BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1961 Roger Maris, en route to his record-breaking season of 61 home runs, hit his first round-tripper of the year at Yankee Stadium. The eighth-inning homer off Pete Burnside, his fourth overall, doesn't help when the Senators beat the Bronx Bombers, 8-7.

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1963 At Colt Stadium, Houston's right-hander Don Nottebart no-hits the Phillies, 4-1, giving up a fifth-inning run on a two-base error, a sac bunt, and a sacrifice fly. The hitless gem is the franchise's first no-hitter in the team's history, coming in the 197th game since the club's inaugural season last year.

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1968 In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jim Northrop hits a walk-off grand slam off Steve Jones to beat the Senators at Tiger Stadium, 7-3. The Detroit center fielder will hit five grand slams this season, four in the regular campaign and one in Game 6 of the Fall Classic, contributing to the team's 13-1 rout of the Cardinals.

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1970 At Crosley Field, Braves' outfielder Hank Aaron collects his 3000th hit when he scratches an infield single off of Reds' pitcher Wayne Simpson. 'Hammering Hank' becomes the ninth player in major league history and the first with 500 home runs to reach this milestone.

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1971 Luis Tiant, after being released by the Twins and Braves earlier in the season, signs as a free agent with the Red Sox, beginning a love affair with the fans in Boston. 'El Tiante' will struggle, winning just one of eight decisions for the team this year, but during his eight-year tenure with the BoSox, the Cuban right-hander will compile a 122-88 (.601) record, including three seasons with 20 or more victories.

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1971 In Washington's 6-3 loss to the Indians at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Tom McCraw hits perhaps the shortest home run in baseball history. The fourth-inning inside-the-park round-tripper is the result of three Indians, shortstop Jack Heidemann, left fielder John Lowenstein and center fielder Vada Pinson colliding in an attempt to catch a 140-foot pop fly hit to short left-center field.

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1971 Ralph Garr ties a major league record for the round-trippers in extra innings, going deep in the 10th and the 12th frame with a walk-off homer against the Mets in the Braves' 4-3 victory. The Atlanta left-fielder, called the 'Road Runner' by his teammates, is the fourth player to accomplish the feat and the first to do so since 1966, when New York's Art Shamsky went yard in the 10th and 11th in a losing cause for the Reds at Crosley Field.

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1973 At Anaheim Stadium, a horrific injury dampens Bobby Valentine's promising major league career when his spikes get caught in the outfield's chain-link fence attempting to catch a home run ball hit by Dick Green. The 23-year-old speedster, who had started the season hitting .400 in April, suffers a multiple compound leg fracture and will miss the rest of the season, eventually finishing his playing days as a utility player with the Padres, Mets, and Mariners.

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1977 At Wrigley Field, the Cubs tie a franchise record, hitting seven home runs during a 23-7 pounding of the Padres. Larry Biittner goes deep twice, with Dave Rosello, Gene Clines, Bobby Murcer, Jerry Morales, and Steve Ontiveros also clearing the ivy.

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1978 Los Angeles trades Glenn Burke, one of the most popular and respected players on the team, to the A's for veteran outfielder Billy North, who hits .234 during the one season with his new club. After refusing a bribe by Dodger GM Al Campanis in the offseason to get married, the closeted gay player knew his time with the Dodgers was nearing an end with management's awareness of his sexual preference.

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1978 Lee Lacy, pinch-hitting for Davey Lopes in the Los Angeles 10-1 rout of the Pirates, goes deep in the bottom of the eighth inning off Will McEnaney at Dodger Stadium. The utility player becomes the first player in major league history to homer in three consecutive at-bats as a pinch-hitter.

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1979 The Phillies beat the Cubs in a fifty-hit slugfest in the Windy City, 23-22. The 11 home runs hit in the game tie a major league mark, shared by Chicago and their opponents, 1967 Reds and 1977 Mets, while playing in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

 

1984 Padres second baseman Alan Wiggins ties a National League record by stealing five bases in one game in the team's 5-4 victory over Montreal at Jack Murphy Stadium. Dan McGann (1904), Davey Lopes (1974), and Lonnie Smith (1982) also accomplished the feat in the Senior Circuit.

