BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1839 Due to an erroneous eye-witness account, Abner Doubleday is given credit for establishing the first baseball game is played in America. Although it is doubtful the West Point cadet was ever there or ever watched a baseball game, the Hall of Fame, which opens a century later in Cooperstown, celebrates the origin of our national pastime in this small upstate New York town.
1880 At the Worcester Agriculture Fairgrounds, Lee Richmond pitches the first perfect game, beating Cleveland, 4-0. The 23-year-old rookie southpaw threw a no-hitter in a collegiate exhibition against the White Stockings last season.

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1886 St. Louis Maroons right-hander Charlie Sweeney, who will give up only nine round-trippers in 93 innings of work this season, sets a major league record when he gives up seven home runs in the team’s 14-7 loss to the Wolverines at Detroit’s Recreation Park. Allowing six gopher balls is the post-1900 mark, a dubious distinction shared by six hurlers, including Ranger right-hander R.A. Dickey, who accomplished the feat in his only appearance in 2006.
1907 Eight different Highlanders commit a total of eleven errors en route to a 16-4 loss to Detroit. Shortstop Kid Elberfeld commits four of the fielding miscues in the contest played in New York's American League Park.

1928 Lou Gehrig collects fourteen total bases when he blasts two triples and two homers. The Yankee first baseman's offensive output leads the Bronx Bombers to a 15-7 win over Chicago at Comiskey Park.​

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1939 The Baseball Hall of Fame, with much of its funding provided by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, is dedicated in Cooperstown, a site selected due to an erroneous report made that claimed Abner Doubleday had invented the game in the small town. The players selected from the first four Hall of Fame induction elections become the first members enshrined.
Baseball’s first Hall of Fame class, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, and Babe Ruth were inducted as five of the finest players of the era controlling the election ballots in 1936

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1939 In front of a record crowd of 23,864 fans at Ruppert Stadium, Lou Gehrig plays his last game in a Yankee uniform when he participates in an exhibition contest against the Kansas City Blues (AA), the team's American Association farm club. The 'Iron Horse', playing only three innings and batting eighth, grounds out weakly to second base in his only at-bat.

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1940 In a trade which stuns the baseball world, the Dodgers obtain Ducky Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from the Cardinals for outfielder Ernie Koy, pitcher Carl Doyle, two minor leaguers, and $125,000. The deal to acquire the 1937 Triple Crown winner, which is engineered by GM Larry MacPhail, signals the emergence of Brooklyn as a serious contender.

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1941 The Braves break up the Waners' brother act, sending Lloyd, known as 'Little Poison', to the Reds for pitcher Johnny Hutchings. 'Big Poison' Paul, the older sibling, was signed as a free agent with the team after being released by the Dodgers last month.
1949 After piloting the team for 13 seasons, Charlie Grimm ends his tenure as the Cubs manager by splitting a doubleheader with the Braves. The 19,802 fans in Braves Field give the skipper, who will stay in the organization as Boston's vice-president, a long standing ovation when he takes his position in the third-base coaching box for the last time.

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1954 The Indians (35-17) move into first place when Bob Feller gets his 2,500th career strikeout in the Tribe's 4-3 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. 'Rapid Robert' will finish his 18-year major league career striking out 2,581 hitters, an average of more than six batters a game.

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1957 Eddie Mathews hits his 200th career home run in the Braves' 11-9 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. The Milwaukee third baseman is the second youngest player to reach the plateau, 98 days older than Mel Ott, who accomplished the feat at the age of 25 years and 144 days.

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1957 At Connie Mack Stadium, Stan Musial breaks the National League record for endurance when he plays in his 823rd consecutive game, surpassing the previous mark established in 1937 by Pirates infielder Gus Suhr. The Cardinal first baseman celebrates the historic contest, enjoying a 2-for-4 day at the plate in the team's 4-0 victory over the Phillies.

