On June 21, 1950 Joe DiMaggio gets his 2,000th hit, a 7th-inning single off the Indians’ Marino Pieretti, as the Yanks win, 8 – 2. DiMaggio joins Luke Appling and Wally Moses as the only active players with 2,000 or more hits. Eddie Lopat is the winning pitcher, running his record against Cleveland to 25-6….
Clutch pinch hits by Luke Appling and Stan Spence lead the American League to a 2 – 1 win over the National League in the All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. Schoolboy Rowepinch-hits for Johnny Sain, becoming the first player to appear for each side. Rowe pitched three innings for the American League in 1936. Spec Shea is the first winning rookie pitcher in All-Star history.
1944 – Chicago White Sox shortstop Luke Appling reports for duty at Camp Lee, VA. Appling was the American League batting leader last season, finishing second in the Most Valuable Player Award voting.
1943 – MLB statistics show the Chicago White Sox Luke Appling leading American League hitters with a .328 batting average, the lowest since Ty Cobb hit .324 to lead in 1908. Conversely, of course, the pitchers’ marks are topped by Spud Chandler’s 1.64 ERA, the best since 1919. Chandler also has the best winning percentage at .833, on a 20-4 won-lost mark. White Sox outfielder Wally Moses stole 56 bases after stealing only three two years before. The veteran Mel Ott hits only .234 for his New York Giants, but he still has 18 home runs, all at the Polo Grounds.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees is credited with a hit in his 30th consecutive game when an easy grounder to shortstop Luke Appling bounces up and hits him on the shoulder. The Chicago White Sox beat the Yankees, 8 – 7.
1941 – In a poll in The Sporting News, the Baseball Writers Association of America names the 1940 All-Star team: Hank Greenberg (LF), Joe DiMaggio (CF), Ted Williams (RF), Frank McCormick (1B) Joe Gordon (2B), Luke Appling (SS), Stan Hack (3B) and Harry Danning (C) are the position players, and Bob Feller, Bucky Walters, and Paul Derringer the pitchers.
On April 16, 1940, Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians hurls the first and only Opening Day no-hitter in major league history. Feller outduels Edgar Smith of the Chicago White Sox in winning a 1-0 decision at Comiskey Park. During one at-bat, White Sox star Luke Appling fouls off 15 straight pitches, but fails to get a hit.
1938 – White Sox shortstop Luke Appling, sliding into second base in an exhibition game against the Cubs, fractures his right leg in two places and will miss almost half the season. He will return on July 8th.
The American League batting crown is decided when Luke Appling of the White Sox goes 4 for 4 in the second game of a doubleheader with Cleveland. Runner-up Earl Averill is held hitless. Appling will coast to a 10-point margin at .388.
1936 – The White Sox edge the Nationals, 7 – 6, for their 17th win in 21 games. Vern Kennedy wins his 9th straight when he drives home the winner with an 8th-inning double against Bobo Newsom. Luke Appling is 2 for 4 to keep his American league-leading batting average at .382.
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