BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1885 George H. Rawlings patents a close-fitting baseball glove that features padding made of felt and rubber in the fingers, thumb, and palm. The owner of a St. Louis sporting goods store invented the padded piece of equipment to prevent players from bruising their hands when catching a ball.
1896 Baltimore sweeps a twin bill from 12th-place Louisville, beating their National League opponents at Oriole Park, 10-9 and 3-1. The Birds, who won all three games against the Colonels in yesterday's tripleheader, establish the mark for the most victories in two consecutive days with their five wins.
1916 Twenty-three fans attending the game against the Yankees at soaked Shibe Park, the smallest crowd in American League history, witness A's switch-hitter Wally Schang become the first player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. The feat, not well-publicized because reporters thought the heavy rain would postpone the game and did not attend the contest, will not be accomplished again in the Junior Circuit until 1940.

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1925 In the seventh inning of the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep, Babe Ruth belts his 300th career home run, the Sultan of Swat's 16th of the season. Southpaw Buster Ross allows the milestone solo blast in Yankees' 7-4 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

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1933 In the second game of a doubleheader against Detroit, Red Sox outfielder Mel Almada makes his major league debut at Fenway Park. The 20-year-old Huatabampo native becomes the first Mexican to play in the major leagues.
1939 Bob Feller, with his 12-1 victory over the Browns in St. Louis, becomes the youngest modern-era player to win 20 games. The 20-year-old Indians' fireballer finishes the season 24-9 while posting a 2.85 ERA.

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1940 Johnny Mize hits homers #'s 38, 39, and 40 in the first game of a doubleheader, becoming the first player to hit three homers in one game four times in his career. Despite the Big Cat's heroics, the Cardinals drop a pair to the Pirates, 16-14 and 9-4.

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1942 The first exhibition game between two Negro League teams is finally played in Boston when the Philadelphia Stars edge the Baltimore Elite Giants in a rain-shortened seven-inning game at Fenway Park, 8-7. Unlike many metropolitan areas in the East and South, the Cradle of Liberty did not have a Black team represent the city, nor did the community embrace the concept of hosting Negro League contests.

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1945 Receiving an enthusiastic ovation from the near-capacity crowd, President Harry Truman, sworn in after FDR's death in April, becomes the first left-hander and oldest president to throw the ceremonial major league first pitch. The Missourian shows no signs of favoritism when the St. Louis Browns, a team from his home state, drops a 4-1 decision to the Senators.
1949 Red Schoendienst steals the team’s last stolen base of the season when he takes second base in the Cardinals’ 8-0 victory over the Cubs at Sportsman's Park. The Redbird third baseman will lead the club with eight pilfered bags, accounting for more than half of the all-time National League low of 17 the entire club will swipe this season.

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1954 "It's not a record, but being traded four times when there are only eight teams in the league tells you something. I thought I was modeling uniforms for the National League." - JOE GARAGIOLA, former major leaguer and television personality reflecting on his nine-year baseball career. The pennant-bound Giants select catcher Joe Garagiola, known more his glove than his bat, off waivers from the second-division Cubs. The 28-year-old backstop plays only five games for New York before retiring at the end of the season, becoming a baseball broadcaster and colorful television personality that includes stints on The Today Show, Saturday Game of the Week for NBC, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

1955 The Dodgers clinch their eighth National League pennant with a 10-2 victory over the Braves at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Brooklyn's 17-game lead marks the earliest date that a team has captured a flag in baseball history.
1957 Before their departure to play on the West Coast for next season, the Dodgers and Giants face one another for the final time in New York. The Jints beat the Bums at the Polo Grounds, 3-2, to finish the intense 68-year-old storied rivalry with a 656-606 advantage over Brooklyn in the battle between the boroughs.
1958 At spacious Forbes Field, Roberto Clemente blasts three triples in the Pirates' 4-1 victory over the Redlegs. The 'Great One' becomes the first Pittsburgh player to accomplish the feat since 1952 when center fielder Carlos Bernier, batting leadoff, collected a trio of three-baggers in the same Cincinnati ballpark.

