BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

6/6
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1907 Bill Dickey Hall of Fame catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; 14 × World Series; NY Yankees) and manager (NY Yankees), born in Bastrop, Louisiana (d. 1993)

1965 Sally McDermid, Australian softball outfielder (Olympic bronze 1996)

1972 Jeff Williams, Australian baseball pitcher (Olympics 1996)

1980 Matt Belisle baseball player

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1892 At Washington, D.C.'s Boundary Field, Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. president to attend a major league baseball game. The Commander in Chief watches Cincinnati defeat the Senators, presently the last-place team in the National League, 7-4 in 11 innings.
1913 The Yankees lose their thirteenth game without a victory when the Indians defeat the team at the the Polo Grounds, 2-1. The 9-34 club's futility, which sets a franchise record, includes a 3-3 tie to Boston during the 14-game span.
1920 The Cardinals play their last game at Robison Field (renamed Cardinal Field in 1917), their home field since 1893, beating the Cubs, 5-2. Owner Sam Breadon agrees to a ten-year lease for $20,000 annually, allowing the team to share the Browns' Sportsman's Park, and the sale of the ballpark providing funds for Branch Rickey's idea of establishing a farm system, starting with an affiliation of a minor league team in Houston.
1925 At Griffith Stadium, future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins hits a double to become the sixth major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. The 38 year-old White Sox infielder strokes the historic two-bagger off Washington's Walter Johnson, also a future inductee in Cooperstown.

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1934 Myril Hoag becomes the first Yankee in franchise history to collect six hits in one game, a major league record of six singles. The 26-year-old outfielder's 6-for-6 performance helps the Bronx Bombers rout Boston at Fenway Park, 15-3.

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1939 Carl Stolz's dream of providing a wholesome baseball experience for local boys as a means of teaching the concepts of sportsmanship, fair play, and teamwork becomes a reality when the first Little League game occurs when Lundy Lumber defeating Lycoming Dairy in Williamsport, PA, 23-8. Allen "Sonny" Yearick, a participant in the inaugural contest, will be the first graduate of the fledgling youth league to play professional ball, becoming a farmhand in the Boston Braves organization in 1948.

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1939 In a 17-3 win over the Reds at the Polo Grounds, the Giants become the first team to hit five home runs in one inning. Harry Danning, Frank Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo, and Joe Moore all go deep with two outs in the fourth inning.

 

1940 Warren Spahn, who will become the winningest left-hander in baseball history with 363 victories, signs a contract with the Boston Bees (Braves). Due to a clash with manager Casey Stengel and his enlistment in the U.S. Army, the 19-year-old southpaw will have to wait six years before he gets his first major league win.

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1941 The Giants join the Dodgers and Senators to have their players wear protective headgear. The sewn-in durable plastic liners do not provide a defense against a pair of defeats when the team drops both ends of a doubleheader to Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, 5-4 and 4-3.
1944 Baseball cancels today's scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy known as D-Day. The military operation has 60,000 Allied troops, including six minor leaguers who will be killed in action, landing along a heavily protected 50-mile stretch of the coastline in France to fight Germany to begin an offensive assault against Hitler and the Nazi party.
1948 Having accomplished the feat on Opening Day, the Red Sox become the first team to hit three consecutive homers in one inning twice in one season. Stan Spence, Vern Stephens, and Ted Williams all go deep off Fred Hutchinson in the sixth inning of the team's 12-4 rout of Detroit at Fenway Park.

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1957 After an 86-minute delay, the first fog out in major league history occurs at Ebbets Field when the umpires call off the Dodgers' game against the Cubs due to extremely poor visibility. The postponement occurs with Brooklyn having a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second inning.

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1958 Ozzie Virgil becomes the first black player to appear in a Tigers' uniform. The 26-year-old versatile Dominican will eventually play every position but pitcher during his nine-year major league career.

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1961 Amid a 13-game losing streak, Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto receives a seven-game 'vacation.' At first, team owner Calvin Griffith insists he has no intention of firing his skipper but will replace him with Sam Mele later in the month.
1965 Tom Tresh hits three consecutive home runs when the Yankees blast the visiting White Sox, 12-0. The outfielder's first inning round-tripper is off starter Juan Pizarro, which he follows up with third and fifth frame homers off reliever Bruce Howard.

