Baseball History

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1880 Troy City rookie and future HOF’er Roger Connor hits his first ML home run‚ off Boston's Tommy bond. He adds a triple and two singles as the Trojans beat the Red Caps‚ 8-1. When Connor retires in 1897 he will have 136 homers‚ a record that will stand until Ruth breaks it in 1921.

Connor, Roger | Baseball Hall of Fame

It seems too wild to be true but on this date in 1928 in the 1st game of a doubleheader between the Yankees and Philadelphia Atletics played at in Philadelphia a record 13 players on the field were future Hall of Famers. Technically there were 17 Hall of Famers on the field that day including the two Managers Miller Huggins and Connie Mack‚ as well as two umpires Tom Connally and Bill McGowan. The players included Combs‚ Durocher‚ Ruth‚ Gehrig‚ Lazzeri‚ and Hoyt for the New Yorkers; Cobb‚ Speaker‚ Cochrane‚ Simmons‚ Collins‚ Grove‚ and Foxx for the A's. Pitchers, Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski, both future Hall of Famers, were also in uniform but not playing that day. The 40,000 or so in Shibe Park that day not only got to watch a doubleheader but 19 Hall of Famers.

Baseball Did You Know - I

How often do you see games today go 20 innings…not very often. If a game today did go 20+ innings what are the chances you would see both starters go 20 innings…it wouldn’t happen…but on this date in 1929 it did. The visiting Tigers and White Sox hook up at Comiskey Park and the Tigers prevail 6-5 in 21 innings. The two starters, HOF’er Ted Lyons for the White Sox goes the entire 21 innings and 200-game Winner, George Uhle for the Tigers, goes the first 20 innings until the Tigers pick up a run in the 21st and Lil Stoner comes in to pitch the last inning. Today, a pitcher tosses an average of about 3.8 pitchers per batter. What the average was in 1929, I don’t know but assuming it’s the same how many pitches would Lyons and Uhle likely have tossed in that game. Lyons faced 85 batters so that would work out to a pitch count of 323 while Uhle would have been at 300.

May 24, 1929 Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

1957 was a good year, a very good year if you were the Milwaukee Braves who defeated the NY Yankees in the World Series that season led by the best pitcher in Baseball at the time, Warren Spahn who won the Cy Young Award as the Game’s best pitcher and by Hammerin Hank Aaron the NL’s MVP with stats of .322-44-132. On the opposite end of the spectrum were the Chicago Cubs who would finish last in the NL (tied with the Pirates) for the second year in a row. Frank Ernaga will fondly remember 1957. It was on this date in 1957 the native of Northern California makes his ML debut with the lowly Cubs.. There was good news and bad news to go with this for Ernaga. The bad news, The Cubs were facing the powerful Braves and Spahn would be pitching. The good news is that at the end of the game the Cubs would win the game and defeat Spahn, 5-1 and the hitting star would be Frank Ernaga.

Ernaga started the 1957 season with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League, a team like the Cubs, destined to finish in last place. Ernaga did nothing in Portland to distinguish himself but obviously enough to warrant a call-up to the Big League club. Elvis Presley’s All Shook Up was atop the music charts at the time and would end up the #1 song of the year and Ernaga for one game anyway would shake up Spahn…in his first at-bat in the Majors and facing Spahn he hits a long flyball to deep LF for a HR. In his second at-bat, also against Spahn he lines a triple to the nether reaches of the outfield. Two at-bats against the HOF’er and Cy Young winner and 7 total bases. Ernaga’s ML career would consist of 29 games and 43 at-bats but I bet the now 83 year old fondly remembers what he accomplished 57 years ago today.

May 24, 1957 Milwaukee Braves at Chicago Cubs Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

Frank Ernaga - BR Bullpen

Gary Nolan was a very good pitcher for the Reds in the 1970s…perhaps the best during the days of the Big Red Machine…at least when he was healthy. On this date in 1971 he tosses a one-hitter against the Phillies in Philadelphia but learns a big lesson as he still loses 2-1. If you give up only 1 hit, make sure it’s not a 2-run HR as he did.

May 24, 1971 Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

Lou Gehrig had 7 seasons in which he collected at least 150 RBIs. That’s easily the ML record. The NL record for most seasons with at least 150 RBIs is 2. Speaking of RBI records here’s another interesting fact…the record for the most RBIs is in a players first game in the Majors is 6 set by the Cubs Starlin Castro in 2010.

Runs Batted in Records (RBI Records) by Baseball Almanac

I know I’ve thrown some of these shots out before but they are great photos and gives a sense of the Game 100 years ago…all pictures from the 1914 World Series, Philadelphia Athletics (AL) versus Boston “Miracle” Braves (NL). If you were there you might be able to spot yourself.

1914 world series - Google Search

1914 world series - Google Search

Panopticon Store | Boston Public Library

Panopticon Store | Boston Public Library


Baseball trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Can you name two of the three ML Manager who have won at least 5 World Series Championships

The answer to yesterday’s question…Justin Morneau and Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins (Can you name the 2006 AL MVP and CY Young Award winners…they played for the same team.)

 

[67RedSox]

The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869, were the first openly all-professional baseball team. After the 1870 season they voted to dissolve and some of that group moved East to Boston and took their name with them to form the nucleus of the Boston Red Stockings, a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors, now known as the Atlanta Braves can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. (The only other team that has been organized as long, the Chicago Cubs, did not play for the two years following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.)
The team became one of the National League's charter franchises in 1876, called the "Red Caps" (as a new Cincinnati Red Stockings club was another charter member). The “Red Caps” became the “Beaneaters” in 1883, the “Beaneaters” became the “Doves” in 1907, the “Doves” became the “Rustlers” in 1911 and finally the “Doves” became the “Braves” in 1912 and from 1936-1940 new owners tried to change the image of the downtrodden team by re-naming them the “Bees” but it didn’t really take and reverted back to the “Braves” and the team has been called that ever since although has changed cities twice…Milwaukee and then Atlanta.
It was on this date in 1888 Boston’s only ever double-decker Baseball stadium, The Grand Pavillion or South End Grounds opened. Though the Pavilion sat only 6‚800‚ 12‚000 see the Beaneaters lose their home opener to the Phillies 4-1. It was indeed a grand ballpark consisting of a large double-decked grandstand behind home plate and uncovered stands stretching down the right and left field lines, as well as bleachers in right-center field. The medieval-style "witch's cap" turrets were a very popular decoration on public seating structures of the 1880s and 1890s. It was the only double-decked baseball stadium built in Boston, apart from the rooftop seating which has turned the single-decked Fenway Park into a de facto double-deck ballpark. The stadium was destroyed in the Great Roxbury Fire of May 15, 1894, which began when children started a small fire beneath the right field bleachers, and which spread and destroyed the stadium and 117 other buildings.

South End Grounds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Atlanta Braves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was on this date in 1923 in Detroit‚ Ty Cobb scores his 1‚741st run‚ to pass Honus Wagner and become Baseball’s all-time leader. 21 more players would eventually also pass Wagner but none would pass Cobb for 78 years until Ricky Henderson passed him in 2001.

Career Leaders &amp Records for Runs Scored | Baseball-Reference.com

Don Liddle was born on this date in 1925. Liddle was a sometimes starter, sometimes reliever for the Braves, Giants and Cardinals during the 1950s. His career record was 28-18 but he is best remembered as the man who, in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, threw the pitch to Vic Wertz that resulted in The Catch — Giant center fielder Willie Mays' historic back-to-home-plate, over-the-shoulder grab of Wertz' long drive with two men on base in the deepest part of centerfield at the Giants' home field, the Polo Grounds. I haven’t but have been intending to read A Day in the Bleachers by Arnold Hano… a book of 192 pages covering a few hours of time from the subway ride to the ballpark, through batting practice and warm-ups, to the game-winning home run. It describes inning by inning the strategies, heroics, and ineluctable rhythms of the Opening Game of the 1954 World Series. Here are the spectacular exploits of the Indians and Giants, and of a young player named Willie Mays, who made the most-talked-about catch in baseball history. The book has been in print since the 1950s and is considered a ‘must read’ for Baseball fans even more than 60 years later.

Don Liddle - BR Bullpen


It was on this date in 1935 Babe Ruth has a last hurrah‚ hitting 3 HRs at Pittsburgh. The first shot is hit off Red Lucas‚ while the last two homers come off veteran Guy Bush. The final one‚ the last of his 714 career HRs‚ is the first to clear the RF grandstand at Forbes Field and is measured at 600 feet. Ruth‚ who hit 3 HRs in a game just once in the AL (May 21‚ 1930)‚ is the first player to turn this hat trick in both Leagues.

Here is Robert Creamer's account of the Babe's last home run in his 1974 book‚ "Babe":

Guy Bush said‚ 'I never saw a ball hit so hard before or since. He was fat and old‚ but he still had that great swing. Even when he missed‚ you could hear the bat go swish. I can't remember anything about the first home run he hit off me that day. I guess it was just another homer. But I can't forget that last one. It's probably still going. It was unbelievably long‚ completely over the roof of the double-decked stands in right field and out of the park. Nobody had ever hit a ball over the roof in Forbes Field before.' Gus Miller‚ the head usher‚ went to investigate‚ and was told the ball landed on the roof of one house‚ bounced onto another and then into a lot‚ where a boy picked it up and ran off with it. Miller measured the distance from the first house back to home plate and said it was 600 feet. His measurement may have been imprecise‚ but it was still the longest home run ever hit in Pittsburgh.

babe ruth 3 home runs pittsburgh - Google Search

May 25, 1935: Ruth smashes 3 homers in final hurrah | SABR

It was on this date in 1951 Giants rookie Willie Mays‚ who was hitting .477 with Minneapolis‚ goes 0-for-5 in his ML debut against the Phils. He strikes out in his first at bat‚ against Bubba Church but makes two outstanding defensive plays to contribute to New York’s 8-5 victory.

May 25, 1951 New York Giants at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1981 that Carl Yastrzemski joins Ty Cobb‚ Stan Musial‚ and Hank Aaron as the only ML’ers to appear in 3‚000 games. He would eventually pass all three to become the all-time leader but be passed the following year by Pete Rose and they remain 1 and 2 all-time.

Career Leaders &amp Records for Games Played | Baseball-Reference.com



Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Can you name the four teams who have won back-to-back World Series since the end of WWII.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Joe McCarthy-7, Casey Stengel-7, Connie Mack-5. (Can you name two of the three ML Manager who have won at least 5 World Series Championships)

 

[67RedSox]

Yank Robinson was a 2B who spent 10 years in the Majors finishing his career in 1892. It was on this date in 1891 he sets a record of sorts I’m sure...while playing 2B for Cincinnati in a game against Boston he had 7 fielding chances and made 7 errors. Yikes.

Yank Robinson - BR Bullpen

On this date in 1916 the NY Giants visit the Boston Braves and play a game in Braves Field also mentioned below. In the game Lefty Tyler, who tosses the entire game for the Braves, walks the Giants CF’er, Benny Kauff, three times and three times Tyler picks him off at 1st Base.

Braves Field was a baseball park that formerly stood on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium was home to the Boston Braves National League franchise from 1915–1952, when the team moved to Milwaukee. Significant portions of the original structure still stand in place, and make up part of the Nickerson Field sports complex for Boston College. Walton Cruise was a ML Outfielder for 10 seasons between 1914-1924 splitting his time almost equally between the Dead-Ball and Live-Ball Eras and the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves. Cruise was not a HR hitter as he collected an average of 3 per season over his career. However, when you put Cruise in Braves Field he became a slugger of monumental proportions. It was on this date in 1917, Cruise then with the Cardinals, becomes the first player to hit a ball out of Braves Field when he parks one in the "Jury Box"‚ the 25 cents stands in right field past the 402 foot mark. The Cards are victorious‚ 8-6. The next ball hit out of the park will come in 1921‚ when Cruise does it again‚ this time as a Brave.

The Ballparks: Braves Field, Boston, Massachusetts

The number of players who have accumulated 1,000 extra-base hits in their career totals 36. Hank Aaron leads the way with 1,477. It was on this date in 1923 Ty Cobb becomes the first player to achieve 1,000 extra-base hits when he doubles in Detroit's 8-1 win over the White Sox. The 'Georgia Peach', who surpassed Honus Wagner's record of 996 earlier in the season, will finish his 24-year ML career with 1,136…still good enough for 12th place overall.

Career Leaders &amp Records for Extra Base Hits | Baseball-Reference.com

On this date in 1919 in a Memorial Day game in Philadelphia‚ the Red Sox take a 2-0 lead over the A's‚ but when Philadelphia scores 3 runs in the 2nd inning off big Bill James‚ fans start pounding on tin roof of the visitors' dugout. The din is interrupted when Carl Mays emerges from the Sox dugout and fires a fast ball into the crowd striking a fan named Bryan Hayes. After the game‚ won 6-4 by Boston‚ Hayes goes to the police who issue a warrant for the arrest of Mays. The Sox leave town before the arrest can be made‚ but the warrant will remain outstanding. Mays will be fined $100 by MLB for the incident.

carl mays, memorial day 1919 - Google Search

On this date in 1940 the Reds receive their 1939 World Series rings from Commissioner Landis and then beat the Cardinals 1-0 on Paul Derringer's one-hitter. Stuart Martin's 1st inning single is the only hit. The game also celebrates the champion Reds from 1869 and in the stands are 21 fans who saw the 1869 champion Reds in action.

http://www.cincinnativiews.net/images-3/Orcajo-Team Photo.jpg

1869 cincinnati reds - Google Search

It was on this date in 1955 Dodgers P Don Newcombe becomes the only NL pitcher of the decade to steal home when he hits a triple and swipes home in the 9th inning in Pittsburgh.

