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Happy birthday to Rodney Myers, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1960 – At Forbes Field, Cubs rookie Ron Santo, making his major league debut, leads Chicago to a sweep of the first-place Pirates. Santo is 3 for 7 and drives in five runs as the Cubs win, 7-5 and 7-6, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1938 – Carl Hubbell wins his 200th game, as the Giants beat the visiting Cubs, 5-1, and stretch their lead over the second-place Reds to two games.
- 1961 – At Los Angeles’s Wrigley Field, Yogi Berra collects his 2,000th career hit, all as a Bronx Bomber. To celebrate the achievement a huge cake is rolled out.
- 1966 – Ron Santo singles in the first and his next time up is struck in the face by a Jack Fisher pitch that fractures his cheek. Before Santo’s at bat, the Mets’ Ron Hunt and the Cubs’ Adolfo Phillips had both been hit by pitches. Santo will be operated on the following day but will return to action in a week. The injury ends his consecutive game streak at 390, but his hitting streak continues.
- 1970 – Frank Robinson belts two successive grand slams during a 12-2 Oriole romp over the Senators, just the seventh major leaguer to ever accomplish the feat. They will be Robby’s only grand slams for the O’s.
- 1977 – On Jersey Day in Minnesota, every fan receives a jersey with #29 on it, Rod Carew‘s number. Carew responds by going 4 for 5, scoring four runs, and raising his average to .403. One of the hits is a grand slam and he will hit another slam on July 4th.
- 1987 – You gotta give him credit for trying. Paul Noce of the Cubs ties a major-league record (tied 11 days ago) in the third inning by twice being thrown out trying to steal. A dropped ball leaves him safe at second base after he is caught, then he is thrown out trying to steal third. Pittsburgh beats Greg Maddux and the Cubs, 5-2. Maddux will finish 6-14, his last losing season until 2005.
- 1994 Kirby Puckett passes Rod Carew with his 2,088 hit as the Twins’ top hit leader.
- 2003 – Edgar Martinez, who already holds the Mariners’ all-time records for games played, at-bats, hits, doubles, total bases, extra-base hits, walks and runs scored, passes Ken Griffey Jr.‘s mark for team career RBIs. His two-run homer in the Mariners’ 10-6 victory over the Angels gives the All-Star designated hitter 1,153 RBIs – one more than Junior.
Cubs Birthdays: Jason Kendall, Rodney Myers*, Mike Griffin, Manny Seoane, Dave Rosello, Howie Pollet, Elmer Singleton,
Babe Herman, George Milstead, Elmer Yoter, Elmer Ponder, Topsy Hartsel. Also notable: Derek Jeter HOF. Willard Brown HOF.
Today in history:
- 1894 – Karl Benz of Germany receives US patent for gasoline-driven auto.
- 1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
- 1959 – Ingemar Johansson of Sweden floors Floyd Patterson seven times in the third round in NYC to win the world heavyweight boxing title.
- 1963 – US President John F. Kennedy gives his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (intended to mean “I am a Berliner”, but may actually mean “I am a doughnut”) speech in West Berlin.
- 1974 – The Universal Product Code (UPC) is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
- 1977 – Elvis Presley appears in concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana; unknowingly the last performance of his career.
- 2018 – Hello Kitty bullet train unveiled by the West Japan Railway.
- 2024 – European Space Agency creates Lego ‘space bricks’ by 3D printing Lego out of meteorite dust, part of a project to learn how to build a base on the Moon.
*pictured.
