BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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On the road Wednsday at 0 Dark :30 so below is an "Early Edition"​

 

7/26
BIRTHDAYS
1892 "Sad" Sam Jones pitcher (no-hitter 1923; World Series 1918, 23; Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees), born in Woodsfield, Ohio (d. 1966)


1922-2002 Hoyt Wilhelm HOF pitcher (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1954 NY Giants; no-hitter 1958 Baltimore Orioles; Chicago WS), born in Huntersville, North Carolina


1968 Mike Mohler pitcher (Oakland A's), born in Dayton, Ohio


1969 Greg Colbrunn infielder (Florida Marlins), born in Fontana, California

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1879 At Star Park, Harry McCormick, the Syracuse starter, hits a first-inning homer to beat Tommy Bond and the Boston Red Stockings, 1-0. The round-tripper most likely marks the only occurrence in major league history that a pitcher records a 1-0 victory, with his first-inning round-tripper being the game's lone run.

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1928 Bob Meusel hits for the cycle in the Yankees' 12-1 rout of Detroit at Navin Field. The 31-year-old New York outfielder becomes the second big leaguer to perform the feat for a third time during his career, joining John Reilly, who also accomplished the rarity three times before the turn of the century.

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1933 Future Yankees superstar Joe DiMaggio sees his 61-game hitting streak end in the PCL game against the Oakland Oaks. The San Francisco Seals' 19-year-old outfielder's accomplishment sets a new minor league record, shattering the mark of 49 established by Jack Ness in 1914.

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1935 Ed Linke starts a 1-2-6 double play when catcher Jack Redmond snags Yankees outfielder Jesse Hill's line drive that caroms off his batterymate's head and relays the ball to shortstop Red Kress to double up Ben Chapman at second base. The Senator right-hander spends two days in the hospital after being carried off the pitcher's mound on a stretcher.

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1939 New York scores in every inning, blasting the Browns at Yankee Stadium, 14-1. The home team, which doesn't need to bat in the bottom of the ninth frame, coasts to an easy victory, thanks to the three-hit gem thrown by Red Ruffing.

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1940 Spud Chandler drives in six runs with a single and two home runs, including a grand slam, in the Yankees' 10-2 victory over the White Sox. In addition to the six RBIs, the 32- year-old right-hander goes the distance, limiting Chicago to five hits in the Comiskey Park contest.

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1948 Former Dodger skipper Leo Durocher, who left the team ten days ago, makes his first appearance at Ebbets Field since taking over the Giants. The return of 'the Lip' is less-than-triumphant when his new team drops a 13-4 decision to Brooklyn.

1948 Five games under .500, the Phillies hire Eddie Sawyer to replace interim manager Dusty Cooke, who had filled the position when the team fired Ben Chapman earlier in the month. The former skipper of the Triple-A International League's Toronto Maple Leafs will get off to a poor start, posting a 23-40 won-lost record in his first year at the helm before leading the Philadelphia Whiz Kids to a National League pennant in 1950.

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1948 With the approval of his wife Claire, an ailing Bambino leaves a hospital bed to make his final public appearance, attending the New York premiere of The Babe Ruth Story at the Astor Theater. The 'Sultan of Swat,' who will die of throat cancer three weeks later, leaves halfway through the film to return to his room at New York's Memorial Hospital.

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1951 In a 9-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jim Russell becomes the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in two different games. The Dodger outfielder's accomplishment will be surpassed in 1956 when Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle goes deep right and left-handed in the same game for the third time.

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1957 Tiger right-hander Jim Bunning two-hits the Yankees in the Bronx, 3-2, but one is Mickey Mantle's 200th career home run, a ninth-inning line drive that clears the left-field wall. Each player will become a Hall of Famer at the end of their career.

