BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

This Day in Baseball History
June 30th​

1894 Fred Clarke makes his major league debut, going 5-for-5 for the Louisville Colonels. The future Hall of Famer collects four singles and a triple.


1908 Red Sox legend Cy Young hurls his third career no-hitter, handcuffing the Highlanders at New York's Hilltop Park, 8-0. The 41-year-old right-hander pitched his first no-hitter in 1897 against the Reds and, in 1904, threw a perfect game facing the Philadelphia A's.


1909 The Cubs spoil the Pirates' debut at Forbes Field, 3-2. The new state-of-the-art ballpark, named for General John Forbes, an officer in the French and Indian War, is the first stadium made completely of steel and poured concrete.

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1938 The Phillies lose the final game at the Baker Bowl, bowing to the Giants, 14-1. New York center fielder Hank Lieber hits the last homer in the history of the 51-year-old ballpark, which also served as the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles home for three seasons (1933-1935).


1948 At Briggs Stadium, Indians right-hander Bob Lemon throws the first American League nighttime no-hitter, blanking the Tigers, 2-0. The Tigers' home was the last park in the Junior Circuit to use lights, installing illumination only two weeks ago.

 

1950 Joe and Dom DiMaggio both homer in the same game for the only time in their careers when each goes deep in Red Sox's 10-2 rout of the Yankees. Dom's sixth-inning solo shot off Joe Ostrowski pads Boston's large lead, and Joe's round-tripper to left field in the top of the eighth frame is much too little too late in the Fenway contest.

with Vince

1954 In his major league debut, Joe Cunningham ties a National League record, driving in five runs in the Cardinals' 11-4 victory over the Reds at Crosley Field. The 22-year-old Redbird rookie first baseman, with his three-run homer and a two-run single, equals the mark established in 1922 by Walter Mueller, playing in his freshman year with the Pirates.

 

1961 Improving his record to 14-2, Whitey Ford becomes the first pitcher in American League history to win eight games in one month with a 5-1 victory over the Senators at Yankee Stadium. The left-hander's five-hitter is his third complete game during the span and the team's 22nd win in June.

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1962 Sandy Koufax becomes the first Dodger southpaw to throw a no-hitter since Nap Rucker accomplished the feat in 1908 when he keeps the expansion Mets hitless in the team's 5-0 victory in Los Angeles. En route to fanning 13, the 26-year-old left-hander strikes out the first three batters he faces - Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, and Felix Mantilla, on nine pitches to start the game with an immaculate inning.

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1962 Due to unusually thick fog at Colt Stadium, the game against the Reds is called after seven innings, giving the Colt .45s a 7-3 victory over Cincinnati. The shortened contest allows Houston's skipper Harry Craft to get to the hospital in time for the birth of his first daughter.

1967 Cookie Rojas, who joined the Phillies in 1964, plays his ninth different position for the team when he takes the mound in a 12-3 loss to San Francisco. In his ninth-inning appearance, the All-Star infielder allows no runs and gives up just one hit, ending the frame by getting future Hall of Famer Willie Mays to fly out to right field in the Connie Mack Stadium contest.

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1970 The Braves ruin the debut of Riverfront Stadium, defeating the Reds, 8-2. Hank Aaron hits the park's first home run off Cincinnati's starter Jim McGlothlin in the first inning.


1973 With an 8-7 extra-inning loss to LA at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds finish the day 11 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Led by the eventual National League MVP Pete Rose, who will win the batting title with a .338 average, Cincinnati will go on a 60-26 tear to capture the Western Division by 3.5 games.


1977 At Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Cliff Johnson joins Joe DiMaggio and Joe Pepitone as the only players in Yankee history to hit two home runs in the same inning. The designated hitter goes deep twice in the eighth as the Bronx Bombers score eight runs in an 11-5 win over the Blue Jays.

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1978 Giant first baseman Willie McCovey, on an 0-2 pitch thrown by Jamie Easterly, launches his 500th career home run over the left-field fence, becoming the 12th player to accomplish the feat. Stretch's historic homer occurs in the second inning of the opener of a doubleheader, in which the Giants sweep from the Braves at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, 10-9 and 10-5.

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1978 Larry Doby replaces Bob Lemon as skipper of the White Sox to become the second black to manage in the majors. Lemon will move on to New York to replace Billy Martin, piloting the Yankees to a World Championship, as Doby will be dismissed from his only managerial stint at the end of the season after posting a 37-50 record with the fifth-place Pale Hose.

