This Day In Baseball May 8

Debuts, Milestones, No Hitters, Rule Changes, Events, Birthdays, Deaths, and more on This Day In Baseball.  

Events for May 8

Providence Grays centerfielder Paul Hines catches a fly by Jack Burdock and starts a triple play, racing in to touch third base before Jack Manning can return, then throwing to second to nab Ezra Sutton. Some eyewitnesses contend that Sutton had passed third and was out when Hines touched the base, making it the only unassisted triple play by an outfielder. This contradicts the version by Manning, Jim O’Rourke and others present, which has been accepted generally as the correct account.

On May 8, 1878, Paul Hines of Providence caught a line drive hit by Jack Burdock of Boston. With runners on second and third he sprinted forward and tagged third base, which was clear of baserunners. To make sure he got the out, he threw the ball to Charlie Sweasy at second base. The play was recorded, unrecorded, and still debated as the first ever unassisted triple play.

5/8/1894: The Boston Beaneaters (Braves) were in New York playing the Giants. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants had two runners on base with no one out when the game was called by darkness. Boston had scored twice in the top of the frame on a single by Jimmy Bannon and a home run by Charlie Ganzel. The score reverted to the end of the seventh inning and Ganzel lost his four-bagger. Those runs did not matter since the home team won, 16-5.

The St. Louis Browns dismiss manager Harry Diddlebock for intoxication. Player Arlie Latham and owner Chris Von der Ahe manage two games apiece before Von der Ahe settles on Roger Connor.

In the top of the 9th inning, Philadelphia’s Billy Nash starts to argue with the umpire over a called strike. Clark Griffith throws a pitch in the midst of the argument which nicks Nash’s bat, resulting in a double play. Griffith’s quick thinking helps the Chicago Colts take a 5 – 3 victory.

Rookie Harry Steinfeldt, the “wonder from Wonderville,” replaces injured Bid McPhee at second base for the Cincinnati Reds, gets three hits against Louisville, and handles nine chances afield.

Harry Wolverton’s bases-loaded home run in the bottom of the 9th gives the Chicago Orphans an 8 – 7 victory over Cleveland.

John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson end their holdout and sign with the Cardinals. Both contracts have the reserve clause crossed out, freeing McGraw to return to Baltimorein the American League in 1901.

Cy Young Wins Home Opener for Boston Pilgrims

Cy Young Wins Home Opener for Boston Pilgrims

Amos Rusie, the “Hoosier Thunderbolt”, makes his first start for the Cincinnati Reds after a two-year layoff and is bombed, 14 – 3, by the Cards. Emmet Heidrick snags five singles off Rusie. After two more appearances, he goes back to digging ditches, having won 245 games, mostly for the New York Giants, in nine years.

In a letter to American League team owners, Ban Johnson says that the rule requiring clubs to cut their players to 14 will not be enforced until May 20th.

In their long-delayed American League home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia’s Bill Bernhard, 12 – 4, behind Cy Young, who has jumped from the St. Louis Cardinals. Boston is led by Buck Freeman, who has a single, triple and homer. Young complains that he does not like the rule against pitchers warming up, but he will still lead the AL with his 1.62 ERA. His 33 wins are 41.8 percent of his team’s 79 victories; a post-1900 record, it will stand until Steve Carlton wins 45.8 percent of the Phils’ 59 wins in 1972. Young also complains about catchers: “I do not like the league rule compelling the catcher to stand behind the bat all the time. It handicaps a pitcher. I cannot extend myself as I would like.”

Bill Duggleby, the first league jumper to return to the Phillies, loses 2 – 1, to St. Louis. Returnee Chick Fraser will win his first start on May 23rd, 5 – 2 over Chicago. Harry Wolverton will return after 59 games with the Washington Senators. All others will remain with their new teams. Of all those that the rival Athletics acquired, only Monte Crossstays.

The Chicago Orphans again top the Giants, winning 10 – 4. Chicago manager Frank Selee comments that the distance from the pitcher’s mound to the plate looks short. Horace Fogel, the Giants manager, measures the distance and finds the lane is 15 inches short. New York protests and it is upheld on June 3rd. The two games are ordered replayed.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Nixey Callahan gets five hits for the third time in his career (also June 29, 1897 and May 18, 1902), but the 11-inning loss to the St. Louis Brownsis the final game he will pitch in the major leagues. He will play other positions until 1913. Nixey is the only pitcher ever to garner five hits three times.

At Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, A’s right-hander Chief Bender, coming off the bench, goes deep twice after being asked by his manager Connie Mack to replace an outfielder in the sixth inning of Philadelphia’s 11-4 victory over Boston. The Hall of Fame hurler’s home runs, a seventh-inning solo shot and a three-run blast in the ninth, are both inside-the-park round-trippers given up by Jesse Tannehill.

chief bender

Future Hall of Fame hurler Chief Bender makes outfield debut and hits 2 inside the park homeruns

Christy Mathewson tosses his second straight shutout, stopping the visiting Pirates, 4 – 0, on four hits. Lefty Leifield takes the loss. First-place New York has now won 10 in a row and holds a slim lead over Chicago.

