5/20 OTD BIRTHDAYS 1921 Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998) 1931 Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982) 1946 Bobby Murcer, American baseball outfielder (5-time MLB All Star), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 2008) 1963 David Wells, American baseball pitcher (perfect game 1998; World Series 1992, 98; MLB All Star 1995, 98, 2000), born in Torrance, California 1964 Jeff Schwarz, American baseball pitcher (California Angels, Chicago White Sox) 1965 Todd Stottlemyre, pitcher (St Louis Cardinals, Blue Jays), born in Yakima, Washington 1976 Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player 1976 Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player 1980 Austin Kearns, American Baseball player
FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+1878 In a 3-1 National League loss to the White Stockings at Chicago's Lake Front Park, right-hander Jim McCormick of the Indianapolis Blues becomes the first player born in Scotland to appear in a major league game. Next season, as a 23-year-old, the Glasgow native will manage the team, which will move to Cleveland, making him the youngest skipper in the history of the game. 1918 In what will become a precursor of a tragic event, Indian outfielder Tris Speaker is struck on the head by a pitch thrown by Red Sox hurler Carl Mays. The submarine pitcher, who will fatally bean Ray Chapman with a ball in 1920 as a member of the Yankees, denies Speaker's allegation that the pitch was intentional. 1919 Red Sox southpaw Babe Ruth hits the first of his 16 career grand slams. The bases-loaded home run proves to be the difference when Boston and the 'Bambino' beat the Browns at Sportsman's Park, 6-4. 1920 The Chicago police, dressed as soldiers and farmers, raid the Wrigley Field bleachers, arresting two dozen Cub fans for gambling. All bets are off when Grover Cleveland Alexander blanks Philadelphia, 6-0. 1925 Tris Speaker, scoring from first base on a single, plates the winning run in the Indians' 10-9 walk-off win over the Yankees. The Tribe scores six times in the bottom of the ninth to accomplish the incredible comeback. 1932 Paul Waner, known as Big Poison to his teammates, strokes four doubles in one game, tying a major league record shared with 11 other players. The 29-year-old future Hall of Fame outfielder's quartet of two-baggers enables the Pirates to beat the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park, 5-0. 1940 Tiger slugger Pinky Higgins hits three consecutive home runs at Briggs Stadium, going deep in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings. The 31-year-old third baseman's offensive output includes a three-run homer and a pair of two-run round-trippers, accounting for seven of the runs in Detroit's 10-7 victory over the Braves.
1945 Pete Gray leads the St. Louis Browns to a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees, scoring the winning run in the nightcap and collecting three hits in the opener. During the Sportsman's Park twin bill, the one-armed left fielder makes ten putouts in the outfield. 1947 In a game that features no extra-base knocks, the Pirates defeat the Braves at Forbes Field, 4-3. The teams compile a total of 22 hits, all singles, with Pittsburgh collecting a dozen. 1947 A's catcher Buddy Rosar drops Walt Judnich's pop-up, ending his record-setting errorless game streak at 147 games. The All-Star backstop's perfect fielding included the span of the 117 games he played for Philadelphia last season, handling 605 chances without a miscue during the entire campaign. 1948 In front of only 5,001 fans in Chicago, Joe DiMaggio strokes four extra-base hits for the fourth time in his career when he hits for the cycle for the second time in a 13-2 rout of the White Sox. The 'Yankee Clipper' paces the Bombers' 22-hit attack with two homers, a triple, a double, and a single and drives in six runs.
1951 Philadelphia center fielder Richie Ashburn, who will lead the NL in hits this season, goes 4-for-6 and 4-for-5 during the Phillies' sweep of a twin bill from Pittsburgh. The eight hits that Whitey collects during the Forbes Field's 17-0 and 12-4 victories are all singles. 1953 In just their thirteenth home game of the season, the Milwaukee Braves attendance surpasses the entire total of 281,278 fans attending their 77 contests in Boston last year. The team will set a National League record for attendance when 1,826,397 patrons pass through the turnstiles this season, more than the combined total of the last three years in the Massachusetts capital. 1958 The Cardinals trade Alvin Dark to the Cubs in exchange for hurler Jim Brosnan. Both players will be productive on their new teams during the remainder of the season, with 'Blackie' hitting .297 in 114 games for Chicago, and the newest Redbird right-hander will compile an 8-4 record for St. Louis. 1959 The Yankees slip into last place when the team drops a 13-6 decision to Detroit in the Bronx. The Bronx Bombers' position in standings marks the first time in 19 years that the club has occupied the basement of the American League.
