BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

2001 Barry Bonds ties Mark McGwire's single-season home run record established three years ago as he hits his 70th round-tripper. The historic homer, a shot to right-center at Enron Field, is given up in the ninth inning by Astro rookie hurler Wilfredo Rodriguez in a Giant 10-2 victory.

2001 With his third-inning home run, Rickey Henderson breaks Ty Cobb's mark to become the leading run-scorer in baseball history. The 42-year-old Padres outfielder slides into home to punctuate scoring his record-breaking 2,246th run.

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2001 Alex Rodriguez, scoring the lone run the Rangers' 16-1 loss to Seattle, hits his 52nd home run, becoming only the fourth major leaguer to hit 50 home runs and 200 hits in the same season. The 26-year-old shortstop joins Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (1921), Hack Wilson (1930), and Jimmie Foxx (1932) in accomplishing the rare feat.

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2002 The A's become the first team in postseason history to hit consecutive home runs to start a game. Leadoff man Ray Durham (an inside-the-park round-tripper) and Scott Hatteberg hit the back-to-back dingers off Rick Reed in the team's eventual 6-3 victory over the Twins in Game 3 of the ALDS at the Metrodome.

2002 Commissioner Bud Selig apologizes to St. Louis fans for the late playoff start time for the Cardinal and Diamondback Game 1 of the NLDS and promises it will not happen again. The 10 p.m. CDT start was due to many playoff teams coming from the west and baseball's desire not to have two games occurring simultaneously.

2003 The Cubs win their first postseason series victory since 1908 when the franchise won the World Series. In front of a Turner Field standing-room-only crowd, Chicago beat the Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS, 5-1.

2003 At Pro Player Stadium, Jeff Conine's perfect peg to catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who holds onto the ball after a collision at home, advances the Marlins to the NLCS. The Florida outfielder's throw to the plate nails J.T. Snow trying to score on Jeffrey Hammonds' single for the final out of the team's 7-6 victory over the Giants in the deciding Game 4 of the NLDS.

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2003 The Red Sox avoid a 0-3 deficit in the ALDS when Trot Nixon's pinch-hit 11th inning walk-off homer beats Oakland, 3-1. The Boston outfielder's accomplishment marks the fifth time in the postseason that a round-tripper ends a game, and the first by a pinch-hitter since Kirk Gibson's historic homer off Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

2005 Two-time National League Manager of the Year (1990 and 1992 Pirates) Jim Leyland is named to replace Alan Trammell, who was fired as the Tigers' manager yesterday. The sixty-year-old, who guided the Marlins to a World Championship eight seasons ago, has not managed since 1999 after resigning as the Rockies skipper.

2005 With John Hart's resignation yesterday, the Rangers name his assistant Jon Daniels as its next general manager. The 28-year-old, who is ten months younger than BoSox boss Theo Epstein, becomes the youngest GM in big-league history.
2006 Citing the need for a different kind of communicator in the dugout, Jon Daniels, one year after becoming the youngest GM in big-league history, fires veteran skipper Buck Showalter. The Ranger manager compiled a 319-329 record during his four-year tenure in Texas.

2006 At Shea Stadium, Russell Martin's double kills a promising two on and none out rally as both Dodgers runners are nailed at home in the Mets' eventual 6-5 victory in Game 1 of the NLDS. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew both try to score, but the relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Paul Lo Duca allows the catcher to tag each runner during their headfirst slides into the plate.

2008 The Dodgers complete a three-game NLDS sweep of Chicago with a 3-1 victory, winning their first postseason series since 1998. The stunning loss in the playoffs extends the World Series drought for the Cubs into another century.

2009 On the last day of the season in the team's 10-2 victory at Tampa Bay, the Yankees break a franchise record, thanks to Alex Rodriguez's three-run blast in the ten-run sixth inning, by hitting their 243rd homer of the season. In the same frame, A-Rod goes deep again, this time with the bases loaded, to extend the club's mark, and the third baseman sets a new American League record, collecting seven RBI's in one inning.

2009 On the last day of the campaign, Miguel Tejada hits a fourth-inning double off Nelson Figueroa in the Astros' 4-0 loss in New York to finish the season with 46, the most in the National League. The Astros' shortstop, who also topped the AL with 50 two-baggers playing for the Orioles in 2005, is the first player in baseball history to have led both leagues in doubles.

