BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1991 Ivan Rodriguez becomes the youngest person to catch a major league game when he bats ninth in the Rangers' 7-3 victory over White Sox. The 19-year-old backstop, called Pudge by his teammates, nails two would-be base stealers and goes 1-for-4 with a two-run single in the ninth inning of the Comiskey Park contest.

​

1992 Kelly Saunders fills in for Baltimore's Rex Barney, becoming the second woman to be a public address announcer at a major league game. In 1966, Joy Hawkins McCabe, the Senators' public-relations director's daughter, became the first female PA announcer, doing one contest for Washington at DC Stadium against the White Sox.

1994 Detroit's 25 consecutive games with a home run end when they drop a 7-1 decision to the Indians at Tiger Stadium. The span tied the major league record set by the 1941 New York Yankee squad, powered by Bronx Bombers Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, and Joe DiMaggio.

1995 At Jacobs Field, the Indians reach the million mark in attendance on the earliest date in franchise history when 40,516 fans watch their pennant-bound team rout the Red Sox, 9-2, behind the solid performance of starter Chad Ogea. The 100-44 club will finish second in attendance in the American League, trailing only the Orioles, who draw over three million patrons at Camden Yards in the strike-shortened season.

​

1996 The Devil Rays get their first win in the organization's history when the Gulf Coast League affiliate beats the GCL Astros. Jose Rodriguez, an 18-year-old right-hander from Cotui in the Dominican Republic, gets the victory.

1997 Aaron Boone, respectively the son and grandson of former major leaguers Bob and Ray, is called up from the Reds' minor leagues. To make room on the roster, Cincinnati demotes his brother, Bret.

1998 At Wrigley Field, Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa hits two home runs for the second straight day, setting a major league mark with 16 round-trippers in June. The 29-year-old Chicago slugger will extend the record when he goes deep for his 20th on the last day of the month.

​

1999 A rusty Troy Percival, who hasn't pitched in a week, establishes a franchise record with his 127th save for the Angels when he finishes the team's 4-2 victory in New York. The right-handed closer's less-than-stellar outing, allowing four batters to reach base and giving up a run, surpasses the team mark established by Bryan Harvey in 1992.

​

 

2001 Hitting his 38th homer of the season, Barry Bonds breaks the major league mark established by Reggie Jackson (1969) and Mark McGwire (1998) for home runs hit before the All-Star Game. However, the Giants' left fielder still has 17 games to add to the record.

​

2002 Luis Castillo extends his hitting streak to 34 games, breaking the 1922 record established by Rogers Hornsby for the longest hitting streak by a second baseman. The Dominican infielder's accomplishment, the 14th longest in major league history, also ties Benito Santiago's record set in 1987 for the longest established by a Latin player.

​

2002 A four-and-a-half-hour closed-casket public viewing takes place at Busch Stadium for Jack Buck, the 77-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster who died from complications following lung surgery. In memory of the KMOX legend, fans leave cards, stuffed animals, photographs, and other memorabilia outside the stadium at the foot of the bronze statue depicting him at the microphone.

​

2003 Miguel Cabrera's first major league hit is a two-run walk-off homer in the eleventh inning of a 3-1 Marlin victory over the Devil Rays at Dolphin Stadium. The Marlins had signed the skinny 20-year-old outfielder from Maracay, Venezuela as an amateur free agent in 1999.

​

2004 On Father's Day with his dad in attendance, 34-year-old Ken Griffey, Jr. blasts a sixth-inning Matt Morris fastball over the right-field wall at Busch Stadium for his 500th career home run. The Reds' center fielder becomes the twentieth major leaguer and the sixth youngest to reach the milestone.

​

2006 The Rockies' starter Jason Jennings and relievers Tom Martin and Brian Fuentes combine to produce the first one-hitter in franchise history. The 6-0 victory against Oakland marks the third time a Coors Field contest yields one hit or less.

 

2007 Connecting on a fifth-inning hanging breaking ball thrown by Cubs' hurler Jason Marquis, Sammy Sosa becomes the fifth major league player to hit 600 career home runs. The Rangers' designated hitter, who missed the entire season last year, joins Hank Aaron (755), Barry Bonds (748), Babe Ruth (714), and Willie Mays (660) in reaching the milestone.

