BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1990 After retiring 26 consecutive A's players, Mariners right-hander Brian Holman gives up a homer to pinch-hitter Ken Phelps, turning his perfect game into the franchise’s ninth one-hitter when he strikes out Rickey Henderson for the final out. Ironically, the round-tripper will be the final one 'Digger' hits in his 11-year major league career.

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1997 In the second game of a doubleheader, the Cubs stop their season-opening losing skid at 14 games, beating the Mets, 4-3. By dropping the opener, Chicago set a National League record (0-14) for the most consecutive losses to start a season and has the second-worst mark behind the Orioles, the losers of 21 decisions before winning a game in 1988.

1997 Mark McGwire's 491-foot blast becomes the only fourth home run to bounce over the left-field roof at Tiger Stadium. The A's first baseman joins Harmon Killebrew (1962), Frank Howard (1968), and Cecil Fielder (1990) as the only players to accomplish the feat.

1999 A crowd of 37,317 fans enjoys a 3-2 victory over the Braves when LA surpasses the 100 million mark in attendance at Dodger Stadium. The ballpark opened in 1962, four seasons after the franchise moved from Brooklyn to the west coast.

 

2001 Blue Jays' first baseman Carlos Delgado hits three homers for the second time this month, accounting for four of the runs in the team's 12-4 victory over Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium. In the season's third game, the Toronto clean-up hitter also turned the homer hat trick in Tampa Bay.

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2006 At Petco Park, Kaz Matsui hits an inside-the-park round-tripper in his first at-bat of the season, making it the third successive season in which the Mets' second baseman has hit a home run in his initial plate appearance of the year. Ken Griffey Jr. also accomplished the feat starting in 1997 with the Mariners but had walked before going deep.

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2006 Appearing as a pinch-hitter at Petco Park, Julio Franco becomes the oldest major leaguer to hit a home run. The 47 years, 240 days old's eighth-inning blast, which put the Mets ahead in their 7-2 victory over the Padres, surpasses Jack Quinn, who accomplished the feat as a pitcher for the Philadelphia A's at the age of 46 years, 357 days.

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2006 As the Nationals beat the Phillies, 10-4, Frank Robinson becomes the 53rd manager to win 1000 big-league games. The first black skipper, who has also been the dugout leader for the Indians, Giants, Orioles, and Expos, has compiled a 1,000-1,095 record in 16 seasons.

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2007 Alex Rodriguez becomes the second player to hit twelve home runs in the first fifteen games at the start of the season when he goes deep twice in the Yankees' 7-6 loss to Boston at Fenway Park. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt also accomplished the feat, hitting a dozen for the Phillies in 1976.

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2007 The first Virginia Tech home athletic event, a game against Miami, since the campus massacre, which claimed 32 lives of students and staff, draws 3,132 fans. The overflow crowd is the largest ever recorded in the 18-year history of English Field, home of the Hokies college baseball team.

2007 In honor of their hard-playing center fielder, the first 10,000 adult fans attending the Great American Ball Park game receive a Ryan Freel Dirty T-shirt giveaway from the Reds. The Cincinnati leadoff hitter, known to finish games wearing a filthy uniform, doesn't disappoint when he raises lots of dust by getting on base twice, including a key single in the tenth inning of the Reds' 2-1 victory over the Phillies.

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2008 The Blue Jays release Frank Thomas a day after the slugger became angry for not being in the lineup. After a clubhouse meeting, Toronto G.M. J.P. Ricciardi and the designated hitter reach a "mutual agreement," allowing the disgruntled player to continue to be a full-time player on another team.

2010 In the first five innings of a 7-6 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Rangers swipe nine bases, including a club record of five in one inning, to establish a franchise mark. The number of stolen bases allowed by the Boston backstops ties the dubious distinction for the most ever yielded by the team in one game established in 1913.

