BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1922 With George Sisler aboard each time, Browns' left fielder Ken Williams hits three home runs, becoming the first American League player to accomplish the feat in a game. The outfielder's three round-trippers lead St. Louis to a 10-7 victory over Chicago at Sportsman's Park

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1925 In their home opener against Cincinnati at Sportsman's Park, Branch Rickey's Cardinals collect 12 hits in the first frame to establish a National League mark. The batting barrage accounts for 11 runs crossing the plate in the inning en route to the Redbirds' 12-3 rout of the Reds.


1947 The Phillies players, encouraged by their Alabama-born racist skipper Ben Chapman, repeatedly shout racial epitaphs, throw beanballs, and intentionally spike Brooklyn's rookie first baseman, the first African-American to play major league baseball in the 20th century. The incident is so severe that Philadelphia's infielder Jeep Handley will later publicly apologize, and baseball commissioner Happy Chandler chastises the team's manager for his bigoted leadership.

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1956 New York starter Don Larsen hits a grand slam off Frank Sullivan in the Yankees' 13-6 victory over Boston at Yankee Stadium. The 26-year-old right-hander, a good-hitting pitcher, will finish his 14-year career with 14 home runs and a .242 average.

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1957 Entering the game as a pinch-runner, John Kennedy becomes the first black to play with the Phillies, the last National League team to integrate. The former shortstop for the Birmingham Black Barons and Kansas City Monarchs will bat only twice in the major leagues, striking out and reaching on an error.


1959 Although it takes extra innings, Whitey Ford ties the Yankees' record for strikeouts, fanning 15 batters when he beats the Senators in 14 innings, 1-0. 'Slick' equals the mark established by Bob Shawkey in 1919, when the right-hander defeated Philadelphia in a nine-inning game, 9-2.

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1959 Bill Skowron homers to deep left field off Chuck Stobbs in the top of the 14th inning, accounting for the lone run in the Yankees' victory over the Senators at Griffith Stadium. Whitey Ford goes the distance for the win in the longest American League 1-0 game to be decided by a home run.

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1959 In the seventh inning of a 20-6 rout of Kansas City, the White Sox score 11 runs on just one hit. The other Municipal Stadium baserunners get on thanks to two errors, ten walks, and one hit batsman.

 

1969 Rollie Fingers, best known as a reliever with the Athletics, Padres, and Brewers, throws a complete-game shutout in his third major league mound appearance, the first as a starter. The 22-year-old future Hall of Fame right-hander, who will compile two shutouts and have four complete games in 37 career starts, limits the Twins to five hits in Oakland's 7-0 victory at Metropolitan Stadium.

1970 On the same day MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, Chadwick Boseman, the actor who portrayed the Brooklyn Dodgers star in the 2013 movie 42, dies of colon cancer. The 43-year-old actor, best known for the title role in Marvel's blockbuster Black Panther, played music legend James Brown and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshal on the big screen.

1973 Designated hitter Ron Lolich, Mickey's cousin, hits the third of his four career home runs, a two-out walk-off grand slam, giving the Indians an 8-7 comeback victory. Boston had scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 4-4 deadlock.


1976 Taking two days to accomplish the feat, Tim Foli becomes the first Expo to hit for the cycle when he homers in the eighth inning of a suspended game. Before the umps halted the Wrigley Field contest yesterday because of darkness, the Montreal shortstop had stroked a single, double, and triple in the club's eventual 12-6 victory over Chicago, in that order, for a rare 'natural cycle.'

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1988 Two weeks into the season, the World Champion Twins deal their reliable right fielder Tom Brunansky to the Cardinals for second baseman Tommy Herr. Minnesota had hoped their newly acquired switch-hitting infielder would be an ideal No. 2 hitter in front of Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek, but the 32-year-old will hit .263, playing in only 86 games due to injuries.

