April 17

From BR Bullpen


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Stats of players who were born this day
Stats of players who died on this day
Standings on this day
Permanent link to Today's Entry
Sources
Baseball Library Chronology
Today in Baseball History

Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 17.

[edit] Events

1820 - Alexander Cartwright, considered by many the 'father' of the national pastime, is born in New York City. This pioneer banker, who is given credit for establishing three strikes for an out and three outs for each half inning, will be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1938 after a review of his journals reveals his many contributions in developing and promoting the sport of baseball.
1869 - The first professional baseball game ever played sees the Cincinnati Reds defeat the rival Cincinnati Amateurs, 24 - 15.
1892 - In the first Sunday game in National League history, the Cincinnati Reds defeat the St. Louis Browns, 5 - 1.
1904 - The Brooklyn Superbas play their first Sunday game at home, beating the Boston Beaneaters, 9-0. To circumvent Sunday Blue Laws, no admission is charged, but fans must buy scorecards to enter the grandstand and box seats.
1911 - The New York Giants pick up four stolen bases in a 3 - 1 victory against the Brooklyn Dodgers - the start of a post-1900 record 347 steals for the year. Eight Giants will steal 19 bases or better, topped by Josh Devore's 61 and Larry Doyle's 38.
1912 - At the Polo Grounds in New York, the Giants and Yankees play an charity game to raise money for the survivors of the Titanic, which sunk on April 14. The Giants belt the Yankees, now clad in their new pinstriped uniforms, to win 11 - 2.
1923 - In the longest National League opener to date, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies battle to a 14-inning 5 - 5 tie. Dutch Ruether, who beat the Phillies seven straight in 1922, goes the distance.
1929 - New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth marries actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson. The ceremony is held at five o' clock in the morning on Opening Day to avoid crowds. Playing the next day, at Yankee Stadium, Ruth hits a home run against Red Ruffing of the Boston Red Sox and tips his cap in the direction of Claire, who is seated in the stands. The Yankees win, 7 - 3.
1932 - New York Giants first baseman Bill Terry tied an National League record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat the Boston Braves, 5 - 0, behind Hal Schumacher's two-hit shutout.
1934 - At Ebbets Field, Casey Stengel makes his managerial debut, but his Brooklyn Dodgers lose, 8 - 7, to the Boston Braves.
1939 - On the morning of Opening Day in Washington, D.C., U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New York Yankees visit Abner Doubleday's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Roosevelt is also scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Griffith Stadium, but the game is rained out and Vice President John Nance Garner will do the honors four days later.
1945 - Pete Gray, an one-armed outfielder, plays his major league debut game with the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park. Gray hits a single off Les Mueller, in four at-bats, and handles no chances in the outfield. St. Louis beats the Detroit Tigers, 7 - 1, for their ninth straight Opening Day win, setting a major league record that the 1975-1983 New York Mets will tie. Gray, one of many players recruited to perform during World War II, will hit .218 (51-for-254) in his only major league season.
1947 - The Brooklyn Dodgers win 12 - 6 over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, as Jackie Robinson gets his first major league hit, a bunt single, off Glenn Elliott. Robinson will bunt 42 times, collecting 19 hits, during the season. The Brooklyn offense is lead by fellow rookie Spider Jorgensen, who drives in six runs.
1951:
- The Philadelphia Athletics and the Washington Senators play the first home Opening Day night game in American League history. Washington win, 6 - 1, behind solid pitching of 40-year-old Connie Marrero as his batterymate Mickey Grasso hits a home run.
- Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Cubs home opener.
1953 - New York Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle cleared the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs. The shot came in the fifth inning of a 7 - 3 Yankees victory over the Washington Senators. It is believed to be the longest home run in Griffith Stadium history.
1954 - At County Stadium, utility man Nino Escalera became the first black player to appear in a Cincinnati uniform. A native of Puerto Rico, Escalera pinch-hit a single in the Redlegs 5 - 1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. In the seventh inning, another black rookie, Chuck Harmon, followed him, pinch hitting for Corky Valentine and popped-up. Escalera, who will bat .159 and collect 11 hits in his only major league season, will eventually become a scout for the Oakland Athletics.
1955:
- At Forbes Field, 20-year-old rookie Roberto Clemente makes his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first at-bat, the future Hall of Famer picks up the first of his 3,000 career hits, a single off Johnny Podres of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers hits three home runs in Briggs Stadium, including a pair in the sixth inning, to drive in six runs. The Tigers rout the A's 16-0, behind Steve Gromek's strong pitching.
1956:
- Three future Hall of Fame members make their major league debuts. Luis Aparicio of the Chicago White Sox, Don Drysdale of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds play the first games of their brilliant careers.
- Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits a pair of tape measure home runs against Camilo Pascual at Griffith Stadium. Both long balls are estimated at over 500 feet. New York and the Washington Senators combine for six home runs in a 10 - 4 Opening Day victory for the Yankees.
1960 - Cleveland Indians general manager Frank Lane, notorious for his multiple transactions, send American League home run king, Rocky Colavito, to the Detroit Tigers for the league's defending batting champion, Harvey Kuenn. The trade is especially unpopular with Indians fans, who regard Colavito as their most popular player and best hitter.
1964 - The New York Mets lost their first game at Shea Stadium to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 - 3. Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell hit the first home run ever at Shea.
1969 - At Shibe Park, Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos pitched a 7 - 0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in only the ninth game of the Expos' existence. Rusty Staub hit a home run with three doubles and three RBI to pace the Stoneman gem.
1976 - At Wrigley Field, Mike Schmidt led a Philadelphia Phillies assault with a single,four home runs in consecutive at-bats, and eight RBI to overcome a 12 - 1 deficit after three innings and beat the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings, 18 - 16. Chicago had tied in the ninth after the Phillies took a 15 - 13 lead. Hitting .167 going into the game, Schmidt connected two homers off Rick Reuschel, one off Mike Garman, and the last, a two-run shot off Reuschel brother, Paul, in the 10th inning. Schmidt also became the first National League player in modern times to hit four home runs in a row.
1983 - Nolan Ryan strikes out seven Expos in a 6 - 3 Houston victory to become only the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 career strikeouts.
1988 - After 10 consecutive losses the Atlanta Braves win their first game of the season 3 - 1 over the Dodgers. Zane Smith is the winning pitcher. Atlanta's 0-10 start is the worst in National League history.
1993:
- The Detroit Tigers score 20 runs in a game for the second time this week, beating the Seattle Mariners, 20 - 3. Rob Deer is 1-for-2 and scores four runs, while Travis Fryman has four hits and scores five times. Chad Kreuter adds four hits and three runs and Gary Thurman paces the Tigers with four RBI.
- In the Baltimore Orioles' 7-5 loss to the Angels, Baltimore winds up with three runners on third base in a rare display of dumb baseball. With the bases loaded and one out, Mike Devereaux hits a fly ball which is trapped by Angels center fielder Chad Curtis, who throws home plate. Jeff Tackett, the baserunner on third, returns to the base after running halfway home. Brady Anderson, who was on second, advanced to third.Chito Martinez]], the baserunner on first base, rounded second and headed for third. Angels catcher John Orton walked to third base where he tagged all three runners. Tackett was called out on a force, and Martinez was called out, completing the rare inning-ending double play.
2000 - MLB owners vote to approve the $96 million sale of the Kansas City Royals to team chairman, David Glass.
2001 - Barry Bonds became the 17th major leaguer, as well as the fourth Giant, to join the 500 home run club. Bonds' two-run, eighth-inning homer off Terry Adams went into San Francisco Bay to lead the Giants over the Los Angeles Dodgers 3 - 2. Bonds was joined at home plate by two other members of the elite fraternity, Willie Mays (660) and Willie McCovey, (521) for a brief ceremony.
2006:
- Detroit's Chris Shelton and St. Louis' Albert Pujols hit their major league-leading ninth home runs, joining Mike Schmidt (1976), Larry Walker (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) as the only players in MLB history with at least nine home runs in his team's first 13 games. Pujols also tied a majors record by homering in four consecutive at bats when he connected in the first inning in the St. Louis' 2-1 win at Pittsburgh.
- At Shea Stadium, the Mets continued their strong start to the season with a 4-3 victory over Atlanta as Pedro Martinez collected his 200th win in MLB with relief help from Duaner Sanchez and Billy Wagner. Martinez, from the Dominican Republic, improved his record to 200-84 and joined Dennis Martinez of Nicaragua (245-193), Dominican Juan Marichal (243-142) and Cuban Luis Tiant (229-172) as the only Hispanic American pitchers to reach the 200-win major-league mark.
2008 - The Padres and Rockies begin a marathon game at PETCO Park. The game goes 6 hours and 16 minutes and 22 innings, the longest MLB contest in 15 years. 15 pitchers throw a combined 658 pitches. It was the third straight Padres-Rockies contest to go at least 13 innings. Kip Wells gets the victory. Neither starter Jake Peavy nor Jeff Francis allows a run; the game is scoreless through 12. In the 13th, coach Glenn Hoffman waved Paul McAnulty home but Brad Hawpe and Clint Barmes made fine throws to get McAnulty at home. In the 14th, Hawpe coaxed a bases-loaded walk from Kevin Cameron for the first run of the game. In the bottom of the 14th, though, Manuel Corpas allowed a run when Josh Bard drove in Kevin Kouzmanoff. SS Troy Tulowitzki made a game-saving throw to home to prevent the Padres from winning it in that inning. In the 22nd, CF Willy Taveras reached on a Khalil Greene error. Taveras stole second and moved to third on Bard's throwing error. Tulowitzki then singled off of Glendon Rusch to end the game.