BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

Today In 1934: New York #Yankees legend Babe Ruth is down after being hit by a pitch at Yankee Stadium
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MAY 14 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1878 J. L. Wilkinson HOF executive (founder All Nations Baseball club 1912 & NgL Kansas City Monarchs 1920)


1881-1959 Ed Walsh HOF pitcher (World Series 1906; no-hitter 1911; MLB record 1.82 career ERA; Chicago White Sox) and manager (Chicago WS 1924), born in Plains Township, Pennsylvania


1899 Earle Combs HOF center fielder (9 × World Series 1927, 28, 32, 36–39, 41, 43; New York Yankees


1937 Dick Howser, shortstop (MLB All Star All-Star 1961, 61²; KC A's) and manager (World Series 1977, 78 NY Yankees; KC Royals 1985)


1942 Tony Pérez HOF infielder (7 x MLB All Star; World Series 1975, 76 Cincinnati Reds) and manager (Cincinnati Reds 1993, Florida Marlins 2001)


1947 Dick "Dirt" Tidrow MLB pitcher, 1972-84 (Cleveland Indians; New York Yankees and 3 other teams), and executive (Asst GM, San Francisco Giants)


1948 Dave LaRoche, pitcher (NY Yankees)

1955 Dennis Martínez pitcher (Orioles, Expos, Indians)


1963 Pat Borders, catcher (California Angels)

1976 Brian Lawrence

1977 Roy Halladay HOF pitcher (8 x MLB All-Star, Cy Young Award 2003, 10; perfect game 2010; postseason no-hitter 2010; Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies

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This Day in Baseball History
May 14th​

1883 The Quakers, later known as the Phillies, win their first game in franchise history when they rout the Cubs, called White Stockings at the time, at Chicago's Lake Front Park. Philadelphia had lost its first eight games before today's 12-0 victory and will finish the season in last place in the eight-team National League with a dismal 17-81 (.173) record.

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1904 The Senators establish a major league record by starting the season 0-13 when the team drops a 6-3 decision to New York at Hilltop Park. Washington will be 11 games out of first place before the club wins its first contest this year.

1913 Walter Johnson's streak of 55.2 scoreless innings ends when he gives up a run in the bottom of the fourth in the Senators' 10-5 victory against the Browns at Sportsman's Park. The right-hander's record will last until 1968, when Don Drysdale surpasses the mark, tossing 58.2 blank frames for the Dodgers.


1914 Jim Scott pitches nine innings of no-hit ball against the Senators but loses when he gives up two hits in the 10th inning. Howie Shanks' bad-hop triple off the White Sox right-hander scores Chick Gandil, who singled leading off the final frame, giving Washington the walk-off 1-0 victory at Griffith Stadium.


1918 With the anticipation of crime rates decreasing in the city, officials in Washington D.C. lift the prohibition on playing baseball on Sunday in the nation's capital. In five days, 17,000 enthusiastic fans, the largest crowd in the history of Griffith Stadium, will be treated to a dramatic 1-0 extra-inning victory against Cleveland in the first contest played on a Sunday in the District.

 

1920 The Giants inform the Yankees, tenants since 1913, that they are not renewing the Bronx team's lease to play at the Polo Grounds at the end of the season. There is speculation that the National League team, deciding later to continue sharing their home until the completion of the American League club's new stadium in 1923, may have been reacting to the team's recent acquisition of Babe Ruth.

1920 Beating the Tigers in relief at Griffith Stadium 9-8, Senator right-hander Walter Johnson registers his 300th victory. Although the 'Big Train' hurled for mostly losing teams during his 21-year career, he compiled 417 victories, including winning 20-games or more for ten consecutive seasons (1910-1919).

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1927 In the top of the seventh in the Phillies' game against St. Louis, a section of the right-field stands of the Baker Bowl collapses, causing hundreds of fans to fall on the patrons below. Although there are many injuries, the only fatality is a victim of the stampeding crowd.

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1939 During the Indians' 9-4 victory over Chicago at Comiskey Park, a woman sitting in the stands near the visitor's dugout becomes injured when Marvin Owen's foul ball strikes her just above the right eye. The Indians' starting pitcher, her 20-year-old son Bob, threw the pitch that resulted in Mrs. Feller needing seven stitches on Mother's Day.

 

1950 Johnny Hopp helps the Pirates crush the Cubs, 16-9, when he goes 6-for-6, including a pair of homers, in the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep at Wrigley Field. The 33-year-old All-Star first baseman is called 'Hippity' by his teammates.

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1956 The Orioles, taking a gamble, purchase sore-armed Billy Loes from the Dodgers for a reported $25,000. The 26-year-old right-hander will be selected for American League All-Star team next season and posts a 21-30 (.412) record during his four years with Baltimore.

