August 4

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 August 4.

[edit] Events

1900 - The Cardinals blow a 4 - 1 lead to the Giants, but come back against reliever Christy Mathewson, pitching his 3rd straight game in relief, to take another lead 8 - 7 in the 7th. St. Louis wins, 9 - 8, with John McGraw scoring the winning run in the 8th, handing Matty his first career decision. Matty will go 0 - 3 as a Giant before returning to Norfolk.
1901 - Cincinnati and Pittsburgh players are clocked while running from home plate to 1B. The fastest time for the 90-foot sprint is three seconds flat, by Pirates OF Ginger Beaumont.
1905 - The Highlanders field a unique battery: Doc Newton pitching and Mike "Doc" Powers catching, but only Powers is a physician. The Highlanders beat St. Louis, 7 - 3.
1905 - At Boston, Harvard Eddie Grant makes his ML debut, collecting three hits for Cleveland. But Boston wins, 7 - 5. Grant will go hitless tomorrow in an 8 - 4 loss to Cy Young, and be sent down to the minors. He'll resurface with the Phillies in 1907.
1906 - The Giants slow the Chicago express, stopping the Cubs 7-4 behind Christy Mathewson and Hooks Wiltse. New York is just four 1/2 games behind Chicago, but the Cubs will go 50-8 from August 1st to outdistance the pack.
1908 - The Giants take two from Cincinnati, winning 4-3 in 12 innings, and 4-1. Christy Mathewson wins both, relieving Joe McGinnity in the 9th inning of the opener and tossing nine innings in the nitecap; Andy Coakley loses both. New York moves into 2nd place, five percentage points behind the Pirates. Despite the two losses, it is a relief for the Reds to score runs. Cincy had endured four straight shutout losses: 5-0 on July 30; 3-0 on the 31st; 6-0 on the 1st and 3rd.
1908 - At Brooklyn, the Superbas and St. Louis Cardinals play an entire game with one ball. Brooklyn wins 3-0.
1908 - Playing the entire game with one ball, the St. Louis Cardinals blank the Brooklyn Superbas, 3-0.
1909 - Umpire Tim Hurst instigates a riot by spitting in the face of Athletics 2B Eddie Collins, who had questioned a call. Under police guard, Hurst is ushered off the field. This incident eventually leads to Hurst's banishment from baseball two weeks later.
1910 - Athletics Jack Coombs and Chicago's Ed Walsh duel 16 innings to a 0 - 0 tie. Coombs gives up just three hits and strikes out 18 in what he calls his best game. (Working with little rest, he wins 18 of 19 starts in July, August, and September, finishing 30 - 9 with a 1.30 ERA. His 13 shutouts are the AL record; in 12 other games he gives up just one run.) Walsh gives up just six hits in 16 innings but the woeful Sox offense provides no support.
1910 - Jack Coombs of the Philadelphia A's and White Sox hurler Ed Walsh duel one another in a 16-inning scoreless tie.
1911 - Lee Tannehill of the White Sox, the only SS to execute two unassisted double plays in one season, makes both of them in the same game versus Washington. Walter Johnson still wins 1 - 0 for the Senators.
1913 - George Cutshaw celebrates the holiday by lining two inside-the-park homers as Brooklyn beats the visiting Cubs, 71.
1914 - Red Sox owner Lannin offers the use of Fenway Park to Braves owner James Gaffney. With the Braves making a run for the pennant, Gaffney will take up the offer.
1915 - On a cold and damp day in St. Louis, the Giants sweep the Cardinals. In the opener, New York pounds Red Ames and Christy Mathewson coasts to a 10 - 0 lead after six innings, but the Cards come back to make it close, losing 11 - 9. Jeff Tesreau saves Matty's 6th win of the year. New York takes the nitecap, 7 - 0.
1916 - The Browns Eddie Plank allows two hits and tops young Babe Ruth to give the Browns a 6 - 1 win over the first place Red Sox. For the hot St. Louis Browns, it is their 14th win in a row, but the streak still leaves them in 7th place.
1921 - At Chicago, Braves Billy Southworth leads Boston to a 13 - 5 scalping of the Cubs by belting three doubles and home run. John Watson coasts to the win over Percy Jones.