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1963 At Connie Mack Stadium, Braves left-hander Warren Spahn tosses a complete game, edging Philadelphia, 3-2. The triumph is the southpaw's 20th victory and ties Christy Mathewson's record of thirteen seasons of twenty or more wins.

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1964 The Mets announce the signing of 18-year-old right-hander Bill Denehy. The recent high school graduate, who struck out 151 batters in 81 innings, posted a 10-1 record for Woodrow Wilson High School in Middletown, Connecticut, and won three tournament games en route to leading his team to the state championship.
1965 In a promotion to increase Kansas City's low attendance, Bert Campaneris becomes the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in a single game. After being involved in a collision at home plate in the ninth inning, Rene Lachemann replaces Campy as the team's catcher in the A's eventual 5-3, 13-inning victory over California.

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1967 At the urging of their fans, the Mets honor former Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax, who retired last season when arthritis ended his career prematurely at the age of 30. The Brooklyn-born southpaw, who threw a no-hitter against New York in 1962, started twenty games against the Amazins, compiling a 17-2 record that included 14 complete games and five shutouts.

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1968 Ralph Garr steals the first of his 172 stolen bases, swiping home as a pinch-runner for Joe Torre in the Braves' 4-1 victory over Houston. In 1973, the 'Road Runner' will break Atlanta's record for stolen bases with 35, surpassing the mark of 30 he established in 1970 during his rookie season.

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1973 Billy Martin, dismissed six days ago by the Tigers, signs a multi-year contract to manage the last-place Rangers. The fiery 45 year-old skipper, who was at the helm when Detroit won the American League East title last season, replaces Whitey Herzog, who was fired yesterday after compiling a 47-91 (.341) record in the first season of his Hall of Fame managerial career.
1977 Cubs' relief pitcher Bruce Sutter strikes out the first six batters he faces, including three men in the ninth on nine pitches. The future Hall of Famer will earn his sixth victory in seven decisions when the Cubs beat Montreal in 10 innings at Wrigley Field, 3-2.

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1980 Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends Ferguson Jenkins indefinitely due to the drug arrest in Toronto last month. The suspension will last only two weeks before independent arbiter Raymond Goetz surprisingly reinstates the Cubs right-hander.
1985 At Wrigley Field, Pete Rose gets two hits off Chicago hurler Reggie Patterson, including his historic single that ties Ty Cobb's career record of 4,191 hits. The game will be suspended due to darkness, enabling the Reds' player-manager to break the Georgia Peach's record at home.

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1993 Retiring the final 17 batters in a row, 24-year-old right-hander Darryl Kile no-hits the Mets in a 7-1 Houston victory at the Astrodome. Jeff McKnight, who had walked, scores New York's lone run on a wild pitch after advancing to third base on an error.

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1995 With a 3-2 victory over the Orioles at Jacobs Field, the Indians clinch the American League Central Division, reaching the postseason for the first time since 1954. Mike Hargrove's Tribe, which posts a 100-44 record, will win the division with the largest margin in baseball history, finishing 30 games ahead of the Royals.
1996 Mets catcher Todd Hundley joins Mickey Mantle as the only other switch hitter to hit 40 home runs in a season when he goes deep off Joe Borowski in the seventh inning of the team's 6-2 victory at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The 27-year-old backstop's round-tripper also breaks the club record for most homers in a single year, established in 1988 by Darryl Strawberry.

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1996 A Gary Sheffield fifth-inning round-tripper against the Expos' Pedro Martinez breaks the major league home run record for a season. In 1987, major leaguers went deep 4,458 times to established the previous mark.
1998 Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire connects off of Cub hurler Steve Trachsel and sends a 341-foot line-drive over the left-field fence for his historic 62nd home run, breaking the single-season home run record set in 1961 by Roger Maris. Big Mac's historic homer comes in the fourth inning of a nationally televised game.