2010 Rockies president Keli McGregor, while on a business trip for the club, is found dead in his hotel room in downtown Salt Lake City. The 48-year-old baseball executive, believed to have died of natural causes, spent 17 years with Colorado.

2011 Bud Selig announces MLB's take-over of the Dodgers operations because of concerns with team finances and the ability of Frank McCourt to run the franchise. The owner plans to pay off substantial debt with funding from the club's new $2.5 billion, 20-year media rights deal with Fox Sports, pending the Commissioner's approval of the agreement between the News Corp.'s media company and the team.

2012 The Reds become the fifth major league team to record their 10,000th franchise victory with a 9-4 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Cincinnati joins the Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Braves in reaching the milestone.

2012 With more than 200 former players in attendance, including team icons Johnny Pesky, Luis Tiant, Carl Yastrzemski, Bill Buckner, and Pedro Martinez joining the celebration, the Red Sox commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of Fenway Park. Caroline Kennedy, the great-granddaughter of Boston's former mayor, Honey Fitz, who threw out the first pitch on Opening Day in 1912, tosses one of the three ceremonial first pitches.

 

2012 Ivan Nova wins his 15th straight decision when the Yankees beat Boston at Fenway Park, 6-2. The victory moves the right-hander ahead of Whitey Ford (1961) and Steve Sundra (1938-39) and one shy of the franchise record of 16 consecutive wins, established last season by Roger Clemens.

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2013 After flying from Los Angeles, Neil Diamond shows up unannounced at Fenway Park to ask the Red Sox if he can sing Sweet Caroline at the first game at the ballpark since the Boston Marathon bombing. After his eighth-inning performance of the team's anthem, the crowd and the rest of the nation are truly 'Boston Strong.'

2013 In an emotional ceremony before the team's first game at Fenway Park since the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox recognize the victims and the heroes of the tragedy. David Ortiz sums up the city's mood when he tells the capacity crowd, "This jersey that we wear today, it doesn't say Red Sox. It says Boston. This is our f'***ng city, and nobody's going to dictate our freedom. Stay Strong."

2014 Ian Kinsler scores from first on a base-on-balls due to the Angels committing three errors on the same play in the first inning of the Tigers' 2-1 victory over the Angels at Comerica Park. The second baseman's trip begins when backstop Hank Conger throws ball four into centerfield, where Mike Trout makes an error trying to nail him advancing to third, scoring on pitcher Hector Santiago's errant toss to the plate.

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Today in Baseball History
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On April 20 in Baseball History...

• • 1910 - Addie Joss of Cleveland pitched the second no-hitter of his career, a 1-0 win over the White Sox in Chicago.
    
  • 1912 - Fenway Park was opened in Boston and the Red Sox defeated the visiting New York Yankees, 7-6, in 11 innings. Tiger Stadium in Detroit also opens its doors as the Tigers defeated the Cleveland Indians, 6-5.
    
  • 1916 - The Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park � renamed Wrigley Field in 1926 � defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 7-6, in 11 innings.
    
  • 1920 - Manager Gavvy Cravath of the Philadelphia Phillies inserted himself as a pinch hitter and beat the New York Giants with a three-run homer, 3-0. It was his last in the majors.
    
  • 1939 - In his first major league game, Ted Williams hit a 400-foot double in four at-bats as the Boston Red Sox lost, 2-0, to New York at Yankee Stadium.
    
  • 1967 - Tom Seaver of the New York Mets recorded his first major-league victory with a 6-1 triumph over the Chicago Cubs. Seaver went 7 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and one run.
    
  • 1982 - The Atlanta Braves recorded their 12th consecutive victory from the beginning of the season � a 4-2 decision over Cincinnati in Atlanta � and eclipsed the major-league record set a year earlier by the Oakland A's.
    
  • 1988 - The Baltimore Orioles set a major-league record with their 14th straight defeat at the start of the season, losing to the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-6.
    