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1959 Despite giving up a hit in the bottom of the sixth in the Giants' 3-0 victory over Philadelphia, Mike McCormick receives credit for a no-hitter with the contest rained out, statistically erasing the hit. Due to a rule change in 1991 that mandates a game must last for at least nine innings for the hitless effort to be called an official no-hitter, the right-hander's five-inning rain-shortened outing no longer appears in the record book as a no-no.

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1962 In the Braves' 15-2 rout of LA at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game, with Tommies connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older sibling Hank had hit one out in the second. The Milwaukee teammates will also accomplish the feat on July 12 and August 14.

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1967 After catching the entire game and going 0-for-8, All-Star backstop Paul Casanova, in his ninth at-bat, ends the 22-inning contest when he singles to left field scoring Hank Allen with the winning run in the Senators' 6-5 victory over the White Sox at D.C. Stadium. The six-hour, 38-minute marathon, which ends at 2:43 in the morning, results in the American League adopting a curfew stating that no inning may begin an hour after midnight.

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1970 Dock Ellis throws a 2-0 no-hitter against the Padres in San Diego during the first game of a twin bill. The former Pirates' right-hander, who became an advocate of anti-drug programs, claims he was under the influence of LSD while tossing the most memorable game in his career.

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1978 The Cubs send 22-year-old rookie relief pitcher Ron Davis to the Yankees to complete a trade made two days ago which brought Ken Holtzman to Chicago. The deal turns out better for New York when the reliever posts a 27-10 (.730) record during his four years in the Bronx, and the 33 year-old southpaw starter Holtzman, in his second stint in Windy City, compiles a 6-12 mark before retiring after two seasons of rejoining the team on the Northside.

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1979 Tiger skipper Les Moss, hired early in the offseason to replace Ralph Houk, is terminated 53 games into his first season as a major league manager, having compiled a 27-26 record with the team. Detroit makes the unusual managerial move to hire an unexpectedly available Sparky Anderson, the fired Reds skipper who will spend 17 seasons in Detroit, compiling a 1331-1248 (.516) record, and capturing a World Championship in 1984.

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1979 The Mets enjoy the most productive inning in franchise history when ten runners cross the plate in the sixth fame of their 12-6 victory over the Reds at Shea Stadium. The highlight of the double-digit deluge is Doug Flynn's three-run inside-the-park home run.
1981 With the owners and players unable to agree free agent player compensation, Major League Baseball experiences its first in-season work stoppage. The 50-day strike, which will end on July 31, results in 713 games (38% of the MLB schedule) not being played and implementation of divisional playoffs to determine league championships.
1983 "I didn't know what to say, so I just sort of mumbled, 'Well, O.K.,' " - DALE MURPHY, responding to fan’s request to hit a home run. When Dale Murphy visits with Elizabeth Smith in the stands to give her a cap and a T-shirt, her nurse asks the Braves' outfielder to hit a home run for the six-year-old girl, who lost both her hands and a leg when she stepped on a live power line. The reigning National League MVP obliges, hitting two homers and driving in all the runs in the team’s 3–2 victory over the Giants at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

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1983 Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg, recently-elected Hall of Famers, have their uniform numbers retired by the Tigers in a pregame ceremony. The digits #2 and #5, respectively, will join Al Kaline's #6 (1980) as the only numbers retired in franchise history.

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1988 Mike Scott's attempt for his second career no-hitter is spoiled with two outs in the ninth inning by Braves infielder Ken Oberkfell's line-drive single down the right-field line. The right-hander, who settles for a 5-0 one-hitter, tossed a no-no in 1986 which clinched the National League West Division for the Astros.