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1985 The Rangers fire skipper Doug Rader and replace him with the Mets' third-base coach Bobby Valentine. Before returning to New York in 1996 to manage his former team, 'Bobby V' will compile a 581-605 record (.490) during his eight seasons in Texas.

1992 Using only 21 dates, the Blue Jays reach the one-million mark in attendance sooner than any team in major league history. The 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Dodgers shared the previous record.

1993 Mariners' third baseman Mike Blowers becomes the 13th player in major league history to hit grand slams in consecutive games. The fourth inning bases-full round-tripper off Craig Lefferts contributes to Seattle's 16-9 victory over Texas at Arlington Stadium.

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1996 Trailing the Mariners, 13-10 in the bottom of the ninth at Camden Yards, Chris Hoiles gives the Orioles an incredible comeback victory with a walk-off grand slam. The decisive home run comes on a full count with two outs off Norm Charlton.

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1998 In front of nearly 50,000 fans on Beanie Baby Day at Yankee Stadium, David Wells retires all 27 batters he faces, defeating the Twins, 4-0. The 33-year-old left-hander's gem is the 13th perfect game in modern major league history.

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2002 After the Twins score three times in the top of the 14th at Yankee Stadium to take a 13-10 lead, Jason Giambi hits a one-out grand slam off reliever Mike Trombley to give the Bronx Bombers a one-run victory. The dramatic home run becomes a signature at-bat for the newly acquired slugger, who the New York fans had not warmly accepted until now.

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2002 Diamondback first baseman Erubiel Durazo establishes a franchise record by driving in nine runs in the team's 12-9 victory over the Phillies. The 28-year-old Mexican infielder sets the mark with three two-run homers and a three-run double in the Citizens Bank Park contest.

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2003 The Rays tie a major league record when the team does not record a single assist in their 2-0 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards. The Tampa Bay pitchers whiff nine Baltimore batters and catch the other 15 outs on in the air during their eight innings in the field.

2005 Ervin Santana, with his first ten major league pitches, allows a collective cycle to the first four Indian batters he faces: a triple by Grady Sizemore, a double by Coco Crisp, a single by Travis Hafner, followed by a home run blasted by Ben Broussard. The 22-year-old Angels' prized rookie right-hander will redeem himself by recording a five-hit shutout in his second major league start, beating the White Sox, 4-0.

2007 Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, becomes a huge recording studio when Sesame Street's Bob McGrath and a chorus of 15,000 school children sing an uplifting tune to Ronald Sterling, a seven-year-old with the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome immune deficiency disorder. The non-profit group, Songs of Love Foundation, which creates personalized songs for sick children throughout the country, arranged for the '... You're a Grand Slam' tune to be sung and recorded at the ballpark, with the baseball-loving youngster listening on the phone.

2008 With San Francisco's 3-1 interleague loss to the White Sox, Barry Zito becomes the first Giants hurler in 98 years to start a season with eight consecutive losses. Jesse Burkett opened the 1890 campaign without a victory, also losing eight straight decisions.

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2009 Pudge Rodriguez hit his 300th career home run, a fourth-inning shot off of Chicago's Rich Harden, in the Astros' 6-5 win at Wrigley Field. The perennial All-Star catcher will finish his 21-year major league career with 311 round-trippers.

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2011 At Turner Field, Braves' catcher Brian McCann's ninth-inning pinch-hit, game-tying solo home run off Astros' right-hander Jeff Fulchino sending the 1-1 contest into extra innings. The backstop follows with a two-run walk-off shot in the 11th, joining Jeff Heath as the only major leaguers to hit a ninth-inning game-tying pinch-hit home run and then later win the game with a walk-off home run in extras innings, a feat the Boston left-fielder accomplished in 1949 at Braves Field.

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2012 When he plays third base in the Blue Jays' 4-1 victory over the Yankees at the Rogers Centre, Yan Gomes becomes the first Brazilian to appear in a big-league game. In his debut in the major leagues, the 24-year-old Sao Paulo native enjoys a 2-for-3 day at the plate.

2015 The Marlins fire manager Mike Redmond (155-207) after extending his contract before the final game of last season as a reward for improving the club's performance by 15 victories. The 44-year-old skipper, after his team gets off to a disappointing 16-22 start, will be replaced by the team's general manager Dan Jennings, who has never played in the majors and has never managed at any professional level.