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2010 A day after the season ends, the last-place Pirates fire John Russell, who equaled a franchise record for most losses by a manager in three seasons, compiling a 186-299 record. The other Buc skipper with as many defeats in the same time frame was Fred Haney, posting a 163-299 record from 1953-55.

2010 A day after the team completes its fourth consecutive disappointing season, the Mets dismiss manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya. Assistant GM John Ricco will be the head of baseball operations on an interim basis until a new GM selects the team's next manager.

2010 Major League Baseball approves a change in the ground rules for Tropicana Field, making a batted ball that caroms off the A- and B-ring catwalks a dead ball with the pitch not counting, instead of being in play as in the past. The Rays requested the change for implementation in the upcoming ALDS, after Jason Kubel's two-out, ninth-inning pop-up hit off one of the catwalks, driving in the go-ahead run in Minnesota's eventual 8-6 victory over the home team.

2010 On a day three managers lose their jobs, the Reds give their skipper, Dusty Baker, a two-year contract extension through 2014. Cincinnati is making its first playoff appearance in 15 years.

2010 The Indians name Chris Antonetti as the team's new general manager, with former GM Mark Shapiro moving into his new position as team president. The transition has been developing over the past few years, with Antonetti gradually being given a more significant role in Cleveland's day-to-day operations, giving Shapiro more time to run the franchise's business side.

2010 Diamondbacks give interim manager Kirk Gibson the permanent job, agreeing to a two-year deal with a team option for 2013. After being hired midseason to replace A.J. Hinch, the former hard-nosed major leaguer compiled a 34-49 record for the last-place team.

 

2012 A day after the regular season ends, the Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine, just ten months into his tenure as their manager. In their worst campaign since 1965, the team finishes last with a 69-93 record.

2014 The Giants take six hours and 23-minutes to defeat Washington at Nationals Park, 2-1, making Game 2 of the NLDS the longest contest in postseason history. San Francisco scores the eventual winning run in the top of the 18th thanks to Brandon Belt's solo home run off Tanner Roark, hours after the team had sent the game into extra innings by scoring the tying run with two outs in the top of the ninth.

2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Melvin Upton to end the third inning of LA's 6-3 victory over the Padres at Chavez Ravine, becoming the 34th pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a season and joins Sandy Koufax, who accomplished the feat three times the 1960's, as the only the second Dodger to reach the mark. The 27-year-old southpaw is the first pitcher in 13 years to achieve the milestone since Diamondback teammates Curt Schilling (316) and Randy Johnson (334) surpassed the plateau in 2002.

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2015 To add more drama to the regular season's final day, MLB schedules all games to start simultaneously at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The scheduling, similar to the English Premier League's "Survival Sunday," also evens the playing field by limiting teams' ability to rest potential playoff starters based on the results of contests played earlier in the day.

2015 In front of a full house, the team's 408th consecutive sellout, the Giants lose the season finale when the Rockies scored seven runs in the ninth in the team's 7-3 loss at AT&T Park. George Kontos, Cody Hall, and Yusmeiro Petit, who set a major league record as the 11th pitcher used by one team in a nine-inning game, could not contain Colorado's offensive outburst in the final frame of the campaign.

2019 In Game 1 of the ALDS in the Bronx, the Twins drop a 10-4 decision to the Yankees, extending their postseason losing streak to a major league record 14 consecutive contests. Minnesota previously shared the dubious mark with the Red Sox, who lost 13 straight playoff encounters from 1986-1995, starting with the Bill Buckner game against the Mets at Shea Stadium.
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10/5
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1937 Eli Jacobs, American financier and baseball owner (Baltimore Orioles), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts

1949 Bill James [George William James], American baseball writer and statistician (sabermetrics), born in Holton, Kansas

1964 Terry Mathews, Alexandria LA, pitcher (Florida Marlins)

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1888 At Swampoodle Grounds in Washington, D.C., James Francis Galvin of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys becomes baseball's first pitcher to record his 300th victory when he defeats the hometown Senators, 5-1. The 31-year-old 'Pud,' a workhorse who will win 20 games 10 of the 14 seasons he plays in the big leagues, will end his career with 361 victories.