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1965 Carl Yastrzemski drives in five runs, hitting for the cycle with an additional home run. However, Yaz's effort isn't enough when the seventh-place Red Sox lose to Detroit at Fenway Park, 12-8.


1967 Keeping a promise to his wife Merlyn, Mickey Mantle hit his 500th career home run on Mother's Day, a shot into the lower deck in the right-field corner at Yankee Stadium. The 'Commerce Comet', now the sixth big leaguer to reach the milestone, hits the historic homer off Stu Miller, helping New York defeat the Orioles, 6-5.

 

1972 After twenty-one seasons with the Giants, 41-year-old Willie Mays, playing first base and batting leadoff, makes a dramatic return to New York in his debut with the Mets. In the fifth inning, the Say Hey Kid hits a home run off Don Carrithers, his 647th career round-tripper, breaking a 4-4 deadlock and helping to defeat his former team, 5-4, at Shea Stadium.


1976 In an unusual promotion, visiting player Mike Schmidt makes many of the fans attending the game in Houston very happy. The promise of free beer for the Astrodome crowd if the Phillies' third baseman strikes out happens when the slugger whiffs in the top of the fifth inning of the 5-1 team's victory.


1977 Jim Colborn becomes the first Kansas City hurler to throw the first no-hitter at Royals Stadium and second overall in that park, following California's fireballer Nolan Ryan recording the first hitless game in the ballpark during its inaugural season in 1973. The 31-year-old right-hander faces only 28 batters, issuing one free pass in the 6-0 victory.

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1977 In an 18-2 rout of the Indians, White Sox's first baseman Jim Spencer collects a two-run single, a two-run homer, and his first major-league grand slam, driving in eight runs before being lifted in the fifth inning of the Comiskey Park contest. The 29-year-old infielder's eight RBIs tie a franchise single-game record established by Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1920.

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1978 In a contest best remembered for Tommy Lasorda's postgame rant, Dave Kingman hits three home runs, accounting for eight RBIs against the Dodgers in the Cubs' 10-7 victory at Chavez Ravine.

The third-year manager takes exception to radio reporter Paul Olden asking his opinion about the Chicago slugger's performance, responding with an obscenity-laced tirade that has become legendary.

 

1981 With a 3-2 win over Montreal in front of the largest Dodger Stadium crowd in seven years, rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela improves his record to 8-0. The 20-year-old southpaw, who has started the season with five shutouts and a minuscule ERA of 0.50, gets the victory when right fielder Pedro Guerrero hits a leadoff game-ending home run off Steve Ratzer in the bottom of the ninth inning at Chavez Ravine.

1986 Angels’' DH/outfielder Reggie Jackson homers off Red Sox hurler Roger Clemens to surpass Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list with 537. The future Hall of Famer will retire next season, finishing his 21-year career sixth on the all-time list with 563 round-trippers.

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1988 Jose Oquendo becomes the first non-pitcher to get a major league decision, losing to the Braves in nineteen innings, 7-5. After pitching three scoreless innings in an extra-inning marathon against Atlanta, the Cardinals' utility man gives up a two-run double to Ken Griffey in the nineteenth to suffer the loss at Busch Stadium.


1989 In his first at-bat as a Cub, Lloyd McClendon hits a three-run homer in a 4-0 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field. The 30-year-old utility player, obtained in an off-season trade from Cincinnati for Rolando Roomes, plays a vital role for the division champs, hitting .286 and 12 home runs in 259 at-bats.

 

1993 Jay Gainer becomes the fifth National Leaguer and 12th major leaguer to hit a home run on the first major league pitch he saw. The 26-year-old Rockies' first baseman accomplishes the feat in the second inning off Tim Pugh in the team's 13-5 loss to the Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

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1994 The Royals retire jersey #5 in tribute to George Brett, a .305 lifetime hitter who played his entire 21-year career with the franchise. The 13-time All-Star third baseman won the MVP award in 1980, batting .390 for the American League champs, and led the team to its first world championship in 1985.

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1996 Dwight Gooden becomes the eighth Yankee to hurl a no-hitter when he throws 135 pitches, beating the Mariners at the ballpark in the Bronx, 2-0. The 31-year-old right-handed 'Doc,' nearly released last month after starting the season poorly, hadn't won a game in almost two years.

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2000 Although Sammy Sosa gets five hits, Henry Rodriguez drives in seven runs, and Eric Young steals five bases,

the Cubs still manage to lose to the Expos, 16-15. Young's accomplishment on the bases is the most by a Cubs player since 1881 when George Gore stole seven bases.​

2002 At Latino-American Stadium, 77-year-old Jimmy Carter throws the ceremonial first pitch of the Cuban League All-Star game. One-time big-league pitching prospect Fidel Castro, the dictator of the island nation, coaches the former U.S. President before the toss.