1922 - The Cards pass New York and move into first again, as the Cubs score a 3 - 2 win over the Giants.
1925 - Every player in each team's lineup has at least one putout in the Indians-Yankees game.
1926 - Stanford star fullback Ernie Nevers pitches his first complete game for the Browns, beating the A's 31. Nevers will be 6-12 in his brief baseball life, but he will win a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame playing with the Duluth Eskimos and Chicago Cardinals (1926-31).
1929 - The Yankees take the opening game of two from the visiting Cleveland Indians, winning 12 - 0. Tom Zachary wins his 7th straight. In the 2nd game, after trailing 6 - 5 with two out in the top of the 9th, Cleveland scores an American League record-tying nine runs, to win 14 - 6.
1929 - Down to their last out, the Indians tally nine runs in the ninth inning for an amazing come-from-behind victory over the Yankees, 14-6.
1930 - At Philadelphia, Lefty Grove helps himself to his 17th win by belting a 3-run homer in the 2nd. Al Simmons adds two triples and a 2-run homer as the A's beat Boston, 13 - 4.
1930 - At Detroit, Charley Gehringer hits a CF homer with the bases loaded in the 12th inning to give the Tigers a 7 - 3 win over Chicago. It was Gehringer's 4th hit and 2nd homer as he drives in six runs. It is Gehringer's 2nd 12th inning homer in a month: he hit one against Cleveland on July 4.
1931 - The Reds finally score, but lose to the Cubs, 4 - 2, in the first of two. Guy Bush beats Larry Benton. Chicago takes the nitecap, 7 - 3, behind Les Sweetland as Jack Ogden is pinned with the loss. Rookie OF Vince Barton has five hits in the two games, including a pair of homers in game 2.
1931 - Pittsburgh's Heine Meine gives up three Cardinal runs in the 6th inning, halting a scoreless streak by Buc hurlers at 45 innings. The Pirates streak includes shutouts over New York and Cincy in four consecutive games. The Cards win today, 7 - 1.
1932 - Bill Dickey returns to the Yankees lineup after his month's suspension with a grand slam and three singles, as New York beats Chicago 15-3.
1934 - Phillies P Reggie Grabowski surrenders 11 hits in the ninth inning of the second game against the Giants for a modern NL record. Eleven runs score in the inning, as New York wins 21-4.
1935 - Walter Johnson resigns as Cleveland manager and is replaced by Steve O'Neill.
1936 - The Cardinals regain first place, beating the Cubs 6-1, and dropping them to second place.
1937 - Joe Medwick again ties the major-league record with four extra base hits in a game. It is the third time he has performed the feat.
1939 - Mike Kreevich of the Chicago White Sox equals the ML record by grounding into four successive DPs against the Washington Senators.
1940 - In Boston, the two teams dedicate the game in memory of Willard Hershberger, then Frank McCormick drives in six runs to lead the Reds to a 12 - 9 win over the Braves after Bucky Walters loses the opener, his 3rd straight defeat.
1940 - Jimmie Foxx, who started as a catcher in 1925, is behind the plate for the Red Sox to catch a 7 - 3 win for long-time teammate Lefty Grove. Foxx cracks his 24th home run to start the Sox on an 8-game skein in which they will hit 20 homers.
1941 - At Ebbets Field, Dodger backstop Mickey Owens becomes the first catcher to handle three foul pop ups in one inning.
1942 - The Giants-Dodgers game ends in a 1 - 1 tie as Pee Wee Reese's grand slam in the top of the 9th is wiped out. As was the case the day before, the game is called because of the government's 9:14 curfew on lights. It is the last twilight game played at the Polo Grounds. The Dodgers have held the National League lead for 144 days. The margin over the Cardinals is 10 games. Until the season's end, Brooklyn will win 17, lose 18.
1942 - Braves pitcher Jim Tobin clubs his 6th homer of the year, tying the NL record for homers by a pitcher, but he loses to the Phils, 4 - 2.
1942 - A dim out in the 10th inning cancels Pee Wee Reese's grand slam. The score reverts to the 9th inning resulting in a 1 - 1 tie between Brooklyn and the Giants.