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1960 The Phillies end their scoreless streak of thirty-eight consecutive innings when Johnny Callison plates Tony Gonzalez with a sixth-inning single in the team's 4-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia's drought began when the team failed to score in the last six frames of a 3-0 win against the Giants at Candlestick Park and continued being shut out in three straight games (2-0, 2-0, and 9-0) by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

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1961 Johnny Blanchard hits his fourth consecutive home run over three games, setting a major league mark. The backup catcher's pair of homers help to pace the Bronx Bombers to a 5-2 victory over Chicago at Yankee Stadium.

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1962 Braves hurler Warren Spahn, en route to a complete-game victory, homers off Mets right-hander Craig Anderson to set the National League record for round-trippers by a pitcher. The southpaw's 31st career home run helps extend New York's losing streak to 11 with a 6-1 victory at Milwaukee's County Stadium.

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1962 Red Sox pitcher Gene Conley, the losing pitcher in Red Sox 13-3 defeat to the Yankees earlier in the day, and infielder Pumpsie Green disappear after leaving the team bus stuck in traffic to use the bathroom and decide to stay in a hotel after being left behind. Green will rejoin the team tomorrow, with Conley staying AWOL for a few more days, making headlines after being denied access to the flight for Jerusalem because he doesn't have a passport.

1963 Bob Aspromonte blasts a first-inning grand slam, fulfilling visibly-impaired ten-year-old Bill Bradley's wish to see his hero hit a home run, leaving the third baseman in tears when the two embraced, acknowledging the special moment. Their well-publicized friendship began last season when the Colt .45's player went to a Houston hospital to visit the blindfolded boy, who had lost his eyesight when a tree struck by lightning fell on him.

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1975 At Wrigley Field, Bill Madlock collects six hits in a game when he singles five times and triples in the Cubs' 9-8 ten-inning loss to New York. 'Mad Dog,' finishing with a .354 average, will win the first of his four batting titles (1975, '76, '81, '83) this season.

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1984 In a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Expo first baseman Pete Rose singles for the 3,052nd time, tying him with Ty Cobb on the all-time career list. 'Charlie Hustle' will finish his 24-year major league career with 3,215 singles, accounting for 75.5% of his major-league record 4,256 hits.

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1987 After hitting a single off Oakland's Dennis Lamp in the first inning of the Brewers' 7-4 victory at County Stadium, leadoff batter Paul Molitor pilfers second and third and then swipes home plate to complete a rare stolen base cycle. The Milwaukee DH becomes the first American Leaguer to steal his way around the bases since Dave Nelson accomplished the feat with the Rangers in 1974.

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1991 Mark Gardner no-hits the Dodgers for nine innings, but Los Angeles wins the game in the bottom of the tenth on two singles off the Expos' starter and Darryl Strawberry's RBI single off reliever Jeff Fassero. It's the first time the Dodgers had been hitless at home for nine innings since Johnny Vander Meer's second straight no-hitter in 1938.

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1992 In his 319th career victory, which surpasses Phil Niekro's total for #12 on the all-time list, Nolan Ryan strikes out his 100th batter for 23 consecutive seasons, a major league record. The 45-year-old right-hander, 5-0 with an ERA of 1.65 in his last six games, gets the win when the Rangers beat Baltimore and Mike Mussina at Camden Yards, 6-2.

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1993 The Padres send southpaw Bruce Hurst and righty Greg Harris to the Rockies for backstop Brad Ausmus and right-handers Doug Bochtler and Andy Ashby (the player to be named later). After compiling a 55-37 (.598) record in the first four of his five seasons with Friars, the 35-year-old left-hander starts only two games due to his rehabilitation from arm surgery, appearing in only three games with Colorado after the trade.

1994 In the last appearance of his 25-year major league career, Marlins starter Charlie Hough lasts one-third of an inning, giving up five runs on four hits. The 46-year-old knuckleballer, the last active player born in the 1940s, does not get tagged for the loss in the team's eventual 10-8 defeat to Philadelphia, so he'll retire with a 216-216 won-loss record.

