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Happy birthday to Mark Prior, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1998 – Mariners’ OF Ken Griffey, Jr. has four hits, including two homers, and reaches the 50-home run level. He’s the third player to do so in successive seasons. Seattle defeats the Orioles, 11 – 1, as Griffey knocks in six runs, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history
:- 1905 – The Beaneaters and Giants trade shutouts, with Boston beating Joe McGinnity in the opener, 1-0, and Christy Mathewson returning the favor, 3-0, in the nightcap.
- 1907 – In Boston, Walter Johnson tops the Red Sox, 1-0, for the first of his 38 career 1-0 wins. On the 12th, he will shut out the Highlanders 1-0.
- 1908 – The Pirates sweep an A.M.-P.M. doubleheader against the Cardinals. Honus Wagner is 5 for 5 in the morning game, and 1 for 2 in the afternoon.
- 1911: – 24-year-old Grover Alexander, winning a rookie-record 28 games, pitches the Phils to a 1-0 win over Boston’s 44-year-old Cy Young.
- 1925 – In an A.M.-P.M. doubleheader, the Senators win the morning contest with the A’s, as Walter Johnson tops Lefty Grove, 2-1, and goes 3 for 4, the second consecutive game he’s collected three hits.
- 1979 – The Red Sox’s Carl Yastrzemski collects three hits to pass Ted Williams on the all-time total bases list.
- 1998 – Houston’s Randy Johnson strikes out 14 Reds in a 1-0 win. It is the 17th time this season he’s struck out ten or more and the 100th time in his career.
- 2010 – Trevor Hoffman becomes the first pitcher to reach the 600 save plateau, preserving Milwaukee’s 4 – 2 win over St. Louis.
Today in Cubs history:
- 1911 – The Cubs’ Frank Schulte hits his 21st home run and brings in RBI No. 121 as the Cubs sweep the Reds, 3-0 and 4-2. He will lead the National League in both home runs and RBI. He is the first player to have more than 20 doubles, triples, and home runs in one season.
- 1918 – On one day’s rest, Hippo Vaughn gives up only seven hits, but Carl Mays wins a 2-1 duel. Wally Schang has two hits for Boston. Game 3 of the World Series ends with the Cubs’ Charlie Pick caught in a rundown between third base and home while trying to score on a passed ball.
- 1935 – Bill Lee shuts out the Phils, 4-0, for his 16th win of the season, as the Cubs move into second place ahead of the Giants. Augie Galan continues his hitting for the Cubs, driving in two runs.
Cubs Birthdays: Wade Davis, Mark Prior*, Wade Rowdon, Reggie Otero,
Bill McAfee, Curt Davis.
Today in history:
- 1876 – Frank James and his gang are involved in a disastrous raid in Northfield, Minnesota, resulting in the death or capture of multiple gang members (Cole, Bob, and Jim Younger are arrested).
- 1892 – James Corbett knocks out 4 to 1 favorite and defending champion John L. Sullivan in 21 rounds at the Olympic Club, New Orleans, for the world heavyweight boxing title; Sullivan’s only defeat and his last fight.
- 1968 – Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham make their live debut as Led Zeppelin (billed as The New Yardbirds) before about 1,200 students at Egegård School’s Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark.
- 1979 – Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) launches; the first show is SportsCenter.
- 1988 – Elektra Records releases “…And Justice for All,” the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica.
- 1996 – Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and dies 6 days later.
- 2018 – Rappers Cardi B and Nicki Minaj come to physical blows at a New York fashion event.
- 2025 – Pope Leo XIV canonizes English-Italian teenager Carlo Acutis after his death at 15 years old, making Acutis the first millennial saint.
*pictured.
