BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1907 Phillies' freshman hurler George McQuillan begins his major league career with 25 shutout innings, establishing a rookie record. The 22-year-old right-hander's feat will not be matched for 101 years until broken by A's reliever Brad Ziegler, who will extend the mark to 39.1 innings in 2008.

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1908 Allowing only one walk, Ed Walsh wins both ends of a doubleheader to establish an American League record. The Meriden (CT) resident beats the Red Sox at Chicago's South Side Park 5-1 and 2-0.

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1908 At Exposition Park, Pittsburgh blanks the Cardinals, 7-0. The last-place Redbirds are shut out for a record 33rd time, averaging more than one whitewash every five games.

1911 Phillies right-hander Pete Alexander sets the modern record for wins for a rookie when he beats the Pirates at Forbes Field, 7-4, recording his 28th victory of the season with a complete-game effort. The 24-year-old freshman surpasses the previous mark established by Russ Ford, who won 26 games last season hurling for the Highlanders.

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1913 Senators' legend Walter Johnson beats the Philadelphia A's, 1-0, to finish the season with 36 victories. The future Hall of Fame right-hander will toss a record 110 shutouts during his 21 seasons in the major leagues.

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1915 The Phillies clinch their first National League pennant when Grover Cleveland Alexander tosses a one-hitter, blanking Boston at Braves Field, 5-0. It will take another 35 years before the franchise wins another flag.

1921 Allen Sothoron establishes a major league record by not yielding a home run during the 178 innings he throws this season. The 28-year-old right-hander, who started the season with the Browns before being sent to the Red Sox for a brief stint, will pitch most of his games with the Indians.

1928 At Navin Field, the Tigers establish a club record, collecting 27 hits in a 19-10 victory over the first-place Yankees. The club equals the mark in 2004 in a 17-7 rout over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

1934 At Griffith Stadium in Washington, D. C., Yankees legend Babe Ruth hits his 659th and final home run wearing pinstripes. The 'Bambino' had 49 homers with the Red Sox before coming to New York and will add six additional round-trippers with the Braves before retiring next season.

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1935 In his only major league game, Pirates rookie Aubrey Epps goes 3-for-4 in the Bucs' season finale, a 9-6 loss to Cincinnati at Crosley Field. The 23-year-old catcher, known as Yo-Yo to his teammates, finishes his one-game big league career with the same batting average (.750) and fielding percentage when he commits two errors in eight chances.

1935 Augie Galan, who makes a league-leading 748 plate appearances while playing the full 154-game schedule, ends the season without hitting into a double play. The Cubs center fielder did line into an eleventh-inning triple play in the team's 3-2 loss to the Reds in April at Wrigley Field.

 

1943 Vern Stephens becomes the first player to hit two extra-inning home runs in the same game. The Browns shortstop puts St. Louis ahead with a solo shot in the 11th, and after the Red Sox tie the score in the bottom of the frame, he goes deep again in the 13th with the eventual winning run in the team's 4-3 victory at Fenway Park.

1943 The Red Sox drop a 4-3 decision to the Browns at Fenway Park, thanks to Browns' shortstop Vern Stephens' home runs in the 11th and 13th frame. The contest marks Boston's final and record 31st extra-inning contest this season, with the team on the field for 73 extra frames or the equivalent of additional eight nine-inning games, compiling a 15-14 record, along with two tied games.

1945 Paul Gillespie becomes the first of only two players, joined by John Miller in 1966, to hit a home run in their first and last big-league at-bats. The wartime Cubs reserve catcher went deep against the Giants at the Polo Grounds on September 11, 1942, and ends his career with a two-run round-tripper off Pirate right-hander Rip Swell in the team's 5-0 victory at Forbes Fields.

1946 On the last day of the campaign, by striking out opposing pitcher Hal Newhouser and four others, Bob Feller establishes a major league record by striking out 348 batters in one season. Future research, however, will show Rube Waddell had struck out 349 in 1904.

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1951 Don Newcombe becomes the first black to post twenty victories in a season. In a must-win contest for the Dodgers, the right-hander bests Robin Roberts, also a 20-game-winner, when he blanks the Phillies at Shibe Park, 5-0.

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1954 Willie Mays gives the glove he used to make one of the most spectacular catches in baseball history, an amazing over-the-shoulder grab that robbed Vic Wertz of extra-bases in Game 1 of the World Series, to teammate Don Liddle's 6-year son. When he gets older, Craig Liddle will use the immortal piece of leather in Little League games.

1954 At Polo Grounds, World Series opponents feature black players on both sides for the first time when the Giants beat the Indians in ten innings, 5-2. Eight Afro-Americans, four from each team, participate in the Fall Classic, including the future Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Larry Doby, and Monte Irvin.

1954 In a game best remembered for Willie Mays' spectacular over-the-shoulder grab of a ball hit deep to center field, robbing Vic Wertz of an extra-base hit, Dusty Rhodes becomes the second player in World Series history to end a game with a homer. The Giants pinch-hitter's walk-off three-run home run off Bob Lemon beats the Indians 5-2 in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.

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1956 On the last day of the season, Al Lopez resigns as the manager of the Indians after leading the team to five second-place finishes and a pennant in his six seasons in the dugout. Disappointed with the fans and organization’s lack of support for their slumping All-Star third baseman Al Rosen, the low-key skipper ends his Tribe tenure with a 570-354 record (.617).

1958 Solly Hemus is traded to St. Louis by the Phillies in exchange for utility infielder Gene Freese. The 36-year-old former Redbird will become the Cardinals' player-manager for the next three seasons, compiling a 190-192 record.

1959 At the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the Dodgers capture the NL flag with a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Braves, taking the first two games of the three-game playoff necessitated by the teams tied on the last day of the season. The deciding run comes in the bottom of the 12th inning after the first two batters make outs when Gil Hodges walks and scores on singles by Joe Pignatano and Carl Furillo.

