This Day In Baseball May 19

Jon Lester

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 19 in baseball history.

 

Notable Events and Chronology for May 19

Cleveland Naps 1903

Due to Sunday restrictions in Cleveland, a major league game is played in Columbus, Ohio with the “hometown” Cleveland Naps defeating the New York Highlanders, 9 – 2.

The Boston Doves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6 – 3. for the first time in 26 tries.

Cy Young wins the 500th game of his career as the Cleveland Naps beat the Washington Senators, 5 – 4, in 11 innings. He is the only pitcher in major league history to ever reach this milestone.

5/19/1913 – The Yankees scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to beat the Browns, 8-6. In that inning Frank Chance ground out as a pinch hitter for the pitcher, Ray Fisher, who was in the ninth spot in the lineup. When the New Yorkers approached the bottom of the order again in the same inning, Chance hit in the eighth spot instead of shortstop Claud Derrick. This time Chance singled and knocked in two runs. St. Louis protested to umpire Hildebrand after the inning was over but he correctly told them that it was too late.

The Senators play the District’s first Sunday game, beating Cleveland in a dramatic, 1-0 twelve-inning contest in front of the largest crowd in the history of American League Park. The 17,000 spectators packed into the Washington D.C. ballpark include 2,000 soldiers, who are guests of the team, several U.S. Senators, and a Justice from the Supreme Court.

Babe Ruth gets the Spanish flu

Babe Ruth gets the Spanish flu

Chicago White Sox players give their former manager Eddie Collins a wristwatch and diamond stickpin on his return to Chicago with the A's

Chicago White Sox players give their former manager Eddie Collins a wristwatch and diamond stickpin on his return to Chicago with the A’s

Rick Ferrell

For the first time in major league history, brothers on opposite teams hit home runs in the same game. Boston Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell homers off his brother Wes Ferrellin the 2nd inning, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher returns the favor as he homers in the 3rd on a pitch called by his sibling. It is the only time that the Ferrell brothers homer in the same game.

Rookie Lou Fette is the winner over Johnny Vander Meer‚ making his first start in the majors

In a 9-4 loss to Boston‚ Cleveland’s Al Rosen hits his 2nd grand slam in a week. He hit one on the 13th against the White Sox.

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dale Long starts his historic homerun streak with a 8th inning blast

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dale Long starts his historic homerun streak with a 8th inning blast

Clemente hurts throwing arm and will miss almost 2 months amid raciest comments

Clemente hurts throwing arm and will miss almost 2 months amid raciest comments

Billy O’Dell of the Baltimore Orioles hits a 120-foot home run against the Chicago White Sox

Billy O’Dell of the Baltimore Orioles hits a 120-foot home run against the Chicago White Sox

Stan Musial makes an unusual request – asking for a pay cut

Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner’s record for most hits in National League history

Bill Bruton of the Detroit Tigers ties a major league record by collecting four doubles in one game. Curiously, Bruton will total only 21 doubles on the season.

Ernie Broglio throws a record-tying three wild pitches in one inning

1968 – Astros take no prisoners in a doubleheader sweep at Los Angeles, 2-1 and 3-1. In the nightcap, while walking down to first, Jim Wynn points out a snake in the basepath. Coach Mel McGaha gets a bat and beats the viper to death. Denny Lemaster and Mike Cuellar hypnotize the Dodgers with complete-game victories.

Frank Howard’s home run streak comes to an end

Frank Howard’s home run streak comes to an end

St. Louis Cardinals star Curt Flood against Major League Baseball begins its hearing in federal court

St. Louis Cardinals star Curt Flood against Major League Baseball begins its hearing in federal court

Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk dies at the age of 77

Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk dies at the age of 77

In its inaugural season, Riverfront Stadium’s first-ever inside-the-park home run is hit by Roberto Clemente, a smash off Gary Nolan. The ball is hit high off the left-field wall over the reach of Bernie Carbo. The ball bounces high and back toward the infield past Buddy Bradford in center and by the time he is able to retrieve it on the rain-soaked turf, Clemente is rounding third. Clemente adds a triple that drives in a run and comes to score himself, then singles in another run in the 9th inning in a 6 – 1 decision over Cincinnati.

