April 28

Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 28.

[edit] Events

• 1901 - Cleveland Blues pitcher Bock Baker gives up a record 23 singles as the Chicago White Sox beat Cleveland, 13 - 1.
• 1906 - It's the only time two player-managers steal home on the same day, though not in the same game. Chicago Cubs pilot Frank Chance steals in the 9th inning to give Chicago a 1 - 0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, and Fred Clarke matches him in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 10 - 1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
• 1911 - In Philadelphia, Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators picks up his first win of the year, edging the visiting Philadelphia Athletics, 2 - 1. Frank Baker hits a solo home run off Johnson, the first home run over the fence the Washington ace has allowed; there have been two inside-the-park homers hit off Johnson.
• 1915 - The Detroit Tigers trim the St. Louis Browns, 12 - 3, with Ty Cobb stealing home in the 3rd inning. Cobb will steal home six times this season.
• 1929 - The Boston Red Sox lose to the Philadelphia Athletics, 7 - 3, in their first-ever Sunday home game. Due to Fenway Park's proximity to a church, the game is played at Boston's Commonwealth Park.
• 1930 - The first night game in the history of Organized Baseball is played in Independence, Kansas. The Muskogee Chiefs defeat the Independence Producers, 13 - 3, in a battle of Western Association rivals.
• 1934 - Goose Goslin of the Detroit Tigers hits into four double plays, but Detroit still beats the Cleveland Indians, 4 - 1.
• 1949 - A New York Giants fan charges Leo Durocher with assault after the Giants lose, 15 - 2, to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends Durocher, who is absolved on May 3rd. Chandler criticizes teams for lax security that allows fans on the field.
• 1952 - The St. Louis Browns become the first major league organization to loan or sell players to a team outside of the United States when they "lend" two African-American minor league players, infielder John Britton and pitcher Jimmy Newberry, to the Hankyu Braves of the Japanese Pacific League. Abe Saperstein, owner and coach of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, negotiated this special example in lend-lease for both sides.
• 1954 - Alex Kellner of the Philadelphia Athletics allows only a single by Wayne Terwilliger in the 8th inning in a 7 - 0 shutout over the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium.
• 1956 - Cincinnati Redlegs rookie Frank Robinson hits the first of his 586 lifetime home runs at Crosley Field. The 20-year-old Robinson connects against Paul Minner of the Chicago Cubs, helping the Redlegs to a 9 - 1 victory. Cincinnati's Wally Post hits four home runs in a doubleheader sweep for the Redlegs.
• 1961 - 40-year-old Warren Spahn becomes the second oldest man to pitch a no-hitter in major league history. The Milwaukee Braves' ace masters the San Francisco Giants, 1 - 0, for his 290th career win, second no-hitter and 52nd shutout. Spahn strikes out nine batters and walks only two. Hank Aaron drives in the game's lone run with a single in the 1st inning off loser Sad Sam Jones.
• 1962 - Frank Thomas, Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges hit consecutive home runs in the 6th inning to lead the expansion New York Mets to an 8 - 6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The victory is a rare occurrence for the Mets - one of only 40 during their inaugural season.
• 1963 - Hall of Fame umpire Tom Connolly dies in Natick, Massachusetts, at the age of 90. Connolly served as an umpire for 34 years, working in both the American and National Leagues. Connolly once went 10 consecutive seasons without ejecting a player from a game.
• 1964 - Barry Larkin is born in Cincinnati, OH. The shortstop will play his entire 19-year career with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, lead the team to a World Championship in 1990, and win an MVP Award in 1995 before gaining election to the Hall of Fame in 2012.
• 1966:
  • Roberto Clemente's clutch... base on balls? The notoriously wild swinger works out a walk when it matters – in the 9th inning, with the Bucs down by one, two outs, bases empty, no balls, two strikes, up against a pitcher, Ted Abernathy, who's always had Clemente's number. The Sporting News's Les Biederman reports: "Abernathy had Clemente no balls and two strikes, but apparently the Pirate slugger worried the Cub reliever and he grew too careful. He threw three balls and then Clemente put on a dazzling display of bat control. Abernathy threw eight straight strikes and Clemente fouled off every pitch, seven to right field. Then he drew a walk and Willie Stargell, who always hits Abernathy, hit him again." After fouling off a 3-2 pitch of his own, Stargell falls short by a foot or two of ending the game with one swing, but his line drive off the centerfield wall brings home Clemente with the tying run en route to an extra-inning Pirate win.
