On July 9, 1971, At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, 21 year old Vida Blue of the Oakland A’s strikes out 17 California Angels in 11 innings. Rollie Fingers follows with seven scoreless innings of relief. The A’s will eventually win the game, 1-0, in 20 innings, which is the longest shutout in American League History. Angels’…
Braves SS Leo Foster makes a memorable debut. Against the Pirates, he errs on his first chance, hits into a double play in the 5th, and a triple play in the 7th. Pittsburgh rolls by Atlanta, 11 – 2.
Dalton Jones of the Tigers loses a grand slam against the Red Sox when he passes teammate Don Wert on the basepaths. Jones pinch hits for Jim Price and belts a 2-2 pitch from Vicente Romo into the RF upper deck for an apparent grand slam. However, he passes Wert between first and second and is called out, ending up with a three-RBI single.
In Atlanta, Chief Nok-a-homa is joined by his cousin, Chief Round-the-Horn. The duo fails to inspire the Braves, who lose to the San Francisco Giants, 7 – 6, in 11 innings.
On the first anniversary of his near-perfect game, Tom Seaver hits his first major league home run off Rich Nye of the Expos. Seaver goes on to pitch a complete game three-hitter for a 7 – 1 Mets win at Shea Stadium.
July 9, 1969 Bob Elson and Red Rush, White Sox radio broadcasting team, have been forbidden to ride on the ball club’s chartered airplanes while the White Sox and their radio outlet, WMAQ, are involved in litigation, The Tribune learned yesterday. General Manager Ed Short confirmed that the broadcasters had been told to make their…
On July 9, 1969, At Shea Stadium in front of record, 59,083 fans 24-year-old Tom Seaver of the New York Mets comes within two outs of pitching a perfect game. Seaver surrenders a bloop single to Jimmy Qualls of the Chicago Cubs, Qualls was hitting 242 at the time. Seaver will settle for a one-hitter,…
With the Twins hosting Kansas City, the Royals’ Bob Oliver attempts to steal second base with Ellie Rodriguez at bat. Catcher John Roseboro pushes Rodriguez’s bat out of the way and his throw to 2B nails Oliver. After huddling eight minutes with his umpire crew, home plate ump John Rice declares Rodriguez out for interference and orders Oliver back to first base, though the rule states that an out nullifies an interference call. The Royals win, 4 – 3. Harmon Killebrew accounts for all the Twins scoring with a homer.
President Richard Nixon watches the Senators for the 4th time this season, and they finally win one for him, beating the Indians, 3 – 0, behind Joe Coleman’s four-hitter.
Appropriately, pitching dominates the All-Star Game in the first All-Star Game played indoors. Willie Mays, playing in place of the injured Pete Rose, tallies an unearned run in the 1st inning against American Leaguestarter Luis Tiant to complete the scoring for the day – the first All-Star effort to end 1 – 0. Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed and Jerry Koosman hold the American League to three hits.
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