At Tiger Stadium, Carl Yastrzemski passes Boston legend Ted Williams for the most games played in a Red Sox uniform. Yaz makes the historic day memorable by going 4-for-4, including three home runs, in the team’s 9-2 victory in the Motor City.

After a bitter six-week strike, the major league umpires return to work. During the work stoppage, the men in blue were replaced by amateur and minor league arbiters.

jim bibby no hitter

Jim Bibby retires 27 straight after lead off single

Eric Davis debuts with no uniform

Eric Davis debuts with no uniform

5/19/1986: Ruppert Jones of the Angels hit a home run off Orioles pitcher Ken Dixon in the top of the second inning. The game was rained out in the bottom of the second inning with California leading 1-0.

1989 – Mike Scott pitches seven innings of no-hit ball before Glenn Wilson singles to break it up. It is Pittsburgh’s only hit in a 3-0 Houston triumph, the third one-hitter of Scott’s career. Houston had tried to trade for Wilson earlier in the month but reached a snag when Alan Ashby, whom the Pirates wanted, vetoed the deal. Ashby is released soon afterwards. 

The first ‘Jay Buhner Buzz Cut Night’, which will become a very popular recurring promotion, is held at the Kingdome. Mariners fans, willing to have their heads shaved to emulate the team’s right fielder, who plays an active role by encouraging fans to participate and giving a few haircuts himself, receive free admission to seats in right field to cheer on ‘Bone’.

1995 – A grand slam by Tony Eusebio keys a seven-run uprising as Houston pummels Montreal, 10-2. Jeff Bagwell had earlier provided a two-run blast off Pedro Martinez. 

After giving up an eighth-inning three-run homer to Bernie Williams, Armando Benitez nails Tino Martinez between the shoulder blades, igniting a bench-clearing brawl. Graeme Lloyd races in from the Yankee bullpen to punch the O’s closer, and Alan Mills bloodies Darryl Strawberry’s face after the New York outfielder ends up in the Baltimore dugout trying to also get a shot at Benitez.

Jason Kendall hits for the cycle and has a career-high five RBI, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 13 – 1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals. Kendall hits a two-run home run in the 1st inning, an RBI single in the 2nd, a double in the 3rd and a two-run triple in the 8th. Kendall also becomes the first Pirate ever to hit for the cycle at Three Rivers Stadium.

Miguel Ojeda becomes the third Mexican Leaguer to hit four home runs in a game, following Roy Johnson and Derek Bryant. Ojeda is the first person to do so in a four at-bat game.

Reversing its original decision, MLB’s official statistician, the Elias Sports Bureau, will now list Randy Johnson’s 20 strikeouts as tying a record. Although the game went into extra innings, Johnson’s nine-inning performance will be noted along with the Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeouts outings in the 2002 record book.

Cubs’ first baseman Fred McGriff’s two-run homer at Miller Park ties Ellis Burks’ record of homering in 40 different major league parks. The ‘Crime Dog’s’ eighth inning blast knots the score 3-3 in an eventual 4-3, 11-inning victory over the Brewers, snapping Chicago’s nine-game losing streak.

45-year-old Julio Franco breaks his own record for the oldest player in major league history to bat a pinch home run. Franco, who had a pinch-hit homer two weeks earlier against San Diego, hits a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game at 4 – 4 in the 8th inning. Despite Franco’s effort, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeat the Atlanta Braves, 6 – 4, in 11 innings.

Brad Thompson breaks a 97-year-old minor league record set in 1907 by Irvin Wilhelm by hurling 57 consecutive scoreless innings. Thompson sets the mark pitching in the Southern League for the Tennessee Smokies, a Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. He falls just two innings short of the professional mark of 59 established by Orel Hershiser in 1988.

Yankee spokesman Jason Zillo announces Cracker Jack, which has been baseball’s most famous snack for over 100 years, will not be sold at Yankee Stadium and will be replaced by a product known as Crunch ‘n Munch. The change, short-lived due to the fans’ negative reaction, is being made, according to Yankees’ officials, because Crunch ‘n Munch tastes better, but may have been really prompted by Frito-Lay’s decision to package the game’s well-known treat in only bags and not boxes.

Melvin Mora signs a three-year extension with the Baltimore Orioles that will keep him with the club through the 2009 season. The new deal is worth a guaranteed $25 million and includes an option for a fourth year.

