BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

2008 Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski announces the club is optioning their off-season blockbuster acquisition Dontrelle Willis to their Class A minor league team in Lakeland of the Florida State League. The 2003 Rookie of the Year, who posted a 22-10 record two years later with the Marlins, recently signed a three-year, $29 million deal to play with Detroit.

2008 The Kimberly-Clark Corporation donates 59.59 acres to the city of Hendersonville, a parcel of land that includes the historic Berkeley Mills ballpark. In 2015, the North Carolina city will make an effort to place the storied stadium, once the former home the Berkeley Spinners, a semi-pro mill team sponsored by Berkeley Mills from 1948 to 1961, on the National Register of Historic Places.


2008 At Turner Field, Brad Lidge gets his 16th consecutive save when Gregor Blanco is thrown out at home plate, dramatically ending the game and preserving a Phillies 4-3 victory over the Braves. The Philadelphia closer's flawless record from the start of the season breaks Al Holland's club mark, who converted his first 15 opportunities in 1984.

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2010 The Nationals announce the team is donating the hat Stephen Strasburg wore in his major league debut to the Hall of Fame. The 21-year-old rookie right-hander struck out 14 batters in Washington's 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh.

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2013 With John Sebastian's song "Welcome Back" playing in the background, the Seattle fans give Ichiro Suzuki a warm reception when the longtime Mariner legend returns to Safeco Field as a Yankee. The 39-year-old outfielder, who hit .322 during his 12 seasons with the team, was traded to the Bronx last July for Danny Farquhar and D.J. Mitchell.

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2015 In the inaugural contest played in MGM Park, the Biloxi Shuckers, coming off a season-long, 54-game road trip, beat the Mobile BayBears, 5-4, in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,065 enthusiastic fans. The Opening Night dramatic 14-inning walk-off Southern League victory marks the first time since 1908, when the Sand Crabs played in the Cotton States League, that a minor league team at home has represented the city.

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2017 Scooter Gennett, who was claimed off of waivers by the Reds at the end of spring training, becomes 17th player in major league history, and the first in the franchise's 135 years of existence to hit four homers in a game. The Cincinnati second baseman establishes a franchise record with 17 total bases with his quartet of round-trippers in consecutive at-bats, contributing 10 RBIs to the club's 13-1 victory over the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.

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BIRTHDAYS
1933 Herb Score pitcher (MLB All-Star 1955, 56; Cleveland Indians) and announcer (Cleveland Indians 1964-97), born in Rosedale, New York (d. 2008)


1947 Thurman Munson catcher (MLB All-Star 1971, 73–78; World Series 1977, 78; AL MVP 1976; NY Yankees), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1979)


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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1892 Jack Doyle becomes the first player to collect a pinch-hit when he singles, coming off the bench to bat for Cleveland hurler George Davies in the Spiders' 2-1 loss to the Grooms at Brooklyn's Eastern Park. The 22-year-old utilityman will finish his 17-year career going 3-for-5 (.600) as a pinch-hitter.

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1906 Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity give up 11 first-inning runs, allowing the Cubs to rout the Giants, 19-0. Matty, who is probably still suffering the effects of diphtheria contracted in the spring, retires only one batter while issuing six bases-on-balls in the West Side Grounds contest.

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1911 After a two-year absence, having little success as a performer in vaudeville and the movies, Turkey Mike Donlin returns to the Giants. The disagreeable outfielder, traded to Boston after just a dozen games with New York, will compile a .316 average during his comeback season.

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1921 The cancellation of the scheduled Class D Appalachian League game against the Knoxville Pioneers becomes necessary after discovering a girl's body at the Base Ball Grounds in Tennessee, the home of the Kingsport Indians. The police do not want the bloodhounds getting confused during the investigation of the foul play at the ballpark.

1931 The A's trounced the Tigers, 12-2, in their one-day road trip to Detroit made necessary by the Sunday prohibition of baseball in Philadelphia, The 'Mackmen' strand 18 baserunners during the Navin Field contest.

1936 The Bronx Bombers beat Oral Hildebrand and the Indians in a 16-inning game, 5-4. Both hurlers go the distance, with New York starter Red Ruffing facing 63 batters without recording a strikeout.

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1938 In a game against the Red Sox, Indians' pitcher Johnny Allen storms off the mound and doesn't return when ump Bill McGowan orders him to cut off his distracting dangling sweatshirt sleeve. The shirt winds up in the Hall of Fame, but the Lenoir (NC) native, doesn't.

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1944 Tiger southpaw Hal Newhouser walks nine in six innings, contributing to the 3-1 loss to the White Sox at Comiskey Park. 'Prince Hal,' a future Hall of Famer, will average nearly 4.5 bases-on-balls per nine innings during the season.

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1950 The Red Sox compile 42 total bases in their 20-4 bashing of the Browns. The Fenway fireworks will continue tomorrow when Boston adds insult to injury, beating St. Louis, 29-4.

1954 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella steals home in the top of the 12th inning in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis at Sportsman's Park. Campy had added an insurance run with an eighth-inning round-tripper, but the Redbirds scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score.

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1957 Howard University awards honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recently retired Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson. In the coming years, the former baseball great and the Baptist minister will often appear together at Civil Rights rallies, fundraising events, and demonstrations.

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1960 In the Cardinals' 9-1 loss to Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, Bob Gibson ties a major league record when he strikes out four batters in one inning, the additional whiff coming from a wild pitch. The fourth-inning strikeout victims include Jerry Lynch, Jim Pagliaroni, Bill Mazeroski, and Don Cardwell.

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1966 The A's select future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the first round (2nd pick) of the amateur draft. The Mets, with the first overall pick, choose Steve Chilcott, a high school catcher who will never play a day in the major league.

