This Day In Baseball April 24

Sandy Koufax - Wrigley Field

The history of sports is both vast and rich, thanks to the existence of so many different events and the longevity associated with them. With so much history to cull through, We offer the opportunity to look back and see what memorable things happened or milestones were reached on April 24 in baseball history.

 

Notable Events and Chronology for April 24

At Brooklyn’s Eastern Park, Lave Cross hits for the cycle when the Phillies pound the Grooms 22-5. The 27 year-old third baseman becomes the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

Andy Cooper is born in Waco, Texas

First game in American League History

Three rain postponements give Chicago the honor of hosting the first major league game in American League history (the circuit played as a minor league in 1900). At South Side Park, a crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game to see pitcher Roy Patterson take the win for the Chicago White Sox over the the visiting Cleveland Blues, 8 - 2. Clark Griffith manages Chicago.

Three rain postponements give Chicago the honor of hosting the first major league game in American League history (the circuit played as a minor league in 1900). At South Side Park, a crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game to see pitcher Roy Patterson take the win for the Chicago White Sox over the the visiting Cleveland Blues, 8 – 2. Clark Griffith manages Chicago.

1902 – Professional baseball gets its start in Durham, North Carolina as the Durham Tobacconists (who will be renamed the Bulls 11 years later) play an exhibition game against Trinity College (now Duke University). The Bulls, except for 1971-1980, when minor league baseball didn’t exist in the city, will continue to play in Durham until the present day.

1911 – The Battle Creek Crickets of the Southern Michigan League turn two triple plays in the first two innings of today’s game.

George Mogridge of the New York Yankees pitches franchises first a no-hitter 

President Warren G. Harding, an avid baseball fan who likes to keep a scorecard at games, witnesses the first shutout ever thrown at Yankee Stadium. The chain-smoking Chief Executive is delighted to see Babe Ruth's fifth-inning homer off Allen Russell but is disappointed the Senators drop the contest, 4-0.

President Warren G. Harding, an avid baseball fan who likes to keep a scorecard at games, witnesses the first shutout ever thrown at Yankee Stadium. The chain-smoking Chief Executive is delighted to see Babe Ruth’s fifth-inning homer off Allen Russell but is disappointed the Senators drop the contest, 4-0.

4/24/1925: Phillie Heinie Sand led off the bottom of the second inning against the Dodgers by hitting a Dazzy Vance pitch into the left field bleachers. Unfortunately for Sand the ball caromed back onto the playing field. He was awarded a double for his efforts.

rogers hornsby

St. Louis Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby leads by example, slugging his team to a 9 – 3 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates

1931 – Three days before his 35th birthday, Chicago’s player-manager Rogers Hornsby is again undaunted by Forbes Field’s forbidding expanse. Hornsby hits three consecutive home runs to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10 – 6. This is the final season in which Hornsby will allot himself significant playing time – 357 at-bats in 100 games. The hyphenate portion of his career will extend through 1937, but his on-field appearances will come primarily off the bench and never again will he amass as many as 100 at-bats in a season. Regarding today’s display, Fred Wertenbach of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “For the enlightenment of those fans not among the 15,000 at yesterday’s slaughter, the great Rogers crashed three successive long, legitimate and unsullied homers over the distant Forbes Field ramparts, two off Larry French and the third off Claude Willoughby. Mr. French tried to southpaw Hornsby in the 3rd à la screw ball. Two men were on at the time. He pitched a bit low. Hornsby drove it over the left field wall, about the seventh panel up from the scoreboard. The score then became Cubs 3, Pirates 5. In the 5th, Larry faced Hornsby again with two on. ‘Huh! He hits ’em low; I’ll try one high outside,’ Larry reasoned. Bang! The ball cleared the screen in right, and the score in a trice became 6 – 5, Cubs. The 6th frame saw Willoughby, a right-hander, ready to benefit from French’s experience, the latter having left the scene. ‘This guy hits ’em low, he hits ’em high – my play is to curve him to death,’ was the ex-Phillie’s logic. Kiki Cuyler was on second. Wham! A curve, waist high, was interrupted as it came up to the plate, and diverted over the scoreboard in left. Two more runs added to the Cub total, making eight driven in by Rogers.”