 

1961 Johnny Blanchard's ninth-inning single plates Roger Maris, giving the Yankees a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Red Sox. The super-sub, playing right field, hit his 21st home run of the season in the fourth inning off of Boston's complete-game loser Bill Monbouquette, accounting for New York's other run.

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1961 Whitey Ford goes six innings in the Yankees' 2-1 victories over the Red Sox to finish the season with a 25-4 record. 'Slick' hurls 283 innings during the campaign without allowing a stolen base.

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1962 Branch Rickey, returning to the Cardinals for the second time in his long career, becomes the team's senior consultant for player development. The 'Mahatma' will have the power to make deals in this role, but the team owner Gussie Busch asks him to confer with general manager Bing Devine regularly.

1963 Stan Musial helps the Cardinals beat the Reds, 3-2 at Busch Stadium, getting two hits in the final three at-bats of his career. The 'Man' will retire with 3,630 hits during his 22-year tenure with the Redbirds, collecting 1,815 in St. Louis and the other 1,815 on the road.

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1963 On the final day of the season, John Paciorek, brother of Tom and Jim, goes 3-for-3, driving in three runs and scoring four times in his big league debut as Houston routs the Mets at Colt Stadium, 13-4. The 18-year-old Colt .45's right fielder, who also makes two outstanding defensive catches, will never again play in a big-league game due to severe back problems.

1964 Masanori Murakami becomes the first player born in Japan to win a major league game. At Candlestick Park, the 20-year-old southpaw one-hits the Colt .45's over three innings, and the Otsuki native gets the victory when Matty Alou, who hasn't homered in two years, goes deep to give the Giants a dramatic walk-off 5-4 win in the bottom of the 11th inning.

1964 At a press conference, the Mets announce Casey Stengel, the only skipper the franchise has ever known, will continue to manage next season. Although the expansion team has finished last in all three years of its existence, the 'Old Perfessor' receives a raise.

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1968 Ahead of Matty Alou by a slim percentage point on the last day of the season, Reds right fielder Pete Rose wins the batting title, going 1-for-3, to keep his average at .335 while the Pirates outfielder is hitless in four trips to the plate, finishing the year with a BA of .332. Yesterday, the batting crown rivals collectively went 9-for-9 in their respective games.

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1968 In a pregame ceremony with Harry Caray as the master of ceremonies, the Cardinals honor retiring outfielder Roger Maris. The former two-time MVP with the Yankees, who has never had his accomplishments recognized in the Bronx, thanks to the friendly Busch Stadium crowd and the team, remarking that his two seasons in St. Louis were his "most enjoyable years in baseball."

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1968 After the A's drop a 4-3 decision to Minnesota, Charlie Finley fires Oakland manager Bob Kennedy on the last day of the season. The A's owner, who has dismissed eight skippers in eight years, rehires Hank Bauer, who guided the team to ninth-places finishes in 1961 and 1962 when the club played in Kansas City.

1968 Carl Yastrzemski, who hit .326 last season, captures his second consecutive and third overall batting crown. The 29-year-old Red Sox outfielder's .301 mark is the lowest average ever posted in the American League to win the title.

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1969 Going deep off Senator hurler Jim Shellenback, Rico Petrocelli becomes the first shortstop in American League history to hit 40 home runs in a season. The Red Sox infielder's record will stand until 1998 when Alex Rodriguez blasts 42 bombs with the Mariners.

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1971 Expos' second baseman Ron Hunt is plunked by a pitch for the 50th time this season, establishing a big-league record. By comparison, the runner-up in the league, teammate Rusty Staub, will be hit by a pitch only nine times.
1973 Hank Aaron takes Houston's Jerry Reuss deep for his 40th home run in the Braves' 7-0 victory at Atlanta Stadium. 'Hammerin' Hank' joins teammates Davey Johnson and Darrell Evans in reaching the milestone, making them the first trio to accomplish the feat for the same club.

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1973 Steve Carlton, a 27-game winner for the cellar-dwelling Phillies last year, suffers his 20th loss when the Cardinals beat Philadelphia, 7-1. 'Lefty,' who will post a 13-20 record and a 3.90 ERA for the last-place team, becomes the first major leaguer to drop 20 decisions after winning the Cy Young Award the previous season.

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1976 Tommy Lasorda is named to succeed Walter Alston as the Dodger manager. 'Smokey' compiled a 2040-1613 record (.558) during his 23-year tenure with the club, winning seven pennants and four world championships.

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1977 Win a 6-3 victory over the Angels at Royals Stadium, Kansas City reaches the 100-win mark for the first time in the franchise's nine-year history. The eventual American League Western Division champions will finish the regular season with 102 victories.

1979 Manny Mota sets a major league record with his 146th career pinch-hit, a single to right field, in LA's 6-2 victory over Chicago at Dodger Stadium. The Dominican Republic native surpasses the record set by Smoky Burgess, who collected his last hit as a pinch-hitter in 1967.

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1983 In a game that lasts only two hours and twenty minutes, Mike Warren, in his last start of the season, no-hits the White Sox, 3-0, in front of 9,058 fans at the Oakland Coliseum. The 22-year-old right-hander from California, who will win only four more games in his three-year career, is the 15th rookie to throw a no-hitter.

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1986 In his first visit to a big-league ballpark, Jay Bell hits the first pitch he sees in the major leagues for a home run off Minnesota hurler Bert Blyleven, the player traded for him last season. The Twins right-hander's gopher ball to the Indians rookie shortstop breaks Robin Roberts's infamous record when he serves up his 47th gopher ball this season.

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1986 Mike and Greg Maddux become the first siblings to start a game against one another. In the rookie match-up, Cubs' righty Greg beats his older brother and the Phillies in the 'City of Brotherly Love,' 6-3.

1987 Don Mattingly sets a major league record by hitting his sixth grand slam of the season, surpassing the mark shared by Ernie Banks (1955 Cubs) and Jim Gentile (1961 Orioles). Remarkably, the Yankees' first baseman will not hit any other round-trippers with the bases loaded during his entire 14-year career.