Pitchers Stealing Home

It was on this date in 1959 the single greatest MLB pitching performance, arguably, takes place and the pitcher responsible comes away with nothing but a Loss. Harvey Haddix of the Pirates pitches a perfect game against Milwaukee for 12 innings‚ only to lose in the 13th. Felix Mantilla opens the last inning by reaching base on an error. A sacrifice and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron brings up Joe Adcock‚ who hits one out of the park in right-CF for an apparent 3-0 victory. Aaron pulls a "Merkle‚" leaving the field‚ and Adcock passes him on the base paths. Both are called out as Mantilla scores. Initially the score is 2-0 as Aaron returns and score; it is later called a 1-0 game. Lew Burdette goes all 13 innings for his 8th win‚ scattering 12 hits. Haddix's gem makes him the 9th pitcher to lose a no-hitter in extra innings; A combined effort of three Reds pitcher‚ on May 26‚ 1956‚ was the last. Making Haddix's effort even more remarkable is the fact that the Braves hitters knew what was coming. In 1993‚ Bob Buhl admitted that the Braves pitchers were stealing the signs from the catcher, Smoky Burgess. They would place a towel on the bullpen fence in such a way to signal fastball or breaking ball.


It was also on this date in 1959 the NY Yankees and KC Athletics complete one of their many trades. Among others involved the Yankees ship pitcher Johnny Kucks to KC. Kucks, in 1956, became the first pitcher to throw a World Series Game 7 shutout when he and the Yankees beat Don Newcombe and the Dodgers, 9-0. Ironically, the pitcher coming over to the Yankees from KC in the trade is Razlph Terry who in 1962 will become the only other Yankee pitcher to ever pitch a Game 7 shutout when he beats Jack Sanford and the Giants 1-0 in maybe the most dramatic pitching duel in Game 7 history. Jack Morris and John Smoltz in 1991 can also make that claim.

October 10, 1956 World Series Game 7, Yankees at Dodgers | Baseball-Reference.com

He was born on this date in 1947. He was the first ML’er to hit 40 HRs in a season in both the NL and the AL. He, Hank Aaron and Davey Johnson in 1973 became the first trio of teammates to hit 40 HRs in a single season for a ML team. He was the first 40 year old ML’er to hit 30 HRs in a single season. Despite a lifetime batting average of .248 he was highly valuable for not only his power but his ability to get on base. Five times he walked 100 times in a season leading the NL in both 1973 and 1974 with 124 and 126. Bill James has called him “the most underrated player in baseball history, absolutely number one on the list,” due to his power, his ability to draw walks, and his outstanding on-base percentage. He was a good-fielding, hard-hitting third baseman who hit over 400 HRs in his career but it was played entirely in the shadow of Mike Schmidt. Who am I talking about…yes, Darrell Evans!



Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Can you name the only player to win a Gold Glove at two different infield positions.

The answer to yesterday’s question…NY Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland A’s and Cincinnati Reds (Can you name the four teams who have won back-to-back World Series since the end of WWII.)

 

[67RedSox]

Here’s one from the ‘silly files’. Louis Hirsch was a composer and lyricist who wrote several tunes for Broadway musicals. It was on this date in 1920 Hirsch sues the Yankees for $100‚000 because of an incident at the Yankee game at the Polo Grounds. To avoid sitting next to a cigar smoker‚ Hirsch switched seats with his brother. An usher informed him it was against the rules to shift seats‚ and ordered the two brothers to switch back. Hirsch refused and was forcibly ejected from the stands...don't know how it turned out.

Songwriters Hall of Fame - Notable Writers - Louis Hirsch

It was also on this date in 1920 that the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-4 in 11 innings. The train car carrying the Phillies uniforms and equipment is left in Albany‚ and the Phillies borrow the road uniforms‚ bats‚ and shoes of the host Dodgers and win.

May 27, 1920 Philadelphia Phillies at Brooklyn Robins Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Here’s the Majors Top 5 in Pitching Wins during the 1930’s. It’s a pretty impressive list. All but Wes Ferrell are in the Hall of Fame and Ferrell would likely be there if he had played on any strong clubs during his career. Ferrell’s brother Rick is in the HOF as one of the best Catchers in the history of the game. Rick caught Wes when he won 25 games in 1935 for the Red Sox. At least he’s remembered as the best power hitting Pitcher in the history of the Majors thanks to holding the single season and career records for most HRs by a pitcher with 9 and 37 respectively. It was on this date in 1937 that Carl Hubbell wins his 24th consecutive game to establish the ML record for the most consecutive Wins by a pitcher. On July 17, 1936 Hubbell won the 1st in the streak when the NY Giants defeated the Pirates, 6-0 and then kept on winning, closing out the season with 16 straight victories. He didn't stop there and went on to win his first eight games in 1937. He finally lost on May 31 to the Brooklyn Dodgers:


Lefty Grove – 199

Carl Hubbell – 188

Red Ruffing – 175

Wes Ferrell – 170

Lefty Gomez – 165

'Carl K's Quintet' among Midsummer's best | MLB.com


Norm Zauchin was a 6’5”, 220 lb 1st Baseman who you would expect would have power and he did. You wouldn’t expect him to be graceful with the glove but he was. Although his career consisted of only one season in which he played as a regular he made his mark in the Majors and particularly with the Red Sox. His single season as a regular was his rookie season with the Red Sox. His bat was fairly quiet until on this date in 1955 it came alive and he had as good a 5 inning stretch with the bat as anyone who ever played the game. At Fenway Park against the Washington Senators Zauchin hit bombs over the Green Monster in the 1st, 2nd and 5th innings and in the 4th inning he emptied the bases which were loaded with a Double. In 5 innings of play he hit 3 HRs, 1 Double and drove in 10 runs. Those are both still Red Sox records (tied) for one game. Zauchin finished his rookie season with 27 HRs and 93 RBIs and finished 3rd in ROTY voting. 2-time AL Batting Champ, Mickey Vernon, was acquired after the season by the Red Sox and became their 1B moving Zauchin to a utility role but despite never repeating the numbers of his 1st season he did leave his mark.

May 27, 1955 Washington Senators at Boston Red Sox Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

Aside from Stan Musial hitting a HR on this date in 1948, Gary Nolan, a pitcher with the Reds from 1967-1977 was born. He wasn’t the next coming of Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson but he was one of the best pitchers in MLB in the late 1960’s and early 1970s. Although injuries sidetracked his career there’s no need for sympathy…in his 10 ML seasons he went to the World Series 4 times and won 2 Rings. At age 18, Nolan, in his first ML start, defeated the Houston Astros 7-3 at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field on April 15, 1967. In the first inning he struck out Sonny Jackson, Jim Landis, and Jimmy Wynn en route to a 7-3 victory. Later in the season, on June 7 with the bases loaded with San Francisco Giants he used his fireball pitches to strike out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Jim Ray Hart. At game’s end he had struck out Mays four times. Mays pointed out, “Nobody’s ever done that to me before.” By the end of his stellar first ML season he had set modern day records for a pitcher who began the season at the age of 18 or younger with a 14-8 win/loss record, a 2.58 ERA, four shutouts and 206 strikeouts in 227 innings.

Gary Nolan | SABR

It was on this date in 1960 Orioles catcher, Clint Courtney, becomes the first backstop to use the big knuckleball glove, an innovation of Manager Paul Richards. The larger mitt, which had a 45-inch circumference, would later be banned and a rule created that gloves could not exceed 38 inches in circumference.

Happy Anniversary: So long, 45-inch catcher's glove - CBSSports.com

YouRememberThat.Com - Taking You Back In Time... - Oversized Catchers Mitt

It was on this date in 1981 Lenny Randle drops to his hands and knees in an attempt to 'encourage' Amos Otis' slow roller to go foul, umpire Larry McCoy accuses the Mariner third baseman of blowing the ball foul. Randle's explanation that he was merely yelling at the ball not to stay fair is initially convincing until Royals' manager Jim Frey complains.


It was on this date in 1991 during a Pacific Coast League game against the Portland Beavers at Civic Stadium‚ Portland‚ Vancouver OF Rodney McCray runs through a plywood fence in right field while trying to catch a ball hit by Chip Hale. McCray was not hurt seriously‚ but becomes an instant celebrity.

Rodney McCray runs through a wall


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

There were only 4 different players to lead the AL in Hits during the 1950s. Can you name at least 2 of them.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Placido Polanco 2B, 2009 and 3B, 2011 (Can you name the only player to win a Gold Glove at two different infield positions.)

 

[67RedSox]

In Post-1900 MLB there have been 13 pitchers win as many as 30 Games in a season. Of those 13 only 5 have done it more than once…Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity and one of Baseball’s most tragic of figures, Grover Cleveland Alexander who pitched his final game in the Majors on this date in 1930. He is the only pitcher in the past 100 years to win 30 games in 3 consecutive seasons, 1915-16-17. Christy Mathewson is the only other to win 30 in three consecutive seasons, 1903-04-05…Coincidently, both Alexander and Mathewson were called to serve in WWI. Many men survived the war, but they didn't recover from it. One of the many cruel coincidences of the war is that it destroyed the two greatest NL pitchers of the Dead Ball Era, Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Alexander spent 7 weeks at the Front under relentless bombardment that left him deaf in his left ear. Pulling the lanyard to fire the howitzers caused muscle damage in his right arm. He caught some shrapnel in his outer right ear, an injury thought not serious at the time but which may have been the progenitor of cancer almost thirty years later. He was shell-shocked. Worst of all, the man who used to have a round or two with the guys and call it a day became alcoholic and epileptic. Alex tried to cover up his epilepsy, using alcohol in the mistaken belief that it would alleviate the condition. Living in a world that believed epileptics to be touched by the devil, he knew it was more socially acceptable to be a drunk. A human wreck, Alexander returned to the Cubs on May 11, 1919.
The second half of his ML career saw a couple of decent seasons but nothing that approached what he accomplished earlier. The last two decades of Alexander's life are the picture of a man spinning out of control with nobody able to stop the free-fall. He shuffled around the country in an odyssey of odd jobs, cheap hotels, boarding houses and the like. His poverty and inability to straighten out became an embarrassment to the NL. The Alexander file at the Hall of Fame contains a collection of letters exchanged among Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, NL President Ford Frick, Cardinal President Sam Breadon, and Cardinal GM Branch Rickey-all of them addressing the question "What to do about Alexander?" They finally settled on the ruse of a NL pension of fifty dollars a month that was actually paid by the Cardinals and sent to whoever was keeping Alex to dole out to him as necessary. That, they hoped, with his small army pension, might keep Alexander from drowning.

In 1947 he was injured in a fall during an epileptic seizure in Los Angeles. He developed cancer on his right ear, necessitating its amputation and death soon, mercifully followed. He was buried with full military honors in his family's plot in Elmwood Cemetery outside St. Paul.

Pete Alexander Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Grover Cleveland Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also on this date in 1930 Chicago Cubs pitcher Hal Carlson dies in his hotel room suddenly of a stomach ulcer hemorrhage. Carlson was 38 and a 14 year ML veteran when he developed stomach cramps and called for the team doctor. Arrangements were made to transport him to hospital but he died before the ambulance arrived.

Hal Carlson Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search

On this date in 1934 In St. Louis‚ Gehrig hits a 6th inning homer‚ off Paul Andrews‚ then follows Ruth's 7th inning homer with another round tripper. The back-to-back homers‚ off Jack Knott‚ are the last the pair will combine on.

May 28, 1934 New York Yankees at St. Louis Browns Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1951 after starting his career 0-for-12, Giants rookie Willie Mays gets his first hit, a 450-foot homer off Braves left-hander Warren Spahn. Ironically it is the first of 18 home runs the 'Say Hey Kid' will hit off the Hall of Fame hurler, the most he will hit off any one pitcher.

May 28, 1951 Boston Braves at New York Giants Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

willie mays 1951 - Google Search

On this date in 1956 a couple of future HOF’ers hook up…White Sox SS Luis Aparicio hits his first Major League HR‚ off Kansas City's Tom Lasorda.

May 28, 1956 Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Athletics Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

On this date in 1957 with a unanimous vote, National League owners grant permission to allow both the Dodgers and Giants to move their clubs to the West Coast if the clubs so desire provided both clubs make their request before October 1st and move at the same time. There will not be a National League team in New York next season.

The New York Times: This Day In Sports

Baseball History in 1958: And Now, From Coast to Coast





Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Can you name the last NL player to win 3 Batting Crowns. He did so with batting averages of .350, .363 and .379

The answer to yesterday’s question…George Kell 1950, 1951, Nellie Fox 1952, 1954 (tied), 1957, 1958, Al Kaline 1955, Harvey Kuenn 1953, 1954 (tied), 1956, 1959 (There were only 4 different players to lead the AL in Hits during the 1950s. Can you name at least 2 of them.)