1962 Ken Hubbs collects eight singles in eight trips to the plate during the Cubs' doubleheader sweep of the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. The BBWAA will select Chicago's second baseman as the 1968 For the second time in his career and the second time in franchise history, Jim Fregosi, with a single in the 11th inning, hits for the cycle in the Angels' 5-4 victory over Boston at Anaheim Stadium. The California shortstop became the first player to accomplish the feat for the club in 1964. 1969 At RFK Stadium, Pilots manager Joe Schultz is ejected for disputing Bernie Allen's fourth inning 'foul' two-run home run that ties the score at 4 in a game his team will eventually lose to Washington, 6-5. According to Jim Bouton's account in his book, Ball Four, the Seattle skipper is tossed after offering his glasses to the plate umpire Ed Runge. 1970 With an eighth-inning run-scoring triple, Rod Carew completes the cycle, becoming the sixth player in franchise history and the first Minnesota Twin player to accomplish the feat. The 24-year-old All-Star second baseman's four hits contribute to the team's 10-5 victory over the Royals at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. 1976 A shoving match, after a home-plate collision between Lou Piniella and Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, escalates into an ugly bench-clearing brawl. Yankee third baseman Graig Nettles and Boston's Bill Lee fight so fiercely that the 'Spaceman' suffers a separation of his left shoulder, significantly affecting his pitching career. 1978 Willie Stargell hits the longest home run in Montreal's Olympic Stadium history, smashing a ball 535 feet into the 300 club deck level in the right field in the team's 6-0 victory over the Expos. The yellow upper deck seat, which replaced the original red one to commemorate the location of the Pirates' first baseman behemoth blast, is now on display at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
1979 Don Sutton becomes the franchise’s winningest pitcher when he is credited with the victory, tossing eight innings in the Dodgers' 6-4 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The 34 year-old right-hander’s 210th win surpasses the team mark established in 1969 by Don Drysdale. 1983 Phillies southpaw Steve Carlton becomes the second of three major league hurlers this season to surpass Walter Johnson's career strikeout total of 3,508 K's, a record that had survived for 56 years. In April, Nolan Ryan broke the Big Train's mark, and Gaylord Perry will reach the milestone later in the season. 1985 The record-streak of 458 major league games played from the start of the season ends due to inclement weather. Rain postpones the contest between the Brewers and Indians scheduled to take place at Cleveland Stadium. 1987 In a season of streaks, the second-place Brewers end a 12-game losing streak by beating the Chicago White Sox County Stadium, 5-1. The 21-15 Brew Crew had opened the season with 13 consecutive victories. 1991 Jeff Reardon becomes the fourth major leaguer to compile 300 career saves. The 35-year-old right-handed reliever, who finishes with 367 saves, reaches the milestone when he retires the side in order in the ninth inning of the Red Sox' 3-0 victory over Milwaukee at Fenway Park. 1999 In a twin bill sweep of Milwaukee, Mets' third baseman Robin Ventura becomes the first major league player to hit a grand slam in both ends of a doubleheader. The infielder also hit a pair of 'grand salamis' in a game against Texas while playing for the 1995 White Sox.
2000 After being released earlier in the month by the Mets for not hustling, Rickey Henderson, in his first at-bat for the Mariners, hits his record 76th career leadoff home run, a shot off Esteban Yan in the team's 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay at Safeco Field. With the round-tripper, the future Hall of Fame outfielder joins Ted Williams and Willie McCovey as the third major leaguer to have homered in four different decades. 2001 Barry Bonds becomes the thirteenth player in major league history to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats. The Giants outfielder went yard in his final two at-bats yesterday, and homers in his first two official turns at the plate today. 2004 Cardinals' catcher Mike Matheny handles his 1,295th chance without an error to establish a major league record for backstops. Charles Johnson, playing for Florida, had set the previous mark in 1997. 2006 After barreling over fellow catcher Michael Barrett in a play he considered hard but clean, A.J. Pierzynski is surprised when the Cub backstop shows his displeasure by punching him in the face. The incident ignites a bench-clearing brawl between the Windy City rivals, leading to a 15-minute delay and four ejections during the White Sox' 7-0 victory at U.S. Cellular Field. 2006 After a 29 at-bats homerless drought, Barry Bonds finally catches Babe Ruth with his 714th home run. The historic homer, which ties the designated hitter for second place for career round-trippers, comes during the second inning of an interleague contest against the A's, with the pitch thrown by southpaw Brad Halsey landing in the first deck of the right-center stands of McAfee Coliseum. 2009 After setting a franchise record in the sixth inning with 11 putouts in the outfield, Jacoby Ellsbury ties the big league mark when he catches the final out of the game for #12. The Red Sox center fielder equals the 1929 performance of Braves' outfielder Earl Clark and Lyman Bostock, who also accomplished the feat in 1977 playing for the Twins. Opposing center fielder Vernon Wells of the Blue Jays does not record any putouts in the team's loss 8-3 loss to Boston at Fenway Park.