In the final game of his twentieth and last full season, Ted Lyons beats the Indians, going the distance in the White Sox’ 3-1 victory at Cleveland’s League Park. The 41 year-old ‘Sunday Teddy,’ although exempt from the draft due to his age enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps after the season and fights in the Pacific during WW II, completes all of his twenty games, all started on Sundays, posting a 14-6 record along with an ERA of 2.10.

Happy Chandler becomes the second baseball commissioner

Happy Chandler becomes the second baseball commissioner

1946 Baseball Hall Of Fame

1946 Baseball Hall Of Fame

John Mize

Johnny Mize of the New York Giants becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in a game on five different occasions

Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs makes his bid to become the first player in Wrigley Field's 34 years of existence to reach its distant right centerfield scoreboard

Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs makes his bid to become the first player in Wrigley Field’s 34 years of existence to reach its distant right centerfield scoreboard

Giants right-hander Marv Grissom blanks the Phillies at the Polo Grounds, 1-0. Whitey Lockman’s 300-foot fifth-inning home run off Robin Roberts, one of only three hits the Philadelphia hurler allows, accounts for the only score of the game.

4/24/1955: In the second game of a scheduled double-header, Dee Fondy and Harry Chiti of the Cubs both hit home runs off Reds pitcher Corky Valentine in the bottom of the second inning. The game was rained out in the bottom of the third inning with Chicago leading 3-0.

American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular-season game

American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular-season game

Cubs walk the line nine times

Cubs walk the line nine times

1958 – Lee Walls hits three home runs and drives in eight runs as the Cubs rout the Dodgers, 15 – 2, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Sandy Koufax strikeouts 18 Cubs

Sandy Koufax strikeouts 18 Cubs

The first game in franchise history against the visiting Cardinals features many familiar faces on the opposing team when the Colt .45’s beat the Redbirds, 4-3. Houston had been the farm club for St. Louis, and many of their players had come through Texas on their way to the big leagues.

Commissioner Ford Frick fines Casey Stengel $500 for appearing in uniform for a beer advertisement

Commissioner Ford Frick fines Casey Stengel $500 for appearing in uniform for a beer advertisement

Colt .45s host St. Louis for the first time and defeat them, 4-3

Colt .45s host St. Louis for the first time and defeat them, 4-3

 Casey Stengel records his 1900th victory as a manager as the Mets beat the Giants, 7 - 6.

 Casey Stengel records his 1900th victory as a manager as the Mets beat the Giants, 7 – 6.

Bob Aspromonte is the first to set off the Astrodome scoreboard’s home run display

Braves win 18th straight at home

Braves win 18th straight at home

Willie Mays Pulls even with Mel Ott

Willie Mays Pulls even with Mel Ott

Reggie Jackson brawls with twins after he hits homers in his first two at bats

Reggie Jackson brawls with twins after he hits homers in his first two at bats

Johnny Edwards takes Ferguson Jenkins deep to stop the Cubs, 3-2, in eleven innings

Johnny Edwards takes Ferguson Jenkins deep to stop the Cubs, 3-2, in eleven innings

Roberto Clemente hits a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam

Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A’s steals five bases in an 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

1978 – Nolan Ryan of the California Angels strikes out 15 batters for the 20th time in his career, but leaves in the 9th inning without a decision. The Seattle Mariners prevails over the Angels, 6 – 5, in the 12th.

4/24/1979: Jerry Morales homered off pitcher Jim Slaton in Milwaukee. The blow came in the second inning with one out and no one on base. The game was rained out.

Jesse Barfield becomes the first Blue Jay in franchise history to pinch-hit a grand slam when he goes deep off Tom Burgmeier. The right fielder’s bases-loaded heroics aren’t enough to stave off an eventual 8-7 Toronto loss to Boston at Exhibition Stadium.

Astros beat Cy Young Award Winner Steve Carlton 3-2

rickey henderson homes twice off 300 game winners

Rickey Henderson becomes the first player in baseball history to hit a home run off two different 300-game winners in the same game

Chicago White Sox hitters Julio Franco and Robin Ventura hit home runs back-to-back twice in a 7 - 6 defeat to the Detroit Tigers.

