Today In 1959: Ted Williams gives some batting tips to Elijah "Pumpsie" Green - the first Black player in Boston #RedSox history
Lol, we actually used bottle stopper corks that we lit and burned for eye black. And it was a short straight line directly under the eyes. None of this paint all over your face that you see today.
JULY 23 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************* 1917 Ray Scarborough, pitcher (All Star 1950) 1918 Harold "Pee Wee" Reese HOF shortstop (10 x MLB All-Star; World Series 1955, 59 Brooklyn/LA Dodgers) 1923 Luis Aloma 1936 Don Drysdale Hall of Fame pitcher (World Series 1959, 63, 65; 9 x MLB All Star; Cy Young Award 1962; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers) 1973 Nomar Garciaparra shortstop (6-time All Star) *************************************
This Day in Baseball History July 23rd 1925 Lou Gehrig's four-run home run is the difference in the Yankees' 11-7 victory over the Senators. The New York first baseman's bases-full homer is the first of a record 23 grand slams he will hit during his 17-year career in the Bronx, a mark Alex Rodriguez surpasses in 2013. 1928 In a Class C Western Association game, future major league player and manager Paul Richards of the Muskogee Chiefs uses both hands when summoned from his shortstop position to pitch in his brief appearance on the mound. An unusual confrontation with a switch-hitter briefly results in both the pitcher and the batter continually swapping hands and batter's boxes, respectively, until the ambidextrous hurler becomes a left-hander and right-hander on alternate pitches, regardless of where the hitter places himself. 1930 Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor hits the eventual game-winning homers in both ends of a doubleheader. The future Hall Famer's ninth-inning home run beats Philadelphia in the opener, 2-1, and the Massachusetts native also provides the winning margin in the nightcap with a three-run round-tripper in the top of the 13th inning in the team's 16-15 victory over the A's at the Baker Bowl. 1939 The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 5-2 at Sportsman's Park using yellow-dyed balls. The experiment with the colored sphere, designed to make the ball easier to see for the players and the fans, started in Brooklyn last week and will be tested once more in a September game played at Wrigley Field. 1939 At Briggs Stadium, A's catcher appears in his only major league game, replacing Frankie Hayes behind the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with the team trailing the Tigers, 15-3. In 1945, the 27-year-old backstop will die as a result of enemy sniper fire on Iwo Jima, becoming the second player to die in World War II, joining Elmer Gedeon, who lost his life when the Germans shot down his B-26B Marauder attempting to bomb a Nazi target in France.
1941 White Sox manager Jimmy Dykes becomes the first to employ the defensive alignment against the Red Sox outfielder, who foils the plan when he goes 2-for-5, including a double, in Boston's 10-4 loss to the Pale Hose at Fenway Park. The Chicago skipper will abandon the strategy when 'the Kid' collects four hits in ten at-bats in the two-game series.
1944 In the eighth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Giants manager Mel Ott orders pitcher Andy Hansen to issue an intentional walk with the bases loaded to Bill Nicholson. The free pass to Swish, who has hit four home runs in the twin bill, doesn't work when the Cubs score three runs to tie the game. 1957 Mickey Mantle collects his only cycle and the twelfth in franchise history With a single, fluke double, game-changing triple, and a prodigious poke. The switch-hitter's massive home run that nearly clears Yankee Stadium stirs the crowd, but his seventh-inning triple with the bases loaded proves to be the decisive blow in the Yankees' 10-6 victory over the White Sox.
1960 A's outfielder Whitey Herzog lines into a triple play when Pedro Ramos snags his line drive, then tosses the ball to first to double up the runner, with the third out made with a relay to shortstop Jose Valdivielso getting the runner returning to second base. The three outs in the 8-3 loss to the Senators mark the first all-Cuban triple killing in major league history. 1960 Indians center fielder Jimmy Piersall is ejected for the sixth time this season after ignoring the home plate umpire's warning to stop running around the outfield with his arms raised during Ted Williams' plate appearance. The Waterbury (CT) native, restrained by teammates when he charges the ump, is guilty of trying to distract the batter from the field, a tactic forbidden by the rule book. 1962 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Fireballer Bob Feller, veteran manager Bill McKechnie, and outfielder Edd Roush join the Dodger infielder in the Cooperstown ceremony. 1962 The first telecast of a major league via satellite includes a portion of the Cubs' 4-3 victory over the Phillies from Wrigley Field. Chicago broadcaster Jack Brickhouse provides the play-by-play of the Telstar Communications transmission. 1964 Kansas City's Bert Campaneris homers off the Twins' southpaw Jim Kaat on the first major league pitch he sees. The A's rookie shortstop homers again in the seventh, knotting the score with a two-run round-tripper in the team's eventual 4-3 victory in 11 innings at Metropolitan Stadium.
1965 Mickey Lolich loses his tenth straight game, setting a Tigers' record for consecutive defeats when Detroit drops a 4-2 decision to the Yankees at Tiger Stadium. After the contest, the 26-year-old southpaw, who will win nine of his next ten starts for the pennant contenders, is called up to the mobilized 191st National Guard unit to help quell riots near the ballpark. 1969 At Washington's RFK Stadium, the National League scores early and often to coast to a comfortable 9-3 victory over the AL in the 40th All-Star Game. Cardinals southpaw Steve Carlton, the starting and winning pitcher, hits a double in the third inning off Blue Moon Odom to become the last hurler to get an extra-base hit in a Midsummer Classic contest.