1905 The Beaneaters suffer their 100th loss of the season when they drop the first game of a Washington Park doubleheader, 11-5, to the Superbas, a team that has already lost 103 games. It is the first occurrence in major league history that two teams with triple-digit losses have been opponents.

1906 Henry, Christy Matthew's younger brother, sets a National League record when he issues 14 base-on-balls in the Giants' 7-1 loss to the Braves. The 19-year-old's defeat in the season finale at the Polo Grounds proves to be the only decision of his brief career.

1908 Defeating Detroit, 6-1, Ed Walsh wins his 40th game, establishing a White Sox single-season record. 'Big Ed,' a right-hander from Meriden (CT), finishes his 14-year Hall of Fame tenure with a 195-126 record and sets the all-time career ERA mark with an earned run average of 1.82.

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1912 During the Highlanders' last game played at Hilltop Park, Homer Thompson appears in his first and final game in the majors. Although the New York backstop doesn't come to bat, his debut is memorable when he catches his younger brother Tommy, making the siblings the first brothers to form a battery in American League history.

1914 In the eighth, Robins reliever Pat Ragan throws an immaculate inning when he strikes out the first three batters he faces on nine pitches. Unfortunately, the right-handed will give up five runs in the next frame, taking the loss in the team's 9-5 defeat to the Braves at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.

1918 Eddie Grant, a captain attached to the 307th Infantry in World War l, becomes the first major leaguer to be killed in action in service to his country. The former Giants' third baseman is hit by a shell while leading a unit to rescue the Lost Battalion, a contingent of roughly 554 soldiers of the United States 77th Division isolated by the German forces after an American attack in the Argonne Forest.

1929 On the next-to-last day of the season, Reds reliever Rube Ehrhardt wins his first and only start of the season, allowing five hits and issuing one walk when he blanks the first-place Cubs at Redland Field, 9-0. The shutout, which takes 75-minutes to complete, will be 34-year-old right-hander's final major league appearance.

1941 In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and two strikes in Game 4 of the World Series, Tommy Henrich appears to be struck out, ending the game, but 'Old Reliable' reaches first base on Mickey Owen's passed ball. The catcher's blunder turns a sure 4-3 Brooklyn win into a heart-breaking 7-4 loss to the Yankees.

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1942 At Yankee Stadium, the Cardinals stun the baseball world by beating the defending World Champions, 2-1, to capture the World Series in five games. Rookie right-hander Johnny Beazley (21-6) goes the distance, limiting the Bronx Bombers to seven hits to post his second complete-game victory of the Fall Classic.

1947 Al Gionfriddo, inserted in left field for defensive purposes, makes one of the most memorable catches in World Series history when he robs Joe DiMaggio of an extra-base hit with two men on base in the sixth inning. The outfielder's heroics help preserve an 8-5 Dodger victory in Game 6 of the Fall Classic, which will be the 25-year-old's last game in the major leagues.

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1949 Dodger right-hander Don Newcombe, becoming the first black to start a World Series contest, allows only four hits in Game 1, including Tommy Henrich's home run leading off the bottom of the ninth, giving the Yankees a 1-0 walk-off victory in the Bronx ballpark. 'Old Reliable's shot to right field, the first game-ending home run in the history of the Fall Classic, gives Allie Reynolds the complete-game win, and it is Casey Stengel's first postseason victory

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1951 Mickey Mantle's season comes to an immediate end after severely injuring his right knee when his cleats get caught on a drainage cap in Game 2 of the World Series. Joe DiMaggio's abrupt call for Willie Mays' fly ball in center field in the Yankee Stadium contest leads many to believe that the last-minute decision contributed to the torn cartilage suffered by the 19-year-old rookie right fielder.

1953 In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6, the Yankees win their record fifth consecutive World Series when Billy Martin singles, scoring Hank Bauer to give New York a dramatic 4-3 walk-off victory over the Dodgers. The Bronx Bombers' second baseman, named the Series MVP, bats .500 in the six contests, collecting a record-tying 12 hits to equal Babe Ruth's mark, and compiles 23 total bases, the most in Fall Classic history.

