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Happy birthday to Blake Parker, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1846 – First officially recognized baseball game (played by Cartwright Rules) – NY Nine defeats the NY Knickerbockers 23-1 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1897 – MLB Baltimore Orioles outfielder Wee Willie Keeler’s then-record 44 game hitting streak ends.
- 1942 – Paul Waner reaches the exclusive 3000 hit club with a single off Rip Sewell.
- 1988 – Bert Blyleven wins his 250th career game as Minnesota beats Seattle, 3-1.
- 1989 – Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets records his 100th victory, 5-3, over Montreal. His 100-37 career record is second only to Whitey Ford‘s 100-36 start.
- 1990 – Gary Carter plays in his 1,862nd career game as a catcher to break the National League mark set by Al Lopez.
- 2019 – One day after fouling a bunted ball in his face during batting practice and breaking his nose, Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Nationals against the Phillies sporting a prominent black eye. He still stymies the opposition with seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win. “Trust me, this thing looks a lot worse than it actually feels,” he explains to journalists.
Cubs Birthdays: Blake Parker*. Also notable: Lou Gehrig HOF.
Today in history:
- 1865 – Union General Gordon Granger declares slaves free in Texas, now the date the end of slavery is celebrated across the US as Juneteenth.
- 1917 – The British Royal Family, which has had strong German ties since George I, renounces its German names and titles and adopts the name of Windsor.
- 1936 – German boxer Max Schmeling KOs up-and-coming American heavyweight Joe Louis in 12 rounds at Yankee Stadium, New York.
- 1937 – Second of two legendary recording sessions by Delta Blues musician Robert Johnson with producer Don Law at the Vitagraph Studios, Dallas, Texas.
- 1946 – First TV sports and boxing spectacular, Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in a match broadcast across New York.
- 1960 – Loretta Lynn records “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl”.
- 1964 – Ameican folk singer Bob Dylan completes his first UK tour.
- 1970 – Jim Bouton’s controversial baseball diary “Ball Four” is published.
- 1971 – Carole King starts a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the double A-sided single “It’s Too Late / I Feel The Earth Move.”
- 1973 – “The Rocky Horror Show” stage production first opens in London written by Richard O’Brian and directed by Jim Sharman and starring Tim Curry.
- 1978 – Garfield, created by Jim Davis, first appears as a comic strip.
- 1992 – Evander Holyfield beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavyweight boxing title.
- 2019 – Oklahoma writer Joy Harjo is named the first Native American US Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress.
*pictured.