  • The Cleveland Indians tie a modern day major league record by winning their 10th consecutive game since Opening Day. Sonny Siebert, a 16-game winner in 1965, defeats the California Angels, 2 - 1.
• 1982 - Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies goes 5 for 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, tying Max Carey for the most five-hit games in National League history. Rose's latest five-hit performance helps the Phillies to a 9 - 3 win.
• 1985 - The New York Yankees hire Billy Martin as their manager for a fourth time. The fiery Martin, one of George Steinbrenner's favorite managers, replaces Yogi Berra, who is fired just 16 games into the season.
• 1988 - The winless Baltimore Orioles set an American League record by losing their 21st game in a row, falling to the Minnesota Twins, 4 - 2.
• 1989 - Rickey Henderson of the New York Yankees sets a major league record when he leads off a game with a home run for the 36th time in his career, breaking a tie with Bobby Bonds.
• 1998 - Texas Rangers right fielder Juan Gonzalez hits a two-run home run in Texas's 7 - 2 win at Minnesota. The blast gives Gonzalez 35 RBI in April, which sets an all-time major-league record.
• 1999 - Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies hits three home runs and collects eight RBI to lead the Rockies to a 9 - 7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
• 2000 - Chris Holt pitches a one-hit shutout leading the Houston Astros to a 7 - 0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ronnie Belliard's single is the only Milwaukee hit.
• 2001:
  • The Seattle Mariners defeat the Chicago White Sox, 8 - 5, for their 20th win this month, setting a new major league record for April. Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki sets a new record for saves in April with his 13th.
  • Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals ties the major league record for home runs in April by a rookie with 8, but St. Louis falls to the Mets, 6 - 5, in 11 innings.
  • Geoff Jenkins hits three home runs and drives in six runs to lead the Brewers in an 8 - 4 victory over Montreal.
  • Chang-Heng Hsieh of the Uni-President Lions wins his 100th and last game in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. He becomes the first pitcher in the top Taiwanese league to reach triple digits in victories.
• 2006:
  • Barry Bonds hits a bases-clearing double to tie Babe Ruth for third on the all-time career list with 1,356 extra-base hits. Bonds also singles in a run for his fourth RBI, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 10 - 2.
  • St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hits his 13th home run in April to tie the major league record, matching the mark shared by Ken Griffey, Jr. in 1997 with Seattle and Luis Gonzalez in 2001 with Arizona.
  • Kevin Mench of the Texas Rangers homers in his seventh straight game, moving within one game of the major league record. Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey, Jr. share the major league record with homers in eight straight games. Mench also becomes the first right-handed batter to homer in seven straight games, joining lefties Jim Thome, Mattingly, Long and Griffey.
  • Striking minor league umpires reach a tentative agreement with management on a six-year contract and could be back at work next week if the deal is ratified.
• 2007 - Trevor Hoffman pitches in his 803rd game for the San Diego Padres, breaking the record for games pitched with one club. The prior record had been shared by Walter Johnson and Elroy Face.
• 2009 - Trevor Hoffman adds another save to his all-time leading total when he picks up number 555 in pitching a scoreless 9th inning in Milwaukee's 6 - 5 win over Pittsburgh. It is the Brewers' 14th straight win over Pittsburgh, dating back to 2007. This is Hoffman's first save for the Brewers; he picked up two as a rookie for the Florida Marlins in 1993, and the 552 others came with the San Diego Padres.
• 2010:
  • Major League Baseball announces a number of changes to the rules that govern the All-Star Game that have been agreed with the Players' union: the designated hitter will now be used in all games, not just those played in American League parks; a pitcher who started a game on the last Sunday before the All-Star break will not be eligible to play in the game and will be replaced on the roster, although he will still be recognized as an All-Star; rosters are expanded to 34 players, adding one position player; one of the position players will be designated as being able to re-enter the game in case of injury - catchers are already allowed to do so in those circumstances.
  • The all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman of the Milwaukee Brewers, continues to struggle this year. He blows a save for the second consecutive day in a 6 - 5, 14-inning loss to the Pirates by giving up a game-tying 9th-inning home run to Ryan Doumit, one day after giving up a grand slam to Doumit. Hoffman has already blown 4 save opportunities this year, as many as in all of 2009, and has an ERA of 13.00 with 6 homers allowed.
  • 3B Luke Hughes of the Minnesota Twins homers in his first major league at-bat off the Tigers' Max Scherzer in the 3rd inning of an 11 - 6 loss. The Australian is the fifth Twin to accomplish the feat, but the first since Andre David in 1984. The Tigers trail 6 - 1 in the 4th and then score 10 unanswered runs. The key play occurs when Denard Span drops a fly ball hit by Johnny Damon in a six-run 6th inning.