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1990 Cal Ripken plays in his 1,308th consecutive game, moving into second-place on the all-time list ahead of former Yankee and Red Sox shortstop Everett Scott (1918-1925). In 1995, the Oriole infielder will break Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record, playing in 2,131 straight games

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1996 Major League Baseball forces Marge Schott to relinquish her role as managing general partner of the Reds for two years due to her controversial comments about Hitler. In an interview last month with ESPN, the Cincinnati owner stated "Everybody knows [Hitler] was good at the beginning, but he just went too far."
1997 At the Ballpark in Texas, the Giants defeat the Rangers, 4-3, in the first interleague game in history played in the 126-year history of the sport. San Francisco outfielder Darryl Hamilton picks up the first-ever Interleague hit, and his teammate Glenallen Hill becomes the National League's first regular season designated hitter.
2001 The pitching-poor Rangers trade backup backstop Doug Mirabelli to the Red Sox for Double-A Trenton right-handed pitcher Justin Duchscherer (6-3, 2.44). Mirabelli will help fill the void created last week when Boston's starting catcher Jason Varitek broke his right elbow.
2002 In the third inning of the Padres' 2-0 victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards, Brian Lawrence strikes out the side on nine pitches, with only one being a called strike. The 26-year-old right-hander becomes the 36th pitcher in baseball history to accomplish the feat when he whiffs Brook Fordyce, Jerry Hairston, and Melvin Mora, who all go down swinging.

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2004 In interleague action, Barry Bonds (675) of the Giants and Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro (536 and 537 to pass Mickey Mantle) both homer in a 9-6 San Francisco victory at Camden Yards. The sluggers join Willie Mays and Ernie Banks (1970) and Mays and Hank Aaron (1971) as only the third pair in baseball history to have 500 career home runs and connect in the same game.

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2005 Hee-Seop Choi homers in his first three at-bats in the Dodgers' 4-3 victory over Minnesota. The southpaw-swinging first baseman's solo shot in the sixth off Brad Radke, who gave up the infielder's first two home runs, proves to be the difference in the Chavez Ravine contest.

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2006 After hitting .625 (15-for-24), Joe Mauer is named the American League player of the week. The 23-year-old Twins catcher becomes one of the very few big-league players to reach base four times in five consecutive games.

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2007 Using a 102-mph fastball and an untouchable curveball, 24-year-old right-hander Justin Verlander strikes out a career-high 12 batters en route to throwing a no-hitter against Milwaukee. The 4-0 hitless gem, which features several outstanding defensive plays from his Tiger teammates, is the first no-no thrown at Detroit's Comerica Park.

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2010 During a 10-2 rout of Philadelphia at Fenway Park, Daniel Nava hits a grand slam on the first pitch he sees as a major leaguer. The 27-year-old Red Sox left fielder, recently called up from Triple-A Pawtucket, hits his bases-loaded round-tripper in the second inning off Joe Blanton, joining Kevin Kouzmanoff as the second player in big-league history to accomplish the feat.
2012 Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig's 74-year-old major league record when he hits his 23rd career grand slam in a 6-4 victory over Atlanta at Turner Field. The Yankee third baseman's historic homer over the left-field fence comes off an eighth-inning 3-2 pitch thrown by Jonny Venters, tying the game at 4-4.

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2014 Max Scherzer hurls his first career complete game, throwing a three-hit shutout to beat Chicago at U.S. Cellular Field, 4-0. The Tiger right-hander's stretch of 178 games is the longest that any major league starter had gone without finishing a game since 1900.

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Today in Baseball History
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On June 12 in Baseball History...

• • 1939 - The greatest-ever gathering of members and future inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame assembles in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the dedication of the museum: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young and Connie Mack accept their plaques.
    1950 - Major League Baseball names Connie Mack as the Honorary A.L. Manager of the All-Star Game.
  • 1957 - Stan Musial plays in his 823rd game for a new N.L. consecutive-game streak. This beats Gus Suhr's old record. Cardinals hurler Larry Jackson beats the Phils 4-0 to improve his record to 8-2. He has now beaten every N.L. team this season.
  • 1961 - An ailing Bill Veeck sells his interest in the White Sox to Arthur Allyn, a minority partner. Allyn also buys Hank Greenberg's stock to acquire a controlling interest. Greenberg remains as General Manager.
  • 1970 - Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis no-hits San Diego 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. Ellis walks eight and hits one and gets all his support on two Willie Stargell home runs.
  • 1975 - Milwaukee defeats Oakland 9-7 to move within four games of first. Oakland's Billy Williams hits his 400th career home run, but is matched by Hank Aaron's first home run in Milwaukee since 1965.
  • 1979 - The Tigers fire manager Les Moss, hiring Sparky Anderson.
  • 1981 - At 12:30 AM, after meeting with the owners for most of the previous day, players' union chief Marvin Miller announces, "We have accomplished nothing. The strike is on.

