BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1959 Pittsburgh's slugging first baseman Dick Stuart hits a 457-foot homer over the Forbes Field center field wall, making the blast the longest home run in the 50-year history of the ballpark. Dr. Strangeglove's home run comes in the first inning off Glenn Hobbie in the Pirates' 10-5 loss to Chicago.

With Mick & Roger

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1961 Robin Roberts, who will finish his career playing with three other clubs, wins his last game with the Phillies, beating the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-2. The future Hall of Famer's lone victory this season, a complete-game six-hitter, is his 234th win for Philadelphia, the most by a right-hander in franchise history.
1966

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1966 "It's supposed to be fun. The man says 'play ball,' not 'work ball,' you know." - WILLIE STARGELL, Pirates' legend reflecting on his love of the game. In the Pirates' 10-5 victory over Houston at Forbes Field, Willie Stargell enjoys a 5-for-5 day that includes two home runs and a double. The Pittsburgh first baseman's performance gives him nine consecutive hits in two days.

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1973 The Rangers, bypassing future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Robin Yount, select Westchester High School (Houston, TX) pitching phenom David Clyde in the first round (1st pick) of the amateur draft. The 18-year-old senior, who posted an 18-0 record with fourteen shutouts and five no-hitters, will be pressed into immediate service as a starting pitcher for Texas, winning only seven games in 25 decisions during his three seasons with the Lone Star State team.

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1974 Oakland outfielder Reggie Jackson, tired of being picked on by Billy North, tackles his A's teammate in the Tiger Stadium clubhouse, starting a nasty fight, resulting in costly injuries. In addition to Jackson injuring his shoulder, Ray Fosse, attempting to separate the brawlers, crushes a disc in the catcher's neck that virtually ends his season.

1975 The Angels select Danny Goodwin as their first overall pick, making the 21 year old left-handed hitting catcher the only player in the history of the free-agent draft to be the country's top choice for a second time. The Sporting News College Player of the Year, also the Number 1 pick four years ago when the White Sox chose him out of Peoria Central High School (IL), signs for a major league record $150,000 with the Halos.

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1977 On Old-Timers' Day, the Dodgers retire former manager Walter Alston's uniform number 24. 'Smokey' compiles a 2040-1613 (.558) record along with seven pennants that results in four World Championships during his 23 years in the dugout.

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1979 Willie Horton becomes the 43rd major league player to hit 300 career home runs. The 36-year-old Mariner outfielder will end his 18-year career with 325 round-trippers.

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1981 Moving ahead of Early Wynn, Nolan Ryan becomes the all-time walk leader (1,777) when he throws ball four twice in his 3-0 victory over the Mets. The Astros right-handed flame thrower will end his 27-year career with 2,795 bases on balls, nearly a thousand more than Steve Carlton, second on the career list for issuing free passes.

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1982 Cal Ripken's span of 8,243 consecutive innings begins with the Orioles' 3-1 victory over Minnesota at the Metrodome. The infielder's record streak, which will last for 904 games, ends when he is lifted in the eighth inning for a pinch-runner during an 18-3 September loss to the Blue Jays in 1987.

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1985 Retiring the last 16 Angels, Orioles hurler Dennis Martinez tosses a one-hitter, beating California at Memorial Stadium, 4-0. Jerry Narron's third-inning single spoils the no-hit bid as 'El Presidente' notches his 100th career victory.

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1986 Casey Candaele makes his major league debut, pinch-hitting for the Expos in a 7-3 loss to Philadelphia at Olympic Stadium. With this appearance, the versatile utility man and his mom, Helen Callaghan, a former left-handed center fielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, become the only mother and son to play professional baseball.

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1987 Before the Mets-Pirates game at Shea Stadium, SpiderMan marries Mary Jane Watson. In attendance at the wedding ceremony, presided over by Marvel Comics president Stan Lee, are Spidey's friends Captain America and the Hulk and his enemies, Doctor Doom and the Green Goblin.

1989 At SkyDome, the Blue Jays drop a 5-3 decision to the Brewers in the inaugural game played at their new home. Toronto's first baseman Fred McGriff hits the first home run, a two-run shot in the second inning, in the multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof.

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1989 The Mets select University of Arizona catcher Alan Zinter in the first round of the amateur draft, the 24th overall pick. The collegiate backstop will not play his first major league until 13 years later when he makes his debut with Houston as a 34-year-old pinch-hitter in 2002.

 

1992 At Three Rivers Stadium, Mets' first baseman Eddie Murray drives in two runs, passing Yankee legend Mickey Mantle [1,509] as the all-time RBI leader among switch-hitters.