 

2002 Rafael Palmeiro's sixth-inning homer against Tampa Bay establishes a new major league record with a Ranger player hitting a home run in 26 consecutive games. The 1941 Yankees, the 1994 Tigers, and the 1998 Braves shared the previous mark.

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2003 At Camden Yards, 64-year-old Steve Dalkowski throws the ceremonial first pitch to relief pitcher Buddy Groom before an Orioles game against Seattle. The Baltimore fireballing farmhand hurt his arm pitching in a 1963 exhibition game on the same day the team fitted him for a big-league uniform and never appeared in the major leagues.
2005 At Troy's Bruno Stadium, the Vermont Expos end the season by winning their seventh straight game, beating the Tri-City ValleyCats, 15-9. With the NY-Penn team changing its name next season, the game marks the last time the word Expos will appear on a uniform.
2007 Alex Rodriguez, hitting his 50th and 51st home runs, joins Babe Ruth (1920-54, 1921-59, 1927-60, 1928-54), Roger Maris (1961-61), and Mickey Mantle (1956-52, 1961-54) to become only the fourth player in Yankee history to hit 50 or more homers in a single season. The Yankee infielder's second homer breaks the major league mark of 49 homers hit by a third baseman, shared with Mike Schmidt (Phillies-1980) and Adrian Beltre (Dodgers-2004).

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2008 The Red Sox break the Cleveland Indians' attendance record with their 456th consecutive regular-season sellout at Fenway Park. To commemorate the streak, which began on May 15, 2003, team owners, current players, and club icon Johnny Pesky greet and thank fans entering the ballpark before the game against the Rays.
2008 Mark Saccomanno, a life-long fan of the team just called up a few hours before the start of the game, hits a home run on the first pitch he sees as a major leaguer, contributing to the Astros' 3-2 victory over the Pirates at Minute Maid Park. The 28-year-old Houston native, who will not connect for another round-tripper in his career, is the first to accomplish the feat as a pinch-hitter, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to homer in his initial big-league at-bat.
2008 Gary Sheffield's second home run of the game is the 250,000th round-tripper in major league history. The Tigers slugger, who needs only four more to reach a personal milestone of 500 homers, hit the round-tripper that set the record for the number of home runs in the major league in a season, bringing the total to 4,458 blasts.
2010 At Fenway Park, 44-year-old starter Tim Wakefield becomes the oldest player to win a game for the Red Sox since 1920 when he goes five innings in Boston's 11-5 victory over Tampa Bay. In 1998, Dennis Eckersley, at the age of 43 years and 349 days old, was credited with the win after getting two outs in relief in a game against Baltimore.

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2012 A healthy Stephen Strasburg makes his last 2012 appearance four days sooner than his much-debated scheduled season shut down set by the Nationals. The 24-year-old power right-hander, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010, was put on a strict innings limit by Washington, who will lose the NLDS to St. Louis after compiling the best record in major league baseball.
2012 Darwin Barney sets the National League record for consecutive errorless games by a second baseman with 124, surpassing Ryne Sandberg, another Cub infielder, who played his consecutive errorless streak at second between the 1989 and 1990 seasons. The major league mark for straight errorless games at second base is 186, established by Tiger infielder Placido Polanco from 2006-08.

2018 Ryne Stanek, facing one batter in the fifth inning of the Rays' 10-5 victory over the Orioles, becomes the first pitcher to start 25 games and make 25 relief appearances in the same season since Hugh Mulchy accomplished the feat in 1937 with the Phillies. The Tampa Bay right-hander, used as one of the team's "opening" starters, finishes the year compiling 66.1 innings, making 59 total appearances, including 29 starts.

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On September 8 in Baseball History...