​

2008 John Gibbons becomes the third manager fired in the past four days as the last-place Blue Jays fire their skipper. Cito Gaston, who piloted Toronto to a pair of world championships in 1992 and 1993, has been brought back to lead the team.

2008 In recognition of their significant contributions to the community, the Dodgers become the first sports franchise to be honored by the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The team's Award of Excellence star takes its place on the Walk of Fame, which includes a constellation of celebrities, real and fictional, who have had a significant impact on the entertainment industry.

2009 Two major league games end on walk-off wild pitches in extra innings on the same day. Jason Jennings' errant throw allows Nate Schierholtz to score the winning run for the Giants with two outs in the 11th inning to beat Texas, 2-1, and Andres Blanco comes home on Kerry Wood's miscue, giving the Cubs a 6-5 victory over the Indians in 13 innings.

2009 With their parents in attendance wearing opposing jerseys, Jeff Weaver beats his kid brother Jered when the visiting Dodgers best the Halos, 6-5, at Angel Stadium. The Northridge, California natives become the eighth set of siblings in major league history to start against one another.

2009 A.J. Burnett strikes out the side on nine pitches in the third inning in the Yankees' 2-1 loss to Florida. Josh Johnson, Chris Coghlan, and Emilio Bonifacio all strike out swinging in the Land Shark Stadium contest.

​

2011 The Marlins announce Jack McKeon will be the team's interim manager, replacing Edwin Rodriguez, who resigned yesterday. The 80-year-old skipper, the second-oldest in major league history, is taking over the floundering Fish club that has lost ten consecutive games and 18 of its last 19 after starting the season by winning 30 of its first 50 contests.

2013 Reds' third baseman Todd Frazier, a New Jersey native, has 'Woke Up This Morning,' the "Sopranos" theme song, played when he steps up to the plate against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. With the selection of the iconic tune from the HBO series, the Cincinnati infielder pays tribute to James Gandolfini, the actor best known for his role as Garden State mob boss Tony Soprano, who passed away yesterday at the age of 51.

2015 One strike away from a perfect game, Max Scherzer's bid for immortality is spoiled when he hits Jose Tabata with a pitch, a slider off the elbow that many believed the Pittsburgh outfielder purposely leaned into to get on base. The 30-year-old right-hander records the final out on the next batter to complete his first-ever no-hitter, allowing just one hit in two consecutive starts after tossing a 16-strikeout, one-hit complete game against Milwaukee in his last outing.

​

**********
87,468

 

​

 

​

 

​

 

​

 

​

 

​

 

6/21
BIRTHDAYS
1866 Matt Kilroy pitcher (MLB single-season record 513 strikeouts 1886; MLB no-hitter 1886; Baltimore Orioles), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1940)


1918 Eddie Lopat (NY Yankees), born in NYC, New York (d. 1992)


1953 Charlie Moore Jr. player, born in Birmingham, Alabama

1956 Rick Sutcliffe pitcher (LA Dodgers, Chicago Cubs), born in Independence, Missouri


1963 Jeff Musselman player, born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania


1967 Michele Smith, Califon NJ, softball pitcher (Olympic gold 1996)


1969 Donovan Osborne pitcher (St Louis Cardinals), born in Roseville, California


1980 Sendy Rleal


*********

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1900 Citing the Superbas' poor attendance at Brooklyn's Washington Park, National League president Ned Young discusses the possibility of transferring the franchise to the District of Columbia. En route to their second consecutive title, the reigning NL champions are averaging only a thousand fans on non-holiday dates.

1916 Red Sox right-hander Rube Foster, throwing a perfect game until issuing a walk in the seventh inning, tosses a 2-0 no-hitter against the Highlanders. The no-no is the first-ever thrown in Fenway Park, the team's home since 1912.

​

1921 At the Polo Grounds, Dave Bancroft hits for the cycle when he singles in the first, triples in the third, homers in the fifth, and doubles in the sixth in the Giants' 8-3 victory over the Phillies. According to a news report of the contest, the 30-year-old New York shortstop faints returning to the bench after running around the bases for his inside-the-park home run but returned to the field to complete the rare event in the next frame.

