Today in Baseball History -- June 6 -- from Mary Landers ... 1892 -- At Washington, D.C.s Swampoodle Grounds, Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. president to attend a major league baseball game. The Commander-in-Chief watches Cincinnati defeat the hometown Senators in 11 innings, 7-4. 1913 -- The Yankees lose their thirteenth game without a victory when the team is defeated by the Indians at the Polo Grounds, 2-1. The 9-34 clubs futility, which sets a franchise record, includes a 3-3 tie to Boston during the 14-game span. 1918 -- In his first at-bat at Ebbets Field since being traded by the Dodgers in the off-season, Casey Stengel calls time, steps out of the batters box, and tips his hat, allowing a bird to fly out, much to the amazement and amusement of the fans. 1920 -- The Cardinals play their last game at Robison Field (renamed Cardinal Field in 1917), their home field since 1893, beating the Cubs, 5-2. One of Sam Breadons first decisions as the teams new owner will be to agree to a ten-year lease for $20,000 annually, allowing his team to move six blocks to share Sportsmans Park with the Browns, allowing him to use the money from the sale of the aging ballpark to finance Branch Rickeys idea of establishing a farm system by investing in a club affiliation with a minor league team in Houston, Texas. 1925 -- At Griffith Stadium, future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins hits a double to become the sixth major leaguer to collect 3,000 hits. The 38-year old White Sox infielder strokes the historic two-bagger off Washingtons Walter Johnson, also a future inductee in Cooperstown. 1934 -- Myril Hoag becomes first Yankee in franchise history to collect six hits in one game, a major league record of six singles. The 26-year old outfielder’s 6-for-6 performance helps the Bronx Bombers rout Boston at Fenway Park, 15-3. 1939 -- In a 17-3 win over the Reds at the Polo Grounds, the Giants become the first team to hit five home runs in one inning. Harry Danning, Frank Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo, and Joe Moore all go deep with two outs in the fourth inning. 1939 -- Carl Stolzs dream of providing a wholesome baseball experience for local boys as a means of teaching the concepts of sportsmanship, fair play and teamwork becomes a reality when the first Little League game is played with Lundy Lumber defeating Lycoming Dairy in Williamsport, PA, 23-8. Allen Sonny Yearick, a participant in the inaugural game, will be the first graduate of the fledgling youth league to play professional ball, becoming a farmhand in the Boston Braves organization in 1948. 1939 -- The New York Giants hit five home runs in the fourth inning in a 17-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds. With two out, Harry Danning, Al Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo and Joe Moore connected as the Giants scored eight runs in the inning. 1940 -- Warren Spahn, who will become the winningest left-hander in baseball history with 363 victories, signs a contract with the Boston Bees (Braves). Due to a clash with manager Casey Stengel and his enlistment in the U.S. Army, the 19-year old southpaw will have to wait six years before he gets his first major league win. 1941 -- The Giants become the first baseball team to wear protective headgear. The plastic helmets dont provide a defense against defeats when the team drops both ends of a doubleheader to Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, 5-4 and 4-3. 1944 -- Baseball cancels todays scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy. The military operation, known as D-Day, has 60,000 Allied troops landing along a heavily protected 50-mile stretch of the coastline in France to fight Germany to begin an offensive assault against Hitler and the Nazi party. 1944 -- Annabelle Lee, aunt of future major leaguer Bill Lee, pitches the first of five perfect games in the 12-year history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Minneapolis Millerettes southpaw knuckleballer, who will also pitch a no-hitter for the Fort Wayne Daisies exactly one year from this date, doesnt allow any batters to reach first base in the 18-0 rout of the Kenosha (Wis) Comets. 1945 -- In the first game of a doubleheader, Bostons Boo Ferriss scattered 14 hits to beat Philadelphia 5-2. Ferris, 8-0 on the year, tied the AL mark held by Chicagos John Whitehead for wins at the start of a career. 1948 -- For the second time this season, the Red Sox hit three consecutive homers (Spence, Stephens and Williams) in one inning, becoming the first team to accomplish this feat twice in one season. 1948 -- Erv Dusak, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter and Nippy Jones homer in the sixth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Phillies 11-1 in the first of two games. Phillies pitcher Charlie Bicknell gave up 18 total bases in the inning. 