 

[67RedSox]

It might have been Frank Corrindon who invented the spitball in 1902…then again it might have been George Hildebrand who invented it in the same year. No one is certain. What is more certain is that Brooklyn hurler Elmer Strickland introduced to the Majors on this date in 1905. Stricklett denied inventing the spitball, though he claimed to be the first pitcher to master the spitball and to feature it exclusively. Stricklett apparently learned the spitball from Minor League teammate George Hildebrand in 1902, who is thought to have learned about it from Frank Corridon. There’s no question Stricklett played an important role in popularizing the spitball as he taught the pitch to Jack Chesbro in the Spring of 1904. Chesbro took to it immediately despite having experimented with it earlier in the Minors with no success. Chesbro had a sensational 1904 season in which he won 14 straight games and set modern records with 41 wins and 48 complete games which went a long way to him getting his ticket punched for entry into the HOF. Stricklett then taught it to Ed Walsh while they roomed together with the White Sox. Walsh was a rookie and like Chesbro took to it immediately and in 1908 became the last ML pitcher to win 40 games in a season. Like Chesbro he also got his ticket to the HOF punched and the spitball would have been a huge part of his success.

Elmer Stricklett - BR Bullpen

Spitball - BR Bullpen

Pete Rose and Ty Cobb are the only two ML players who had more than 3,000 singles in their career. Rose ranks first with 3,215 and Cobb comes in at 3,053. However, the ultimate singles hitter was HOF’er Richie Ashburn who hit leadoff for 15 years, batting over .300 nine times, winning two Batting Crowns and finishing second three times. 2,119 of his 2,574 hits (82%) were for singles. In his 15 ML seasons he hit 2 or fewer HRs in 11 of them, 29 in total over his career. In his day he was regarded as the archetypal "spray hitter," stroking the ball equally well to all fields, thus making him harder to defend against. Ashburn accumulated the most hits (1,875) of any batter during the 1950s. It was on this date in 1948 he hit his first ML Homerun. Thornton Lee who was pretty stingy when it came to giving up HRs was the pitcher he hit it off of. There is no truth to the rumour that Lee retired immediately after Ashburn’s wallop. It was in fact several days later.

May 29, 1948 Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Richie Ashburn Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Career Leaders &amp Records for Singles | Baseball-Reference.com

It started as the Illinois Industrial University, then was known as the University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or just plain old Illinois. The school has produced Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners and even winners on the Baseball field like HOF’er Lou Boudreau and 20-Game winner and no-hit pitcher, Kenny Holtzman. It also sent to the Majors, Howie Judson who pitched primarily for the White Sox and was good enough to spend 7 years in the Majors (1948-1954) despite the distinction of having a losing season in every one of the 7 seasons he played. Judson was 17-37 in his 54 Major League decisions, for a winning percentage of only .315. It was on this date in 1950 Judson, loser of 15 straight games (14 to close out the previous season) breaks his string of reverses with a 12-8 relief win over the Browns. It was just another day in the Majors and just another Loss for the hapless Browns but a big day in the life of one ML’er.

Howie Judson Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1965 one of the longest HRs ever hit at Connie Mack Stadium, Richie Allen's 529-foot blast clears the left-center field roof, over the Coke Sign. The Phillies' third baseman's two-run prodigious poke is off Chicago’s right-hander Larry Jackson whose 24 Wins the year before led the Majors. In the photo below you can see the Coca-Cola sign atop the roof in left-centre field.

connie mack stadium - Google Search


Moe Berg died on this date in 1972. He was a ML catcher for 15 seasons, his final season was 1939…the year WWII began although it wasn’t until the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that the United States was thrust headlong into the fracas. He wasn’t a great catcher, in fact, most of his career was spent as a back-up catcher but he had other talents including being the master of 12 languages. He was a graduate of Princeton, with honors and Columbia Law School. He was also a spy, and like James Bond, was licensed to kill. As a baseball player, he would hardly rate a full-scale biography but when you look beyond the baseball diamond he did and a biography written by Nicholas Dawidoff is considered, by some, to be among the 20 best Baseball books of all time. Berg earned the Medal of Freedom for spying on the German's A-bomb project for the Office of Strategic Services but was later dropped by the CIA. Dawidoff interviewed hundreds of people and mined many archives to uncover Berg's secret life - not only as a spy but as a man whose entire life - including his final two decades as an out-of-work vagabond who mooched on his friends through his charm and wit - was shrouded in mystery and whose life was both remarkable and tragic. Casey Stengel, who himself, was a little bit off-centre described Berg as “the strangest man he ever met in Baseball”.

Moe Berg Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Moe Berg | SABR


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

In the history of the NY Mets they have had three players lead the NL in Home Runs…can you name any one of them.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Larry Walker, 1998, 1999 & 2001 (Can you name the last NL player to win 3 Batting Crowns. He did so with batting averages of .350, .363 and .379)

 

[67RedSox]

You wouldn’t think a HOF’er would be on the move as much as the following were. Here’s the Hall of Famers who have played with seven or more teams during their career:

Dan Brouthers – 11

Hoyt Wilhelm – 9

Deacon White – 9

Goose Gossage – 9

Rickey Henderson – 8

Gaylord Perry – 8

Jim O’Rourke – 8

Alomar, Roberto – 7

Grimes, Burleigh – 7

Hoyt, Waite – 7

Kelly, King – 7

Simmons, Al – 7

The Hall of Fame members

In 1993 A's leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson opened each game of a twin bill against Cleveland with a HR. It had happened only once before, 80 years previously. It was on this date in 1913 Red Sox outfielder and future Hall of Famer Harry Hooper becomes the first ML’er to start both games of a doubleheader with a HR. His 2 HRs that day were one-half of the 4 he hit all year.

Harry Hooper | SABR

Max Flack played 12 seasons in the Majors from 1914 to 1925. He was a RF’er. He was labeled the “Goat” of the 1918 World Series for a number of errors and strange plays including getting picked off base twice in one game...the only player that has happened to. Here’s something else that’s a bit strange…on this date in 1922 the Cardinals squared off in a game against the Cubs in Chicago. Max Flack was the Cubs RF’er in the game and went 0-4. The same day Max Flack was the Cardinals RF’er against the Cubs and went 1-4. No there were not two Max Flacks but there was a doubleheader that day between the Cubs and Cardinals and Flack was traded from the Cubs to the Cardinals between games which allowed him to play for the Cubs in Game 1 and the Cardinals in Game 2. He was traded for his RF counterpart, Cliff Heathcote…you guessed it…Heathcote was in the Cardinals outfield in Game 1 and the Cubs outfield in Game 2.

8. Max Flack and Cliff Heathcote: traded in between a doubleheader - The Roosevelts

Dale Alexander is “the forgotten batting king”, the AL’s Batting Champ of 1932 with a .367 batting average. When Alexander won the batting crown in 1932 it was only his 4th season in the Majors. In his rookie season with the Tigers in 1929 he led the AL in basehits with 215, hit .343 and set a rookie record with 137 RBIs ( broken in 1939 by Ted Williams’ 145 ). There was no sophomore jinx for Alexander as he hit .326 in 1930 and drove in 135 runs. Only Joe DiMaggio had more RBIs in his first two seasons. The hit parade continued in 1931 when he hit .325. Alexander was built like a lumberjack at 6’3” and 220 lbs. His weakness was playing in the field…he was a DH ahead of his time… Shirley Povich, one of Baseball’s great writers said this of him…"Alexander never could play 1st Base acceptably, but they couldn't bench his bat."

In 1932 Alexander’s bat started slowly. After playing in 23 games he hadn't had an extra-base hit, and was hitting just .250, with but four RBIs. The Tigers had a new, excellent-fielding 1st baseman in Harry Davis. It looked as though Alexander might have come to the end of the road with the Tigers. The Red Sox had tried several 1st basemen but were satisfied with none of them. Voila, a trade followed and Alexander packed his bags for Beantown. It was a great trade for the Red Sox. Alexander caught fire. Alexander's first game in a Red Sox uniform came on June 15, 1932. He was 2-for-3 and drove in a run. On June 19, he had a 6-for-8 day in a doubleheader. By July 4, he was leading the team with a .367 average and would win the American League batting title. After four seasons into his ML career he had a lifetime batting average of .338 and a Batting Crown and then disaster. He would start but never finish his 5th Big League season. Alexander’s ML career ended abruptly on this date in 1933 when he suffered an injury by twisting his knee sliding into home in the 2nd game of a doubleheader loss to the A's. The 1st baseman will undergo a new therapy‚ diathermy‚ which will lead to 3rd degree burns‚ gangrene and the near loss of his leg. He never again played in the Majors but did recover sufficiently to play again at the Minor League level and then went into managing and scouting but was soon forgotten, even by the Red Sox who after they released him later in the year never sent him a Christmas card nor was he ever invited to any Red Sox functions as a former batting champion. I love Alexander's philosophy on hitting..."If the pitch looks good, I swing at it."

dale alexander, baseball - Google Search

Dale Alexander Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1935 Babe Ruth plays his last ML game…at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, the Braves versus the Phillies. Ruth goes hitless in a first inning at-bat against the Phillies.

May 30, 1935 Boston Braves at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1982, 33 years ago, Cal Ripken's 2,632 record consecutive game streak, which will span 17 seasons, begins with the Oriole rookie going 0-for-2, batting eighth in a 6-0 loss to Toronto at Memorial Stadium. The 21 year-old infielder plays 3B, his position for the first 27 games of the streak, before becoming the team's everyday shortstop. It is also the start of 8,243 consecutive innings, another record.

May 30, 1982 Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Some birthday wishes to extend for today. HOF’er Amos Rusie was born on this date in 1871. He was the Nolan Ryan of the 1890s and often led the League in both Walks and Strikeouts. It's difficult to overstate the importance of the man largely responsible for the rule change in 1893 that gave us baseball in the form we know it. Rusie's blinding fastball so terrified batters standing just fifty feet from the mound that League-Association officials moved the pitcher's box back to sixty feet six inches, where it has stayed ever since. In addition, he won 245 games in what was really a nine-year career and was at the center of some labor disputes that foreshadowed the dramatic changes of the 1970s and beyond. Ironically, so historically important a player is little more than a name today.

Happy 91st to Turk Lown who was born on this date in 1924 and was a Closer before the word came to be used in Baseball. For the World Series bound Chicago White Sox of 1959 he led the AL in Saves and tag team of Jerry Staley and Turk Lown formed one of the best one-two punch out of the bullpen in Baseball history. Al Lopez the Manager of the ’59 White Sox considered them to be the reason the White Sox got to face the Dodgers in the World Series that year.

Amos Rusie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paige: Pueblo's Turk Lown defines honor on and off the baseball field - The Denver Post


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

The Z’s have it. Since 2000 can you name at least 2 of the 3 ML pitchers, whose last name begins with the letter “Z” to lead their League in Wins. If you’d rather HR hitters…can you name the last ML’er whose last name begins with “Z” to lead his League in HRs (it was in 1951).

The answer to yesterday’s question…Dave Kingman 1982, Darryl Strawberry 1988, Howard Johnson 1991. (In the history of the NY Mets they have had three players lead the NL in Home Runs…can you name any one of them.)

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1886 the first MLB game to draw at least 20,000 paying fans is played in the original version of the Polo Grounds in New York. The Detroit Wolverines defeat the NY Giants by a score of 4-1. The winning pitcher is Lady Baldwin…an unusual name for a ML baseball player. Nevertheless, Lady it was and not only did he beat the Giants that day but he led the NL that season with 42 Wins, the 2nd most single season Wins recorded in the history of the Majors by a southpaw (Matt Kilroy had 47 the following season for the Baltimore Orioles). Baldwin was given the nickname "Lady" because of his "quiet ways" and his refusal to swear or to come into contact with either tobacco or liquor.

lady baldwin, baseball - Google Search

Lady Baldwin Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Joe Benz was a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox for 9 seasons during the Dead-Ball Era from 1911 to 1919. Arm problems brought an end to his career early in the 1919 season so he wasn’t around when the White Sox turned into the Black Sox. His career as a pitcher was remarkable in that he never had an ERA above 2.90 and his career mark of 2.43 places him among the lowest 35 of all-time and he did that relying on two pitches, the spitter and knuckleball. If he had a down year it would be 1914 when he finished 15-19 to lead the AL in Losses despite an ERA of 2.26. He had as good a 3-game stretch in the history of the Majors as any pitcher with the exception of Johnny Vander Meer. In back-to-back-to-back starts he tosses a no-hitter against the Indians on this date in 1914 and follows that up with a 2-hitter and then a 1-hitter.

Joe Benz Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

May 31, 1914 Cleveland Naps at Chicago White Sox Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

There have been 15 Unassisted Triple Plays in ML history, Post 1900. The first was by 2B, Neal Ball, of Cleveland in 1909 in a game against the Red Sox. The most recent was by 2B Eric Bruntlett of the Phillies, 100 years later in 2009 in a game against the Mets. It was on this date in 1927 during the 9th inning at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium then Tiger Stadium)1B Johnny Neun saves the Tigers' 1-0 victory when he completes the rare play by catching a Homer Summa line drive, tagging Charlie Jamieson, who was on first, and beating Glenn Myatt to second base, making it the first time the last three outs of a game result from solo triple killing. There would not be another Unassisted Triple Play in the Majors for over 40 years.