​

1941 In New York's 7-2 loss to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, Phil Rizzuto's seventh-inning round-tripper extends the team's consecutive-game home run streak to 17. The historic homer, which ties the major league record established by Detroit, is only the light-hitting shortstop's second career home run.

​

1941 Lefty Grove's Fenway consecutive win streak, which started on May 3, 1938, ends at 20 games with a 13-9 loss to the St. Louis Browns. The future Hall of Fame southpaw, facing just 13 batters, allows six runs, yielding five hits and walking 3 in 1.2 innings of work.

​

1947 Jack Chesbro's induction into the Hall of Fame makes him the only player enshrined in Cooperstown who played professional baseball for a team located in the upstate New York village on the shores of Otsego Lake. The right-hander, who established the modern-era record (post-1901) for most victories in a season with 41 while pitching for the 1904 Highlanders, played for the Cooperstown Athletics after the Roanoke Magicians of the Virginia State League disbanded during the 1896 season. Before Jack Chesbro's achievement, more than 20 major league pitchers won 41 games or more in a season, including Hoss Radbourn, who won 60 (59?) games in 1884 and 48 in 1883.

Chesbro & Old Hoss
​

 

1951 Donald L. Barnes, at the request of Browns' owners William and Charles Dewitt, announces the sale of the controlling interest of the club to Bill Veeck, former owner of the Indians. The transaction arrangement ensures the new owner will keep the team in St. Louis, debunking the rumors of the franchise's shift to Milwaukee.

1952 National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues president George Trautman bans the signing of women, preventing 24-year-old softball shortstop standout Eleanor Engle from playing with the Harrisburg Senators. Commissioner Ford Frick will go one step further by formally prohibiting females from professional baseball, using the ruling to prevent teams from using women players as a publicity stunt.

​

1956 Orioles hurlers Connie Johnson and George Zuverink combine to one-hit the White Sox at Comiskey Park. Unfortunately, the one hit is a run-scoring double in the first frame of the team's 1-0 loss to Chicago's southpaw Jack Harshman, who also tosses a one-hitter gem in the two-hour and 12-minute contest.

Connie Johnson and George Zuverink

​

1957 In his first major league start, bonus baby Von McDaniel, a recent graduate of Oklahoma's Hollis High School, two-hits the Dodgers at Busch Stadium, 2-0. The 18-year-old keeps Brooklyn hitless until Jim Gilliam's soft line drive spins out second baseman Don Blasingame's glove, and Hal Smith's failure handling sacrifice gives the visitors two tainted infield safeties in the sixth inning.

​

1957 Going the distance in the Senators' 6-3 victory over Cleveland, Chuck Stobbs wins his first game since throwing a shutout against Baltimore last September. The 27-year-old right-hander snaps a personal 16-game losing streak, which includes dropping his first 11 decisions this year.

​

1959 Stan Musial, in the Cardinals' 5-1 victory over the Bucs at Busch Stadium, collects a pair of two-baggers, the first which breaks Honus Wagner's National League record of 651 career doubles. The southpaw-swinging Stan the Man moves to third on the all-time major league list for two-base hits, trailing only American Leaguers Tris Speaker (793) and Ty Cobb (724).

​

 

1960 Richie Ashburn plays his first game in Philadelphia since being traded to the Cubs in the offseason. 'Whitey,' a fan favorite during his dozen years with the Phillies, strikes out looking to start his 1-for-6 day in an extra-inning loss at Shibe Park.

​

1964 Despite the four errors made by the Phillies, Rick Wise wins the first of his 188 major league victories when Philadelphia beats the Mets at Shea Stadium in the nightcap of a twin bill, 8-2. However, the 18-year-old rookie right-hander's accomplishment receives little fanfare when his effort follows Jim Bunning's perfect game in the opener.

​

1964 On an unseasonably warm Father's Day, Phillies' hurler Jim Bunning becomes the first modern pitcher to toss a no-hitter in both leagues when he throws a perfect game to beat the Mets, 6-0. Gus Triandos also becomes the first catcher to handle a no-hitter in each circuit.

