BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1962 Ken Hubbs collects eight singles in eight trips to the plate during the Cubs' doubleheader sweep of the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. The BBWAA will select Chicago's second baseman as the National League's Rookie of the Year.

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1968 For the second time in his career and the second time in franchise history, Jim Fregosi, with a single in the 11th inning, hits for the cycle in the Angels' 5-4 victory over Boston at Anaheim Stadium. The California shortstop became the first player to accomplish the feat for the club in 1964.

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1969 At RFK Stadium, Pilots manager Joe Schultz is ejected for disputing Bernie Allen's fourth inning 'foul' two-run home run that ties the score at 4 in a game his team will eventually lose to Washington, 6-5. According to Jim Bouton's account in his book, Ball Four, the Seattle skipper is tossed after offering his glasses to the plate umpire Ed Runge.

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1978 Willie Stargell hits the longest home run in Montreal's Olympic Stadium history, smashing a ball 535 feet into the 300 club deck level in the right field in the team's 6-0 victory over the Expos. The yellow upper deck seat, which replaced the original red one to commemorate the location of the Pirates' first baseman behemoth blast, is now on display at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

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1979 Don Sutton becomes the franchise’s winningest pitcher when he is credited with the victory, tossing eight innings in the Dodgers' 6-4 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The 34-year-old right-hander’s 210th win surpasses the team mark established in 1969 by Don Drysdale.

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1983 Phillies southpaw Steve Carlton becomes the second of three major league hurlers this season to surpass Walter Johnson's career strikeout total of 3,508 K's, a record that had survived for 56 years. In April, Nolan Ryan broke the Big Train's mark, and Gaylord Perry will reach the milestone later in the season. Some websites, including the Hall of Fame, ESPN, and Baseball-Reference, differ with the official MLB stats, crediting the Senator legend with 3,509 career strikeouts, with an extra punch out recorded in his rookie season accounting for the difference

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1985 The record-streak of 458 major league games played from the start of the season ends due to inclement weather. Rain postpones the contest between the Brewers and Indians scheduled to take place at Cleveland Stadium.

1987 In a season of streaks, the second-place Brewers end a 12-game losing streak by beating the Chicago White Sox County Stadium, 5-1. The 21-15 Brew Crew had opened the season with 13 consecutive victories.

 

1991 Jeff Reardon becomes the fourth major leaguer to compile 300 career saves. The 35-year-old right-handed reliever, who finishes with 367 saves, reaches the milestone when he retires the side in order in the ninth inning of the Red Sox' 3-0 victory over Milwaukee at Fenway Park.

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1999 In a twin bill sweep of Milwaukee, Mets' third baseman Robin Ventura becomes the first major league player to hit a grand slam in both ends of a doubleheader. The infielder also hit a pair of 'grand salamis' in a game against Texas while playing for the 1995 White Sox.

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2000 After being released earlier in the month by the Mets for not hustling, Rickey Henderson, in his first at-bat for the Mariners, hits his record 76th career leadoff home run, a shot off Esteban Yan in the team's 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay at Safeco Field. With the round-tripper, the future Hall of Fame outfielder joins Ted Williams and Willie McCovey as the third major leaguer to have homered in four different decades.

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2001 Barry Bonds becomes the thirteenth player in major league history to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats. The Giants outfielder went yard in his final two at-bats yesterday, and homers in his first two official turns at the plate today.

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2004 Cardinals' catcher Mike Matheny handles his 1,295th chance without an error to establish a major league record for backstops. Charles Johnson, playing for Florida, had set the previous mark in 1997.

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2006 After barreling over fellow catcher Michael Barrett in a play he considered hard but clean, A.J. Pierzynski is surprised when the Cub backstop shows his displeasure by punching him in the face. The incident ignites a bench-clearing brawl between the Windy City rivals, leading to a 15-minute delay and four ejections during the White Sox' 7-0 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

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2006 After a 29 at-bats homerless drought, Barry Bonds finally catches Babe Ruth with his 714th home run. The historic homer, which ties the designated hitter for second place for career round-trippers, comes during the second inning of an interleague contest against the A's, with the pitch thrown by southpaw Brad Halsey landing in the first deck of the right-center stands of McAfee Coliseum.

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2009 After setting a franchise record in the sixth inning with 11 putouts in the outfield, Jacoby Ellsbury ties the big league mark when he catches the final out of the game for #12. The Red Sox center fielder equals the 1929 performance of Braves' outfielder Earl Clark and Lyman Bostock, who also accomplished the feat in 1977 playing for the Twins.