  • 1990 - Seattle's Brian Holman lost his bid for baseball's 13th perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on Ken Phelps' pinch-hit home run in the Mariners' 6-1 victory over Oakland.

Baseball Birthdays on April 20...

• • 1866 - Hannifan, Pat
  • 1869 - Nichol, Sam
  • 1869 - Dowd, Tommy
  • 1876 - Hemphill, Charlie
  • 1880 - Smith, Charlie
  • 1881 - Flanagan, Steamer
  • 1884 - Mowrey, Mike
  • 1885 - Easterly, Ted
  • 1891 - Bancroft, Dave
  • 1896 - Rowe, Harland
  • 1897 - Vedder, Lou
  • 1898 - Werts, Johnny
  • 1901 - Wilson, Frank
  • 1902 - Deitrick, Bill
  • 1915 - Tipton, Eric
  • 1917 - Peck, Hal
  • 1923 - Gomez, Preston
  • 1924 - Bilbrey, Jim
  • 1929 - Agganis, Harry
  • 1938 - Dickson, Jim
  • 1946 - Hutton, Tom
  • 1947 - Machemehl, Chuck
  • 1950 - Prall, Willie
  • 1950 - Wilcox, Milt
  • 1952 - Gilbert, Joe
  • 1954 - Clarey, Doug
  • 1954 - O'Berry, Mike
  • 1956 - Tolman, Tim
  • 1956 - Chiffer, Floyd
  • 1960 - Kutcher, Randy
  • 1961 - Mattingly, Don
  • 1964 - Jones, Jimmy
  • 1965 - Yoshii, Masato
  • 1966 - Perezchica, Tony
  • 1967 - Brummett, Greg
  • 1969 - Smith, Dan
  • 1973 - Winchester, Scott
  • 1973 - Hollandsworth, Todd

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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4/21
BIRTHDAYS
1915 Harry Craft player and manager, born in Ellisville, Mississippi (d. 1995)


1948 Rick Miller born in Grand Rapids, Michigan

1960 Frank Viola pitcher (Twins, Mets/Cy Young-1988), born in Hempstead, New York


1964 Scott Kamienicki pitcher (NY Yankees), born in Mount Clemens, Michigan


1968 Brent Mayne catcher (NY Mets), born in Loma Linda, California


1977 Dennys Reyes born in Higuera de Zaragoza, Sinaloa, Mexico


1977 Joe Beimel (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania
1983 Alberto Callaspor (Kansas City Royals), born in Maracay, Venezuela

1983 Curtis Thigpen born in Dallas, Texas


1983 Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins), born in St. Paul, Minnesota


1983 Zach Duke (Cincinnati Reds), born in Clifton, Texas

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1898 In a game against the Giants, Philadelphia Nationals' pitcher Bill Duggeleby blasts a grand slam in his first major league at-bat. More than a century will pass before Jeremy Hermida accomplishes the feat again when the Marlin rookie pinch-hitter goes yard with the bases full facing the Cardinals' Al Reyes Dolphins Stadium in 2005. Bobby Bonds hits a grand slam in his first game but his third at-bat.

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1900 At Schorling's Park on Chicago's south side, the White Sox, as a minor league team, play their first game in franchise history, losing to Milwaukee, 5-4. The small wooden ballpark located at 39th and Princeton, also known as Southside Park, will continue to be the Windy City home for the team when they join the American League next season.

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1910 In front of 19,867 of the Tribe's faithful, Detroit right-hander Ed Willett spoils the team's debut in League Park, blanking Cleveland, 5-0. The ballpark, located at E. 66th and Lexington Avenue, will serve as the franchise's full-time home until the club moves during the 1932 season to Municipal Stadium.

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1925 The National League cancels all games due to the funeral of Dodger owner Charles Ebbets, who died three days ago of a heart attack. Edward McKeever, who assumed the presidency of the Brooklyn club, catches a cold at the owner's funeral and will die of influenza in eight days.