1991 During the first night game in the new ballpark, Frank Thomas hits the first White Sox home run in Comiskey Park, contributing to Chicago's 8-7 victory over Baltimore. In the south-side stadium debut three days ago, Jack McDowell surrendered the park's first homer to Cecil Fielder in a 16-0 rout of the home team by Detroit.


1993 Mariner right-hander Chris Bosio walks the first two batters he faces in the Kingdome but is perfect after that, throwing the second no-hitter in franchise history when he beats the Red Sox, 7-0. The 30-year-old Seattle's no-no is kept intact by several outstanding plays from his infielders, including shortstop Omar Vizquel's barehanded play on a chopper hit by Ernest Riles for the game's final out.


1996 The Mariners surpass the 1984 White Sox record for home runs hit by a team in April with their 39th round-tripper when Alex Diaz takes Paul Quantrill deep in the team's 11-7 loss at the Kingdome. Seattle will extend the major league mark for the season's first full month to 44 homers.

1996 Although he participates in four of the five team's double plays, Shawon Dunston commits four errors in San Francisco's 11-8 loss to the Astros at 3Com Park. The 33-year-old shortstop's miscues, including an errant throw, are the most by a Giants fielder since Bob Brenly's infamous game at the hot corner in 1986.

 

2000 Angels Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, and Troy Glaus all go deep in the fourth inning against Devil Rays' hurler Dwight Gooden, and then they again all homer off Roberto Hernandez in the ninth. It is the first time in major league history that the same three players homered in the same inning twice in a game.

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2001 A new number, 455, will be added with 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 21, and 42 on the second deck in right field. The three-digit number will join the other previously Indian retired numbers to honor the fans for setting a sellout streak record, which lasted 455 games over five years at Jacobs Field.

2006 Bill Hall, Damian Miller, Brady Clark, J.J. Hardy, and Prince Fielder all go deep in the bottom of the fourth frame at Miller Park, making the Brewers the fifth team to hit five home runs in one inning. Milwaukee joins the 1966 Twins, 1939 Yankees, 1949 Phillies, and the 1961 Giants to establish the major league mark.

2007 The Red Sox become the fifth big-league team to hit four consecutive homers in an inning when Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek go deep with two outs in the third inning at Fenway off Yankee starter Chase Wright. J.D. Drew was also part of the quartet of the 2006 Dodgers, who were the fourth major league team to connect for four straight round-trippers in one frame.

2008 In a scheduling oddity, both New York big-league teams play in Chicago, with the Mets playing the Cubs in a matinee and the Yankees taking on the White Sox in an evening tilt. This unusual occurrence marks the first time in 11+ years that two teams from one city have played as visitors in the same town on the same date, a quirk necessitated due to the Pope's appearance at Yankee Stadium two days ago.

2008 Striking out Nationals second baseman Felipe Lopez on his signature split-finger fastball, John Smoltz becomes the 16th pitcher in big league history to achieve 3,000 career strikeouts. In the 6-0 Braves loss to Washington at Turner Field, the Atlanta ace fans ten batters for the 45th time in his 20-year career.

 

2010 At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the Yankees turn their first triple play in 42 years when Alex Rodriguez steps on third to start a 5-4-3 around-the-horn play, resulting in three outs in the team's 4-2 loss to the A's. The team's last triple killing occurred in June of 1968, on a 1-5-3 ground ball hit by Minnesota's John Roseboro, a play started by pitcher Dooley Womack, continued by third baseman Bobby Cox, and finished by Mickey Mantle, who was playing first base.

2010 The Brewers, with a 20-0 rout at PNC Park, hand the Pirates their most-lopsided loss in the 124-year history of the franchise. The victory completes a three-game sweep of the Bucs in which the Brew Crew outscored their opponents, 36-1.

2014 Albert Pujols blasts his 500th career homer after hitting his 499th, both off right-hander Taylor Jordan, to become the 26th and third-youngest major leaguer, trailing only Alex Rodriguez and Jimmie Foxx, to reach the milestone. The LA slugger's offensive outburst, which drives five runs, contributes to the Angels' 7-2 victory over Washington at Nationals Park.