Unassisted triple play - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cotton Pippen’s ML career was not the stuff that will earn you induction into the Hall of Fame. In his three seasons in the Majors…1936 (0-2), 1939 (4-12) and 1940 (1-2) he manages to go 5-16 with an ERA of 6.38 in 25 Starts and 317 baserunners allowed in 175 innings. However, he is far more successful in the Pacific Coast League and on this date in 1943 he tosses the League’s first ever Perfect Game on the way to a 20 Win season with the Oakland Oaks.

Cotton Pippen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On this date in 1944 Cal McLish, at age 18, picks up his 1st ML victory. He would win his last game in the Majors 19 years later when he goes 13-11 for the Phillies. The only thing about him that was longer than his ML career was his name which was the longest of any player in ML history… Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish, or Bus to his friends.

Cal McLish Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1948 a 20 year old lefthander for the Schenectady Blue Jays (Canadian-American League) named Tom Lasorda strikes out 25 in a 15-inning game against Amsterdam. He was the property of the Phillies that season, his 2nd as a pro, but would soon be acquired by the Brooklyn Dodgers and his blood turned from being red to Dodger Blue.

tom lasorda 1948 - Google Search

It was on this date in 1961 Carroll Hardy bunts for a single in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Yankees pinch-hitting for rookie, Carl Yastrzemski. It would be the first and only time in Yaz’s 23 ML career he would be pinch-hit for. Hardy would also be the only player to pinch-hit for Ted Williams.

May 31, 1961 New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1965…for the first time in history, an all-switch-hitting infield starts a Big League game. In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Dodgers, with Wes Parker at first base, Jim Lefebvre at second, Maury Wills at shortstop and Jim Gilliam at third, lose to the visiting Reds, 6-1.

1965 Los Angeles Dodgers Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

There are currently only 2 Major League teams who have never won a League Pennant, one is in the National League, one is in the American League. Can you name those teams.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Barry Zito: 23 Wins – 2002, Carlos Zambrano: 16 Wins – 2006, Jordan Zimmermann: 19 Wins - 2013 (The Z’s have it. Since 2000 can you name at least 2 of the 3 ML pitchers, whose last name begins with the letter “Z” to lead their League in Wins. If you’d rather HR hitters…can you name the last ML’er whose last name begins with “Z” to lead his League in HRs (it was in 1951).

 

[67RedSox]

Hank Gowdy was a MLB player, primarily a catcher, for 17 seasons with a career that spanned from 1910-1930. Although he played in 100 games in a season only three times he had staying power. There are two things that distinguish him from all other ML’ers. First, it was on this date in 1917 he becomes the first player to enlist during World War I when he signs up in the Ohio National Guard. He will play until he reports for duty July 15. Second, he has the record for most unsuccessful Hall of Fame induction attempts, without ever have been enshrined in the Hall. While current custom limits the times a player can appear on the ballot Gowdy received votes 17 years, never being elected to the Hall of Fame. Edd Roush has the record for most Hall attempts with 19, but he was later enshrined by the Veteran's Committee.

Baseball in Wartime - Hank Gowdy

Hank Gowdy Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Robert E. Jones who dabbles in baseball history feels there’s a team feat, scoring in every inning of a nine inning game, which is probably the most unusual occurrence in baseball, and is probably the least appreciated of baseball's rarities. It is unusual because of the incredible combinations of team play needed to pull it off, and it is less appreciated because no heroic efforts are required of any one player. The only result of the game is an interesting line score. For any mathematicians out there a formula does exist to calculate the probability and the likelihood of it happening is once in every 451,834 games.

Since 1900, only two teams have managed to score in each of nine innings of a game. On this date in 1923, the New York Giants did it against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 22-8. On September 13, 1964, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 15-2 and likewise never gave the opposing pitchers an inning to be proud of. How did the Giants and Cardinals manage their scoring binges? Simple. They had a day when hitters could do no wrong, opposing pitchers could do no right, and a more than moderate amount of luck was thrown in.

June 1, 1923 New York Giants at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

September 13, 1964 St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

In 1963 Sandy Koufax has his first sensational season. He goes 25-5 with a League leading ERA of 1.88, 11 Shutouts and his first season of 300+ strikeouts. At the end of the season he walks away with both the CY Young and MVP Awards. In the World Series Yankee hitters discovered there was no point in even taking a bat with them to the plate as he proved to be almost unhittable. What did it take to beat Koufax that year…well on this date in 1963 Joey Jay showed, typically just that. In a game played at Crosley Field Koufax starts against the 1-8 Jay but Jay tosses a 4-hit Shutout as the Reds win by the narrowest of scores, 1-0.

Sandy Koufax 1963 Game by Game Pitching Logs

Ted Breitenstein was born on this date in 1869 and pitched 11 years in the Majors, 1891-1901, and managed to accumulate 160 Wins including 3-20 Win seasons. He also lost 170 games including 30 in 1895 for the St. Louis Browns. He is most known today for throwing a no-hitter in his first Major League start. During his first season in the Majors, he was able to pitch occasionally in relief, but on the final day of the 1891 season, October 4, Breitenstein was allowed to start and he pitched a no-hitter against the Louisville Colonels, an 8–0 victory. In 1898 he would toss a second no-hitter against the Pirates. What made this no-hitter notable is the fact that another no-hitter was pitched on the same day. Jay Hughes of the Baltimore Orioles threw one against the Boston Beaneaters. This was the first occurrence of two no-hitters had been thrown on the same day in the Major Leagues. The feat wasn’t duplicated until 1991, when the Oakland Athletics’ Dave Stewart and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela threw same-day no-nos.

Ted Breitenstein Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Hall of Famer Rube Marquard died on this date in 1980 at the age of 93. He pitched 18 seasons in the Majors and had 3 stellar seasons, 1911, 1912 and 1913 with the NY Giants which he rode all the way to the Hall of Fame, his selection, one of those criticized by some as unworthy. Those 3 seasons, 1911-13 he helped the Giants win 3 consecutive NL Pennants winning 24, 26 and 23 games. In 1912 he won 19 consecutive games, a ML record that still stands more than 100 years later. ( Rube Marquard's 19-game streak in 1912 would be 20 under today's rules. Marquard relieved in the top of the 9th inning vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game where the Giants led 2-1. Two baserunners who were previously on base scored on a Giant fielding error, and they trailed 3-2. Though the Giants rallied to win 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th, the win went to Giant starter Jeff Tesreau (who pitched 8 innings plus part of the 9th) under the scoring practices of the day.)

Rube Marquard Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Gene Stephens played 12 seasons in the Majors but never as a regular. 8 of those seasons were with the Red Sox where he was known as Ted Williams “caddy” or played when Williams couldn’t. One of those occasions was in 1953 while Williams was away serving with the Marines in the Korean War. Stephens collected three hits in one inning during a 23-3 Red Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Boston exploded for 17 runs in the seventh inning, sending 23 batters to the plate during their 47-minute half of the inning. Stephens had a double and two singles off three different Detroit pitchers. He became the first AL’er to collect 3 hits in one inning and the first ML’er to do it since 1883 and became known as “The One Inning Wonder”.

Gene Stephens - One Inning Wonder


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Can you name the two catchers to win a multiple Gold Gloves Post-2000 who are now managing in the Majors.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Washington Nationals (nee, Montreal Expos) and Seattle Mariners (There are currently only 2 Major League teams who have never won a League Pennant, one is in the National League, one is in the American League. Can you name those teams.)

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1941 Lou Gehrig dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 37 in New York. Gehrig died at his home in the Bronx. From that time on‚ the illness is known primarily as Lou Gehrig's Disease. If you haven't already you likely will at some point hear that Gehrig may not have died of ALS, a type of motor neurone disease. He may instead have died due to repeated brain traumas... from the repeated concussions he received on the baseball field as well as when he played American football in school and at University, the effects of which can mask the symptoms of ALS. The Mayo Clinic so far is declining to release the records for Gehrig citing there are no surviving relatives who can authorize them doing so and Clinic officials are not sure the disclosure would be conclusive anyway. But with increased publicity surrounding sports concussions and their roles in mental and physical health of athletes, it may sometime happen.


Gehrig’s death is 6 years to the day after Babe Ruth announced his retirement as a player. It was on this date in 1935 he does so. The 40 year-old former Yankees slugger wanted to retire three weeks sooner, but team owner Emil Fuchs persuaded him to continue to play because Boston hadn't played in every National League park.

Babe Ruth retires from baseball in 1935 - NY Daily News

A date to remember for yet another HOF Yankee…Johnny Mize who won 5 consecutive Rings playing for the Yankees (1949-1953) died on this date in 1993.


It only took 9 years but on this date in 1921 Reds' outfielder Pat Duncan hits the first over-the-fence HR at Cincinnati's Redland Field. The spacious ballpark, which will become known as Crosley Field, made its debut in 1912. It was 360’down each line and quickly veered to 380’ in the power alleys and 420’ to dead-away CF.

Pat Duncan (baseball) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

June 2, 1921 St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1972 the Braves play the Mets at Shea Stadium in front of 42,757. Playing 1B for each team was a future Hall of Famer who each happened to have 648 HRs. Collectively, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron went 0-7 with 3 strikeouts.

willie mays and hank aaron - Google Search

Two No-Hitters and a Perfect Game were thrown on June 2.

It was on this date in 1918 Dutch Leonard tosses his 2nd ML No-Hitter as he holds the Tigers hitless in the Red Sox 5-0 victory at Navin Field. A hard-throwing, spectacularly talented left-hander who posted the best single-season earned run average in American League history in 1914, Dutch Leonard was also one of the Deadball Era’s most controversial figures. At nearly every stop along his journey in professional baseball, Leonard feuded with management over his salary, and at one point was even suspended from organized baseball for nearly three years for refusing to report for work. Regarded as a selfish, cowardly player by many of his contemporaries, Leonard frittered away much of his Major League career, alternating periods of brilliance with long bouts of inertia. “As a pitcher, he was gutless,” Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans once declared. “We umpires had no respect for Leonard, for he whined on every pitch called against him.” After exiting the game in 1925, Leonard touched off one of the biggest scandals in baseball history when he accused Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker of conspiring to throw a baseball game in 1919. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis dismissed the charges, and Leonard retired to his California ranch, where he earned millions of dollars growing grapes.

37. Dutch Leonard, LHP - 100 Greatest Red Sox players - ESPN

Dutch Leonard Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1990 Randy Johnson becomes the first Mariner in franchise history to pitch a no-hitter when he blanks the Tigers 2-0. The southpaw strikes out eight while walking six in the first hitless game thrown in the 14-year existence of the Kingdome, now thankfully demolished.

June 2, 1990 Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 2010 Armando Galarraga tosses his Perfect Game. Everyone but the 1B Umpire, Jim Joyce saw it happen.


When you think of power pitchers in the 1960’s the mind immediately turns to Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale. There was another in the person of Jim Maloney who was born on this date in 1940. A threat to no-hit the opposition every time he went to the mound, Maloney tossed a 9-inning no-hitter and a 10-inning no-hitter ( 187 pitches ), lost a no-hitter in the 11th inning, and was forced to leave two no-hitters in the 7th inning due to injuries. "That fellow could throw as hard as anybody," said Roberto Clemente about Maloney.

Jim Maloney Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

He twice lost 19 games in a season to lead the NL in that category. In 198 he went 2-19 and in 1990 he went 7-19. He is also the only Cardinal pitcher since 1968 to lead the NL in Strikeouts. His initials…J.D.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Mike Matheny and Brad Ausmus (Can you name the two catchers to win a multiple Gold Gloves Post-2000 who are now managing in the Majors.)

 

[67RedSox]

How can this bit of Baseball history not be mentioned today…the first publication of Ernest L. Thayer's poem Casey at the Bat appears in the San Francisco Examiner on this date in 1888. Not until August 15‚ when actor Dewitt Hopper recites the poem with the New York Giants and Chicago White Stockings in the audience‚ will it become popular. When Hopper dies in 1935‚ it is estimated he recited the poem 10‚000 times. The work is originally published under the pen name 'Phin', because the poet feels embarrassed by what he considers to be bad verse and decides to keep his identity a secret.

HistoryBuff.com -- The Story Behind the Poem Casey at the Bat


It was on this date in 1895 that HOF’er Roger Connor becomes the ML's all-time HR leader‚ passing Harry Stovey with his 4th round-tripper of the season‚ and the 122nd of his career. He would finish with 138 in his career and would hold the record until Babe Ruth passed him 26 years later in 1921.

Connor, Roger | Baseball Hall of Fame

Roger Connor | SABR

It was on this date in 1932 in Philadelphia, Lou Gehrig becomes the first player in the twentieth century to blast four home runs in one game, and barely misses hitting a fifth. The Yankees hammer out a Major League record with 50 total bases in a 20-13 slugfest with the Athletics. Ironically, the ball Gehrig hit the farthest that day ended up being an out. In the 9th inning with a chance to hit his 5th HR of the day he hit a drive to deep CF, it was 468’ to the wall, that was run down for an out.

June 3, 1932 New York Yankees at Philadelphia Athletics Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

4 Home Runs in 1 Game by Baseball Almanac

In 1902 John McGraw took over as the Manager of the NY Giants. He would remain in that post for 31 seasons and while Gehrig was bashing those 4 HRs on this date in 1932, the Giants, citing poor health, announce McGraw's resignation. During his tenure, the fiery manager won three World Series and nine National League Pennants, including a record four consecutive flags.

