1968 – Tom Phoebus of the Baltimore Orioles pitches a 6 – 0 no hitter against the visiting Boston Red Sox. Third baseman Brooks Robinson drives in three runs and makes a great catch to rob Rico Petrocelli of a hit in the 8th inning.
The Chicago Cubs acquire outfielder Jim Hickman and relief pitcher Phil Regan from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Ted Savage and starting pitcher Jim Ellis. Regan will lead the National League with 25 saves this season.
1968 – Roberto Clemente comes within a hair’s breadth of hitting inside-the-park home runs in consecutive innings. Ironically, his 4th-inning home run is basically a single plus the kind of bounce that typically plagues “in-” rather than “out-” fielders in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. The Sporting News’ Les Biederman elaborates: “He hit a ‘single’ to right-center off Lindy McDaniel but as Ty Cline set himself, the ball took a big bounce over his head and rolled to the wall. Clemente circled the bases standing up.” This fluke four-bagger provides a stark contrast to the previous inning’s bomb: “His 3rd-inning triple landed on top of the batting cage at the 457-foot sign on the center field wall, a tremendous blast… Clemente said he didn’t turn on the gas because he was the leadoff batter and figured if he could get as far as third base, it would be fine. ‘With nobody out, I didn’t want to take a chance,’ he added. ‘When I turned second base and saw Alex Grammas give me the green light, I kept going. It had to be a perfect relay to get me.'”
1968 – Detroit Tigers pitcher Jon Warden, the last man to make the team in spring training, makes his third appearance, and wins for the third time in relief, as Detroit beats the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in 10 innings, 4 – 1. Due to a torn rotator cuff injury after being selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft, the rookie sensation, who will be the only Tiger not to appear in the World Series, will pitch only one season finishing with a 4-1 record and a 3.62 ERA.
Special Memory or Event? Want to have some fun? Advertise your business? Dedicate this page On April 19, 1968, Frank Coggins in one of his lone highlights, he became the first man to sock a triple at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Washington Senators’ second baseman’s gap shot came off Jim Nash, Coggin’s was…
In their first game at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, the newly arrived A’s lose to the Orioles, 4-1. The team, which played in Kansas City last season, is shut down by Baltimore southpaw Dave McNally on two-hits.
1968 The longest shutout in major league history is played at the Astrodome before a crowd that sits through over six hours of baseball before a run scores. Houston outlasts the Mets, 1-0, as Al Weis lets Bob Aspromonte’s roller through his legs in the 24th inning allowing Norm Miller to cross home plate . Catchers Hal King and Jerry Grote play the entire contest.
At the Astrodome, New York Mets pitcher Nolan Ryan earns the first of his 324 major league victories. The 21-year-old right-hander hurls six and two-thirds innings of three-hit, shutout baseball to lead the Mets over the Houston Astros, 4 – 0. Danny Frisella takes the save in 2 1/3 innings of relief. Tommie Agee goes 2 for 3 with two runs and Art Shamsky 2 for 3 with two RBI. Larry Dierker is the losing pitcher.
On April 14, 1968, Jim Bunning records the 1,000th strikeout of his National League career. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ right-hander becomes the first pitcher since Cy Young to record 1,000 K’s in both the National and American leagues.
Looking back on his career some 30 years later, Willie Mays will recall being gunned down going from first to third exactly once: “Roberto Clemente threw me out on a bang-bang play at third. I should have remembered what a tremendous arm he had.” If Willie’s memory is correct, this was the play, as witnessed by James K. McGee of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Willie Mays, leading off the 7th, lined a single into left for the Giants’ first hit. When Willie McCovey, the next hitter, bounced a single over Donn Clendenon’s outstretched glove into right field, it appeared the dam had been broken and runs would flow. Then came the key play of the game. Mays rounded second base and slowed down to draw a throw from right fielder Roberto Clemente. Mays, either overestimating his own speed or underestimating the power and accuracy of Clemente’s arm, was thrown out trying to reach third. Maury Wills tagged him as he slid by.”
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