2010 Trailing the Reds 9-3 starting the bottom of the ninth, Brooks Conrad's pinch-hit grand slam gives the Braves an incredible 10-9 walk-off victory at Turner Field. The seven-run frame's big blow by the 30-year-old journeyman barely clears the fence, with the ball deflecting off Laynce Nix's glove when the left fielder reaches over the top of the wall at the 380-foot sign. 2012 Babe Ruth's circa 1920 jersey sells to an undisclosed buyer for $4,415,658, the most significant amount ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia, according to auctionreport.com. The woolen uniform top was probably worn by the Babe during his first season with the Yankees after being traded by Red Sox's owner Harry Frazee. 2017 Terry Collins, a 67-year-old baseball lifer, passes Davey Johnson (1984-1990) to become the longest-tenured manager in Mets history, piloting the team for 1,013 games. The oldest skipper in the major leagues sees his charges hang on to a 7-5 victory when Addison Reed strikes out Angel pinch-hitter Danny Espinosa on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded after three runs have scored in the top of the ninth inning at Citi Field. 2018 Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks equals Aroldis Chapman's mark for the fastest pitch known in baseball history when he throws, a pair of pitches clocked at 105 mph in the team's 5-1 victory over the Phillies at Busch Stadium. The 21-year-old Redbird rookie right-handed reliever had never appeared in a game above Class A before starting the season with St. Louis this year. *********** 11,236
Today in Baseball History Home | Contact | Baseball Almanac | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Advertise | Support Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths On May 20 in Baseball History... 1920 - Requested by Cubs officials, policemen disguised as soldiers, farmers, and bootblacks raid the bleachers and arrest 24 fans for gambling. Meanwhile, Grover Alexander blanks the Phillies 6-0. 1941 - Outfielder Taffy Wright of the Chicago White Sox doubles to drive in a run and sets a Pale Hose record by driving in at least one run in 13 consecutive games. Wright has 22 RBI in the streak, and is one RBI-game shy of tying the A.L. record for most consecutive games an RBI. 1945 - Pete Gray is the star in St. Louis as the Browns sweep the Yankees 10-1 and 5-2. Gray, who has only one arm, has two RBI on three hits in the opener and in the nightcap scores the winning run and hauls in seven fly balls, three on spectacular catches. 1946 - Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs makes his first error since September 21, 1941, ending his streak with an all-time pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances. 1983 - In a 5-0 loss to the Padres, Steve Carlton strikes out four batters to move past Walter Johnson into second place on baseball's all-time strikeout list. Carlton's 3,511 strikeouts leave him ten behind Nolan Ryan, who broke Johnson's record earlier this season. 1984 - Boston's Roger Clemens strikes out seven batters in seven innings en route to his first major league victory, 5-4 over the Twins. 1985 - The Indians-Brewers game at Cleveland Stadium becomes the first one rained out this season, ending a record string of 458 major league games played since Opening Day without a payoff on a rain check. Since 1900, no season had survived without at least one April shower. 1991 - Jeff Reardon gains his 300th career save in relief of Matt Young and Jeff Gray. Reardon preserves the 3-0 Boston win over Milwaukee. 1992 - After a 12-inning loss to the Yankees, Angels manager Buck Rodgers says, "We can't start feeling sorry for ourselves or we'll get run over." Baseball Birthdays on May 20... 1879 - Thielman, Jake 1884 - Howard, Paul 1889 - Cather, Ted 1890 - Ayers, Doc 1890 - Buckles, Jess 1891 - Harris, Joe 1893 - Von Kolnitz, Fritz 1893 - Bernhardt, Walter 1897 - Moore, Wilcy 1900 - Gillenwater, Claral 1900 - Klee, Ollie 1900 - Grantham, George 1904 - Appleton, Pete 1911 - Delmas, Bert 1913 - Scoffic, Lou 1914 - Benjamin, Stan 1916 - Wood, Joe 1919 - Taylor, Harry 1921 - Rapp, Earl 1921 - Newhouser, Hal 1923 - Zardon, Jose 1925 - Griffeth, Lee 1930 - Morgan, Tom 1931 - Boyer, Ken 1937 - Giallombardo, Bob 1943 - McDonald, Dave 1946 - Lyttle, Jim 1946 - Murcer, Bobby 1961 - Bryant, Ralph 1963 - Wells, David 1964 - Schwarz, Jeff 1964 - Dillard, Gordon 1965 - Housie, Wayne 1965 - Stottlemyre, Todd 1974 - McNichol, Brian 1975 - Garcia, Luis 1975 - Garcia, Amaury 1976 - Hernandez, Ramon 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.