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2010 Trailing the Reds 9-3 starting the bottom of the ninth, Brooks Conrad's pinch-hit grand slam gives the Braves an incredible 10-9 walk-off victory at Turner Field. The seven-run frame's big blow by the 30-year-old journeyman barely clears the fence, with the ball deflecting off Laynce Nix's glove when the left fielder reaches over the top of the wall at the 380-foot sign.

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2012 Babe Ruth's circa 1920 jersey sells to an undisclosed buyer for $4,415,658, the most significant amount ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia, according to auctionreport.com. The woolen uniform top was probably worn by the Babe during his first season with the Yankees after being traded by Red Sox's owner Harry Frazee.

2017 Terry Collins, a 67-year-old baseball lifer, passes Davey Johnson (1984-1990) to become the longest-tenured manager in Mets history, piloting the team for 1,013 games. The oldest skipper in the major leagues sees his charges hang on to a 7-5 victory when Addison Reed strikes out Angel pinch-hitter Danny Espinosa on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded after three runs have scored in the top of the ninth inning at Citi Field.

2018 Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks equals Aroldis Chapman's mark for the fastest pitch known in baseball history when he throws, a pair of pitches clocked at 105 mph in the team's 5-1 victory over the Phillies at Busch Stadium. The 21-year-old Redbird rookie right-handed reliever had never appeared in a game above Class A before starting the season with St. Louis this year.

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BIRTHDAYS
1902 Earl Averill HOF outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star 1933–1938; Cleveland Indians), born in Snohomish, Washington (d. 1983)


1912 Monty Stratton pitcher, born in Palacios, Texas (d. 1982)


1941 Bobby Cox HOF manager (World Series 1977 [coach NY Yankees], 1995 Atlanta Braves; 4 × Manager of the Year; Toronto Blue Jays), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma


1960 Kent Hrbek (Minnesota Twins), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota


1981 Josh Hamilton born in Raleigh, North Carolina

1985 Andrew Miller pitcher, 2006-present (Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, and 5 other teams), born in Gainesville, Florida


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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1907 After the Giants' 3-0 loss to the Cubs that drops New York out of first place, the players need to form a protective ring around umpires Hank O'Day and Bob Emslie. Pinkerton guards fire shots in the air, trying to disperse unruly fans who have spilled onto the Polo Grounds field.

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1919 The Giants trade outfielder Jim Thorpe to the Braves for hurler Pat Ragan, who will pitch in only seven games for New York. The former Olympian, who appeared in only two games with his former team this year, will play 60 games for Boston before retiring at the end of the campaign, compiling a career .252 batting average during his six seasons in the major leagues.

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1925 At Navin Field, the Tigers and Senators tie a nine-inning major league record, turning a combined nine double plays. Washington puts their twin killings to better use when they beat Detroit, 6-2.

1926 Earl Sheely ties a big-league record with seven consecutive extra-base hits. After doubling in his last three at-bats at Fenway Park yesterday, the White Sox first baseman collects three doubles and a home run in today's 8-7 loss to Boston.

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1927 For the second consecutive day, an umpire at Ebbets Field is the target of fan abuse. Arbitrator Frank Wilson needs a police escort after the Robins (Dodgers) drop a twin bill to Cubs.

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1930 Babe Ruth hits three home runs, connecting in the first, third, and eighth inning of the Yankees' 15-7 loss to the A's at Shibe Park. The trio of round-trippers marks the first time the 35-year-old 'Sultan of Swat' has gone yard three times in a regular-season game, having accomplished the feat in the 1926 and 1928 World Series.

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1943 At Comiskey Park, it takes only one hour and twenty-nine minutes for the White Sox to defeat the Senators, 1-0. The 89-minute contest is the quickest nine-inning game ever played in the American League.

1947 Yankee GM Larry MacPhail fines Joe DiMaggio $100 and penalizes four teammates to a lesser degree for not fulfilling contract requirements to do promotional duties. The New York outfielder had reneged on a promise to pose for a Signal Corps photograph featuring soldiers wearing new Army uniforms.


1952 The Dodgers score a major league record fifteen first-inning runs en route to a 19-1 rout over the Reds at Ebbets Field. After Ewell Blackwell retires the first batter, the next 19 Brooklyn batters reached base (10 hits, seven walks, and two HBP), including Captain Pee Wee Reese getting to first base three times during the frame.

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1952 Joe Nuxhall, best known for signing with Cincinnati in 1944 after obtaining the permission of his parents and high school principal, returns to the Reds seven years after pitching two-thirds of an inning in his major league debut as a 15-year-old. The southpaw gives up just one hit in the final three frames of the team's 19-1 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field.

