After the Braves win the lidlifter with the Phils, 6 – 5, Philadelphia comes back in the nightcap to win, 9 – 1, and break their 13-game losing streak. Robin Roberts is the victor. Billy Bruton’s leadoff home run is the only run off Roberts.
On May 13, 1955, at Yankee Stadium, future Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle blasts home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career. The New York Yankee slugger finishes the game with three home runs and drives in all of his team’s runs in a 5-2 win…
Toothpick Sam Jones of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first black pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter and he does it in the hardest way. In the 9th inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jones walks the bases full and then strikes out Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas in a row to preserve his 4 – 0 victory. It is also the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field in the last 38 years. Unfortunately only 2,918 fans are on hand to witness the double milestone.
On May 12, 1955, Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Chicago Cubs pitches a 4-0 no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jones becomes the first black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues. It’s also the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field in 38 years.
Ernie Banks hits a grand slam – the first of five on the year – to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10 – 8 victory that snaps the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 11-game winning streak.
Dodger right-hander Don Newcombe faces only 27 batters when he one-hits Chicago at Wrigley Field, 3-0. Gene Baker, who will be thrown out trying to steal second base, ruins Newk’s bid for perfection, with a fourth-inning single.
Roberto Clemente crashes Willie Mays’s birthday party in his second visit to the Polo Grounds, by banging a 430-foot triple over the birthday boy’s head in the midst of a decisive rally in a 3 – 2 Pirate win over the Giants. Jesse Abramson of the New York Herald Tribune reports: “Roberto Clemente tripled so far over Mays’ head that even Willie on his charger, shedding the cap, couldn’t catch it…”
On May 5, 1955, in Ebbets Field in front of a robust crowd of 7,000 fans, Brooklyn Dodgers lefthander Tom Lasorda makes his first major league start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Lasorda throws three wild pitches in one inning, tying a major league record. During his one inning of work, will be spiked by…
The musical Damn Yankees, based on Douglass Wallop’s novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant opens on Broadway. The comedy, set in Washington, D.C during the Bronx Bombers’ dominance in baseball in the 1950s, tells the tale of an aging Washington Senators fan’s bargain with the devil to help his hapless team.
The musical Damn Yankees opens at the 46th Street Theater on Broadway, starring Stephen Douglass as Joe Hardy, Gwen Verdon as Lola and Ray Walston as Mr. Applegate. It will be a huge success, with 1,019 performances in its first run and will be turned into a successful movie in 1958. It is based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, published in 1954 by Douglass Wallop, a lifelong fan of the Washington Senators.
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