This Day In Baseball May 14

Walter Johnson

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 May 14 in baseball history.

 

Notable Events and Chronology for May 14

May 14 – Charley Jones wins a judgement against the Boston Red Caps for his unpaid salary due from 1880 in an Ohio court. Cleveland law enforcement will take the money from the Red Caps share of gate receipts when Boston plays in Cleveland.

The Phillies, known as the Quakers at the time, win their first game in franchise history when they rout the White Stockings, later to be known as the Cubs, at Chicago’s Lake Front Park. Philadelphia had lost their first eight games of the season before today’s 12-0 victory, and will finish the season in last place in the eight-team National League with a dismal 17-81 (.173) record.

In American Association action, St. Louis Browns player-manager Charles Comiskey prevents a double play by running full tilt into Red Stockings second baseman Bid McPhee, enabling the Browns to win, 2 – 1. The Cincinnati fans are infuriated, but the umpire certifies the play.

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.

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.

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.

Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitches a no-hitter for nine innings, then loses to the Senators, 1 – 0, in the 10th

At Robison Field, St. Louis Cardinals rookie Rogers Hornsby hits his first major league home run, off Brooklyn Robins pitcher Jeff Pfeffer.

Stan Coveleski allows just three Detroit hits and Jack Graney scores the only run as Cleveland wins, 1 - 0.

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

Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson rescues Senators and wins his 300th career game in 9-8 Slugfest

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.

At the Baker Bowl 1 fan killed 50 injured in grandstan collapse

At the Baker Bowl 1 fan killed 50 injured in grandstan collapse

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.

Hack Wilson Brooklyn Dodgers

Hack Wilson pounds a 9th-inning pinch-grand slam the first in Brooklyn Dodgers history

5/14/1938: The Cardinals hosted the Reds in St. Louis. Reds outfielder Dusty Cooke hit a drive in the sixth inning that hit the edge of the pavilion roof in deep right center field. The umpires ruled the ball in play and Cooke reached third base for a triple. After the ninth inning ended with the teams tied at 5-5, Reds manager Bill McKechnie announced that he was protesting the game based on that call in the sixth inning. The Cardinals had scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. The Reds scored once in the top of the tenth but the Redbirds won the contest with two in the bottom of the frame. NL president Ford Frick upheld the protest on June 3 and declared the game a tie. He also awarded Cooke with a homer, so it became “unlost.” The teams replayed the game on August 20.

Bob Feller

On Feller Day – Bob Feller mother is hit by a foul tip thrown by her son

Autographed Jimmie Foxx Photo - BW 8 5x11 Graded Mint 9! #AC08252 - PSA/DNA Certified

Jimmie Foxx hits the longest home run in the history of Comiskey Park

paul dean dizzy dean

The Dean brothers suffer setbacks in their careers. The Chicago Cubs release Dizzy while the New York Giants demote Paul to the minor leagues. Paul will return to the major leagues two years later with the St. Louis Browns, his last season, but Dizzy won’t return until 1947, when he makes a one-game comeback also with the Browns.

Cy Young Interview 76 years old

Win lose or Draw – Cy young Interview

Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star first baseman Johnny Hopp hits two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16 – 9 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field.

After being traded from the Phillies, Don Cardwell no-hits the Cardinals in his Cub debut. Thanks to three outstanding defensive catches, including Walt Moryn’s game-ending grab, the Winston-Salem, NC native becomes the first pitcher to keep the opponents hitless in a first start after being traded.

carl yastrzemski hits for cycle

Carl Yastrzemski hits for the cycle

Roberto Clemente’s sixth and final career home run off Sandy Koufax is another no-doubter. It comes during Koufax’s final season, the net result being one less shutout for Sandy and one more moon shot for Clemente. There was “only Bob Clemente’s 9th-inning home run spoiling Sandy’s bid for his 36th career shutout,” writes Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times. “One of the few people who wasn’t fooled by Sandy’s slants was Clemente, who at .325 is making a strong bid for his third consecutive league batting crown. ‘I’m hitting the ball good,’ said the temperamental Pirate star. ‘I feel strong.’ He certainly looked robust when he tied into an outside pitch and sent it into the upper deck in right field. Ron Fairly didn’t even move, it was so solidly hit.”

