5-4 win over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. The 42-year-old right-handed reliever, the 11th closer to reach the milestone, will retire at the end of next season with 303 saves.

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1999 Twins' southpaw Eric Milton throws a no-hitter against the visiting Angels, 7-0, the fourth since the team moved to Minnesota from Washington, D.C. in 1961. The 24-year-old retires the side in order seven of the nine innings en route to his 13-strikeout gem at the Metrodome.

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2001 In the wake of terrorist attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Major League Baseball cancels all games for security reasons and the deep mourning of the senseless loss of lives. The evacuation of Yankee Stadium also takes place as a precautionary measure.
2002 Yankee legends Whitey Ford and Phil Rizzuto unveil a monument dedicated to the September 11th terrorist attacks victims. The team also has a ceremonial tree planting in Monument Park in honor of the heroes and victims of last year's horrific events.

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2004 The 36,887 Bank One Ballpark fans, hoping to see Barry Bonds hit his 699th and perhaps 700th career homer, watch the Giant left fielder reach a different milestone. The San Francisco slugger receives three bases-on-balls from Diamondback pitchers to break his own record and become the first major leaguer to walk over 200 times in a single season.
2006 Cody Ross ties two team records with three home runs and seven RBIs in the Marlins' 16-5 rout of Mets. The Florida right fielder drives in all of his runs in the Dolphin Stadium contest with a pair of two-run homers and a three-run round-tripper.
2006 Frank Thomas goes yard in his sixth straight game, setting an A's franchise record. The Big Hurt's 36th home run, which comes off Twins' starter Carlos Silva, is nearly caught by center fielder Torii Hunter.

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2008 Jack Cust whiffs in his first two plate appearances and K's again in the eighth inning to bring his strikeout total this season to 176. The A's outfielder/DH breaks the franchise record previously held by Jose Canseco, who fanned 175 times in 1986.
2008 With his sixth-inning double in the 3-2 loss to the Cubs, Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols becomes only the third player in history to drive in 100 runs during his first eight major league seasons. The two other big leaguers to reach the plateau are Red sox outfielder Ted Williams, who also accomplished the feat for eight seasons from 1939-42, 46-49, and starting in 1924, fly-chaser Al Simmons did it for 11 years playing for the A's (9) and the White Sox (2).

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2009 A small boy races to the pitcher's mound and grabs a baseball intended for Tigers' reliever Brandon Lyon Before starting the eighth inning at Comerica Park. The youngster is helped back into the stands and can keep the ball after a discussion between the boy's uncle and security reveals that the six-year-old had misunderstood a suggestion to go to the railing and get a ball from one of the Blue Jay players.
2009 With an opposite-field single in the third inning of a 10-4 loss to Baltimore on a rainy New York night, Derek Jeter becomes the all-time team leader in hits for the historic franchise. The safety gives the Yankees captain 2,722 hits, one more than legendary Lou Gehrig, another 35-year-old team captain, who had held the record for more than 70 years.

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2010 With MLB's permission, Pete Rose goes on the Great American Ball Park field to celebrate his record-breaking hit that passed Ty Cobb, making him the all-time leader. Joined by former teammates Tony Perez and Cesar Geronimo, the banished player receives a trophy from Reds' owner Bob Castellini, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the historic 4,192nd hit.

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2010 Jim Thome connects for career homer No. 587 to pass Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for eighth place on the all-time career list. The Twins DH's historic round-tripper, which he blasts in the top of the twelfth inning at Progressive Field, is the lone run in Minnesota's 1-0 victory over Cleveland.

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2010 For the 10th consecutive campaign, starting with his rookie year, Albert Pujols drives in 100 or more runs. Only Al Simmons, with 11, has more seasons with 100 RBIs to start a career than the Cardinals' first baseman.
2011 Major League Baseball denies the Mets' request to wear caps honoring police, firefighters, and other first responders for their September 11th game against Chicago. The hats worn during the pregame ceremony in remembrance of the tragic event will be autographed and sold on Mets.com, with the proceeds given to charities by the team's foundation.
2013 At Marlins Park, benches clear when Brian McCann confronts Jose Fernandez as the Miami starting pitcher crosses home plate after hitting his first career home run. The Braves' backstop and third baseman Chris Johnson take exception to the 21-year-old rookie right-hander admiring the home run from the batter's box, then glaring into the Atlanta dugout rounding the bases.

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2015 When Mariners reliever Tony Zych makes his major league debut in an 11-8 victory over the A’s, he displaces outfielder Dutch Zwilling, who held the distinction for more than a century of being listed last in baseball’s all-time alphabetical roll call. Another Seattle reliever, David Aardsma, ranks first in the ABC’s of baseball, replacing Hank Aaron on the top of the list in 2004.
2020 At Tropicana Field, the Rays use a lineup that features nine true left-handers, marking the first time a batting order of all southpaw swingers start a major league game in the modern era, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Although a few teams had played games when all nine hitters batted from the left-hand side of the plate, none of the players in Tampa Bay's 11-1 victory were switch-hitters.
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Today in Baseball History
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On September 11 in Baseball History...

