Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. homers in his eighth straight game to tie a major league record held by Dale Long (1956) and Don Mattingly (1987). In tomorrow’s game, Junior will barely miss breaking the record as he hits a long double off the right-center field wall at the Kingdome.

Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. homers in his eighth straight game to tie a major league record held by Dale Long (1956) and Don Mattingly (1987). In tomorrow’s game, Junior will barely miss breaking the record as he hits a long double off the right-center field wall at the Kingdome.

ByBaseball

Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. homers in his eighth straight game to tie a major league record held by Dale Long (1956) and Don Mattingly (1987). In tomorrow’s game, Junior will barely miss breaking the record as he hits a long double off the right-center field wall at the Kingdome.

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Benny Distefano of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first lefthanded catcher to appear in a major league game

ByThis Day in Baseball

    On May 14, 1989, Benny Distefano of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first lefthanded catcher to appear in a major league game in nine years. Distefano comes in to catch the ninth inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves. In 1980, Mike Squires, a lefthanded throwing first baseman, went behind the plate


Don Mattingly ties a major league record when he homers in his eighth consecutive game

ByThis Day in Baseball

On July 18, 1987, At Arlington Stadium, With his home run leading off the top of the fourth inning off Jose Guzman New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly ties a major league record when he homers in his eighth consecutive game. Mattingly connects in a 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, matching a 31-year-old


Mickey Mantle, leading off the 11th, is fooled by Bill Fischer on a slow curve, then cannons a 2 - 2 pitch that almost clears the RF roof.
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“The hardest ball I ever hit,” Mickey Mantle on Walkoff homerun vs the A’s

ByThis Day in Baseball

At Yankee Stadium, New York blows a 7 – 0 lead and allows Kansas City to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Mickey Mantle, leading off the 11th, is fooled by Bill Fischer on a slow curve, then cannons a 2 – 2 pitch that almost clears the RF roof. “The hardest ball I ever hit,” Mantle later comments, a ball that, by some accounts, is still rising when it strikes a foot below the top. It is conservatively estimated by Dr. James McDonald, a physicist who studies long-ball trajectories, that the ball would have traveled 620 feet if it had not struck the façade. “That was the only homer I ever hit that the bat actually bent in my hands,” Mantle tells Dale Long, from whom he borrowed the bat.

Dale Long of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first left-handed catcher in the major leagues since 1902

Dale Long of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first left-handed catcher in the major leagues since 1902

ByThis Day in Baseball

On August 20, 1958, Dale Long of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first left-handed catcher in the major leagues since 1902. Normally a first baseman, Long is summoned to go behind the plate after Sammy Taylor is lifted for a pinch-hitter and Cal Neeman is ejected.

Dick Stuart’s two-run, tie-breaking 450-foot unmanned expedition to Waveland Avenue puts Pittsburgh in the winner’s circle, 4 – 2, over the Chicago Cubs.

Dick Stuart’s two-run, tie-breaking 450-foot unmanned expedition to Waveland Avenue puts Pittsburgh in the winner’s circle, 4 – 2, over the Chicago Cubs.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Dick Stuart’s two-run, tie-breaking 450-foot unmanned expedition to Waveland Avenue puts Pittsburgh in the winner’s circle, 4 – 2, over the Chicago Cubs. Stuart’s clout, in conjunction with an earlier two-run blast by Bill Mazeroski, helps boost the surging Bucs to their 20th win in 28 tries, moving them from last place on July 22nd to third place today, making up eight games on the floundering Giants in the process. Roberto Clemente’s stellar defense keeps the Cubs’ bats at bay. Cubs’ beat writer Richard Dozer writes: “The Cubs couldn’t get an offensive menace started, due largely to the Pirates’ right fielder, Roberto Clemente. He made two sensational catches: one acrobatic catch of Bobby Thomson’s liner in the 4th inning and one in the 8th inning to rob Walt Moryn of a single that would have sent Ernie Banks to third with no one out. Clemente also threw out Dale Long, who was attempting to move from first to third on Sam Taylor’s single in the 2nd inning and it was speedy Roberto’s single in the 6th that preceded Stuart’s 450-foot home run.”

Dodgers P Don Newcombe beats the Pirates, 10 – 1, and blanks Dale Long in 4 at-bats‚ stopping his home run streak. Newk has a three-run double off Ron Kline in the 2nd to help clinch his 7th win.
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Dodgers P Don Newcombe beats the Pirates, 10 – 1, and blanks Dale Long in 4 at-bats‚ stopping his home run streak. Newk has a three-run double off Ron Kline in the 2nd to help clinch his 7th win.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Dodgers P Don Newcombe beats the Pirates, 10 – 1, and blanks Dale Long in 4 at-bats‚ stopping his home run streak. Newk has a three-run double off Ron Kline in the 2nd to help clinch his 7th win.

Dale Long sets the homerun record by connecting in his 8th straight game
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Dale Long sets the homerun record by connecting in his 8th straight game

ByThis Day in Baseball

On May 28, 1956, at Forbes Field Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a home run in his eighth consecutive game, setting a major league record. Long connects against Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Long started the streak on May 19, when he homered against Chicago’s Jim Davis. During the 8 game streak,


Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dale Long starts his historic homerun streak with a 8th inning blast

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dale Long starts his historic homerun streak with a 8th inning blast

ByThis Day in Baseball

On May 19, 1956, Pittsburgh Pirates slugger  Dale Long’s eighth-inning Forbes Field’s two-run homerun against Chicago cubs reliver Jim Davis is the first in a string of eight consecutive games in which the Pirates’ first baseman will homer. The Adam, MA native’s major league mark will also be accomplished by Don Mattingly (Yankees, 1987) and Ken