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Happy birthday to Joe Biagini, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1928 – At Yankee Stadium‚ the Yankees sweep a pair from Washington‚ 3-2 and 12 – 3. Leo Durocher‘s bases-loaded triple in the opener gives George Pipgras (8-1) the win. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth both slug a pair of homers in the nitecap: Lou hits his ninth in the third‚ off Washington starter Milt Gaston‚ then Ruth and Gehrig hit back-to-back dingers in the fourth off Lloyd
Brown. Ruth adds his 18th off Brown in the 7th. Earle Combs also homers — and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1886 – The Athletics try to slow the Browns down by loading the base paths with sand. St. Louis captain Charles Comiskey refuses to play and even helps the grounds crew remove the sand. The Browns win the two games, 18-1 and 11-3, with a total of 14 stolen bases.
- 1928 – At Ebbets Field‚ Bill Terry hits for the cycle to lead the Giants to a 12-5 win over Brooklyn.
- 1941 – Ted Williams is 3 for 5 and scores a pair in the Red Sox’s 6-4 win over the A’s. Ted will score two or more runs for the next seven games, giving him eight such games in a row.
- 1951 – Indians hurler Bob Lemon one-hits the Tigers, 2-1. The only Bengal hit is Vic Wertz‘s home run.
- 1955 – Larry Doby of the Indians hits the first major league homer over the outer wall in Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium‚ an estimated 500-foot clout in the 6th.
- 1965 – Dick Allen cranks a 529-foot home run over the left CF roof at Connie Mack Stadium in the 1st inning off Chicago’s Larry Jackson. The Phils win, 4-2.
- 1971 – The Mets feature firepower as Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver combine to strike out 26‚ tying the Mets’ own major league record set on September 9‚ 1970, in a doubleheader sweep of the Padres. Seaver wins the opener‚ 5-1‚ with 10 K’s and Ryan cops the nitecap‚ 2-1. Mets batters strike out 15 times: the 41 strikeouts ties the major league record.
- 1977 – Johnny Bench‘s 1st-inning grand slam off Rick Rhoden jump starts the Reds to a 8-1 win over the Dodgers.
- 1980 – Johnny Bench hits three home runs off Randy Jones in Cincinnati’s 5-3 win over San Diego. It is the third three-homer game of his career.
- 1990 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics becomes the American League‘s all-time stolen base king. In swiping third base against the Toronto Blue Jays, Henderson steals his 893rd base to surpass the long-standing record set by Ty Cobb.
- 2003 – The Rockies outscore the visiting Dodgers‚ 12-5‚ behind Todd Helton‘s three home runs and Ron Belliard‘s five hits. Helton adds a single as he bats in six runs.
- 2009 – On the road, the Yankees top the Indians, 3-1. Mariano Rivera saves an Andy Pettitte win for the 58th time, setting a new record for a duo of pitchers; the old mark had been held by Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch.
- 2010 – Roy Halladay pitches the 20th perfect game in Major League history, striking out 11 in the process, as the Phillies defeat the Florida Marlins, 1-0. Following Dallas Braden‘s perfect game earlier in the month, it is the first time that two perfect games are pitched in the same season in 130 years. Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward had both pitched perfect games five days apart in 1880.
Today in Cubs History:
- 1884 – Taking advantage of a ground rule change which scores balls hit over Chicago’s inviting 180-foot LF fence at Lake Front Park as home runs (instead of doubles)‚ five players hit round-trippers in the White Stockings’ National League home opener against Detroit‚ winning 15 – 5. Chicago will hit 142 homers – last year they hit 13 – during the 112-game season (more than 90 percent of them at home) to set a record that will last until the 1927 New York Yankees. The rule change appears to be unilaterally made by Cap Anson‚ and the other league owners will squawk to no avail. But the league will set a minimum distance of 210 feet for an outfield fence after the season.
- 1930 – The Cubs’ scheduled game with the Reds is postponed due to the sudden death of Chicago pitcher Hal Carlson.
- 1939 – The Cubs get Claude Passeau from the Phillies for Kirby Higbe‚ Joe Marty‚ Ray Harrell and $50‚000.
- 1962 – Ernie Banks makes a spectacular return from his May 25th beaning with three homers and a double against the Braves at Wrigley Field. Three teammates hit home runs‚ but the Cubs lose to the Braves‚ 11-9.
- 1965 – OF Harvey Kuenn‚ P Bob Hendley and C Ed Bailey are traded from the Giants to the Cubs for C Dick Bertell and 1B/OF Len Gabrielson.
- 1966 – Ron Santo‘s 10th-inning homer gives the Cubs a 3-2 win over Atlanta. The day before‚ he beat the Braves with a three-run‚ 12th-inning homer in an 8-5 win.
- 2012 – The Cubs beat the Padres, 5-3, with James Russell getting the save. He joins father Jeff Russell as the fourth father-son duo to both save a game in the majors.
- 2023 – Marcus Stroman pitches a one-hitter in the Cubs’ 1-0 victory over the Rays. Wander Franco leads off the seventh with a single for Tampa’s only hit.
Cubs Birthdays: Conner Menez, Joe Biagini*, Jerry Hairston, Marty Honan.
Today in history:
- 1765 – Patrick Henry‘s historic speech against the Stamp Act, answering a cry of “Treason!” with, “If this be treason, make the most of it!”.
- 1787 – “Virginia Plan” by James Madison and Edmund Randolph proposed to the Constitutional Convention advocating for a national government with three branches – legislative, executive, and judicial.
- 1886 – American pharmacist John Pemberton begins advertising his patented medicine, Coca-Cola, in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1919 – Charles Strite files patent for the automatic pop-up toaster.
- 1922 – US Supreme Court rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business, thus not subject to antitrust laws
- 1953 – Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British expedition.
- 1980 – Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.
*pictured.