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1993 George Brett plays his last game at Kauffman Stadium, and after the Royals' 3-2 ninth-inning walk-off victory, a post-game ceremony pays tribute to the future Hall of Famer. After the ceremony, with fireworks lighting up the sky, the KC third baseman circles the stadium in a golf cart and then kneels and kisses home plate.

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1996 Two weeks after the Rangers retire Nolan Ryan's number, the Astros follow suit and honor the 'Ryan Express' by retiring his #34. The right-handed fireballer played nine seasons for Houston, striking out a total of 1,866 batters en route to winning 106 games that included his 5th no-hitter against L.A. in 1981.

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1996 During a 4-1 loss at the SkyDome, Orioles' center fielder Brady Anderson becomes the 14th player to hit 50 home runs in a season. The power surge comes as a surprise, given the Baltimore leadoff hitter's previous season-high was only 21 round-trippers.

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1996 Hitting his 40th homer, Rockies third baseman Vinny Castilla joins Andres Galarraga (47) and Ellis Burks (40) to become the first trio of teammates in 23 years to hit 40 homers for one team. Davey Johnson (43), Darrell Evans (41), and Hank Aaron (40) accomplished the feat for the Braves in 1973.

1996 Although he is four shy of the necessary 502 plate appearances requirement, Tony Gwynn, hitting .353, is given the National League's batting crown using the Oh-fer Clause, which has been in the rule book for 30 years but never invoked. The addition of four mythical hitless at-bats would leave the Padres outfielder with a .349 average, still five points better than the runner-up Ellis Burks of the Rockies.

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1998 At Jacobs Field, Pedro Martinez snaps Boston's span of 13 consecutive postseason losses by beating the Indians, 11-3, in Game 1 of the ALDS. Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn contributes to the victory with two homers and ties an LDS record with seven RBIs, but the team will begin a new streak when they drop the series's final three contests.

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1999 Doug Glanville becomes the first Phillie player to collect 200 hits in a season since Pete Rose accomplished the feat twenty years ago. The center fielder reaches the milestone with a fourth-inning three-run home run off Micah Bowie in Philadelphia's 5-0 victory over Chicago at Veterans Stadium.

 

2000 At Edison Field, Darin Erstad becomes the first player to collect 100 RBIs batting leadoff when his sixth-inning sac fly plates Adam Kennedy in the Angels’ 9-3 victory over the Mariners. The Halo center fielder’s record will be surpassed in 2017 by Charlie Blackmon, who drives in 104 runs batting in the top spot for the Rockies.

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2000 Gary Sheffield ties the Dodgers' franchise single-season home run record when he goes deep off Woody Williams in the team's 3-0 victory over San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium. With his career-best 43rd round-tripper, the left fielder now shares the team mark with Duke Snider, who established the record in 1956 when he played for Brooklyn.

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2001 Astros' starter Dave Mlicki gives up homers to Fred McGriff, Rondell White, and Todd Hundley on three consecutive pitches. The back-to-back-to-back homers, which come in the first inning with two outs, enable the Cubs to beat Houston at Wrigley Field, 6-2.

2001 Mariners' outfielder Ichiro Suzuki gets his 234th hit of the season, breaking 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson's 1911 rookie record for the most in a season. The historic knock also ties the 1985 major league mark for singles, established by Wade Boggs with 187, playing with the Red Sox.

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2001 Miguel Tejada's seventh-inning grand slam makes him the 15th player in A's history to hit for the cycle. The slugging shortstop had tripled in the first inning, singled in the third, and doubled in the sixth.

2002 On the last day of the season, the Braves use 24 players, with the Mets using 21 to tie the major league record for the most players employed in a nine-inning game. The Expos and the Cubs also combined to use 45 players on September 5th, 1978.

2002 Barry Bonds sets a new season mark for on-base percentage with a .582 OBP. The 38-year-old Giant left fielder, who became the oldest first-time winner of a batting title, hitting .370, easily surpassed the 1941 mark established by Ted Williams with a .553 OBP.

2004 With the Braves beating the Mets 6-3, Bobby Cox becomes the ninth manager in baseball history to win 2,000 games. The other skippers who have reached this milestone are in the Hall of Fame, except for Tony La Russa, the current skipper of the Cardinals.

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2004 Major League Baseball announces Washington, D.C. will become the Montreal Expos' new home in time for the 2005 season. The nation's capital, chosen over finalists including Las Vegas and Northern Virginia, will have baseball for the first time in 33 years since the expansion Senators left in 1971 to become the Texas Rangers.

2004 Hours after MLB's announcement of the franchise's impending shift to Washington, D.C., the Expos played their final game in Montreal, a 9-1 loss to Florida before 31,395 enthusiastic fans at Olympic Stadium. As part of the ceremonies, the team commemorates their unfinished 1994 season by unfurling a banner that reads "1994 Meilleure quipe du Baseball/Best Team in Baseball," a reference to the club's 74-40 record before the work stoppage ended the season and the city's hopes of playing in a World Series.

2005 Staving off what would have been one of the worst collapses in baseball history, the White Sox clinch their first American League Central title since 2000, beating the Tigers at Detroit's Comerica Park, 4-2. The Pale Hose had watched their 15-game lead on August 1 shrink to only a game and a half over the rampaging Indians.

2005 Jhonny Peralta sets a new club record for home runs hit by an Indian shortstop. The 24-year-old's third-inning blast against the Devil Rays gives the Dominican his 24th round-tripper of the season, one more than Woodie Held hit in 1961.

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2007 During the sixth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto, Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon pulls Delmon Young out of the lineup for showing "blatant disrespect" of the game and the team by not running hard to first base. The 21-year-old outfielder responds with a profanity-laced tirade, claiming he was unfairly singled out and says he will not play in tomorrow's season finale, making it the only game in the 162-game season he will miss.

