BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1956 After the Braves lose the 12th game of their last 17 contests, Charlie Grimm resigns as the team's manager immediately replaced by coach Fred Haney. The 56-year-old skipper, offered a personnel position within the organization, leaves the dugout with a 24-22 record, only 3.5 games behind the league-leading Pirates.

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1957 Dixie Howell, in three and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief, limits Washington to four hits, earning his second victory of the season. The 37-year-old Kentuckian's hitting proves to be the difference when his home runs in the fifth and sixth innings propel the White Sox to an 8-6 victory at Comiskey Park.

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1961 In his major league debut, 18-year-old Lew Krausse Jr., signed as an amateur free agent for $125,000 by A's owner Charlie Finley, throws a three-hit shutout and collects two hits in Kansas City's 4-0 victory over L.A. at Municipal Stadium. In 1932, the redheaded fireballer's dad blanked the Red Sox in his final major league appearance, giving the father-son duo back-to-back shutouts twenty-nine years apart.

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1962 With the Tribe trailing the Bronx Bombers, 9-8, Jerry Kindall hits a walk-off two-run homer, giving the Indians a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Left-fielder Yogi Berra, watching the second baseman's homer go over his head to beat his Yankees 10-9 in the bottom of the ninth, probably experiences a "deja vu all over again" memory of Bill Mazeroski's Game 7 home run in 1960, which ended with the identical score.

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1963 In the bottom of the third of a 4-3 loss to the Giants at Candlestick Park, Jim Campbell becomes only the second catcher in National League history, the first since 1946, to be credited with three assists in one inning. The 25-year-old Colt .45's backstop nails Gaylord Perry trying to advance to third on a fielder's choice, guns down Chuck Hiller in an attempt to steal second, and ends the frame by throwing out Willie McCovey, who doubled and then tried to take an extra base on a relay to home plate.

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1964 In a 7-1 victory over the Astros, Cardinal third baseman Ken Boyer hits for the cycle. In the same game, Lou Brock, recently obtained from the Cubs for Ernie Broglio, makes his debut in a St. Louis uniform with two hits, including a triple, and the fleet outfielder also steals a base.

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1969 In an effort to return major league baseball to Milwaukee, the Chicago White Sox play a home game at County Stadium, where only 13,133 fans show up to see the 'home' team beat the Pilots, 8-3. Ironically, the visitors will leave Seattle next season to move to the 'Cream City,' with the one-year-old American League franchise becoming known as the Brewers.

1969 In the bottom of the first inning at Metropolitan Stadium, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew complete a double steal, swiping second and third base, respectively. On the next pitch thrown by Angels' starter Tom Murphy, the pair repeats the feat when Carew steals home for the sixth time this season, tying the American League record.

 

1971 Recently traded from the Senators, Mike Epstein homers in his first two at-bats, giving him four consecutive homers over two games, helping the A's defeat his former team, 5-0. Oakland scores all of their runs on solo homers.


1976 Mark Fidrych, limiting the Royals to five hits, gets credit for his sixth consecutive complete game when Detroit scores two runs in a 4-3 walk-off victory at Tiger Stadium. The 21-year-old rookie, dubbed the Bird due to his resemblance to the Sesame Street character, has finished every game he has started since his May 15th debut in the rotation.

1978 Reds' right-hander Tom Seaver no-hits the Cardinals at Riverfront Stadium, 4-0. The gem is Tom Terrific's first no-no after taking a hitless game into the ninth inning three times during the first 12 years of his career.

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1984 Mario Soto's second suspension this season results from firing a baseball at a group of opposing players after he punched Claudell Washington, who Lanny Harris was restraining at home plate when the batter tried to charge the mound. The Reds suspends the fiery right-hander for three games due to this incident with Washington, who had been the target of his brushback pitches, getting five games off for pushing the home plate ump.

1987 In the sixth inning of a 6-5 Baltimore loss to New York at Yankee Stadium, Cal Ripken collects his 1,000th career hit when he singles to center field off Rich Bordi. The shortstop is the youngest player in Orioles history to reach the milestone.


1989 San Pedro de Macoris native Sammy Sosa, signed by Texas scout Omar Minaya as an athletic but malnourished and frail 16-year-old, becomes the youngest Dominican to play in the majors. The Rangers' leadoff batter, a twenty-year, seven-month-old rookie, goes 2-for-4 with a double in Texas's 8-3 loss to the Yankees.

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1991 After getting off to a slow start, the Twins take over sole possession of first place when they beat the Indians, 4-2, for their 15th consecutive victory. The winning streak lifts the club from fifth place to the top spot in the standings, a lead the team will never relinquish.