Frank Pfeffer of the Boston Doves pitches a 6 – 0 no-hitter against the Reds. He will be known as “Big Jeff” until his younger, and bigger, brother Ed “Jeff” Pfeffer becomes a star hurler for Brooklyn in 1913.

At New York, Smokey Joe Wood beats the Highlanders, 4 – 0, in six innings. He gives up just one hit, a single to Ray Caldwell.

The Phillies’ Grover Cleveland Alexander records his first shutout, stopping Brooklyn, 5 – 0, on three hits. Alex fans nine to run his record to 3-1.

The White Sox beat Washington, 7 – 6, snapping Walter Johnson’s five-game win streak. Johnson gives up two two-run home runs, one to Harry Lord in the 1st and another to Ping Bodie in the 5th. A Johnson fastball breaks the arm of 3B Lee Tannehill, an injury that will hamper the infielder’s throwing ability and end the career of the 10-year veteran. Sox starter Joe Benz leaves with an injury after pitching 1 1/3 inning. Ed Walsh pitches the next 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, and Frank Lange allows the same in his two innings.

The Giants score nine runs by the 3rd inning and young Jeff Tesreau holds on for an 11 – 8 win over the Cardinals. Christy Mathewson relieves in the 9th for New York. In the 7th inning, with a man on third, Tesreau grounds to SS Wally Smith, whose throw to first base hits umpire Brick Owens in the head, knocking him out. Owens’ wife, who is watching from the grandstand, faints. The runner is sent back to third base and Tesreau hits again. Owens is back at work the next day.

The Pittsburgh Filipinos, of the newly formed United States League, open the season at vacant Exposition Park. The team is named after its veteran Deacon Phillippe, former Pirates star. The USL has promised not to sign current major leaguers, but will not last through June. It will form the basis for the following year’s Federal League, though.

When the Senators relieve with Walter Johnson, the A’s greet him with six runs in three innings to drive the “Big Train” from the mound. Johnson throws the one and only beanball of his career, a fastball at the head of Frank “Home Run” Baker, a particular nemesis of Johnson’s. The beanball misses Baker, whom Johnson calls “the most dangerous batter that I ever faced.” Baker had hit .385 against the Nats ace up till this game in 4 seasons; he’ll hit just .207 off him in the next nine years. When the dust settles, the game ends in a 9 – 9 tie.

The Yankees pound the Red Sox, 10 – 3, scoring all of their runs in the 4th inning. Sixteen Yanks come to the plate in the frame.

Hasty makes wasty as Cleveland hits a major league record-tying four triples in the 5th off the A’s Bob Hasty and roll over Philadelphia, 14 – 4. George Uhle is the winner.

Sam Breadon buys a controlling interest of 72% in the St. Louis Cardinals. He and Branch Rickey, who owns the rest of the stock, will combine to create one of baseball’s most successful operations. Breadon demotes Rickey to vice-president, but allows him to remain as field manager.

Every National League city will have a Golden Jubilee Day. The first, between two of the original teams left from the 1876 season, at Boston, sees former Boston players from 1876 on hand. The Braves beat Chicago, 5 – 2.

Chicago’s Grover Cleveland Alexander beats the Giants, 6 – 4, with George McQuillan taking the loss. It is Alex’s last win in a Cubs uniform.

The Yankees score seven in the 2nd but lose to Detroit, 14 – 10, knocking themselves out of the lead; Washington moves into first.

A three-alarm blaze burns down Fenway Park’s grandstand roof and left field bleachers. The Boston Red Sox, desperately in need of cash, use most of the insurance proceeds to pay for operations and leave a vacant lot where the bleachers once stood.

A three-alarm blaze burns down Fenway’s grandstand roof and left field bleachers. The Red Sox, desperately in need of cash, use most of the insurance proceeds to pay for operations, leaving a vacant lot where the bleachers once stood.

The Yankees draw a record 52,000 to Comiskey Park but Waite Hoyt spoils the party by winning one of his league-leading 22 games, 9 – 0, the second straight shutout of the White Sox. Batterymate Pat Collins homers in the 7th, while Lou Gehrig adds a pair of triples.

At New York, the second-place Giants take the Cubs to camp, 5 – 4, behind the pitching of Virgil Barnes. Bill Terry’s double in the 9th drives home the winning run. Earl Webb hits a two-run homer for Chicago in the 6th as Chicago manages to leave no runners on base in the game.

At Detroit, Marty McManus singles in two runs in the 9th to lead the Tigers to a 3 – 2 win over the Red Sox. Fats Fothergill goes hitless for the first time this season to end his 18-game hitting streak.

At Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park, the Giants’ Carl Hubbell pitches an 11 – 0 no-hitter against the Pirates, allowing just one walk. In the 9th, the first two batters reach on errors before Hubbell records a strikeout and starts the game-ending double play. It’s the first no-hitter by a lefthander since Dutch Leonard in 1918. Chick Fullis starts the scoring with a home run in the 2nd, his third in three days, and Mel Ott adds two home runs to take the National League lead.

 Freddie Lindstrom has his second five-hit game of the season, hitting for the cycle, as the Giants defeat the Pirates, 13 – 10.

Cardinal P Bill Walker has his arm broken by a batting practice smash by Joe Medwick.

Reds backstop Ernie Lombardi equals the major-league record with four straight doubles, all in consecutive innings (6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th) and each off a different pitcher: Syl Johnson, Orville Jorgens, Euel Moore and Frank Pearce. The slow-footed Lombardi also has a “long single” in the 23-hit, 15 – 4 win over the Phillies in the first game. The Reds collect seven doubles and two homers. In the nightcap, the Phils snap their nine-game losing streak with a 5 – 4 victory.

Reds’ catcher Ernie Lombardi hits four consecutive doubles in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings off four different hurlers. The slow-footed catcher’s quartet of two-baggers helps Cincinnati to rout Philadelphia at the Baker Bowl, 15-4.

 Washington’s Bobo Newsom, who will pitch in four decades, hits his only major league homer. It comes in Detroit off Tiger ace Schoolboy Rowe as the “Talkative One” wins, 8 – 3.

Chuck Klein hits a pinch triple with the bases loaded off the Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer, and the Phils win, 8 – 7.

At Ebbets Field, Cards veteran Pepper Martin breaks up a pitching duel between Brooklyn’s Red Evans and Bob Weiland by swiping home in the 6th inning. Martin’s two-out steal is the only run of the game as the Cards win, 1 – 0.

In a 4 – 2 Cubs win at the Polo Grounds, Cubs first sacker Phil Cavarretta breaks his leg sliding into a base. He’ll be out of action until July 25th, and will appear in just seven more games this year, all as a pinch hitter.

In a 23 – 2 rout of Brooklyn, the Reds’ Harry Craft hits for the cycle (a home run, a triple, a double and two singles) as Cincinnati pounds out 27 hits.

The Waner brothers, Lloyd Waner and Paul Waner, lose their places in the Pittsburgh outfield when new manager Frankie Frisch acquires Vince DiMaggio for Johnny Rizzo, who hit 23 home runs as a rookie in 1938. Vince takes over center field, flanked by Maurice Van Robays and Bob Elliott, each playing their first full season. Yesterday, the Bucs sold OF Fern Bell to Toronto.

An Army-Navy Relief game between New York’s two National League teams raises over $60,000. Dolph Camilli’s homer is the difference in the Ebbets Field exhibition as the Dodgers edge the Giants, 7-6.

At Ebbets Field, in the first twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top the Giants, 7 – 6, with Dolph Camilli’s 7th-inning home run onto Bedford Avenue the big blow. With more than 24,000 fans on hand, nearly $60,000 is raised for the Navy Relief Fund, as all the proceeds are donated. Everyone, including the ballplayers and umps, pay their way into the park.

The Chicago White Sox name Jimmie Dykes as their new manager, replacing Lew Fonseca, who later will become the motion picture specialist for the major leagues.

At Griffith Stadium, Detroit 2B Eddie Mayo snags a 3rd-inning liner off the bat of Gil Torres to start a triple play. The ball is deflected by P Hal Newhouser, but Mayo grabs it before it hits the ground. It is the second time in a year that Mayo has started a triple play off Torres: in the 2nd inning of the nitecap on July 20, 1945, Mayo grabbed a Torres line drive to start the triple killing.

Hot-hitting Boston SS Johnny Pesky becomes the first player in American League history to score six runs in one game, as the Red Sox beat the White Sox, 14 – 10. Mickey Harris is the winner, despite giving up 17 hits in 8 2/3 innings. Boo Ferriss retires Taffy Wright for the last out and the Sox have now won 13 straight.

2B Lonny Frey of the Reds throws out six straight runners as part of an 11-assist game against Brooklyn. Frey also adds a triple and two singles but the big Red blow is a 3-run pinch homer in the 10th by Brooklyn’s Don Padgett to win the game, 8 – 5.

1947 – A movement among Cardinal players to protest the first meeting with Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers is aborted by a clubhouse talk from owner Sam Breadon, according to a story by writer Stanley Woodward. League president Ford Frick had warned the team that if a strike occurred, any player involved would be suspended. Cardinal manager Eddie Dyer denies there was any strike talk. The Cards win, 5 – 1.

An infield single by Johnny Blatnik of the Phillies in the 7th prevents a perfect game by Harry Brecheen of the Cardinals. Brecheen will become the National League ERA leader with 2.24 and the winning percentage leader on a 20-7 record. The Cards win, 5 – 0, and Brecheen scores his third straight shutout.