2007 One out away from clinching a playoff berth, Padres closer Trevor Hoffman gives up a game-tying pinch-hit triple to Tony Gwynn Jr, a former teammate's son who he used to babysit. The Padres will lose the game as well as tomorrow's season finale, resulting in a one-game playoff loss to Colorado that keeps the team out of the postseason.

2010 With the game tied 5-5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Texas pinch-hitter Nelson Cruz strikes out, apparently sending the game into extra innings. The third strike turns out to be a wild pitch, and when the catcher makes an errant throw trying to complete the putout, Mitch Moreland scores the winning run from first base to give the Rangers a 6-5 victory over the Mariners on a walk-off strikeout at the Ballpark in Arlington.

 

2012 With a 6-4 win in St. Louis, the Nationals establish a franchise record with their 96th victory of the season. In 1979, playing as the Expos, representing Montreal, the team won 95 games, finishing the season two games behind Pittsburgh.

2013 With 13 combined K's in the season finale, the Tigers pitchers end the season with 1,428 to establish the major league record for strikeouts by a team, surpassing a mark set by the 2003 Cubs. Detroit's starting rotation features Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Anibal Sanchez, who have struck out 200+ batters this season.

2013 The Rangers and Rays both win on the last day of the season to force a one-game tiebreaker for the second AL wild-card spot. Texas, who won its last seven games, will host Tampa Bay in the 163rd game of the season, with the winner playing the Indians in a third consecutive do-or-die game.

2017 At Coors Field, Charlie Blackmon's second-inning 454-foot solo second-deck blast gives him 101 runs batted in as a leadoff batter, establishing a new high from that spot in the lineup. The Rockies' center fielder surpasses Darin Erstad's record, who collected 100 RBIs for the Angels in 2000.

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2019 In the season finale against the Royals, the Twins win the home run race en route to setting a record with 307 long balls, one more the Yankees. Although Minnesota didn't win the contest, round-trippers by C.J. Cron, Jake Cave, and Jason Castro overcome the Bronx Bombers' total of 306, including today's four-bagger hit by New York slugger Aaron Judge.
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On September 29 in Baseball History...

• • 1913 - Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators finished the season with 36 victories after a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia A's.
  • 1914 - The Boston Braves, who were in last place in mid-July, clinch the pennant after a sensational second-half drive.
  • 1915 - The Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first National League pennant, beating the Boston Braves 5-0 behind Grover Alexander's one-hitter.
  • 1920 - Babe Ruth hits his 54th homer in Philadelphia as the Yankees win, 7-2. That is more than any other team except the Phils. He is responsible for 241 of his team's 838 runs, even though he misses twelve games.
  • 1945 - The Cubs clinch the National League flag on Hank Borowy's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh in the first game of a doubleheader.
  • 1953 - A Baltimore syndicate headed by Baltimore Mayor Tom D'Alesandro buys Bill Veeck's interest in the Browns for $2.475 million. The American League approves the shift of the Browns to Baltimore without Bill Veeck.
  • 1954 - Willie Mays made an over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's long drive to center field, and pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes homered off Bob Lemon in the 10th inning to lead the New York Giants to a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series.
  • 1957 - With 1895 manager Jack Doyle among the 11,606 looking on, the Giants lose their last game at the Polo Grounds 9-1. Bucs rookie John Powers hits a home run in the top of the ninth, the last homer and RBI at the Polo Grounds. This game is played on the 77th anniversary of the first Polo Grounds baseball game.
  • 1959 - The Dodgers win Game Two of the playoff, 6-5, and take the National League pennant. Los Angeles overcomes a 5-2, ninth-inning deficit to tie the game they win it in the 12th inning when Gil Hodges scores from second on Felix Mantilla's off-balance heave past first base after a difficult chance on Carl Furillo's grounder.
  • 1963 - Playing in his one and ONLY Major League game, Houston Colt 45 outfielder John Paciorek, brother of Jim and Tom, went three for three (all singles), walked twice, had three runs batted in and scored four times.
  • 1963 - Stan Musial ended his career by going 2-for-3 as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Busch Stadium.
  • 1968 - Carl Yastrzemski maintains a .3005 batting average to win his second straight batting crown with the lowest championship average ever. Yaz is the American League's only .300 hitter; Oakland's Danny Cater is second with .290.
  • 1971 - In the sixth inning of the Expos' 6-5 win over the Cubs, Ron Hunt is hit by a Milt Pappas pitch. It is the 50th time Hunt is hit in 1971, setting a Major League record.
  • 1976 - Walter Alston, after 23 years and 2,040 victories with the Dodgers, steps down as manager. Third base coach Tom Lasorda is promoted to the post.
  • 1979 - J.R. Richard of the Astros shuts out the Dodgers 3-0 and fans eleven batters to break his own modern National League record for strikeouts by a right-hander. Richard finishes with 313 K's, ten more than in 1978. One of five Dodgers hits is a single by Manny Mota, his 146th pinch hit, breaking the mark of 145 formerly held by Smoky Burgess.
  • 1986 - Minnesota's Bert Blyleven broke Robin Roberts' 1956 record of 46 home run pitches in a season, when he gave up a two-out, third-inning homer to Cleveland rookie Jay Bell. Despite giving up two more homers, Bert Blyleven was the winner when the Twins rallied in the eighth for a 6-5 victory.
  • 1986 - Chicago Cubs rookie Greg Maddux defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-3. The losing pitcher was his brother, Mike, also a rookie. It was the first time brothers faced each other as rookies.
  • 1987 - Don Mattingly Major League record sixth grand slam of the season backed the four-hit pitching of Charlie Hudson to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
  • 1990 - The Reds clinch the National League West title during a rain delay of their 3-1 loss to the Padres when the second-place Dodgers lose 4-3 to San Francisco. The Reds, never out of first place, are the first National League team ever to lead from wire to wire in a 162-game schedule.
  • 1996 - Brady Anderson of the Baltimore Orioles became the 14th player to reach the 50-homer mark in a 4-1 loss at Toronto. Anderson's previous season high was 21.
  • 1996 - Vinny Castilla of the Colorado Rockies hit his 40th homer in a 12-3 victory at San Francisco. He combined with teammates Andres Galarraga (47 homers) and Ellis Burks (40) to form the first 40-homer trio on one team since the 1973 Atlanta Braves: Davey Johnson (43), Darrell Evans (41), Hank Aaron (40).
  • 1998 - Mo Vaughn homered twice and tied a record with seven RBIs as Boston ended a 13-game postseason skid, beating Cleveland 11-3 in their American League divisional playoff series opener.

