BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1982 In Game 5, the Brewers capture the American League flag, beating the Angels at County Stadium, 4-3. Milwaukee becomes the first team to overcome an 0-2 start in a best-of-a-five-game LCS, winning the remaining three games against California, all played at home.

1993 The BBWAA selects Chicago slugger Frank Thomas as the American League's Most Valuable Player. The first baseman, ranked among the top ten of the league's nine offensive categories, batted .317 with 41 home runs and knocked in 128 runs for the division-winning White Sox.

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1999 Scoring more than nineteen NFL teams, the Red Sox establish a major league record for most runs and the biggest margin of victory in a postseason game, scoring in every inning but the sixth in their 23-7 rout of the Indians. John Valentin collects seven RBIs in the Fenway Park contest as the Red Sox knot the five-game series at two games apiece.

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2000 In Game 1, the Mariners (9) and Yankees (13) combined for 22 strikeouts to set an ALCS record. Seattle wins the contest behind the solid pitching of Freddie Garcia, who rings up eight Bombers in 6.2 innings in the team's 2-0 victory in the Bronx.

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2003 The Cubs take a 2-1 game advantage in the NLCS when they beat the Marlins in extra innings at Pro Player Stadium, 5-4. The eventual winning run scores in the top of the 11th when Doug Glanville triples off Florida's Brandon Looper to plate Kenny Lofton, who had singled with one out in the frame.

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2003 Kenny Lofton sets an NLCS record and ties the ALCS mark with six hits in six consecutive at-bats. Gary Matthews (Phillies-1983), Will Clark (Giants-1989), Steve Buechele (Pirates-1991), and Javy Lopez (Braves-1996) all held the previous NL distinction with five consecutive hits, with Blue Jays' DH Paul Molitor establishing the major league standard in 1993, now shared with the Cub flychaser.

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2005 The Phillies fire Ed Wade as their general manager, although the team( 88-74) has had three straight winning seasons and missed a chance of being the wild card by only one game this season. Philadelphia has not played in the postseason for 12 consecutive years, including the last eight seasons with Wade calling the shots.

2005 Rafael Palmeiro avoids perjury charges when a Congressional subcommittee decides not to prosecute him following its investigation. The former Orioles' first baseman/DH had piqued the legislators' interest when he tested positive for steroids four months after pointing his finger at the committee during a Capitol Hill hearing, emphatically denying that he had used performance-enhancing substances.

2008 Earlier in the day, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel learns of his mother's death at a Virginia hospital. The grieving skipper, one of ten of June's children, stays with the team and directs his club to an 8-5 victory against the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park in Game 2 of the NLDS.

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2009 In Matt Holliday's first at-bat at home since his critical error allowed LA to stage an amazing comeback victory, the Cardinals' left fielder receives a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 47,296 at Busch Stadium. The former NLCS MVP award winner (Colorado - 2007), who will become a free agent after the season, is touched by the fans' reaction and appreciative of their support.

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2009 The Dodgers advance to their second consecutive National League championship series, beating St. Louis, 5-1, to complete a three-game sweep of the Redbirds in the NLDS. Vicente Padilla's solid pitching and Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez's timely hitting close out the series, best remembered for Matt Holliday's error on James Loney's ninth-inning two-out liner, leading to a stunning two-run walk-off rally in Game 2.

 

2010 Behind the solid starting pitching of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, the Phillies complete the franchise's first playoff sweep when Hamels throws a five-hit complete-game victory, beating the Reds at Great American Ball Park, 2-0. Philadelphia will have an opportunity to become the first team to win three consecutive National League pennants since the war-time Cardinals raised flags from 1942 to 1944.

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2011 Ranger left fielder Nelson Cruz hits the first walk-off grand slam in major league playoff history when his 11th-inning round-tripper beats Detroit, 7-3, in Game Two of the ALCS. The victory in Arlington gives Texas a 2-0 advantage in the seven-game series.

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2019 After compiling a .497 winning percentage in his two seasons at the helm, the Phillies fire their manager Gabe Kapler. The dismissal marks the available eighth managerial vacancy that includes skippers needed by the Mets, Pirates, Angels, Royals, Cubs, Padres, and the Giants, who will hire the former Philadelphia pilot next month as their 37th manager to replace the retiring Bruce Bochy.

