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Happy birthday to Marcus Stroman* and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1991, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitches the seventh no-hitter of his major league career, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1891 – In front of almost 10,000 fans, Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders defeats the Cincinnati Reds, 12-3, in the first game ever played in Cleveland’s League Park.
- 1912 – George Sisler, a freshman at the University of Michigan, strikes out 20 in seven innings. Sisler will start his Hall of Fame career in 1915 with the St. Louis Browns, but will gain his fame as a hitter.
- 1925 – The Philadelphia Athletics introduce another future Hall of Famer, 17-year-old catcher Jimmie Foxx, who pinch-hits a single in the 9-4 loss to the Washington Senators.
- 1926 – All-time great pitcher Satchel Paige makes his debut in the Negro Southern League. Paige, at 19 years of age, leads Chattanooga to a 5-4 win over Birmingham.
- 1951 – Mickey Mantle hits the first home run of his career off Randy Gumpert in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. In the same game, former Negro Leagues star Minnie Miñoso, the first black player in the history of the White Sox franchise. Miñoso belts a home run in his first at-bat.
- 1955 – Bob Feller pitches hitless ball for 6+ innings and hurls his major league record 12th one-hitter in a 2-0 victory in the opener, and in the nightcap rookie Herb Score strikes out the first nine batters (for a total of 16) en route to a 2-1 four-hit victory.
- 1959 – At the age of 39, Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox pitches a one-hit shutout, strikes out 14, and hits a double and home run for a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Comiskey Park.
- 1966 – Pittsburgh trounces the lowly New York Mets, 8-0. With four hits, Roberto Clemente equals the Mets’ total all by himself. Leading off the 4th, his line drive toward the right-center fence comes within inches of clearing the wall at the 436-foot sign.
- 1974 Tom Seaver strikes out 16 Dodgers and gives up only three hits in over 12 innings, but the Mets lose in the 14th, 2 -1.
- 1975 – Hank Aaron collects four hits and two RBI in the Brewers’ 17-3 win over Detroit. This brings his career RBI total to 2,211, breaking Babe Ruth‘s record of 2,209. On February 3, 1976, the Records Committee will revise Ruth’s total to 2,204. In actuality, Aaron set the record with 2,205 on April 18th.
- 1984 – Dwight Gooden becomes the first teenager to strike out a least ten batters in a game since Bert Blyleven accomplished the feat in 1970. The Mets’ 19-year-old phenom, who will set a major league rookie record with 276 strikeouts, will have a total of 15 double-digit strikeout games this year.
- 1991 Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics surpasses Lou Brock as the major league career stolen base leader with his 939th steal in a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees.
- 1991 Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitches the seventh no-hitter of his major league career. The 44-year-old Ryan, who defeats the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, becomes the oldest pitcher to hurl a no-hit game. His masterpiece includes 16 strikeouts and only two walks. It is also the 209th time he has struck out ten or more in a game, and the 26th time putting 15 or more down on strikes.
- 2010 – Roy Halladay throws his second shutout in three starts when the Phillies stop the Mets’ winning streak at eight games with a 10-0 win.
Cubs Birthdays: Marcus Stroman*, Rudy Meoli, Paul Carter.
Today in history:
- 1486 Christopher Columbus proposes his plan to search for a western route to India in an audience with Spanish monarch, Isabella I; full support is granted three years later.
- 1851 – First public flushing toilets the ‘Monkey Closets’ unveiled by George Jennings as part of The Great Exhibition at Hyde Park, London, costing one penny.
- 1930 – The planet Pluto is officially named by 11-year-old English schoolgirl Venetia Burney
- 1939 – Batman first appears in Detective Comics #27.
- 1941 – “Citizen Kane,” directed by Orson Welles and starring himself, premieres at the in NYC.
- 1952 – Mr. Potato Head is first introduced by toy company Hasbro.
- 1964 – First BASIC program runs on a computer at Dartmouth College.
- 1989 – Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN, submits his initial proposal for the World Wide Web (WWW).
- 1999 – Animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” created by Stephen Hillenburg, debuts on Nickelodeon.
*pictured.