2016 The Braves dismiss manager Fredi Gonzalez after the team gets off to a 9-28 start, a game worse than the first 37 games played by the 1962 Mets, historically considered one of the worst teams in baseball history. During the departed skipper's first three seasons in Atlanta, the club won 279 games from 2011 to 2013, the best record in the National League during that span.

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5/18
BIRTHDAYS
1882 Charles "Babe" Adams MLB baseball pitcher, 1906-26 (1 game with St. Louis Cardinals; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Tipton, Indiana (d. 1968)


1924 Jack Whitaker sportscaster (ABC, CBS), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)

1937 Brooks Robinson Hall of Fame third baseman (18 x MLB All Star; World Series 1966, 70 [MVP]; 16 × Gold Glove Award; Baltimore Orioles), born in Little Rock, Arkansas


1946 Reggie Jackson HOF right fielder (14 x MLB All Star; World Series 1972, 73 [MVP], 74, 77 [MVP], 78; AL MVP 1973; Oakland A's, NY Yankees,), born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania


1951 Jim Sundberg (Kansas City Royals), born in Galesburg, Illinois

1971 Rich Garces pitcher (Boston Red Sox), born in Maracay Venezuela

1974 Nelson Figueroa player and analyst, born in Brooklyn, New York


1984 Joakim Soria pitcher (MLB All Star 2008, 10; Kansas City Royals), born in Monclova, Mexico

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1875 In front of a record crowd of 10,000 fans at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, the visiting Boston Red Stockings (16-0) beat the Dark Blues (12-0), 10-5, in a match-up of undefeated teams. Mark Twain attends the National Association contest and offers a five-dollar reward for returning his English-made brown silk umbrella pilfered at the game by a small boy when the famous writer stood up to cheer for the hometown team.

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1912 As a replacement player, Allan Travers, a St. Joseph's College pitcher, takes the mound for the Tigers, fielding an amateur team to avoid a $5,000 fine due to the team's refusal to play the A's in support of suspended teammate Ty Cobb. In his only major league appearance, the collegiate hurler goes the distance, giving up 24 runs, 14 earned runs, 26 hits, and seven walks, but does strike out one as Philadelphia routs Detroit at Shibe Park, 24-2.

1929 In a doubleheader played at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl, the Dodgers and Phillies teams combine to score a record fifty runs when the visitors outlast the home team, 20-16, before dropping an 8-6 decision in the nightcap. Brooklyn's Johnny Frederick crosses the plate five times in the opener, giving him the major league mark of scoring eight runs in two consecutive games.

Outfielders of the Brooklyn Club—Johnny Frederick, Lefty O’Doul and Hack Wilson

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1929 After two consecutive slugfests, Philadelphia beats Brooklyn, 8-6, at the Baker Bowl. The Phillies and Dodgers combined to score 88 runs in a four-game series, establishing a record that will last until 2019, when the Rockies and Padres tally 92 times in gravity-friendly Coors Field.
May 16: PHI 7, BRO 4
May 17: BRO 14, PHI 13
May 18: BRO 20, PHI 16
May 18: PHI 8, BRO 6

1931 Robins' right fielder Babe Herman hits for the cycle for the first of two times this season in the team's 14-4 rout of the Reds at Ebbets Field. In 1933, as a member of the Cubs, the Glendale (CA) native will again collect a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game, joining Bob Meusel as the only major leaguers to have accomplished the rare feat three times since 1900.

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1942 Night games in New York are banned for the duration of WW II, leaving fans in the dark about the status of the All-Star Game scheduled for the Polo Grounds on the evening of Monday, July 6. The prohibition of nighttime tilts, announced by NYC Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, will change the starting times for 28 contests involving the Dodgers and Giants. The first Yankee Stadium night contest will occur in 1946, seven years after the Dodgers played their first evening game at Ebbets Field.

1956 Surpassing Ripper Collins, Mickey Mantle becomes the all-time home run leader for switch hitters, belting his 136th round-tripper, a two-out homer in the top of the ninth, tying the score in the Yankees' eventual extra-inning 8-7 victory over Chicago at Comiskey Park. 'The Mick' will nearly quadruple the mark, extending the record to 536 before he retires before the 1969 season.