Ottawa Citizen - Google News Archive Search

It was on this date in 1967 Harmon Killebrew launches the longest home run ever hit in Metropolitan Stadium, a 503 foot shot which travels deep in the second deck of the left-center field bleachers. The stadium is long gone replaced by the largest shopping mall in the U.S. but the chair the ball landed in remains exactly where it was when the HR was hit.

The Mall of Americas unusual tribute to Harmon Killebrew - Big League Stew - MLBBlog - Yahoo! Sports

Jim Gentile was born on this date in 1934. He turns 81 today. Even those who remember Gentile don’t know he was both a Brooklyn and a Los Angeles Dodger and started at 1B for the Dodgers in their final game at Ebbets Field in New York. Everyone remembers the 1961 baseball season. If you’re not old enough to have been around then you’ve at least read and heard about it. It was the year both Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased Babe Ruth’s single season HR record. Maris with 61 caught and passed Ruth while Mantle settled for 54. Gentile was also popping a few out that year, 46 in total and was tied with Killebrew for the 3rd most in the League. No one drove in more runs that year than Gentile’s 141…he was tied with Maris. Not bad numbers for someone forgotten in the year of the M & M Boys.

(Gentile's 141 RBIs in 1961 was second only to Roger Maris' 142 RBIs, however, analysis by the Society for American Baseball Research determined Maris was incorrectly credited with an RBI in a game on July 5, 1961. Maris reached base on an error by numerous accounts. Therefore, Gentile and Maris both had 141 RBIs in 1961. Gentile's contract with the Orioles in 1961 called for a $5,000 bonus if he led the league in RBIs. The Orioles made good on that deal 50 years later and presented Gentile with a check for $5,000 at a game in 2010)

Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris And Jim Gentile: The Story Of Baseball's Forgotten 1961 Sensation | ThePostGame

Jim Gentile Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com



Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

I am the only Rookie of the Year winner to go on to win Manager of the Year Awards in both the NL and the AL. (Note: Manager of the Year Award first given in 1983)

The answer to yesterday’s question…Jose DeLeon (He twice lost 19 games in a season to lead the NL in that category. In 198 he went 2-19 and in 1990 he went 7-19. He is also the only Cardinal pitcher since 1968 to lead the NL in Strikeouts. His initials…J.D.)

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1838 that the first recorded baseball game in North America was played. That is not to say it was the first game of baseball played, merely the first recorded game. It was in Canada…near Beachville‚ Ontario. The Canadian version uses five bases‚ three strikes and three outs to a side. A blurb on the layout of the field and some of the terms used like “knocker” and “plugging” follows.

Beachville District Museum

In a game played in Cincinnati on this date in 1911 the host Reds aren’t very kind to the visiting Braves from Boston when they defeat them 26-3. What makes this game worth mentioning in that 13 different Reds score in the game, still the record for the most players from one team to score in a game.

Retrosheet Boxscore: Cincinnati Reds 26, Boston Rustlers 3

Have you ever wondered what the inspiration was for U2’s song “Silver and Gold” from their 6th studio album was. Well, it could have been ( but wasn’t ) something that happened on this date in 1912…Napoleon Lajoie Day in Cleveland‚ the player-manager receives a horseshoe of flowers filled with 1‚000 silver dollars‚ a gift from the fans. His teammates chip in with $125 in gold. Nap then chips in with 2 hits and a sac fly in the 5-1 win over Boston.

nap lajoie day 1912 - Google Search


nap lajoie day 1912 - Google Search

Tim Hurst was a colorful player, manager, and umpire who was often the focus of controversy. He has the dubious distinction of being the only umpire fired by both the National and the American Leagues. He died on this date in 1915, ironically while attending a funeral. His umpiring career lasted 16 seasons from 1891 to 1909. For one season, in 1898, he became the on-field manager of the St. Louis Browns, and the team had a record of 39–111 in 154 games. After his season of managing the Browns, he returned to his umpiring career.
From 1891 through 1904 he umpired in the NL, then finished his career in the AL. Noted for his pugnacious and combative style, Hurst was suspended on several occasions for refusing to report player misconduct to his League office, insisting instead that he ought to be allowed to settle matters with players personally, often engaging them in fights after the game was over. Hurst was among the several umpires who were named to a Roll of Honor by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, at a time when no umpires had yet received full membership in the Hall.

Tim Hurst - BR Bullpen

tim hurst, baseball - Google Search

It was on this date in 1929 Harry Frazee the owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923 and who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 dies of kidney failure at the age of 48 in his home on Park Avenue. Frazee was buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. 12 years later Lou Gehrig would be buried close by in the same cemetery.

Harry Frazee and the Red Sox | SABR

It was on this date in 1940 the Braves, then the Boston Braves, sign 19 year old high-schooler, Warren Spahn. 12 years later in 1952 the Braves signed another teenager, Hank Aaron. You can decide which signing was the most important in the history of the Club as I can’t choose between them.

Spahn won 363 games, more than any other left-handed pitcher in history, and more than any other pitcher who played his entire career in the Post-1920 Live Ball Era. This was accomplished despite losing three full seasons to WWII where he had a far rougher World War II experience than most Big-Leaguers, who spent the conflict out of harm’s way with gloves instead of guns. He fought in the snowy, frozen Battle of the Bulge, twice taking bullets…in the abdomen and back of the head. He was the only ballplayer given a battlefield promotion, from staff sergeant to second lieutenant. In all, he earned a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a battlefield promotion, and a Presidential citation. That made him the most decorated ballplayer in World War II.

He won 20 games or more in 13 seasons, including a 23–7 record when he was age 42. During that 23 Win season as a 42 year old he hooked with against Juan Marichal in a pitching duel for the Ages. It was the 42-year-old against the 25-year old. The score was still 0–0 after more than four hours when Willie Mays hit a game-winning solo home run off Spahn with one out in the bottom of the 16th inning.

Marichal's manager, Alvin Dark, visited the mound in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th innings, and was talked out of removing Marichal each time. During the 14th-inning visit, Marichal told Dark, "Do you see that man pitching for the other side? Do you know that man is 42 years old? I'm only 25. If that man is on the mound, nobody is going to take me out of here." Marichal ended up throwing 227 pitches in the complete game 1–0 win, while Spahn threw 201 in the loss, allowing nine hits and one walk.

Spahn’s last season in the Majors was 1965. He says he didn’t retire from Baseball, that Baseball retired him. After his playing career was over he managed in the Minors and in 1968 led the Tulsa Oilers who won the Pacific Coast League championship and he was named Manager of the Year. He was fired from that position a couple of years later because he’d refused a promotion to Cardinals pitching coach the previous year.


It was on this date in 1947 that the toughest player to ever play the game, OF’er Pistol Pete Reiser of the Brooklyn Dodgers crashes into the wall at Ebbets Field and is knocked unconscious. He still manages to hold onto the long fly by Cully Rickard to help the Dodgers win over Pittsburgh 9-4. In the clubhouse a priest administers the last rites of the Catholic Church to Reiser‚ who will be hospitalized for 10 days.

pete reiser - Google Search

Pete Reiser | SABR

Sandy Koufax tosses a No-Hitter on this date in 1964 shutting out the Phillies, 3-0 at Connie Mack Stadium. It’s his 3rd No-Hitter and he joins Bob Feller, Larry Corcoran and Cy Young as the only pitchers to toss 3 No-Hitters.

June 4, 1964 Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Well, we mentioned Koufax we may as well mention Don Drysdale. It was on this date in 1968 Drysdale tosses his 6th consecutive Shutout…5-0 against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium on his way to tossing a then record 58-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

June 4, 1968 Pittsburgh Pirates at Los Angeles Dodgers Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

O.K. back to Koufax one more time. It was on this date in 1972 that the Dodgers retire their first Uniform #s and they retire three of them…Jackie Robinson’s #42, Roy Campenella’s #39 and Koufax’s #32.

Dodgers Retired Numbers | dodgers.com: History


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Who is the only pitcher in the last 20 years to lead the League ( either NL or AL ) in Innings Pitched for three consecutive seasons. His initials are L.H.

The answer to yesterday’s question… Lou Piniella (I am the only Rookie of the Year winner to go on to win Manager of the Year Awards in both the NL and the AL. (Note: Manager of the Year Award first given in 1983)

 

[67RedSox]

Jack Chesbro was born on this date in 1876. The HOF pitcher with the Yankees (Highlanders) for 7 of his 11 ML seasons is the last ML pitcher to win 40 games in a season when, in 1904, he wins 41 games and tosses 48 Complete Games, both Modern Day records to this day.

Jack Chesbro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was on this date in 1947 the Yankees play a game in Detroit trailing the 1st place Tigers by 2 game in the standings. It ended up being more just a battle for 1st place. It was a battle on the field as well as the Yankees Ralph Houk and Tigers Freddie Hutchinson both get tossed after a 4th inning flare-up. The two would be opposing Managers in the World Series in 1961, 14 years later. Incidentally, Al Benton pitched in the game for the Tigers and Benton is the only pitcher to have pitched to both Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle in the Majors.

1961 world series managers - Google Search


It was on this date in 1959 Dick Stuart, Pittsburgh's slugging first baseman, hits a 457-foot homer over the Forbes Field center field wall, making the blast the longest home run in the 50-year history of the ballpark. Stuart could hit a baseball with the best of them. He was kneeling in the on-deck circle when Mazeroski hit the Series ending HR in 1960. In 1961 he slammed 35 HRs and drove in 117 runs for the Pirates but topped both of those numbers with the Red Sox 2 years later in 1963 with 42 HRs and 118 RBIs. However, that isn’t why he’s remembered. He’s remembered more for something he couldn’t do…that’s field a ball cleanly. Frank Jackson wrote a great article about Stuart in The Hardball Times a couple of years ago. Although Stuart last played in a ML game in 45 years ago and died in 2002 he remains a bit of a legend. Here’s some of what Jackson writes:

“Stuart…is still fondly remembered as Dr. Strangeglove. People who never saw him play remember that nickname. People who weren’t born when he retired remember that nickname. After all, having heard it once, how could you ever forget it?”

Was he that bad a fielder…the answer is an emphatic, YES, and maybe even worse. In 1963, he set a record by committing 29 errors, a ML record for 1B that still stands. Every play hit his way was an adventure, the most routine play a challenge to his artlessness. It is hard to describe this to anyone who has not seen it. Stuart’s first error came, you guessed it… in his first game, a July 10, 1958 contest against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Appropriately, he also hit his first home run in the ninth inning of that same game.

Stuart once picked up a hot dog wrapper that was blowing toward his 1B position. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. It was the first thing he had managed to pick up all day, and the fans realized it could very well be the last.

Stuart had a second nickname…The Ancient Mariner, and Frank Jackson also explained how this came about:

“It’s from the Coleridge poem we had to read in high school, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Well, like Dr. Strangeglove, this nickname pertains to Stuart’s fielding lapses. It derives from the opening lines of the poem:

It is an ancient mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.


Dick Stuart Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

Dick Stuart: A DH before his time The Hardball Times

Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven made his ML debut on this date in 1970. The Minnesota Twins had called him up from the Minors to replace an injured Luis Tiant. In a demonstration of what was to come as far as Blyleven’s career was concerned he coughs up a HR to the first batter he faces, Lee Maye. He settles down and allows just 4 more hits in 7 innings and beats Washington‚ 2-1. In 1986 Blyleven would establish the ML record of allowing 50 HRs in a single season, a mark that still stands. Over the course of his career he surrendered HRs to 244 ML batters. Lee Maye who hit that first HR spent 13 seasons in the Bigs as an outfielder and is best remembered as an outfielder with the Braves in the 1960s. In 1964 he hit .304 and led the NL with 44 Doubles. He was also an accomplished singer, both Doo Wop and R & B. Following is one of his recordings.



Retiring after 23 years of being at the helm Walter Alston’s uniform #24 is retired by the Dodgers on this date in 1977. Alston guided the Dodgers to 7 NL Pennants and 4 World Series Championships during the 11 years between 1955 and 1965 when the Yankees were dominant.


Harold Baines had more RBIs than Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew and Joe DiMaggio…the point is Harold Baines had a lot of RBIs. Harold Baines had more Basehits than Andre Dawson, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Reggie Jackson or Ernie Banks…the point is Harold Baines had a lot of Basehits. Harold Baines had more HRs than Jim Rice, Orlando Cepeda and Ralph Kiner. The point is Harold Baines hit a lot of HRs. Harold Baines scored more Runs than Duke Snider, Willie McCovey or Willie Stargell. The point is Harold Baines scored a lot of runs.

Among all names mentioned above there is only one who is not in the Hall of Fame, in fact, has never received more than 6% of the vote for election to the Hall of Fame. Dave Concepcion has, so has Bernie Williams, Keith Hernandez and Don Larsen who went 81-91 in his ML career. The point is it’s interesting numbers just as is the fact that in his 19 year ML career Mariano Rivera led the League in Saves only three times. Guys like Jose Valverde, Lindy McDaniel have managed that and Craig Kimbrel whose been in the Majors only 4 years has done it more.

