1966 – California Angels outfielder Rick Reichardt hits two home runs in the 8th inning to help California beat the Boston Red Sox, 16 – 9.
1966 – A dropped third strike keys a 5-4 win over the Braves. Phil Niekro has Rusty Staub out on strikes but he is safe at first after Gene Oliver lets the pitch roll away in the ninth inning. John Bateman eventually singles Staub home with the game-winner. Lee Maye and Jim Gentile also homer for Houston.
On April 28, 1966, the Cleveland Indians tie a modern day major league record by winning their 10th consecutive game on Opening Day. Sonny Siebert, a 16-game winner in 1965, defeats the California Angels, 2-1…
Roberto Clemente’s clutch… base on balls? The notoriously wild swinger works out a walk when it matters – in the 9th inning, with the Bucs down by one, two outs, bases empty, no balls, two strikes, up against a pitcher, Ted Abernathy, who’s always had Clemente’s number. The Sporting News’s Les Biederman reports: “Abernathy had Clemente no balls and two strikes, but apparently the Pirate slugger worried the Cub reliever and he grew too careful. He threw three balls and then Clemente put on a dazzling display of bat control. Abernathy threw eight straight strikes and Clemente fouled off every pitch, seven to right field. Then he drew a walk and Willie Stargell, who always hits Abernathy, hit him again.” After fouling off a 3-2 pitch of his own, Stargell falls short by a foot or two of ending the game with one swing, but his line drive off the centerfield wall brings home Clemente with the tying run en route to an extra-inning Pirate win.
Apr 24, 1966 At the Astrodome, San Francisco’s Willie Mays tags Jim Owens for a milestone, his 511th career homerun tying Mel Ott for most in National League history.
On April 24, 1966, the Atlanta Braves establish a major league record by winning their 18th consecutive game at home. The first 17 wins of the streak had actually occurred in Milwaukee, the Braves’ home in 1965.
Two days after putting on a Chicago Cubs uniform, Ferguson Jenkins hits his first major league home run, off Don Sutton, drives in a second run, and shuts out the Dodgersto win, 2 – 0. For rookie Sutton, it is the first of 13 straight losses the Cubs will hand him.
1966 – Dave Giusti surrenders eight hits but walks away with a 2-0 shutout against the Giants. Giusti delivers three hits of his own but solo homers by Joe Morgan and Jim Gentile provide all the scoring.
The Braves win their first game in Atlanta by beating the Mets, 8 – 4.
On April 21, 1966, the Chicago Cubs make one of the best trades in franchise history, acquiring future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins from the Philadelphia Phillies in a five-player deal. The Cubs surrender pitchers Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson for Jenkins, outfielder Adolpho Phillips, and first baseman John Herrnstein. Jenkins, who had made his major league debut in 1965, will win 20 games for the Cubs in 1967.
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