At the Baker Bowl, with the Phillies leading the Cardinals, 12 – 3, a section of the right field stand collapses causing hundreds of fans to fall on the patrons below. Although there are many injuries, the only death is caused by the stampeding crowd.
Guy Bush of the Chicago Cubs and Charlie Robertson of the Boston Braves battle for 18 innings before Robertson tires and the Cubs win, 7 – 2. Jimmy Cooney drives in the winning run and Sparky Adams contributes with four hits. Bush goes 18 innings and Robertson 17 1/3. Two National League pitchers, Carl Hubbell in 1933 and Vern Law in 1955, will match Bush’s marathon effort.
On May 14, 1920, future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson wins his 300th career game – albeit in less than spectacular fashion. The Washington Senators’ ace emerges as the winner in a 9-8 slugfest against the Detroit Tigers. Johnson came into the game with the Senators actually, 6-4 to face Ty Cobb with the bases…
The Giants inform the Yankees, tenants since 1913, their lease to play at the Polo Grounds will not be renewed at the end of the season. There is speculation the National League team, which later will decide to continue sharing their home until the Yankees’ new stadium is completed in 1923, may have been reacting to the team’s recent acquisition of Babe Ruth.
With the anticipation of crime rates decreasing in the city, officials in Washington D.C. lift the prohibition on playing baseball on Sunday in the nation’s capital. In five days, 17,000 enthusiastic fans, the largest crowd in the history of Griffith Stadium, will be treated to a dramatic, 1-0 extra-inning victory against Cleveland in the first contest played on a Sunday in the District.
At Robison Field, St. Louis Cardinals rookie Rogers Hornsby hits his first major league home run, off Brooklyn Robins pitcher Jeff Pfeffer.
Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitches a no-hitter for nine innings, then loses to the Senators, 1 – 0, in the 10th. The first hit is batted by Chick Gandil, who scores the winning run on Howie Shanks’ single. It is the first of a three nine-inning no-hitters that White Sox catcher Ray Schalk will catch in his 17 years with the team.
At Sportsman’s Park, Walter Johnson tops Jack Coombs’ record of 53 consecutive scoreless innings when he stretches the mark to 56 innings. But after the Washington Senators back him with six runs, Johnson gives up a run in the 4th inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. Ahead 9 – 1, Johnson is relieved by Joe Boehling and Washington wins, 10 – 5.
Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants wins his first game of the season, scattering nine hits and walking an uncharacteristic seven batters, in the 6 – 3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The game is tied at 1 – 1 after eight innings, but the Giants jump on Orval Overall for five runs on four hits and four walks in the 9th to put the game away.
Ronaldo Romero of the Gastonia Rangers dies of an enlarged heart; he collapsed in the dugout in the second inning after starting the game for Gastonia.
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