Harold Baines Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Ruth, Foxx, Mays, Mize and Rice are some of the players who have hit more than 45 HRs in a single season whose last name has as few as 4 letters. There is, however, only one player whose last name has only 3 letters to hit more than 45 HRs in a single season. Who is that player? You may get the urge to say Mel Ott but the most he cranked out in a season was 42 so you have to think someone else, someone who won a Batting Crown, someone who won 3 Gold Gloves, someone who in his first MLB game had HOF’ers Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson playing with him as teammates.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Livan Hernandez (Who is the only pitcher in the last 20 years to lead the League ( either NL or AL ) in Innings Pitched for three consecutive seasons. His initials are L.H.)

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1892 that the grandson portion of the only grandfather/grandson duo to serve as Presidents of the United States, Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. President to attend a MLB game. It was at Washington's Swampoodle Grounds and the Commander-in-Chief watches Cincinnati defeat the hometown Senators in 11 innings, 7-4.

swampoodle grounds - Google Search

benjamin harrison - Google Search

Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey was born on this date in 1907. Dickey was a tremendous hitter from the first day he played in the Majors (1928) retiring after 17 ML seasons with a lifetime BA of .313 and a high water mark of .362 in 1936. He was a notorious bad-ball hitter who could get wood on the ball no matter where the pitch was: high, low, outside. He hit them all. His problem was on the defensive side because until he reached the Majors it was only his hitting teams were interested in. He worked hard on the defensive side of his game and became one of the best. When Yogi Berra came along in the late 1940s shortly after Dickey’s career ended he had the same issue the young Dickey had of being able to hit but not really being strong defensively. The Yankees asked him to come on board as a coach and teach Berra how to catch which he did with great success. The Yankees gave Berra Dickey’s old uniform #8 and when the number was retired it was retired for both Dickey and Berra. Dickey was inducted into the HOF in 1954.

Bill Dickey Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com


It was on this date in 1920 MLB played its last game in a 19th Century wooden ballpark when the St. Louis Cardinals hosted defeated the Chicago Cubs, 5-2, at Robison Field. There’s about 30 years of St. Louis Cardinal history that could be expanded upon here but I know it would interest no one. Despite that I’ll ramble on about those 30 years in a separate Post following this one just in case all the stars in the Universe align and someone might actually want to read about it.

1901 Fire At Robison Field St. Louis - a photo on Flickriver

On this date in 1944 MLB cancels their scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy, known as D-Day.

d-day - Google Search

d-day - Google Search

Visitors To Hell: How Two Minor Leaguers Earned Their Medals Of Honor

Before leaving WWII it seems like a good time to mention William Langer who served two terms as the Governor of North Dakota in the 1930s, the second term after he was thrown out of Office in his first term as a convicted felon ( a conviction later overturned on appeal ). The reason he was tossed from Office is because in 1933 he required all State employees to donate part of their annual salaries to his political party and to the Leader, a weekly newspaper owned by some of his cronies ). His ideas were a bit bizarre but the voters in North Dakota loved him and after his second term as Governor he moved to the U.S. Senate and served there from 1941 until his death in 1959. Other proposals he made included minimizing the U.S. involvement in WWII and, get this, he proposed a Bill for the United States Federal Government to pay for sending all African-Americans back to the African continent. However, here’s the Baseball connection…on this date in 1945 he introduces a Bill in Congress that would require that 10% of MLB rosters be made up of War veterans missing an arm‚ leg‚ foot or hand. "Congress has the right to do this because it controls interstate congress‚" he says…in Baseball terms the Bill doesn't get to 1st Base.

William Langer - North Dakota Governors Online Exhibit - Exhibits - State Historical Society of North Dakota

It was on this date in 1959 Maury Wills makes his ML debut as the Dodgers behind Sandy Koufax defeat the Braves 3-2 in Milwaukee.

June 6, 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee Braves Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

Sticking with Maury Wills it was early in the morning on this date in 1968 that Senator Robert Kennedy dies from gunshot wounds he sustained hours earlier in Los Angeles. Wills, now playing for the Pirates, is so upset with the Senator’s death he refuses to play in the game that day at Dodger Stadium to honour him. Only 14,000 fans attend the game.

On this day- 1 day after RFK is shot Maury Wills refuses to play


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Clayton Kershaw has won the last 4 NL ERA Crowns. Who is the only other pitcher to win an NL ERA Crown who has been active in the Majors in 2015…to date he has pitched a total of 7.2 innings in 2015. He has been a member of the last two World Series winning teams, 2013 and 2014.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Derrek Lee (Ruth, Foxx, Mays, Mize and Rice are some of the players who have hit more than 45 HRs in a single season whose last name has as few as 4 letters. There is, however, only one player whose last name has only 3 letters to hit more than 45 HRs in a single season. Who is that player? You may get the urge to say Mel Ott but the most he cranked out in a season was 42 so you have to think someone else, someone who won a Batting Crown, someone who won 3 Gold Gloves, someone who in his first MLB game had HOF’ers Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson playing with him as teammates.)

Derrek Lee Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

 

[67RedSox]

As warned above…here’s the blurb on the Cardinals first 30 years or so.

It may come as a surprise but the team we now know as the St. Louis Cardinals were not named after that robust, seed eating bird with the strong bill that stands atop the baseball bat on their uniform. The bird actually came after the team was named the “Cardinals” for the cardinal red stockings they wore. It might be best to go back to the beginning of the franchise to explain and in doing so we’ll talk about the ballpark they played in because it was the sale of that ballpark that afforded the Cardinals the funds to create the first “farm system” in the Majors. Hope you’re interested in some St. Louis Cardinals history otherwise you might want to tune out.

The Cardinals began in 1892 not as the Cardinals but as the St. Louis Browns. The ballpark built for the club was called New Sportsman's Park. It would also be known as League Park and Cardinal Field but it’s generally remembered as Robison Field after the Robison brothers who bought the team in 1899. Although the Cardinals never won a Pennant playing there fourteen members of that early NL organization have since been immortalized in the HOF.

When Robison Field opened it was billed as "one of the most beautiful baseball and athletic parks in America" albeit asymmetrical in design…home plate faced a deep CF reported to be 500 feet. Most historians state 290 feet for right field and 470 for left - a mightily lopsided outfield for sure.

On April 16, 1898, a serious fire in the stands occurred during a game between the Browns and Chicago…it spelled disaster. Some 4,000 spectators witnessed a commotion they at first believed to be a fight erupting among fans. Their curiosity turned to horror when they saw the flames. After the fire department extinguished the blaze, the grandstand and left field bleachers remained only as charred embers. At least 100 people suffered serious burns, and one death resulted. Miraculously, the occupants of the boxes on the roof escaped without serious harm. That night a crew of men, including ballplayers, worked to repair the burned fences and construct temporary stands for the following day's game. Lawsuits resulting from the inferno forced the team owner into bankruptcy. The owners of the Cleveland Spiders, another NL franchise, the Robison brothers, bought the St. Louis Browns out of bankruptcy and their name changed to the Perfectos. However, they kept the Spiders as well--a blatant conflict of interest. Believing the Perfectos would draw greater attendance in St. Louis, the Robisons transferred most of the Cleveland stars, including future Baseball HOF’ers Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace to St. Louis. With a decimated roster, the Spiders finished with a dismal W-L record of 20–134 (.130), the worst in MLB history, 84 games behind Pennant-winning Brooklyn and 35 games behind the next-to-last (11th) place Washington Senators. The Robisons' decision to effectively reduce the Spiders to Minor League status spelled their doom and they were contracted out of the National League at the end of the 1899 season.

The Robisons focused on their new team and made improvements to the ballpark their main priority. The bleachers were rebuilt and moved in closer to the field, the grandstand was restructured and the new seating capacity reached 15,200. Also, the clubhouse in centerfield was rebuilt with the addition of steam and vapor baths. The scoreboard remained at its original spot in center in front of the clubhouse. The team was managed by Pat Tebeau and fans began to call the team, Pat's Perfectos so that’s how the St. Louis Browns became known as the Perfectos for the 1899 season.

A new, permanent club name arose with the new century. In 1900 Robison changed the colour of the team's stockings from brown to Cardinal red, giving rise to the title… St. Louis Cardinals that remains today. Thus, the St. Louis Cardinals' name was derived from a colour, and not the bird. The bird on the bat logo came later.

Problems continued to plague the ballpark. In May 1901, another fire during a game erupted in the grandstand, to the right of the press box, near the Robison's private box. As before, the consternation in the stands appeared to many as a fracas among fans. By the time firemen arrived, the flames, thought to have been ignited by a discarded cigar, engulfed the grandstand, pavilion and office. Although the north fence and part of the east and west fences were destroyed, firefighters managed to salvage the bleachers.

Because the stairs to the grandstand were wider and straighter due to reconstruction since the first fire, fans were able to get out unharmed. Moreover, owing to occupants of the rooftop boxes narrow escape from death during the 1898 fire, those boxes had not been rebuilt. Consequently, the damage in 1901 was mostly confined to property.

Repairs were made and in 1909 further renovations were made and capacity increased to about 20,000. The first of the Robison brothers, Frank died in 1908 and the second, Stanley in 1911 leaving the team to Frank’s 32 year old daughter, Helene Robison-Britton who became the first woman to own a ML Baseball franchise. No stranger to the sport, Mrs. Britton had often accompanied her father and uncle on baseball trips. So as time passed, Cardinal fans adjusted to the novelty of a female owner, and Helene gained respect among her peers.

An astute businesswoman, Helene tried various promotions, including schemes to lure more women to the park. She instituted a lady's day that allowed free admission to women with male escorts. But eventually the club suffered financially, and the park fell into disrepair.

Rumours of an impending sale of the Cardinals began as early as January 1916. In March of 1917, Mrs. Britton sold her baseball interest to a group of stockholders for $350,000. Of this figure, $250,000 was placed as the value of the franchise, and $100,000 for the property. When club stockholder Sam Breadon became the President of the Cardinals in 1920, one of his first decisions was to move the club to a different, existing, park. Stating that it would cost close to a half million dollars to make Robison Field fit for habitation, he arranged for the Cardinals to share old Sportsman's Park, which by then boasted larger, sturdier stands, with the American League Browns. For the next 32 years‚ St. Louis will be the only two-franchise city with one ball park.

On this date in 1920, the Cards played their last game at Robison Field, by then known as Cardinal Field. It would be the last MLB game played in a 19th Century wooden ballpark. The proceeds from the sale of the aging ballpark was used to finance Branch Rickey's idea of establishing a farm system by investing in a club affiliation with a Minor League team in Houston, Texas. Thus, the modern farm system as we know it today had it’s beginning in St. Louis with the Cardinals.

In 1922, the Cardinals wore uniforms for the first time that featured the two familiar cardinal birds perched on a baseball bat over the name "Cardinals" with the letter "C" of the word hooked over the bat. The concept of the birds originated after general manager Branch Rickey noticed a colorful cardboard arrangement featuring cardinal birds on a table in a Presbyterian church in Ferguson, Missouri, at which he was speaking. The arrangement's production was by a woman named Allie May Schmidt. Schmidt's father, a graphic designer, helped Ricky make the logo a familiar staple on Cardinals uniforms. Colloquially referred to as the "birds on the bat," it initially appeared with the birds perched on a black bat and "Cardinals" in printed letters. Like most logos it has undergone changes over the years.

St. Louis Cardinals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sportsman's Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robison Field - St. Louis Missouri - Former Home of the St. Louis Cardinals

Robison Field - St. Louis Missouri - Former Home of the St. Louis Cardinals

robison field fire - Google Search

Patsy Tebeau - BR Bullpen

Stan Robison | SABR

Frank Robison | SABR

Helene Britton | SABR

st louis cardinals logo - Google Search

St. Louis Cardinals Uniform and Team History | Heritage Uniforms and Jerseys

 

[67RedSox]

A little late in the day but what I can I say other than the garden needed tending.

There can’t be too many pitchers in MLB who first 2 Wins came 13 years apart. It was on this date in 1890 rookie John McFetridge‚ 20‚ wins his ML debut‚ a 5-hit 4-1 win over Brooklyn in game 2 of a doubleheader at Philadelphia. He doesn’t pitch again in the Majors, let alone win his second game, until 1903 when he wins his second game for the Phillies…his only two ML Wins come 13 years apart.

Jack McFetridge | SABR

Jack McFetridge Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

If you want beautiful scenery head to Mid-Coast Maine and pick a town from Belfast to Camden to Rockport to Rockland and you won’t be disappointed. It was on this date in 1906 In Washington‚ Rear Admiral Evans announces that as a result of the actions by Provincetown‚ Mass. which bans Sunday baseball‚ he is moving the battleships Maine and Missouri and the cruiser Yankton of the Atlantic fleet and their 10,000 crew members to Rockport Maine for the summer so they would have a place to play. Provincetown had initially endorsed Sunday baseball and then relented because of pressure from preachers who denounced the practice. Some things do change over time.