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees joins the 500-home run club

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees joins the 500-home run club

Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits home run number 450, a 6th-inning solo shot in today’s contest between the Braves and Pirates. Roberto Clemente responds almost immediately with his own “number 450”. Les Biederman explains in the Pittsburgh Press: “Aaron whistled when he talked of the two shots Clemente drilled. One struck the left field wall and bounced back on the field for a double. The other traveled over Mack Jones’ head in dead center (450 feet) and he got a triple.” Both the two-out, 3rd-inning double and 6th-inning, leadoff triple are followed by RBI singles from Bill Mazeroski. In the 7th, Clemente singles home the insurance run in the Bucs’ 5 – 2 win.

Autographed Willie Mays Photo - 8x10 JSA Certified

Willie Mays, playing his first game with the New York Mets, hits a game-winning home run against his former teammates

1972 – Astros put the shift on for Willie Stargell, leading 7-6 with two out and two on in the top of the ninth. It works as Stargell rolls out to shortstop Roger Metzger, who is behind second base, for the final out. Houston had built a 7-2 lead behind homers from Cesar Cedeno and Bob Watson.

1975 – Doug Rader belts two homers and drives in five to pace an 11-7 triumph at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Roger Metzger adds four hits while Bob Watson supplies three, including a home run. 

The first no-hitter is thrown by a Kansas City pitcher at Royals Stadium when Jim Colborn blanks the Rangers, 6-0. California’s fireballer Nolan Ryan recorded the first no-hitter in the ballpark during its inaugural season in 1971.

dave kingman

Dave Kingman of the Chicago Cubs hits three home runs vs Dodgers

Fernando Valenzuela starts off 8-0

Fernando Valenzuela starts off 8-0

5/14/1982: Pittsburgh’s Lee Lacy batted in the bottom of the eighth inning as the first batter to face Tom Hume of the Reds. The bases were loaded with no outs and Lacy hit one of Hume’s pitches out of the park. However, in the celebration during his run around the bases, Lacy passed Omar Moreno between first and second. He is credited with a single and three runs batted in. Luckily, Moreno’s run won the game for the Pirates 8-7.

Ben Oglivie hits three home runs as the Milwaukee Brewers come from behind to beat the Boston Red Sox, 8 – 7, in 10 innings. Oglivie’s third homer ties the score at 6 – 6 in the bottom of the 9th.

Toronto Blue Jays pitchers Luis Leal and Roy Lee Jackson combine to one-hit the Cleveland Indians, 8 – 1, allowing only an 8th-inning single to Chris Bando. Starter Leal tosses five hitless shutout innings and is replaced by Jackson after a 1:42 rain delay.

Derek Bryant becomes the first player to hit four home runs in a Mexican League game; he adds a triple for a record 19 total bases.

1985 – Rookies Ron Mathis and Mark Ross team up to blank Montreal, 10-0. Craig Reynolds is the offensive star with four hits, including a two-run double. Jerry Mumphrey and Bill Doran each contribute three hits. Mathis would have only three major league wins in his career. Ross would have two. 

Reggie Jackson passes Mickey Mantle on Homerun List

Reggie Jackson passes Mickey Mantle on Homerun List

Infielder Jose Oquendo becomes the first non-pitcher in 20 seasons to get a decision, taking the loss in the 19th inning when Ken Griffey’s two-out, two-run double leads the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals, 7 – 5. Rocky Colavito had won a game in relief for the Yankees in 1968, in the last of two career appearances on the mound.

benny_distefano_1989_ny-times

Benny Distefano of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first lefthanded catcher to appear in a major league game

1993 – Ken Caminiti drills a bases-loaded double to key a seven-run fifth as Houston stops the Dodgers, 9-1. Scott Servais swats his third hit of the night, a two-run shot in the eighth, for good measure. 