• • 1880 - The Polo Grounds in New York is leased by the new National Association Metropolitan club. The grounds, which have been used for polo matches, will be converted into the first commercial baseball park to be built on Manhattan Island. It opens three weeks later.
  • 1905 - The Pittsburgh Pirates stranded eighteen runners in an 8-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds to set a National League record for men left on base.
  • 1916 - Wally Schang of the A's homers from both sides of the plate against the Yankees. Only a handful of people see the rare feat on a rainy day.
  • 1939 - Twenty-year-old Bob Feller becomes the youngest 20th-century pitcher to win twenty games, as Cleveland beats St. Louis 12-1.
  • 1955 - The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves, 10-2, to clinch the National League pennant with a seventeen-game lead.
  • 1958 - Roberto Clemente tied a Major League record by hitting three triples in a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
  • 1963 - Braves pitcher Warren Spahn ties Christy Mathewson with his thirteenth 20-win season by notching a 3-2 victory in Philadelphia. At forty-two, Spahn becomes the oldest twenty-game winner.
  • 1965 - Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's played all nine positions before having to leave after a ninth-inning collision with Ed Kirkpatrick of the Angels. The Angels won, 5-3, in 13 innings.
  • 1972 - Fergie Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, for his 20th victory of the season. It was the sixth straight year that Jenkins won at least twenty games.
  • 1980 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspendsFergie Jenkins indefinitely as a result of his August 25 drug arrest in Toronto. On September 22, the suspension will be overturned by arbitrator Raymond Goetz, the first time ever a commissioner's decision is overruled by an arbitrator.
  • 1985 - Cincinnati's Pete Rose inserted himself into the lineup when the Chicago Cubs started right-hander Reggie Patterson. Rose singled in the first inning and again in the fifth inning to tie Ty Cobb with 4,191 career hits. Rose was retired in his other at-bats and the game was called because of darkness after nine innings with the score tied, 5-5.
  • 1988 - National League president Bart Giamatti is unanimously elected baseball's seventh commissioner, and will succeed Peter Ueberroth in 1989.
  • 1993 - Darryl Kile pitched baseball's second no-hitter in five days as the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets, 7-1.
  • 1995 - Cleveland ends a postseason drought of forty-one years by clinching the American League Central Division with a 3-2 win over the Orioles.
  • 1996 - Todd Hundley of the New York Mets became the ninth player to hit forty home runs during the season, breaking the Major League record set in 1961. Hundley's homer, in a 6-2 win over Atlanta, tied Roy Campanella's Major League record for homers by a catcher.
  • 1998 - Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' thirty-seven year-old home run record, lining historic No. 62 just over the wall in left field with two out in the fourth inning. McGwire's homer off the Chicago Cubs' Steve Trachsel set off a wild celebration in Busch Stadium.

Baseball Birthdays on September 8...

• • 1854 - McKelvy, Russ
  • 1858 - Carl, Fred
  • 1861 - Higgins, Bill
  • 1870 - Rosebraugh, Zeke
  • 1872 - White, Deke
  • 1884 - Demaree, Al
  • 1886 - Rolling, Ray
  • 1887 - Sincock, Bert
  • 1888 - Giannini, Joe
  • 1890 - Cruthers, Press
  • 1891 - Scheeren, Fritz
  • 1891 - Clemons, Verne
  • 1896 - Picinich, Val
  • 1896 - Schulte, Johnny
  • 1902 - Orsatti, Ernie
  • 1905 - Grimes, Ed
  • 1906 - Stewart, Frank
  • 1913 - Castleman, Slick
  • 1915 - Gabrielson, Len
  • 1916 - Bagby, Jim
  • 1916 - Turner, Tom
  • 1926 - Sleater, Lou
  • 1932 - Wise, Casey
  • 1938 - Werley, George
  • 1942 - Hargan, Steve
  • 1945 - Blanco, Ossie
  • 1946 - Forsch, Ken
  • 1951 - Barr, Steve
  • 1952 - McCall, Larry
  • 1954 - Aase, Don
  • 1954 - Smith, Jim
  • 1959 - Cook, Glen
  • 1962 - Pardo, Al
  • 1966 - Dyer, Mike
  • 1973 - Wolcott, Bob
  • 1976 - Rivera, Mike
  • 1978 - Meche, Gil