2018 Brandon Belt works the most extended at-bat in major league history, seeing 21 first-inning pitches from LA's Jaime Barria in the Giants' 4-2 victory at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The San Francisco first baseman's 12-minute and 45-second plate appearance, where he fouls off 16 balls, including 10 in a row, surpasses the 1998 duel between Indians right-hander Bartolo Colon and Astro infielder Ricky Gutierrez by one pitch.
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I played my best everyday. You never know when someone may be seeing you play for the first time." ~ New York #Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio
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April 23 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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(1900-1959) Jim Bottomley HOF first baseman (MLB all-time single game RBI record [12] 1924; World Series 1926, 31; NL MVP & NL HR leader 1928; St. Louis Cardinals)


(1921-2003) Warren Spahn Hall of Fame pitcher (17 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1957; Cy Young Award 1957; 8 × NL wins leader; Boston/Milwaukee Braves) Spahn and Sain & Pray for rain


1967 Rhéal Cormier, Canadian Baseball HOF pitcher (St. Louis Cardinals; Philadelphia Phillies; Boston Red Sox)


1977 Andruw Jones


1981 Sean Henn (NY Yankees) Pitcher

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This Day in Baseball History
April 23rd​

1902 In his major league debut, Luis Castro plays second base for Connie Mack's Philadelphia's A's in an 8-1 victory over Baltimore at Oriole Park. The 25-year-old Medellin native becomes the first and last player from Colombia to appear in the big leagues until Orlando Ramrez joins the Angels in 1974.

1903 The Highlanders, previously called the Orioles before their recent move from Baltimore, win their first game representing New York. Spitballer Harry Howell goes the distance, throwing a two-hitter to get the win when the team that will become known as the Yankees beat Washington at American League Park, 7-2.

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1919 Senator right-hander Walter Johnson records his fifth Opening Day shutout, beating the A's at Griffith Stadium, 1-0. The Philadelphia starter Scott Perry matches zeros with the 'Big Train' for a dozen frames until pinch-runner Mike Menosky scores the decisive run for Washington with one out in the bottom of the 13th inning.

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1921 The Spahns welcome their newborn, Warren, the son of a Buffalo wallpaper salesman who had once played semi-pro baseball. The future Hall of Fame southpaw, a mainstay with the Braves in the 1950s, is named after Warren Harding, a right-hander recently sworn in as the president of the United States.​

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1924 On WMAQ, Hal Totten, a Chicago Daily News reporter, does a play-by-play radio of the 12-1 Cubs' victory over the Cardinals. The broadcast of every Cub and White Sox home game of the season marks the first time a team's games will be heard regularly on the airwaves.

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1939 At Griffith Stadium, Senators' right-hander Alejandro Carrasquel faces the Yankees in his major league debut. The 26-year-old from Caracas becomes the first player from Venezuela to appear in a major league game.

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1944 Hack Miller homers in his first major league at-bat, hitting a three-run shot off Indian southpaw starter Al Smith in the eighth inning of the Tigers' 4-3 victory over the Tribe at Cleveland Stadium. The 31-year-old rookie backstop, with only ten plate appearances, will hit .444 during a brief two-year stint with Detroit.

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1952 At the Polo Grounds, Hoyt Wilhelm goes deep in his first major league at-bat, a fourth-inning home run off Dick Hoover in the Giants' 9-5 victory over the Braves. The knuckle-balling future Hall of Fame hurler will never homer again during the next 21 years, covering 1070 games and 432 official at-bats.

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1954 At Busch Stadium, Hank Aaron hits the first of his 755 career home runs in his seventh major league game. The Milwaukee outfielder's sixth-inning solo round-tripper comes on a pitch thrown by Cardinal right-hander Vic Raschi in the Braves' 7-6 extra-inning victory in St. Louis.

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1955 At Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, the White Sox tie a modern major league mark for most runs scored by a single team in a game when the team drubs the A's, 29-6. The Red Sox also scored 29 runs against the Browns in 1950.