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The @Dbacks are still unbeaten in the #Postseason and heading home up 2-0 in the #NLDS.
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103 Years Ago Today: Cleveland Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss turns the first and only unassisted triple play in World Series history! Here's Bill posing with the three Brooklyn #Dodgers players he got out! (October 10, 1920
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”RedSox Ted Wiliams and Tigers Al Kaline meet before the 1957 All Star Game in St.Louis
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October 13 Baseball Birthdays​

1876 Rube Waddell, Hall of Fame pitcher (Triple Crown, AL wins leader 1905; ERA leader 1900, 05; strikeout leader 1902–07; Philadelphia A's), born in Bradford, Pennsylvania (d. 1914)


1895 Mike Gazella (NY Yankees), born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania (d. 1978)


1931 Eddie Mathews HOF third baseman (512 career HRs; 12 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1957, 68; Boston/Milwaukee Braves) and manager (Atlanta Braves 1972-74), born in Texarkana, Texas (d. 2001)


1941 Jim Price catcher (World Series 1968 Detroit Tigers) and broadcaster (ESPN, Detroit Tigers Radio Network 1998-2023), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 2023)


1942 Bob Bailey, born in Long Beach, California


1967 Trevor Hoffman, Hall of Fame closer (first pitcher to 500 & 600 saves milestone; 7 x MLB All Star; SD Padres), born in Bellflower, California


1968 Julio Valera MLB pitcher (KC Royals), born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

1969 Tim Crabtree pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays), born in Jackson, Michigan


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1960 At Forbes Field, Bill Mazeroski's dramatic walk-off home run off Yankee hurler Ralph Terry breaks up a 9-9 tie, ending one of the most exciting seven-game World Series ever played. Maz's round-tripper remains the only walk-off home run to win a World Series Game 7.

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1968 Recent World Series foes Bob Gibson and Denny McLain meet again on the CBS variety program The Ed Sullivan Show. After Tiger ace McLain plays The Girl From Ipanema on the organ with his quartet, he is joined by future Cardinal Hall of Famer Gibson on the guitar performing a brief improvised piece together.

1970 In Game 3 of the Fall Classic played at Memorial Stadium, Dave McNally goes deep with the bases loaded off Reds' right-hander Wayne Granger in the bottom of the sixth inning, becoming the first pitcher in World Series history to hit a grand slam. The Orioles' hurler's offensive output contributes to the Birds' 9-3 victory over Cincinnati and gives Baltimore a commanding 3-0 game advantage in the seven-game series.

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1971 In the first World Series played at night, the Pirates defeat the Orioles at Three Rivers Stadium, 4-3, overcoming the Birds' three-run first inning thanks to the Bucs' bullpen holding Baltimore scoreless for 8⅔ innings. All Fall Classic contests will be evening tilts, beginning with Game 6 of the 1987 Series.

1972 The day after Oakland wins the ALCS, Bowie Kuhn announces that A's shortstop Burt Campaneris, suspended for the rest of the division playoff for throwing his bat at Tiger hurler Lerrin LaGrow in Game 2, will be allowed to participate in the World Series. The Commissioner cites the precedent of Yankee shortstop Frank Crosetti, suspended for 30 days due to an incident with an ump, but was permitted to play in the Fall Classic by AL president Will Harridge, who delayed the penalty rather than diminish his circuit's chance of winning a World Championship.

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1973 "No, I don't think my presence will cause an increase in black attendance at Cleveland. People come out to see the players. When do you see a manager anyway? When he's out on the field arguing with the umpires, making a fool of himself and you know you can't win, and when he brings out the line-up card." - FRANK ROBINSON, commenting on his historical hiring.
Frank Robinson, newly-hired Indians manager, appears on CBS's long-running Sunday news program Face the Nation. The first African-American manager in baseball history tells host George Herman that no baseball executive considered blacks for skipper jobs before hiring him in Cleveland.

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1974 Herb Washington, representing the tying run in the top of the ninth, is picked off first base by Dodger closer Mike Marshall for the second out of Game 2, the only contest the A's will lose in the Fall Classic. Oakland owner Charlie Finley selected the world-class sprinter, who will never have a plate appearance in his brief 105-game career, to become the team's "designated runner," a position that doesn't exist with any other major league club.

