This Date in Baseball

"I never heard of Gehrig before I came here. And I always thought Babe Ruth was a cartoon character. I really did. I mean, I wasn't born until 1961 and I grew up in Indiana." -DON MATTINGLY, Yankee first baseman (1982-95)

1915 At the Polo Grounds, Cubs' hurler Jim Lavender no-hits the Giants, 2-0.

1931 In his attempt to break Walter Johnson's consecutive game winning streak of 17 games, Lefty Grove loses as Browns' hurler Dick Coffman throws a three-hit shutout against the A's. Reserve Jimmy Moore, playing in place of the absent Al Simmons, misjudges a fly ball which leads to the decisive run and subsequently to Lefty's meltdown in the locker room.

1935 In the first no hitter thrown in Comiskey Park history, Vern Kennedy holds the Indians hitless and triples home three runs in a 5-0 White Sox win.
1937 At Navin Field, Rudy York belts his 17th and 18th homers of the month to set a major league record. The round-trippers help the Tigers maul the Senators,12-3.
1950 In front of 14,226 fans at Ebbets Field, Gil Hodges becomes the fourth major leaguer in the century to hit four home runs in one game as Brooklyn routs the Braves, 19-3. The Dodger first baseman also ties the major league record for total bases with 17.
1957 Minor league fireballer Steve Dalkowski strikes out 24 Bluefield Dodgers, but wildness (18 walks, four hit batters and six wild pitches) costs the New Britain, Connecticut native the game as Kingsport loses in Appalachian League action, 9-8.
1959 Sandy Koufax fans 18 Giants to set a National League mark in a 5-2 Dodger win.
1969 Morganna, a well endowed fan dressed in a mini dress, jumps onto the Atlanta Stadium field and kisses the batter Clete Boyer on the cheek. The Braves' third baseman then promptly ends a 1-for-17 slump with a RBI single and goes on 8-for-15 tear.

1990 Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the first father and son to play in the same major league lineup.
1990 Refusing to part with Triple-A third baseman Scott Cooper to get Larry Andersen from the Astros for the stretch run, Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman trades the Eastern League's MVP Jeff Bagwell for the right-handed relief pitcher. The University of Hartford standout will go on to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award (1991) and will becomes the league's MVP the same year Andersen retires from the Phillies (1994) .
1992 The A's trade Jose Canseco to the Rangers for Ruben Sierra, Bobby Witt and Jeff Russell and an undisclosed amount of money.
1997 Andruw Jones's grand slam is the Braves' tenth of the season breaking the National League mark for bases-full home runs for a team in single season. Ironically the record is broken in an American League park as Atlanta defeats the Red Sox at Fenway.

1997 In front of a crowd of 55,707, Don Mattingly's uniform number 23 is added to the list of retired numbers on the wall at Yankee Stadium's Monument Park.
1999 Paul Byrd of the Phillies plunks Braves catcher Eddie Perez on the back precipitating a bench clearing brawl between the two already unfriendly ballclubs. As the battle rages on, the two instigators can be found together praying as the pitcher's prayer for forgiveness is overheard by the angry batter.
2000 The Red Sox trade two minor league pitchers to the Reds for Dante Bichette. The 36-year-old veteran outfielder will be the designated hitter for his new team.
2001 Due to the fact Little League World Series star pitcher Danny Almonte is 14 years old, not 12 as required by the organization's rules, the Raulindo Paulino All-Stars are stripped of all its wins. The team, which had captured the heart of the community, finished third in Williamsport and were given a parade in New York and honored before a game at Yankee Stadium.
2001 Former minor league catcher Lawrence 'Crash' Davis dies after a year long bout with cancer. The 82-year old was made famous by the 1982 movie Bull Durham.

2002 Losing their 13th consecutive game at Shea Stadium to Randy Wolf and the Phillies, 1-0, the Mets complete the worst month at home in National League history. The Amazins' join the Seattle Pilots (August-1969 ) and the Tigers (September-1996) as teams that have not won a home game in a calendar month with at least ten games.
2005 On the third pitch he sees in the bigs, Jeremy Hermida becomes only the second player to hit a grand slam in his first major-league at-bat. The Marlin rookie pinch hitter joins Phillies hurler Bill Duggleby who accomplished the same feat in 1898.

2006 With his major league leading 49th home run, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard establishes a new club record for home runs in a single season. Last year's Rookie of the Year fourth inning long ball at RFK Stadium put him ahead of Hall Famer Michael Schmidt who hit 48 dingers in 1980.