​

1967 In retaliation for Joe Foy getting struck in the helmet in the top of the frame, Red Sox starter Jim Lonborg promptly plunks opposing pitcher Thad Tillotson in the back, igniting a bench-clearing brawl in the second inning of the Yankees' 8-1 loss to Boston at the Stadium. The five-minute melee results in no ejections but doesn't quite settle the matter when Reggie Smith is brushed back in the third, and Dick Howser leaves the game in the fifth after being hit in the head with a pitch.

 

1970 At Cleveland Stadium, Cesar Gutierrez goes 7-for-7, including six singles and a double, in Detroit's 9-8 victory over the Indians in 12 innings. The 27-year-old Venezuelan shortstop will finish his brief four-year major league career with a .235 lifetime batting average.

​

1976 Ranger right-hander Bert Blyleven one-hits the A's, giving up only a fifth-inning single to Ken McMullen in his 1-0 gem at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The 25-year-old starter, obtained from the Twins on June 1, will toss another one-hit 1-0 victory for Texas in five days when he beats the White Sox in ten innings.

​

1978 On the first pitch in his first at-bat, Dave Machemer hits his only major league home run. The rookie second baseman, batting leadoff for the visiting Angels, starts the Halos' eventual 5-2 victory over Minnesota with a long fly over the left-field wall at Metropolitan Stadium.

1986 Bo Jackson, the collegiate football standout who will eventually spend four seasons with the Oakland Raiders, signs a three-year contract worth just over $1 million with the World Champion Royals, the team that drafted him in the fourth round, 105th overall. The Auburn running back had been selected first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Heisman Trophy recipient turned down the Buccaneers' more lucrative offer when the team refused his choice to play two sports.

1987 On Father's Day, for the second consecutive game, a bench-clearing brawl occurs between the Reds and Braves in Atlanta due to a batter hit by a pitch. Tracy Jones, struck by a ball thrown by Jim Acker, ignites the fight when he belatedly charges the mound when the reliever comes within 25 feet of home plate.

1988 At Tiger Stadium, Detroit scores six times in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat a stunned Yankees team, 7-6. Allen Trammell ends the game dramatically, hitting a two-out walk-off grand slam off Cecilio Guante.

​

1989 At Yankee Stadium, Carlton Fisk surpasses Yogi Berra as the American League leader for career home runs by a catcher when he goes deep down the left-field line off Andy Hawkins, leading off the second inning. The 41-year-old White Sox future Hall of Fame backstop's 307th homer helps beat the Yankees, 7-3.

​

 

1998 On Father's Day, the New York Times publishes Michael Bouton's open letter to the Yankees, asking the franchise to reconsider its long-time snub of his dad, Jim, the team's former 21-game winner and controversial author of Ball Four. Thanks to his son's efforts, Jim Bouton's banishment from Yankee Stadium will end next month when the right-hander receives an invitation to return to the Bronx ballpark for the first time in nearly thirty years to participate in the team's Old-Timers' Day.

​

1998 The Dodgers, 12.5 games behind the division-leading Padres, release Bill Russell, replacing the 36-38 skipper with Glenn Hoffmann, manager of the organization's Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes. In the front office, Tommy Lasorda assumes the general manager duties of the third-place club from Fred Claire.

1999 Blue Jay Tony Fernandez becomes the Dominican-born career hits leader with his 2,178th hit to move ahead of Julio Franco. The shortstop's hit plated the winning run with two outs in the ninth in Toronto's 2-1 victory over Kansas City.

​

2000 Eric Chavez becomes the 13th A's player in the 100-year history of the franchise to hit for the cycle when he doubles (2nd), singles (4th), and triples (5th) off Mike Mussina and completes the rare event with a home run (7th) off Jose Mercedes in the team's 10-3 win over Baltimore. Oakland's 22-year-old third baseman is the seventh-youngest major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

​

2001 Returning to the major leagues after a stint with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League, Jose Canseco starts as the designated hitter for the White Sox. The former All-Star, who has hit 446 career home runs (23rd all-time), didn't get any offers after being released by the Angels in the spring.