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1968 The day after the assassination of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, Maury Wills refuses to play in a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers, his former team. The 35 year-old Pirate shortstop stays in the Chavez Ravine training room, reading RFK's book,To Seek a New World.

 

1971 All youngsters attending the Yankee game are given a youth-sized Bobby Murcer model wooden Hillerich & Bradsby Louisville Slugger during the team's annual Bat Day promotion. The banging of the bats in unison by young fans during the late innings of the Bronx Bombers' 5-2 victory over Kansas City, pieces of concrete start to fall into lower levels of the stadium, a harbinger that the Bronx ballpark may be in pressing need of repair.
1978 The Braves select Bob Horner as their first overall pick in the June draft and promptly promote him to the parent club. The Arizona State corner infielder was the first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given annually by USA Baseball to the best amateur baseball player.

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1986 Padres' manager Steve Boros, before the game against Atlanta, tries to give Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed play from last night's 4-2 defeat. The ump promptly ejected the San Diego skipper before the first pitch of today's contest at Jack Murphy Stadium.
1990 Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as Yankee manager. During his two-year tenure in the dugout, the former minor league skipper will compile a 120-155 (.436) record before being fired at the end of next season in favor of Buck Showalter.
1991 At Royals Stadium, Ranger left fielder Kevin Reimer ties a club record when he collects five hits, all singles, in the team’s 4-3 loss in eighteen innings to Kansas City. In 1993, the 29-year-old Macon, Georgia native, as the DH, will become just the second Brewer to go 6-for-6 in a game.
1992 Eddie Murray sets a new RBI record for switch hitters, driving in the 1,510th run of his career with a first-inning sac fly in the Mets' 15-1 rout of Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium. The New York first baseman surpasses Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle's 18-year total to establish the new mark.

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1993 Cal Ripken suffers a twisted right knee when he catches his spikes in the infield grass during the Birds' 5-2 victory over Seattle at Camden Yards. The resulting swollen knee almost ends the Orioles'Orioles's shortstop historic streak at Game 1,790, 341 contests shy of Lou Gehrig's remarkable accomplishment.
1994 Mike Piazza hits the longest home run recorded in the history of Joe Robbie Stadium when his first career grand slam is estimated to travel 477 feet. The catcher's Ruthian blast, one of four Dodger round-trippers during the Florida contest, isn't enough to thwart the Marlins' 11-10 come-from-behind victory.

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1996 John Valentin becomes the 14th player in Red Sox history to hit for the cycle, collecting a two-run homer in the first inning, a triple in the third, a single in the fourth, and a double in the sixth. The Boston shortstop's ten total bases, three runs, and two RBIs contribute to Boston's 7-4 victory over Chicago at Fenway Park.

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1997 Sandy Alomar ties the major league record when he hits four doubles in the Fenway Park contest. The Indians catcher's quartet of two-baggers helps the first-place Tribe to beat Boston, 7-3.

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1999 Derek Jeter's streak of safely reaching base ends at 54 straight games when the Mets keep him off the basepaths in their 7-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. The defeat also marks the end of Roger Clemens' streak of 20 consecutive victories, an American League record.
2000 Thanks to the Angels' video crew playing a clip from the 1994 movie "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" on the JumboTron, the Rally Monkey is born. With the words "Rally Monkey" superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild when Anaheim scores two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Giants, 6-5.

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2002 The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission agrees to drop its lawsuit against the Twins and Major League Baseball. The deal settles pending legal action blocking baseball's contraction plan and removes the Twins from consideration for elimination for the 2003 season.
2003 Major League Baseball suspends Sammy Sosa for eight games, ignoring the Cubs' slugger insistence the corked bat was used accidentally in the Devil Rays' game. Bob Watson, baseball's vice president of on-field operations, agreed the Chicago's outfielder use of an illegal bat, designed to put on home run displays during batting practice, was an "isolated incident," but one that still deserved a penalty.
2006 When Eric Gagne, who will earn his first save in over a year, throws his first pitch to his receiver Russell Martin, the pair become the first All-French-Canadian battery in major league history. The pitcher and catcher each attended Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit High School, one of the few schools in Montreal which had a baseball program.
2006 On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the century, the Dodgers score six runs in the sixth inning during the sixth game of the homestand, beating the Mets, 8-5. On 05/05/05, the Twins scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Indians.