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1983 Lance Junker hits two grand slams in the ninth inning of the Redwood Pioneers' 16-5 victory over the Class-A Padres at Reno's Moana Stadium. The 23-year-old California League slugger, batting for the second time in the frame, becomes the third professional player to accomplish the feat, joining Ken Myers (1947 - Las Vegas/Sunset League) and Armando Flores (1952 - Laredo Apaches/Gulf Coast League).


1985 Pedro Guerrero ties a major league record by hitting 15 home runs in June when he goes deep off Bruce Sutter in his final at-bat of the month. The eighth-inning two-run round-tripper will be the difference in the Dodgers' 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Chavez Ravine.

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1986 In front of 7,026 enthusiastic fans at Tim McCarver Stadium in Memphis, Auburn standout football star Bo Jackson makes his pro baseball debut, singling and driving in a run in his first at-bat in the Chicks' 9-5 loss to Columbus (GA) in a Southern League game. The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, who batted seventh as the designated hitter, will finish the night 1-for-4.

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1988 Being six votes shy five minutes before the midnight deadline on the last day of the legislature session, Illinois Governor James Thompson lobbies his lawmakers to approve a new ballpark to keep the White Sox from moving to Florida. Following the drama on TV, Floridians are shocked when the stroke of midnight is delayed by three minutes, long enough to secure the 60th vote needed to approve the $150-million stadium, depriving the Sunshine State of its first major league baseball team.

 

1995 At the Metrodome, Indians' designated hitter Eddie Murray collects his 3000th hit off Twins' right-hander Mike Trombley to become the 20th player to accomplish the feat. 'Steady Eddie' joins Pete Rose as only the second switch-hitter to reach the milestone.

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1997 Rangers' hurler Bobby Witt becomes the first American League pitcher to hit a home run in a regular-season game since Roric Harrison went yard for the Orioles at the end of the 1972 season. The 33-year-old right-hander's round-tripper off Ismael Valdes helps Texas beat the Dodgers in interleague action at Chavez Ravine, 3-2.

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1998 With an eighth-inning homer against the Diamondbacks, Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa extends his major league record for home runs in a month, hitting his 20th round-tripper in June. At the start of July, the Chicago outfielder's season total is 31, four less than Mark McGwire, who also homered today.

 

2000 Mike Piazza's tiebreaking three-run homer completes a ten-run miracle comeback when the Mets stun the Braves, 11-8, after trailing 8-2 with two outs in the eighth inning. The team scored nine runs with two outs, and the ten runs equal the most ever scored in an inning by the Mets.


2001 In his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut, Roger Connor is honored with a four-foot-high marble monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery. The gravestone, which also includes the names of his wife and grandson, notes that the one-time all-time home run leader is a member of baseball's Hall of Fame.

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2002 The Yankees become the first team in the American League since the 1956 White Sox to have four infielders and a catcher on the All-Star roster. The fans vote for first baseman Jason Giambi, second baseman Alfonso Soriano, and backstop Jorge Posada to be starters in the Midsummer Classic, with shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Robin Ventura selected by AL skipper Joe Torre.

2003 Scoring four runs in the 12th inning in the team's eventual 8-7 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field, the Diamondbacks win their 12th consecutive game, setting a franchise mark. During the winning streak, two or fewer runs provided the margin of victory in nine games, with five decided in the team's final at-bat.

2005 After loading the bases in the top of the ninth, Chad Cordero gets Ryan Doumit to fly out to deep right field, recording his 15th save in June to tie Lee Smith and John Wetteland for the most recorded in a single month. Washington's 7-5 victory over Pittsburgh at RFK Stadium puts the first-place team 4.5 games ahead of Atlanta.

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2006 In the fastest game ever played in the seven-year history of Seattle's Safeco Field, the Rockies defeat the hometown Mariners, 2-0. Colorado starter Josh Fogg faces the minimum 27 batters, tossing a two-hitter in the one-hour, 52 minutes contest, the quickest in Rockies' history.


2006 The Reds' 47th homer, which establishes a club for June, is a game-ending grand slam hit by Adam Dunn. The dramatic dinger, given up by closer Bob Wickman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, powers Cincinnati over Cleveland, 9-8.

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2006 In a 5-2 loss to the Marlins, which stops their winning streak at 11, the Red Sox play their 17th consecutive errorless game. The accomplishment establishes a new big league mark, surpassing the Cardinals, who played 16 straight error-free games in 1992.

2007 Making his major league debut in center field at Fenway Park, Jacoby Ellsbury becomes the first person from the Navajo tribe to play in the major leagues. The 23-year-old member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, who will play a significant role in the Red Sox World Championship, batting .360 in 11 total postseason games, is put out by the catcher unassisted in his first big-league at-bat.

