BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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9/21
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1963 Cecil Fielder (3 x MLB All Star, 2 x AL HR leader, Detroit Tigers; World Series 1996 Atlanta Braves), born in Los Angeles, California

1969 Jason Christiansen, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Omaha, Nebraska

1977 Brian Tallet pitcher, 2002-11 (Toronto Blue Jays, and 2 other teams), born in Midwest City, Oklahoma

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1892 John Clarkson becomes the fifth pitcher in major league history to record his 300th victory when the Spiders beat the Pirates, 3-2, at Cleveland's League Park. The 31-year-old right-hander will compile a 328-178 record during his 12 year Hall of Fame career in the big leagues.

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1896 Connie Mack announces he will leave the Pirates to manage the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers of the Western League. The light-hitting catcher retires as a full-time player to accept the deal, including twenty-five percent of the club, a precursor to his 54-year reign as the American League A's owner.

1925 Barney Friberg catches an inning in a 9-7 loss against Pittsburgh, the only position on the field the Phillies utility man hadn't yet played this season. Ripley's Believe or Not highlights his achievement in its syndicated cartoon.

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1934 "If I'da known he was gonna throw one, I'da thrown one, too." - DIZZY DEAN, after his brother tosses a no-hitter in the nightcap of a doubleheader. In the second game of a twin bill at Ebbets Field, 22-year-old Cardinal hurler Paul Dean, called Daffy by his teammates, becomes the fifth rookie to throw a no-hitter, beating the Dodgers, 3-0. His brother Dizzy held Brooklyn hitless until the eighth inning in the opener, settling for a two-hitter in the team's 13-0 blanking of the Bums.

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1941 The Giants become the first major league team to start four Jewish players when Harry Danning (C), Harry Feldman (P), Morrie Arnovich (LF), and Sid Gordon (CF) take the field at the Polo Grounds. The game also marks the first time a Jewish pitcher and a Jewish catcher form the battery when 30-year-old backstop Danning calls the pitches for 21-year-old rookie right-hander Feldman, who is making his second big league start.

1947 W8XCT, the station to become known as WLWT, carries the first televised Reds' game. An estimated home audience of 10,000 viewers watches their hometown heroes lose to the Pirates in the Sunday afternoon contest at Crosley Field, 11-7.

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1947 At Fenway Park, Johnny Pesky finishes the day with 202 hits when he collects two hits in both ends of a doubleheader against the Senators. The 28-year-old shortstop surpasses the 200-hit mark for the third time in as many seasons, becoming the first player to lead a league in hits in his first three seasons in the game.

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1949 At Wrigley Field, the Phillies beat Chicago, 3-1, for their 78th victory. The win guarantees the club its first winning season since 1932, snapping a 16-year streak of futility.

 

1951 In his major league debut, Cardinals hurler Jack Collum throws a two-hit shutout against the Cubs at Sportsman's Park, 6-0. The 24-year-old rookie southpaw, who developed a natural screwball due to losing part of his index finger in a farm accident, will post a 32-28 record during his nine-year tenure with six different big-league teams.

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1952 In front of the season's second-largest crowd, with many of the 8,822 fans rooting for the Dodgers, the Braves play their final home game in Boston. Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella hits the last home run at Braves Field in an 8-2 victory over the Milwaukee-bound club.

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1954 Rookie pitcher Bob Grim wins his 20th game when the Yankees defeat the Senators, 3-1. Due to arm troubles, the 24-year-old right-hander will eventually be used exclusively in relief, becoming a selection for the All-Star team in that role for the American League squad in 1957.

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1956 At Fenway Park, the Yankees strand 20 runners, losing to the Red Sox, 13-7. The number of players left on base sets a big-league record for a nine-inning game.

1959 With an eight-inning 12-hit effort in the Braves' 8-6 victory over Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, lefty Warren Spahn earns his 20th victory for the fourth consecutive season and the tenth time in his career. The southpaw will compile 13 seasons with twenty or more wins during his 21-year Hall of Fame tenure in the major leagues.

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1963 When first base umpire Doug Harvey tosses skipper Danny Murtaugh and coach Frank Oceak, Gene Baker takes over the club's reins in the final two innings, becoming the first black to manage a team at the major-league level. The former Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago Cubs, and Pirates infielder's historic moment is spoiled when Willie Davis hits a three-run walk-off home run, giving the Dodgers a 5-3 victory over the Bucs in the Chavez Ravine contest.