Baseball Birthdays on June 12...

• • 1857 - Hornung, Joe
  • 1859 - Ebright, Hi
  • 1860 - O'Brien, Jack
  • 1862 - Smith, Edgar
  • 1866 - Spies, Harry
  • 1873 - Dillard, Pat
  • 1879 - Dooin, Red
  • 1880 - McIntyre, Matty
  • 1884 - Knabe, Otto
  • 1884 - Johnson, Elmer
  • 1886 - Schettler, Lou
  • 1887 - Agler, Joe
  • 1897 - Lacy, Guy
  • 1900 - Barnabe, Charlie
  • 1914 - Naktenis, Pete
  • 1918 - Mott, Bitsy
  • 1922 - Mains, Jim
  • 1928 - Cusick, Jack
  • 1937 - Mudrock, Phil
  • 1940 - Bates, Del
  • 1941 - Arrigo, Gerry
  • 1943 - Parrilla, Sam
  • 1945 - Jones, Gary
  • 1946 - Strickland, Jim
  • 1951 - Skaggs, Dave
  • 1962 - Akerfelds, Darrel
  • 1963 - Miller, Keith
  • 1968 - Aldred, Scott
  • 1970 - Buford, Damon
  • 1971 - Klesko, Ryan
  • 1974 - Hollins, Damon

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6/13
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1922 Mel Parnell pitcher (Boston Red Sox, 1947-56), coach, and broadcaster, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2012)

1939 Tom Cheek, American sportscaster (Voice of the Toronto Blue Jays), born in Pensacola, Florida (d. 2005)

1941 Marcel Lachemann manager and pitching coach (Oakland Athletics), born in Los Angeles, California

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1905 Giants hurler Christy Mathewson, who, in 1901, became the first rookie in the modern era to throw a no-no, pitches his second career no-hitter, beating the Orphans at Chicago's West Side Grounds, 1-0. Matty and Mordecai Brown match hitless innings until the top of the ninth when New York reaches the future Hall of Famer for two hits.

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1912 In the top of the ninth inning with no outs at New York's Polo Grounds, Christy Mathewson strands a runner on third base to record his 300th victory when the Giants edge the Cubs, 3-2. During his 17-year major league career, 'Big Six' will compile a 373-188 record.

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1921 Babe Ruth pitches the first five innings and hits two home runs in the Yankees' 11-8 victory over the Tigers at the Polo Grounds. The 'Bambino' will break his major league record this year, going deep 59 times, but this is the only time this season he will be the starting pitcher for the Bronx Bombers.

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1930 For the first time in baseball history, former batting champions are exchanged for one another when the Senators trade Goose Goslin to the Browns for Heinie Manush. Both Hall of Fame outfielders won their titles in the American League, with Manush hitting .387 playing for the Tigers in 1926, and Goslin leading the circuit two years later with a .378 batting average for Washington.

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1938 The Reds acquire Bucky Walters from the Phillies in exchange for catcher Spud Davis, southpaw Al Hollingsworth, and $50,000. Cincinnati's new right-hander will play a major role in the team's two consecutive National League pennants when he wins 27 games in 1939 and has another 22 victories in 1940.

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1940 In the inaugural Hall of Fame game, the Red Sox beat the Cubs at Doubleday Field, 10-9. Future Hall of Famer Ted Williams hits two home runs during the six-inning rain-shortened exhibition.