1957 -- After an 86-minute delay, the first fog out in major league history occurs at Ebbets Field when the umpires call off the Dodgers game against the Cubs due to poor visibility. 1958 -- Osvaldo Ossie Virgil becomes the first black player to appear in a Tigers uniform. The versatile Dominican will eventually play every position but pitcher during his nine year major league career. 1961 -- In the midst of a 13-game losing streak, Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto is given a seven game vacation. At first, team owner Calvin Griffith insists he has no intention of firing his skipper, but will replace him with Sam Mele later in the month. 1965 -- Tom Tresh hits three consecutive home runs when the Yankees blast the visiting White Sox, 12-0. The outfielders first inning round-tripper is off starter Juan Pizarro, which he follows up with third and fifth frame homers off reliever Bruce Howard. 1968 -- The day after democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles, Maury Wills refuses to play in a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers, his former team. The 35 year-old shortstop stays in the Chavez Ravine training room reading RFKs book, To Seek a New World. 1971 -- All youngsters attending the Yankee game are given a youth-sized Bobby Murcer model wooden Hillerich & Bradsby Louisville Slugger during the teams annual Bat Day promotion. When the young fans begin banging their bats in unison during the late innings of the Bronx Bombers’ 5-2 victory over Kansas City, pieces of concrete begin to fall into lower levels of the stadium, a harbinger that the Bronx ballpark may in serious need of repair. 1975 -- Cleveland manager Frank Robinson hit two three-run homers in a 7-5 win over the Texas Rangers. 1975 -- Californias Nolan Ryan pitched a one-hitter for a 6-0 win over Milwaukee. Ryans bid for a no-hitter was foiled by Hank Aarons single in the sixth inning. 1978 -- The Braves select Bob Horner as their first overall pick in the June draft and promptly promote him to the parent club. The Arizona State corner infielder was the first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given annually by USA Baseball to the best amateur baseball player. 1986 -- Prior to the game against the Braves, Padres manager Steve Boros tries to give ump Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed play from the previous night. The San Diego skipper is ejected prior to the first pitch of todays contest. 1990 -- Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as Yankee manager. During his two-year tenure in the dugout, the former minor league skipper will compile a 120-155 (.436) record before being fired at the end of next season in favor of Buck Showalter. 1992 -- Driving in the 1,510th run of his career, Eddie Murray sets a new RBI record for switch hitters. The Mets first baseman surpasses Hall of Famer Mickey Mantles 18-year total to established the new mark. 1993 -- Cal Ripken suffers a twisted right knee when his spikes catch in the infield grass in a contest against the Mariners, The resulting swollen knee the next day almost ends the streak at Game 1,790. 1994 -- Mike Piazza hits the longest home run recorded in the history of Joe Robbie Stadium when his first career grand slam is estimated to travel 477 feet. The catchers Ruthian blast, one of four Dodger round-trippers during the Miami contest, isnt enough to thwart the Marlins 11-10 come-from-behind victory. 1995 -- J.D. Drew of Florida State hit a record-setting three homers in his final three at-bats in a 16-11 loss to Southern California in the College World Series. Drew finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs and 12 total bases, also a series record. 1996 -- John Valentin becomes the 14th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle when he collects a two-run homer in the first inning, a triple in the third, a single in the fourth and a double in the sixth. The Red Sox shortstops ten total bases, three runs, and two RBIs contribute to Bostons 7-4 victory over Chicago at Fenway Park. 1996 -- For the second time in major league history and first in the AL, a cycle and a triple play took place in the same game. Bostons John Valentin hit for the cycle, while Chicago turned a triple play in the Red Soxs 7-4 victory. In 1931, Philadelphias Chuck Klein hit for the cycle in the same game that the Phillies turned a triple play against the Chicago Cubs. 1997 -- Sandy Alomar ties the major league record when he hits four doubles in the Fenway Park contest. The Indians catchers quartet of two-baggers helps the first-place Tribe to beat Boston, 7-3. 