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1997 In a 14-6 rout of the Tigers in Detroit, Alex Rodriguez becomes the first Mariner to hit for the cycle in a nine-inning game. In 1993, Jay Buhner accomplished the feat with a 14th inning triple at the Kingdome.

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1997 The South Atlantic League's RiverDogs announce a Father's Day promotion, which features the opportunity for fans 21 or older, male or female, to register in a drawing for one guy to receive a free vasectomy. The Rays' Class A affiliate snips the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark event in the bud after receiving several complaints from fans, including Bishop David Thompson, a season-ticket holder and head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, and Monsignor Sam R. Miglarese, the diocese's vicar-general.

 

2000 The Marlins select 16-year-old Adrian Gonzalez as their first overall pick in the first-year player draft. The first baseman, a student at Eastlake High School in Bonita, California, comes to terms with Florida on the same day.

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2001 Mike Hampton throws 7.2 innings, giving up nine hits, earning his eighth victory in ten decisions when the Rockies beat the Astros at Coors Field, 9-4. The 28-year-old southpaw helps his cause with home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, both off Houston starter Wade Miller.

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2001 The Mets draft Hickory High School (Chesapeake, VA) standout David Wright in the first round of the amateur draft, the 38th pick overall. The 18-year-old shortstop signs with New York a week later and will become the face of the franchise before his premature retirement in 2018 due to spinal stenosis.

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2001 In the Red Sox's 4-3 victory, an 18-inning Fenway Park contest that lasts 5 hours, 52 minutes, the Tigers intentionally walk Manny Ramirez four times, tying an American League record. Yankee outfielder Roger Maris was passed intentionally four times by the Los Angeles Angels in 1962.

2001 By homering in his team's 57th game, Barry Bonds becomes the fastest player ever to hit 30 home runs. In 1928, it took Babe Ruth 63 games to reach the same mark.

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2002 The Houston-based fruit juice subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company renames Astros Field as Minute Maid Park after acquiring the naming rights to the ballpark for 28 years at an estimated price of $170 million. The original name of the stadium, Enron Field, was dropped in February when the team regained the naming rights by making a deal to pay the debtors of the bankrupt energy corporation the sum of $2.1 million.

2002 Rangers' designated hitter Juan Gonzalez becomes the 34th major leaguer and the first from Puerto Rico to hit 400 career home runs. Juan Gone's milestone round-tripper comes off Anaheim hurler Jarrod Washburn's first pitch in the second inning during a 7-5 extra-inning loss to the Angels.

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2002 Barry Bonds passes Frank Robinson to become fourth on the all-time career home run list when he belts his 587th home run. The historic grand slam, believed to be one of the longest homers ever hit in the 34-year history of the ballpark now called Qualcomm Stadium, puts the Giants' left fielder, the single-season home run record holder with 73, precisely 73 behind Willie Mays' 660 round-trippers for third place.

2003 In the second game of a doubleheader loss to the Brewers, Mets southpaw John Franco pitches an inning of relief to become the eighth pitcher to make a thousand career appearances. The last time Milwaukee swept a twin bill on the road occurred eleven seasons ago when the Brewers of the American League beat the Royals twice on July 5th, 2002, 8-7 and 5-3.

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2003 Tony Clark changes his number from 00 to 52. The Mets' reserve player wanted to give the team's mascot, Mr. Met, his identity back, as he and the congenial baseball-headed character shared double-digit ought.

 

2005 For the first time since 1933, a big-league team representing Washington, DC finds itself in first place at this point of the season when the Nationals take the top spot in the National League East. With the team playing so well, the recently transplanted Nats need only 32 games to attract 1,056,642 fans to RFK Stadium, breaking the District's attendance mark of 1,027,216 in 1946 by the original Senators at Griffith Stadium.

2006 Reds' slugger Ken Griffey Jr., who has homered in every existing ballpark, hits a round-tripper in his forty-third ballpark to tie the major league record of Fred McGriff. Junior goes deep twice in the new Busch Stadium, including a ninth-inning three-run game-winner off Jason Isringhausen in Cincinnati's 8-7 victory over the Redbirds.

2008 In a televised game at Fenway Park against the Rays, NESN cameras catch Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis fighting in the dugout. The altercation between the Red Sox teammates results from Manny taking exception to Youkilis' demonstrative behavior after the third baseman returns to the bench after striking out.

2008 Joining Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray, Chipper Jones becomes the third switch-hitter in major league history to hit 400 career home runs. The Braves' third baseman milestone homer is just one of the four hits he contributes to Atlanta's 7-5 comeback win over Florida.