1991 Otis Nixon establishes a National League record and ties the 1912 major league mark set by the A's Eddie Collins by swiping six bases in one game. Crime doesn't pay when the Braves outfielder's thievery cannot overcome a 7-6 loss to Montreal at Olympic Stadium.


1991 Against the Reds, Phillies' right-hander Andy Ashby strikes out the side on only nine pitches to become the 12th pitcher in National League history to use the minimum pitches needed to record three strikeouts in one inning. The Philadelphia rookie becomes the first in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

 

1992 During a pregame ceremony at Anaheim Stadium, the Angels become the first of three teams to retire Nolan Ryan's number. The hard-throwing right-hander, who compiled a 138-121 record in 291 games with California, will also have his digits retired by the Astros and Rangers in 1996.

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1993 The Cubs celebrate the 100th anniversary of Cracker Jack with a party at Wrigley Field that includes distributing the candy-coated popcorn and peanut treat introduced at the Chicago World Fair in 1893, free of charge to all of the fans attending the game against Florida. Sailor Jack, the company's mascot, throws out the ceremonial first pitch.

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1993 In his first major league at-bat, Marlins catcher Mitch Lyden hits a home run off Jose Bautista in the team's 6-4 loss to Chicago at Wrigley Field. The second-inning homer will be the only round-tripper in the brief career of the rookie backstop, who will play in just six games, collecting three hits in ten plate appearances.

 

1996 At 83, Hall of Fame broadcaster Mel Allen, best known for his years doing play-by-play for the Yankees, dies of heart failure. His "How about that" signature line will become familiar to another generation of fans through the syndicated TV show, This Week in Baseball, which he hosted from the program's inception in 1977.

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1997 At Yankee Stadium, the Mets beat their crosstown rivals, 6-0, in the first-ever regular-season game between the two teams. Dave Mlicki throws a complete-game shutout, blanking the Bronx Bombers on nine hits.

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1997 In the first regular-season meeting between the two major league teams in Ohio, the Reds' rookie right-hander Brett Tomko tosses 7.1 shutout innings in Cincinnati's 4-1 win over the Indians at Cleveland's Jacobs Field. The victory will prove costly for Cincy when Barry Larkin ruptures his heel running out a double, putting their All-Star shortstop on the shelf for six weeks.

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1998 The Phillies score seven runs in the bottom of the ninth in an incredible 8-7 come-from-behind win over the stunned Pirates. Mike Lieberthal's two-out, three-run blast off Rich Loiselle is the final blow that sinks the Bucs.

 

2001 In a game that features thousands of swarming moths, the Red Sox beat the Braves and the bugs in extra innings at Turner Field, 9-5. Although the swarm has little bearing on the game's outcome, the insects bothered some players, including Dave Martinez, who claimed to have one sucked into his mouth.

2001 John Olerud hits for the cycle, becoming the twenty-first player to accomplish the feat more than once and only the second, along with Bob Watson, to do it in both leagues. Among all the players who have hit a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game, the Mariners' first baseman has the fewest career three-baggers, with just a dozen during his 13-year major league stint.

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2003 Dontrelle Willis throws a complete-game one-hit shutout in the Marlins' 1-0 win over the Mets at Pro Player Stadium. The D-Train's victory, which improves his record to 6-1, marks the start of the baseball world taking notice of the high-kicking southpaw phenom, the eventual NL Rookie of the Year.

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2005 After a pitch goes between his legs, Richmond Braves flycatcher Esix Snead charges the mound and pummels the Syracuse SkyChiefs hurler, David Bush. The action incites an International League brawl, which results in fines and suspensions given to 40 players, a coach, and a manager, including a ten-day hiatus for Snead.

2006 For the first time in 35 years, the Yankees play a regular-season game in the nation's capital, beating the Nationals in an interleague contest at RFK Stadium, 7-5. The Bronx Bombers' previous game in Washington on Sept. 30, 1971, in the same ballpark, ended with New York awarded a 9-0 victory when the Senators fans, with their team ahead by two runs in the season finale, refused to leave the field as a protest to losing a franchise for the second time since 1961.

2008 Seattle, the team with the worst record in the major leagues (24-45), fires Bill Bavasi as their general manager in his fifth season. Two weeks ago, in a move he came to regret, the embattled GM locked the clubhouse doors and mandated the Mariners players to sit together and be publicly held accountable for their slow start.

 

2010 In his first outing at the new Yankee Stadium, Jamie Moyer limits New York to only three hits in eight innings of work in the 6-3 Phillies' victory. The Bronx Bombers' new ballyard is the 48th venue the 47-year-old southpaw has pitched in during his career, surpassing Rudy Seanez's record for the most appearances in different major league ballparks.