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1998 The Hall of Fame inducts Don Sutton, Larry Doby, Lee MacPhail, George Davis, and Joe Rogan. MacPhail joins his dad, Larry, also a baseball executive, becoming the first father and son enshrined at Cooperstown.

1998 In the Blue Jays' 6-3 loss to Boston at Fenway Park, Jose Canseco becomes the all-time Latin home run leader. The Toronto left fielder, hitting his 380th career homer in the eighth inning off David West, breaks the mark he shared with Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez.

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1998 Trevor Hoffman fails to set a big-league record with 42 consecutive saves when Astros outfielder Moises Alou goes deep on the first pitch thrown by the Padres closer. The ninth-inning homer ties the game, but San Diego prevails and beats Houston in the tenth, 5-4.

 

2000 The Phillies send their number one starter, Curt Schilling, to Arizona for first baseman-outfielder Travis Lee and pitchers Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla, and Nelson Figueroa. Next season, the 33-year-old right-hander will play a major role in Arizona's world championship, posting a 22-6 record while hurling a league-leading 256.2 innings for his new team.

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2002 Carl Everett becomes the first Ranger to hit two home runs in one inning. The Texas designated hitter goes deep twice in the team's nine-run seventh inning during the 12-4 rout of the visiting A's.

2005 After waiting through a two-hour and 43-minute rain delay at Wrigley Field to start the game, Greg Maddux becomes the 13th pitcher in baseball history to register 3,000 strikeouts. Taking an inside fastball in the top of the third inning, Omar Vizquel of the Giants becomes the historical victim of the 39-year-old Cubs' right-hander.

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2007 In a losing effort, Jose Mesa becomes the 11th pitcher to appear in 1000 games when Washington beats the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, 7-6. The 39-year-old right-handed reliever, best known for his seven seasons with the Indians, has played for eight teams during his 19-year tenure in the major leagues.

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2010 Allowing only a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch, Matt Garza faces the minimum 27 batters in his no-hitter against the Tigers after the runner becomes erased on a double play. With the right-hander's 5-0 victory, the Rays join the 1917 Browns and White Sox as the only teams involved in three no-hitters in the same season.

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2011 The 19-inning, six-hour, and 39-minute game between the Pirates and Braves at Turner Field ends in a 4-3 Atlanta victory when Jerry Meals makes one of the worst calls in baseball history. The home plate umpire rules that Michael McKenry missed Julio Lugo, although it was evident to everyone in the ballpark that the catcher tagged out the baserunner three feet in front of the dish.

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2012 Starling Marte becomes the 28th player in history to homer on the first pitch he sees in the major leagues when he goes yard to deep left-center field at Minute Maid Park off Houston's Dallas Keuchel. The 23-year-old left fielder is the first Pirates player to hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat since Don Leppert accomplished the feat against St. Louis in 1961.

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2012 After hitting a long fly ball down the left-field line at Citizens Bank Park, Carlos Gomez completes his home run trot around the bases. Arriving at home plate, he is made aware that the ball was called foul, and then the embarrassed Brewers center fielder promptly takes a called third strike on a pitch thrown right down the middle.

2012 Matt Harvey sets a Mets record for strikeouts in a major league debut previously shared by Tom Seaver (1967) and Bill Denehy (1967) with eight when he fans 11 batters in the team's 3-1 victory over Arizona at Chase Field. In his 5.1 innings on the mound, the 23-year-old rookie right-hander from New London (CT) gives up three hits while collecting a single and a double in the batter's box.

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2013 The Cubs trade Alfonso Soriano, along with cash, to the Yankees, in exchange for minor-leaguer Corey Black, a 21-year-old right-handed pitching prospect. The 37-year-old Dominican left fielder made his major league debut with the Bronx Bombers in 1999, developing into an All-Star second baseman, before being dealt to Texas four seasons later in a blockbuster deal that brought Alex Rodriguez to New York.

