Podcast – July 29 – August 4

Welcome to this day in baseball Daily rewind my name is Tom Hannon and I am your host. Thank you so much for joining me today as we back step our way through July 29 – August 4. Our format has been changing a bit and just to give you a quick recap, we are going to highlight 1 event for each day. Some are the bizarre, some historic, some are just plain hidden gems. On a typical day, there are 30 – 50 events worth a conversation but we are only doing 1 per day. You can go to our website, Thisdayinbasell.com and see all of the days’ events. July 31, has over 200 highlighted events. It is like walking through magic waters

Todays Trivia – Instead of using a rabbit’s foot for luck this player decided a live rabbit would be better. During the 1935 World Series, he kept a live rabbit in the clubhouse. As luck would have it he drove in the winning run in the 9th inning of the deciding 6th game. Who am I?

On July 29, 1988 — After his request for time-out isn’t granted by the home plate umpire Mike Reilly, Bo Jackson recovers in time to hit a home run despite not being set in the batter box when the pitch is delivered. The Royals left fielder’s fourth-inning three-run poke off Jeff Ballard contributes to Kansas City’s 6-3 victory over Baltimore at Memorial Stadium. You really need to see this to believe it, we have the video and radio audio of this amazing at bat, here is the radio call.

July 30, 1980, J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros suffers a stroke while working out at the Astrodome. Doctors perform surgery to remove a blood clot from behind his right collarbone. Although Richard will return to pitch in the major leagues, he will never regain his previous dominance. Although his playing career ended, Richard was found sadly homeless by the Astros front office and he would be brought on by the team in various roles where he still works today.

July 31, 1972, On a foggy night, At Metropolitan Stadium, Richie Allen of the Chicago White Sox becomes only the seventh player in major league history to hit two inside-the-park home runs in a game. Allen’s two clouts, which come against Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota Twins, help lift the White Sox to an 8-1 victory.

August 1, 1972, Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres sets a major league record by driving in 12 runs during a doubleheader sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Colbert also ties a doubleheader record by clubbing five home runs. In a remarkable coincidence, Colbert attended a game at Sportsman’s Park in 1954, when Hall of Famer Stan Musial also hit five home runs in a doubleheader.

August 2, 1979, 32-year-old Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees is killed in the crash of his private plane in Canton, Ohio. The following day the Yankees will honor their captain before their game against the Baltimore Orioles. Fans will give Munson, who helped the Yankees to titles in 1977 and 1978, a thundering 10-minute ovation. 4 days later, Bobby Murcer will hit a walk-off homerun the day of Munson’s funeral.

August 3, 1939; catcher Joe Sprinz of the PCL’s San Francisco Seals attempts to break the altitude record for catching a fly ball by having one dropped from a blimp. The first 4 balls hit the ground. The fifth ball hit his glove, but he couldn’t hold on and it went from his glove into his face, knocking him unconscious. Sprinz lost 5 teeth and broke 12 bones in his face.

On August 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood becomes the first player to collect hits for two different teams in two cities on the same day. After driving in the winning run for the Mets in Chicago, Youngblood is traded to the Expos. He flies to Philadelphia, enters the game in the fifth, and later singles against Steve Carlton.

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Trivia Answer –
With the scored tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th, with Mickey Cochrane on second, Goose Goslin singles and Cochrane scores the winning run giving the Tigers their first World Series Championship.

Todays Classic game is Game 2 of the August 4, 1936 Double Header between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox at Commiskey Park. The game features Hall of Famers – Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, and Luke Appling and catching for the Red Sox is the American Spy himself, Moe Berg. This is a classic game as the White Sox storm back scoring 8 runs in the final 3 frames to tie the game at 11 and win on a walk-off hit in the 12th. If you want to talk about leaving your starter in too long, Wes Ferrell the Sox starting pitcher went 8 innings giving up 10 earned runs. Vern Kennedy the White Sox starter gave up 9 earned but was yanked after 4 innings.

Take this game on a walk, run or a long drive and enjoy! Thanks for joining me and enjoy the game.