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2007 On Disability Awareness Night, the Fenway faithful support the cause by assisting a young man with autism. The enthusiastic Red Sox crowd of 38,000 fans continues singing the national anthem when the nervous singer has trouble getting through the song during the pregame ceremony.

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2008 A pair of demolition companies, which agree to work free of charge in exchange for the scrap metal, begin knocking down Tiger Stadium, starting with the bleachers in left-center field. The 96-year-old ballpark has been vacant since the Tigers started playing in nearby Comerica Park nearly nine summers ago

 

2012 In the Padres' 8-4 victory over Colorado, Yasmani Grandal becomes the first player to homer from both sides of the plate for his first two major league hits. The San Diego catcher, who had one at-bat in his debut four weeks ago against Arizona, flew out in the second inning before connecting for his historic homers in the fourth and sixth frames of the Coors Field contest.

2013 On the day of Seattle's 39th annual Pride Parade, the Mariners become the first major league team to fly a rainbow gay pride flag. The move comes a few days after the Supreme Court's landmark decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

2013 "When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000." - DELCIANNA WINDERS, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation.
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, joining Luis Gonzalez of the Dodgers, becomes only the second player to hit a homer into the 10,000-gallon touch tank at Tropicana Field. The round-tripper draws the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who requests the team to return the 30 or more captive cownose rays to their natural habitat because the animals are subject to harassment, loud crowds, and at the risk of being injured by baseballs.

2014 Rajai Davis becomes the second Tigers player since World War II to hit a game-ending grand slam with his team trailing by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, joining Alan Trammel, who is in the ballpark celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1984 World Championship. The 33-year-old outfielder goes deep off Oakland's Sean Doolittle, who hangs a curveball that gives Detroit the dramatic 5-4 victory in front of a sold-out Comerica Park.

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2015 Chris Sale, making his 100th career start, becomes only the second major league pitcher to record 10-plus strikeouts in eight straight starts when he whiffs 12 batters in the White Sox's 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The 26-year-old southpaw joins Pedro Martinez, who also accomplished the feat in 1999 with the Red Sox.


2016 The Orioles break the record for home runs hit in June when left fielder Hyun Soo Kim goes deep off Taijuan Walker, leading off the seventh inning in the team's 5-3 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field. The team's 56th round-tripper this month surpasses the mark established by the 1996 A's.

2016 Coastal Carolina wins its first national championship in any sport with a 4-3 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of the College World Series finals. The Chanticleers become the first team in sixty years to win the title in its first CWS appearance, a feat also accomplished by Minnesota in 1956.

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2017 Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak's home run against the Red Sox is the 1,070th stroked in the majors in June, breaking the record for the most round-trippers hit in a month in baseball history set in May 2000. At the end of today's games, 33 dingers will increase the new monthly mark to 1,101.


2021 On his twenty-eighth birthday, Trea Turner completes his third career cycle when he triples in the sixth inning of Washington's 15-6 rout of the Rays at Nationals Park. Joining Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, and John Reilly, the Nats' shortstop becomes the fourth major leaguer to accomplish the feat three times.

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224,246

 

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Lou & Joe​

 

Aaron, Bench Koufax and Mays
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JULY 1 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1857 Roger Connor Hall of Fame 1st baseman (career HR record 138 stood for 23 years; NL batting champion 1885; NL RBI leader 1889; NY Giants


1861 John Clarkson HOF pitcher (Triple Crown 1889; no-hitter 1885; 3 × NL wins leader; 3 × NL strikeout leader; Chicago White Stockings, Boston Beaneaters


1888 Ben Taylor Hall of Fame 1st baseman (Indianapolis ABCs) and manager (Washington Potomacs, Baltimore Black Sox)


1916 Bob Prince sportscaster (Pittsburgh Pirates)

1956 Brian Sabean MLB executive (San Francisco Giants World Series 2010, 2012, 2014)

1980 Nelson Cruz designated hitter, right fielder (7 x MLB All Star; ALCS MVP 2011 Texas Rangers, Twins)


1985 Chris Perez pitcher (MLB All Star 2011, 12 Cleveland Indians;

1986 Charlie Blackmon outfielder (MLB All-Star (2014, 17, 18, 19; NL Batting champion 2017; Colorado Rockies)


1991 Michael Wacha pitcher (NLCS MVP 2013; MLB All Star 2015 St. Louis Cardinals

1992 Aaron Sanchez pitcher (AL ERA leader & MLB All Star 2016 Toronto Blue Jays; pitched combined no-hitter 2019

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This Day in Baseball History
July 1st​

1859 In the first college baseball game ever played, Amherst defeats their archrival, Williams College, 73-32 (66-32 by some reports). The contest, played under Massachusetts rules (a square field with no foul territory), takes place near the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.