 

1944 After hitting just one home run in his last 297 games, Mike Kreevich hits two round-trippers in the Browns' 5-3 victory over Chicago at Sportsman's Park. The 35-year-old right fielder will finish the season with five homers for the eventual American League champs.

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1946 Frank Hayes establishes a major league record for catchers when he plays in the last of his 312 consecutive games behind the plate. The 31-year-old Indian backstop's streak began on October 2, 1943, when he started for the Browns on the final day of the season at Yankee Stadium.

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1948 Returning after serving his one-year suspension from baseball, Dodger manager Leo Durocher uses 24 players in a 9-5 loss to the Giants. The controversial 'Lip' had been suspended last April by commissioner Happy Chandler for an assortment of actions deemed detrimental to baseball.

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1951 At Griffith Stadium, Gil Coan hits two triples in the Senators' seven-run sixth inning in an 8-7 loss to New York. The Washington left fielder will be the last major leaguer to accomplish the feat until Rockies' leadoff hitter Cory Sullivan collects a pair of three-baggers in one frame in 2006.

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1955 The Dodgers win their 10th consecutive game from the start of the season when they beat the Phillies, 14-4. The Ebbets Field's victory establishes a major league record that lasts until 1981, when the A's chalk up 11 straight wins, beginning on Opening Day.

1959 At Wrigley Field, Stan Musial breaks up Glen Hobbie's no-hitter with a two-out seventh-inning double. The 23-year-old right-hander settles for a one-hitter, going the distance in the Cubs' 1-0 victory over the Cardinals.

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1961 In front of 24,606 fans at Metropolitan Stadium, the Twins, formerly known as the Washington Senators before moving to Minnesota, play their first home game, losing to the 'new' expansion Washington Senators, 5-3. The club's move to the North Star State will attract 1,256,723 fans, third-best in the American League and far better than their last season in the nation's capital, where the team drew only 743,404 fans, the worst gate in the league.

1966 The Phillies obtain Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl from the Cubs in exchange for future Hall of Fame hurler Ferguson Jenkins, outfielder Adolfo Phillips, and first baseman/outfielder John Herrnstein. The pair of right-handers will collectively post a 47-53 record for Philadelphia as Chicago's new moundsman will win twenty or more games for six consecutive seasons starting in 1967.

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1967 Rain postpones a game for the first time since the Dodgers opened its stadium in Chavez Ravine in 1962. The postponement of their scheduled game against St. Louis ends a streak of 737 consecutive contests at Dodger Stadium without a washout.

1967 After ending the Red Sox's rookie no-hit bid last week, Elston Howard again spoils Billy Rohr's effort to get into the record book when his eighth-inning two-run single breaks up the southpaw's shutout. The 21-year-old goes the distance, earning his second complete-game victory over the Bronx Bombers in seven days, but fails to become the eighth freshman to start his career with back-to-back scoreless games.

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1972 In the first American League game ever played in Texas, the transplanted Washington franchise, now known as the Rangers, beat California, 7-3. The club, managed by Ted Williams, will play its home schedule at Arlington Stadium, located between Fort Worth and Dallas, formerly known as Turnpike Stadium.

 

1989 After helping to arrange a syndicate to purchase the controlling interest in the Rangers for $89 million, George W. Bush, who also bought into the deal with a small stake of $500,000, convinces the investor group to make him the managing general partner. The future president of the United States will become the team's public face, with co-general partner Edward W 'Rusty' Rose handling the club's financial matters.

1990 The Reds beat the Braves at Riverfront Stadium, 8-1, for their ninth consecutive victory since Opening Day. The eventual World Champions' winning streak is the best start in club history.

1994 At the Metrodome, switch-hitting DH Eddie Murray knocks a home run from both sides of the plate in the Indians' 10-6 win over the Twins. 'Steady Eddie' has gone deep batting left-handed and right-handed in the same game eleven times, breaking the previous record that Yankee legend Mickey Mantle established in 1964.