 

2020 Joining Stan Musial, Jason Giambi, and Reggie Jackson, Nelson Cruz becomes the fourth-oldest player in big-league history to record seven RBIs in a game. In the Twins' 14-2 rout of the White Sox at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field, the 40-year-old DH doubles in the first and second innings, strokes a solo homer in the fourth, and adds a three-run round-tripper in the eighth.

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2020 After every team plays three games at the start of the season, there are no undefeated teams for the first time since 1954 and no winless teams in 55 years. The unusual occurrence results from the 0-2 Mariners, Pirates, and Diamondbacks beating the 2-0 Astros, Cardinals, and Padres.

2020 The usually southpaw-swinging Ji-Man Choi bats from the right side of the plate for the second time in the game, homering off Antony Kay in the sixth inning of the Rays' 6-5 victory over the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. The Tampa Bay first baseman's 861 plate appearances before going deep as a righty marks the most before shifting to the other side among non-switch hitters since Hal Trotsky accomplished the feat, having more than a thousand PAs with the Indians in 1935.

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98,293

 

7/27
BIRTHDAYS
1880 Jack Doscher pitcher (1st son of a major leaguer to play MLB), born in Troy, New York (d. 1971)

1880 Joe Tinker HOF shortstop (World Series 1907, 08 Chicago Orphans/Cubs) and manager (Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs), born in Muscotah, Kansas (d. 1948)


1897 Biz Mackey HOF catcher (5 × East-West All-Star Game; NgL World Series 1925 Hilldale Daisies, 1946 Newark Eagles), born in Eagle Pass, Texas (d. 1965)


Leo Durocher (1906-1991) HOF shortstop (MLB All Star 1936, 38, 40; World Series 1928, 34; NY Yankees, St.Louis Cardinals), manager (World Series 1954 NY Giants) and coach (World Series 1963 LA Dodgers), born in West Springfield, Massachusetts


1946 Larry Biitner outfielder, 1970-83 (Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and 2 other teams), born in Pocahontas, Iowa (d. 2022)


1968 Tom Goodwin [Thomas Jones],r (1994-1997 KC Royals), born in Fresno, California

Alex Rodriguez 1975 shortstop (14-time All Star), born in NYC, New York


1975 Shea Hillenbrand born in Mesa, Arizona

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1918 After Harry Heitman gives up hits to four consecutive batters in his major league debut in the Robins' 22-7 loss to the Cardinals, skipper Wilbert Robinson pulls him from the Ebbets Field contest. The 21-year-old Brooklyn rookie right-hander will never hurl again in the big leagues, ending his career with an ERA of infinity.

Uncle Robbie

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1919 With a hit in his 50th straight Western League contest, Wichita Jobbers' outfielder Joe Wilhoit, en route to a 69-game streak, surpasses Jack Ness for the longest consecutive-game hitting streak in professional baseball. Ness's mark, established four years earlier playing first base for the Oakland Oaks, will remain the Pacific Coast League record until Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 61 straight for the San Francisco Seals in 1933.

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1930 Ken Ash, throwing just one pitch in relief of Larry Benton, is credited with a full inning of work when he induces Charlie Grimm to hit into a triple play in the Reds' 6-5 victory over the Cubs at Redland Field. The 28-year-old West Virginian right-hander, replaced for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the frame, gets the win due to Cincinnati taking the lead for good in that frame.

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1938 Hank Greenberg hits a pair of home runs, a feat the Tigers' first baseman will accomplish a record-setting eleven times during the season. The Detroit slugger's first and second-inning round-trippers drive in five runs, contributing to the team's 9-4 victory over the Senators at Briggs Stadium.

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1943 Without informing his current skipper, Philadelphia owner William D. Cox announces at a New York press conference that Freddie Fitzsimmons will be taking over the managerial reigns of the team, never mentioning Bucky Harris, the man he is replacing. The Phillies players considered going on strike in protest but, at the urging of their former field boss, decided to drop the plan after the owner threatened legal action.

