August 17, 1957 – At Ebbets Field, the field was full of future Hall of Famers as Sandy Koufax will start vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates and Roberto Clemente. Don Drysdale will finish the game Roy Campanella will go 4-4 in today’s game. The Pirates came into the game with 42 wins vs. 73 losses…
1957 – Richie Ashburn, known for his ability to foul pitches off, hits spectator Alice Roth twice in the same at bat. The first one breaks her nose, and the second one hits her while she is being removed from her seat on a stretcher. Ironically, she is the wife of Earl Roth, the sports editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin. The Phils win, 3 – 1, over New York.
1953 – Bob Kuzava of the Yanks shuts out the Athletics, 9 – 0, allowing 11 hits along the way.
1950 – In the American League’s first Ladies Night Game, the Red Sox top the A’s, 10 – 6, at Fenway Park. It is the 19th straight loss for the A’s at Fenway Park, stretching back to a win on September 12, 1948. Bobby Doerrhits a first-inning grand slam off lefty Joe Murray in his major-league debut.
Indians rookie Gene Bearden shuts out the Browns, 8 – 0, to improve his record to 12-3.
An estimated crowd of 100,000 fans passes by the body of Babe Ruth, which is on display at Yankee Stadium. After the funeral in two days at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the ‘Bambino’ will be buried in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.
Yankee first baseman Tommy Henrich hits his fourth grand slam of the season, tying one of the major league records established by Babe Ruth, who died yesterday. The Bambino set the record playing for the Red Sox in 1919, the year he hit 29 round-trippers in his final season in Boston.
The Lowell Orphans, a bankrupt minor league team moved from Lawrence, MA last month, draws only 85 paying customers to a doubleheader. The team’s poor performance, which includes a twenty-game losing streak, causes the city to evict the New England League franchise from Alumni Field, making it necessary for the club to finish the season on the road.
Johnny Lindell, who enjoys a five-for-five day at the plate, hits four consecutive doubles at Yankee Stadium. The New York center fielder scores twice and drives in two runs in the team’s 10-3 victory over Cleveland at the Bronx ballpark.
1943 – Nick Etten of the Yankees singles twice off White Sox hurler Bill Dietrich, breaking a 17-game stretch in which Etten didn’t single. Six of the games were hitless, but Etten either doubled or homered in the other games.
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