1949 – After pinch hitting yesterday‚ Carl Furillo returns to the Dodgers’ lineup after an injury and has 2 hits and a run in a 2 – 1 win over the Giants. Don Newcombe wins on a three-hitter. Furillo will hit .431 in the final 8 weeks of the season and finish at .322‚ fourth best in the National League.
1948 – In Cleveland‚ 73‚484 fans watch the Indians and Yankees square off for 2 games. Trailing in the opener‚ an ailing Lou Boudreau hits a bases-loaded pinch single in the 7th to tie the game‚ and Satchel Paige wins it in relief‚ 8 – 6. Steve Gromek goes 7 innings in the nitecap to give the Indians a 2 – 1 win over rookie Bob Porterfield‚ making his major league debut.
1947 – At Wrigley Field‚ Bill Nicholson breaks up a pitching duel between Johnny Schmitz and Ewell Blackwell with an 11th-inning solo homer. The Cubs whip the Reds‚ 2 – 1. Nicholson also scores the Cubs’ first run‚ an unearned tally. Chicago helps Schmitz out with a 7th-inning triple play when Lennie Merullo snags a liner‚ steps on second base‚ and fires to Eddie Waitkus.
Schoolboy Rowe of the Phillies pinch hits for Johnny Sain to become the first major leaguer to appear in different All-Star Games representing teams from the National League and American League. In the 1936 Mid-summer classic, the former Philadelphia A’s ace threw three innings of relief against the NL stars.
Bill Benswanger‚ son-in-law of Barney Dreyfuss‚ owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 1900‚ sells the club to a group headed by Frank McKinney and John Galbreath. Singer Bing Crosby is among investors in the team. The Pirates are purchased for a reported $2.5 million.
A bloop single in the 7th inning by former battery-mate Frankie Hayes deprives Bob Feller of a no-hitter against the White Sox. Hayes was traded by Cleveland in June‚ just weeks after hitting a homer in Feller’s April 30thno-hitter. It is the 8th one-hitter of Feller’s career. His 10 games of less than 2 hits betters Addie Joss’s old mark of 9.
1945 – A line drive of the bat of Hank Greenberg fractures the skull of pitcher Jim Wilson, resulting in two hours of surgery. Wilson will recover and pitch in the majors until 1958.
1943 – In Cleveland‚ the Browns lose, 5 – 2. St. Louis takes the field 8 times without recording an assist in the game‚ a major league first. The Reds had no assists in a 7-inning contest on July 22‚ 1907. The Yanks will have no assists in a 9-inning game on July 4‚ 1945.
1942 – A beanball salvo between Manny Salvo of the Braves and Whit Wyatt of the Dodgers ends in a 2 – 0 Boston victory. Only two batters are hit‚ but many pitches are close and the hurlers almost come to blows twice. Salvo gets fined $50 and Wyatt $75. Wyatt also tosses a bat. For Wyatt (8-1)‚ it is his first loss after 10 straight wins over the Braves.
Cubs rookie Paul Erickson wins his first major league game‚ pitching a nifty one-hitter to beat the Pirates’ Johnny Lanning‚ 1 – 0. The Cubs collect 10 hits while Bob Elliott’s hit in the 7th is the lone Buc shot.
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