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1958 On his 25th birthday, Carroll Hardy, pinch-hitting for Roger Maris, blasts a three-run home run, giving the Indians a 7-4 walk-off victory. The 11th inning round-tripper off Chicago's Billy Pierce is the Cleveland rookie's first major league homer.

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1960 The Indians trade southpaw Herb Score to the White Sox for Barry Latman, a right-hander who will post a 35-37 record during his four seasons with Cleveland. The southpaw, whose promising career was shattered three seasons ago after being struck by Gil McDougald's line drive, will return to Cleveland in 1964 to begin a 34-year stint as the team's beloved television and radio play-by-play announcer.

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1969 Cesar Tovar and Rod Carew combine to set a major league record for most steals by teammates in one inning, swiping five bases against the Tigers' battery of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. During the third inning, Tovar, the Twins' leadoff hitter, steals third base and home, followed by Carew, who pilfers second and third base and home plate in the 8-2 loss at Metropolitan Stadium.

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1973 Bill North's bat sails onto the infield when he swings and misses the first pitch thrown by Royals rookie reliever Doug Bird, who will be shocked when the A's center fielder, retrieving his bat, unexpectedly goes to the mound and begins to pummel him. The Oakland outfielder, who will be ejected, suspended for three days, and received a $100 fine for initiating the brawl, retaliated against the 23-year-old KC right-hander for an incident in a Class A game played in Waterloo (IA) three seasons earlier.

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1976 In a 5-3 victory at Tiger Stadium, Carl Yastrzemski plays in his 2,293rd game wearing a Red Sox uniform, surpassing Ted Williams' team record. The Boston legend will extend the franchise mark to 3,308 contests before retiring in 1983.

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1986 In the bottom of the tenth inning at Fenway Park, the Red Sox score two runs on an unusual play to beat the Rangers, 6-5, thanks to George Wright's errant throw. The right fielder throws the ball away, fielding Marty Barrett's double, after becoming confused when two Boston baserunners, who will score on the error, slide into second at the same time, the batter and Steve Lyons from third base.

1988 In the 'Year of the Balk,' Dave Stewart breaks a major league record, committing his twelfth balk of the season. The A's right-hander will extend the single-season mark to 16 thanks to the strict interpretation of umpires on a minor rule change.

 

1990 The Orioles, en route to a 13-1 victory over the Rangers, tie an American League record when the team collects eight consecutive singles in the seven-run first inning at Memorial Stadium. Baltimore consecutive one-baggers off right-hander Bobby Witt equals the mark shared by the 1951 Senators and 1981 A's.

1990 At the Astrodome, Cubs' second baseman Ryan Sandberg's errorless game streak ends after 123 games and 582 chances when his errant throw to first base trying to rob Eric Anthony of an infield single allows Ken Caminiti to advanced to third. The seven-time Gold Glove second baseman surpasses the marks for the position previously established by Joe Morgan (91 games) and Manny Trillo (479 errorless plays).

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1992 WQAM becomes the voice of the Marlins, signing a four-year deal as the flagship radio station of the team. In Miami and southern Florida, listeners will be able to pick up the play-by-play action of the new National League expansion team at 560 am on their radio dial.

1998 Due to drastic payroll cuts reducing the World Champions' effectiveness, two class-action lawsuits are filed against the Marlins - one for breach of contract and the other accusing the team of false advertising. Florida will finish last in the NL East with a 54-108 record (.333.), 52 games behind the division-leading Braves.

1998 With a 6-3 victory over the Orioles, the Devil Rays become only the second expansion team in major league history to sweep an away four-game series. The 1993 Colorado Rockies, who did it against the Dodgers, is the other club to accomplish this feat.

1999 After missing the team's first 36 games, Joe Torre returns to the Yankee dugout two months after undergoing successful surgery for prostate cancer. Before the 6-3 loss to the Red Sox, the 58-year-old skipper receives a two-minute standing ovation from the Fenway Park crowd when the scoreboard welcomes him back.

1999 Diamondbacks' outfielder Luis Gonzalez homers in his first at-bat to extend his hitting streak to 30 games, establishing a franchise record. Expos' outfielder Vladimir Guerrero Montreal Expos will also enjoy a consecutive stretch this season, reaching base on hit in 31 straight contest

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