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1947 The Red Sox score all their runs in the fifth inning to beat the White Sox, 5-3, in the first night game played at Fenway Park. The contest is not the first major league game to be played under the lights in Boston, with the crosstown NL rivals having played an evening tilt last season against the Giants at Braves Field.
1948 With the crowd of 49,641 singing 'Auld Lang Syne' to the Babe, the Yankees celebrate the silver anniversary of Yankee Stadium by holding 'Babe Ruth Day.' With members of the 1923 team (the first club to play in the Bronx ballpark) looking on, the dying superstar's uniform number 3 is retired and sent to Cooperstown.

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1957 At Comiskey Park, an ugly brawl, precipitated by an Art Ditmar pitch behind Larry Doby's head, breaks out when the White Sox infielder takes exception to being the target of the beanball and punches the Yankee hurler. Billy Martin, Walt Dropo, Bill Skowron, and Enos Slaughter all actively participate in the melee.
1957 Having accomplished the feat against the White Sox on May 8th, Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams becomes the first American Leaguer to have two three-homer games in one season. The 'Splendid Splinter,' hitting his trio of round-trippers off Early Wynn and Bob Lemon, two future Hall of Famers, drives in five runs, helping Boston to defeat the Indians at Cleveland Stadium, 9-3.
1957 In a game that features the ejection of Johnny Logan and Don Drysdale, Clem Labine loses for the first time in ten months and 38 relief appearances when the Braves beat Brooklyn, 8-5. The Milwaukee shortstop charged the mound after getting drilled in the ribs by the Dodger right-hander, resulting in banishment for both players.

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1957 The Indians, to get more power from their outfield, send Jim Busby to the Orioles in exchange for 28-year-old Dick Williams, who will play only 67 games with the Tribe before being dealt back to Baltimore. As a result of the trade, Roger Maris will move from left to become Cleveland's full-time center fielder.

 

1962 Warren Spahn record drops to 6-7 when the Braves southpaw suffers his fifth one-run decision of the young season, losing a 2-1 decision to the Dodgers at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Sandy Koufax's fifth-inning home run, the first of only two round-trippers he collects during his 12-year career, proves to be the difference.

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1965 Ron Swoboda, who finishes the season with 19, breaks the franchise record for homers hit by a rookie when he goes deep off Dick Ellsworth in the first-inning three-run homer, providing all of the runs the Mets need in their 3-2 victory over Chicago at Shea Stadium. Jim Hickman had established the mark with 13 round-trippers in 1962, the club's inaugural season.

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1966 After demanding more playing time, Jerry Adair is traded by the Orioles, along with minor leaguer John Riddle, to the White Sox for right-hander Eddie Fisher. The former Baltimore infielder will miss an opportunity to play in the World Series this season with the Birds but will participate in the Fall Classic with Boston in 1967.
1971 Alex Johnson accuses his Angel teammate Chico Ruiz of waving a gun at him in the clubhouse during the game, an eventual 5-2 loss to Washington at Anaheim Stadium. Although Ruiz denies the incident and the club finds no evidence of a gun, Johnson, not known for his diplomacy, adamantly claims he was threatened with a firearm by the infielder during an argument they had after being used as pinch-hitters in the contest.
1973 The Dodgers infield, a quartet which will be together eight and a half years, setting a major league record for longevity, plays together for the first time. First baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey, and shortstop Bill Russell are in the lineup in the 16-3 defeat to the Phillies.

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1973 Dock Ellis walks a batter without ever throwing a pitch to him. After going 2-0 on the Atlanta left fielder Sonny Jackson, the Pirates right-hander is replaced by Ramon Hernandez, who throws two more balls to Dick Dietz, a pinch-hitter for Jackson, to complete the base-on-balls.
1975 The Indians deal right-hander Gaylord Perry to the Rangers for three pitchers, Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown, and Rick Waits, along with approximately $100,000. In his three-plus years with Texas, the future Hall of Famer compiles a 48-43 record, posting an ERA of 3.26.
1976 The Mets sweep the Giants in a twin bill at Candlestick Park, 4-2 and 4-1. The victories mark the first time in 17 tries that the team has won two games on the same day.