Baseball Birthdays on September 29...

• • 1859 - Orr, Dave
  • 1862 - Morris, Ed
  • 1866 - Weyhing, Gus
  • 1867 - Hines, Hunkey
  • 1871 - Hall, Russ
  • 1877 - Steinfeldt, Harry
  • 1880 - Lumley, Harry
  • 1884 - Shaw, Hunky
  • 1886 - Pieh, Cy
  • 1898 - Matthews, Joe
  • 1901 - Rensa, Tony
  • 1901 - Benton, Rabbit
  • 1905 - Cunningham, Bruce
  • 1909 - Hockett, Oris
  • 1911 - McGee, Dan
  • 1912 - Stewart, Glen
  • 1914 - Johnson, Johnny
  • 1917 - Feinberg, Eddie
  • 1919 - Emmerich, Slim
  • 1922 - Wheeler, Don
  • 1924 - McGhee, Ed
  • 1925 - Hamilton, Tom
  • 1932 - Giel, Paul
  • 1935 - Bedell, Howie
  • 1935 - Anderson, Bob
  • 1936 - Trosky, Hal
  • 1938 - McCormick, Mike
  • 1941 - James, Jeff
  • 1941 - Reese, Rich
  • 1949 - Busby, Steve
  • 1950 - Macha, Ken
  • 1950 - Crawford, Jim
  • 1953 - Richards, Gene
  • 1953 - Cromartie, Warren
  • 1955 - McLaughlin, Byron
  • 1956 - Calvert, Mark
  • 1957 - Lefferts, Craig
  • 1957 - Flannery, Tim
  • 1960 - Deer, Rob
  • 1967 - Silvestri, Dave
  • 1968 - Parks, Derek
  • 1970 - Hudson, Joe
  • 1970 - Haught, Gary
  • 1971 - Diaz, Eddy
  • 1976 - Pickering, Calvin
  • 1976 - Clark, Jermaine
  • 1977 - Westbrook, Jake

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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9/30
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1926 Robin Roberts Hall of Fame pitcher (7 x MLB All Star; won 28 consecutive complete games 1952-53; Philadelphia Phillies), born in Springfield, Illinois (d. 2010)


1932 Johnny Podres (Dodgers PITCHER World Series Star) d. 2008)


1962 Dave Magadan, 1st baseman (NY Mets, Chicago Cubs), born in Tampa, Florida


1974 Jeremy Giambi MLB baseball player, 1998-2003 (Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, and two other teams), born in San Jose, California (d. 2022)



1975 Carlos Guillén shortstop (3-time MLB All Star; Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers), born in Maracay, Aragua


1981 Brandon Watson

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1893 On the day he is honored by The Sporting News as the most popular baseball player in America, Joe Quinn collects eight hits in the NL Browns' doubleheader, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat. The St. Louis second baseman, a mortician in the off-season, helps the team, who will change their name to the Cardinals after the 1899 season, sweep a twin bill from the Beaneaters, 17-6 and 16-4.

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1893 On the last day of the season, Duff Cooley collects six hits in the N.L. Browns' 16-4 rout of Boston in the nightcap of a twin bill. The 20-year-old rookie accomplishes the rare feat by hitting four singles, a double, and a triple at the Robison Field in St. Louis.

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1904 Doc White tosses his fifth shutout in eighteen days when he blanks the Yankees at Chicago's South Side Park, 4-0. The White Sox southpaw will pitch six of his season's total of seven shutouts in September.

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1907 At Robison Field in St. Louis, 21-year-old rookie first baseman Ed Konetchy steals home twice in the Cardinals' 5-1 victory over Boston. The last-place Redbirds swipe home plate three times during the contest.

1921 At Sportsman's Park, the Cardinals and their fans celebrate Rogers Hornsby Day. The 25-year-old Redbird second baseman, who will lead the National League in hitting with a .397 batting average, delights the crowd with a home run and two doubles in the team's 12-4 victory over Pittsburgh.

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1923 It's Zack Wheat Day at Ebbets Field, and the retiring Dodger outfielder collects two hits and receives an automobile. Cy Williams of the Phillies spoils the special day as he ties the score in the seventh inning with his 39th homer and his 40th in the 12th frame gives Philadelphia the victory, 6-4.

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1927 At Yankee Stadium on the next-to-last day of the season off of Senators' starter Tom Zachary, Babe Ruth breaks his own 1921 home run record by hitting number 60, which lands just in fair territory in the right-field stands. As a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, future Hall of Fame hurler Walter Johnson makes his last major league appearance in this game.

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1928 In his major league debut, White Sox rookie Ed Weiland shuts out the A's at Comiskey Park, 1-0. The 6'4" fireballer from Chicago will finish his four-year tenure with his hometown team, compiling a 5-15 record before being traded to the Red Sox in 1932.

 

1933 At Sportsman's Park in Cubs' 12-2 rout of the Cardinals, Babe Herman hits for the cycle, becoming the first player in baseball history to do it three times. The Chicago outfielder also accomplished the rare feat on two other occasions playing for the Dodgers in 1931.

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1933 In the season finale, the last-place White Sox lose to Cleveland, 5-3, finishing the campaign with a 53-99 record, 47 games out of first place. Chicago did not throw a single left-handed hurler during the entire season.