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1964 In the first of ten consecutive losses, the front-running Phillies lose to the Reds at Connie Mack Stadium, 1-0. The game's only run scores in the sixth inning when Chico Ruiz steals home, a play many fans believe is the harbinger of the season-ending collapse, which will see the team blow a six-and-half game lead with 12 left to play. Returning from a West Coast road trip, the Phillies are greeted at the airport by over 2,000 pennant-fever fans when they arrive in Philadelphia early in the morning. In front of the National League by six and a half games with only 12 games to play, the team will suffer a ten-game losing streak and not make it to the postseason.

1966 The smallest crowd in the 46-year-old history of Chicago's Wrigley Field watches the Cubs beat Cincinnati, 9-3. The 530 fans in attendance at the ballpark for the Wednesday afternoon contest see Billy Williams and Adolfo Phillips go deep in a game that takes only two hours and twenty-four minutes to complete.

1969 In a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the tenth inning at Candlestick Park, LA's Pete Mikkelsen quickly retires the first two Giants batters but then is ordered to intentionally walk Willie McCovey, who is 4-for-4 in the game. The Dodger reliever proceeds to issue free passes unintentionally to the next two hitters to load the bases, losing the game when shortstop Maury Wills boots pinch-hitter Jim Davenport's ground ball.

 

1970 Oakland southpaw Vida Blue, in his eighth major league start, becomes the 11th rookie to throw a no-hitter. The A's 21-year-old freshman, who will become the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner next season, beats the Twins at Oakland Coliseum, 6-0.

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1971 By a vote of 10–2, the American League gives the cash-strapped Senators approval to move to Arlington next season, with only the Orioles and White Sox casting negative votes. In 1961, Charlie O. Finley had explored shifting his Kansas City A's to the welcoming Metroplex in Texas but received no support from his fellow owners.

1971 Dave McNally wins his 20th game for the fourth consecutive season when he blanks New York at Yankee Stadium, 5-0. The southpaw becomes the first of the four 20-game winners on the club, which will include Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, and Pat Dobson.

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1973 In Detroit, John Hiller goes 3.2 innings in the Tigers' 5-1 victory over the Red Sox, notching his 38th save, a club record. Two years ago, the southpaw reliever suffered a heart attack at the age of 27.

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1973 On the day they get to .500, the Mets move into first place for the first time since May 27th, a half a game ahead of Pittsburgh in the 'NL Least.' Thanks to Tom Seaver's complete-game five-hitter, New York evens its record at 77-77 with a 10-2 victory, the 21st in the last 29 games.

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1975 Jim Rice suffers a broken bone in his hand after being hit by a Vern Ruhle pitch in the first inning of the team's 6-5 victory over the Tigers in Detroit. The injury will cause the 22-year-old Red Sox rookie sensation to miss the remainder of the season, including the World Series.

1975 Gaylord Perry goes the distance, limiting Chicago to six hits in the team's 8-2 win at White Sox Park. The victory gives the Ranger right-hander the identical career win-loss record (215-174) of his brother, Jim, released by the A's in August after getting his final major league decision earlier in the month.

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1979 In the Royals' 13-4 rout of the A's at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, U.L. Washington hits two three-run home runs, one left-handed and one right-handed. The pair of round-trippers will be the only ones the Kansas City shortstop hits in the 101 games he plays this season.

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1981 Phillies southpaw Steve Carlton becomes the all-time National League strikeout leader when he fans Andre Dawson in the third frame of the team's 1-0 loss in 17 innings at Montreal. Lefty, who tosses ten shutout innings and fans a dozen batters in the Olympic Stadium contest, surpasses Cardinal legend Bob Gibson with his 3,118th career strikeout, taking over the top spot in the Senior Circuit.

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1986 Jimmy Jones tosses a one-hit shutout in his major league debut when San Diego blanks Houston, 5-0. The 22-year-old # 1 draft pick, who will post a 43-39 record during his eight-year big league career with the Padres, Yankees, and Astros, allows only a third-inning triple to opposing pitcher Bob Knepper

1987 Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson become the first teammates to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season when the 'Straw' swipes two bags in the Mets' 7-1 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. The southpaw swinger is only the tenth member of the 30-30 club, but is the fourth player, along with HoJo, Indians' right fielder Joe Carter, and Reds center fielder Eric Davis to accomplish the feat this season.