  • Chris Tillman of the International League's Norfolk Tides pitches the first no-hitter of the year in the minor leagues. He blanks the Gwinnett Braves, 6 - 0, issuing just one walk and striking out six. It is the second no-hitter in team history; Dave Telgheder pulled the trick on May 15, 1992.
• 2011 - Ben Zobrist has the best day of his career as he drives in 10 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Twins by the Rays, 15 - 3 and 6 - 1. Zobrist goes 7 for 10 with 2 homers and 3 doubles in the two games; his 8 RBI in the opener are a team record. Zobrist finishes with 18 RBI in a five-game period, the best by any AL player since Reggie Jackson in 1969. The injury-racked Twins feature a depleted line-up, with emergency starter Anthony Swarzak losing the nightcap and LF Rene Tosoni making his major league debut and getting two hits in the first game.
• 2012:
  • Bryce Harper makes his much-anticipated major league debut for the Nationals, but it's the Dodgers' Matt Kemp who steals the show, leading off the 10th inning with a walk-off homer off Tom Gorzelanny to give Los Angeles a 4 - 3 win. The 19-year-old Harper, the youngest player in the majors, hits a double in the 7th and then a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 9th, but Washington's bullpen blows a 3 - 1 lead, when Henry Rodriguez throws three wild pitches and gives up two runs to send the game into extra innings. Harper will go on to win the [[2012 National League Rookie of the Year Award|National League Rookie of the Year Award].
  • Atsunori Inaba joins the meikyukai. In a 3 - 3 Nippon Ham Fighters tie, he singles in a run off Kelvin Jimenez in the 1st for his 2,000th career hit.
• 2013:
  • The Pirates take the NL Central lead behind rookie Jeff Locke, who gives up only 3 hits and no runs over 7 innings, beating the Cardinals, 9 - 0. It is Pittsburgh's 15th win in April, their best total since 1992. C Russell Martin hits a pair of homers to back up Locke's pitching, while Clint Hurdle celebrates his 700th win as a big league manager.
  • Another rookie, Reds starter Tony Cingrani, has a big day, collecting 11 strikeouts, including four in the 4th inning, in six scoreless innings. He also gets his first career hit - a single off Ross Detwiler in the 2nd - as Cincinnati defeats the Nationals, 5 - 2. The four-strikeout inning is made possible when leadoff hitter Denard Span reaches first base on a dropped third strike by C Corky Miller.
  • The Yankees complete a four-game sweep of Toronto with a 3 - 2 win at home. All four wins are come-from-behind, today's being highlighted by a two-run homer by Lyle Overbay in the 7th. Jays ace R.A. Dickey, still complaining of a stiff neck and back, falls to 2-4 on the year and will undergo an MRI to find the source of the persisting discomfort.

[edit] Births

• 1861 - Alex Gardner, catcher (d. 1926)
• 1870 - Bill Hawke, pitcher (d. 1902)
• 1875 - Walt Woods, pitcher (d. 1951)
• 1883 - Harry Gaspar, pitcher (d. 1940)
• 1884 - Walt Thomas, infielder (d. 1950)
• 1886 - Charlie Conway, outfielder (d. 1968)
• 1890 - Frank Scanlan, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1899 - Frank McGee, infielder (d. 1934)
• 1902 - Red Lucas, pitcher (d. 1986)
• 1903 - Fred Schemanske, pitcher (d. 1960)
• 1912 - Ben Catchings, minor league infielder (d. 2000)
• 1916 - Mike Chartak, outfielder (d. 1967)
• 1918 - Charlie Metro, outfielder, manager (d. 2011)
• 1920 - Red Treadway, outfielder (d. 1994)
• 1925 - Cuddles Marshall, pitcher (d. 2007)
• 1928 - Rinty Monahan, pitcher (d. 2003)
• 1930 - Tom Sturdivant, pitcher (d. 2009)
