1904 White Sox pitcher Doc White pitches his fifth shutout in eighteen days. The southpaw pitches six of his season total of seven shutouts in September.
1907 Cardinals' first baseman Ed Konetchy steals home twice in the same game. St. Louis swipes home plate three times during the contest.
1923 It's Zack Wheat Day at Ebbets Field and the retiring Dodger outfielder collects two hits and is given an automobile. Cy Williams of the Phillies spoils the special day as he ties the score in the seventh inning with his 39th homer and his 40th in the 12th frame gives Philadelphia the victory, 6–4.
1927 Babe Ruth breaks his own 1921 home run record by hitting number 60 off of Senator's Tom Zachary.
1928 In his major league debut, White Sox rookie Ed Weiland shuts out the A's at Comiskey Park, 1-0. The 6'4" fireballer from Chicago will finish his four year tenure with his home town team compiling a 5-15 record before being traded to the Red Sox in 1932.
1945 Hank Greenberg hits a pennant winning grand slam on final day of the season. The Tiger left fielder's ninth-inning bases-full homer beats the Browns,6-3, clinching the AL flag for Detroit over the second-place Senators.
1947 Ralph Branca becomes the youngest player to start a World Series opener. At Yankee Stadium, the 21-year (9 month) old right-hander and the Dodgers loses to the Bronx Bombers, 5-1.
1956 At the age of 16, Jim Derrington becomes the youngest pitcher to start a major league game this century. The teenager loses to the A's 7-6, but singles becoming the youngest player to get a hit in the American League.
1962 The Mets end inaugural season with their 120th loss (a 20th century record) as Joe Pignatano hits into an eighth inning triple play in his last career at-bat.
1962 In his last at-bat of his career, Don Gile homers in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a 3-1, season-ending victory over Senators at Fenway Park. The Boston first baseman had been 0-for-34 before the dramatic at-bat.
1969 With a 3-2 win over the Reds, the Braves clinch the first ever National League West division.
1972 Roberto Clemente doubles off Mets Jon Matlack to become the eleventh major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. The hit, sadly, will be the Pirate right fielder's last as he will die in a plane crash on New Year's Eve attempting to bring relief aid to earthquake-stricken Managua, Nicaragua.
1973 Dave Augustine of the Pirates appears to hit a game-ending home run in the 13th inning but the ball hits the top of the fence and Met outfielder Cleon Jones catches it and throws out a runner at home. The Mets win the game, National League East title and Augustine will never homer in the majors.
1978 At Three Rivers Stadium, the Phillies clinch their third consecutive NL East title defeating the Pirates, 10-8. The victory, which features winning pitcher Randy Lerch hitting two home runs, snaps Pittsburgh’s 24-game home winning streak.
1984 Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly wins the American League batting title with .343 average.
1984 On the final day of the season, Mike Witt uses only 97 pitches to retire 27 consecutive hitters. The Angels' hurler throws the perfect game against the Rangers and beats Charlie Hough on an unearned run, 1-0.
1988 Ronald Reagan, nearing the end of his presidency, throws out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field. The former Cub announcer then spends an inning and a half doing play-by-play with Harry Caray in the WGN television booth.
1998 Joining Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Doc Gooden, David Cone improves his record to 20-3 becoming the fourth pitcher in Mets history to win twenty games in a season. After his 4-2 complete-game victory against the Cardinals, the 25-year old right-hander is congratulated by a surprise visitor to the Shea Stadium dugout, former president Richard Nixon.
1990 The final game is played at old Comiskey Park with the White Sox edging the Mariners, 2-1. The final regular-season won-loss record at old ballpark is 3,024-2,926 (.508).
1992 George Brett singles off Tim Fortugno in the seventh inning for his 3000th hit. It is the Royals' third baseman fourth hit in the Kansas City 4-0 victory over the Angels.
1995 Albert Belle becomes the first player in major league history to hit fifty home runs and fifty double in the same season.
1998 After the a removal of a brain tumor nine months ago, former Royal reliever Dan Quisenberry dies of brain cancer at the age of 45.
1999 Mets' shortstop Rey Ordonez plays in his 96th consecutive game without committing an error breaking Cal Ripken's major league record for errorless games in that position. The flashy infielder will finish the season extending the record to 100 games.
1999 The largest regular-season crowd in Candlestick Park history, 61,389 fans, watch the Dodgers beat the home team, 9-4 in the last baseball game to ever be played at the 'Point'. Giant greats help mark the occasion with Juan Marichal tossing out the ceremonial first pitch before the game and Willie Mays throwing out the ballpark's final pitch after the game.
1999 For the twenty-third time this season, Diamondback fireballer Randy Johnson K's at least 10 batters to tie Nolan Ryan's 1973 major league record for the most double-digit strikeout games in a season. The tall left-hander whiffs 11 Padres in seven innings in a 5-3 victory to bring his season ending total to 364 which ranks fourth all-time.
2000 In the highest scoring game in A's franchise history, Oakland defeats the Rangers 23-2 to remain a half-game ahead of the Mariners for the western division lead as Seattle scores the most runs ever against the Angels, 21-9 assuring the team at least a tie for the American League wild card.
2005 The Devil Rays announce the team will buy out the last year of manager Lou Piniella’s $13 million, four-year deal signed in 2002. The agreement, which pays ‘Sweet Lou’ $2.2 million of the $4.4 million he is owed, allows the 62-year skipper to seek employment with another team.
2005 Albert Pujols’s 40th home run, a seventh inning grand slam against the Reds, makes him the first Cardinal in the 114-year history of the team to hit that many home runs in three consecutive seasons. The homer, which was also the 200th of his career, makes the first baseman the third-youngest player to reach the milestone with only Mel Ott and Eddie Matthews accomplishing it sooner.
2006 Five years and two cities after Frank Robinson, then the vice president in the commissioner's office in charge of on-field discipline, accepts Bud Selig's offer to take MLB-owned Expos' manager job for just one season, the franchise, now known as the Washington Nationals, will have a new skipper. Jim Bowden, the team's GM, announces the 71-year-old Hall of Famer will be replaced with the search for a new field boss beginning after tomorrow's season finale against the Mets at RFK.
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