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2010 Michael Young's two-run single in the eighth inning contributes to the Rangers' 6-3 victory over Florida and establishes a club record for hits. The 33-year-old third baseman surpasses Ivan Rodriguez's club record with his 1,748th hit, reaching the mark in 91 fewer games than Pudge.

 

2014 "Major League Baseball today mourns the tragic loss of Tony Gwynn, the greatest Padre ever and one of the most accomplished hitters that our game has ever known, whose all-around excellence on the field was surpassed by his exuberant personality and genial disposition in life." - COMMISSIONER BUD SELIG, on the passing of Tony Gwynn. Tony Gwynn, surrounded by his family, loses his battle with salivary gland cancer at the age of 54. The Hall of Fame outfielder played his entire major league career with the Padres, compiling a .338 career batting average over 20 seasons and collecting 3,141 hits en route to tying Honus Wagner's mark of eight National League batting titles.

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2015 The Orioles blast a franchise-record eight home runs in their 19-3 rout of the Phillies at Camden Yards. Manny Machado (2), Jimmy Paredes, Chris Parmelee (2), David Lough, Chris Davis, and Ryan Flaherty go deep for the Birds.

2019 Trailing by three runs in the ninth, the Padres rally and eventually beat the Rockies at Coors Field, 14-13. The contest ends the highest-scoring four-game series in history with the teams combining for 92 runs, surpassing the record of 88 players crossing the plate, set by the Phillies and Dodgers in May 1929.
June 13 - COL 9, SD 6
June 14 - SD 16, COL 12
June 15 - COL 14, SD 8
June 16 - SD 14, COL 13

2021 With the Diamondbacks' twenty-third straight away loss, a 10-3 defeat in San Francisco, the team surpasses the mark for most consecutive road losses, previously shared by the 1943 Philadelphia A's and 1963 Mets. Arizona, who will extend the streak to 24, last won as the visitors on April 25 when Madison Bumgarner threw an unofficial seven-inning no-hitter in Atlanta.


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JUNE 17 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1868 Sol White HOF executive (Philadelphia Giants 4 x consecutive black C'ships 1904–1907)


1904 Bill Foster HOF pitcher (NgL All-Star 1933, 34; NgL World Series 1926, 27; Chicago American Giants)


1971 Ryan Klesko outfielder (Atlanta Braves)


1974 Hideki Matsu


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This Day in Baseball History
June 17th​

1915 Cubs right-handed reliever George Washington Zabel, called into the game with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, throws 18 and 1/3 innings of the Cubs' 4-3 victory over the Robins at Chicago's West Side Park. 'Zip,' establishing the major league record for the longest relief stint in one game, beats Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who tosses a 19-inning complete game.

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1930 Phillies right fielder Chuck Klein, who collects 53 hits in 110 at-bats for a .482 batting average during the streak, sets a modern-day franchise record when he hits safely in 26 consecutive games. The 25-year-old Hoosier Hammer repeats the feat later in the season, matching the accomplishment with a hit in every contest from July 12 to the first game on August 3.

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1941 In the Yankees' 8-7 loss to Chicago, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is extended to 30 straight games when his seventh-inning grounder takes a bad hop off Luke Appling's shoulder. The Yankee Clipper's fortunate hit also breaks the team's record for hits of 29 consecutive games, previously shared by Roger Peckinpaugh (1919) and Earle Combs (1931).

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1942 During the second game of a twin bill in Boston, Paul Waner, standing on first base, gestures to the official scorer, Jerry Moore of the Boston Globe, not to credit him with a hit on the ground ball in the hole that Reds shortstop Eddie Joost knocked down. Big Poison doesn't want a questionable roller to be his historic 3000th hit, which the Braves right-fielder will collect with a clean single after tomorrow's off day.

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1943 Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin hits a three-run pinch homer in both ends of a doubleheader, becoming the first major leaguer to come off the bench to go deep in each game of a twin bill. Boston defeats Philadelphia in the opener 5-4 but drops the nightcap at Fenway Park, 8-7.

1944 Although continuing to play in the minors until 1955, Ed Levy appears in the 40th and final game of his three-year tenure in the major leagues. Yankee team president Ed Barrow asked the Irish Catholic first baseman, born Edward Clarence Whitner in 1911, to use his stepfather's surname to help the club attract more Jewish fans to the Bronx ballpark.