Chicago White Sox hitters Julio Franco and Robin Ventura hit home runs back-to-back twice in a 7 – 6 defeat to the Detroit Tigers.

Minnesota Twins set a team record for runs and rout the Detroit Tigers, 24 - 11

Minnesota Twins set a team record for runs and rout the Detroit Tigers, 24 – 11

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza ties a major league record hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run 2nd inning which leads Los Angeles to 12 – 4 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs.

At Candlestick Park, Geoff Jenkins hits a home run off Orel Hershiser to become the first Milwaukee Brewers player to hit a home run in his major league debut. The Brewers defeat the Giants, 7 – 5. Jenkins joins Chuck Tanner, who accomplished the feat in 1955 as a member of the Milwaukee Braves, as the only players in Milwaukee baseball history to homer in their first game.

2001 – The American League celebrates its 100th anniversary as a major league.

Moises Alou bangs two home runs among his four hits as Houston pounds the Braves, 11-6

Chase Utley gets his first major league hit, blasting a third-inning grand slam off Rockies starter Dennis Cook. The rookie second baseman’s big fly to right field contributes to the Phillies’ 9-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.


The David Ortiz jersey, which was secretly buried in cement at the new Yankee Stadium Is auctioned off

The David Ortiz jersey, which was secretly buried in cement at the new Yankee Stadium Is auctioned off

Zack Greinke continues to dominate opposing hitters as he pitches a second straight complete game for the Kansas City Royals. He strikes out 10 in a 6 – 1 win over Detroit. The Tigers’ lone run in the 5th inning is unearned, but it ends Greinke’s streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last season. He is nonetheless 4-0 with a virgin ERA so far this year, on his way to winning the AL Cy Young Award.

At Fenway Park, Mariano Rivera is charged with a rare blown save in the first matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox this season. With two outs in the 9th inning, Rivera gives up a two-run home run to Jason Bay to tie the score, 4 – 4. Kevin Youkilis homers over the Green Monster in the 11th for a 5 – 4 Boston win.

Wade LeBlanc pitches six scoreless innings and records his first win of the year as the Padres shut out the Reds, 5 – 0, for their eighth consecutive victory. Adrian Gonzalez, Will Venable and Yorvit Torrealba all hit home runs for the red-hot Padres.

Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins goes 0 for 4 in the second game of today’s doubleheader, ending his hitting streak at 21 games, dating back to last September. He still drives in the Marlins’ lone run in an 8 – 1 loss to the Rockies, giving him 20 RBI for the season. Cantu went 1 for 4 as Florida won the first game, 4 – 1. His hitting streak included a 10-game stretch to start the year during which he collected at least a hit and a RBI in each game.

After undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2009, Ted Lilly pitches six scoreless innings in his first start of the year for the Cubs, leading his team to a 5 – 1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Zambrano, who, in a controversial decision, was moved to the bullpen to make room for Lilly in the starting rotation, pitches an inning and a third in his first relief appearance in almost eight years. He gives up the Brewers’ sole run, but drives in one of the Cubs’ tallies with a sacrifice fly.

Chris Jakubauskas is struck in the head by a vicious line drive off the bat of Houston's Lance Berkman

Chris Jakubauskas is struck in the head by a vicious line drive off the bat of Houston’s Lance Berkman

The Dodgers’ Andre Ethier extends his hitting streak to 21 games with an RBI single in a five-run 1st inning as Los Angeles beats the Cubs, 7 – 3.

The Braves complete their first sweep of the Giants in San Francisco since 1998 with a 9 – 6 win in 10 innings. Nate McLouth hits a two-run single off Brian Wilson to place the Braves ahead. Atlanta also beat last postseason’s heroes, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, during the three-game series.

Roy Halladay strikes out a career-high 14 batters in a 3 – 1 win over the Padres. The Phillies ace shows some fatigue in the 9th and newly-minted closer Antonio Bastardo picks up the save, with regular closer Brad Lidge and his understudy Jose Contreras both on the disabled list.