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1946 In a 13-6 beating of the Browns, Rudy York becomes the third major leaguer, second Red Sox player, to hit two grand slams in the same game. With his Sportsman's Park performance, the Boston first baseman joins Tony Lazzeri (1936, Yankees) and Jim Tabor (1939, Red Sox) in accomplishing the feat.

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1947 Jake Jones hits a 60-foot triple in Boston's 4-3 victory over the Browns at Fenway Park. Umpire Cal Hubbard awards the Red Sox first baseman three bases when St. Louis hurler Fred Sanford, fearing the grounder might roll fair, throws his glove at the ball to keep it foul.

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1948 Al Rosen clouts his fifth consecutive homer over two days for the Kansas City Blues, the Tigers' Triple-A team in the American Association. The 24-year-old freshman, the American League MVP in 1953, will finish the minor league season batting .327, earning the circuit's Rookie of the Year honors.

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1950 Del Ennis drives in seven runs with a seventh-inning bases-loaded double and a grand slam in the next frame. The 25-year-old right fielder's late-inning power surge helps the Phillies clobber the Cubsat ShibePark
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1959 The Continental League is formally announced, with franchises in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto. The new major league is the brainchild of William Shea, an attorney who proposed the idea a year after the Giants and Dodgers left New York City to move to the West Coast.

 

1963 John Bateman's eighth-inning homer at Colt Stadium scores the only run in the Mets' 21st consecutive defeat on the road. The 1-0 complete-game decision to Houston is Roger Craig's 16th straight loss, tying Craig Anderson's dubious club record established in the franchise's inaugural season last year.

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1964 In the first clash of tenth-place teams in major league history, the Senators prevail, beating the Mets in the Hall of Fame exhibition game, 6-4. The Cooperstown combatants will collectively lose 209 games this season, but Washington will climb out of the cellar to finish ahead of Kansas City.

1964 The Hall of Fame inducts seven new members, swelling the ranks of the 25-year-old institution to 101. The recent inductees include Luke Appling, voted in by the BBWAA, and spitballers Burleigh Grimes and Urban Faber, pre-1900 era players Tim Keefe and John Montgomery, lifetime .330 hitter Heinie Manush, and skipper Miller Huggins, all selected by the 12-man Veterans' Committee in February.

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1965 League officials increase the number of foreigners allowed on each Japanese professional team from 2 to 3. However, the Yomiuri Giants announce their team will not have any foreigners on their roster, a policy which lasts ten years until the signing of Davey Johnson.

1966 Six weeks after the team plays their first game in the Peach State, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overrules a lower court decision of Wisconsin v. The Milwaukee Braves by a narrow vote of 4-3, declaring that the state doesn't have the jurisdiction to keep the team from moving to Atlanta. Due to the close vote, the state of Wisconsin decides to appeal the majority's decision to the United States Supreme Court.

1966 Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Phillies, and Jim Bunning whiffs 12 Dodgers in the first 11 innings of a pitching duel between future Hall of Famers at Chavez Ravine. With both starters out of the game, Los Angeles beats Philadelphia, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run scored in the bottom of the twelfth inning.

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1968 Denny McLain, en route to posting a 31-6 record, earns his 20th victory of the season when he blanks Baltimore at Memorial Stadium, 9-0. The Tiger right-hander is the third pitcher in history to reach the milestone this quickly, with only Rube Marquard (Giants, July 19, 1912) and Lefty Grove (A's, July 25, 1931) accomplishing the feat earlier in a season.

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1972 In his managerial debut, Cubs skipper Whitey Lockman watches Fergie Jenkins throw a one-hitter to blank the Phillies at Veterans Stadium, 4-0. Willie Montanez's fourth-inning double spoils the Canadian right-hander's bid for a no-hitter.

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1975 The Mets release Cleon Jones after suspending him nine days ago for insubordination following an altercation with manager Yogi Berra. The outfielder from Mobile (AL) will not play again this year but will briefly join the White Sox next season, playing thirteen games with the club before ending his 13-year career with a .281 batting average.