1934 Babe Ruth plays his final game in pinstripes, going 0-for-3, including flying out to center field in his last at-bat in the Yankees 5-3 loss to the Senators at Griffith Stadium. The Braves will acquire the 'Sultan of Swat" in late February, announcing, in addition to playing, he would become a team vice president and serve as assistant manager to Boston skipper Bill McKechnie.

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1934 Dizzy Dean becomes the first pitcher to win 30 games since Jim Bagby accomplished the feat in 1920 for the Indians, and he will be the second of four hurlers this century, including Lefty Grove (1931 A's) and Denny McLain (1968 Tigers), to reach the lofty plateau. The 24-year-old Cardinal right-hander goes the distance to beat Cincinnati, 9-0, and clinches the pennant for the Redbirds.

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1934 With a two-run round-tripper off Allyn Stout at Sportsman's Park in the Cardinals' 9-0 victory over Cincinnati, Rip Collins establishes a National League record when he blasts his league-leading 35th home run of the season as a switch hitter. The 30-year-old first baseman's mark will last until Howard Johnson goes deep from both sides of the plate 36 times in 1987 for the Mets.

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1945 Hank Greenberg hits a pennant-winning grand slam on the final day of the season. The Tiger left fielder's ninth-inning bases-full homer beats the Browns, 6-3, clinching the American League flag for Detroit over the second-place Senators.

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1947 Ralph Branca becomes the youngest player to start a World Series opener. At Yankee Stadium, the 21-year, nine-month-old right-hander and the Dodgers lose to the Bronx Bombers, 5-1.

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1951 Knowing the Giants have won their game in Boston, the Dodgers rally from a five-run deficit to beat Philadelphia in 14 innings, 9-8, forcing a three-game playoff for the National League pennant. After Jackie Robinson makes a game-saving catch in the thirteenth to preserve an 8-8 tie, he hits a home run in the next frame that proves to be the difference in Brooklyn's victory at Shibe Park.

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1953 George Shuba, best known as the Montreal Royal teammate who shook Jackie Robinson's hand after the rookie homered, becomes the third major leaguer and the first in the National League to pinch-hit a home run in the World Series. With his round-tripper off Allie Reynolds in the Dodgers' 9-5 Game 1 loss at Yankee Stadium, 'Shotgun' joins Yogi Berra (1947) and Johnny Mize (1952), who both accomplished the feat playing for the Bronx Bombers.

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1956 On the final day of the season at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, 16-year old southpaw Jim Derrington becomes the youngest pitcher to start a major league game this century. The teenager tosses six innings, taking the loss when the A's beat White Sox, 7-6, but his single makes the Chicago bonus baby the youngest player to get a hit in the American League.

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1956 Don Newcombe, a three-time twenty-game winner, goes the distance to earn his major-league-leading 27th victory when the Dodgers beat Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, 8-6, on the last day of the campaign. Newk's total is the most wins in a season by an African-American pitcher.

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1961 The Angels win their 70th and final game when they defeat Cleveland at L.A.'s Wrigley Field, 11-6. The seventy victories are the most games won by an expansion team in their first year of existence.

1962 On the last day of the season, Gene Oliver's eighth-inning homer off Johnny Podres proves to be the difference in St. Louis' 1-0 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The loss to the Cardinals, and the Giants' 2-1 victory over Houston forces Los Angeles into a best-of-three-game playoff for the National League pennant, a series the team will lose to San Francisco.

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1962 The Mets finish their inaugural season with 120 losses, a 20th-century record when the team drops a 5-1 decision to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In his last career at-bat, New York catcher Joe Pignatano hits into an eighth-inning triple play with Richie Ashburn and Sammy Drake aboard, with the base runners also appearing in their last major league game.

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1962 In the last at-bat of his career, Don Gile homers in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a 3-1, season-ending victory over the Senators at Fenway Park. The Boston first baseman had been 0-for-34 before the dramatic at-bat.

1962 At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle blasts his 30th home run of the season, a fourth-inning solo shot off White Sox's 20-game winner Ray Herbert, to extend his streak of having 30 or more round-trippers to eight seasons. The 'Mick,' who missed a month of the campaign because of a leg injury, bats leadoff in the team's final series to collect more at-bats.

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1964 As a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium, Bill Roman hits his only big-league home run in his first major league at-bat. The 25-year-old rookie first baseman will accumulate only 37 career plate appearances during a brief two-year stint with the Tigers.

1966 At Comiskey Park in the top of the ninth inning, Roger Maris, in his last at-bat as a Yankee, slams a two-run home run as a pinch-hitter, putting the club ahead of the White Sox, 5-4. As the slugger contemplates retirement, the former two-time American League MVP is stunned and embarrassed when New York trades him to the Cardinals for utility player Charley Smith in the off-season.

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1969 The Braves clinch the first-ever National League West division with their 3-2 win over the Reds at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Lum Harris-led club will finish the season three games ahead of San Francisco before being swept by New York in the NLCS.

 

1971 Tom Seaver, for the second time in his career, becomes a 20-game winner when the Mets beat St. Louis, 6-1, at Shea Stadium on the final day of the season. En route to the complete-game victory, 'Tom Terrific' whiffs 13 Redbirds to end the campaign with a league-leading 289 strikeouts.

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1971 Leading off the third inning In the season's finale, Bill Melton's homer off Bill Parsons proves to be the difference in Chicago's 2-1 victory over the Brewers at White Sox Park. The third baseman's 33rd round-tripper makes him the first Pale Hose player to lead the American League in home runs, finishing one ahead of A's slugger Reggie Jackson and Norm Cash, the Tigers' perennial power hitter.

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1971 Don Mincher becomes the only player on the roster for both final games in Washington for each team known as the Senators. The lefty-swinging first baseman will also be the only person to play for the original Minnesota Twins and the original Texas Rangers, the franchises that left the nation's capital, respectively, in 1960 and 1971.

1971 Willie Montanez sets the Phillies' rookie home run record when he strokes a two-run round-tripper off Nelson Briles in the team's 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh at Veterans Stadium. The freshman first baseman's 30 homers eclipse the mark established by Dick Allen in 1964.