1983 "I would like to thank Frank Cashen for being smart enough to hire me." - DAVEY JOHNSON, speaking to the press about the Mets GM's decision to name him as the team’s manager. The Mets' Triple-A Tidewater pilot, Davey Johnson, signs a two-year deal to become the 11th manager in franchise history, replacing Frank Howard, promptly hired as the team's first-base coach. The 40-year-old Floridian will compile a 595-417 (.588) record during his six-plus seasons in the dugout, including a World Championship in 1986.

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1985 Vince Coleman becomes entangled in Busch Stadium's automatic tarpaulin while stretching before the Cardinals' 12-2 rout of LA in Game 4 of the NLCS. The freak accident, which traps his left leg for about thirty seconds, will end the season for the 23-year-old outfielder, who established the rookie record for stolen bases with 110.

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1989 In a nationwide poll of sportswriters and broadcasters, Orioles' skipper Frank Robinson is named the Associated Press Manager of the Year, easily outdistancing the runner-up, Don Zimmer of the Cubs. The Hall of Famer guided a young group of players in one of the greatest comeback seasons in the game's history, finishing the campaign 32½ games better than the club's last-place finish the previous year.

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1993 At Veterans Stadium, the Phillies win the National League pennant by beating the Braves in Game 6 of the NLCS, 6-3. With Tommy Greene out-dueling Greg Maddux and the timely hitting of Darren Daulton, Dave Hollins, and Mickey Morandini, Philadelphia wins its third consecutive game to dethrone the defending champs.

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2000 Mariano Rivera, extending his streak to 33.1 innings, breaks the 38-year-old record of Whitey Ford for consecutive scoreless frames in postseason play when the Yankees defeat the Mariners, 8-2, in Game 3 of the ALCS. The Yankees' Hall of Fame lefty had established the record from 1960 to 1962 with 33 innings as a World Series starter.

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2001 The Yankees, being down 2-0 in the best-of-five series, stave off elimination, beating the A's and Barry Zito, 1-0, thanks to the shutout pitching by Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada's fifth-inning home run. Shortstop Derek Jeter catches an errant relay throw down the first baseline and flips the ball home to cut down Jeremy Giambi as the potential tying run becomes one of the most memorable defensive plays in postseason history.

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2002 Joining George Brett (Royals: 1978 ALCS Game 3), Reggie Jackson (Yankees: 1977 World Series Game 6), Bob Robertson (Pirates: 1971 NLCS Game 2), and Babe Ruth (Yankees: 1928 World Series Game 4 and 1926 World Series Game 4), light-hitting second baseman Adam Kennedy becomes the fifth player to hit three homers in a postseason game, helping the Angels to secure their first World Series berth in the team's 42-year-old history. Anaheim uses a ten-run seventh inning to beat the Twins 13-5, capturing the ALCS in five games.

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2003 A tearful 72-year-old Don Zimmer apologizes for his part in yesterday's brawl during Game 3 of the ALCS between the Yankees and Red Sox. During the fourth-inning matinee melee at Fenway, the Yankees' assistant to the manager is thrown to the ground by Pedro Martinez after charging the right-hander.

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2006 Mark Kiger becomes the first player in history to make his big league debut during the postseason. The second baseman enters Game 3 as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the eighth inning for D'Angelo Jimenez, who has been filling in for the injured starter Mark Ellis.

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2007 Four days after manager Charlie Manuel gets his contract extended, the Phillies re-signed their entire coaching staff for next season. After ending a 14-year postseason drought, the reigning National League East Champs ask Jimy Williams (bench coach), Rich Dubee (pitching coach), Milt Thompson (hitting coach), Davey Lopes (first-base coach), Steve Smith (third-base coach), Ramon Henderson (bullpen coach), and Mick Billmeyer (catching instructor) to return to Philadelphia in 2008.
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Cal Ripken Jr. hit 411 Home Runs without posting 100 Strikeouts in any of his 21 seasons

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"Some of these guys wear beards to make them look intimidating, but they don't look so tough when they have to deliver the ball. Their abilities and their attitudes don't back up their beards." ~ Don Drysdale
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Mickey is on deck while Roger is at bat.
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