In interleague play, David Wright wins the first Subway Series game of the year between the two New York City teams when he hits a two-out RBI single off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Mets a 7 – 6 victory over the Yankees

2006 – After losing three at home to the Giants by a combined 34-5 and getting two suspensions, the Astros appear in a free-fall until Adam Everett delivers a three-run double off Joaquin Benoit in the bottom of the eighth to topple the Texas Rangers, 5-3. Brad Lidge, who had temporarily lost his closer role, returns to nail down his 12th save. Chad Qualls gets the win after rescuing Roy Oswalt from a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. The day was a 20th Anniversary tribute to the division-winning 1986 Astros, made sweeter by a comeback win befitting that club. 

Aaron Bates of the Lancaster JetHawks becomes the first player in the 61-year history of the California League to hit four home runs in one game. Amazingly, his teammate Brad Correll will match the feat just 35 days later.

Jon Lester

Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox hurls a no-hitter at Fenway vs Kansas City

In a 7 – 6 Twins victory over the Royals, rookie Bobby Korecky gets his first big league win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. More notably, he connects for a single, the first Twins pitcher ever to get a hit outside an interleague contest since the enactment of the designated hitter rule in 1973.

The Nationals come back from a 5 – 0 deficit, score a run in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings, but lose 8 – 5 to the Pirates when Adam LaRoche belts a two-run double in the 10th. Washington has lost six straight games, in spite of scoring five runs or more in each contest. With Joe Beimel taking the loss, the Nats’ bullpen is 1-14 for the year.

Dontrelle Willis wins his first game in 20 months and his first in a Detroit Tigers uniform as the Tigers shut out the Rangers, 4 – 0. Willis retires 17 batters in a row at one point and snaps the Rangers’ seven-game winning streak.

Former Korea Baseball Organization batting champion Hae-yong Ma publishes a book claiming many foreign import players and some locals used steroids. The KBO instituted limited steroid testing in 2007 and had no global system due to cost concerns.

Adrian Gonzalez homers and drives in 6 runs to snap the Dodgers’ winning streak at 9 games, as San Diego wins, 10 – 5. Also for the Padres, Will Venable has four hits, including two doubles and a triple, while Jon Garlandrecords the win over his former team.

The Yankees learn that C Jorge Posada has a broken bone in his right foot and will be out of action for three to four weeks. Francisco Cervelli has already assumed the bulk of the playing time behind the plate this season. Posada joins DH Nick Johnson, out with a wrist injury, and OF Curtis Granderson on the disabled list, while OF Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher are both day-to-day because of a sprained ankle and a sore biceps, respectively. The Rays take advantage of their banged-up opponents, beating them, 10 – 6, and increasing their lead in the AL East to 4 games.

CF Angel Pagan hits the first inside-the-park homer in the history of Nationals Park in the 4th inning, starts a triple play in the 5th and for good measure makes a spectacular diving catch of Roger Bernadina’s line drive with the bases loaded in the 6th, but New York still manages to lose for the 9th time in 11 games, 5 – 3 to the Nationals. It has been 55 years since Ted Kazanski was the last major leaguer to perform the two feats in the same game.

5/19/2010: Josh Hamilton of the Rangers homered in the second inning against the Orioles in Arlington. In the fourth, his fly cleared the 14-foot fence in LF and caromed back onto the field. Second base umpire Doug Eddings ruled it in play. Rangers manager Ron Washington argued with Eddings, who stood firm in his call, saying the ball hit the pad. Washington was convinced and left the field. Crew chief Dana DeMuth did not watch the replay and admitted after the game that the unpires were wrong. He said that he should have watched the replay and then overturned the call.

After being benched for criticizing Fredi Gonzalez, who pulled him from the previous game for loafing, Hanley Ramirez, at the prompting of Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tony Perez, apologizes to his manager and individually to his teammates prior to today’s contest in St. Louis. The visiting All-Star shortstop and reigning National League batting champ, amidst of being booed by the Busch Stadium fans, collects three hits and drives in a run in the Marlins’ 5-1 victory over the Redbirds.