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2008 At Nationals Park, Mark Worrell becomes the eighth player in Cardinals history to hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat. The rookie reliever, who also pitched two scoreless innings, hit his monstrous three-run blast on a 3-2 pitch from Washington's Tim Redding in the sixth inning of a 10-9 St. Louis loss.

2008 Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp takes exception getting hit in the hip by Rays' starter James Shields, showing his displeasure by charging the mound, igniting a bench-clearing brawl resulting in the ejections of the three players and the suspension of eight players. In yesterday's game, Rays skipper Joe Maddon accused Crisp of intentionally injuring his second baseman Akinori Iwamura on a stolen base attempt.

2008 With the third overall pick, the Royals select American Heritage High School (Plantation, FL) senior Eric Hosmer in the first round of the amateur draft. The slugging first baseman, chosen after infielders Tim Beckham (Rays) and Pedro Alvarez (Pirates), will receive $6 million for signing with Kansas City, the largest bonus given to a draftee in franchise history.

2009 John Schuerholz publicly apologizes to Tom Glavine for the club's handling of the southpaw's release. The Braves' president, who chose not to give the future Hall of Famer a million-dollar bonus by adding him to the 25-man roster, doesn't regret the decision, but for how "it was portrayed and explained" to the veteran pitcher.

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2009 Twitter reaches a settlement with Tony La Russa, who claimed an unauthorized page on the site that used his name caused emotional distress by mocking his DUI charge and minimizing the loss of two players who had died in recent seasons. The Cardinals' manager drops his lawsuit when the social network agreed to pay legal fees and donate to his Animal Rescue Foundation.

2009 Alex Rios apologizes for shouting profanities, an incident caught on video, when he left a Blue Jays charity event. After appearing to ignore a youngster's request for an autograph, the Toronto right fielder shouts an epithet when he hears an older man comment, "The way you played today, Alex, you should be lucky somebody wants your autograph."

2009 Just hours before its scheduled demise, Tiger Stadium is saved from complete demolition when Wayne County Circuit Judge Isidore Torres stops crews from tearing down what's left of the ballpark at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy requested a temporary restraining order, giving the nonprofit group additional time to raise money to preserve and redevelop the historic ballpark.

 

2011 Albert Pujols beats the Cubs for the second consecutive day with a dramatic, extra-inning, walk-off home run when he takes a Rodrigo Lopez pitch deep over the left-center field fence, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 victory in 10 innings. Stan Musial is the only other Redbird player to have also accomplished the feat.

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2012 On the 11th anniversary of being drafted by the Mets, David Wright becomes the franchise's all-time run-scorer when he crosses the plate for the 736th time after homering in the team's 7-6 loss in Washington. New York's 29-year-old third baseman is already the franchise career leader in doubles, total bases, RBIs, and extra-base hits.

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2012 The Royals select Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado in the draft, making the 17 years and 114 days old the youngest player to ever chosen. The 6' 1", 180-pound outfielder/third baseman, a National Honor Society student at the Pendleton School in Florida, is an unexpected eighth selection by Kansas City.

2013 The White Sox score five times in the top of the 14th inning, but the Mariners knot the score in the bottom of the frame thanks to Kyle Seager's two-out, two-strike bases-loaded round-tripper. The third baseman's homer, the first game-tying, extra-inning grand slam in major league history, isn't enough when Chicago beats Seattle, 7-5, in the 16-inning Safeco Field contest that takes 5 hours 42 minutes to complete.

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2015 Pat Venditte becomes the first full-time switch-pitcher in the modern era when he tosses two scoreless frames in Oakland's 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A's ambidextrous reliever faces the minimum six batters in his two innings, allowing a single to Hanley Ramirez before getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh, and then proceeds to pitch a perfect eighth.

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2015 In the team's five-run 10th inning, The Biloxi Shuckers bat around, ending their season-long, 54-game road trip with a 6-2 victory over the Barons at Birmingham's Regions Field. The Brewers' Double-A affiliate, who moved from Huntsville to the Mississippi city in the offseason, had to play the first two months on the road because MGM Park, their new home, wasn't completed at the start of the season.