1978 Light-hitting Indians' second baseman Duane Kuiper becomes one of only three modern major leaguers to hit two bases-loaded triples in one game. The pair of three-baggers, previously accomplished by Elmer Valo (1949 A's) and Billy Bruton (1959 Braves), helps the Tribe beat the Yankees, 17-5.

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1978 Mike Cubbage completes the cycle when he connects for a two-run seventh-inning triple in the Twins' 6-3 win over the Blue Jays at Metropolitan Stadium. The rare event becomes possible when the Minnesota third baseman is thrown out (9-4-5) at third base, trying to stretch a double into a triple in his first at-bat.

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1979 On his first day back in a home uniform, eight years after leaving the Expos, Rusty Staub receives the most prolonged standing ovation in franchise history when he pinch-hits for Elias Sosa in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh. The first-place Montreal club re-acquired 'Le Grand Orange' from the Tigers to come off the bench as an experienced pinch-hitter and to fill in at first base.

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1984 Pete Rose passes Ty Cobb as the all-time single leader when he collects his 3,053rd off Steve Carlton in a 6-1 Expo victory over the Phillies. The Montreal switch-hitter, who will also pass the 'Georgia Peach' to become the all-time hit leader, ends his 24-year career with 3,215 one-base hits.

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1988 Tommy John becomes the first pitcher to commit three errors on one play when he (1) bobbles Jeffrey Leonard's grounder and then, to recover, (2) throws the ball down the right-field line that Dave Winfield retrieves and fires home, where the Yankee left-hander cuts it off, (3) relaying the throw wildly to the plate, allowing two runs to score. The 45-year-old southpaw's fourth-inning miscues don't stop him from getting the victory in the Bombers' 16-3 rout of the Brewers in the Bronx.

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1989 In the team's 10-1 rout of San Francisco, Dale Murphy becomes the 10th major leaguer to collect six RBIs in the same inning when he connects for two three-run round-trippers in the Braves' ten-run sixth at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The 33-year-old right fielder also becomes the second player in franchise history to go deep twice in the same frame, joining Robert Lowe, who accomplished the unusual feat in 1884.

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1998 Wade Boggs' eighth-inning single in the Devil Rays' 11-5 win over Oakland moves him past Babe Ruth and into 33rd place on the career hits list with 2,874. The future Hall of Fame third baseman will end his 18-year career with 3,010 hits, finishing with a .328 lifetime batting average.

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1998 Pirates' second baseman Tony Womack establishes a new major league mark by not grounding into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats. Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser previously set the record in 1946.

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1998 Sammy Sosa hits his first grand slam, establishing the mark for most career homers before hitting a grand slam (246). Tomorrow, 'Slamming Sammy' will hit another, becoming the 18th major leaguer to hit a grand slam on consecutive days.

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1998 With a three-run blast in the sixth inning, Arkansas Travelers' outfielder Tyrone Horne completes the first and only home run cycle in a professional baseball game. The minor leaguer also slugged a two-run homer in the first inning, a grand slam in the second, and a solo shot in the fifth during the 13-4 victory over San Antonio.

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2000 Jim Fregosi wins his 1,000th game as a big-league skipper when the Blue Jays beat the Mariners, 7-2. The former major league infielder, who has also managed the Angels, White Sox, and Phillies, finishes his 15-year managerial tenure with a 1028-1094 (.484) record, with one postseason appearance.

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2000 The Rockies and Red Sox complete a seven-player trade. The Red Sox receive pitchers Rolando Arrojo and Rick Croushore, infielder Mike Lansing, and an undisclosed amount of cash for second baseman Jeff Frye and pitchers Brian Rose and John Wasdin, as well as minor league pitcher Jeff Taglienti.

2005 Ryan Freel becomes the first player in the Reds' 136-year history to steal five bases in a game, including two in the ninth that moves him to third base, where he scores the eventual winning run on Felipe Lopez's sacrifice fly. The Cincinnati second baseman's thievery contributes to the team's 7-6 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.​

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