1998 -- Jason Lanes grand slam capped a five-run ninth inning as Southern California won its first NCAA title in 20 years, beating Pac-10 rival Arizona State 21-14 in the College World Series. 1999 -- Derek Jeter’s streak of reaching base safely ends at 54 straight games when the Mets keep him off the base paths in their 7-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. The defeat also marks the end of Roger Clemens streak of 20 consecutive victories, an American League record. 2000 -- Thanks to the Angels video crew playing a clip from the 1994 movie Ace Ventura, Pet Detective on the JumboTron, the Rally Monkey is born. With the words Rally Monkey superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild when Anaheim scores two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Giants, 6-5. 2002 -- The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission agrees to drop its lawsuit against the Twins and Major League Baseball. The deal settles a lawsuit blocking baseballs contraction plan and removes the Twins from consideration for elimination for the 2003 season. 2003 -- Insisting the corked bat, designed to put on home run displays during batting practice, was accidentally used in the Devil Rays game, Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa is suspended for eight games by Major League Baseball. Bob Watson, baseballs vice president of on-field operations, agreed the Chicagos outfielder use of an illegal bat was an isolated incident, but one that still deserved a penalty. 2003 -- The New York Mets ended Seattles 13-game road winning streak with a 3-2 win in the first meeting between the teams. It was the longest streak in the majors since Detroits 17 straight road wins in 1984. 2006 -- When Eric Gagne, who will earn his first save in over a year, throws his first pitch to his receiver Russell Martin, the pair become the first All-French-Canadian battery in major league history. The pitcher and catcher both attended Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit High School, one of the few schools in Montreal which had a baseball program. 2006 -- On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the century, the Dodgers score six runs in the sixth inning during the sixth game of the homestand beating the Mets, 8-5. On 05/05/05, the Twins scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Indians. 2006 -- Striking out 16 Marlins during a 2-1 complete-game victory, Jason Schmidt ties a franchise record established in 1904 by Christy Mathewson. The 33-year old right-hander surpasses the San Francisco record of 15 strikeouts set in 1966 by Gaylord Perry. 2006 -- Baltimores Corey Patterson had his run of successive games with a stolen base stopped at nine in a 6-4 loss to Toronto. It was the longest run in the majors since Rickey Henderson had an identical stretch in 1986. 2007 -- At Petco Park, Trevor Hoffman becomes the first reliever to save 500 games. It takes the all-time saves leader 10 ninth inning pitches, including an 87 mph fastball thrown past Russell Martin for the final out, to reach the milestone in the Padres 5-3 victory over the Dodgers. 2008 -- At Turner Field, Brad Lidge gets his 16th consecutive save when Gregor Blanco is thrown out at home plate, dramatically ending the game and preserving a Phillies 4-3 victory over the Braves. The Philadelphia closers unblemished record from the start of the season breaks Al Holland’s club record, who converted his first 15 opportunities in 1984. 2008 -- Tigers’ general manager Dave Dombrowski announces the club is optioning their off-season blockbuster acquisition Dontrelle Willis to their Class A minor league team in Lakeland of the Florida State League. The 2003 Rookie of the Year, who posted a 22-10 record two years later with the Marlins, recently signed a three-year, $29 million deal to play with Detroit. 2010 -- The Nationals announce the team is donating the hat Stephen Strasburg wore in his major league debut to the Hall of Fame. The 21-year old rookie right-hander struck out 14 batters in Washingtons 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh. 2013 -- With John Sebastians song Welcome Back playing in the background, the Seattle fans give Ichiro Suzuki a warm reception when the longtime Mariner legend returns to Safeco Field as a Yankee. The 39-year-old outfielder, who hit .322 during his 12 seasons with the team, was traded to the Bronx last July for Danny Farquhar and D.J. Mitchell. 2013 -- The Houston Astros drafted hard-throwing Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft. Appel grew up in Houston before moving to California when he was 12. Todays birthdays: Anthony Rendon 24; Junichi Tazawa 28; Matt Belisle 33; Jeremy Affeldt 34; Mark Ellis 36.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:52:53 +0000
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