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1956 U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower indicates he is not in favor of the Washington Senators shifting their franchise to another city and would like to see the District of Columbia get a new baseball stadium, a proposal the Congress has been working on for the past decade. According to Cal Griffith, who has acknowledged his willingness to stay in the nation's capital if a new stadium plan is approved, other municipalities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Louisville, have made attractive offers to attract his team.

1957 In the first World Series game ever played in Milwaukee, native son Tony Kubek hits two home runs in the 12-3 rout of the hometown Braves, putting his Bronx Bombers ahead two games to one in the Fall classic. The Yankee shortstop becomes the second rookie to hit two round-trippers in a Fall Classic game, a feat first accomplished by Charlie Keller, who blasted a pair of homers in Game 3 in 1939.

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1960 At Forbes Field, Roger Maris becomes the seventh major leaguer to homer in his first World Series at-bat. The right fielder's first-inning round-tripper off Vernon Law gets the Yankees off to a good start, but the Pirates win Game 1 of the Fall Classic, 6-4.

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1960 In Game 1 of the World Series, Bill Mazeroski's two-run fifth-inning home run off Jim Coates proves to be the difference when the Pirates beat the Yankees at Forbes Field, 6-4. The victory marks Pittsburgh's first Fall Classic win since 1925, when the Bucs became the World Champions by taking Game 7 from the Senators.

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1963 In Game 4, Mickey Mantle ties Babe Ruth's record with his 15th World Series home run. In the seventh inning, the Yankees slugger turns around a Sandy Koufax fastball to tie the score, but the blast isn't enough to stave off the Dodgers' Fall Classic sweep of the Bronx Bombers.

1966 Reliever Moe Drabowsky ties a World Series record by striking out six consecutive batters in the Orioles' 5-2 Game 1 victory at Dodger Stadium. Brooks and Frank Robinson hit back-to-back homers in the first inning.

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1977 Glenn Burke greets Dusty Baker on the dugout steps to congratulate his Dodger teammate for hitting a grand slam against the Phillies in Game 2 of the 1977 NLCS. The greeting, consisting of the two players extending their right arms above their heads and slapping their hands to make a resounding clap, is considered the first 'high five' in baseball history.

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1980 The Yankees break the American League regular-season attendance record when 35,879 fans watch the team beat the Tigers, 2-1, in the season finale, bringing the final total 2,627,417. The 1948 Indians previously set the mark when 2,620,627 fans turned turnstiles to watch their Tribe capture the Junior Circuit's pennant.

1980 Reaching first on a fielder's choice in the top of the seventh in the 4-0 win over the Twins, Royals' leadoff hitter Willie Wilson establishes a major league record for the most at-bats in a season with 705. The Kansas City outfielder will collect 230 hits and score 133 runs for the division-winning club.

1980 Brewers' outfielder Ben Ogilvie becomes the first non-American-born player to lead the American League in home runs. On the last day of the season, the 31-year-old Panamanian goes deep off Oakland's Rick Langford for his 41st homer, which ties Reggie Jackson for the most round-trippers in the Junior Circuit.

1980 In a duel between two 19-game winners on the last day of the season, Scott McGregor enters the 20-win circle for the first and only time when he bests Len Barker in the Orioles' 7-1 victory over the Indians. The Cleveland right-hander, who gives up six runs in five innings to finish the campaign with a 19-12 record, will never again come close to being a 20-game winner.

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1991 At the Kingdome, the Mariners whitewash the White Sox, 10-0, for their 83rd win of the campaign. The victory assures the team of their first winning season in the 14-year history of the franchise.

1991 Scott Erickson becomes a 20-game winner in his sophomore season when he hurls six scoreless innings in the Twins’ 3-1 victory over Blue Jays at the Metrodome. The 23-year-old right-hander, nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for using a black glove and wearing dark socks on the days he pitches, compiles a 20–8 record along 3.18 ERA for the eventual World Champs.

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1993 Bob Watson replaces Bill Wood as the Astros' general manager, making the former Houston player the first black GM in baseball history. Bill Lucas had performed many similar duties for the Braves in the late 1970s, but he never officially held the title.

1999 Randy Johnson suffers his sixth consecutive loss in postseason play when the Mets beat the Diamondbacks, 8-4, in Game 1 of NLDS. Edgardo Alfonzo, who had gone deep earlier in the Bank One Ballpark contest, blasts an eventual game-winning grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, sealing the future Hall of Fame southpaw's fate.