The A’s win their 6th straight, pull off a triple play, and batter the White Sox, 16 – 1. Winning pitcher Carl Scheib puts the game away with an 8th-inning grand slam, and the A’s are now tied for the American League lead with the Indians. The A’s also purchase 37-year-old P Nels Potter from the Browns for $20,000 that day.

At Griffith Stadium, Larry Doby pounds a 408-foot homer to center field, which hits the loudspeakers 35 feet high, to help the Indians top the Senators, 6 – 1. Larry’s ball bounces back onto the field and is initially declared in play. The 8th-inning three-run homer is the longest home run in the Stadium since Babe Ruth’s shot in 1922, and is the first of Doby’s four career inside-the-park homers. World War II veteran Gene Bearden makes his first start, allowing just three Nat hits. He walks four in the 9th inning to allow the lone run, as Washington finally scores after three straight shutouts.

In Philadelphia, the Reds score five in the 9th to take a 7 – 3 lead, but the Phils tie to go into extra innings. Cincinnati then scores seven runs in the 12th to win, 14 – 7.

The Senators send Clyde Vollmer to Boston for SS Merl Combs and OF Tommy O’Brien. The following day, the Sox will sell P Harry Dorish to the Browns.

Ralph Kiner hits his second grand slam in three games. It is the future Hall of Famer’s eighth career bases-full homer.

Bobby Shantz, A’s lefty, wins his first game of the season, stopping the White Sox, 9 – 4, on 12 hits. Ferris Fain and Eddie Joost hit consecutive homers for the A’s.

After 13 straight losses to New York, the Red Sox win a dramatic 11-inning, 2 – 1 thriller at Fenway Park. Billy Goodman’s homer off starter Johnny Sain gives starter Hal Brown the win. Dick Gernert’s 2nd-inning home run is the other Boston score. In Boston’s previous win over New York, August 9, 1952, all the scores came on solo homers.

The Indians clout three homers to back Early Wynn’s 10 – 4 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a homer and three RBIs for New York.

At Comiskey Park, Boston slugger Ted Williams hits three home runs, all off Bob Keegan, and drives in all the runs as the Red Sox stop Chicago, 4 – 1.

At Wrigley Field, the Reds score eight runs in the 9th inning to overcome an 8 – 2 deficit and beat the Cubs, 10 – 8. Cincy’s last three runs come on a homer by Smoky Burgess.

The Angels trade P Tex Clevenger and OF Bob Cerv to the Yankees for P Ryne Duren, P Johnny James and OF Lee Thomas. For Cerv, it is his third tour of duty in pinstripes.

The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc. announces the New York National League franchise’s team nickname will be the Mets. Other names considered included the Avengers, Burros (a play on the word boroughs), Continentals, Islanders, Jets, Rebels, Skyliners, and the Meadowlarks, which was the first choice of owner Joan Payson.

Tom Seaver Signed Jersey New York Mets -- COA

New York announces that it will be known as the Mets, short for Metropolitans

Pirates LF Willie Stargell’s first major league homer and Cubs P Bob Buhl’s first major league hit in 88 at-bats highlight a 9 – 5 Chicago win over Pittsburgh.

The Braves acquire Chico Fernandez from the Tigers for Lou Johnson and cash, then turn around and swap him to the Mets for Larry Foss.

An 8-run 7th inning gives the White Sox an 8 – 3 win, a sweep of the A’s, and the American League lead.

A Stan Musial home run against the Dodgers gives him 1,357 extra-base hits, surpassing Babe Ruth’s major league record. He will get 20 more; his record will later be broken by Hank Aaron. The Cards lose, 11 – 5.

1964 – In Cleveland, there are tornado warnings, but New York supplies the damage when Mickey Mantle cracks a three-run homer off Tommy John in the 4th inning to lead the Yanks to a 10 – 3 win.

The Elmira Pioneers beat the Springfield Giants, 2 – 1, in 27 innings, a new record (since broken) for Organized Baseball’s longest game. The attendance is 386 fans. Fred Beene picks up the win, pitching the last 12 innings. The game is scoreless for 25 innings, with both teams scoring in the 26th; finally, Elmira, managed by Earl Weaver, breaks through in the 27th.

A major league-record streak of 438 chances accepted without an error and 89 straight errorless games by Baltimore 2B Jerry Adair ends with his 8th-inning fumble in a 4 – 3, 15-inning loss to the Tigers.

In the last game at old Busch Stadium, San Francisco slugs out a 10 – 5 win over St. Louis.

San Francisco Giants trade future Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Ray Sadecki

San Francisco Giants trade future Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Ray Sadecki

The last game is played at Busch Stadium, known for most of its existence as Sportsman’s Park. The 64 year-old ballpark, which served as the home field for the American League’s Browns until the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954, was also the home for the Cardinals from 1920 until today’s final contest, a 10-5 loss to San Francisco.

