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Happy birthday to Jerome Walton, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1962 –
With home runs in his first three at bats, 41-year-old Stan Musial of the Cardinals not only becomes the oldest player to hit three in a game but also ties the major league record of four straight home runs, as the Cards whip the Mets, 15-1. His home run in the second game the day before won the game, 3-2, and other stories as well.Today in baseball history:
- 1907 – Bombarded by pop bottles in Brooklyn, irate Cubs manager Frank Chance throws one back into the stands where it cuts a boy’s leg. Chance is mobbed and leaves the park in an armored car with a police escort after the Cubs’ 5-0 victory. Three-Finger Brown emerges with the shutout win.
- 1918 – Although Babe Ruth‘s blast over the fence in Fenway Park scores Amos Strunk, as the Red Sox win 1-0 over Cleveland, prevailing rules reduce Babe’s home run to a triple. He will tie for the American League title with 11 homers, even though he plays just 95 games.
- 1927 – In a matchup of the NL’s top two teams, the Cubs extend their slim lead to one and a half games by edging the Pirates, 1-0, behind Charlie Root‘s one-hitter.
- 1945 – The Cubs take the National League lead by winning two from the Phillies, 12-6 and 9-2. They never relinquish first place, despite losing 16 of 22 games to the Cards.
- 1950 – Red Schoendienst of the Cards goes 5 for 5 against Pittsburgh, but the Cards lose, 7-6, to drop the Birds into second place, a game behind the Phillies.
- 1951 – Red Schoendienst hits a home run from each side of the plate in the second game, as the Cards beat Pittsburgh, 9-8, after losing, 6-2.
- 1962 – The Dodgers take first place as Don Drysdale saves Sandy Koufax‘s 13th win, 2-0, against San Francisco. Los Angeles will remain in first until the final day of the season, but will lose a three-game playoff to the Giants.
- 1990 Looking for his 279th win, Bert Blyleven starts for the Angels but never makes it out of the 4th. He’ll win only once more the rest of the year.
- 2008 – Ryan Dempster improves to 10-0 at home, the best start by a Cubs hurler at Wrigley Field since Rick Reuschel in 1977. Chicago beats the Reds, 7-3.
- 2009 – Andruw Jones hits three home runs to lead Texas to an 8-1 win over Los Angeles, breaking a tie between the two teams in the AL West race. Jones is now hitting .250 with 14 homers, putting his career back on track after a disastrous last season with the Dodgers almost forced him into retirement.
Cubs
Birthdays: Owen Caissie, Jaime García, Bobby Ayala, Jerome Walton*, Ken Patterson, Al Spangler, Charlie Gilbert, Rowdy Elliott, Buttons Briggs. Also notable: Hank O’Day HOF.
Today in history:
- 1693 – New York City authorizes the first police uniforms in the American colonies.
- 1776 – Colonel John Nixon gives the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to an assemblage of citizens in Philadelphia.
- 1889 – John L. Sullivan successfully defends the last officially sanctioned bare-knuckle world heavyweight prizefighting championship when Jake Kilrain’s trainer throws in the towel after 75 one-minute rounds near Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
- 1913 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert‘s patent for the Erector Set is issued, one of the most popular toys of all time.
- 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
- 2014 – FIFA World Cup: Germany defeats Brazil by a record 7-1 in the semi-finals to make it to the final; Miroslav Klose of Germany breaks the World Cup career goal scoring record with 16 goals (surpassed by Lionel Messi in 2026)
*pictured.