1956 Joe Adcock's ninth-inning home run off Brooklyn right-hander Ed Roebuck, his second round-tripper of the game, proves to be the game-winner in the Braves' 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The first baseman's blast to left field clears an 83-foot wall at the 350-foot mark and becomes the only homer to land on the roof at Ebbets Field. Adcock hits his third round-tripper of the day when he goes deep off Don Newcombe in the team’s 3-1 victory in the nightcap. The Milwaukee slugger will finish with 13 career home runs at Ebbets Field, the most of any visiting player.)

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1956 Fred Haney, named yesterday to replace Charlie Grimm, wins two games in his managerial debut with the Braves when the team sweeps a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 5-4 and 3-1, starting a streak of 11 consecutive victories. The club's former coach will compile a 341-231 (.596) record, guiding Milwaukee to two pennants and a world championship during his four seasons at the helm.

1958 Tiger third baseman Ozzie Virgil, who became the first black to play for the team eleven days ago, collects four singles and a double in his first home game at Briggs Stadium. The 26-year-old Dominican's 5-for-5 performance at the plate helps Detroit beat the Senators, 9-2.

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1960 Joining Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Mel Ott, Ted Williams becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit 500 career home runs when he goes deep off the Tribe's moundsman Wayne Hawkins. 'Teddy Ballgame's' two-run blast proves to be the difference when the Red Sox beat the Indians at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, 3-1.

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1962 In a play indicative of the struggling Mets, first baseman Marv Throneberry's apparent first-inning triple becomes an out on an appeal play for missing second base in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds. According to legend, when New York manager Casey Stengel questions the call, he is told by an umpire, "Don't bother arguing, Casey, he missed first base, too."

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1962 Gene Woodling, purchased from the Senators for a reported $45,000, substantially more than the $20,000 waiver fee, becomes the first major leaguer to play for the Yankees and the Mets. In his National League debut, the 39-year-old outfielder goes 2-for-4, scoring two runs for the new expansion team in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.

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1962 In the second inning of Game 1 of a twin bill against the Yankees, Jerry Kindall, Bubba Phillips, and Jim Mahoney, the bottom of the Indians' lineup, hit consecutive home runs, helping Dick Donovan improve his record to 10-2. The Tribe also takes the nightcap to complete a four-game sweep of the World Champs, much to the delight of the largest home crowd in eight seasons.

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1970 At Candlestick Park, Willie Mays (615) and Ernie Banks (504) go deep in the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Giants. The round-trippers mark the first time in baseball history that two players with 500 career home runs have homered in the same game.

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1971 Don Kessinger goes 6-for-6, stroking five singles and a double. The Cubs' leadoff hitter's perfect performance at the plate contributes to the team's 7-6 ten-inning victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

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1974 After completing the first 1000 games in franchise history with a winning percentage of .332, the Mets compile a 517-482-1 record in their next thousand contests. During the span, Tom Seaver won 12% of the team's victories, and New York won two National League pennants and a World championship.


1976 At Shea Stadium, 27-year-old Dave Kingman hits a walk-off homer to deep left field, giving the Mets a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. Sky King's game-ending blast comes off Charlie Hough with one out in the 14th inning.

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1978 The crowd at Yankee Stadium initiates a new baseball tradition when they begin to rhythmically clap each time there are two strikes on the batter, inspired by Ron Guidry's 18-strikeout performance, establishing a new American League mark for southpaws. The left-hander's performance in the 4-0 victory over the Angels will lead the team's television announcer, Phil Rizzuto, to coin a new nickname, referring to the Lafayette native as 'Louisiana Lightning.'

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1980 At Cleveland Stadium, the Indians temporarily closed 10,500 bleacher seats due to rowdy fans who pelted Milwaukee's outfielders Gorman Thomas and Sixto Lezcano with various objects during yesterday's 5-3 loss to the Brew Crew. The Tribe will reopen the section at the end of the month, putting tighter security and limiting the sale of beer.

1987 Dick Howser, former manager of the Royals and Yankees, loses his courageous battle against cancer, succumbing to a brain tumor. After three surgeries to remove the disease, the 51-year-old frail-looking skipper had tried to make a comeback with Kansas City but had to resign after one day of spring training workouts, becoming physically too weak to perform his duties.

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1992 Believing the Dodgers lowballed his contract offer, Mike Piazza takes exception to the team, giving a reported bonus of $500,00 to top draft pick Ryan Luzinski. Next season, he will be selected as the National League's Rookie of the Year and will hit .331 in seven seasons for LA, and the 220-pound catcher from Holy Cross High (Delran, NJ) will never play in a major league game.



1993 Baseball owners vote overwhelmingly, 26-2, in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time since 1969. The new system, beginning in 1994, will double the number of teams that qualify for postseason play to eight by realigning each league to three divisions and adding two wild-card teams.