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1996 En route to hitting 50 home runs this season, Oriole outfielder Brady Anderson leads off his fourth consecutive game with a round-tripper when he goes deep off Darren Oliver in the team's 9-6 loss to the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington. Baltimore goes 0-4 in those games despite their leadoff man's heroics.

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1997 The Devil Rays sign Rolando Arrojo, the former ace of the Cuban National Team. The 28-year-old right-hander, who defected from his homeland just before the 1996 Summer Olympics, will set a record for wins by an expansion pitcher with 14 victories.

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2000 Due to the umpires' equipment going to New York instead of Cincinnati, the Reds' game against the Dodgers starts 27 minutes later. A downtown store supplies the replacement gear, but due to heavy traffic, the goods arrive at Cinergy Field with the assistance of a police escort.

2002 Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal ties a major league record, which was last previously done by White Sox outfielder Lance Johnson in 1995 by hitting three triples in a game. The previous Braves player to hit three three-baggers in one contest was Danny O'Connell, who accomplished the feat at County Stadium in 1956 when the team played in Milwaukee.

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2006 Kansas City names the Kauffman Stadium Press Box after Hall of Fame writer and former Royals board member Joe McGuff. The 1984 J.G. Taylor Spink Award Winner died in February at 79 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

2012 Phillip Humber's first major league complete game is baseball's twenty-first perfect game when he retires all 27 Mariners he faces in the White Sox' 4-0 victory at Safeco Field. The 29-year-old right-hander, who had Tommy John surgery in 2005, is the third Pale Hose pitcher to accomplish perfection, joining Mark Buehrle (2009 vs. Tampa Bay) and Charles Robertson (1932 vs. Detroit).

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2014 Although he breaks his bat on the swing, Ike Davis becomes the first major leaguer to hit a grand slam for two different teams in April when he homers off Mike Leake, helping the Pirates defeat the Reds, 6-5, at PNC Park. Before being traded by the Mets to Pittsburgh earlier in the month, the 27-year-old first baseman went deep against another Cincinnati hurler, J.J. Hoover, for a walk-off slam in the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field

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2015 Celebrating the 150th anniversary year of their first meeting, Wesleyan and Yale, the Connecticut schools believed to have played the first college baseball contest using the rules which resemble today’s game, meet at New Haven’s Yale Field. The Bulldogs, unlike their 39-13 rout in 1865, only beat their Middletown rivals, 7-3, improving their record in the intercollegiate series to 62-18-2.

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2016 Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta tosses a no-hitter in the Cubs' 16-0 rout over the Reds at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park. The Chicago ace becomes the second pitcher, joining Johnny Vander Meer, who threw consecutive no-hitters in 1938, to go unbeaten between no-no's, having not lost in his last 17 regular-season starts since his gem against the Dodgers last season.

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2018 A's southpaw Sean Manaea tosses the twelfth no-hitter in franchise history and the first since southpaw Dallas Braden's perfect game in 2010, when he keeps the opponents hitless in the team's 3-0 victory over the 17-2 Red Sox at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The 26-year-old's performance ends Boston's run of 3,987 games without being no-hit, a streak dating back to Mariners' Chris Bosio's no-no against the club at the Kingdome on April 22, 1993.

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On April 21 in Baseball History...