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1956 The White Sox trade future Hall of Fame third baseman George Kell with right-handers Mike Fornieles and Connie Johnson and left fielder Bob Nieman to the Orioles for first baseman/outfielder Dave Philley and hurler Jim Wilson. The deal pays immediate dividends for Baltimore when Kell and Nieman become part of the team's everyday lineup, and Johnson steps into the Birds’ starting rotation.

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1957 Reaffirming their decision to bar females from the Fenway Park's male-only press box, Boston baseball writers deny a seat to Doris O'Donnell, a feature writer following the Indians.

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1959 In the face of growing pressure to expand, baseball owners declined to add new teams to the major leagues at a meeting at John Galbreath's Ohio farm. Given the lack of expansion plans, Commissioner Ford Frick, at a later date, will announce that MLB will "favorably consider an application for major league status within the present baseball structure by an acceptable group of eight clubs which would qualify under ten specifications."

1962 On the day he is released by New York, right-hander Robin Roberts will pitch two scoreless innings for the Orioles at Cleveland Stadium after signing as a free agent with the Birds. The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer, who never appeared in a game wearing a Yankee uniform, will compile a 42-36 record during his four seasons with the Birds.

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1963 Jim Maloney ties a major league record shared by Max Surkont (1953 Braves) and Johnny Podres (1962 Dodgers) when he strikes out eight consecutive batters, beginning with the last out in the first inning of the Reds' 2-0 victory over Milwaukee at County Stadium. The Cincinnati right-hander also equals the franchise mark with 16 strikeouts in one game, established by Noodles Hahn in 1901.

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1969 The Mets are at .500 at the latest point of the season in team history. Tom Seaver throws a three-hitter, blanking the Braves at Atlanta Stadium, 5-0, improving the team's win-loss record to 18-18.

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1981 In the first round of the NE Regional in the NCAA Tournament at New Haven's Yale Field, future major leaguers Ron Darling and St. John's Frank Viola hook up in possibly the greatest college baseball game ever played. After being held hitless for eleven innings by the Bulldogs, the Redmen scored the contest's lone run on a double steal in the top of the 12th inning after both hurlers had thrown 11 scoreless innings.

1986 Rafael Ramirez strokes four doubles in seven trips to the plate. The infielder's quartet of two-baggers helps the Braves edge the Cubs in 13 innings at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, 9-8.

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1988 Bobby Doerr, often referred to as the silent captain of the team by teammate Ted Williams, has his jersey #1 retired by the Red Sox, the organization he spent 14 years as a player and for many seasons after his retirement in 1951 for which he served as a coach and scout. The nine-time All-Star second baseman became the first player in club history to hit for the cycle twice (1944, 1947) and led the team in his only World Series appearance, hitting .409 (9-for-22) against the Cardinals in the 1946 Fall Classic.

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1992 Manager Buck Rodgers and eleven others are injured when the Angels' team bus goes out of control on the New Jersey Turnpike and crashes into trees. The 53-year-old skipper is seriously injured and will miss nearly 90 games.

1996 In a 12-10 defeat of the Pirates, Larry Walker sets a Rockies' club record with 13 total bases. The right fielder drives in six runs with a pair of two-run homers, a triple, and a double.

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1997 Roger Clemens, en route to 354 career victories, picks up his 200th win when he tosses eight innings in the Blue Jays' 4-1 win at Yankee Stadium. The 34-year-old ‘Rocket’ becomes the first player to reach the milestone wearing a Blue Jays uniform.

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1997 Cleveland slugger Jim Thome, not known for his speed, steals his only base of the season. The Indians' first baseman's swipe of home plate in the top of the fourth inning will prove to be the game's only run in the Tribe's 1-0 victory over Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium

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1998 Professional baseball returns to Bridgeport (CT) for the first time in nearly half a century when the hometown Bluefish beat the Newport Bears in front of a sold-out crowd in their new Ballpark at Harbors Yards. The Atlantic League club is the first pro team to play in the Park City since the Bees of Colonial League suspended play after the 1950 season.

 

2000 Major League Baseball has its first six grand-slam day in less than a year after establishing the mark with five, with Garret Anderson (Angels), J.T. Snow (Giants), Brian Hunter (Phillies), Jason Giambi (A's), and Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green (Dodgers) all contributing to the record. The NL also set a league record, blasting four of the six base-loaded homers.