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2003 Kendall and Jake Burnham become the first husband-and-wife team to appear in a professional baseball game when the newly-weds play for the San Angelo Colts of the independent Central League. With her husband Jake starting at third base, the former fastpitch softball star, with two out in the bottom of the ninth, strikes out looking at three pitches in the team's 8-1 loss to Amarillo.

2004 Chone Figgins, going 5-for-6, collects a triple, a grand slam, and six RBIs in the Angels' 10-9 victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards. The Anaheim third baseman/outfielder, who drives in the game's winning run in the 10th inning with a single, joins Buck Rogers as one of the two players in franchise history to hit their first career round-tripper with the bases loaded.

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2005 In upstate New York, 11-year-old Katie Brownell, the only girl enrolled in the local Oakfield Alabama Little League, throws a perfect game in front of an astonished crowd of about 100 parents and friends. The shy sixth-grader strikes out every batter she faces, allowing only three foul balls in the six-inning contest at Oakfield Town Park. At a ceremony held in Cooperstown (NY) in her honor, Katie Brownell donated her jersey from the game to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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2006 With over fifty female baseball dignitaries in attendance, including Ila Borders and Julie Croteau, at the Cooperstown ceremony, a bronze statue paying tribute to the legacy of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is unveiled at the Hall of Fame on Mothers' Day. The AAGPBL operated from 1943 to 1954 and served as the inspiration for the 1992 movie, A League of Their Own.

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2006 On Mother's Day, with his mom in the stands, Bill Hall hits a walk-off home run to beat the Mets at Miller Park, 6-5. The Milwaukee center fielder, joining many other major league players, uses a pink bat in MLB's effort to raise public awareness of breast cancer.

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2008 After making an outstanding catch of Kevin Millar's line drive near the Camden Yards warning track, Boston's left fielder Manny Ramirez high-fives a fan before throwing the ball back to the infield to complete a 7-4-3 double play. Red Sox fan Randy Dunning, attending the Orioles game with his mom and dad before leaving for Officer Candidate School at Fort Meade, becomes the glad-hand recipient of 'Manny being Manny.'

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2008 Trailing 6-0 to the Reds at Great American Ball Park, the Marlins score six times in the top of the ninth to tie the game. Florida, however, loses the game in the tenth as Paul Janish, in his second major league at-bat in his first major league game, gets his first big league hit, a game-winning RBI single.

2009 The Mets collect a franchise-record seven stolen bases in their 7-4 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park. Ironically, the team sets the club mark without the help of a sidelined Jose Reyes, New York's all-time career leader in thefts.

 

2011 For the first time since 1914, the Dodgers lose after allowing just one hit, dropping a 1-0 decision to the visiting Diamondbacks. Chad Billingsley, the hard-luck loser, gives up a leadoff double in the second to Stephen Drew, who scores the game's only run when shortstop Jamey Carroll fails to cover the bag in an attempted pick-off play.

2011 Jorge Posada, claiming a stiff back and then the need for time to clear his head, asks not to play after learning he's batting ninth in manager Joe Girardi's lineup. The DH's decision to sit out the game causes controversy when Yankee GM Brian Cashman refutes his player's injury to the media during the nationally televised game against Boston.

2012 At the age of 19 years and 211 days, Nationals' rookie Bryce Harper becomes the youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run, breaking the mark established by 20 years and 173 days old named Gary Carter as an Expo before the team left Montreal to play in Washington. Harmon Killebrew remains the youngest to homer for a Washington team, accomplishing the feat with the Senators in 1955 at 19 years and 88 days old.

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2020 Art Howe, best known as the skipper of Billy Beane's 'Moneyball' A's, confirms he has been dealing with the COVID-19 since first feeling symptoms at the beginning of the month, according to an interview given to KPRC-TV2. The former major league manager and infielder, who found out he was positive for the coronavirus two days after being tested, was transported to a Houston hospital by ambulance after trying to recover at home, where he remains in an intensive care unit.
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Today In 1920: Washington Senators pitching legend Walter Johnson wins his 300th major league game!
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Frank, Tommy and the gang
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Today In 1967: New York #Yankees legend Mickey Mantle hits career HR #500 on Mother's Day at Yankee Stadium
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MAY 15 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1936 Robert Smith (President International Baseball Federation 1981-93; IOC Olympic Order)

1953 George Brett HoF 3rd baseman (13 x MLB All Star; World Series 1985; AL MVP 1980; KC Royals)


1967 John Smoltz HOFame pitcher (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1995; NL Cy Young Award 1996; Atlanta Braves)


1969 Hideki Irabu pitcher, 1988-2004 (New York Yankees, 1997-2002)


1974 A J Hinch, Wavely IA, baseball catcher (Olympic bronze 1996)


1980 Josh Beckett


1981 Justin Morneau

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This Day in Baseball History
May 15th​

1862 The Union Grounds, the new home of the Eckfords, opens in Brooklyn. The Williamsburg ballpark is the first baseball facility enclosed entirely by a fence, allowing paying customers only to view the games.