• • 1904 - Ty Cobb makes his professional debut for Augusta (South Atlantic League), hitting a double and home run in an 8-7 loss to Columbus.
  • 1910 - The new League Park opens in Cleveland with a capacity of 21,000. 18,832 watch Detroit and Ed Willett beat the Naps 5-0.
  • 1934 - Moe Berg, little-used Senators catcher, plays his 117th consecutive errorless game, dating back to 1931. It sets an A.L. record.
  • 1955 - Brooklyn wins its 10th in a row, trouncing Robin Roberts of the Phils 14-2. This sets a new major league record for consecutive wins to start a season (since broken).
  • 1967 - After 737 consecutive games, the Dodgers were rained out for the first time since moving to Los Angeles.
  • 1982 - The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 for their 13th straight victory.
  • 1984 - In only his second start since August 1982, Montreal pitcher David Palmer threw five perfect innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 4-0 victory stopped by rain.
  • 1987 - The White Sox beat the Brewers 7-1, ending their season-opening winning streak at 13 games. Milwaukee's 13-0 start tied the major league record set by the 1982 Braves.
  • 1991 - In the greatest extra-inning comeback in major league history, Pittsburgh scores six in the bottom of the 11th inning to erase a five-run Cubs lead built in the top of the inning on Andre Dawson's grand slam. The Pirates had rallied earlier from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game in the ninth.
  • 1994 - Indians first baseman Eddie Murray hits home runs from both sides of the plate in a game for the 11th time in his career to break Mickey Mantle's record. The two homers also move Murray past Dave Kingman into 20th place on the all-time list with 444.

Baseball Birthdays on April 21...

• • 1845 - Fletcher, George
  • 1855 - Richardson, Hardy
  • 1863 - Smith, Germany
  • 1890 - Reinecker, Wally
  • 1890 - Raleigh, John
  • 1894 - Maisel, Charlie was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on October 2, 1915
  • 1902 - Weinert, Lefty was 17 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 24, 1919, with the Philadelphia Phillies
  • 1909 - Chamberlain, Bill
  • 1913 - Hogg, Bert
  • 1919 - Rojek, Stan
  • 1921 - Rinker, Bob
  • 1935 - Burk, Mack
  • 1937 - Peters, Gary "Eddie (Stanky, Chicago White Sox Manager, 1966-1968) very rarely ordered anybody to throw at someone and they were usually the younger guys. There were also guys that just couldn't do that. When that happened he’d get on them. Remember that was expected in those days, I know when one of our guys got hit, I didn't have to be told to do it. I had to protect my teammates. There were also times when a pitch just would get away from you. I know I hit Carl Yastrzemski in the neck. I wasn't trying to hit him, I was trying to pitch him inside and it got away from me. Jose Santiago then hit me right in the head." Gary Peters Interview on Baseball Almanac. Liptak, Mark. Baseball Historian. White Sox Interactive. April 2006.
    
    In Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia (Silverman, Matthew. Author. Total Sports Publishing. May 2000. Page 863.), they wrote, "Gary Peters won 19 games for the Chicago White Sox and led the American League with a 2.33 ERA as a rookie in 1963. When he led the league with 20 victories the following season, he seemed on his way to the Hall of Fame. He wasn't. Peters hurt his arm in 1965 and was never quite the same." Before getting injured in 1965, Gary Peters did win a second ERA title and did do something (amongst White Sox pitchers) only accomplished by Hall of Fame pitchers, he became just the third White Sox pitcher with two ERA titles, behind Hall of Fame pitcher Ed Walsh (1.60 ERA in 1907 & 1.27 ERA in 1910) and Hall of Fame pitcher Red Faber (2.48 ERA in 1921 & 2.80 ERA in 1922).nac Family
  • 1937 - Haywood, Bill
  • 1940 - Faul, Bill
  • 1941 - Green, Dick
  • 1947 - Bumbry, Al
  • 1950 - Harts, Greg
  • 1951 - Sterling, Randy
  • 1953 - Keener, Joe
  • 1957 - Orosco, Jesse
  • 1960 - Legg, Greg
  • 1962 - Lancaster, Les
  • 1963 - Caminiti, Ken
  • 1966 - Donnels, Chris
  • 1972 - Williams, Keith
  • 1973 - Brown, Kevin
  • 1974 - Brumbaugh, Cliff
  • 1975 - Castillo, Carlos
  • 1977 - Wells, Kip

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.​