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Happy birthday to Miguel Socolovich, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1983 – In the memorable “Pine Tar Game” at Yankee Stadium, George Brett hits an apparent two-run home run off Rich Gossage to give the Kansas City Royals a 5-4 lead with two outs in the 9th inning, only to have the homer taken away when Yankees manager Billy Martin, at the urging of coach Don Zimmer, points out that the pine tar on Brett’s bat handle exceeds the 17
inches allowed in the rules. As a result, Brett is called out for illegally batting the ball, giving New York a 4-3 victory. Brett goes ballistic and the Royals immediately protest. American League President Lee MacPhail overrules his umpires for the first time, saying that the umpire’s call went against the spirit of the rule, which should be rewritten and clarified, and that the home run will stand. The game will be resumed from that point on August 18th, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1926 – Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth demonstrate that power hitting is not the only thing they can do when Lou scores on a double steal with the Babe in a victory over the White Sox.
- 1938 – 44-year-old Babe Ruth, roughly three years into his retirement and currently first base coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers, launches one 430 feet out of Sportsman’s Park to win the $50 grand prize in a pre-game distance-hitting contest featuring an otherwise active pool of contestants including Cardinals Joe Medwick (the runner-up at 425 feet), Johnny Mize and Don Padgett, as well as Brooklyn’s Dolph Camilli and Ernie Koy.
- 1966 – The Yankees beat the Angels, 9-1, in the first game of a doubleheader, and Mickey Mantle hits his second homer in two days. The round-tripper, his 493rd, ties him with Lou Gehrig for sixth place on the all-time list.
- 1968 – Hoyt Wilhelm‘s 907th game breaks Cy Young‘s record for major league pitching appearances, but he loses a 2-1 decision to Oakland.
- 1969 – At Wrigley Field, Ken Holtzman tops Don Sutton for the fourth straight time – three this year – as Chicago beats the Dodgers, 5-3. For a frustrated Sutton, it is a record 13th straight loss to Chicago stretching back to his rookie year.
- 1970 – For the fourth time in his career, Billy Williams has the only hit(s) for the Cubs, as he connects safely twice against the Braves’ Phil Niekro. Each time previously, Williams also had multiple-hit games to spoil no-hitters. Niekro coasts to a 9-0 victory over Fergie Jenkins.
- 1978 – Pete Rose singles twice, the first time off Pat Zachry, during the Reds’ 5-3 win over the Mets, extending his hitting streak to 37 games to tie the modern National League record held by Tommy Holmes.
- 1979 – Going deep off A’s hurler Mike Morgan at Fenway Park, Red Sox first baseman Carl Yastrzemski becomes the 18th major leaguer and seventh in the American League to hit 400 home runs.
- 2012 – The Yanks make history by becoming the first team since the 1927 Athletics to have three players with 2,500+ career hits in the starting lineup. New York uses Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and the newly-acquired Ichiro Suzuki to pull that off.
Cubs Birthdays: Miguel Socolovich*, Jason Smith, Mike Adams, Preston Ward, Joe Schultz. Also notable: Tommy McCarthy HOF.
Today in history:
- 1758 – George Washington is elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Frederick County.
- 1911 – American explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.
- 1948 – Marvin the Martian, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in “Haredevil Hare.”
- 1969 – At 12:51 EDT, Apollo 11 returns to Earth after taking the first astronauts to the Moon and returning them safely.
- 2022 – Singer-songwriter icon Joni Mitchell makes a surprise concert appearance, joining Brandi Carlile at Newport Folk Festival in Mitchell’s first public performance in 19 years.
*pictured.