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2000 In Game 2 of the NLDS, the Mets rebound from J.T. Snow's pinch-hit three-run game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth, when Jay Payton's tenth-inning base hit drives in the eventual winning run to beat the Giants, 5-4. After giving up the devastating blow, New York closer Armando Benitez gets credit for the Pacific Bell Park victory.

2001 Arizona's Albie Lopez hurls a three-hit shutout to beat the Brewers at Miller Park, 5-0. The Diamondback victory clinches a tie for the NL West flag, and with the win, the 30-year-old right-hander avoids becoming the first 20-game loser since Brian Kingman accomplished the feat in 1980.

2001 The Seattle Mariners record their 115th victory when they beat Texas, 6-2, at Safeco Field, breaking the 1998 Yankee record for most wins in an American League season. The team will tie the 1906 Cubs for the major league record of 116 wins when they add their final victory tomorrow in the next to last contest of the campaign.

2001 In the longest nine-inning game in major league history, Barry Bonds breaks and then extends the mark for home runs in a season during the 4 hours and 27 minutes, 11-10 loss to the Dodgers at Pac Bell Park. The Giant outfielder connects off Dodger starter Chan Ho Park to break Mark McGwire's 1998 record of 70 and then homers again in his next at-bat to extend his record to 72.

2001 The Braves maul the Marlins, 20-3 to clinch the National League East title and become the first team in professional sports to win ten consecutive division titles. The Boston Celtics (1957-65) and Los Angeles Lakers (1982-90) won nine in a row.

2001 On the last day of the season, 38-year-old Jamie Moyer (20-6) becomes the oldest first-time 20-game winner when the Mariners beat Texas at Safeco Field, 6-2. The Seattle southpaw will also compile a 21-7 record in 2003.

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2002 The Angels win a playoff series for the first time in its 42-year-old history when they beat the Yankees, 9-5, to take the ALDS 3 games to 1. The postseason appearance is the first for the Halos since 1986 when, after being a strike away in Game 5 of the ALCS from advancing to the World Series, the team lost to the Red Sox in seven games.

2006 At Game 2 of the NLCS played at Petco Park, Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, who recently became baseball's all-time saves leader, catches the ceremonial first pitch thrown by Lee Smith, the reliever he surpassed with his 479th save. The two 'firemen' exchange autographed baseballs after the toss.

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2009 The Indians, with six games left on the schedule, announce they have dismissed Eric Wedge, their manager for the past seven years. The Cleveland skipper, whose firing came as no surprise, asks to remain in the dugout to manage the fifth-place Tribe for the remainder of the season.

2010 Hanshin Tigers outfielder Matt Murton breaks Ichiro's Japanese record for the most hits in a single season when he strokes his 211th hit of the year, a two-run single in a game against the Yakult Swallows.
The 29-year-old former major leaguer, a 2003 first-round draft pick of the Red Sox who became part of a trade to the Cubs in a four-team deal that included Nomar Garciaparra, also played with the A's before being released by the Rockies last season.

 

2011 During the fifth turn of Game 4 of the NLDS against the Cardinals, a squirrel runs across home plate just as Phillies' right-hander Roy Oswalt delivers a pitch to Skip Schumaker. Umpire Angel Hernandez calls the pitch a ball, much to the chagrin of the right-hander and Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who believe that "no pitch" should be the call due to the distraction caused by the grey rodent, immortalized by the Redbirds fans as the "rally squirrel."

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2012 In the first NL one-game winner-take-all wild-card playoff, the Cardinals beat the hometown Braves, 6-3, in a game-best remembered for a disputed infield fly rule call in the eighth inning. The irate Turner Field fans show their displeasure with the umpires' decision on what appears to be a critical Redbird error on a dropped pop fly in the outfield by littering the playing field with debris, causing a 19-minute delay when the ground crew cleans up the assorted trash.

2014 The Royals complete a three-game sweep of the ALDS, beating the Angels at Kauffman Stadium, 8-3. The victory advances Kansas City to the league championship series for the first time since the team played in the postseason en route to winning a world championship in 1985.