Orioles' outfielder Frank Robinson becomes the first (and only) player to hit a home run completely out of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The 451-foot wind-assisted blast, which clears the fifty rows of the left-field seats near the foul pole, before rolling to a stop 540 feet from home plate, comes off a fastball thrown by Indians' starter Luis Tiant, who hadn't given up an earned run on the season.

Orioles’ outfielder Frank Robinson becomes the first (and only) player to hit a home run completely out of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The 451-foot wind-assisted blast, which clears the fifty rows of the left-field seats near the foul pole, before rolling to a stop 540 feet from home plate, comes off a fastball thrown by Indians’ starter Luis Tiant, who hadn’t given up an earned run on the season.

Frank Robinson Autographed Photo - HOF 500 Home Run 8x10 135503 - JSA Certified

Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player to hit a home run completely out of Memorial Stadium.

Catfish Hunter fires first perfect game in AL in 46 years

Catfish Hunter fires first perfect game in AL in 46 years

Catfish Hunter hurls the first American League perfect game in forty-six years when the A’s defeat the usually heavy-hitting Twins, 4-0, in front of only 6,298 Oakland fans. The last Junior Circuit hurler to retire 27 consecutive batters in a regular season game was White Sox right-hander Charlie Robertson, who accomplished the feat against Detroit in 1922.

A record 30 home runs are hit by National League players in seven games, including two apiece by each of five players. The 20 MPH wind at Wrigley Field produces nine homers as the Cubs defeat the Reds, 10 – 7, snapping the Reds’ win streak at eight games. Hal McRae and Tony Perez have a pair for the Reds, while Billy Williams has two for Chicago.

Five Player trade helps Oakland to World Series

Five Player trade helps Oakland to World Series

At Philadelphia, Joe Morgan has four hits, steals two bases, and scores three runs to lead Houston to an 8 – 1 win over the Phils. Winning P Don Wilson knocks in two runs with a bunt double that rolls past SS Larry Bowa, who is breaking for third base.

The A’s trade first baseman Don Mincher, who started his career in the nation’s capital in 1960, to Washington, adding the 32 year-old first baseman to a small list of major leaguers to have played for both the original and expansion Senators. The veteran infielder will become the only person to play for each franchise when both teams depart from the District of Columbia, 11 seasons apart, making him both an original Minnesota Twin and an original Texas Ranger.

Mays and Aaron become first players with 600 homeruns to homer in same game

Mays and Aaron become first players with 600 homeruns to homer in same game

DAVE HILLMAN CHICAGO CUBS W/ ERNIE BANKS ACTION SIGNED 8x10

Chicago Cubs coach Ernie Banks becomes the first African American to manage during a major league game

Ralph Miller, the last living 19th century ballplayer, dies in Cincinnati at 100 years of age. He is the first former major leaguer to become a centenarian.

For the second time in his career, Pirate Willie Stargell hits one out of Dodger Stadium.

For the second time in his career, Pirate Willie Stargell hits one out of Dodger Stadium.

Cardinals ace Bob Gibson makes his 242nd consecutive start a new 20th century record, passing that of Red Ruffing

Cardinals ace Bob Gibson makes his 242nd consecutive start a new 20th century record, passing that of Red Ruffing

Jon Matlack's is hit in forehead with a line drive off Marty Perez Bat

Jon Matlack’s is hit in forehead with a line drive off Marty Perez Bat

After a Bernie Carbo walk and a groundout, the Royals intentionally walk Jim Rice to pitch to Carl Yastrzemski, who clouts a three-run homer. The Red Sox, down 5 – 4, beat the Royals, 8 – 4. Bob Stanley is the winner over Dennis Leonard.

Consecutive home runs by Eddie Murray, Lee May and Gary Roenicke in the 6th inning power the Orioles to an 8 – 2 win over Oakland. Murray has now hit in 19 straight games.

The Twins roll by the Toronto Blue Jays, 16 – 6. In the 7th, Twins Roy Smalley, Craig Kusick and Ken Landreaux all homer off Toronto’s Balor Moore.

During an 8 – 7 loss to Texas, Kansas City loses two regulars, both as a result of being hit by pitches from Ed Farmer. OF Al Cowens suffers a fractured jaw and will miss 21 games; 2B Frank White sustains a broken hand and will sit out 33 contests. Farmer will be traded three times in the next 12 months. On June 20, 1980, Cowens will hit a grounder off Farmer and charge the mound in retaliation for today’s game.

Oakland’s Steve McCatty beats the Brewers, 2 – 0. Dwayne Murphy supplies a solo home run and Dave McKay swipes home for the other score. McKay also stole home last September.

Darryl Strawberry gets his first major league hit, a single that scores Danny Heep, in a 10 – 5 Mets win over the Reds.

Tonight’s game between the White Sox and the Brewers is suspended after 17 innings because of a curfew with the score tied, 3 – 3. It will resume tomorrow and will not find a winner until the 25th inning.

