August 3

The Blue Jays release P Joey Hamilton, ending a three-year struggling relationship between the club and the pitcher. The Jays had originally signed Hamilton to a three-year $16.5 million contract. The Jays then defeat the Orioles, 10 – 1, despite an infestation of aphids in the 3rd inning. Although the game is not delayed, home plate umpire Tim Welke asks that the roof of the SkyDome be closed. Toronto’s Jeff Frye wears a dust mask in the dugout.

White Sox P Mark Buehrle tosses a one-hitter in defeating Tampa Bay, 4 – 0. Damian Rolls’ leadoff single in the 7th is the Devil Rays’ only hit. Buehrle walks one and faces just 28 batters.

The Brewers edge the visiting Atlanta Braves, 3 – 2, winning on a wild pitch by Jose Cabrera in the 11th. The Brewers break the two-million mark in attendance for just the second time in franchise history, the first being in 1983; however, the Brewers’ predecessors in Milwaukee, the Braves, broke two million each season from 1954 to 1957.

A jury orders Anheuser-Busch to pay the family of the late Roger Maris $50 million for improperly taking away a beer distributorship. Both sides plan to appeal the ruling, as attorneys for the Maris family said the panel meant to award the family $139 million, but were confused by the judge’s instructions to the jury.

Kevin Mitchell of the Sonoma County Crushers is expelled for the rest of the season from the independent Western Baseball League for punching the owner of an opposing team. The former National League MVP allegedly hit Solano Steelheads owner Bruce Portner, who had come on the field after a brawl, which was caused by a pitch thrown behind Mitchell, had ended.

After looking at the artists’ renderings of the new proposed enlarged Fenway Park that includes a monstrous 3,000-car garage, Diane White suggests the Red Sox, New England’s team, relocate to Hartford, Connecticut. The Boston Globe columnist believes the gigantic ballpark complex will dominate the quaint neighborhood, and she riles against the “bunch of rich and powerful guys” who will ask for taxpayer assistance to fund their “multi- multimillion-dollar playground”.

The Major League Umpires Association files unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board to block the American League and National League from using minor league replacements in the wake of the union’s mass resignation strategy.

Leading off for the Yankees, Chuck Knoblauch lines a hit off Mike Oquist’s ribs, and the Yankees continue to connect off the Oakland pitcher for 15 more hits, including four homers, in five innings. New York wins, 14 – 1, scoring all 14 earned runs off Oquist, the most runs allowed since Bill Travers in August 1977. Orlando Hernandez picks up the win.

In the eighth inning of the Astros’ 11-3 loss to Florida, C.J. Nitkowski hits three consecutive batters, making it only the third time since 1900 the deed has been accomplished in major league history. The Houston southpaw shares the dubious distinction with two other hurlers who also spent time in Columbus, Ohio as minor leaguers, Dock Ellis (1974 Pirates) and Wilbur Wood (1977 White Sox).

Mike Oquist gives up fourteen earned runs, becoming the first pitcher in 22 years to give up that many runs in an appearance when the Yankees crush the A’s, 14-1. The 30 year-old right-hander, who faces 32 batters in five innings during the Network Associates Coliseum contest, sets a franchise record for runs allowed, being sacrificed to save the bullpen for tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Bronx Bombers.