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Happy birthday to Rod Beck, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1930 –
In the first of two in a doubleheader sweep over the Braves, Chuck Klein hits safely in his 26th consecutive game, the second time this season he has run a streak to this length. He will hit safely in 135 of his team’s 156 games this season. Klein, who hit .434 in the stretch, is stopped in the second game of the doubleheader, and other stories as well.Today in baseball
history:
- 1903 – The Giants edge Boston, 4-1, in 11 innings with Christy Mathewson outpitching Vic Willis. Each pitcher allows nine hits, but Matty fans 11, including three in the 11th.
- 1921 – MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Landis hands out lifetime bans to eight Chicago White Sox players accused in the Black Sox scandal despite their acquittal by a Chicago jury.
- 1941 – New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio goes 0-for-4 in a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Browns, ending his on-base streak of 74 games, second longest in MLB history.
- 1948 – Before 72,434 in Cleveland, ancient Satchel Paige makes his first start, pitching seven innings against the Senators before being relieved. Paige picks up the win, 5-3.
- 1977 – Baltimore rookie 1B Eddie Murray homers from both sides of the plate in a 10-inning, 8-6 win over Oakland.
- 1983 – Nolan Ryan pitches his ninth career one-hitter, striking out ten Padres on the way to a 1-0 victory.
- 1987 – Jack Morris ties the American League record with five wild pitches in a 4-2, 10-inning loss to the Royals.
- 2015 – Adrian Beltre hits for the cycle for the third time in his career when he gets all four hits by the end of the fifth inning in the Rangers’ 12-9 win over the Astros. The last player to hit three cycles was Babe Herman, who hit his third in 1933; Bob Meusel and John Reilly are the only other members of this exclusive club.
Today in Cubs history:
- 1904 – Christy Mathewson takes a 4-0 lead into the ninth against the Cubs, but after an out, he is rattled for four hits and a error to make the margin 4-3. Shad Barry, on first base with two out, then tries to steal and is gunned down by Frank Bowerman to end the match.
- 1929 – The Cubs complain about the ragged shirt sleeve on Robin Dazzy Vance‘s pitching arm, an age-old trick to distract a batter. A rule will be passed enforcing neater dressing habits by pitchers. For the second day in a row, Vance has not much more than a sleeve as the Cubs pound Brooklyn, 12-2, behind Hal Carlson.
- 1931 – At Wrigley Field, Bob Smith shuts down the Reds, 8-0, to hand Cincinnati its fourth straight shutout.
- 1955 – With his record at 18-1, the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe loses a 1-0 game to the Cubs’ Sam Jones.
- 1972 – Cubs pitcher Bill Hands allows one hit, by Ken Singleton, in beating the Expos, 3-0.
Cubs Birthdays: Félix Sánchez, Roosevelt Brown, Rod Beck*, Jim Hegan, Al Kaiser, Silver Flint. Also notable: Harry Heilmann HOF.
Today in history:
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus, with Juan de la Cosa as second-in-command, sets sail on his first voyage with three ships: Santa María, Pinta, and Niña from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, for the “Indies”.
- 1900 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founded in Akron, Ohio, by Harvey Firestone.
- 1936 – American sprinter Jesse Owens wins the 100 m in 10.3 seconds in front of Adolf Hitler in a famous race at the Berlin Olympics, the first of four gold medals he wins at the Games.
- 1963 – Warner Bros. Records releases the single of Allan Sherman’s novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp),” set to the music of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from his 1876 opera “La Gioconda”.
- 1970 – Mairiam Hargrave of Yorkshire passes her driving test on her 40th try.
- 1971 – Paul McCartney announces the formation of the group “Wings,” consisting of himself, his wife Linda McCartney, and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine.
- 1973 – Tamla/Motown Records releases “Innervisions,” the 16th studio album by Stevie Wonder, including the hits “Higher Ground” and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”.
- 1977 – Radio Shack introduces the TRS-80 personal computer, and within weeks, thousands are ordered.
- 1984 – Mary Lou Retton scores 10 for final vault to win the individual all-round competition in Los Angeles and become the first American woman to win an Olympic gymnastics medal.
- 1996 – “Macarena” by Los Del Rio starts a 14-week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart; sales of 11 million copies worldwide lead to its ranking as the No. 1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of All Time by VH1 in 2002.
- 2021 – Singer Tony Bennett celebrates his 95th birthday with Lady Gaga in the first of two “farewell” performances at Radio City Music Hall, NYC.
- 2024 -American swimmer Katie Ledecky ties Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian of all time when she wins her fourth consecutive 800m in Paris, her ninth individual gold medal.
*pictured.