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9/9
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1877 Frank Chance HOF first baseman (World Series 1907, 08; 2 x NL stolen base leader; NL runs leader 1906 Chicago Orphans/Cubs) and manager (Chicago Cubs, NY Yankees, Boston RS), born in Salida, California (d. 1924)

1898 Frankie Frisch HOF infielder (3 x MLB All-Star; 4 x World Series; NL MVP 1931; NY Giants, St.L Cardinals) and manager (St.L Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs), born in NYC, New York (d. 1973)

1899 Waite Hoyt HOF pitcher (World Series 1923, 27, 28; AL wins leader 1927; NY Yankees), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1984)

1961 Jim Corsi, Newtonville MA, pitcher (Oakland A's)
1965 Todd Zeile infielder (Philadelphia Phillies), born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles

1970 Dan Miceli pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Newark, New Jersey
1970 Joey Hamilton pitcher (San Diego Padres), born in Statesboro, Georgia
1972 Mike Hampton pitcher (MLB All-Star 1999, 2001; Gold Glove Award 2003; 5 × Silver Slugger Award; NL wins leader 1999; Houston Astros), born in Brooksville, Florida

1973 Kazuhisa Ishii player, born in Chiba, Japan
1974 Leah O'Brien softball player (Olympic gold 1996), born in Garden Grove, California

1978 Kurt Ainsworth pitcher, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1980 Todd Coffey player, born in Forest City, North Carolina
1983 Kyle Davies player, born in Decatur, Georgia
1983 Edwin Jackson pitcher, born in Neu-Ulm, Germany

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1914 Braves hurler George Davis, a Harvard Law School student who will retire after four seasons in the major leagues with a 7-10 record, no-hits the Phillies, 7-0, giving him the distinction of being the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Fenway Park, the home of the American League Red Sox. Only Bumpus Jones (2) and Bobo Holloman (3) have fewer career victories for pitchers who have thrown no-hitters than the 24-year-old right-hander teammates call Iron.

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1922 The Browns' 16-0 rout of the Tigers at Sportsman's Park marks the most lopsided victory in franchise history. The St. Louis outfielder Baby Doll Jacobson contributes to romp, tripling three times en route to collecting 94 three-baggers during his 11-year career.

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1936 The Yankees clinch their eighth pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Tribe at Cleveland's League Park. The Bronx Bombers finish 19.5 games ahead of Detroit, marking the team's largest lead at the end of a season in franchise history.
1945 In the nightcap of a twin bill at Shibe Park, Dick Fowler gets his only victory of the season when he no-hits the Browns, 1-0, becoming the first Canadian to throw a major league no-hitter. The A's 24-year-old right-hander from Toronto will compile a 66-79 record during his ten-year tenure with the A's.
1948 At the Polo Grounds, 23-year-old right-hander Dodger Rex Barney no-hits the Giants, 2-0. Before completing the gem, the Brooklyn starter endures a one-hour rain delay and showers in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings.

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1950 After leading off the first with a single, Dom DiMaggio swipes second base, advances to third on an error, and then scores the first run of the game on a groundout in the Red Sox' 11-3 rout of Philadelphia at Fenway Park. The stolen base is the final one the 'Little Perfesser' will get this season, but he will finish leading the American League with 15, the lowest total that has ever led either league.

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1950 With the Phillies in the thick of a pennant race, their southpaw starter Curt Simmons will miss the rest of the season and the entire 1951 campaign because of his National Guard unit's activation due to the Korean conflict. The left-hander, granted leave from Indiana's Camp Atterbury, watches his team in the World Series, but Philadelphia decides not to request he be made eligible to participate.

 

1960 Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams hits career homer 511, tying him with Mel Ott for third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth (714) and Jimmie Foxx (534). The historic homer, a two-out game-tying solo shot to deep right field, comes off Jim Perry in the fifth inning of a 6-3 loss to the Tribe at Cleveland Stadium.

