BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1970 After going 0-4 on Opening Day, Rico Carty proceeds to get a hit in 31 straight games. This season's batting champ's sixth-inning RBI single at Crosley Field sets the record for the longest hitting streak for the Braves since the franchise relocated to Atlanta.

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1973 Nolan Ryan, who lasted just one-third of an inning in his previous start, throws the first of his seven career no-hitters, including another one in two months. The 'Ryan Express's 3-0 gem is the first no-hit game played in Kansas City's Royals Stadium.

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1976 In his first major league start, rookie right-hander Mark Fidrych throws a complete-game two-hitter in the Tigers' 2-1 victory over Cleveland. 'The Bird', who holds the Tribe hitless for the first six innings, amuses his teammates and delights the Detroit fans with his unorthodox antics, which includes talking to the ball.

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1978 The Twins, after the team’s owner overcomes his misgiving about Mike Marshall’s demeanor, sign the All-Star retired right-handed reliever, who will lead the league in saves next season with 32. Minnesota wins seven of its next eight games, with their new closer picking up four saves and win during the span.

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1981 At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, the Indians' Len Barker pitches the 11th perfect game in major league history, defeating the Blue Jays, 3-0. Catfish Hunter was the last pitcher to accomplish the feat, hurling a perfecto for the A's in 1968.

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1989 The 12-24 Blue Jays fire manager Jimy Williams, replacing him with hitting coach Cito Gaston, after several well-publicized run-ins with the team's star. George Bell had made it widely known he did not want to be Toronto's designated hitter, despite his skipper's insistence he fill that role for the club.

1991 Joining Mike Hegan (1976), Charlie Moore (1980), and Robin Yount (1988), Paul Molitor becomes the fourth Brewer ever to hit for the cycle when he homers in the seventh inning of the team's 4-2 victory. The future Hall of Famer also tripled in the first, singled in the third, and doubled in the fifth frame in the Metrodome contest, getting all four hits off Minnesota starter Kevin Tapani.

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1991 England's Queen Elizabeth is President George Bush's guest at the Oriole game at Memorial Stadium. The O's, who play in a city named after a British Lord, drop a 6-3 decision to Oakland.

1991 The Red Sox and White Sox play a contest that lasts four hours and 11 minutes, setting a new record for the slowest game ever played in nine innings. Boston's 9-6 victory at Fenway Park features ten pitchers who throw a total of 352 pitches.

 

1997 In an 8-2 win over San Diego, the Cubs score half their runs when Brian McRae, Doug Glanville, and Sammy Sosa all triple in the bottom of the seventh inning off Friar right-hander Tim Scott. Chicago third baseman Jose Hernandez also chips in with a run-producing three-bagger during the fourth inning of the Wrigley Field contest.

1998 On the day the Marlins trade Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, the team hangs on to beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 8-7. In the first inning, the Fish connect for nine consecutive hits, a franchise record, and score seven runs, all without the help of their recently departed teammates.

2002 Astros' bench coach Tony Pena is named manager of the Royals, replacing interim skipper John Mizerock, who had taken over the reins when the team released Tony Muser on April 29. Houston also considered Buck Showalter and Bucky Dent for the position.


2005 The White Sox drop a 6-2 decision to the Orioles, marking the first time this season the team never had a lead in a game. The streak of being ahead in 37 straight games establishes a major league record from the beginning of a season and ties the 1934 Yankees and the 1942 Cardinals for the third-longest span in major league history.

 

2006 For the first time in baseball history, teams meet in a day-night, home and away interstate doubleheader. The Sioux Fall Canaries (SD) and Sioux City Explorers (IA) of the American Association (Independent) split the twin bill, with the I-29 rivals each losing its home game.

2008 Ryan Braun, National League's Rookie of the Year last season, and the Brewers come to terms on a $45 million, eight-year deal, the richest and longest in franchise history. The generous contract for a "zero-plus" player (less than one year major league service) replaces the $455,000, one-year renewal the team gave him during spring training.