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2021 The Giants, with the unprecedented full support of the players, become the first team to fully embrace the LGBTQ+ community, showing their support by wearing Pride-themed uniforms and caps in their 4-3 victory over the Nationals at Oracle Park. The rainbow-hued logo worn on San Francisco's caps and jersey sleeves includes 11 colors representing BIPOC and trans members of the LGBTQ+ community.
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BIRTHDAYS
1907 Bill Dickey, Baseball HOF catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; 7 × World Series; NY Yankees) and manager (NY Yankees), born in Bastrop, Louisiana (d. 1993)


1965 Sally McDermid, Australian softball outfielder (Olympic bronze 1996)


1972 Jeff Williams pitcher (Olympics 1996)


1980 Matt Belisle player


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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1892 At Washington, D.C.'s Boundary Field, Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. president to attend a major league baseball game. The Commander in Chief watches Cincinnati defeat the Senators, presently the last-place team in the National League, 7-4 in 11 innings.

1913 The Yankees lose their thirteenth game without a victory when the Indians defeat the team at the the Polo Grounds, 2-1. The 9-34 club's futility, which sets a franchise record, includes a 3-3 tie to Boston during the 14-game span.

1920 The Cardinals play their last game at Robison Field (renamed Cardinal Field in 1917), their home field since 1893, beating the Cubs, 5-2. Owner Sam Breadon agrees to a ten-year lease for $20,000 annually, allowing the team to share the Browns' Sportsman's Park, and the sale of the ballpark providing funds for Branch Rickey's idea of establishing a farm system, starting with an affiliation of a minor league team in Houston.

1925 At Griffith Stadium, future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins hits a double to become the sixth major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. The 38-year-old White Sox infielder strokes the historic two-bagger off Washington's Walter Johnson, also a future inductee in Cooperstown.

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1934 Myril Hoag becomes the first Yankee in franchise history to collect six hits in one game, a major league record of six singles. The 26-year-old outfielder's 6-for-6 performance helps the Bronx Bombers rout Boston at Fenway Park, 15-3.

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1939 Carl Stolz's dream of providing a wholesome baseball experience for local boys as a means of teaching the concepts of sportsmanship, fair play, and teamwork becomes a reality when the first Little League game occurs when Lundy Lumber defeating Lycoming Dairy in Williamsport, PA, 23-8. Allen "Sonny" Yearick, a participant in the inaugural contest, will be the first graduate of the fledgling youth league to play professional ball, becoming a farmhand in the Boston Braves organization in 1948.

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1939 In a 17-3 win over the Reds at the Polo Grounds, the Giants become the first team to hit five home runs in one inning. Harry Danning, Frank Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo, and Joe Moore all go deep with two outs in the fourth inning.

 

1940 Warren Spahn, who will become the winningest left-hander in baseball history with 363 victories, signs a contract with the Boston Bees (Braves). Due to a clash with manager Casey Stengel and his enlistment in the U.S. Army, the 19-year-old southpaw will have to wait six years before he gets his first major league win.

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1941 The Giants join the Dodgers and Senators to have their players wear protective headgear. The sewn-in durable plastic liners do not provide a defense against a pair of defeats when the team drops both ends of a doubleheader to Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, 5-4 and 4-3.

1944 Baseball cancels today's scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy known as D-Day. The military operation has 60,000 Allied troops, including six minor leaguers who will be killed in action, landing along a heavily protected 50-mile stretch of the coastline in France to fight Germany to begin an offensive assault against Hitler and the Nazi party.

1948 Having accomplished the feat on Opening Day, the Red Sox become the first team to hit three consecutive homers in one inning twice in one season. Stan Spence, Vern Stephens, and Ted Williams all go deep off Fred Hutchinson in the sixth inning of the team's 12-4 rout of Detroit at Fenway Park.

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1957 After an 86-minute delay, the first fog out in major league history occurs at Ebbets Field when the umpires call off the Dodgers' game against the Cubs due to extremely poor visibility. The postponement occurs with Brooklyn having a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second inning.

1958 Ozzie Virgil becomes the first black player to appear in a Tigers' uniform. The 26-year-old versatile Dominican will eventually play every position but pitcher during his nine-year major league career.

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1961 Amid a 13-game losing streak, Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto receives a seven-game 'vacation.' At first, team owner Calvin Griffith insists he has no intention of firing his skipper but will replace him with Sam Mele later in the month.

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1965 Tom Tresh hits three consecutive home runs when the Yankees blast the visiting White Sox, 12-0. The outfielder's first inning round-tripper is off starter Juan Pizarro, which he follows up with third and fifth frame homers off reliever Bruce Howard.

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1968 The day after the assassination of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, Maury Wills refuses to play in a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers, his former team. The 35-year-old Pirate shortstop stays in the Chavez Ravine training room, reading RFK's book,To Seek a New World.