1902 En route to a 2-0 victory over Baltimore, left-handed hurler Rube Wadell, playing in his first game for Connie Mack's A's, faces the minimum 27 batters, striking out 13 in the Oriole Park contest. In the sixth frame, the 25-year-old Philadelphia southpaw becomes the first American League pitcher to toss an immaculate inning when he fans Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell, and Jack Cronin on nine consecutive pitches.

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1903 At Chicago's South Side Park, Cy Young drives in the contest's lone run with a tenth-inning double, scoring Hobe Ferris. The shutout, his fourth consecutive complete game without allowing a run, is the Boston American right-hander's third 1-0 victory in nine days.

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1910 In front of a full house, the Browns spoil the White Sox debut at Comiskey Park when Barney Pelty beats Ed Walsh and the hometown team, 2-0. The new ballpark, initially called White Sox Park for three years and later renamed for White Sox founder and owner Charles Comiskey, replaces an obsolete wooden South Side Park that had served as the home for the Pale Hose since 1901.

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1914 Henry Kingman becomes the first person born in China to play in a major league game when he pinch-hits in the Yankees' 7-4 loss to the Senators at Griffith Stadium. The 22-year-old first baseman, born in Tientsin to missionary parents, will appear in four games, playing the field in only one contest.

1916 The 42-year and four-month-old Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner becomes the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home when he goes deep in the fourth inning off Reds' right-hander Elmer Knetzer in the team's 2-1 victory at Cincinnati's Redland Field. The round-tripper will be the Flying Dutchman's last four-bagger of his storied career, finishing with 101, including 41 inside-the-parkers, hit during his 21-year tenure in the major leagues.

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1920 Leaving Robison Field in midseason, the Cardinals play their first game as the home team at Sportsman's Park, which serves as the American League's St. Louis Browns' ballpark, bowing to the Pirates, 6-2. After signing a ten-year lease for $20,000 annually with Browns' president Phil Ball, the team moves six blocks to play its home games in a modern ballpark.

1920 At Fenway Park, Walter Johnson pitches the season's only no-hitter, defeating the Red Sox, 1-0. In the seventh inning, Bucky Harris boots Harry Hooper's grounder for an error, ruining the Big Train's bid for a perfect game, but it's the Senators' second baseman's two-out single in the bottom of the frame which drives in the game's lone run.

Harris & Johnson

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1920 At Cincinnati's Redland Field, Reds' right-hander Fred Toney goes the distance in both ends of a twin bill, defeating the Pirates 4-1 and 5-1. The 28-year-old Nashville native's two three-hitters set the mark for the fewest hits given by a pitcher up in a doubleheader.

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1934 Bill Terry leads all vote-getters in All-Star balloting, with Babe Ruth of the Yankees getting the most votes in the American League. The Giants' first baseman will also be the skipper of the National League team.

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1934 St. Louis defeats Cincinnati, 8-6, in an 18-inning game that features both starting pitchers, Redbird right-hander Dizzy Dean and Reds southpaw Tony Freitas, throwing the first 17 frames for their teams in the Crosley Field contest. After the Cardinals tally two runs on three hits off Paul Derringer in the top of the final frame, the home team fails to score with the bases loaded, ending the four-hour and twenty-eight-minute marathon.

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1941 The WNBT broadcast of the Dodgers' 6-4 loss to the Phillies at Ebbets Field features television's first commercial. The station, formerly known as W2XBS, airs a one-minute spot before the first pitch promoting Bulova, consisting of a static image of a watch with the company's name.

1941 In a rain-shortened nightcap against the Red Sox, Joe DiMaggio ties Wee Willie Keeler's 1897 major league record consecutive game hit streak of 44 with the help of a difficult decision by the official scorer. Red Sox third baseman Jim Tabor makes a poor throw, but the 'Yankee Clipper' is given a hit by Dan Daniel of the New York World-Telegram.

1943 Although the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League will not have an All-Star Game until 1946, two teams, one composed of South Bend Blue Sox and Rockford Peaches, and the other from the Kenosha Comets and Racine Belles, put on an exhibition game. The AAGPBL contest is the first night game ever played in the historic Chicago ballpark at Wrigley Field.​

South Bend Blue Sox and Rockford Peaches

Kenosha Comets and Racine Belles,

1943 To save newsprint, the Sporting News begins using a tabloid format. "The Bible of Baseball," established in 1886, became the dominant voice and major source of information for serious fans of the national pastime.
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1945 Absent from the game for the longest tenure by any major leaguer, Hank Greenberg, the first player in the American League to register for the peacetime draft in 1940 in the U.S. Army, makes a dramatic return after forty-seven months, homering in his first game back from the Armed Forces. 'Hammerin Hank's round-tripper helps the first-place Tigers beat the A's at Briggs Stadium, 9-5, in front of an emotional crowd of 47,700 fans.