​

 

2002 During the New York-Penn League game between the New Jersey Cardinals and the Staten Island Yankees, a fan hops a fence and goes onto the field to argue an umpire's call at first base. The 38-year-old woman, who will face disorderly person charges, is at the game with her eight-year-old daughter's Brownie troop.

2002 Luis Castillo hits safely in his 35th consecutive game, tying Fred Clarke (1895), Ty Cobb (1917), and George Sisler (1924-25) for the tenth longest streak in major league history. The Marlins' infielder's third-inning infield hit off knuckleballer Steve Sparks' glove also surpasses Benito Santiago's 1987 streak, the longest established by a Latin player.

​

2003 Tied 2-2 after nine innings at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, the Red Sox and Phillies exchange runs in the twelfth, and then when Boston tallies twice in the thirteenth, the hometown team scores three times in the bottom of the frame to win the interleague contest, 6-5. Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra goes 6-for-6 for the day, all singles.

​

2005 General manager Dan O'Brien meets face to face with Reds skipper Dave Miley (125-164) to inform the third-year manager of his decision to fire him. As a result, former Ranger manager Jerry Narron becomes the 58th manager in Reds' history.

2005 After building a 10-2 lead at Yankee Stadium, the Devil Rays lose to the Bronx Bombers 20-11, making it the second time in franchise history the team is ahead by eight or more runs and loses by nine or more tallies. With no other club in baseball history achieving this dubious distinction, the D-Rays now have accomplished the feat twice with their 1999 defeat to the Indians.

 

2005 Giving up 13 runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Devil Rays become the first team in history to yield that many tallies in one inning twice during the same season. Both times, New York was the benefactor as the visiting Tampa Bay hurlers also had a 13-run meltdown in April at Yankee Stadium.

2006 Jose Reyes becomes the ninth player in Mets history to hit for the cycle. The 23-year-old shortstop hits a leadoff homer in the first, followed by a double in the third, then a triple in the fifth, and completes the feat with an eighth-inning single in the team's 5-4 loss to the Reds at Shea Stadium.

​

2009 Tony La Russa gets his 2,500th victory as a manager when the Cardinals defeat Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, 12-5. Joining Connie Mack and John McGraw, the Redbird skipper, who also piloted the White Sox and A's, becomes only the third major league manager to reach the milestone.

​

2011 At the Ballpark in Arlington, many of the 33,533 fans in attendance at the Rangers' game against the Astros, including former President George W. Bush, wear red or blue sunglasses provided by Reliant Energy, shattering the previous Guinness World Record of 424 patrons wearing shades after dark. Mitch Moreland helps Texas see the light when he goes deep leading off the 11th inning to give the team a 5-4 walk-off victory.

 

2015 Melissa Mayeux becomes the first female to be placed on the Major League Baseball's international registration list, making her eligible to be signed by pro teams on July 2. The 16-year-old shortstop of the French U-18 junior national team campaigned successfully to abolish the country's "no-girls-allowed" rule, so she could keep competing with the boys.

​

2016 Dean Kremer becomes the first-ever Israeli to sign a contract with a Major League baseball team when he comes to terms with the Dodgers after being selected in the annual amateur draft earlier this month. The 20-year-old right-hander won Europe's Most Valuable Pitcher award in 2014 and 2015 and has hurled for Israel's national baseball team for the past three seasons.

2016 Astro backstop Erik Kratz, who tossed an ineffective inning in an 11-1 rout by the Angels in April, becomes the first modern player to catch and pitch for two teams in the same season, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in relief in the Pirates' 15-4 loss to the Giants at PNC Park. The 36-year-old journeyman backstop, obtained earlier in the month from the Halos, allows two hits, striking out Brandon Belt for the first out of the frame.

​

2019 On his first trip back to Busch Stadium, Albert Pujols receives a warm welcome from the Cardinals fans, getting standing ovations during warm-ups, a scoreboard tribute, his first three at-bats, and a curtain call upon leaving the game. During his 11-year tenure with the Redbirds before becoming a free agent seven seasons ago, the Angels' first baseman won three MVPs, a Rookie of the Year award, six Silver Sluggers, and two Gold Gloves, two World Series rings, and the 2004 NLCS MVP.

​

**********
87,766

 

​

 

​