 

2006 Jason Schmidt, whiffing 16 Marlins during a 2-1 complete-game victory, ties a franchise record for strikeouts in one game, established in 1904 by Christy Mathewson. Also, the 33-year-old right-hander surpasses the San Francisco record of 15 K's set by Gaylord Perry in 1966.

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2007 At Petco Park, Trevor Hoffman becomes the first reliever to save 500 games. The all-time saves leader tosses only ten ninth-inning pitches, including an 87 mph fastball thrown past Russell Martin for the final out, to reach the milestone in the Padres' 5-3 victory over the Dodgers.

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2008 Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski announces the club is optioning their off-season blockbuster acquisition Dontrelle Willis to their Class A minor league team in Lakeland of the Florida State League. The 2003 Rookie of the Year, who posted a 22-10 record two years later with the Marlins, recently signed a three-year, $29 million deal to play with Detroit.
2008 The Kimberly-Clark Corporation donates 59.59 acres to the city of Hendersonville, a parcel of land that includes the historic Berkeley Mills ballpark. In 2015, the North Carolina city will make an effort to place the storied stadium, once the former home the Berkeley Spinners, a semi-pro mill team sponsored by Berkeley Mills from 1948 to 1961, on the National Register of Historic Places.
2008 At Turner Field, Brad Lidge gets his 16th consecutive save when Gregor Blanco is thrown out at home plate, dramatically ending the game and preserving a Phillies 4-3 victory over the Braves. The Philadelphia closer's flawless record from the start of the season breaks Al Holland's club mark, who converted his first 15 opportunities in 1984.

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2010 The Nationals announce the team is donating the hat Stephen Strasburg wore in his major league debut to the Hall of Fame. The 21-year-old rookie right-hander struck out 14 batters in Washington's 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
2013 With John Sebastian's song "Welcome Back" playing in the background, the Seattle fans give Ichiro Suzuki a warm reception when the longtime Mariner legend returns to Safeco Field as a Yankee. The 39 year-old outfielder, who hit .322 during his 12 seasons with the team, was traded to the Bronx last July for Danny Farquhar and D.J. Mitchell.
2015 In the inaugural contest played in MGM Park, the Biloxi Shuckers, coming off a season-long, 54-game road trip, beat the Mobile BayBears, 5-4, in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,065 enthusiastic fans. The Opening Night dramatic 14-inning walk-off Southern League victory marks the first time since 1908, when the Sand Crabs played in the Cotton States League, that a minor league team at home has represented the city.

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2017 Scooter Gennett, who was claimed off of waivers by the Reds at the end of spring training, becomes 17th player in major league history, and the first in the franchise's 135 years of existence to hit four homers in a game. The Cincinnati second baseman establishes a franchise record with 17 total bases with his quartet of round-trippers in consecutive at-bats, contributing 10 RBIs to the club's 13-1 victory over the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.

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Today in Baseball History
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On June 6 in Baseball History...

• • 1921 - The Detroit Stars' Bill Gatewood pitches the first no-hitter in Negro League history, defeating the Cuban Stars 4-0.
  • 1941 - The Giants use plastic batting helmets for the first time against the Pirates but lose a doubleheader to the Bucs 5-4 and 4-3. In the nightcap, Pittsburgh pitcher Rip Sewell sets an N.L. record by totaling 11 assists.
  • 1944 - All major-league games are canceled as the country's focus is turned toward Europe while allied forces invade occupied France.
  • 1958 - Ozzie Virgil, acquired from the Giants in January, becomes the first black player to appear in a Tigers game. He goes 1-for-5 in the 11-2 win over Washington.
  • 1971 - Willie Mays strokes a 12th-inning home run off Joe Hoerner of the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader, his 22nd � and last � career extra-inning homer, a major-league mark.
  • 1975 - Nolan Ryan's bid for a second no-hitter in a row is foiled by Hank Aaron's single in the sixth inning. Ryan gives up one other hit in overpowering the Brewers 6-0.
  • 1983 - The Twins select pitcher Tim Belcher with the first pick in the annual June free-agent draft, but Belcher will reject their $125,000 signing bonus offer and pitch for Team USA in the Pan American Games instead. Belcher will be the first person selected in the January 1984 draft. The Reds take Kurt Stillwell with the second pick. Roger Clemens is taken with 19th pick.
  • 1990 - For the second time this season, Cecil Fielder belts three home runs in a game, as Detroit beats the Indians 6-4. Fielder becomes the fourth A.L. player to have two three-homer games in a season.
  • 1991 - Albert Belle is shipped to the minors for not running out a ground ball in Cleveland's 2-1 loss to the White Sox.
  • 1992 - Eddie Murray of the Mets becomes the all-time leader in RBI by a switch-hitter. He passes Mickey Mantle with his 1,510th RBI