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1950 Eddye Ford's Yankee debut is less than impressive when he gives up five runs on seven hits, walking six in 4⅔ innings of relief against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 21-year-old lefty Queens' native, better known as Whitey, will become the winningest pitcher in franchise history, posting a 236-106 record during his 16 seasons with the team.

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1951 Joining Larry Corcoran and Cy Young, Indian right-hander Bob Feller becomes the third pitcher in major league history to pitch three career no-hitters when he defeats the Tigers, 2-1. Detroit scores its run in the fourth frame on an error, a stolen base, an errant pick-off throw, and a sac fly.


1953 Mel Parnell wins his 100th career game when Boston blanks the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium, 4-0. Joining Cy Young, Joe Wood, Lefty Grove, and Joe Dobson, the southpaw from New Orleans becomes the fifth Red Sox hurler in franchise history to reach the milestone.

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1957 At Memorial Stadium, Orioles' pitcher George Zuverink and catcher Frank Zupo form the first 'Z' battery in major league history. Both Zees enter the Yankee Stadium contest in the tenth and final inning of the Bronx Bombers' 3-2 victory over Baltimore.

1958 At Wrigley Field, Cubs relievers trick San Francisco's outfielder Leon Wagner into looking under the bullpen bench for Tony Taylor's ball, which is in play, instead of a rain gutter 45 feet away from where the ball landed. In the meantime, the batter scurries around the bases for an inside-the-park home run when the rookie cannot find the ball.

 

1960 H. Gabriel Murphy's option of first refusal to buy the Senators from current owner Calvin Griffith expires. The chief minority stockholder, hoping to stop the club from moving to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to become the Twins will lose two court decisions, preventing him from keeping the team in Washington, D.C.

1962 In the second game of a doubleheader sweep of the Indians, the White Sox become the first team in major league history to record three run-scoring sacrifice flies in one inning. Cleveland's right fielder Gene Green drops two of the three fly balls hit by Juan Pizarro, Nellie Fox, and Al Smith, setting up the unprecedented occurrence.

1964 Five thousand cabbies and their families are at Yankee Stadium to celebrate 'Taxi Day' at the Bronx ballpark. Billy Bryan's 11th-inning solo home run is the decisive blow in Kansas City's 5-4 Wednesday afternoon victory.

1966 Woody Fryman faces the minimum 27 batters in the Pirates' 12-0 rout of the Mets at Shea Stadium. New York leadoff hitter Ron Hunt singled to center to start the bottom of the first inning but was tagged out trying to swipe second base.

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1968 Bob Gibson's scoreless inning streak ends abruptly at 47 when a wild pitch allows Len Gabrielson to score in the first inning of the Cardinals' 5-1 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The Redbird right-hander, who will blank San Francisco in his next start, would have been within three innings of breaking the mark of 58 scoreless frames established in June by Don Drysdale, tonight's losing pitcher.

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Note: Gibson's streak may have reached 55 innings without allowing an earned run if the official scorer had ruled the questionable wild pitch a passed ball.

 

1982 With their 6-2 victory over the Orioles at Memorial Stadium, the Indians complete their first series sweep of the Birds in Baltimore in 14 years. Von Hayes' first-inning three-run homer paces the Tribe's attack, with Len Barker (9-3) picking up the victory

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1982 Mark Fidrych, attempting to return to the majors, and Dave Righetti, the AL Rookie of the Year, sent down by the Yankees to Triple-A Columbus after a slow start in his sophomore season, match up in one of the most memorable minor league games ever played. The chanting and cheering overflow crowd at McCoy Stadium, of 9,389, packed into the ballpark designed to accommodate 5,800 fans, vocally displays their support for the 'Bird' throughout the game and becomes delirious when he strikes out Butch Hobson for the final out in his improbable complete-game 7-5 victory.

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1982 Considered a questionable decision due to the infielder's height, Cal Ripken is moved from third base to shortstop by Oriole manager Earl Weaver. The 6'4" future Hall of Famer takes over the job from veteran 6'1" infielder Mark Belanger, an eight-time Gold Glover.
Belanger Ripken

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1984 Paul Splittorff announces his retirement from baseball. The 37-year-old southpaw, who becomes an analyst on pregame and postgame shows for KMBZ radio, leaves the Royals as the all-time leader in victories/losses (166/144), innings (2,554.2), and games started (392).

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