BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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On May 15 in Baseball History...

• • 1894 - In the aftermath of a fierce fight between Baltimore's John McGraw and Boston's Tommy Tucker in the third inning, a devastating fire starts in the right field stands at Boston's South End Grounds. The fire destroys $70,000 worth of equipment as well as the park, the only truly double-decked grandstand Boston would ever have.
  • 1912 - Ty Cobb charges into the stands in New York and attacks heckler Claude Lueker. Other fans and Tigers mix it up. A.L. president Ban Johnson suspends Cobb indefinitely.
  • 1922 - In a game at New York, Ty Cobb beats out a grounder to shortstop Everett Scott. Veteran writer Fred Lieb scores it a hit in the box score he files with the Associated Press. But official scorer John Kieran of the Times gives an error to Scott. At the season's end, the A.L. official records, based on AP box scores, list Cobb at .401. New York writers complain unsuccessfully that it should be .399, based on the official scorer's stats.
  • 1941 - Joe DiMaggio gets a single against Eddie Smith of the Chicago White Sox to start his 56-game hitting streak. Joe D's hit goes unnoticed as the Yankees lose 13-1.
  • 1960 - Two days after being traded from the Phillies to the Cubs, Don Cardwell pitches a no-hitter. Two brilliant defensive plays � a leaping catch of Carl Sawatski's drive by right fielder George Altman in the eighth inning and Walt Moryn's game-ending sliding grab � save Cardwell's gem. Ernie Banks' home run paces the 4-0 win, the first no-hitter against the Cards since May 11, 1919.
  • 1968 - The first A.L. game played in Milwaukee since 1901 is a 4-2 California win against Chicago before 23,403 fans. This is the first of the nine games the White Sox will play in Milwaukee in 1968.
  • 1973 - California's Nolan Ryan strikes out 12 and hurls his first career no-hitter in beating Kansas City 3-0. For catcher Jeff Torborg, it is his third no-hitter.
  • 1981 - Len Barker pitches the ninth perfect game in the 20th century. The Indians righthander hurls the 3-0 perfecto over the Blue Jays before just 7,290 fans on a rainy night in Cleveland. Barker, the 1980 strikeout leader in the A.L., fans 11 Jays.
  • 1989 - The Blue Jays fire manager Jimy Williams and replace him with hitting coach Cito Gaston. Williams led the club to a 12-24 start and had several publicized run-ins with star slugger George Bell, who refused to be the club's designated hitter.
  • 1991 - The Red Sox and White Sox play the slowest nine-inning game to date in major league history (four hours, 11 minutes), but Boston rallies from a 5-0 deficit for a 9-6 win.
  • 1998 - A blockbuster trade involves seven players whose guaranteed contracts combine for a record $98 million. The Dodgers get Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, and Jim Eisenreich and send Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile to the Marlins. With the trade, Florida has officially purged itself of a dozen costly and quality players from the team that won the World Series seven months earlier. Piazza, a superstar in Los Angeles, had turned down a six-year, $80-million offer to stay with the Dodgers.

Baseball Birthdays on May 15...

• • 1855 - Salisbury, Harry
  • 1856 - Goldsmith, Fred
  • 1879 - Burns, C.B.
  • 1881 - Leber, Emil
  • 1885 - Stroud, Sailor
  • 1888 - Yerkes, Steve
  • 1890 - Smith, Harry
  • 1890 - Thomas, Claude
  • 1890 - Spencer, Ben
  • 1891 - Meister, Karl
  • 1893 - Fishburn, Sam
  • 1895 - Smith, Jimmy
  • 1895 - Evans, Joe
  • 1905 - Falk, Chet
  • 1907 - Baecht, Ed
  • 1911 - Storie, Howie
  • 1914 - Wasdell, Jimmy
  • 1919 - Wright, Ed
  • 1923 - Matthewson, Dale
  • 1926 - Baczewski, Fred
  • 1938 - McBean, Al
  • 1948 - North, Billy
  • 1949 - Dunning, Steve
  • 1952 - Waits, Rick
  • 1953 - Brett, George
  • 1965 - Marquez, Isidro
  • 1967 - Smoltz, John
  • 1969 - Irabu, Hideki
  • 1970 - Watkins, Scott
  • 1974 - Hinch, A.J.
  • 1975 - Woodard, Steve
  • 1976 - Karnuth, Jason
  • 1978 - Andrews, Clayton
  • 1980 - Beckett, Josh

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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5/16
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1920 Dave Philley, Texas, Major League Baseball switch-hitter (record 9 straight pinch hits), born in Paris, France (d. 2012)

1928 Billy Martin, American baseball 2nd baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees), born in Berekeley, California (d. 1989)

1949 Rick Reuschel, pitcher (NY Yankees, Cubs, Giants)

1953 Rick Rhoden, American baseball pitcher Atlantic High School in Delray Beach minor league baseball Daytona Beach(MLB All-Star (1976, 86; Silver Slugger Award 1984–86; LA Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, NY Yankees), born in Boynton Beach, Florida

1955 Jack Morris, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (5 x MLB All Star; World Series 1984 Detroit Tigers, 1991 Minnesota Twins, 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota

1959 Bob Patterson, pitcher (Chicago Cubs), born in Jacksonville, Florida

1965 Lori Sippel, Stratford Ontario, softball pitcher (Olympics 1996)

1984 Jensen Lewis, American baseball player, born Cincinnati, Ohio

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

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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Cecil H. Travis was born on a farm in Riverdale, Georgia, on August 8, 1913. His professional baseball career began in 1931 at the age of just 17, when he hit .429 with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class A Southern Association. He batted .356 with the same team the following year and was called up by the Washington Senators in May 1933, getting five hits in his first game.
Despite his young age, Travis quickly established himself as one of the outstanding players of the American League. Had he not been playing for the perennial second-division Senators, he would have been hailed a superstar. Playing shortstop and third base, Travis had compiled a lifetime batting average of .322 by 1940, and his 1941 season – his ninth in the major leagues – was by far his best. Playing in all 152 games for the Senators, Travis batted an outstanding .359 (second only to Ted Williams’ incredible .406). He led the league with 218 hits and finished second with 19 triples. He also had a career-high 101 RBIs.
But as quickly as Travis reached the top of his game his career was put on hold. He entered military service on January 9, 1942, and would be away from baseball for four seasons. At the time, Travis thought he might be in the service for a year or so, “but you didn’t think you were going to be there so long,” he later said.
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.

 

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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.
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.
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.

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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.
2006 At Cleveland's League Park, the Blues, later known as the Indians, score nine runs in the bottom of the ninth, stunning the Senators, 14-13. The incredible comeback, consisting of six singles, two doubles, a walk, a hit batsman, and a passed ball, comes after two outs. ??

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.

 

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.
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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10,612

 

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Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On May 16 in Baseball History...

• • 1902 - Two deaf-mutes face each other for the first time when Dummy Hoy leads off for the Reds against Dummy Taylor of the Giants. The Reds win 5-3 with a five-run rally in the ninth. Hoy goes 2-for-4.
  • 1932 - The Yankees score their fourth straight shutout to equal the record set by Cleveland (1903) and Boston (1906). Johnny Allen, George Pipgras, Red Ruffing, and Lefty Gomez are the hurlers.
  • 1939 - The first A.L. night game is played at Shibe Park, with Cleveland beating the host Philadelphia Athletics 8-3 in ten innings.
  • 1954 - Ted Williams returns to action after breaking his collarbone in spring training and goes 8-for-9 with two home runs and seven RBI in a doubleheader against the Tigers. Williams has three hits in game one, a 7-6 loss. He goes five-for-five in the nightcap, including two home runs, but Boston loses 9-8 in 14 innings.
  • 1957 - The Yankees celebrate Billy Martin's 29th birthday in a raucous fashion. An ensuing fight at Manhattan's Copacabana Club leads to $5,500 in fines and the eventual trade of Billy to Kansas City. Hank Bauer allegedly starts the fight by hitting a patron, although Bauer denies it.
  • 
  • 1967 - Philadelphia voters approve a $13 million bond issue to build a new stadium.
  • 1979 - N.L. owners approve the sale of the Astros from the Ford Motor Credit Company to John J. McMullen for a reported $19 million.
  • 1984 - The Twins sell 51,863 tickets to their 8-7 loss to the Blue Jays, but only 6,346 fans show up for the game. The skewed numbers are the result of a massive ticket buyout plan organized by Minneapolis businessman Harvey Mackay to keep the Twins in Minnesota; if the club does not sell 2.41 million tickets this season it can break its lease with the Metrodome. Taking advantage of reduced prices on the Family Day promotion, Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets.
  • 1987 - After starting off with an 18-2 record, the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers drop their tenth in a row, losing 13-0 to Kansas City, and earning the nickname Team Streak. The Brew Crew's only hit off Charlie Leibrandt is a bunt single.
  • 1997 - Jim Leyland returns to Pittsburgh for the first time wearing a uniform other than that of the Pirates. Leyland, who spent 11 seasons as skipper in Pittsburgh, sees his new team, the Marlins, beat the Pirates, 3-1. Two days later he leaves town with Florida's first-ever sweep in Pittsburgh

Baseball Birthdays on May 16...

• • 1858 - Voss, Alex
  • 1859 - Dignan, Steve
  • 1866 - Hart, Billy
  • 1876 - Barclay, George
  • 1886 - Lehr, Clarence
  • 1894 - Smith, Paddy
  • 1895 - Snover, Colonel
  • 1896 - Ostergard, Red
  • 1902 - Clark, Watty
  • 1902 - Fitzgerald, Howie
  • 1904 - White, Abe
  • 1917 - Jumonville, George
  • 1919 - Overmire, Stubby
  • 1920 - Philley, Dave
  • 1926 - Walker, Rube
  • 1928 - Martin, Billy
  • 1931 - Johnson, Ben
  • 1933 - Bruce, Bob
  • 1949 - Reuschel, Rick
  • 1951 - Potter, Mike
  • 1953 - Rhoden, Rick
  • 1955 - Morris, Jack
  • 1955 - Wilson, Tack
  • 1957 - Funderburk, Mark
  • 1959 - Patterson, Bob
  • 1959 - Webster, Mitch
  • 1967 - Seminara, Frank
  • 1967 - Brocail, Doug
  • 1969 - Heathcott, Mike
  • 1970 - Mecir, Jim
  • 1974 - Riggan, Jerrod
  • 1977 - Coffie, Ivanon
  • 1978 - Bierbrodt, Nick

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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