1958 In a 7-6 loss to Chicago at the LA Coliseum, two Dodger mainstays from Brooklyn and future Hall of Famers reach career milestones. First baseman Gil Hodges, who will finish his 18-year major league tenure with the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter, hits his 300th career round-tripper, and Pee Wee Reese, the team captain and shortstop, plays in his 2000th game.

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1952 Both starters at Sportsman's Park toss a one-hitter, but Browns' southpaw Bob Cain gets the victory, beating Bob Feller and the Indians, 1-0. The contest's lone run scores when third baseman Al Rosen's error allows Bobby Young, who tripled to lead off the inning, to cross the plate in the bottom of the first frame.

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961 Art Mahaffey sets a franchise record when he strikes out 17 batters in the Phillies' 6-0 victory over Chicago. The 23-year-old right-hander whiffs at least one hitter in each inning during the Connie Mack Stadium contest.

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1962 In the team's tenth attempt, the Mets win their first game in franchise history, defeating the Pirates at Forbes Field, 9-1. Jay Hook's five-hit complete-game victory snaps Pittsburgh's record-tying winning streak of 10 games from the start of the season without a loss.

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1964 At Colt Stadium, Ken Johnson becomes the first pitcher to lose a nine-inning no-hitter when the Reds beat the Colt .45s, 1-0. Pete Rose, attempting to bunt, reaches second on a throwing error by the pitcher and scores the game's lone run in the top of the ninth inning when Nellie Fox boots Vada Pinson's two-out ground ball to second base.

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"Colts Get No-Hitter, But Loses" and "Error Cost Johnson Pitching Gem, 1-0" with one column photo of Johnson. Tells of the 1st and only MLB baseball to throw a no-hit 9 inning game and still lose.

1969 At Memorial Stadium, the Orioles walk off the Tigers, 3-2, in an extra-inning pitching duel that features Detroit's Denny McLain retiring 21 straight batters and Baltimore's Mike Cuellar getting 20 consecutive hitters. Mark Belanger's tenth-inning single plates Ellie Hendricks, who had doubled to start the final frame to snap the Detroit right-hander's streak, with the winning run for the Birds.

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1969 The Boston fans at Fenway Park warmly welcome back team legend Ted Williams when he emerges from the visitor's dugout to exchange lineups with the umpires. The new Washington manager shakes hands with the Red Sox coach and dear friend Bobby Doerr at home plate, much to the crowd's delight.

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1972 Trailing by four runs at Candlestick Park, the Astros score ten times in the ninth inning to beat the Giants, 13-7. Seven hits, two walks, a passed ball, and an error fuel the fireworks in the final frame.

1978 Joe Morgan's major league record streak of 91 consecutive errorless games for a second baseman ends. The Reds infielder's errant toss during a second-inning rundown is his first error since July 6, 1977.

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1985 Don Baylor collects his 999th and 1000th RBIs when he hits a two-run home run off Oil Can Boyd in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Bronx Bombers on the board in New York's 5-4 extra-inning loss to Boston at Yankees Stadium. The 36-year-old outfielder/DH will end his 19-year career driving in 1276 runs.

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1990 White Sox utility player Steve Lyons plays all nine positions during an exhibition game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 'Psycho,' however, will not join the small list of players, including Bert Campaneris (1965 A's) and Cesar Tovar (1968 Twins), who have accomplished the feat in a major league game.

1995 In the Dodgers' 8-4 victory over the Mets at Holman Stadium, Henry Rodriguez becomes the first to hit four homers in a spring training game. The LA right fielder sends a 3-0 fastball from Josias Manzanillo over the fence, capping a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate, much to the delight of the Vero Beach (FL) crowd.

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1999 Fernando Tatis becomes the only player in baseball history to hit two grand slams in one inning when he collects eight RBIs in one frame to break the old record of six. The Cardinal third baseman hits both off Dodger starter Chan Ho Park in an 11-run third of the team's 12-5 victory at Chavez Ravine.