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2010 Owasso High School junior Dylan Bundy, needing his team to win both ends of a doubleheader to stave off his team's elimination from the state tournament, throws the final five innings of the opener and the first five innings of the nightcap. The future first-round pick (4th) of the Orioles, who will throw 181 pitches over the two games en route to striking out 20 batters in 10 innings, helps the Rams beat Jenks, 10-7 and 5-4, advancing his teammates to the Oklahoma state championship game.

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2013 Royals TV honors longtime broadcaster Fred White, who died today due to complications from melanoma, with a half-inning of silence to start the game. The Homer (IL) native, an employee with the organization for the past 40 years, was the team's play-by-play announcer for 24 years, from 1974 to 1998.

2014 En route to becoming the first Mets rookie to get a hit in his first three games, Jacob deGrom singles in the third inning, ending the team's pitchers' 0-for-64 record-setting streak to start the season. The 25-year-old right-hander, who will collect hits in his next two starts, goes seven innings, taking the 1-0 loss to the Yankees at Citi Field.

2015 At Target Field, Jose Bautista hits home runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, contributing to the Blue Jays' 11-3 victory against Minnesota. The Toronto right-fielder, last season's homer leader, has clouted four round-trippers in a span of five at-bats, including his last plate appearance in yesterday's game.

2015 Mariner right-hander Felix Hernandez becomes the fourth-youngest hurler to record his 2,000th career strikeout when he whiffs Sam Fuld in the fifth inning of the team's 4-3 victory against Oakland at Safeco Field. Bert Blyleven, Walter Johnson, and Sam McDowell are the only three pitchers to reach the milestone faster than King Felix.

2016 Danny Valencia's third home run of the game, a ninth-inning two-run shot off Steve Geltz, gives the A's an eventual 7-6 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field. The 31-year-old third baseman's round-tripper is his fifth this season, all coming in the three-game weekend series in Tampa Bay.

2016 Reacting to a late slide by Jose Bautista at second base, Ranger infielder Rougned Odor delivers a devastating punch to the base runner, igniting an eighth-inning brawl in the team's 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The injured outfielder has recent history with Toronto due to his infamous bat flip in last year's ALDS when he hit a dramatic, three-run homer and stayed at home plate, staring down the pitcher.

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2018 MLB suspends Mariner infielder Robinson Cano for 80 games for violating baseball's joint drug agreement. The All-Star second baseman tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic used for treating pulmonary edema, high blood pressure, kidney problems, and heart failure.

2019 Edwin Jackson becomes the first major leaguer to toil for 14 teams when he starts for the Blue Jays against the Giants. In his no-decision outing, the 35-year-old right-hander throws 77 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs and six hits in the team's eventual 4-3 at San Francisco's Oracle Park.

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Today In 1973: California #Angels fireballer Nolan Ryan hurls his first no-hitter in a 3-0 win vs. the Kansas City Royals

 

Today In 1981: Cleveland Indians pitcher Len Barker hurls a perfect game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays at Municipal Stadium!

 

MAY 16 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1920 Dave Philley MLB baseball switch-hitting outfielder, 1941, 1946-62 (Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies (MLB record 9 straight pinch hits)


1928-1989 Billy Martin 2nd baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees)


1949 Rick Reuschel, pitcher (NY Yankees)


1953 Rick Rhoden pitcher (MLB All-Star (1976, 86; Silver Slugger Award 1984–86; LA Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, NY Yankees),


1955 Jack Morris Hall of Fame pitcher (5 x MLB All Star; World Series 1984 Detroit Tigers, 1991 [MVP] Minnesota Twins, 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays)


1959 Bob Patterson, pitcher (Chicago Cubs)


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This Day in Baseball History
May 16th​

1912 The National Commission suspends Detroit outfielder Ty Cobb, barring him from playing this season due to his attack on Claude Lucker, a handicapped fan, two days ago. In support of their not-so-popular teammate, the Tigers go on strike to protest the decision, which will end after one game with the reinstatement of the Georgia Peach.


