Mantle and Mays

Middleweight champion Carmen Basilio umpires an exhibition game between Mickey Mantle’s AL All-Stars and Willie Mays’ NL All-Star barnstorming squads

ByThis Day in Baseball

At Syracuse’s MacArthur Stadium, middleweight champion Carmen Basilio umpires an exhibition game between Mickey Mantle’s AL All-Stars and Willie Mays’ NL All-Star barnstorming squads. The contest, which costs only $2.50 to attend, features a home run hitting contest between Braves slugger Hank Aaron and Indians right fielder Rocky Colavito, who led the American League in home runs this season.

Brooklyn Dodgers lose the first game of an exhibition series in Japan

Brooklyn Dodgers lose the first game of an exhibition series in Japan

ByThis Day in Baseball

1956 – Playing below par after their seven-game World Series loss to the Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers lose the first game of an exhibition series in Japan to the Yomiuri Giants, 5 – 4. Nonetheless, the Dodgers will win 14 games, lose four, and tie one in the series.

The New York Giants and Cleveland Indians cancel an exhibition game in Meridian, Mississippi, because of mass racial violence in neighboring Alabama.

ByTom

The New York Giants and Cleveland Indians cancel an exhibition game in Meridian, Mississippi, because of mass racial violence in neighboring Alabama.

a rematch of last year’s World Series at Wrigley Field the New York Giants beat the Cleveland Indians again, 7 – 3. 

ByThis Day in Baseball

1955 – While the Chicago Cubs are in Arizona beating their Los Angeles farm team, 7 – 0, major league baseball is played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. In a rematch of last year’s World Series, the New York Giants beat the Cleveland Indians again, 7 – 3. Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes hit home runs for New York, while Ralph Kiner’s 9th-inning homer is the first score for Cleveland. A crowd of 24,434 is on hand.

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1954 – In a throwing contest between Jimmy Piersall and Willie Mays before a Red Sox-Giants charity game in Boston, Piersall hurts his arm. He starts the game but leaves midway. He wakes up the following morning with a sore arm that stays with him a year, and he will never throw quite as well again.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1954 – In a throwing contest between Jimmy Piersall and Willie Mays before a Red Sox-Giants charity game in Boston, Piersall hurts his arm. He starts the game but leaves midway. He wakes up the following morning with a sore arm that stays with him a year, and he will never throw quite as well again.

21-year-old Mickey Mantle becomes just the third batter in Forbes Field’s 44-year history—after Babe Ruth in 1935 and Teddy Beard in 1950—to clear the 89-foot-high right field roof

21-year-old Mickey Mantle becomes just the third batter in Forbes Field’s 44-year history—after Babe Ruth in 1935 and Teddy Beard in 1950—to clear the 89-foot-high right field roof

ByBaseball

Pittsburgh’s one-sided pre-season victory over the defending World Champions notwithstanding, today’s main attraction is 21-year-old Mickey Mantle, as the Yankees’ young phenom becomes just the third batter in Forbes Field’s 44-year history—after Babe Ruth in 1935 and Teddy Beard in 1950—to clear the 89-foot-high right field roof.

Lefty O’Doul’s All-Stars lose 3 – 1 to a Pacific League All-Star team for the second time in history

Lefty O’Doul’s All-Stars lose 3 – 1 to a Pacific League All-Star team for the second time in history

ByThis Day in Baseball

1951 – Lefty O’Doul’s All-Stars, including Joe DiMaggio, Ferris Fain and Billy Martin, lose 3 – 1 to a Pacific League All-Star team. This is only the second time since 1922 that an American professional team has lost to Japan, and the first time to professional players.

Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Cubs’ home opener.

Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Cubs’ home opener.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Cubs’ home opener. The Associated Press reports: “Sammy Snead settled a long-standing argument today over whether a golf ball could be driven from home plate over the towering scoreboard at Wrigley Field. It can, by a golfer like Sam. Wearing street clothes, Snead sent a ball zooming well over the scoreboard with a No. 2 iron after hitting the board with a swing with a No. 4 iron. Snead calculated the carry was 175 yards. The scoreboard rises 89 feet in the air some 50 feet behind the 400-mark on the centerfield wall.”