Howard Johnson breaks a 53-year-old National League record when he strokes his 36th home run as a switch hitter in the Mets' 7-1 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. The third baseman's historic homer, the team's franchise-high seventh grand slam of the season, surpasses the mark established by Cardinals' first baseman Ripper Collins in 1934 but is far less than the major league record of 54 set in 1961 by Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle.​

1988 Kevin McReynolds steals his 21st and final base of the season when he swipes second base in the fifth inning of the Mets' 4-3 victory over the Phillies at Shea Stadium. The New York outfielder finishes the campaign without being caught, surpassing the major league record set by the A's Jimmy Sexton with 16 stolen bases not being thrown out in 1982.

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1988 Astros' Bob Knepper tosses a one-hitter, beating Pete Smith, who also throws a complete game, and the Braves, 1-0. The only Atlanta hit in the two-hour-and-four-minute Astrodome contest is Dale Murphy's second-inning infield single.

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1995 John Vander Wal sets a major league record with his 26th pinch-hit of the season. The Rockies pinch-hitter's historic hit is a seventh-inning solo home run off Sergio Valdez in Colorado's 5-3 loss to the Giants at Candlestick Park.
1997 At Kauffman Stadium, Indians starter John Smiley breaks his arm, throwing a curveball warming up in the bullpen. The southpaw, obtained in a midseason trade from the Reds, was recently placed on the disabled list due to tendinitis.
1998 Jason Kendall sets a new National League record for catchers when he swipes his 26th base in an 8-1 loss to the Giants at Candlestick Park. The Pirates backstop surpasses the previous mark set by John Stearns, playing for the Mets in 1978.

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2000 Vladimir Guerrero, in the team's 10-3 victory over Florida, establishes an Expo single-season home run record by hitting his 43rd round-tripper. 'Vlad the Impaler', who breaks the record he set last year, goes deep to center field off A.J Burnett in the fifth inning of the Olympic Stadium contest to establish the new mark.

2001 Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez hit his 47th home run, tying the major league mark for round-trippers by a shortstop in a season. The Cubs' legend Ernie Banks established the record in 1958.

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2001 The Mets donate their day's pay, which totals approximately $500,000, from tonight's game with the Braves at Shea to a rescue fund for the families of the firefighters and policemen killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The contest is the first professional baseball game played in New York since the tragedy. A crowd of 41,235 at Shea Stadium witnesses baseball's return to New York City for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Uplifting ceremonies before and during the game, including performances by Diana Ross, Marc Anthony, Lisa Minnelli, and NYPD bagpipers, pay tribute to victims of the tragedy. Mike Piazza's eighth-inning home run gives the Mets a 3-2 dramatic victory over the Braves.

2003 Greg Maddux, with Atlanta beating the Marlins, 8-0, becomes the first pitcher to win at least 15 games in 16 consecutive seasons. The Braves' righty, who pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit en route to his 288th career victory, had shared the record with Cy Young.

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2004 Raul Ibanez, in the Mariners' 16-6 rout over LA, ties an American League record shared by 20+ players when he collects six hits in the nine-inning contest. The mark for the most hits in an AL game is nine, accomplished by Cleveland's Johnny Burnett in an 18-inning marathon against Philadelphia.
2005 At Shea Stadium, Mudcat Grant and Al Downing welcome Marlins' southpaw Dontrelle Willis to the "Black Aces," a fraternity of African-Americans 20-game winners in a big-league season. Beating the Nationals earlier in the month, the D-Train became the 13th black to accomplish the feat and plans to join the Aces' foundation to promote baseball in the African-American community.

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2006 David Ortiz, hitting his 51st and 52nd homers, breaks the Red Sox's franchise record of 50 in a single season, established by Jimmie Foxx in 1938. 'Big Papi' also surpasses his own major league mark for home runs set by a DH with 45, two more than the standard he set last season.

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2008 Behind southpaw Scott Kazmir's solid outing, throwing six scoreless innings, the Rays, who have never finished higher than fourth in the American League East Division during the first decade of their existence, clinch a postseason berth with a 7-2 victory over Minnesota. Carlos Pena's two doubles and solo home runs by Cliff Floyd and Fernando Perez provide the offensive in Tampa Bay's historic win at Tropicana Field.