Baseball Birthdays on June 6...

• • 1864 - McKean, Ed
  • 1870 - Hewitt, Jake
  • 1870 - Creely, Gus
  • 1871 - Lange, Bill
  • 1873 - Hach, Irv
  • 1874 - Mellor, Bill
  • 1883 - St.Vrain, Jim
  • 1891 - Cashion, Carl
  • 1892 - Pate, Joe
  • 1897 - Pierce, Ray
  • 1902 - Thompson, Fresco
  • 1907 - Dickey, Bill
  • 1908 - Goldstein, Izzy
  • 1910 - Morgan, Chet
  • 1914 - Silber, Eddie
  • 1915 - Stoviak, Ray
  • 1916 - Lodigiani, Dario
  • 1927 - Talbot, Bob
  • 1931 - Arias, Rudy
  • 1931 - Willey, Carl
  • 1942 - Davis, Bill
  • 1943 - Rettenmund, Merv
  • 1944 - Harrelson, Bud
  • 1945 - Howard, Larry
  • 1946 - Pitts, Gaylen
  • 1949 - Deidel, Jim
  • 1953 - Bergman, Dave
  • 1955 - Nyman, Chris
  • 1955 - Moreno, Angel
  • 1957 - Venable, Max
  • 1957 - Fireovid, Steve
  • 1959 - Frobel, Doug
  • 1964 - Caceres, Edgar
  • 1967 - Ramos, Ken
  • 1972 - Graffanino, Tony
  • 1972 - Kieschnick, Brooks
  • 1972 - Williams, Jeff
  • 1975 - Lamb, David

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6/7
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1933 Herb Score, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1955, 56; Cleveland Indians) and announcer (Cleveland Indians 1964-97), born in Rosedale, New York (d. 2008)

1947 Thurman Munson, American baseball catcher (MLB All-Star 1971, 73–78; World Series 1977, 78; AL MVP 1976; NY Yankees), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1979)

1982 Virgil Vasquez, American baseball player

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1892 Jack Doyle becomes the first player to collect a pinch-hit when he singles, coming off the bench to bat for Cleveland hurler George Davies in the Spiders' 2-1 loss to the Grooms at Brooklyn's Eastern Park. The 22-year-old utilityman will finish his 17-year career going 3-for-5 (.600) as a pinch-hitter

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1906 Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity give up 11 first-inning runs, allowing the Cubs to rout the Giants, 19-0. Matty, who is probably still suffering the effects of diphtheria contracted in the spring, retires only one batter while issuing six bases-on-balls in the West Side Grounds contest.

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1911 After a two-year absence, having little success as a performer in vaudeville and the movies, Turkey Mike Donlin returns to the Giants. The disagreeable outfielder, traded to Boston after just a dozen games with New York, will compile a .316 average during his comeback season.

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1921 The cancellation of the scheduled Class D Appalachian League game against the Knoxville Pioneers becomes necessary after discovering a girl's body at the Base Ball Grounds in Tennessee, the home of the Kingsport Indians. The police do not want the bloodhounds getting confused during the investigation of the foul play at the ballpark.
1931 The A's trounced the Tigers, 12-2, in their one-day road trip to Detroit made necessary by the Sunday prohibition of baseball in Philadelphia, The 'Mackmen' strand 18 baserunners during the Navin Field contest.
1936 The Bronx Bombers beat Oral Hildebrand and the Indians in a 16-inning game, 5-4. Both hurlers go the distance, with New York starter Red Ruffing facing 63 batters without recording a strikeout.