• 1931 - Tex Dargiewicz, minor league outfielder (d. 2011)
• 1934 - Jackie Brandt, outfielder; All-Star
• 1935 - Bob Botz, pitcher
• 1935 - Pedro Ramos, pitcher; All-Star
• 1936 - Toshio Naka, NPB outfielder and manager
• 1947 - Lute Barnes, infielder
• 1948 - Pablo Torrealba, pitcher
• 1950 - Jorge Roque, outfielder
• 1955 - Mike Ongarato, minor league outfielder
• 1955 - Dewey Robinson, pitcher
• 1960 - Tom Browning, pitcher; All-Star
• 1960 - John Cerutti, pitcher (d. 2004)
• 1960 - Mark Ryal, outfielder
• 1961 - Min-ho Kim, KBO infielder
• 1962 - Russ Morman, infielder
• 1962 - Luis Quinones, infielder
• 1963 - Jung-il Ryu, KBO infielder and manager
• 1964 - Barry Larkin, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Fame
• 1964 - Eric Nolte, pitcher
• 1966 - Jim Poole, pitcher
• 1968 - Mark Sweeney, minor league pitcher
• 1969 - Robert Mendonca, minor league infielder
• 1969 - Jimmy Myers, pitcher
• 1970 - Joe Biasucci, minor league infielder
• 1970 - Bill Hurst, pitcher
• 1973 - Rafael Orellano, NPB and minor league pitcher
• 1975 - Dave Concepcion, Jr., minor league infielder
• 1975 - Jordan Zimmerman, pitcher
• 1976 - Carlos Alvarez, minor league player
• 1976 - Andrew Tinnish, scout
• 1977 - Jorge Sosa, pitcher
• 1979 - Sean Douglass, pitcher
• 1979 - Ryokan Kobayashi, CPBL and minor league pitcher
• 1980 - Brett Wayne, minor league pitcher and infielder
• 1981 - Yoslan Herrera, pitcher
• 1981 - Shawn Hill, pitcher
• 1981 - Ricardo Rodriguez, minor league pitcher and infielder
• 1981 - Chad Santos, infielder
• 1982 - Kevin Frandsen, infielder
• 1982 - Tripper Johnson, minor league infielder
• 1982 - Jim Miller, pitcher
• 1983 - David Freese, infielder; All-Star
• 1984 - Pedro Lopez, infielder
• 1984 - Romulo Sanchez, pitcher
• 1985 - Michael Finocchi, minor league player
• 1985 - John Gaub, pitcher
• 1985 - Chanatip Thongbai, Thai national team pitcher
• 1986 - Dillon Gee, pitcher
• 1986 - Danny Moskos, pitcher
• 1987 - Tomáš Biskorovajny, Extraliga outfielder
• 1989 - Arquimedes Nieto, minor league pitcher
• 1990 - Itaru Hashimoto, NPB outfielder
• 1992 - Jhonny Polanco, minor league pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1900 - Walter Plock, outfielder (b. 1869)
• 1904 - Marvin Hawley, pitcher (b. 1875)
• 1912 - Josh Bunce, outfielder (b. 1847)
• 1919 - Charlie Ahearn, catcher (b. 1858)
• 1924 - Barney McFadden, pitcher (b. 1877)
• 1928 - Harry Berthrong, outfielder (b. 1844)
• 1931 - Mike Mattimore, outfielder (b. 1858)
• 1935 - Swede Carlstrom, infielder (b. 1886)
• 1935 - Dewey McDougal, pitcher (b. 1871)
• 1940 - Henry Cote, catcher (b. 1864)
• 1943 - Dennis Berran, outfielder (b. 1887)
• 1949 - Clay Touchstone, pitcher (b. 1903)
• 1955 - Felix Chouinard, outfielder (b. 1887)
• 1961 - Tom Connolly, umpire; Hall of Fame (b. 1870)
• 1969 - Joe Burg, infielder (b. 1882)
• 1973 - Ernie Manning, pitcher (b. 1890)
• 1977 - Al Smith, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1907)
• 1978 - Art Doll, pitcher (b. 1913)
• 1980 - Bob Porterfield, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1923)
• 1986 - Pat Seerey, outfielder (b. 1923)
• 1994 - Andrew Dravecky, minor league catcher (b. 1923)
• 1995 - Peaches Davis, pitcher (b. 1905)
• 1995 - Gus Polidor, infielder (b. 1961)
• 1996 - Johnny Bucha, catcher (b. 1925)
• 1996 - Al Hollingsworth, pitcher (b. 1908)
• 2000 - Jack Merson, infielder (b. 1922)
• 2004 - Floyd Giebell, pitcher (b. 1909)
• 2005 - Pancho Herrera, infielder (b. 1934)
• 2006 - Steve Howe, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1958)
• 2007 - Archie Wilson, outfielder (b. 1923)
• 2009 - Elmer Dashiell, minor league pitcher (b. 1926)