• • 1875 - The first baseball game played with women professionals takes place in Springfield, Illinois. The diamond is half-sized and a nine-foot high canvas surrounds the entire field. The uniforms are similar to the male version, except the pants are shorter.
  • 1886 - Connie Mack makes his Major League debut with Washington, catching flawlessly and contributing a single as the Nationals defeat the Phillies 4-3.
  • 1903 - A new National Agreement signed by the National Association of minor league clubs officially organizes professional baseball under one comprehensive set of rules.
  • 1912 - Eddie Collins stole six bases for the Philadelphia Athletics as they defeated the Detroit Tigers, 9-7. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.
  • 1918 - The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games.
  • 1922 - The Yankees play their farewell home game in the Polo Grounds. An estimated crowd of 40,000 overflows the stadium with another 25,000 turned away. Joe Bush beats the Philadelphia A's in the opener, 10-3, and Waite Hoyt takes the second game 2-1. This is the last regular season American League game at the Polo Grounds as the Yankees will open Yankee Stadium in 1923.
  • 1923 - After leadoff hitter Whitey Witt reaches first on a controversial single, Boston pitcher Howard Ehmke retires the next 27 batters for a 3-0 win. Ehmke has now given up just one hit in his last two games.
  • 1956 - Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds tied a rookie record for home runs in a season with his 38th homer of the year. The blow came off Steve Ridzik of the New York Giants and the Reds went on to an 11-5 victory.
  • 1959 - The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, ending reliever Roy Face's winning streak at twenty-two games. It was Face's only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.
  • 1974 - It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings - 7:04 - to beat the New York Mets. A record 202 batters went to the plate, as Felix Millan and John Milner had twelve appearances apiece.
  • 1976 - Minnie Minoso comes to bat for the White Sox after a twelve-year hiatus. He goes hitless in his three at bats against Frank Tanana, but his appearance makes him one of a handful of Major League players to play in four decades. His at bat in 1980 will match him with Nick Altrock as a five-decade player.
  • 1980 - In a 6-5 win over the Cubs, Montreal's Ron LeFlore steals his 91st base of the season and Rodney Scott steals his 58th, breaking the Major League-record for stolen bases by teammates in one season. Lou Brock and Bake McBride set the record with the 1974 Cardinals.
  • 1985 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the career hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb's record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb's last game in the majors.
  • 1987 - New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with thirty-four homers, became the first National League infielder to hit thirty home runs and steal thirty bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
  • 1996 - San Diego's Ken Caminiti broke his own Major League record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo homer to break his record set last year.

Baseball Birthdays on September 11...

• • 1851 - Golden, Mike
  • 1858 - DePangher, Mike
  • 1864 - Daily, Con
  • 1868 - Brodie, Steve
  • 1869 - Kitson, Frank
  • 1881 - Hogg, Bill
  • 1886 - McDonough, Ed
  • 1889 - McGraner, Howard
  • 1890 - Damrau, Harry
  • 1892 - Koob, Ernie
  • 1893 - Grimes, Ray
  • 1893 - Grimes, Roy
  • 1901 - Mitchell, Monroe
  • 1901 - Loepp, George
  • 1905 - Spencer, Glenn
  • 1911 - Tietje, Les
  • 1914 - Smith, Clay
  • 1916 - Clary, Ellis
  • 1918 - Heflin, Randy
  • 1919 - Olsen, Barney
  • 1924 - Grasmick, Lou
  • 1926 - Miksis, Eddie
  • 1933 - Davis, Bob
  • 1934 - Coughtry, Marlan
  • 1940 - Hernandez, Jackie
  • 1941 - Bearnarth, Larry
  • 1944 - Roberts, Dave
  • 1947 - Cox, Larry
  • 1948 - Newman, Jeff
  • 1953 - Gordon, Mike
  • 1958 - Lesley, Brad
  • 1958 - Slaught, Don
  • 1964 - Burks, Ellis
  • 1965 - Mack, Quinn
  • 1969 - Penn, Shannon
  • 1969 - Perez, Eduardo
  • 1973 - Davey, Tom
  • 1976 - Guzman, Edwards
  • 1978 - Herndon, Junior

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9/12
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1884 Bob Groom pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), born in Belleville, Illinois (d. 1948)