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1961 At the Stadium, Roger Maris hits his 56th home run of the season off Mudcat Grant in an 8-7 comeback Yankee victory over the Indians. The Fargo native and his roommate Mickey Mantle (52) now hold the record for most single-season home runs by two teammates (108), previously set in 1927 by another pair of Bronx Bombers, Babe Ruth (60) and Lou Gehrig (47).

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1965 "And there's 29,000 people in the ballpark and a million butterflies." - VINCE SCULLY, setting the stage in the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's gem. At Dodger Stadium, Sandy Koufax throws a perfect game against the Cubs, the southpaw's record fourth no-hitter, beating Bob Hendley's one-hit effort, 1-0. In the fifth inning, the Chicago left-hander gives up an unearned run and yields the game's only hit in the seventh-inning double to Lou Johnson on a ball that barely rolls to outfield grass.

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1968 The new American League expansion team hires Joe Gordon, giving the future Hall of Fame second baseman the distinction of managing his second major league team in Kansas City. In his only year with the club, the former A's manager leads the Royals to a fourth-place finish in the six-team AL West Division, finishing the team's inaugural season with a 69-93 record.
1977 At Fenway Park, shortstop Alan Trammel and second baseman Lou Whitaker make their major league debut for Detroit. The Tigers' new double-play combination will be teammates for 19 seasons, setting a major league record.

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1979 When Red Sox backup catcher Bob Montgomery takes his final at-bat, he becomes the last player to step into the batter's box without wearing a helmet. The Boston backstop, required to wear a protective plastic liner within his cap, is allowed to be helmetless due to a grandfather clause in Major League Baseball's edict enacted eight years ago, making the use of helmets mandatory for all batters.

 

1987 Astros right-hander Nolan Ryan, beating the Giants, 4-2, strikes out 12 of the final 13 hitters he faces en route to a 16-K performance. The 'Ryan Express' notches his 4,500th career strikeout, whiffing Mike Aldrete to end the seventh inning.

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1988 In his final major league game, Bruce Sutter, who missed last season due to shoulder problems, notches his 300th career save. The 35-year-old future Hall of Fame closer becomes the third reliever to reach the milestone when he retires the Padres in order in the 11th inning of the Braves' 5-4 win at Jack Murphy Stadium.

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1989 Devon White steals second, third, and home in the sixth inning of the Angels' 8-5 victory over the Red Sox at Anaheim Stadium. The fleet outfielder also pilfers second base in the eighth frame, swiping his 43rd sack of the season.

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1992 In front of a sellout crowd at County Stadium, Robin Yount becomes the 17th and third-youngest player to reach the 3000 hits when he singles off Indian reliever Jose Mesa in a 5-4 Brewers loss to Cleveland. The 36-year-old Milwaukee center fielder also reached 1,000 and 2,000 hit plateaus against the Indians.

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1992 The owners select Bud Selig to serve as the Major League Executive Council's chairman, otherwise known as interim commissioner. Baseball will take nearly six years to name a permanent person for the post, and it will select Selig, the former owner of the Brewers, as the game's ninth chief executive.
1997 After broadcasting a Mets-Phillies game last night, Hall of Famer and beloved Phillies announcer Richie Ashburn, an excellent contact hitter who once fouled off 14 pitches in one at-bat, passes away from an apparent heart attack in his New York hotel room. 'Whitey' collected the most hits by any major leaguer during the decade of the 1950s.

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1997 Red Sox rookie shortstop Nomar Garciaparra breaks the major league record for RBIs by a leadoff batter with his two ribbies in an 8-6 loss to the Yankees. Tiger Harvey Kuenn established the mark in 1956 with 85.

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1998 The Yankees (102-41) move 20.5 games ahead of the second-place Red Sox, clinching a flag with their 7-5 win over Boston at Fenway Park. The Bronx Bombers will set an American League record with their 112 victories this season.
1998 Thanks to Damion Easley's tenth inning two-run walk-off homer, the Tigers beat Rick Aguilera and the Twins, 8-7. The game marks the third consecutive contest Detroit trailed going into the final inning but dramatically won in their last at-bat.