In only his second major league appearance, Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Shuey strikes out four batters in the 9th inning of the Indians’ 9 – 3 victory over Detroit. Shuey becomes only the 10th pitcher in American League history, and the first rookie, to strike out four in an inning.

Dwight Gooden no-hitter for the Yankees vs Mariners

Dwight Gooden no-hitter for the Yankees vs Mariners

At Three Rivers Stadium, Kevin Young’s two-run pinch double gives the Pittsburgh Pirates the lead and Al Martin finishes a nine-run 8th inning with a grand slam as the surprising first-place Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies, 15 – 10. Colorado pitching gives up 13 walks and blows leads of 6 – 3, 7 – 5 and 9 – 6.

23-year-old right-hander Dae-jin Lee of the Haitai Tigers strikes out 10 consecutive batters to set the Korea Baseball Organization record.

Although Sammy Sosa collects five hits, Henry Rodriguez has seven RBI and Eric Young steals five bases, the Chicago Cubs still manage to lose to Montreal, 16 – 15. Young’s five stolen bases are the most by a Cubs player since 1881 when George Gore stole seven.

At Latino-American Stadium, 77-year-old Jimmy Carter throws the ceremonial first pitch of the Cuban League All-Star game. Warming up, the former U.S. President is coached by Fidel Castro.

Chone Figgins, going 5-for-6, collects a triple, a grand slam, and six RBIs in the Angels’ 10-9 victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards. The Anaheim third baseman/outfielder, who drives in the game’s winning run in the 10th inning with a single, joins Buck Rogers as one of the two players in franchise history to hit their first career round-tripper with the bases loaded.

On Mother’s Day, with his Mom in the stands, Bill Hall hits a walk-off home run to beat the Mets at Miller Park, 6-5. The Milwaukee center fielder, joining many other major league players, uses a pink bat in MLB’s effort to raise public awareness of breast cancer.

After making an outstanding catch of Kevin Millar’s line drive near the Camden Yards warning track, Boston’s left fielder Manny Ram�rez high-fives a fan before throwing the ball back to the infield to complete a 7-4-3 double play. Randy Dunning, a 24 year-old Red Sox fan attending the Orioles game with his mom and dad, a going-away present from his parents before he leaves Officer Candidate School at Fort Meade, is the glad-hand recipient of ‘Manny being Manny’.

2008 – Lance Berkman’s incredible month continues during a 6-3 win at San Francisco. He hits a two-run homer to give him a majors-leading 14. He also leads the National League in RBIs (40), runs (43) and OPS (1.264). He’s batting .580 for the month and his current batting average (.388) is second overall. Miguel Tejada and Brad Ausmus drive in the other runs. The next day, Berkman homers into McCovey Cove  to complete an 8-7 comeback. Houston has won 18 of their last 24 after a 6-12 start. 

31-year-old rookie Bobby Scales hits a pair of doubles in Chicago’s 11 – 3 win over the Padres. Scales has hit safely in all six games he has played in the majors so far, for a batting average of .444. Adrian Gonzalezhomers in his fourth consecutive game for San Diego, but to no avail as his team is now on a 3-16 skid. Ryan Dempster picks up the win and former Cub Chad Gaudin, who walks seven batters in four innings, is the loser. Padre starters are winless since April 16th.

The Mets collect a franchise-record seven stolen bases in their 7-4 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park. Ironically, the team sets the club mark without the help of a sidelined Jose Reyes, New York’s all-time career leader in thefts.

After Twins manager Ron Gardenhire orders an intentional walk to Mark Teixeira and brings in righty Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez in the 7th, the Yankee third baseman blasts his 19th career grand slam to pass Frank Robinson for 7th on the all-time career home run list and give New York an 8 – 4 win.