2016 Giants southpaw Madison Bumgarner goes the distance, throwing a 3-0 shutout against the Mets in the winner-take-all National League Wild Card Game. Conor Gillaspie's three-run homer off Jeurys Familia in the top of the ninth breaks a scoreless tie, wasting a great start by Noah Syndergaard, who had matched zeros with the San Francisco postseason legend for the first seven innings of the Citi Field contest.

2020 In the ALDS, Shane McClanahan takes the mound against the Yankees, becoming the first pitcher and fifth player to make his major league debut in the postseason. The Rays' 23-year-old southpaw follows Bug Holliday (10/17/1885), Mark Kiger (10/13/2013), Adalbert Mondesi (10/30/2015), and Alex Kirilloff (9/30/2020).
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10/6
OTD
BIRTHDAYS

1824 Henry Chadwick Baseball HOF pioneer (1st rule book; created game stats eg. BA, ERA; box scores), born in Exeter, England (d. 1908)


1922 Joe Frazier player

1942 Jerry Grote catcher for 16 seasons (mostly with NY Mets, including 1969 World Series title), born in San Antonio, Texas


1946 Gary Gentry (NY Mets)

1959 [Dennis Ray] "Oil Can" Boyd, pitcher (Boston Red Sox)


1965 Ruben Sierra, Rio Piedras Puerto Rico, outfielder (NY Yankees)


1966 Archi Cianfrocco, infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Rome, New York

1969 Robert Person, pitcher (NY Mets), born in St Louis, Missouri

1970 Darren Oliver pitcher (Texas Rangers), born in Kansas City, Missouri

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1906 On a snowy day in Chicago's West Side Park, the visiting White Sox edge the Cubs, 2-1, in Game 1 of the first cross-town World Series. Pale Hose starter Nick Altrock outduels future Hall of Fame right-hander Mordecai' Three Finger Brown,' going the distance en route to tossing a four-hitter over the heavily favored Northsiders.

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1908 In front of nearly 30,000 very enthusiastic fans at South Side Park in the season finale, the White Sox start Doc White, coming off a complete game, on only two days rest in an attempt to thwart the Tigers from clinching the pennant. Chicago's efforts will fail with a 7-0 defeat to Detroit, who captures the AL flag by half a game ahead of the Cleveland Naps thanks to a rule that doesn't require a team to make up a rainout game from earlier in the season.

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1923 At Braves Field, Ernie Padgett completes the first unassisted triple play in National League history. The 24-year-old Boston rookie shortstop catches Walter Holke's line drive, doubles up James Tierney at second, then tags Cliff Lee as he retreats back to first base for the third out in the fourth inning of the team's 4-1 victory over the Phillies in the shortened five-inning season finale.

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1923 For only the second time in major league history, two 100-loss teams face one another when the 52-100 Braves beat the 50-102 Phillies in the first game of a season-ending doubleheader, 5-4. Boston, then known as the Beaneaters, was also part of the first occurrence of this rare type of matchup when the 50-100 club played the 45-103 team from Brooklyn in 1905.

1926 In a 10-5 Game 4 victory over the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park, Yankee outfielder Babe Ruth becomes the first player to hit three home runs in a World Series game. History will repeat itself when the 'Sultan of Swat' once again goes deep three times against the Redbirds in St. Louis in the fourth game of the 1928 Fall Classic.

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1933 Umpire Charlie Moran ejects Heinie Manush from Game 4 of the Fall Classic after calling out the Senator outfielder at first base in Washington's 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Giants at Griffith Stadium. The arbitrator takes exception when the future Hall of Famer pulls on his bow tie, letting it snap back.

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1941 In Game 5 of the Fall Classic, Tiny Bonham goes the distance, limiting the Dodgers to just four hits to give the Yankees their 12th World Championship in franchise history. In one inning during the Bronx Bombers' 3-1 victory at Ebbets Field, the New York fireballing right-hander will need just three pitches to retire the side.

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1943 Cardinal batterymates and brothers Mort and Walker Cooper decide to play Game 2 of the World Series on the day their dad, Robert, dies at his home in Independence. After limiting the Yankees to six hits and winning the game, 4-3, Mort heads to Missouri while his younger brother, Walker, who has a 1-for-3 day behind the plate with an eighth-inning single, will stay with the club until the Fall Classic is over.