 

2001 For the second time in the season, Barry Bonds hits three home runs in a game. The Giants left fielder, whose offensive output gives him 63 homers, passes the major league season mark of 61 for homers hit left-handed, set by Roger Maris in 1961.
2002 On the third-earliest date since divisional play began in 1969, the Braves clinch the National League East for the eighth consecutive season. Atlanta will finish the season 19 games ahead of the second-place Expos.
2002 For the fifth straight season, Diamondback southpaw Randy Johnson records 300 strikeouts, breaking his own record of four consecutive years. The feat also ties the 'Big Unit' with Nolan Ryan, having six 300 strikeout seasons.

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2002 Barry Bonds' 610th career home run is the longest dinger ever hit in the three-year history of Pac Bell Park. The 491-foot homer sails over the fans' heads, waiting in line at a concession stand in the center field bleachers.
2002 Alex Rodriguez extends the home run record for shortstops after surpassing Ernie Banks' 1958 mark of 47 last season. The Ranger infielder slugs his major league-leading 52nd and 53rd home runs of the season, helping Texas defeat the Mariners, 12-7, at The Ballpark in Arlington.

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2003 At Turner Field, Tomas Perez and Jason Michaels hit grand slams in the Phillies' 18-5 rout of the hometown Braves. The bases-full blasts come in the second and sixth inning, respectively.
2004 Joe Randa becomes the first player in American League history to collect six hits and score six runs in a nine-inning game. The Kansas City third baseman's offensive output contributes to the Royals' 26-5 rout over Tigers.

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2004 Lino Urdaneta's first major league appearance results in an earned run average of infinity when the Tigers rookie does not retire a batter, giving up five hits, one walk, and six earned runs. Fortunately for the right-hander, the Mets will allow him to appear in two games in 2007, in which he gives up one run in one inning of work, to bring down his ERA to a much more respectable 63.00.
2006 In the shortest game ever recorded at Chase Field, Brandon Webb one-hits the visiting Cardinals, 3-0. The only hit the Diamondbacks right-hander gives up in the 1 hour and 54-minute game in the desert is Scott Rolen's two-out double in the fourth inning

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2006 At Coors Field in Denver, Alfonso Soriano hit his 45th home run to set the Nationals' single-season franchise record. The previous club record was established in 2000 by Vladimir Guerrero, playing for the Montreal Expos.

2007 The Brewers become the third team in big league history to begin a game with three consecutive homers. In the Brew Crew's 10-5 victory over the Reds, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, and Ryan Braun start the Great American Ball Park contest with a bang.

 

2007 In the first inning at Detroit's Comerica Park, Curtis Granderson steals his 20th base of the season to become only the third major leaguer to belong to the 20-20-20-20 club. The Tigers center fielder joins Frank Schulte (1911 - Cubs) and Willie Mays (1957 - Giants) as the only players to record 20 home runs, 20 triples, and 20 doubles, as well as swiping 20 bases in a season.

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2008 Derek Jeter passes the legendary Babe Ruth on the Yankees' all-time hits list, adding a first-inning single during the 7-1 victory over the Angels in Anaheim to run his career total to 2,519 hits. Lou Gehrig (2,721) is now the only Bronx Bomber with more hits than the club's current shortstop.

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2008 Removed from the starting lineup when his cab becomes stuck in traffic, Dan Johnson, called up today from the Durham Bulls, pinch hits in the ninth inning with the Rays trailing 4-3, and belts a game-tying home run off closer Jonathan Papelbon in the Fenway Park contest. The homer, which comes in his first at-bat with the team and is his first pinch-hit in 16 major league attempts, is believed to be the turning point of Tampa Bay's season, as the timely round-tripper helps to snap a four-game losing streak and prevents the Red Sox from taking over first place.
2010 Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first major leaguer with ten consecutive seasons with 200 hits. The Mariner right-fielder extends his own record with a fifth-inning single to center in the Mariners' 1-0 loss to Toronto at the Rogers Centre.