1913 Alfredo Cabrera, born in the Canary Islands, becomes the first person from Spain to appear in the majors. The 32-year-old Cardinal shortstop plays in only one big-league game, going 0-for-2 in a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

1917 Thanks to a scoring change made after the game by a panel of sportswriters reversing the first-inning hit into an error, Bob Groom of the Browns no-hits the White Sox, 4-0. Ernie Koob, his St. Louis teammate, also threw a no-hitter yesterday against the Pale Hose.

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1932 Lefty Gomez throws a five-hitter en route to an 8-0 victory over Cleveland, giving the Yankees their fourth consecutive shutout. The southpaw's performance joins Johnny Allen, George Pipgras, and Red Ruffing, who also held their opponents scoreless.

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1933 Senators' third baseman Cecil Travis becomes the second rookie to collect five hits in his major league debut, joining Hall of Fame left fielder Fred Clarke, who accomplished the feat in 1894 for the Louisville Colonels. In the 12-inning Griffith Stadium contest, the 19-year-old freshman strokes five singles in the team's 12-11 victory over Cleveland.

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1939 Four years after the Senior Circuit began playing evening tilts, the American League plays their first night game when Cleveland defeats the hometown A's at Shibe Park, 8-3. The small crowd of 15,109 fans, about half of the expected attendance, results from unseasonably cold temperatures in Philadelphia.

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1953 After loading the bases against the Yankees in the top of the ninth inning, the White Sox pinch-hit southpaw pitcher Tommy Byrne for the right-handed hitting third baseman Vern Stephens, who has ten career grand slams. The unusual move pays off when the lefty pinch-hitter homers off Ewell Blackwell to give Chicago a 5-3 victory.

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1954 In their inaugural season in Baltimore, the Orioles draw a record 46,796 fans at Memorial Stadium for a doubleheader with the Yankees. The Birds split the twin bill with the Bronx Bombers, losing the first game 2-0 and taking the nightcap, 6-2.

1959 In Pittsfield (MA), Amherst and Williams reenact their original contest, celebrating the centennial of the first intercollegiate baseball game. Massachusetts. Commissioner Ford Frick, American League president Joe Cronin, and National League president Warren Giles are on hand to enjoy the festivities, including a chess match that also occurred between the schools a century ago.

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1965 Future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, pitching 3.2 innings in relief, wins his first major league game when the Orioles defeat the Yankees at Memorial Stadium, 7-5. The 19-year-old Orioles' rookie right-hander makes the day more memorable when he hits a two-run homer off Jim Bouton in the fourth inning.


1966 Bob Swift is named Detroit's acting manager when Chuck Dressen suffers a heart attack, his second in two years. In August, the 67-year-old recovering Tiger skipper will die due to being stricken with a kidney infection.

1967 Reliever Phil Regan loses his first game in 77 appearances. The 'Vulture' gets pinned with his first defeat in over a year when Astros' third baseman Bob Aspromonte hits a two-run triple in the tenth to beat the Dodgers, 5-3.


“The bat felt like eight and a half pounds when I carried it to the plate,” the veteran Astro recalled.9 Aspromonte slapped a grounder to the left of second base, directly at Weis.
“It might have been a double-play grounder ending the threat and putting everybody into the 25th inning,” wrote Joseph Durso of the New York Times. “But the ball skidded off the chemical carpet known as the Astroturf and went right through Weis’ legs into left field while Miller scored the only run of the night.”10

“I hoped he was going for the double play,” said Hodges. “It looked like it hit the edge of the turf and skidded. I think he touched it.“No, it didn’t take a bad hop,” said Weis, who was charged with an error. “I just blew it. It went through my legs.”12

1969 Jim Bouton records his first victory as a knuckleball pitcher when the Pilots hold on to defeat Boston, 10-9, in an extra-inning contest played at Fenway Park. The 30-year-old right-hander throws three scoreless innings and gets the win when Seattle scores six runs in the 11th inning, and the Red Sox's five-run rally falls a run short in the bottom of the frame.