1972 Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente doubles off Mets' southpaw Jon Matlack to become the 11th major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. The two-bagger, sadly, will be his last hit as he will die in a plane crash on New Year's Eve.

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1973 In their final game at the 'old' Yankee Stadium, the fourth-place Bronx Bombers lose unceremoniously to the Tigers, 8-5. The team, which will play its home games for the next two seasons at Shea Stadium as the 50-year-old 'House that Ruth Built' undergoes extensive renovations, also loses their skipper, with Ralph Houk announcing his resignation.

1973 After he posts an 88-73 record, the second-place Red Sox fire Eddie Kasko on the last day of the season. Boston names Triple-A Pawtucket pilot Darrell Johnson as the club's new manager.

1973 At the close of the season, the American League's new designated hitter rule appears to have worked when the Junior Circuit's league's batting average increased by 20 points to .259, its highest point since 1956, outhitting the N.L. for the first time in a decade. The 614 complete games, 112 more than last season, are the most since 1928 in either league.

1978 At Three Rivers Stadium, the Phillies clinch their third consecutive N.L. East title, defeating the Pirates, 10-8. The victory, which features Randy Lerch, winning pitcher, hitting two home runs, snaps Pittsburgh's 24-game home winning streak.

1979 In his last big-league game, Ed Kranepool pinch hits in the top of the seventh inning and doubles off Bob Forsch when the Mets beat the Cardinals in the season finale at Busch Stadium, 4-2. The James Monroe High School graduate, who made his debut with the team in 1962 at the age of 17, had been the last original Met left in the majors.

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1980 In front of only 1,754 patrons, Mets southpaw Pete Falcone beats the Pirates in the season's last game at Shea Stadium, 3-2. The crowd is the smallest ever to attend a game at the Flushing ballpark, 33 fewer fans than yesterday's meager gathering.

1984 Yankees' first baseman Don Mattingly wins the American League batting title with a .343 average, finishing three points higher than teammate Dave Winfield. The accomplishment marks the first of six consecutive seasons that 'Donnie Baseball' hits over .300 but the only one resulting in a batting crown during a 14-year major league career.

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1984 On the final day of the season, Mike Witt uses only 97 pitches to retire 27 consecutive hitters. The Angels' hurler throws the perfect game against the Rangers and beats Charlie Hough on an unearned run, 1-0.

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1985 Trying to circumvent the Mariners' escape clause, based on attendance at the Kingdome, the King County Council tries to modify its deal with the team. A proposed amendment, stating the club needs to play .500 ball, a mark the M's have never achieved, as a condition before a move from the domed stadium would be considered by the City Fathers, causing owner George Argyros to threaten of moving the team out of Seattle.

1987 Dave Stewart becomes a 20-game winner when the A's beat Cleveland at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, 4-3. The thirty year-old right-hander, who spent the first decade of his career in the bullpen, will also earn twenty or more victories in the next three seasons.

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1988 At Wrigley Field, President Ronald Reagan throws out two ceremonial first pitches before the Cubs' 10-9 loss to the Pirates. 'Dutch,' a former play-by-play announcer, then participates in the broadcast with Harry Caray, spending the first inning and a half in the WGN booth.

1988 Dave Stieb loses his second consecutive no-hit bid when Jim Traber singles on a 2-2 count with two outs in the ninth in the Blue Jays' 4-0 victory over the Orioles at Exhibition Stadium. Six days ago, the 31-year-old right-hander yielded a ground ball hit up the middle to Indians' second baseman Julio Franco with two outs in the final frame for the Tribe's only safety.

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1988 Joining Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Dwight Gooden, David Cone improves his record to 20-3, becoming the fourth pitcher in Mets history to win twenty games in a season. After his 4-2 complete-game victory against the Cardinals, the 25-year-old right-hander has a surprise visitor when former president Richard Nixon congratulates him in the Shea Stadium dugout.

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1989 Ending a 43-year relationship with Major League Baseball, NBC airs its final regular-season Game of the Week. The contest, which features the Blue Jays clinching the A.L. East title with a 4-3 victory over the Orioles at the SkyDome, is the 981st broadcast of a weekly tradition started in 1947.

1989 After spending nearly three months in first place, Baltimore's playoffs hopes end on the next-to-last day of the season when they suffer their second consecutive one-run loss to Toronto, allowing the Blue Jays to clinch first place in the A.L. East. Frank Robinson's young group of players, known as the "Why Not?" Orioles, improved in the standings by 32.5 games from their last-place finish last season.

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1989 In the ninth inning of a 2-0 three-hit loss to Nolan Ryan and the Rangers, Angels shortstop Dick Schofield strikes out looking, becoming the right-hander's 300th victim of the season. It is the sixth time the 'Ryan Express' has reached the plateau, but the first since striking out 341 batters in 1977.

 

1990 Kansas City infielders Frank White, playing in his last major league game after spending his entire 18-year career with the Royals, and George Brett establish a new mark when they appear in their 1,914th game together, the most by any American League teammates.

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1990 In front of 42,849 fans, the original Comiskey Park hosts its last game, with the White Sox edging the Mariners, 2-1. The final regular-season won-loss record at the old ballpark is 3,024-2,926 (.508).

1992 With his fourth hit of the game, a single off LA's southpaw Tim Fortugno, George Brett collects his 3000th career hit, becoming the 18th player to reach the milestone. The Royals' third baseman's celebration of the moment is short-lived when he is picked off and tagged by first baseman Gary Gaetti after stepping off the base to savor the accomplishment.

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1995 Albert Belle becomes the first player in major league history to hit fifty home runs and fifty doubles in the same season. The left fielder's accomplished the amazing feat in just 143 games due to a strike-shortened season, far exceeding any of the prior 40-40 marks achieved by just a dozen players in major league history.