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2012 Rays right-hander James Shields tosses a complete-game two-hitter, beating the first-place Rangers, 6-0. B.J. Upton knocks in half of Tampa Bay's runs when he hits three solo homers in the first, fourth, and sixth innings of the Tropicana Field contest.
2013 Juan Uribe homers in each of his first three trips to the plate in the Dodgers' 8-1 victory over Arizona. Los Angeles goes yard six times in the Chavez Ravine contest, falling two shy of the franchise record established in 2002.
2020 The Braves, shut out in yesterday's contest, set the modern (post-1900) National League record for runs scored in a game when the team beats the Marlins at Truist Park, 29-9. Atlanta, fueled by 23 hits, including seven homers, falls one run short of tying the major league mark established by the Rangers in a 2007 contest when they tallied thirty times against the Orioles but surpasses the franchise mark set in 1957 when the team beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 23-10.
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28,479

 

Today in Baseball History
Home | Contact | Baseball Almanac | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Advertise | Support​

Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On September 8 in Baseball History...

• • 1880 - The Polo Grounds in New York is leased by the new National Association Metropolitan club. The grounds, which have been used for polo matches, will be converted into the first commercial baseball park to be built on Manhattan Island. It opens three weeks later.
  • 1905 - The Pittsburgh Pirates stranded eighteen runners in an 8-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds to set a National League record for men left on base.
  • 1916 - Wally Schang of the A's homers from both sides of the plate against the Yankees. Only a handful of people see the rare feat on a rainy day.
  • 1939 - Twenty-year-old Bob Feller becomes the youngest 20th-century pitcher to win twenty games, as Cleveland beats St. Louis 12-1.
  • 1955 - The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves, 10-2, to clinch the National League pennant with a seventeen-game lead.
  • 1958 - Roberto Clemente tied a Major League record by hitting three triples in a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
  • 1963 - Braves pitcher Warren Spahn ties Christy Mathewson with his thirteenth 20-win season by notching a 3-2 victory in Philadelphia. At forty-two, Spahn becomes the oldest twenty-game winner.
  • 1965 - Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's played all nine positions before having to leave after a ninth-inning collision with Ed Kirkpatrick of the Angels. The Angels won, 5-3, in 13 innings.
  • 1972 - Fergie Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, for his 20th victory of the season. It was the sixth straight year that Jenkins won at least twenty games.
  • 1980 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspendsFergie Jenkins indefinitely as a result of his August 25 drug arrest in Toronto. On September 22, the suspension will be overturned by arbitrator Raymond Goetz, the first time ever a commissioner's decision is overruled by an arbitrator.
  • 1985 - Cincinnati's Pete Rose inserted himself into the lineup when the Chicago Cubs started right-hander Reggie Patterson. Rose singled in the first inning and again in the fifth inning to tie Ty Cobb with 4,191 career hits. Rose was retired in his other at-bats and the game was called because of darkness after nine innings with the score tied, 5-5.
  • 1988 - National League president Bart Giamatti is unanimously elected baseball's seventh commissioner, and will succeed Peter Ueberroth in 1989.
  • 1993 - Darryl Kile pitched baseball's second no-hitter in five days as the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets, 7-1.
  • 1995 - Cleveland ends a postseason drought of forty-one years by clinching the American League Central Division with a 3-2 win over the Orioles.
  • 1996 - Todd Hundley of the New York Mets became the ninth player to hit forty home runs during the season, breaking the Major League record set in 1961. Hundley's homer, in a 6-2 win over Atlanta, tied Roy Campanella's Major League record for homers by a catcher.
  • 1998 - Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' thirty-seven year-old home run record, lining historic No. 62 just over the wall in left field with two out in the fourth inning. McGwire's homer off the Chicago Cubs' Steve Trachsel set off a wild celebration in Busch Stadium.

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