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1938 In a game against the Red Sox, Indians' pitcher Johnny Allen storms off the mound and doesn't return when ump Bill McGowan orders him to cut off his distracting dangling sweatshirt sleeve. The shirt winds up in the Hall of Fame, but the Lenoir (NC) native, doesn't.

 

1944 Tiger southpaw Hal Newhouser walks nine in six innings, contributing to the 3-1 loss to the White Sox at Comiskey Park. 'Prince Hal,' a future Hall of Famer, will average nearly 4.5 bases-on-balls per nine innings during the season.

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1950 The Red Sox compile 42 total bases in their 20-4 bashing of the Browns. The Fenway fireworks will continue tomorrow when Boston adds insult to injury, beating St. Louis, 29-4.
1954 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella steals home in the top of the 12th inning in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis at Sportsman's Park. Campy had added an insurance run with an eighth-inning round-tripper, but the Redbirds scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score.

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1957 Howard University awards honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recently retired Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson. In the coming years, the former baseball great and the Baptist minister will often appear together at Civil Rights rallies, fundraising events, and demonstrations.

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1960 In the Cardinals' 9-1 loss to Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, Bob Gibson ties a major league record when he strikes out four batters in one inning, the additional whiff coming from a wild pitch. The fourth-inning strikeout victims include Jerry Lynch, Jim Pagliaroni, Bill Mazeroski, and Don Cardwell.'

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1966 The A's select future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the first round (2nd pick) of the amateur draft. The Mets, with the first overall pick, choose Steve Chilcott, a high school catcher who will never play a day in the major league.

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1967 The Reds play their major-league record 11th consecutive one-run game, losing to San Francisco at Crosley Field, 4-3. Cincinnati's 19-year-old fireballer Gary Nolan, en route to striking out 15, including fanning Willie Mays four times, takes the loss after Willie McCovey blasts a three-run eighth-inning round-tripper, with reliever Bob Lee allowing the decisive run to score in the frame.

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1969 The Expos lose their twentieth consecutive game, dropping a 9-5 decision to the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. Montreal's streak of futility falls three defeats shy of the modern major league record established by the Phillies, who lost 23 straight contests in 1961.
1969 Washington's D.C. Stadium is officially renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium during a memorial service at the ballpark for the slain U.S. senator. In attendance for the ceremony are former NFLer Roosevelt Grier and Olympian Rafer Johnson, who each helped to apprehend RFK's assassin, Sirhan B. Sirhan, at the Ambassador Hotel.

 

1970 Vic Davalillo gets two hits during the seventh inning of the Cardinals' 10-7 comeback victory over San Diego at Busch Stadium. The first of the Venezuelan outfielder's two singles comes when he leads off the frame as a pinch-hitter for Bob Gibson.
1972 In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Pirates edge the Padres in 18 innings at Jack Murphy Stadium, 1-0. The winning run crosses the plate due to Gene Alley forcing in a run with a base-on-balls, following Bill Mazeroski receiving an intentional walk to load the bases.
1975 Royals' scout Rosey Gilhousen signs University of La Verne standout Dan Quisenberry as an undrafted free agent. During his ten-year tenure with Kansas City, the right-handed reliever saves 238 games, leading the American League for five seasons.

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1982 Joining Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Billy Williams, and Joe Sewell, Dodger infielder Steve Garvey becomes the fifth player in major league history to play in 1,000 consecutive games. The first baseman will appear in 1,207 straight games, establishing a National League record, before the streak ends next season when he breaks his thumb in a collision at home plate, playing for the Padres.

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1983 Steve Carlton of the Phillies strikes out Cardinals' outfielder Lonnie Smith for his 3,522nd career strikeout to pass Nolan Ryan as the all-time strikeout leader. On the same night, Ryan strikes out three San Francisco batters to finish one shy of Lefty's total but will finish his career with 5,714, far ahead of the Philadelphia left-hander's mark of 4,136.

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