Boston Evening Transcript - Google News Archive Search

Robley D. Evans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1934 and 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers were managed by Casey Stengel. They didn’t enjoy success in the standings but were an entertaining team to watch. Their CF’er for most of those two seasons was Len Koenecke, who hit .304 in those two seasons. On this date in 1934, batting leadoff for the Dodgers in a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia he hits a leadoff HR off George Darrow on the first pitch of the game. The game is effectively over after one pitch as the HR is the only score of the game as Brooklyn beats the Phillies‚ 1-0. Koenecke’s ML career and life will come to an end in September 1935. Despite his good hitting, he gets in Stengel’s doghouse for his erratic play in the field and his behaviour. The Dodgers were on a road trip through Chicago and St. Louis and Stengel sends Koenecke home to New York. Koenecke catches a commercial flight for New York. During the flight he drank a quart of whiskey and became very drunk. After harassing other passengers and striking a stewardess, the pilot had to sit on him to restrain him as he was shackled to his seat. He was removed unconscious from the flight in Detroit. After sleeping on a chair in the airport he chartered a flight to Buffalo. While flying over Canada he had a disagreement with the pilot and his assistant ( co-pilot, presumably ) and attempted to take control of the aircraft. In order to avoid a crash he was hit over the head a few times with a fire extinguisher. After an emergency landing on a racetrack it was found that Koenecke had died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The two pilots were charged with manslaughter but were found not guilty in a trial soon after.

Toronto Urban Legends: Len Koeneckes Flight into Infamy | cityscape | Torontoist

Len Koenecke Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

In 1921 Walter Johnson strikes out his 2,804th career batter to move ahead of Cy Young as the all-time ML strikeout artist. He would finish his career with 3,509. In the 93 years since Johnson took over the lead either he or Nolan Ryan has been #1 except for a short period when another pitcher slipped ahead of Ryan temporarily only to be re-passed by Ryan. It was on this date in 1983 Steve Carlton overtakes Nolan Ryan as baseball's all-time strikeout leader‚ fanning 6 batters in a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals to bring his career total to 3‚526 over Ryan’s 3,525.

Progressive Leaders &amp Records for Strikeouts | Baseball-Reference.com

Herb Score, the AL’s Rookie of the Year in 1955 and the Majors strikeout leader, by a long shot, in both 1955 and 1956 was born on this date in 1933. His career would all but end tragically on May 7, 1957 when he was struck in the eye by a line drive. He was pitching the first inning of a home game against New York when Yankee shortstop Gil McDougald, the second batter he faced, smashed a line drive back towards Score. The ball hit Score in the right eye and ricocheted to third baseman Al Smith, who threw to first base for the out. But McDougald was not running down the first-base line. Instead he ran to the pitching mound, where Score was lying. Score would return to resume his career but was never the same.


Herb Score - BR Bullpen

Thurman Munson, the AL’s Rookie of the Year in 1970 was born on this date in 1947. Tragedy would also find him in 1979 when he died a private plane crash he was piloting.


Thurman Munson - BR Bullpen


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

In 1993 these three teammates finished 1-2-3 in the Batting race with Batting Averages of .363, .332, .326. Can you name those teammates one of whom is now in the HOF and one is managing in the Majors.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Jake Peavy (Clayton Kershaw has won the last 4 NL ERA Crowns. Who is the only other pitcher to win an NL ERA Crown who has been active in the Majors in 2015…to date he has pitched a total of 7.2 innings in 2015. He has been a member of the last two World Series winning teams, 2013 and 2014.)

 

[67RedSox]

Obviously, there was no “mercy rule” or “10-run rule” in place on this date in 1869 when the highest scoring game of Baseball on record occurred. In a game between the Niagara and Colombia clubs‚ both of Buffalo‚ NY the final score is Niagaras 209‚ Colombias 10. The Niagaras had a 58 run 8th inning. The game took as long to play as the average ML game today does, 3 hours.

http://www.sabrneworleans.com/publications/arthurschott/NiagaraVsColumbia(05-2010).pdf

Sounds like 100 years ago you got more bang for your buck in the Pacific Coast League than you did in the Majors. On this date in 1909 San Francisco hurler Cack Henley tosses a 24-inning 1-0 shutout over Oakland‚ surrendering only 9 hits and one walk in the 3-hour and 35-minute contest. Jimmy Wiggs matches Henley for 23 frames before Nick Williams drives home the winner with a single in the 24th. In the only other game scheduled in the league‚ Portland and Sacramento play an 18 inning 1-1 tie. Wiggs had previously pitched in the Majors, one of only three Norwegian born players to play in the Majors.

Cack Henley Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Jimmy Wiggs Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Major League Baseball Players Born in Norway

It was on this date in 1920 HOF outfielder Edd Roush of the Reds is tossed out of a game against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. What infraction did he commit to get tossed…he fell asleep in the outfield. He did so during a long argument in the infield. Heinie Groh goes out to wake him‚ but the ump ejects Roush for delaying the game.

Edd Roush - BR Bullpen

Navin Field which morphed into Briggs Stadium and then Tiger Stadium was the site of one of the longest HRs hit in the history of the game but likely not the 626’ shot it’s given credit for being. It was on this date in 1926 in Detroit‚ Babe Ruth slugs a HR reported to carry 626 feet‚ in the Yanks 11-9 slugfest over the Tigers. The hit‚ off Tiger pitcher, Lil Stoner‚ lands at the intersection of Cherry Street and Brooklyn Avenue‚ two blocks from Navin Field. The youngster who retrieves the ball sells it to the Babe for $20.

Babe Ruths longest home run was launched in Detroit

It was on this date in 1927 Tony Lazzeri becomes the first Yankee to hit three HRs in one game. Babe Ruth had 72 multi-HR games in his career but 70 of them were of the 2 HR variety. His final 3 Major League HRs were hit in 1 game in the final week of his career while playing for the Boston Braves which means despite hitting 659 HRs in a Yankee uniform and another 49 with the Red Sox he had only 1 game in those 21 seasons (2,475 games) in which he hit 3 in one game. Interestingly, Babe Ruth did not have a three home run game in any of the four years (1919, 1920, 1921, and 1927) in which he set the single season HR record. Nor did Roger Maris (or for that matter, Mickey Mantle) in 1961. Lou Gehrig had 43 multi-HR games…39 with 2 HRs, 3 with 3 HRS and a single game with 4 HRs.

In the Dead Ball Era between 1900 and 1920, not one player hit three home runs in a ML game.

June 8, 1927 Chicago White Sox at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

The first professional baseball team to travel by air was the Cincinnati Reds. It was on this date in 1934 the Reds GM Larry MacPhail flies 19 of his players to Chicago for a series against the Cubs. The Reds chartered an American Airlines DC-2. The reason for doing so was so the players would not be subjected to the trip by train in the midst of a severe heat wave in the Midwest. A handful of players nervous of flying take the train instead. The first baseball team to purchase their own airplane was the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers purchased their own Convair CV-440 on the 4th of January 1957. To reduce the cost of the aircraft to $775,000 ( $6M in 2014 $ ) the Dodgers purchased their aircraft as part of Eastern Airlines order for CV-440 aircraft. In 1946 Larry MacPhail had moved from the Reds to the Yankees as the team’s general manager and the Yankees became the first team to travel regularly to games by air. MacPhail contracted a DC-4, nicknamed the Yankee Mainliner, for the 1946 season.

Douglas DC-2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The days of a relief pitcher being driven in from the bullpen became extinct in the mid 1990’s. It seems it was on this date in 1951 White Sox reliever Marv Rotblatt becomes the first pitcher to be driven in from the bullpen when he enters the game in the 8th inning to face the Yankees in a 4-2 loss at Comiskey Park although some argue the Cleveland Indians probably started the bullpen transportation concept in 1950.

Lukas: Long live the bullpen car - ESPN Page 2

It was on this date in 1955, after only eight games and 13 innings of work, the Dodgers option rookie left-handed pitcher Tom Lasorda to Montreal to make room for a bonus baby, Sandy Koufax who had injured his ankle and was coming off the 30-day disabled list. I’m sure the two Hall of Famers have talked about that more than once over the years.

Tommy Lasorda 1955 Game by Game Pitching Logs

It was on this date in 1961 the Milwaukee Braves sets a ML record with 4 consecutive HRs in the 7th inning against the Reds. Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron hit back-to-back HRs off Jim Maloney; Joe Adcock greets reliever Marshall Bridges with another HR‚ and Frank Thomas sets the record. When these four teammates end their ML careers‚ they will have hit a combined total of 1‚889 homers.

milwaukee braves 4 consecutive home runs - Google Search

The American Association (AA) was a Minor League baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997. Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in Minor League baseball, at least for the eastern half of the United States. Over the course of its 90 year history a good many ML’ers and future Hall of Famers played on AA fields. None had a longer hitting streak than the 43 game streak of Howie Bedell in 1961. The 13 year Minor Leaguer could not convert his hitting prowess in the Minors to the Majors. In 1962 he hit .196 in 58 games for the Milwaukee Braves before being banished back to the Minors where he played until the Phillies brought him back to the Majors in 1968 for 9 games when he hit .143. However, as anemic as his bat was, it was Bedell who brought Don Drysdale’s record setting streak of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings to an end. It was on this date in 1968 that Bedell, pinch-hitting in the top of the 5th inning, hit a sacrifice fly to score Tony Taylor and end the streak…his only RBI of the season.

June 8, 1968 Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1969 Mickey Mantle’s #7 is retired and he gets a CF plaque in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium. Today, your number is retired and you get a plaque if you play in at least 10 games for the Yankees.



Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

There’s always hope…in 1988 the most Losses by a pitcher for the season in both the NL and AL were by pitchers later elected to the Hall of Fame. Can you name either one of those two pitchers…they both pitched 22 seasons in the Majors.

The answer to yesterday’s question…John Olerud .363, Paul Molitor .332 and Roberto Alomar .326 (In 1993 these three teammates finished 1-2-3 in the Batting race with Batting Averages of .363, .332, .326. Can you name those teammates one of whom is now in the HOF and one is managing in the Majors.)

 

[67RedSox]

4th, 1st,2nd, 1st, 1st…these are the positions Walter Johnson was ranked at in the first five, at random, searches I did for the greatest MLB pitcher of all-time. I suppose it would be impossible to determine just who the Game’s greatest pitcher was/is. It’s an argument for the ages that will be had as long as there are fans to discuss it. At least there’s no denying he belongs in the discussion.
It was on this date in 1907 Walter Johnson tosses the only Perfect Game of his career and it wasn’t in the Majors but while he was pitching for the Weiser (Idaho) team in the semipro Southern Idaho League. In Weiser, he was paid $90 a week, ostensibly to work for the local telephone company, but actually to play baseball on weekends. There was plenty of time to enjoy hunting and fishing in the nearby mountains during the week. Weiser ( pronounced we-zer ) is a town that sits on the confluence of the Weiser and Snake Rivers in Western Idaho. Across the Snake is Oregon. Its population is something a little in excess of 5,000 today. If you want to go to the “big city” then Boise is 70 miles to the south. I suspect there aren’t too many people outside of Idaho or Oregon who would be familiar with the town but HOF’er Walter Johnson was because he pitched there for two seasons after High School. It wasn't until after Walter returned for a second season in Weiser, in 1907, and was on his way to a 14-2 mark that his pitching prowess came to the attention of Major League Baseball. "The Weiser Wonder" posted a 0.55 ERA while striking out 214 batters in 146 innings. Manager Joe Cantillon of the Washington Senators began receiving telegrams touting Johnson's feats and the wire services were spreading far and wide the story of the young pitcher's string of 77 scoreless innings, which included back-to-back no-hitters. Finally, Cantillon sent an injured catcher, Cliff Blankenship, west on a scouting trip. Blankenship persuaded the young phenom to accept a Washington contract. The 19-year-old was so reluctant to accept the offer that he demanded a train ticket to return home to California in case he didn't make good, and insisted on wiring his parents to obtain their permission to sign. On July 22, 1907, a large crowd came to the Weiser depot to see him off. As Johnson said goodbye to his pals, there were tears in his eyes. A group of appreciative Weiser fans had tried to convince him to stay, offering to set him up with a cigar store on the town square. Johnson thanked them, but declined the offer. "You know how you are at 19," he explained later. "You want to see things."

Two weeks after leaving Weiser, on August 2, 1907, Johnson made his Big League debut for the Washington Senators, losing a 3-2 decision to the pennant-bound Detroit Tigers. The great Ty Cobb admitted his fastball "made me flinch" and "hissed with danger." By the time he hung up his spikes 20 years later, Walter Johnson had recorded statistics which seem beyond belief--417 wins and 279 losses, 3,509 strikeouts, 110 shutouts, 12 20-win seasons, 11 seasons with an earned run average below 2.00, and what seems almost incomprehensible a century later, 531 complete games in 666 starts. But, as superlative as his pitching record was, in Shirley Povich's words, "Walter Johnson, more than any other ballplayer, probably more than any other athlete, professional or amateur, became the symbol of gentlemanly conduct in the heat of battle."

Walter Johnson Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com


It was on this date in 1914 in a game at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia‚ Honus Wagner joins Cap Anson as the only members of the 3‚000 hit club when collects a 9th-inning double off the Phillies Erskine Mayer‚ and scores the Bucs lone run in a 3-1 loss.

June 9, 1914 Pittsburgh Pirates at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Happy 84th. Bill Virdon was born on this date in 1931. 1931 produced six future Hall of Famers in Ernie Banks, Jim Bunning, Whitey Herzog, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews and Willie Mays plus countless other very good players. Virdon isn’t a HOF’er but he was the NL’s Rookie of the Year in 1955 and later managed for 13 seasons…four different teams including the NY Yankees for 2 seasons and never managed a single game in Yankee Stadium.