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1971 All youngsters attending the Yankee game are given a youth-sized Bobby Murcer model wooden Hillerich & Bradsby Louisville Slugger during the team's annual Bat Day promotion. The banging of the bats in unison by young fans during the late innings of the Bronx Bombers' 5-2 victory over Kansas City, pieces of concrete start to fall into lower levels of the stadium, a harbinger that the Bronx ballpark may be in pressing need of repair.

1978 The Braves select Bob Horner as their first overall pick in the June draft and promptly promote him to the parent club. The Arizona State corner infielder was the first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given annually by USA Baseball to the best amateur baseball player.

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1986 Padres' manager Steve Boros, before the game against Atlanta, tries to give Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed play from last night's 4-2 defeat. The ump promptly ejected the San Diego skipper before the first pitch of today's contest at Jack Murphy Stadium.

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1990 Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as Yankee manager. During his two-year tenure in the dugout, the former minor league skipper will compile a 120-155 (.436) record before being fired at the end of next season in favor of Buck Showalter.

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1991 At Royals Stadium, Ranger left fielder Kevin Reimer ties a club record when he collects five hits, all singles, in the team’s 4-3 loss in eighteen innings to Kansas City. In 1993, the 29-year-old Macon, Georgia native, as the DH, will become just the second Brewer to go 6-for-6 in a game.

1992 Eddie Murray sets a new RBI record for switch hitters, driving in the 1,510th run of his career with a first-inning sac fly in the Mets' 15-1 rout of Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium. The New York first baseman surpasses Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle's 18-year total to establish the new mark.

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1993 Cal Ripken suffers a twisted right knee when he catches his spikes in the infield grass during the Birds' 5-2 victory over Seattle at Camden Yards. The resulting swollen knee almost ends the Orioles'Orioles's shortstop historic streak at Game 1,790, 341 contests shy of Lou Gehrig's remarkable accomplishment.

1994 Mike Piazza hits the longest home run recorded in the history of Joe Robbie Stadium when his first career grand slam is estimated to travel 477 feet. The catcher's Ruthian blast, one of four Dodger round-trippers during the Florida contest, isn't enough to thwart the Marlins' 11-10 come-from-behind victory.

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1996 John Valentin becomes the 14th player in Red Sox history to hit for the cycle, collecting a two-run homer in the first inning, a triple in the third, a single in the fourth, and a double in the sixth. The Boston shortstop's ten total bases, three runs, and two RBIs contribute to Boston's 7-4 victory over Chicago at Fenway Park.

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1997 Sandy Alomar ties the major league record when he hits four doubles in the Fenway Park contest. The Indians catcher's quartet of two-baggers helps the first-place Tribe to beat Boston, 7-3.

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1999 Derek Jeter's streak of safely reaching base ends at 54 straight games when the Mets keep him off the basepaths in their 7-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. The defeat also marks the end of Roger Clemens' streak of 20 consecutive victories, an American League record.

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2000 Thanks to the Angels' video crew playing a clip from the 1994 movie "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" on the JumboTron, the Rally Monkey is born. With the words "Rally Monkey" superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild when Anaheim scores two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Giants, 6-5.

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2002 The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission agrees to drop its lawsuit against the Twins and Major League Baseball. The deal settles pending legal action blocking baseball's contraction plan and removes the Twins from consideration for elimination for the 2003 season.

2003 Major League Baseball suspends Sammy Sosa for eight games, ignoring the Cubs' slugger insistence the corked bat was used accidentally in the Devil Rays' game. Bob Watson, baseball's vice president of on-field operations, agreed the Chicago's outfielder use of an illegal bat, designed to put on home run displays during batting practice, was an "isolated incident," but one that still deserved a penalty.

2006 When Eric Gagne, who will earn his first save in over a year, throws his first pitch to his receiver Russell Martin, the pair become the first All-French-Canadian battery in major league history. The pitcher and catcher each attended Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit High School, one of the few schools in Montreal which had a baseball program.

2006 On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the century, the Dodgers score six runs in the sixth inning during the sixth game of the homestand, beating the Mets, 8-5. On 05/05/05, the Twins scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Indians.

2006 Jason Schmidt, whiffing 16 Marlins during a 2-1 complete-game victory, ties a franchise record for strikeouts in one game, established in 1904 by Christy Mathewson. Also, the 33-year-old right-hander surpasses the San Francisco record of 15 K's set by Gaylord Perry in 1966.

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2007 At Petco Park, Trevor Hoffman becomes the first reliever to save 500 games. The all-time saves leader tosses only ten ninth-inning pitches, including an 87 mph fastball thrown past Russell Martin for the final out, to reach the milestone in the Padres' 5-3 victory over the Dodgers.

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