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1945 To promote his nearby Billy Goat Tavern, William Sianis buys a ticket to Game 4 of the Fall Classic his pet goat, Murphy. The bar owner, a Greek immigrant, becomes so upset when the Wrigley Field ushers ask his four-legged guest to leave, he places a curse on the team, preventing the Cubs from winning a World Series again.
Amazon The Billy Goat Curse: Losing and Superstition

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1946 During Game 1 of the World Series, Whitey Kurowski is awarded home plate on a controversial obstruction call after getting tangled up with Red Sox third baseman Pinky Higgins, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning. The Red Sox rally in the ninth to tie the score, and Rudy York's home run in the tenth gives Boston an eventual 3-2 victory over the Redbirds at Sportsman's Park.

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1949 In Game 2 of the World Series, only one run is scored again, but Preacher Roe and the Dodgers win this contest at Yankee Stadium, 1-0. Gil Hodges' second-inning single drives in Jackie Robinson to even up the Fall Classic at a game apiece.

Roy, Preacher & Duke

Jackie & Gil
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1952 At Ebbets Field, Billy Loes becomes the first pitcher in World Series history to commit a balk when the ball slips from his hand in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss that knots the Fall Classic at three games apiece with the Yankees. The advanced base leads to a run when Vic Raschi bounces a ground-ball single off the leg of the right-hander, who claims he lost the grounder in the sun. According to his Brooklyn teammate Carl Erskine, the sun slotting through a space in the grandstand behind home plate could be blinding late in the afternoon.

1957 In Game 4, Eddie Mathews' two-run shot off Bob Grim with one out in the bottom of the tenth inning at County Stadium gives the Braves a 7-5 victory and knots the Fall Classic at two games apiece. The Milwaukee third baseman becomes the third major leaguer, joining Tommy Henrich (1949) and Dusty Rhodes (1954) to end a World Series game with a walk-off home run.

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1959 The largest crowd ever to attend a major league game, 92,706 fans, watches a nail-biter as White Sox hurler Bob Shaw beats Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers, 1-0, in Game 5 of the Fall Classic.

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1963 The Dodgers complete a four-game World Series sweep of the Yankees as Sandy Koufax wins his second game, 2-1. Frank Howard leads the offense with a home run and a single, the only two hits Whitey Ford gives up, and New York's first baseman Joe Pepitone's error (loses a thrown ball in the white-shirted crowd) leads to the decisive run in the seventh inning.

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1965 "Hey, skip, bet you wish I was Jewish today, too." - DON DRYSDALE, commenting after the game about his poor performance on the mound with manager Walt Alston. Sandy Koufax declines to pitch the first game of the World Series against the Twins because the scheduled game occurs on Yom Kippur, the most sacred of the Jewish holidays. As the Dodger southpaw attends shul and fasts on the Day of Atonement, Don Drysdale gives up seven runs in three innings in the team's 8-2 loss at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium.

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1965 Mudcat Grant becomes the first black World Series game-winner for an American League team when the Twins take Game 1 from the Dodgers at Metropolitan Stadium, 8-2. Additionally, the 30-year-old right-hander will go deep off Howie Reed in his Game 6 victory, making him just the seventh pitcher to homer in a Fall Classic game.

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1966 Jim Palmer becomes the youngest player to pitch a shutout in the World Series when the 20-year-old Oriole right-hander blanks Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers, 6-0. Next month, the contest will become more memorable when Koufax surprises the baseball world by announcing his retirement, making this game his last major league appearance.

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1966 In the Game 2 loss to the Orioles at Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis establishes a World Series record by committing three errors in one game. The center fielder's blunders come on two consecutive plays in the fifth inning, the first by losing a fly ball in the sun, then by dropping the next fly ball, followed by overthrowing third base.

1968 Bob Gibson, who went deep in Game 7 of last year's Fall Classic, becomes the first pitcher to hit two home runs in World Series history when he connects off Detroit's Joe Sparma leading off the fourth inning of Game 4 in the Cardinals' 10-1 rout at Tiger Stadium. Oriole southpaw Dave McNally will match the mark with round-trippers in the 1969 and 1970 series.

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