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1998 After doctors remove a tumor, former Royal reliever Dan Quisenberry dies nine months later of brain cancer at 45. In 1983, 'Quizo,' known for his outstanding control, became the first closer to record 40 saves, ending the season with 45.

1999 Mets' shortstop Rey Ordonez plays in his 96th consecutive game without committing an error, breaking Cal Ripken's major league record for errorless games in that position. The flashy infielder will finish the season, extending the mark to 100 games.

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1999 The largest regular-season Candlestick Park crowd, 61,389 fans, watch the Giants lose to the Dodgers, 9-4 in their last game at the 'Points.' Former franchise greats help mark the occasion with Juan Marichal tosses the ceremonial first pitch, and Willie Mays throwing out the ballpark's final pitch.

1999 For the twenty-third time this season, Diamondback fireballer Randy Johnson K's at least ten batters to tie Nolan Ryan's 1973 major league record for the most double-digit strikeout games in a season. The tall left-hander whiffs 11 Padres in seven innings in a 5-3 victory to bring his season-ending total to 364, which ranks fourth all-time.

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2000 In the highest-scoring game in A's franchise history, Oakland defeats the Rangers 23-2 to remain a half-game ahead of the Mariners for the Western Division lead as Seattle scores the most runs ever against the Angels, 21-9, assuring the team at least a tie for the American League wild card.

2001 With a third-inning double against Milwaukee, Rockies' first baseman Todd Helton becomes the first player in major league history to have consecutive 100 extra-base hits seasons. Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Chuck Klein also had two 100 extra-base hits seasons but did not accomplish the feat in successive years.

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2004 Thanks to Bernie Williams's ninth-inning two-run homer, the Yankees beat the Twins, 6-4, to clinch their seventh straight American League East Division title. The victory is their 100th, making the club the fourth team in history (Braves 1997-99; Orioles 1969-71; A's 1929-31) to have three consecutive 100-win seasons.

2005 The Devil Rays announce the team will buy out the last year of manager Lou Piniella's $13 million, a four-year contract he signed in 2002. The agreement, which pays 'Sweet Lou' $2.2 million of the $4.4 million deal, allows the 62-year-old skipper to seek employment with another team.

2005 Mariner outfielder Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first player in baseball history to collect 200 hits each of his first five seasons in the big leagues. The Japanese native, who was last season's AL batting champ, joins Willie Keeler (1894-1901), Wade Boggs (1983-89), Chuck Klein (1929-33), Al Simmons (1929-33), and Charlie Gehringer (1933-37) as the sixth major leaguer to have reached this plateau for at least five consecutive seasons.

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2005 Albert Pujols's home run, a seventh-inning grand slam against the Reds, makes him the first Cardinal in the 114-year history of the team to hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons. The homer, his 200th career blast, makes him the third-youngest to reach the milestone, following Mel Ott and Eddie Mathews.

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2005 Delta Air Lines names one of its Boeing 757s' Big Papi' in honor of the Red Sox designated hitter. David Ortiz attends the dedication ceremony at Logan International Airport that includes the unveiling of the newly lettered Song Plane jet.

2006 In the Mets' 13-0 rout of Washington at RFK Stadium, Julio Franco drives in five runs, tying a career-high, to become the oldest major leaguer in history to accomplish the feat. The 48-year-old first baseman, with three hits, falls a triple short of completing the cycle.

2006 Five years and two cities after Frank Robinson, then the vice president in the commissioner's office in charge of on-field discipline, agrees to manage the MLB-owned Expos for a season, the franchise, now known as the Washington Nationals, will have a new skipper. Jim Bowden, the team's G.M., announces the search for the replacement for the 71-year-old Hall of Famer will begin after tomorrow's season finale against the Mets at RFK.

2007 With the help of New York losing 6 out of their seven last games (all at home) and squandering a seven-game lead with 17 to play, the Phillies clinch the NL. East title for the first time in 14 years by beating the Nationals on the last day of the season, 6-1. The Mets' colossal failure down the stretch is considered by many to be the worst collapse by a team in baseball history.

2007 The Rockies, with 13 victories in the last 14 games of the season, beat the Diamondbacks to force a one-game playoff with the Padres to determine the National League wild-card team. San Diego, who was one strike away from clinching a postseason berth yesterday, loses again today to the Brewers, ending the season with the same record as Colorado, 89-73.

2007 Jimmy Rollins triples to become the fourth big leaguer to record 20 stolen bases, 20 homers, 20 triples, and 20 doubles in a season. The Phillies shortstop and MVP candidate joins Frank Schulte (1911 - Cubs), Willie Mays (1957 - Giants), and Curtis Granderson (2007 - Tigers) as the only players in major league history to accomplish the feat.

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2008 With its 1-0 tiebreaker win over the Twins, thanks to Jim Thome's seventh-inning homer, the White Sox become the first major league team to defeat three different opponents in three days. Chicago beat the Indians on the last scheduled day of the regular season to necessitate playing a previous rainout with the Tigers, won by the Southsiders 8-2, making today's game with Minnesota necessary to determine the A.L. Central divisional championship.

2009 Ricky Nolasco, en route to the Marlins' 5-4 victory over Atlanta in the season's finale, sets a franchise record with 16 strikeouts. The 26-year-old right-hander's performance includes whiffing nine consecutive batters, one shy of the major league record set by Tom Seaver with the Mets in 1970.

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2009 The Phillies clinch their third straight division title with a 10-3 victory over Houston. If the team wins the World Series this year, the reigning World Champions will become the first National League team to win two in a row since the Reds won consecutive Fall Classics in 1975-76.

2009 Francisco Rodriguez becomes the fourth pitcher in the game's history to yield two walk-off grand slams in the same season when Justin Maxwell goes deep, giving Washington a dramatic 7-4 victory over the Mets at Nationals Park. Last month, Everth Cabrera of the Padres also hit a game-ending four-run round-tripper, making K-Rod Rodriguez the only major leaguer to surrender two game-winning bases-loaded homers to a pair of rookies.