Mets center fielder Angel Pagan initiates the tenth triple play in franchise history when he snags Cristian Guzman’s sinking liner with first and second base occupied. After making the stunning catch that surprises both of Washington’s baserunners, the outfielder overthrows the infield, but catcher Henry Blanco takes the errant toss and throws the ball to Jose Reyes at second base to double off Livan Hernandez, and then the shortstop relays the ball to first baseman Ike Davis to triple up Nyjer Morgan, making it the first 9-2-6-3 triple killing in major league history.

After sitting on the bench for most of the season so far, veteran 1B Jason Giambi has the first three-homer game of his career in the Rockies’ 7 – 1 win over Philadelphia. He hits homers in his first three at-bats, driving in all 7 of his team’s runs, but fails in his last two at-bats to become only the 16th player to hit four dingers in one game. Giambi entered the game hitting .115 with 1 homer and 4 RBI; at 40, he is the second-oldest player to hit three home runs in a game, after Stan Musial who was 41 when he accomplished the feat on July 8, 1962.

After placing two of their starting pitchers, John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the disabled list earlier this week, the Red Sox sign Kevin Millwood to a minor league contract and acquire Franklin Morales from the Rockies for a player to be named later; they also designate for assignment Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima. The veteran Millwood spent a month in the Yankees’ system earlier this year but asked for his release when it became clear that there was little chance he would be called up to the majors in the near future.

Brandon Morrow pitches a three-hit shutout for the Blue Jays, who beat the Mets, 2 – 0. Morrow is now 5-2 with a pair of shutouts and a 2.63 ERA after signing a long-term contract in the off-season.

Miguel Cabrera hits three homers for the second time of his career, but it’s not enough as Texas beats Detroit, 11 – 8. Daniel Murphy hits a three-run homer in the 6th inning for Texas, to negate Cabrera’s 4-for-4, 5 RBI night. In his other plate appearance, the Rangers walk Miggy to load the bases, but Prince Fielder follows with a three-run double. For the Rangers, Adrian Beltre goes 4 for 5 with two doubles and Geovany Soto and Lance Berkman both have three hits.

Matt Moore pitches seven innings and picks up the win as Tampa Bay defeats Baltimore, 3 – 1. Moore is now 8-0, and has 9 consecutive wins for a franchise record; the 23-year-old is the youngest lefthander to begin a season 8-0 since Babe Ruth in 1917.

The Tigers see their 11-game road winning streak ended after a very long day. Having been delayed in leaving Boston, MA, they arrive in Cleveland only three hours before game time, then extend the game when J.D. Martinez hits a pinch homer in the 9th to require extra innings. However, Michael Brantley hits a walk-off homer off Al Alburquerque in the 10th to end the game, 5 – 4.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals connects for a walk-off homer off Yankees closer Andrew Miller in the 10th inning to give Washington an 8 – 6 win and put them into a tie for first place in the NL East with the New York Mets after starting the year 7-13. For Zimmerman, it is the 10th such home run of his career; for Miller, it’s a first blown save after converting his first 13 save chances of the season.

The Rangers win their tenth straight game, 5 – 3, over the Tigers, thanks to homers by Mike Napoli and Joey Gallo while Nick Martinez wins a start for the first time since August 2015. However, they are still 6 1/2 games back of the Astros in the AL West, as Houston has won 8 of 10 during that span.

The Rays have been experimenting with “bullpen days” all season, when the starting pitcher is not expected to go deep into the game, going all out for 3 or 4 innings before handing the ball over to another reliever, but today they take it even further. Short reliever Sergio Romo starts today’s game against the Angels, his first start in the majors after 588 appearances out of the bullpen, and is only asked to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough. The plan works perfectly as Romo strikes out the three men he faces – Zack Cozart, Mike Trout and Justin Upton, all righthanders – then hands the ball over to lefty Yarbrough in the 2nd. Yarbrough pitches scoreless ball until allowing a run in the 8th as Tampa Bay wins, 5 – 3. It is the first time a starting pitcher leaves after a perfect 1st inning since Ernie Shore had done so on October 5, 1915. Manager Kevin Cash is so pleased with how the scheme goes that he picks Romo to start the next day’s game as well.

Todays Major League Birthdays On May 19 

Todays Major League Debuts On  May 19

Todays Major League Final Games May 19

 

Major League Baseball Deaths On May 19 

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