2008 After a moving ceremony celebrating the history of the 85-year-old ballpark, New York beat the Orioles in the last game ever played at Yankee Stadium, 7-3. Babe's daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, throws out the ceremonial first pitch, with team captain Derek Jeter, surrounded on the mound by his teammates, bids farewell to 'House Ruth Built' at the end of the game, in an address in front of the 54,610 fans attending the Bronx finale.

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2009 Dave Clark, the team's third-base coach, replaces Cecil Cooper as the slumping Astros manager. 'Coop,' after signing a contract extension to manage until the end of the 2010 season, piloted his club to a 171-170 record, including a disappointing 70-79 mark this season, during his two-year tenure in the Houston dugout.

2010 A 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Cleveland at Target Field along with Chicago's loss in Oakland clinches the AL Central Division for the Twins. Minnesota, who had to play a 163rd game the previous two seasons to determine a division winner, becomes the first club this season to secure a postseason berth.

2010 Obtained in an off-season trade with Blue Jays, Roy Halladay becomes the Phillies' first 20-game winner since Steve Carlton reached the milestone 28 years ago and the first right-hander to accomplish the feat for the club since Robin Roberts posted a 23-14 record in 1955. The 5-3 victory over Atlanta, Philadelphia's ninth straight win that increases the team's NL East lead to five games over the fading Braves, makes 'Doc' the 17th pitcher to accomplish the feat in both leagues, having compiled two 20-win seasons with the Blue Jays.

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2013 Matt Carpenter breaks Stan Musial’s 1953 Cardinals single-season record for two-baggers hit by a left-handed batter when he doubles for the 54th time this season, reaching the milestone in the fifth inning of the team’s 7-2 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park. Joe Medwick established the overall franchise mark, hitting 64 during the 1936 campaign.

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2013 Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez's 29th round-tripper, his 300th career home run, ties him with Ted Williams for the most hit in a season by a player who is 41 or older. In his final year as a major leaguer, the' Splendid Splinter hit that many in 1960 playing with the Red Sox.

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2013 The Tigers tie the game with a six-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, then beat the White Sox in extra innings, 7-6. Omar Infante ends the Comerica Park contest by hitting a bases-loaded infield single in the 12th for the walk-off victory.

2019 With two years left on his contract, the Padres fire manager Andy Green, citing communication issues. During his four seasons with the Friars, the 42-year-old skipper compiled a 274-366 (.428) record, never finishing higher than fourth in the five-team NL Western Division.

2020 The A's become the first team to clinch a division in the shortened Covid-19 season, securing the flag on an off day when an Astros' loss to Mariners puts the second-place club 6.5 games behind with six to play. The victory marks Oakland's first championship since 2013, but the team will be making their third straight postseason appearance, facing the White Sox in the new three-game Wild Card series.
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Today in Baseball History
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September 21 all
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On September 21 in Baseball History...
1922 - The Americna League reinstates the Most Valuable Player award, last given in 1914, appointing a committee of one writer from each city. The trophy goes to George Sisler. The National League will pick up the idea two years later.
1923 - Babe Ruth is the unanimous choice of the American League committee of baseball writers for the Most Valuable Player Award.
1934 - Dizzy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers for 3-0 victory in the second game of an Ebbets Field doubleheader.
1939 - The National League announces that for the first time in the 20th century, games will be transferred from one city to another. A doubleheader in Philadelphia will be moved to Brooklyn in an effort to top one million paid attendance.
1944 - After a 5-15 stretch that ate away a chunk of their 20-game lead, the Cardinals finally clinch the National League flag with a 5-4 win over Boston. They will finish with 105 victories and their third title under Billy Southworth, whose clubs won 316 games in three years.
1952 - The Braves play their last game in Boston's Braves Field before moving to Milwaukee, losing to Brooklyn's Joe Black 8-2. The crowd of 8,822 is the second largest of the season at the ballpark.
1957 - Gail Harris is the last player to hit a home run as a New York Giant in a 9-5 win over the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader. Ruben Gomez gains the last victory for the New York Giants.
1959 - Warren Spahn notches his 20th win and his 266th National League victory to tie Eppa Rixey of the Phils and Reds for the career high in wins by a left-hander. The Braves and the Dodgers are now tied for the lead in the three-team pennant race.
1964 - Manager Gene Mauch's first-place Phillies lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds on Chico Ruiz's steal of home in the sixth inning. It was Philadelphia's first of ten straight losses, a streak that cost the National League pennant.
1970 - Oakland's Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter in his eighth Major League start, beating Minnesota 6-0.
1981 - Steve Carlton struck out Andre Dawson in the third inning for the left-hander's 3,118th career strikeout, the most in the National League. But the Philadelphia Phillies lost to Montreal, 1-0 in 17 innings.
1982 - Playing against the Royals at Anaheim Stadium, outfielders Fred Lynn and Brian Downing crash through the left field fence while trying to catch a fly ball. Lynn makes the catch and it is ruled an out, the umpires reasoning that it is the same as if he had tumbled into the seats.
1986 - No. 1 draft pick Jimmy Jones pitched a one-hitter in his Major League debut, leading the San Diego Padres to a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
1987 - Darryl Strawberry joins Howard Johnson as the first teammates ever to achieve 30 homers and 30 steals in the same season.
1995 - Colorado's John Vander Wal set a Major League record with his 26th pinch-hit of the season, a home run in the seventh inning against San Francisco.
1997 - Mike Piazza becomes the first Dodger, and the first player in 25 years, to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium. Piazza's 478-foot drive off Colorado's Frank Castillo bounces off the left field pavilion roof. Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell was the only other player to hit a ball out of the stadium (in right field), accomplishing the feat in both 1969 and 1973.
Baseball Birthdays on September 21...