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1970 During a game against the Giants at Dodger Stadium, Alan Fish, sitting with friends from the Poinsettia Playground in the second-row seats along the first-base line, is struck in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Manny Mota. The 14-year-old boy will die four days later to become the first fatality resulting from a batted ball in major league history.

1972 First baseman Greg Luzinski rings the replica of the Liberty Bell hanging in dead center field on the fourth level with a Ruthian blast at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium off Burt Hooton. The 500-foot clanger, overshadowed by Rick Monday's three routine round-trippers, will account for the Phillies' only run when they lose to the Cubs, 8-1.


1978 Pete Rose surpasses Mickey Mantle for the most runs scored by a switch-hitter when he crosses the plate for 1677th time in his career, tallying on Del Unser's single in the third inning of the Phillies 13-0 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 'Charlie Hustle' will extend the mark to 2,165 before ending his 24-year tenure in the major leagues in 1986.

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1978 Indians southpaw David Clyde, who pitched straight out of high school for the Rangers five years ago, earns his first major league victory since May 15, 1974, when he throws a complete game to beat the A's, 3-2, at Cleveland Stadium. The 23-year-old left-hander, acquired from Texas in an offseason trade, will start the season with four consecutive wins, en route to posting an 8-11 (.421) record along with an ERA of 4.28 for the Tribe.

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1981 Astros' shortstop Craig Reynolds hits three triples in one game, helping Houston beat the Cubs, 6-1. The Texas native, who is only the 29th player since 1920 to have accomplished this feat, scores only one run but drives in four with his three-baggers in the Astrodome contest.

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1983 In an 11-4 rout of the Pirates, rookie right fielder Darryl Strawberry hit his first major league home run, a two-run round-tripper off Pittsburgh's Lee Tunnell at Three Rivers Stadium. The troubled Mets outfielder, the eventual franchise leader with 252 homers, will hit a total of 335 during his turbulent 17-year career with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees.

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1984 Although the Twins sell 51,863 tickets for their Family Day promotion, only 6,346 fans are on hand to see the team's 8-7 loss to the Blue Jays. The inflated attendance results from a massive ticket buyout plan conceived by businessman Harvey Mackay, who paid $218,718 for 44,166 discounted ducats to keep the team in Minnesota, knowing if the club does not sell 2.41 million tickets, it can void its lease with the Metrodome.

1988 Mets catcher Gary Carter hits his 299th career home run, connecting for a three-run round-tripper off Greg Booker in the seventh inning of the team’s 7-4 victory over the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium. The future Hall of Fame backstop will go 230 at-bats and three months before hitting #300 on August 11th.

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1995 The first printed reference to 'Manny Being Manny' is attributed to Mike Hargrove by Newsday's Jon Heyman. In a feature titled Baseball Homecoming, the Indian skipper reportedly uses the phrase to describe his young outfielder, Manny Ramirez.

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1996 In a 13-1 rout over the Astros, Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cub to hit two home runs in one inning. The slugger accomplishes the feat leading off the seventh with a solo shot off Jeff Tabaka and then hits a two-run round-tripper off Jim Dougherty later in the frame.

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1997 Trailing 11-2 after three innings, the Expos come back to beat the Giants at Olympic Stadium, 14-13. David Segui's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning plates Mike Lansing to break the 13-13 deadlock.

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2000 After a fan steals Los Angeles' catcher Chad Kreuter's hat and hits him in the back of the head, many Dodgers, including coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey, go into the stands and start fighting with the Wrigley Field faithful. The melee, which delays the game for nearly ten minutes, ends with the arrest of several fans and litter all over the field.