It wouldn’t be the Yankees without a bit of soap opera. Today, Jorge Posada asks to be taken out of the line-up 40 minutes before the game, after being listed as the 9th-place hitter against the Red Sox. Hitting .165, the DH claims he has a bad back, something which Yankees GM Brian Cashman denies, and after the game explains that he feels “a little bit disrespected”. With Andruw Jones taking Posada’s place, the Yankees lose the game, 6 – 0, to the Sox, with a two-run double by Jacoby Ellsbury and a three-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez against CC Sabathia providing the key blows in support of Josh Beckett’s six scoreless innings. Jones hits 9th in the game, the second #9 hitter in MLB history with 400+ homers to his credit – the prior one was Jimmie Foxx from his days as a pitcher at the tail end of his career.

For the first time since 1914, the Dodgers are defeated after allowing just one hit, losing to the visiting Diamondbacks,1-0. Chad Billingsley, the hard-luck loser, gives up a leadoff double in the second to Stephen Drew, who scores the game’s only run when shortstop Jamey Carroll fails to cover the bag in an attempted pick-off play.

Major League Baseball fires arbitrator Shyam Das after 13 years on the job. The Commissioner’s office was incensed at Das for overturning Ryan Braun’s suspension for PED use on a technicality on February 23rd, and the last straw comes when the same ruling is used today to justify ending Eliezer Alfonzo’s 100-game suspension early.

The Rays keep on winning, in spite of resembling an infirmary more than a baseball team. With six players already on the disabled list, the Rays add OF Desmond Jennings, victim of a knee problem, prior to today’s game against the Blue Jays. In the 1st inning, starter Jeff Niemann takes a ground ball off the bat of Adam Lind in the lower leg; he manages to throw Lind out and finish the inning, but is removed from the game; x-rays then reveal a fracture that will have him join the hobbled crowd for a number of weeks. Cesar Ramos succeeds Niemann on the mound and earns his first career victory as the Rays prevail, 7 – 1.

Carlos Gonzalez has five hits, including a pair of homers, in leading the Rockies to a 9 – 4 win over the Cubs. Troy Tulowitzki pitches in with two doubles among his three hits and Eric Young homers as part of a 17-hit attack. Jeff Francis is the winner over Carlos Villanueva.

Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore gives up three 1st-inning runs, but nothing else over the next five innings, to become the first American League pitcher to seven wins, earning a 5 – 3 victory over the Red Sox. He is the first pitcher in Rays history to start a season 7-0.

Masahiro Tanaka pitches his first major league shutout as the Yankees defeat the Mets, 4 – 0. The Japanese off-season signee is now 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA after 8 starts in the majors. The Yankees’ win follows 6 straight losses to the Mets, dating back to last season.

In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6 – 5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning.

The Yankees officially retire uniform number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter and unveil a plaque in his name in Monument Park at New Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader against the Astros. They win the opener, 11 – 6, thanks to a bases-loaded triple by Chase Headley and homers by Starlin Castro, Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner. In the nitecap, Masahiro Tanaka gives up three 1st-inning homers, including a grand slam by Alex Bregman as New York goes down, 10 – 7. George Springer homers twice for Houston which leads 9 – 0 before the Yankees score some late runs to make the game appear closer than it is. Before the games, they place closer Aroldis Chapman on the disabled list with inflammation in his left shoulder.

Chris Sale strikes out 17 batters in 7 innings for the Red Sox against the Rockies, but a high pitch count costs him a chance to try to match or beat the record of 20 Ks in 9 innings. He has to settle for a no-decision as Brandon Workman gives up a two-run homer to Charlie Blackmon in the 8th. The Sox’s pitchers end up with 24 strikeouts in 11 innings, but Colorado still wins, 5 – 4.

Major League Baseball Birthdays May 14

Todays Major League Debuts On  May 14

Todays Major League Final Games May 14

Major League Baseball Deaths May 14

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