1909 Spud Chandler player (AL MVP 1943), born in Commerce, Georgia (d. 1990)

1925 Stan Lopata player, born in Delray, Detroit, Michigan (d. 2013)

1940 Mickey Lolich pitcher (Detroit Tiger, ;69 WS, won 25 in 1971), born in Portland, Oregon
Pitched and Homered in the '69 WS

1967 Pat Listach infielder (Milwaukee Brewers ROY), born in Natchitoches, Louisiana

1980 Sean Burroughs player, born in Atlanta, Georgia

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1883 In an American Association contest, John Reilly hits for the cycle, collecting three singles, a double, triple, and home run in the Red Stockings' 27-5 rout of the visiting Pittsburgh Alleghenys at the Bank Street Grounds. Next week, the 24-year-old Cincinnati first baseman will accomplish the feat for the second time at the same ballpark when the team beats the first-place Philadelphia Athletics, 12-3.

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1930 At Ebbets Field, Dodger catcher Al Lopez hits the last major league bounced home run in National League history. The Senior Circuit joins the American League, which had enacted the rule change in 1929, awarding a ground-rule double to the player who hits the ball over the wall on a bounce.

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1932 In the bottom of the ninth, Johnny Frederick hits his major league record-setting sixth pinch-homer of the season, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over the Cubs. The Brooklyn outfielder's major league mark remains for 68 years until another Dodger, Dave Hansen, strokes seven round-trippers coming off the bench in 2000.

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1936 At the age of 61, Kid Elberfeld, the team's skipper, grounds out to third when he pinch-hits for the Fulton (KY) Eagles in the Class D Kitty League. The Tabasco Kid, known for his combative style as a major leaguer, finishes his minor league managerial career at the end of the season after spending 30 years as a manager, coach, scout, mentor, and instructor for many aspiring ballplayers.

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1947 Ralph Kiner hits a record eight home runs in four games, surpassing Tony Lazzeri, who had hit seven round-trippers in four games with the Yankees in 1936. The Pirates outfielder will finish the season tied with a major-league-leading 51 round-trippers with Giants first baseman Johnny Mize.

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1952 At Forbes Field, the Pirates become the first team to use protective headgear covering the players' temples, a precursor to the batting helmet. Branch Rickey's innovation, worn both at the plate and in the field in the Bucs' twin bill split with Boston, is a plastic hat with a foam layer attached to the hatband.

1953 At County Stadium, Carl Erskine goes the distance in The Dodgers' 5-2 victory over the Braves, giving the team a 13-game lead with 12 left to play. Brooklyn clinches a pennant at the earliest date ever in baseball history and marks the first time the club wins consecutive titles in franchise history.

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1958 At Connie Mack Stadium, Giants' leadoff hitter Jim Davenport singles and hits a three-run inside-the-park home run during an eight-run first inning. Johnny Antonelli pitches a complete game for his 15th victory when San Francisco routs the Phillies, 19-2.

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1959 En route to a 21-15 season with the Giants, 33-year-old Toothpick Sam Jones throws a four-hitter against Philadelphia to become the second black major leaguer to win twenty games. In 1955, the right-hander from Ohio lost twenty games pitching for the Cubs.

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1961 Frank Lary aka Yankee Killer wins his 20th game of the season, the second time he has accomplished the feat when he goes the distance in the Tigers' 3-1 victory over Kansas City. The 31-year-old right-hander will finish the season with a 23-9 record, including a league-leading 22 complete games.

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1962 Tom Cheney sets a major league mark for K's in a single game by striking out 21 batters, throwing all 16 innings in the Senators' 2-1 victory over the Orioles. The 27-year-old right-handed fireballer tosses 228 pitches in the three-hour and 59-minute Memorial Stadium contest.

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1962 With the game behind the front running Dodgers, the Giants lose their All-Star center fielder when Willie Mays enters a hospital for nervous exhaustion. The 'City by the Bay' will drop six games in a row but will recover along with 'Say Hey Kid' in time to beat Los Angeles in a playoff to win the National League pennant.
1963 "I look up into the stands, and it looks like Ebbets Field. The Mets are wonderful, but you can’t take the Dodger out of Brooklyn" - DUKE SNIDER, addressing the Mets fans on his special night at the Polo Grounds. Former Dodgers teammates Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella join the Mets in honoring Duke Snider on the day that marks the last time the Giants, now located in San Francisco, will play at the Polo Grounds, once their long-time home. The 'Silver Fox,' obtained by the last-place expansion team in April, has recently requested to be traded to a contender.

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1964 Orioles southpaw Frank Bertaina records his first major league victory when he tosses a one-hitter to beat the A's at Memorial Stadium, 1-0. The losing pitcher Bob Meyer, who yields the game's lone run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, also gives up just one hit in his complete-game effort in the seventh double one-hitter in baseball history

1965 Mets rookie Dick Selma, in his second major league start, establishes a franchise mark when he strikes out 13 batters. The 21-year-old right-hander goes the distance in New York's ten-inning, 1-0 victory over Milwaukee at Shea Stadium.