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2000 In a 10-7 victory over the Blue Jays at Toronto's SkyDome, Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada become the first teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark will become the second pair of teammates to accomplish the feat, homering from each side of the plate for the Diamondbacks on Opening Day in 2009.

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2000 The Dodgers sweep the Reds to notch their 1,000th win over baseball's oldest professional franchise. Since 1970, Los Angeles has been the only National League franchise to play over .500 ball (120-115) in Cincinnati (Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field).

2006 Sportsnet New York, the Mets' television network, reprimands Keith Hernandez for comments about the female in full uniform sitting in the Padres dugout last night. Spotting Kelly Calabrese, the Padres' full-time massage therapist, the Mets broadcaster remarked women "don't belong in the dugout" and will apologize for his insensitive comments during today's telecast.

2007 Riding as a passenger in a car near San Francisco, 73-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam dies in an auto accident. The prolific writer's books covered various topics in American history, including pennant races (The Summer of '49), World Series (October 1964), and ballplayers who were lifelong friends (Teammates).

2008 The Cubs join the Giants in becoming the second franchise in major league history to win 10,000 games, beating the Rockies in a ten-inning contest at Coors Field, 7-6. After winning six in a row, Chicago has a 10,000-9,465 all-time won-loss record during its 122-year existence in the Windy City.

 

2010 All-Star Ben Zobrist agrees to a three-year contract extension with the Rays, which guarantees him $18 million for 2010-13. The team's MVP last season, obtained in 2006 from Houston in the Aubrey Huff trade, had agreed to a one-year deal in March worth $438,100.

2010 The Rays' 10-2 victory over Chicago concludes a 9-1 road trip, making it the team's winningest road trip in the 13-year history of the franchise. Tampa's success on the road translates into a 12-4 record overall, their best start ever.

2013 2008 Joining the Giants, the Cubs become the second franchise in major league history to win 10,000 games, beating the Rockies in a ten-inning contest at Coors Field, 7-6. After winning six in a row, Chicago has a 10,000-9,465 all-time won-loss record during its 122-year existence in the Windy City.

2014 Conrado Marrero, the oldest living former major leaguer, dies two days before his 103rd birthday. The 5-foot, 5-inch Cuban right-hander, named to the American League All-Star team in 1951, compiled a 39-40 record with an ERA of 3.96 during his five seasons with the Senators.


2014 Due to his effort to get a better grip on the baseball on a chilly spring night at Fenway Park, the umpires eject Michael Pineda in the second inning for using pine tar after concealing the foreign substance on his neck. The Yankees right-hander will get a ten-day suspension for using the sticky material, which opponents usually overlook when discreetly used since it does not affect the ball's flight.

2018 Jenny Cavna, the Rockies’ pre-and post-game host, becomes the first woman in 22 years to do televised play-by-play for a major league game when she details the action in the team's 13-5 loss against the Padres at Coors Field. At the Metrodome in 1996, Yankee commentator Suzyn Waldman, after being an analyst for the first two games of the series, described the action in the Bronx Bombers' 9-5 defeat of the Twins on a WPIX telecast.

 

2021 Jacob deGrom, fanning 15, becomes the first pitcher to strike out 50 batters through his first four games to start a season, breaking the mark of 48 established earlier this week by Indians' starter Shane Bieber. With his 6-0 complete-game victory over the Nationals, the 32-year-old Mets right-hander joins Pedro Martinez (Red Sox, 1999) and Gerrit Cole (Astros, 2019) as the only pitchers to strike out 14 or more batters in three consecutive starts.

2022 Tigers legend Miguel Cabrera becomes the 33rd player and first Venezuelan to collect 3000 career hits, grounding an opposite-field first-inning single to right field off fellow countryman Antonio Senzatela in the team's 13-0 rout of the Rockies at Comerica Park. The 39-year-old two-time American League MVP (2012 and 2013) joins Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Eddie Murray, and Hank Aaron as the seventh major leaguer to have reached the 3,000 hit and 500 home run milestones.

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