2004 In a 5-3 Tampa Bay victory over Cleveland at Tropicana Field, Jose Cruz Jr. ties a franchise record, accumulating ten total bases. The Devil Rays' right fielder's 4-for-4 performance includes three doubles and a home run.

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2004 In his return to Texas, Alex Rodriguez is roundly booed by the patrons when he comes to bat in the first inning at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Ranger fans continue to show their displeasure when the Yankees' third baseman drives Joaquin Benoit's 2-1 pitch over the fence.

2005 At the Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers establish two team records when the club hits four homers in one inning and eight times altogether, routing the Astros, 18-3, in a Lone Star interleague game. Rod Barajas, Hank Blalock, Laynce Nix, and Mark Teixeira go deep in the team's eight-run second inning, with Kevin Mench, Richard Hidalgo, and David Dellucci, who connects twice, also contributing to the franchise mark.

2005 Before their interleague game with the Athletics, the Giants pay homage to Juan Marichal by dedicating a nine-foot bronze statue outside SBC Park. The 'Dominican Dandy,' a San Francisco hurler from 1960 to 1973, joins Willie Mays and Willie McCovey as the third player to be honored.

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2005 When Dae-Sung Koo bats against Randy Johnson, Mike Piazza confides to David Wright in the dugout, "If he gets a hit, I'll donate a million dollars to charity." The Korean reliever, who was afraid to stand in the batter's box in a previous game, promptly hits a 91-mph fastball to the wall in center for a double, causing the Mets catcher to remark he'll be making a significant donation to a charity over the next 20 years.

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2008 "It's been a lot of negative stuff going on around here and I've been feeling some of that and I was just expressing how I felt at the time, but it wasn't anything to do with race. I wasn't trying to bring race into it. I probably should have thought more about what I was going to say." - Willie Randolph, former Mets manager. Willie Randolph apologizes for his negative remarks concerning SNY's coverage of him as the Mets skipper. The first black major league manager hired in New York had brought up race when asked about how the team's TV network portrayed him.

2009 The Twins enjoy a six-run and a seven-run inning when they trounce the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, 20-1. Joe Mauer leads the Minnesota offense with a grand slam and two doubles, driving in a career-high six runs.

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2009 Albert Pujols's first-inning blast off Sean Marshall in the Cardinals' 3-1 victory over the Cubs knocks out the letter "I" on the Big Mac Land sign at Busch Stadium. During any game, if a Cardinal player hits a home run into Big Mac Land, built in the left-field stands (section 272) as a tribute to Mark McGwire, everyone at the game is entitled to redeem their ticket for a free Big Mac at all participating restaurants in the fast-food chain.

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2009 During a five-hour rain delay at Bright House Field in Clearwater (FL), UConn and South Florida players entertain the fans, and mostly themselves, with an impromptu dance-off. When the play resumes tomorrow, sixth-seeded Connecticut will advance to the semifinal round of the Big East Championship with a 4-2 victory over the No. 2-ranked USF Bulls.

 

2012 Caleb Lloyd catches both home run balls hit in consecutive at-bats, just three pitches apart, by starter Mike Leake and shortstop Zack Cozart during the fourth inning of the Reds' 4-1 victory over Atlanta at Great American Ball Park. The 20-year-old college junior keeps neither giving the infielder's ball to a friend who helped get the tickets to the game and, at the request of the Reds, gives the pitcher, who hit his first career round-tripper, the other in exchange for a tour of the clubhouse and an autographed bat and ball.

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2012 Rockies starter Jamie Moyer extends his major league record when he starts at the newly opened Marlins Park, having pitched in 50 major league ballparks. The 49-year-old southpaw started his career with a victory for Philadelphia at Wrigley Field in 1986.

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2013 Mike Trout becomes the youngest player in American League history to hit for the cycle when he goes 4-for-5 in the Angels' 12-0 rout of the Mariners. The 21-year-old 'Millville Meteor' beats out an infield single in the third, triples in the fourth, doubles in the sixth, and goes deep in the eighth, becoming the sixth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

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2014 The A's manage only one hit, Brandon Moss' fourth-inning solo shot, but the homer proves to be the difference in their 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. Oakland is the first American League team to win with a home run as its only hit since Jim Thome's solo shot in 2006 gave the White Sox a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals at U.S. Cellular Field.

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2021 With White Sox runners on first and second and no outs in the top of the ninth inning, Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman induces Andrew Vaughn to hit into an inning-ending 5-4-3 triple play, keeping the score knotted at 1-1. Gleyber Torres, accounting for New York's only run with a seventh-inning homer, ends the game in the bottom of the frame with a walk-off single, plating Aaron Judge.

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