Kirby Puckett collects four singles in his debut

Kirby Puckett collects four singles in his debut

Ryne Sandberg’s homer off Mike Krukow is the only score as Rick Sutcliffe and the Cubs beat the Giants, 1 – 0.

Seattle’s Mike Moore no-hits the Rangers for eight innings, then is driven from the game on four hits in the 9th. But the Mariners hang on for a 4 – 2 victory.

Chuck Cottier is fired as manager of the Mariners. He will be replaced the next day by Dick Williams, who resigned as manager of the Padres in February.

Pittsburgh’s Doug Drabek takes a no-hitter into the 9th before allowing a pinch single to Randy Ready and a home run to Marvell Wynne, but wins a 6 – 2 two-hitter over the Padres.

Gambler Howard Spira is found guilty of trying to extort money from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Spira had already received $40,000 from Steinbrenner.

Astros P Butch Henry gets his first major league hit – a three-run inside-the-park homer – but it is not enough as Houston loses, 6 – 3, to Pittsburgh. It will be Henry’s only major league homer.

At Denver, the Rockies blow a 6 – 0 lead in the 8th inning and lose to the Braves, 8 – 7, on Sid Bream’s pinch-hit, opposite field, pop fly grand slam.

Danny Tartabull, Mike Stanley and Gerald Williams hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the Yankees in the 6th inning of New York’s 8 – 4 win over Boston.

Pittsburgh OF Andy Van Slyke goes 8 for 9 in the Pirates’ 9 – 2 and 9 – 3 doubleheader sweep of the Cubs. Van Slyke homers and doubles in the first game, while driving in four runs.

In their first official game against an all-men’s team, the Colorado Silver Bullets are defeated by the Northern League All-Stars, 19 – 0. The Bullets are outhit, 21-2, and commit six errors in the field. They become the first women’s team to play a men’s professional team. Leon Durham hits two homers and Oil Can Boyd makes the start for the All-Stars.

The Colorado Silver Bullets become the first women’s team to play a men’s professional team. The ladies are beaten by the Northern League’s All-Stars, 19-0, with Leon Durham hitting two homers and Oil Can Boyd making the start for the All-Stars.

Jason Kendall’s three-run double leads Pittsburgh to an 8-run 4th inning as the Pirates outslug the Rockies, 10 – 8. Al Martin and Kevin Elster homer for the Bucs, who have scored 24 runs on 31 hits in their two games at Coors Field.

In Baltimore, the O’s stop Randy Johnson’s 16-game win streak with a decisive 13 – 3 pasting of the Mariners. Baltimore is led by Chris Hoiles, who collects six RBIs on two homers and a double. Johnson strikes out 10 in six innings, but gives up five runs on six hits and two walks as he attempts to become the first American League pitcher since Dave McNally (1968-1969) to win 17 straight.

The Rockies top the Expos, 7 – 5, despite five hits by Montreal SS Mark Grudzielanek.

Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire hits his 400th career home run in a 9 – 2 loss to the Mets. He is the 27th player to reach 400, and does so in fewer at bats than anyone in history, 4,726. Babe Ruth had taken 127 more at-bats, having held the old record.

A bit behind McGwire is Andres Galarraga, who clubs his 300th home run in the Braves’ 3 – 2 loss to the Padres. Tony Gwynn homers off Tom Glavine.

Charlie Hayes, playing 1B, snags Jeff Blauser’s liner and starts the Giants’ first triple play since 1980. Hayes also has four hits in the 14-inning, 5 – 4, loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Cardinal Mark McGwire reaches the 400th career home run mark. Big Red’s historic milestone comes in 4,727 at-bats (127 fewer at-bats than Babe Ruth), which is the least plate appearances ever needed to reach the mark.

The Mariners defeat the Yankees, 14 – 5, as 3B John Mabry gets five hits.

The Angels defeat the A’s, 9 – 8, despite home runs by brothers Jason and Jeremy Giambi for Oakland. Vladimir and Wilton Guerrero of the Montreal Expos were the last pair of brothers to homer in the same game.

The Royals defeat the Tigers, 4 – 1, in 11 innings. OF Johnny Damon grounds out to start the game, ending his streak of 10 consecutive games with a leadoff hit in the 1st inning. It is the longest such streak since 1975.

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 12th home run of the season, against the San Francisco Giants. The homer ties “Big Mac” with Jimmie Foxx for ninth place on the all-time list with 534 career homers. McGwire needs just two taters to catch number eight on the list, Mickey Mantle, at 536.

Brothers Jason and Jeremy Giambi each hit a home run in the A’s 9-8 loss to Anaheim at Edison Field. The siblings’ round-trippers mark the first of four times the Oakland teammates will accomplish the feat.

John Rocker balks when the ball falls out of his glove, resulting in a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Marlins at Miami’s Pro Player Stadium. The Braves closer’s ninth-inning miscue, with two outs and a 2-2 count on Cliff Floyd, plates Danny Bautista from third with the winning run.