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1969 The Mets sweep a doubleheader against the Pirates when Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell go the distance in 1-0 victories. Both starters drive in the only run scored in both ends of the twin bill.

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1972 In his final appearance, 29-year-old right-hander Denny McLain, who will finish his ten-year career with a 131-92 record, loses when he gives up three runs in the ninth inning without retiring a batter in the Braves' 7-5 loss to Cincinnati at Atlanta Stadium. The last batter the one-time 30-game winner, rumored to have been involved with gambling and bookmaking, will face is Pete Rose, who will be banned from baseball for life for wagering on the game.

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1974 Mike Schmidt hits an eighth-inning three-run bomb, his 36th home run and final one this season, off Jerry Reuss in Philadelphia's 6-4 comeback victory over the Pirates at Veterans Stadium. The 24-year-old third baseman becomes the first Phillies player to lead the league in home runs since Chuck Klein hit 28 round-trippers in 1933.

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1976 At age 53, Minnie Minoso becomes the oldest player to get a hit in a regular-season game as he singles in three at-bats as the designated hitter for the White Sox. Angels' southpaw Sid Monge gives up the historic safety.

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1979 Carl Yastrzemski, in a 9-2 Red Sox victory over the Yankees, collects his 3000th hit, an eighth-inning single off Jim Beattie at Fenway Park. After Captain Carl's milestone marker, the game pauses for a lengthy on-field celebration of the historic moment.

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1984 Mets right-hander Dwight Gooden breaks the season strikeout record for a rookie when he whiffs Marvell Wynne in the sixth inning of his 2-0 complete-game victory over the Pirates at Shea Stadium. By whiffing 16 Bucs, Doc's total of 251 is six more than Herb Score's 1955 mark.

1985 Both New York teams host their rivals in close pennant races, thanks to a rare oddity of scheduling that has the clubs playing at home on the same day. On Baseball Thursday in the Big Apple, the Mets go into first place with a 7-6 victory over the Cardinals at Shea Stadium, and the second-place Yankees beat the Blue Jays in the ballpark in the Bronx, 7-5, cutting Toronto's lead to a game and half.

1987 Eddie Murray, passing Boog Powell, becomes the Orioles' all-time home run leader when he hits his 304th round-tripper for Baltimore in a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Cal Ripken will move past his buddy for first-place honors, hitting his 334th four-bagger in 1996.

 

1995 During a WGN pregame radio broadcast at Wrigley Field, Harry Caray remarks to the team's skipper Jim Riggleman, "Well, my eyes are slanty enough, how 'bout yours?" referring to Hideo Nomo, the Japanese rookie hurler scheduled to start for the Dodgers. The veteran announcer, known for not backing off his on-the-air off-handed comments, does issue an apology, calling the incident "unfortunate."

1996 Alex Rodriguez, in an 8-5 win over the Royals, sets a major league shortstop record with his 88th extra-base hit. The Mariners infielder's first-inning double off Chris Haney in the Kauffman Stadium contest establishes the new mark.

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1996 Bernie Williams drives in eight runs with two homers and a single, helping the Bronx Bombers defeat Detroit, 12-3. The Yankee center fielder will celebrate his 28th birthday tomorrow, hitting .305 for the eventual World Champs.

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1998 Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit 60 home runs in a season when he blasts a seventh-inning three-run shot off Milwaukee's Valerio de Los Santos in a 15-12 victorious slugfest at Wrigley Field. The Chicago right-fielder joins Babe Ruth (1927 Yankees), Roger Maris (1961 Yankees), and Mark McGwire (1998 Cardinals) in reaching one of baseball's most cherished milestones.

2000 Dave Hansen breaks the 1932 record for pinch-hit home runs in a single season with his seventh round-tripper coming off the bench on the same date Johnny Frederick established the mark sixty-eight years ago. The Dodger pinch-hitter's historic homer, a seventh-inning three-run blast off Diamondback right-hander Curt Schilling, isn't enough to prevent the team's 5-4 loss to Arizona at Bank One Ballpark.

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2002 A jury, not a judge or umpires, will decide whether Alex Popov controlled Barry Bonds' record-setting 73rd home run in his glove. Popov, who lost possession of the ball valued at approximately $1 million after being mobbed by fans, claims the historic horsehide should belong to him, not Patrick Hayashi, the person who ended up with the valuable souvenir.

2005 Making his season debut with just 20 games left in the regular schedule, Barry Bonds returns to the Giants lineup with a bang, lining a double in his first at-bat and barely missing hitting his 704th career homer. At the start of the season, the 41-year-old slugger spent time on the disabled list due to an infection following knee surgery.