2001 Chicago outfielder Sammy Sosa becomes the thirty-third major leaguer to reach 400 career homers when he goes deep off Houston's Shane Reynolds at Wrigley Field. The popular Dominican outfielder has hit 371 homers as a Cub, putting him third on the all-time franchise list behind Ernie Banks (512) and Billy Williams (392).

2002 The New York Times reports October 1, the first scheduled day of the postseason, is among the possible
strike dates in consideration by the Players Association. In yesterday's edition, the newspaper indicated an early August date was another possibility for a labor action by the major leaguers without a new CBA in place.

2004 Ben Sheets, en route to a complete-game three-hitter, becomes the 14th pitcher in baseball history to strike out 18 batters in a nine-inning game when the Brewers beat the Braves at Miller Park, 4-1. The 25xyear-old right-hander whiffs eight of the final 11 hitters he faces to break the team record of 14 established by Moose Haas in 1978.

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2006 In a game that features the Molina brothers as the respective catchers for their teams, Jose's theft in the fourth proves to be the key to an Angel four-run inning. Blue Jays backstop Bengie takes second base without drawing a throw from his older brother, advancing on defensive indifference in the seventh inning of an 8-3 Los Angeles victory in Anaheim.

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2006 For the fourth time in Yankee history, the team overcomes a nine-run deficit, defeating the Rangers at the Stadium, 14-13. Trailing 9-0 after an inning and a half, the Bronx Bombers battle back and win the game when Jorge Posada hits a two-out, two-run walk-off home run.

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2006 After drawing a warning from home plate umpire Joe West for throwing a ball behind Barry Bonds, Astros' hurler Russ Springer strikes the Giants slugger on the shoulder with the fifth pitch of the at-bat. This incident will cost the 37-year-old right-handed reliever four games when baseball suspends him for his action against the San Francisco superstar, who needs just one home run to equal Babe Ruth's career home run mark.

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2008 Jayson Werth ties the Phillies' single-game RBI record when he drives in eight runs in Philadelphia's 10-3 win over Toronto. The 28-year-old center fielder, who equals the franchise mark shared by Kitty Bransfeld (1910), Gavvy Cravath (1915), Willie Jones (1958), and Mike Schmidt (1976), accomplishes the feat with three home runs in the team's 10-3 victory over Toronto in the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park.

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2008 Before starting the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium, the visiting Mets conduct a closed-door clubhouse meeting to clear the air concerning comments made yesterday by closer Billy Wagner about his teammates' availability after games. Although the reliever addresses the issue, his remarks focus on the team's lackluster start to the season and the need to get it done on the field.

 

2011 Astros owner Drayton McLane sells the team for approximately $685 million to a group led by Jim Crane, who failed in his attempts to buy this team in 2008, the Cubs in 2009, and the Rangers with Mark Cuban in 2010. During McLane's tenure with Houston, which started in 1992, the club appeared six times in the postseason, including a losing trip to the World Series in 2005.

2011 Vin Mazzaro, demoted the minors after the game with an ERA of 22.74, established a franchise record by allowing 14 runs in the 19-1 Indians' rout of the Royals. The 25-year-old right-handed reliever recorded just seven outs while giving up ten runs in the fourth inning and another four in the fifth frame before being removed.

2012 At Tropicana Field, the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, now located inside the Rays' ballpark, unveil the statue of Casey at the Bat, a seven-foot-tall sculpture that weighs over 600 pounds. The work, created by renowned sculptor Mark Lundeen, is on loan from Mike Elwell, an artist from St. Petersburg, Florida.

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2017 At Comerica Park, Chris Davis hits a pair of extra-inning home runs, a solo shot in the 12th and two-run round-tripper an inning later, in the Orioles' 13-11 victory over the Tigers in 13 innings. Each team scored three times in the 12th, with Baltimore taking the lead for good in the 13th on the O's first baseman's second overtime homer.

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