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1967 The Reds play their major-league record 11th consecutive one-run game, losing to San Francisco at Crosley Field, 4-3. Cincinnati's 19-year-old fireballer Gary Nolan, en route to striking out 15, including fanning Willie Mays four times, takes the loss after Willie McCovey blasts a three-run eighth-inning round-tripper, with reliever Bob Lee allowing the decisive run to score in the frame.

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1969 The Expos lose their twentieth consecutive game, dropping a 9-5 decision to the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. Montreal's streak of futility falls three defeats shy of the modern major league record established by the Phillies, who lost 23 straight contests in 1961.

1969 Washington's D.C. Stadium is officially renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium during a memorial service at the ballpark for the slain U.S. senator. In attendance for the ceremony are former NFLer Roosevelt Grier and Olympian Rafer Johnson, who each helped to apprehend RFK's assassin, Sirhan B. Sirhan, at the Ambassador Hotel.

 

1970 Vic Davalillo gets two hits during the seventh inning of the Cardinals' 10-7 comeback victory over San Diego at Busch Stadium. The first of the Venezuelan outfielder's two singles comes when he leads off the frame as a pinch-hitter for Bob Gibson.

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1972 In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Pirates edge the Padres in 18 innings at Jack Murphy Stadium, 1-0. The winning run crosses the plate due to Gene Alley forcing in a run with a base-on-balls, following Bill Mazeroski receiving an intentional walk to load the bases.

1975 Royals' scout Rosey Gilhousen signs University of La Verne standout Dan Quisenberry as an undrafted free agent. During his ten-year tenure with Kansas City, the right-handed reliever saves 238 games, leading the American League for five seasons.

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1982 Joining Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Billy Williams, and Joe Sewell, Dodger infielder Steve Garvey becomes the fifth player in major league history to play in 1,000 consecutive games. The first baseman will appear in 1,207 straight games, establishing a National League record, before the streak ends next season when he breaks his thumb in a collision at home plate, playing for the Padres.

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1983 Steve Carlton of the Phillies strikes out Cardinals' outfielder Lonnie Smith for his 3,522nd career strikeout to pass Nolan Ryan as the all-time strikeout leader. On the same night, Ryan strikes out three San Francisco batters to finish one shy of Lefty's total but will finish his career with 5,714, far ahead of the Philadelphia left-hander's mark of 4,136.

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1986 Amos Otis, who was named the team's Player of the Year three times during his 14 seasons with Kansas City, and Steve Busby, who averaged more than 18 wins a season before a rotator cuff injury shorten his career, are honored at Kauffman Stadium. During the pregame ceremony, the pair is inducted into the newly created Royals Hall of Fame, becoming the first players to be so honored by the team.

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1989 For the first time in major league history, the same game is played partly outdoors and partly indoors when the Blue Jays beat the Brewers, 4-2, in a contest that features the closing of the SkyDome's retractable roof in the fifth inning due to inclement weather.

 

1992 On his 26th birthday, Trevor Wilson finishes his complete-game gem by striking out the side in ninth on nine pitches in the Giants' 3-0 victory over the Astros at Candlestick Park. The San Francisco southpaw accomplishes his immaculate inning by fanning Jeff Bagwell (swinging), Eric Anthony (swinging), and Rafael Ramirez (swinging), with the third out being recorded with the catcher throwing the dropped third strike to first base to end the game.

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1998 Dave Burba becomes the first Indians' pitcher to homer in 26 years when he goes deep in a 6-1 interleague victory over the Reds at Cinergy Field. Ironically, the right-hander was scheduled to be the Opening Day pitcher for Cincinnati but was traded to Cleveland for Sean Casey the day before the season started.

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1998 After going 6-0 against Atlanta and Florida, the Cubs complete their third consecutive three-game sweep by beating the White Sox, 13-7. The last time Chicago put together a similar streak occurred in 1918.

 

2001 The Crespos both hit home runs, making it the 28th time in major league history brothers have gone deep in the same game. In the seventh inning for the Padres, Cesar homers, and his younger sibling, Felipe, blasts round-trippers in the second and the sixth for the Giants in San Diego's 10-7 victory at Pacific Bell Park.

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2006 The Rockies, who recorded just ten sacrifice flies during their first 58 games, tie a major league with five sac flies during the 16-9 Coors Field victory over Pittsburgh. The Mariners established the mark against Oakland in 1988.

2007 With the Yankees' 10-3 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, Joe Torre wins his 2,000th game as a manager. The former Braves (257), Mets (286), and Cardinals (351) skipper becomes the first person in big-league history to have reached the milestone and also have at least 2,000 hits as a player.

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2007 With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Network Associates Coliseum, Shannon Stewart lines a single to right field to break up Curt Schilling's no-hitter. Thanks to a first-inning home run by David Ortiz, the Red Sox beat the A's, 1-0.

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2008 Johnny Damon goes 6-for-6, including a walk-off single, which gives New York a wild 12-11 comeback victory over the Royals. The outfielder becomes the first Bronx Bomber and only the second player to collect six hits at Yankee Stadium.

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2012 Starlin Castro becomes the 28th player to collect 500 hits before the age of 23 when he singles off A.J. Burnett with two outs in the fifth inning in the Cubs' 12-2 victory over the Bucs at PNC Park. The 22-year, 167-day old Chicago shortstop reaches the milestone in his 421st major league game.

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2014 As part of Wrigley Field's 100th anniversary, the Cubs honor 97-year-old Lennie Merullo, who receives a rousing ovation when he tosses the ceremonial first pitch prior to the team's 5-2 victory over the Marlins. The former infielder, who went 0-for-2 when he played in three games for Chicago in the 1945 Fall Classic, is the last living person to play in a World Series game for the franchise.

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