1901 Watty Lee throws the first shutout in American League history when the visiting Washington Senators blank the Americans at Boston's Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, 4-0. The 21-year-old southpaw, who will finish the season with a 16-16 record, will be the author of two of the eight shutouts thrown in the Junior Circuit's inaugural season.

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1912 After days of taking verbal abuse from Highlander fans at Hilltop Park, Ty Cobb jumps into the stands near the Tigers dugout and pummels Claude Lueker, who has no fingers on one hand and only two fingers on the other, due to an industrial accident. The 'Georgia Peach' lands at least a dozen punches to the head of the heckler, knocking his victim down before kicking the hapless fan in the lower body with his spikes.


1918 In a game that takes only 2 hours and 47 minutes to play, Senators' legend Walter Johnson goes the distance in an 18-inning contest, defeating Larry Williams, who also tosses a complete game, and the White Sox at Comiskey Park, 1-0. Eddie Ainsworth, who advances to third base on the Big Train's single, scores the winning run on a wild pitch.
Johnson Williams Ainsworth

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1919 After both teams play a dozen scoreless innings at Ebbets Field, the Reds break out in the top 13th inning, scoring ten runs off Robins starter Al Mamaux, charged with only one earned run in his complete-game 10-0 loss in the Brooklyn ballpark. Cincinnati's right-hander Hod Eller, who tossed a no-hitter in his previous start, is the beneficiary of the blowout, also goes the distance to improve his record to 4-0.
Mamaux Eller

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1941 Joe DiMaggio begins his 56-game hitting streak with a hit against White Sox pitcher Edgar Smith. The Yankee outfielder will collect at least one hit in every game until July 17, when his unrivaled accomplishment, which captures the attention of a nation, is stopped in Cleveland with the help of outstanding defensive plays by third baseman Ken Keltner.

Keltner

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1944 In front of a paltry crowd of 1,014 fans at Crosley Field, Reds' 32-year-old southpaw Clyde Shoun, in his first start of the season, no-hits the Braves, 1-0. Chuck Aleno's fifth-inning round-tripper off Jim Tobin, the third baseman's only homer of the season, accounts for the lone run in the 79-minute contest.

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1952 Virgil Trucks throws the first of his two no-hitters this season, blanking the Senators, 1-0, thanks to a two-out, two-strike ninth-inning home run by Vic Wertz. Due to a parade honoring war hero General Douglas MacArthur in downtown Detroit, a sparse crowd of only 2,215 fans is in attendance at Briggs Stadium to witness the second no-no in franchise history, the first since George Mullin accomplished the feat in 1912.

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1956 Sal Maglie, obtained on waivers by Cleveland last season from the Giants, is shipped to the Dodgers for a hundred dollars after impressing Brooklyn in an exhibition game. The 'Barber' will post a 13-5 record along with a 2.89 ERA for the eventual NL Champs, finishing second to teammate Don Newcombe in the balloting for both the Cy Young and MVP awards.
Sal Newk

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1960 After being traded from the Phillies, Don Cardwell no-hits the Cardinals in his Cub debut. Thanks to three outstanding defensive catches, including Walt Moryn's game-ending grab, the Winston-Salem, NC native becomes the first pitcher to keep the opponents hitless in a first start after being traded.

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1961 Teammates Felipe and Matty Alou both homer in the Giants' 14-1 victory over Chicago at Candlestick Park. In the first inning, Felipe's grand slam scores the first four runs of the game, and his younger brother puts on the finishing touch of the rout with an eighth-inning round-tripper.

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1961 The American Basketball League's Cleveland Pipers, owned by George Steinbrenner, hire John McLendon, Jr. as the franchise's head coach, making him the first African American to be named to a top leadership position in any major professional sport. The well-respected college coach, leaving the post midway through the 1961-62 ABL season, will become the first of many of the future Yankee owner's employees to resign over the years due to interference from the front office.

1968 Hoping to fill the void created when the Braves moved to Atlanta, the White Sox play the first of nine games in Milwaukee. A crowd of 23,403 fans watches the Pale Hose lose to the Angels, 4-2, in Milwaukee's first American League contest since 1901.

1968 “If they think we’re stupid for playing this game, how stupid are they for coming out to watch us." - DENNY McLAIN, commenting about the small crowds at Tiger Stadium at the start of the season.
At Tiger Stadium, the biggest crowd since Opening Day greets Denny McLain with a chorus of boos, showing their displeasure about comments he made on a local radio station where he called the fans "the biggest front-runners in the world." The right-hander, who will label the same fans the best in the world when they howl their approval after his 30th victory, was critical of their support at the start of the season because of Detroit's low attendance.

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