1931 Major League Baseball Born this Year | Baseball-Reference.com

Bill Virdon Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1946 Ted Williams clouts the farthest home run ever hit at Fenway Park, a shot estimated to have traveled 502 feet before striking the straw hat of a fan sitting in seat 21 in the 37th row in of section 42 in right field. The seat will be painted red to commemorate the location of Splendid Splinter's Ruthian blast, although at the time of the homer the area consisted of bleachers and not individual seats.

the lone red seat - Google Search

It was on this date in 1954 that Harvey Haddix shuts out the Brooklyn Dodgers as the Cardinals win 3-0. What makes this worthy of being mentioned is that lefthanders almost never shut out the Dodgers. It was the first time in almost 4 years that it’s happened.

June 9, 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

On this date in 1963 the first ever MLB Sunday night game is played in Houston…the Colt 45s beat the Giants 3-0. Due to the extreme heat during the days of the Texas summer months, MLB grants permission for games to be played in the evening at Colt Stadium.

Colt Stadium | astros.com: Photos

June 9, 1963 San Francisco Giants at Houston Colt .45's Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com

Baseball has lost 21 former players on June 9th. Bob Welch, the last pitcher to win as many as 25 games in a season when he won 27 in 1990 and was the AL’s Cy Young Award winner, died just one year ago on this date in 2014 at the age of 57 due to a broken neck from a fall at home. Also, Zoilo Versalles the AL’s MVP winner in 1965 died on this date in 1995. His is a tragic story once he stopped playing in 1971. The last 20+ years of his life were lived pretty much jobless, in poor health and poverty.

Bob Welch - BR Bullpen

Zoilo Versalles - BR Bullpen


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

He pitched 12 ML seasons, 1979-1990, with a record of 117-72 with an ERA of 3.12. He was a very good pitcher yet never an All-Star including in 1985 when he was runner-up in the CY Young Award voting thanks to going 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and throwing 10 Shutouts…the only NL pitcher to toss double-digit Shutouts in the last 47 years. He pitched in 3 World Series during the 1980s winning 3 games but won a Ring only once…in 1988 with the Dodgers.

The answer to yesterday’s question… Tom Glavine-NL and Bert Blyleven-AL (There’s always hope…in 1988 the most Losses by a pitcher for the season in both the NL and AL were by pitchers later elected to the Hall of Fame. Can you name either one of those two pitchers…they both pitched 22 seasons in the Majors.)

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1930 the Pacific Coast League sees its first night game when Sacramento hosts Oakland before 10‚000 fans at Moreing Field. There are 180‚000 watts of light from 40 lamps on 40 poles. By the end of next season every Pacific Coast League team will have lights. Ed Bryan, who won over 200 games in the Minors without reaching the Majors, turns the lights out on the visitors‚ winning 5-0.

How bright would 180,000 watts of light been…I guess enough to play as they obviously did. Today, Bank One Stadium in Arizona, for instance uses 1,275,000 watts and those are state of the art halide lights that are efficient and bright. If you’re wondering and I know you weren’t… the cost of electricity in the U.S. runs anywhere from about 8-17 cents an hour per kilowatt ( unless you live in Hawaii where it’s 37 cents ) so at 10 cents per kilowatt it would cost $127.50 to operate the lights for one hour. If the average ML game is 3 hours it would cost a little under $400.00 to light the average MLB night game.

Moreing Field

HOF’er Lefty Grove had a blazing fastball and a temper to match. By the time he had pitched 17 seasons, eking out a 300th win in his last appearance, both were gone. He arrived with a reputation for wrath, and led the American League in strikeouts seven consecutive years, victories four times (including 31 wins in 1931), ERA nine times (no one else ever led more than five), and winning percentage five times. Grove also led in shredded uniforms, kicked buckets, ripped-apart lockers, and alienated teammates.

What Lefty couldn’t do was hit, and he readily called himself the worst hitter in Baseball despite collecting over 200 career hits and 15 HRs. It was on this date in 1933 Grove strikes out 5 times in a single game becoming the first player to do so in the 20th Century. Over his career he would whiff 593, the ML record for pitchers.

Lefty Grove - BR Bullpen


If Lefty Grove was not a good hitting pitcher let’s talk about one who was…even if his time in the Majors was brief. Bill “Lefty” LeFebvre was a lefthanded pitcher who played 4 seasons in the Majors, 6 games with the Red Sox in 1938 and 1939 and 30 games with the Senators in 1943 and 1944. His record was 5-5 with 3 Saves. The Red Sox brought him up in 1938…it was a brief stay, 1 game. On this date in 1938 LeFebvre was sent into the game in the 6th inning in Boston that the Red Sox were losing 9-1 to the White Sox. It was mop-up duty for him and the Red Sox left him in for the rest of the game. In the 8th inning his turn in the batting order came up. The Manager, Joe Cronin, sent him up to hit…

'Go up and hit, kid! Go up and hit!' So I went up and hit, and the first ball Monty Stratton threw to me, I hit it over the left-field fence. I was a left-hand hitter; I swung a little late. In those days, they didn't have the screen (on top of the wall). They used Loudspeakers to announce the lineups and so forth. I hit the ball into a loudspeaker, which was an automatic home run. But I don't know that. The ball bounced out of the loudspeaker back onto the field. Mike Kreevich was playing center field. When I hit the ball, I thought the ball hit the wall and I'd make a double anyway. When I got to 2nd Base – Kreevich knew it was a home run, but I didn't -- and I said to myself, 'Christ, he's not hustling,' and I went sliding into 3rd Base. Bill McGowan was the umpire and he hollered, 'Come on, kid. Come on in, you hit a home run.' I didn't even know it was a home run."

He’s the only player in ML history to play one game in a season, see one pitch and hit a HR. His BA was 1.000 and Slugging % was 4.000 and that’s as good as it gets. He might also be the only player in ML history to slide into 3rd Base while hitting a home run.
A few days later the Red Sox sent him down to Minneapolis, where he stayed the rest of the year. The following season the Red Sox brought him up again, this time for all of 5 games. He got his first ML Win and went 2 for 3 in the game. On September 3rd , the day WWII broke out in Europe, Lefebvre won another game, not as a pitcher but as a pinc-hitter. The Yankees were at Fenway. It was the bottom of the eighth, with the score tied, 11-11, and the bases loaded. The pitcher, Elden Auker, was due up. Joe Cronin, remembering he had a good left-handed bat on the bench in Lefebvre, sent him up and he singled in the winning run.
It would be 1943 before he made it back to the Majors again, this time with the Washington Senators. On the strength of a good season in the Minors he was brought up to the Washington Senators in mid-August. He pitched 32 innings, finishing 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA. In 1944, Lefebvre was with Washington all year long (2-4, 4.50 in 69 2/3 innings of work.) Lefebvre led the League with 10 pinch hits that year and thus ended the ML career of a pitcher who ended up being a pretty good hitter, .276 lifetime.

Bill Lefebvre - BR Bullpen

It was on this date in 1944 Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds is the youngest player in the 20th Century to appear in a game. Nuxhall‚ only 15 years‚ 10 months old‚ pitches 2/3 of an inning in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Joe Nuxhall Tribute - Photo Gallery | reds.com: Fan Forum

Rogers Hornsby was one of the greatest hitters who ever lived. His .358 lifetime BA is topped only by Ty Cobb. His 2 Triple Crowns is topped by no one. However as a Manager he was despised. It was on this date in 1952, a few hours after he fires Roger Hornsby as the manager of the team, Browns President Bill Veeck is given a 24-inch silver trophy by his players with the engraved inscription," …for the greatest play since the Emancipation Proclamation". Here’s an example of a quote you might hear about him…"But I'll tell you one guy nobody liked and that was our manager Rogers Hornsby. Now there was a real p-r-i-c-k. With Hornsby, except for his Racing Forms, there was no newspapers, no movies, no beer, nothing. Women and horses, that was his downfall." - Browns pitcher Les Tietje

Rogers Hornsby Managerial Record | Baseball-Reference.com

It was on this date in 1959 Rocky Colavito hits 4 consecutive HRs in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium to lead the Indians to an 11-8 win. Colavito joins Lou Gehrig and Bobby Lowe as the only ML players to hit 4 consecutive four-baggers.

Rocky Colavito - the original "The Rock" on Pinterest | 80th Birthday, Baseball Cards and Team Photos

It was on this date in 1967 Astros' outfielder Jimmy Wynn hits the longest home run in the history of Cincinnati's Crosley Field off Reds' right-hander Mel Queen. The Toy Cannon's monstrous shot clears the 58-foot scoreboard in left-center and bounces onto Interstate 75 outside the stadium.



Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

In 2006 Tony La Russa led the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series Championship winning a mere 83 games that season. The record for the most Wins in a season by a team is 116 which has been done twice. Can you name either one of the two Managers of those 116 Win teams…neither of whom went on to win the World Series that year.

The answer to yesterday’s question…John Tudor (He pitched 12 ML seasons, 1979-1990, with a record of 117-72 with an ERA of 3.12. He was a very good pitcher yet never an All-Star including in 1985 when he was runner-up in the CY Young Award voting thanks to going 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and throwing 10 Shutouts…the only NL pitcher to toss double-digit Shutouts in the last 47 years. He pitched in 3 World Series during the 1980s winning 3 games but won a Ring only once…in 1988 with the Dodgers.)

 

[67RedSox]

Ray Caldwell was a pitcher of immense talent. Over the course of two decades, from 1910 to 1933, he won nearly 300 games, 133 of them in the Majors. As the ace of the New York Americans/Yankees in the early 'teens, he was at times so dominant that Washington once offered Walter Johnson for him in a trade…now that’s good. He was known for throwing the spitball, and he was one of the 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920. We will never know just how good a pitcher Ray Caldwell could have been because he had an enormous appetite for the nightlife and a weakness for alcohol. Despite his abilities throwing the baseball it’s his abilities hitting the baseball that gets his mention here. It was on this date in 1915 at the Polo Grounds in a 10-9 victory over the White Sox, Ray Caldwell becomes first ML’er to hit a home run in consecutive pinch-hit appearances. The Yankee pitcher, who wins 19 games that season, hits the second of his two round-trippers as a pinch hitter, having also hit a HR the previous day pinch-hitting against Chicago. The next day he’ll hit another HR but while pitching, not pinch-hitting.

Ray Caldwell Not Even A Lightning Bolt Could Drive Him From The Mound

Ray Caldwell - BR Bullpen

It was on this date in 1938 Johnny Vander Meer throws the first of his two consecutive No-Hitters when he blanks the Casey Stengel led Boston Braves, 3-0 in front of 5,214 fans in Cincinnati.

June 11, 1938 Boston Bees at Cincinnati Reds Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Johnny Vander Meer - BR Bullpen

It was on this date in 1947 HOF’er Mel Ott has his final at-bat in the Majors. Pinch-hitting he pops out to the Shortstop but despite this he retires with 511 HRs which is over 200 more than any other National League player ever hit and 3rd on the all-time list behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. Not bad for the 5’9” 170 lb slugger who was told he was too small to play professional baseball.

June 11, 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Giants Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com


Hank Sauer, one of the most popular Cubs of all-time and the 1952 National League MVP hit 3 HRs in a single game on this date in 1952 in Wrigley Field. All three are needed as the Cubs beat the Phillies 3-2. All three HRs were hit off of a very good pitcher, Curt Simmons, who pitched in the Majors for 20 seasons. It was his second and final 3 HR game in the Majors. On August 28, 1950 Sauer, who hit 288 career HRs, hit three consecutive home runs during one game in Wrigley Field in a game against the same Phillies, and yes, all three were hit off of Curt Simmons.

June 11, 1952 Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com

Hank Sauer - BR Bullpen

June 11th is a good day and a bad day on the calendar for Adolfo Phillips the Cubs CF’er in the mid to late 1960s. On this date in 1966 he ties an ML record by striking out 9 straight times in 2 consecutive games. One year later to the day, on this date in 1967 he hits 4 HRs…in a doubleheader. Then on this date in 1969 the Cubs trade him to the Expos.

Adolfo Phillips - BR Bullpen

Nolan Ryan tossed four No-Hitters in the 1970’s, he tossed one in the 1980’s and on this date in 1990 he tossed his 6th but not his last and thereby became the first pitcher to toss no-hitters in three different decades and also the first to throw no-hitters with three different teams ( Angels, Astros & Rangers ).

June 11, 1990 Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics Play by Play and Box Score | Baseball-Reference.com


Baseball Trivia: ( Answer Tomorrow )

Starlin Castro, Jose Reyes and Rich Aurillia are all Shortstops who have led the NL in base hits in a single season since 2000. Can you name the only NL Shortstop to do so 1920-1980. He is also the only player in NL history to lead the League in Triples in back-to-back-to back seasons. He is not in the Hall of Fame…but one-time teammates Roberto Alomar and Lou Brock are.

The answer to yesterday’s question…Frank Chance, 1906 Cubs and Lou Piniella, 2001 Seattle Mariners (In 2006 Tony La Russa led the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series Championship winning a mere 83 games that season. The record for the most Wins in a season by a team is 116 which has been done twice. Can you name either one of the two Managers of those 116 Win teams…neither of whom went on to win the World Series that year.)