This Date in Baseball

"Any time you can be mentioned with Joe DiMaggio in any sentence, especially in this rich tradition of the Yankees, it makes you feel very humble." - ALEX RODRIGUEZ, on becoming only the second right-handed batter in Yankees history to hit 40 homers.


1905 Making his major league debut, Ty Cobb doubles off Highlander's Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 Tiger victory at Detroit's Bennett Park.
1912 At Detroit's Navin Field, Browns' hurler Earl Hamilton no-hits the Tigers, 5-1.
1916 Dutch Leonard of the Red Sox no-hits the Browns at Fenway Park., 4-0.
1918 Yankee Tom Hughes pitches 9 1/3 of no-hit ball before giving up a single to Harry Niles. The Indians eventually win the game in the 11th, 5-0.
1918 With a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Giants beat the Dodgers, 1-0. The Polo Grounds contest takes just fifty-seven minutes to complete.
1939 Yankee freshman Atley Donald pitches a baseball at 94.7 miles per hours to establish a new record for a fast ball. ‘Swampy’ will win 12 straight games to set an AL record for most consecutive victories thrown by a rookie.

1984 Jim Rice grounds into his 33rd double play of the season establishing a new major league mark. The Red Sox outfielder breaks 1954 record set by another Boston flycatcher, Jackie Jensen.
1986 Yankee hurlers Tommy John (43) and Joe Niekro (41) becomes the first 40+ pitchers since 1933 to start both ends of a doubleheader. John loses 1-0 and Niekro pitches five innings for a 3-0 victory over the Mariners.
1998 Defeating the Marlins 7-5, the Reds hand Florida its 89th loss, the most ever for a reigning World Series champ. The Reds lost 88 games in 1991 after its Fall Classic sweep of the A's.
1998 Toms River becomes the first American team since 1993 to win the Little League World Series. Chris Cardone hits home runs in consecutive at-bats, including a game-deciding two-run shot beating Kashima, Japan,12-9.
1998 The Cardinals honor Jack Buck with a new statue in Buck's likeness. The Hall of Fame broadcaster began announcing Cardinal's games in 1954.

1999 At the Astrodome, Edgardo Alfonzo becomes the first player in the Mets 38-year history to go 6-for-6 scoring six times and drives in five runs. The second baseman hits three homers, two singles and a double for team-record 16 total bases as New York routs Houston, 17-1.
2000 On a night when every player in the Astros' starting lineup gets a hit, reserve catcher Tony Eusebio's hitting streak ends at 24 games establishing a new Houston team record.
2000 With the exception of hitting his first batter and giving up an opposite field leadoff single in the ninth, Pedro Martinez is nearly perfect in Boston's win over the Devil Rays, 8-0. The brawl-filled contest features five fights with eight Devil Rays (five players, the manager and two coaches) being ejected and Carl Everett needing a single to hit for the cycle but homers for the second time.
2000 In a 9-4 comeback victory over the Blue Jays, Angel outfielder Darin Erstad goes 3-for-5 reaching the 200-hit plateau quicker than any other player in 65 years.
2000 As Braves come to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Reds, 4-2, a power spike causes most of the lights to go out at Turner Field causing a 12-minute delay. As the Atlanta crowd waits for play to resume it is treated to a rendition of the song, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".

2000 Earning his 1,600th victory, Braves' manager Bobby Cox passes former Dodger skipper, Tommy Lasorda, on the career list for most managerial victories. His 5-2 victory over the Reds puts him 14th on the all-time list.
2002 After marathon negotiation sessions to avoid a players' strike just hours away, Bud Selig announces the players union and owners have reached a settlement on a new four-year CBA without the need of a work stoppage. The new agreement, called 'historic' by the commissioner, gives the owners the economic restraints they wanted as the players are assured no teams will be contracted until 2007 season with a revenue sharing plan will gradually be implemented during the span of the contract.
2005 In the long tradition of Bronx Bombers, Alex Rodriguez becomes only the second right-handed batter in Yankees history to hit 40 homers in a season. The Yankee’s third baseman joins Joe DiMaggio, who hit 46 homers in 1937, making it the only time ‘Joltin’ Joe’ reached the 40 mark.

2006 In an effort to bolster their starting rotation as they pursue the NL wild card, the Padres obtain home town favorite, southpaw David Wells from the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The 43-ear old 'Boomer', who had played for San Diego in 2004, posted a 2-3 with a 4.98 ERA during an injury-plagued (knee) campaign in Beantown.