1849 - Thake, Al
1858 - Buckley, Dick
1860 - Brown, Tom
1860 - Bishop, Frank
1863 - Horner, Jack
1865 - Joyce, Bill
1865 - Hoover, Charlie
1868 - Daly, Joe
1869 - Garry, Jim
1871 - Blackburn, George
1875 - McManus, Frank
1882 - Quinn, Tad
1883 - Lord, Bris
1886 - Bader, Art
1891 - Shields, Pete
1891 - Britton, Gil
1892 - Smith, Elmer
1895 - Swigler, Ad
1896 - Bennett, Herschel
1899 - Lundgren, Del
1900 - Bogart, John
1909 - Blanche, Al
1910 - Butcher, Max
1910 - Auker, Elden
1917 - Haynes, Joe
1918 - Walczak, Ed
1921 - McHale, John
1927 - Clark, Jim
1930 - Muffett, Billy
1934 - Zimmerman, Jerry
1940 - Fosnow, Jerry
1942 - McDowell, Sam
1942 - Wilson, Bill
1947 - Todd, Jim
1948 - Lopez, Aurelio
1948 - Lance, Gary
1952 - Gray, Gary
1952 - Gardner, Art
1954 - MacCormack, Frank
1959 - Cox, Danny
1960 - Rodriguez, Rick
1963 - Afenir, Troy
1963 - Fielder, Cecil
1965 - Dozier, D.J.
1969 - Christiansen, Jason
1969 - Shelton, Ben
1972 - Spiezio, Scott
1972 - Withem, Shannon
1974 - Barrios, Manuel
1975 - Davis, Doug
1976 - Santana, Pedro

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9/22
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1889 Hooks Dauss (Detroit Tigers), born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 1963)


1920 Bob Lemon Hall of Fame pitcher (MLB All-Star 1948–54; World Series 1948; no-hitter 1948; Cleveland Indians) and manager (KC Royals, Chicago White Sox; World Series NY Yankees 1978), born in San Bernardino, California (d. 2000)


1927 Tommy Lasorda, Hall of Fame manager (World Series 1981, 88; NL Manager of the Year 1983, 88; LA Dodgers 1976-96), born in Norristown,
Pennsylvania (d. 2021)


1955 Jeffrey Leonard, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1961 Dot Richardson softball infielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Orlando, Florida


1961 Vince Coleman outfielder, 1985-97, NL Rookie of the Year, 6X NL stolen base leader, 2X All-Star (St. Louis Cardinals; New York Mets, and 4 other teams), born in Jacksonville, Florida


1965 Mark Guthrie pitcher, 1989-2003 (Minnesota Twins, LA Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and 6 other teams), born in Buffalo, New York

1970 Mike Matheny (Milwaukee Brewers) and manager (Kansas City Royals), born in Columbus, Ohio