Diamondbacks flamethrower Randy Johnson strikes out 20 Reds in Arizona's 4 - 3 win over Cincinnati in 11 innings

Diamondbacks flamethrower Randy Johnson strikes out 20 Reds in Arizona’s 4 – 3 win over Cincinnati in 11 innings

The Padres steal eight bases en route to a 7 – 1 win over the Braves.

The Devil Rays edge the Orioles, 4 – 3, as Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff joins Mark McGwire, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Eddie Murray and Reggie Jackson as the only players to homer off 300 different pitchers in their career. McGriff’s solo shot in the 8th snaps a 3 – 3 tie.

In his first game of the season after missing six weeks because of hip surgery, Alex Rodriguez hits the first pitch he sees from Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie for a three-run home run in a 4 – 0 Yankees win that ends a five-game losing streak. CC Sabathia pitches a four-hit shutout in his best performance since signing a huge free agent contract over the winter.

At Camden Yards, Alex Rodriguez takes no time in making his return to the Yankees lineup felt, blasting a three-run home run on the very first pitch he has seen this season. The third baseman’s Ruthian blast, which comes off a 98-mph fastball thrown by Baltimore’s right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, helps to snap the Yankees’ five-game losing streak when they beat the Orioles, 4-0.

Stephen M. Ross, the owner of the Dolphins’ football franchise and the stadium in which the NFL team and Marlins play their games, and singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett announced a unique branding partnership which renames the ballpark Land Shark Stadium. The sponsorship deal, which brings together Buffett’s Margaritaville and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Land Shark Lager joint venture, is reportedly for only eight months with the name reverting to Dolphin Stadium unless another naming rights deal happens before Super Bowl XLIV and the 2010 Pro Bowl.

Snapping out of what is for him a typical cold start to the season, the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira hits three homers and drives in 5 runs to lead New York to a 14 – 3 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park; he is the second player in Yankee history to hit three long balls in a game against Boston, after Lou Gehrig. Francisco Cervelli, starting because of an injury to C Jorge Posada, also drives in 5 runs. Teixeira’s last dinger is hit against OF Jonathan Van Every, making the second pitching appearance of his career. The game is interrupted for 1:15 by a rain delay in the 5th inning, forcing starter CC Sabathia out early and giving Alfredo Aceves the win.

Brewers manager Ken Macha flips a coin to decide who will be his starter in right field and hits the jackpot. Both Jody Gerut and Corey Hart have struggled all season, but Gerut, the coin toss winner, hitting .048 against righties coming into the game, hits for the cycle in a 17 – 3 rout of Arizona.

Hideki Matsui collects the 1500th RBI of his professional career, between Nippon Pro Baseball and Major League Baseball, in the 10th inning. to give the Angels a 4 – 3 victory over the Mariners.

Every pitcher wants to join the no-hitter act, following those by Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander over the past week, and bids by three other pitchers thwarted in the 6th inning or later. It’s now Anibal Sanchez’s turn to go deep into a game without allowing a hit, keeping the Nationals hitless until a 7th-inning single by Laynce Nix. Gaby Sanchez gives his namesake, who pitched a no-hitter in 2006 and took one into the 9th inning on April 22nd, all the support he needs with a three-run homer, two doubles, a single and three runs scored as the Marlins cruise to an 8 – 0 win.

The Angels beat the Indians, 6 – 5, on Erick Aybar’s go-ahead double in the 8th, giving manager Mike Scioscia his 1,000th major league win, all with one team. In a statistical oddity, all seven American League games played today end with one of the teams having scored 5 runs – 4 times by the winning team, and 3 times by the losers. It takes a three-run 10th inning by the White Sox to defeat Seattle, 5 – 2, to complete the slate.

2012 – Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers becomes the 16th player in major league history to hit four homers in one game as he leads Texas to a 10 – 3 win over the Orioles. All four long balls come with a man on base, giving Josh 8 RBI on the day. He also hits a double, giving him an American League-record 18 total bases on the day.

Josh Hamilton becomes the 16th major leaguer to hit four home runs in one game when he blasts an 0-2 pitch over the Camden Yards centerfield fence in the eighth inning of the Rangers’ 10-3 victory over Baltimore. The Texas outfielder, who connected each time with a man on base, also hits a double to set the American League’s single-game record for total bases with 18, one shy of Shawn Green’s major league mark of 19 established in 2002 with the Dodgers.

The New York State Senate congratulates Mr. Met with a voice approved resolution, honoring the larger-than-life bobblehead for being named the best mascot in the U.S. in a fan survey conducted by the Marketing Arm. The Amazins’ spherical symbol of cheer, who defeated the popular Phillie Phanatic in the poll, is commended by the legislative body for having his legacy serve as “a sterling example for all mascots”.

