The fans elect three Red Sox to start in the American League outfield for the All-Star Game: Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn.
Ralph García of Juarez (Mexican League) hurls his second no-hitter of the season in beating Durango, 3 – 1. He throttled Nuevo Laredo without a hit on April 16th.
1976 – Larry Dierker tosses the fifth no-hitter in franchise history, a 6-0 gem over Montreal . He supports his own cause with a sacrifice fly while batterymate Ed Herrmann drives in two, one on his first National League homer . Dierker fans Pepe Mangual and Jim Lyttle before Mike Jorgensen taps out to first for the final out.
Before 53,328 in Cincinnati, the Pirates score two runs in the 10th on a Richie Zisk homer and take an 11 – 9 lead, only to lose to the Reds, 12 – 11. George Foster’s single scores the tying and winning runs.
Boston Red Sox owner and president Tom Yawkey dies.
Interrupting Board Chairman M. Donald Grant’s pep talk during a team meeting, Mets reliever Tug McGraw shouts out the words, “Ya Gotta Believe,” which will become the rallying cry for the club, climbing out of the cellar en route to the NL pennant. Although New York beats Houston, 2-1, in 12 innings, their closer’s words of encouragement will not immediately light a fire under the team, as they will continue to struggle until the middle of August.
In a record-setting walkathon between the Reds and Expos, 25 bases on balls are handed out as Montreal strolls to an 11 – 6 win. Well off the American League’s two-team mark of 30, this tops the National Leaguerecord of 23, last reached on July 7, 1911. Six Montreal pitchers walk 16, one short of the record for an NL team, while Reds pitchers Clay Carroll and Tom Hall walk 9. Hal King pinch hits a grand slam for the Reds in the 6th inning, his second pinch dinger in nine days.
The Twins lose to the Yankees, 9 – 6, despite Rich Reese’s pinch grand slam. For Reese, it is his third pinch grand slam, tying Ron Northey’s major league record.
The Angels’ Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 batters, including an American League-record 8 in a row and 3 on nine pitches in the 2nd inning, as he stops the Red Sox on one hit. Carl Yastrzemski’s one-out single in the 1st is the only safety: Ryan then racks up his eight K’s and retires the last 26 consecutive batters. Sonny Siebert loses the 3 – 0 battle. For Ryan, he is the third pitcher to twice fan the side on nine pitches.
Royals’ Freddie Patek completes the cycle with a two-run ninth-inning homer off Minnesota starter Jim Perry. The 5’5″ Kansas City shortstop’s round-tripper breaks a 3-3 deadlock in Kansas City’s eventual 6-3 victory over the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!