The Mets defeat the Marlins, 2 – 1, in a game marking the return of star shortstop Jose Reyes to New York after leaving the Big Apple for Miami as a free agent the previous off-season. Johan Santana strikes out 11 in 6 2/3 innings for the Mets, but leaves the game trailing, 1 – 0, as his teammates have yet to score a run in support of his pitching this year. The Mets score two late runs to win the game, but it is reliever Jon Rauch who gets the W. Before the game, the Mets place two key players on the disabled list, LF Jason Bay who has a broken rib, and starting P Mike Pelfrey, who has swelling in his elbow.

The game between the Yankees and Rangers features a duel between two Japanese free agent signees, Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish. Darvish gets the upper hand, pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out 10 in leading Texas to a 2 – 0 win.

Chipper Jones homers on his 40th birthday (off Aaron Harang) as the Braves beat the Dodgers, 4 – 3. He becomes the fifth player in major league history to do this, following Bob Thurman, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs and Tony Phillips.

For the first time in major league history, four different pitchers combine to walk four consecutive batters when the Marlins hurlers load the bases and then force in a run in a 2-1 loss against the Mets. Josh Johnson walks Lucas Duda, then Randy Choate issues a free pass to Justin Turner, followed by Steve Cishek’s base-on-balls to Scott Hairston, and finally, Mike Dunn forces home Josh Thole with the tying run with the last of the only walks given up by the Miami staff in the Citi Field contest.

2013 – The Rockies continue to surprise, today beating the Braves, owners of the major leagues’ best record, with a 12-inning, 6 – 5 win. The Rockies rally to tie the game against closer Craig Kimbrel on Dexter Fowler’s two-out double in the bottom of the 9th, and Yorvit Torrealba, playing 1B because the Rox have used all of their substitutes, drives in Wilin Rosario with a single off Luis Ayala with two outs in the bottom of the 12th to end the game.

P Michael Pineda of the Yankees is handed a ten-game suspension after being caught using pine tar on the mound in the previous day’s game. The sentence is longer than previous ones, as there had already been controversy over his alleged use of the substance earlier this season. Pineda acknowledges his sin and states that he will not appeal the suspension.

David Ortiz breaks Harold Baines’ record for games played at Designated Hitter (1,644); Ortiz already held records for hits, homers and RBI as a DH. Ortiz goes 0 for 1 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch before leaving early in a 12 – 5 Boston loss to the Yankees.

The Yankees snap the Mets’ franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak with a 6 -1 win. Jacob deGrom allows three homers, two by Mark Teixeira and the other by Jacoby Ellsbury to be tagged with the loss. Michael Pineda is the winner.

Rumors emerge that the Rangers have reached a tentative deal with the Angels to acquire troubled OF Josh Hamilton. Hamilton left Texas after the 2012 season to sign a five-year deal worth $125 million, but has not been as productive a player since the deal and suffered a relapse of dependency problems. He has yet to play a game this season.

2016 – Chris Heisey ends a 16-inning marathon by belting a walk-off homer off Michael Tonkin that gives the Nationals a 6 – 5 win over the Twins. At 5 hours and 56 minutes, it is the longest regular season game in Nats history. It goes into extra innings after Bryce Harper hits the first pinch homer of his career off closer Kevin Jepsen to tie it at 4 in the 9th. Washington is down by a run again in the 15th when Danny Espinosa draws a two-out walk and steals second; out of pinch-hitters, manager Dusty Baker lets P Oliver Perez bat for himself and he lays down a bunt down the third base line. C John Ryan Murphy picks it up and throws wildly to first base, allowing Espinosa to score and prolonging the game. The Twins strike out 20 times during the game.

Eric Thames hits two more homers, both off Amir Garrett, to lead the Brewers to an 11 – 7 win over the Reds. Thames has hit 10 homers in his first 19 games after three years spent in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Dovydas Neverauskas, taking the roster spot of DL-bound Adam Frazier, becomes the second person born in Lithuania, but the first raised there, to appear in a major league game when he throws two innings of one-run ball for the Pirates in 14-3 loss to the Cubs at PNC Park. A’s outfielder Joe Zapustas, who played two games for the team in 1933, was also born in the Baltic state, but spent his childhood in Boston.

Todays Major League Birthdays On April 24

Todays Major League Debuts On  April 24

Todays Major League Final Games April 24

 

Major League Baseball Deaths On April 24

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