The injury-riddled Yankees struggle to put together a line-up, today batting pitcher David Phelps 8th and playing OF Vernon Wells at third base for an inning in his first career appearance at the position, but they manage to keep on winning. Wells hits a two-run homer in the 1st, then in the 9th manager Joe Girardi uses a pinch-hitter for 3B Chris Nelson in scoring the deciding run in a 3 – 2 win over the Rockies. Out of back-up infielders, he puts Wells at the hot corner for the bottom of the 9th. Wells successfully fields a ground ball as Mariano Rivera records his 12th save of the year – and the first of his career at Coors Field.

Adam Rosales apparently hits a game-tying homer for the A’s in the 9th inning of a game against Cleveland, but the umpires rule it a double, and stick to their guns even after a video review. A’s manager Bob Melvin gets tossed for arguing the call, but the A’s lose, 4 – 3, as Rosales is stranded at second base. In a rare admission of an error, MLB Vice-President Joe Torre will state the next day that the umpires made an error in not granting Rosales a home run, but that the call would still stand.

In the 6th inning of today’s game between the Orioles and Rays, Brad Boxberger is called in relief of David Price with nobody out and the bases full of baserunners. Nine pitches later, Boxberger has struck out the side, in what is an unprecedented feat, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Orioles are still winners, 3 – 1.

The Blue Jays hit five homers in defeating the Phillies, 12 – 6, completing a three-game sweep. Edwin Encarnacion hits two of the long balls, including the 200th of his career, with Juan Francisco, Colby Rasmus and Adam Lind also connecting in support of starter R.A. Dickey.

Draci Brno beats the Czech Republic national team, 8 – 3, in the Extraliga All-Star Game. Karel Hrušovský homers and drives in two, while Přemek Chroust also drives in two for Draci Brno.

Cole Hamels and the Philles win 3 – 1 over the Mets and Matt Harvey. Jonathan Papelbon picks up the save, his 112th as a member of the Phils, to tie Jose Mesa atop the team’s leader board; he is also the Boston Red Sox all-time save leader, with 219. Only Robb Nen had previously led two separate teams in saves before him.

The Cubs decide they are not going to let Bryce Harper beat them and their pitchers walk him a record-tying six times, with his other at-bat resulting in a hit-by-pitch as he does not take even one swing of the bat in the Nationals’ 13-inning, 4 – 3 loss in Wrigley Field on a walk-off homer by Javier Baez. The strategy works all series, as Harper draws 13 walks, but Chicago sweeps all three games to improve to 24-6 after 30 games.

James Paxton of the Mariners becomes only the second-ever Canadian-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter, after Dick Fowler in 1945, turning the trick against the Blue Jays in a 5 – 0 win. The three no-hitters pitched so far this season have been accomplished in three different countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada, and no Canadian pitcher had ever pitched one on Canadian soil before Paxton. In what is overall an awful day for the Blue Jays, closer Roberto Osuna is arrested in the early hours of the morning on charges of assault against a woman and is immediately placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball.

At the other end of the pitching spectrum, Dylan Bundy of the Orioles has just about as poor a start as can be, as he gives up four homers, two walks and a single while retiring nobody. All seven Royals baserunners come to score on their way to putting up 10 1st-inning runs. Bundy is the first pitcher ever to give up four homers without recording an out, as Jorge Soler, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon all take him deep before he is mercifully removed from the game. Kansas City wins handily, 15 – 7.

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First baseman Heinie Zimmerman has a homer, triple and double to lead Chicago to a 9 – 8 win over the Braves in Boston.

2005 – The Astros find themselves in last place after a 16-0 drubbing by the Braves. Ex-Astro Mike Hampton tosses a complete-game two-hitter and swats a homer while reserve outfielder Ryan Langerhans drills two home runs and drives in six. The loss ties the most lopsided defeat in team history. 

2004 – Craig Biggio spanks a leadoff single for his 2,500th career hit.  He celebrates by launching solo homers in his next two at bats. But he strikes out in a key ninth-inning situation and the bullpen melts down in a 5-4 ten-inning loss in Atlanta. Andruw Jones’ blast off Ricky Stone is the game-winner. 

1987 – Mike Scott hurls a two hitter to stop the Expos, 3-0. Scott fans twelve and walks only two. Phil Garner’s solo homer in the first is all the offense Scott will need. 

1974 – Doug Rader’s three-run homer in the 12th lifts the Astros over Pittsburgh, 8-6.  Rookie Dave Parker, substituting for an ejected Richie Zisk, had slammed a solo homer in the top of the inning to give the Pirates a lead before Rader’s blast off Jim Sadowski settles the issue. 

1969 – Houston storms back from a 6-1 deficit with three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to upend the Phillies, 7-6, at Connie Mack Stadium. Jesus Alou has a big night, driving in two runs with a double then producing an RBI single in the two rallies. Johnny Edwards’ two-run single is the game-winner. Fred Gladding quells a Philadelphia threat to save the game for Jack Billingham.

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