1942 - In a military relief game at the Polo Grounds which will be the last war-time twilight game played, Pee Wee Reese's grand slam in the top of ninth, which puts the Dodgers up 5-1, doesn't count because of the 9:10 pm government curfew. The game ends up as a 1-1 tie with the Giants.
1945 - Two remarkable debut pitching performances by Senators' rookies makes the 15-4 loss to Boston a most memorable contest. The game which features Tom McBride tying a major league by driving in six runs with a bases-loaded double and triple during the Red Sox 12-run fourth inning, sees Joe Cleary, last major leaguer to be born in Ireland, giving up seven runs on five hits and three walks in his only big league appearance to finish with a career ERA of 189.0, and in mop-up work, WW II veteran Bert Shepard, with an amputated leg as a result of being wounded in WW ll, hurls five 1/3 innings giving up just one run on just three hits in his only major league appearance.
1945 - At Pittsburgh, Pirate catcher Bill Salkeld is 5-for-5, including hitting for the cycle, and drives in all five runs, but his Bucs lose 6 - 5 to the Cardinals reliever Harry Brecheen. Salkeld hits his only triple of the year in the cycle, half his career total. His offensive effort offsets a curious defensive stat: he has no putouts or assists in the game.
1945 - Tom McBride of the Boston Red Sox drives in ML-record tying six runs in the 4th inning of the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the Senators, as the Sox score 12 runs. He doubles and triples off Santiago Ullrich and Joe Cleary, each time with the bases loaded. The Sox bat around against Cleary, who gives up seven runs on five hits and three walks. Cleary, the last major leaguer born in Ireland, gets one out, on a strikeout, but this is his only ML appearance and he'll finish with a 189. ERA. The Senators then call on Bert Shepard, who remarkably pitches five 1/3 innings giving up one run on three hits. For Shepard, who was wounded in WW2 and lost a leg, this too will be his only major league appearance. The Sox win, 15 - 4.
1947 - The Yankees sell P Al Lyons to Pittsburgh.
1948 - In St. Louis, the Browns spot the Red Sox six runs in the first inning, then come back with seven of their own in the bottom of the inning. St. Louis scores two in the 9th off reliever Ellis Kinder to win, 9 - 8.
1948 - Ernie Harwell begins as an announcer for the Dodgers calling a 5 - 4 win over the Cubs. The Dodgers had to trade a player, Cliff Dapper, to the Atlanta Crackers to acquire Harwell. Brooklyn scores a pair in the 1st, one on a steal of home by Robinson.
1948 - Ernie Harwell, filling in for Red Barber who is recovering from a bleeding ulcer, calls his major league game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 5-4. To obtain the future Hall of Fame broadcaster, Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey trades minor league catcher Cliff Daper to the Atlanta Crackers.
1953 - Yankees hurler Vic Raschi sets the record for RBI by a pitcher with seven, as the Yanks roll over Detroit 15-0. Raschi singles in 2 in the 2nd, doubles home three in the third, and singles home the last two in the eighth. His teammates fill his locker with bats after the game.
1955 - Ernie Banks hits three HRs at Wrigley against three Pirate pitchers, as the Cubs win 11-10.
1957 - Washington defeats Detroit 4-3 as the Senators Roy Sievers hits his 30th HR, his sixth HR in six games, to tie an AL record held by Ken Williams and Lou Gehrig.
1960 - Believing that Chicago's Jim Brewer is throwing at him, the Reds 2B Billy Martin throws his bat toward the mound. Then, advancing to retrieve it from Brewer, who has picked it up. The two exchange words and Martin launches a hard overhand right that fractures the orbital bone of Brewer's right eye. Both benches empty and Martin continues swinging, decking Frank Thomas. Brewer requires surgery and will be out of action for a month. The Cubs win, 5 - 3, on Ernie Banks' homer at Wrigley. Martin will be fined $500 for the punch and Brewer and the Cubs will sue the combative infielder on August 22nd for $1,000,000. Years later, when the courts award Brewer $100,000, Martin's comment will be, "how can they ever collect it? I haven't got that kind of money,"
1961 - At Candlestick, Warren Spahn wins his 299th game, 2 - 1, over the Giants. He gets a bit of help from Hank Aaron who leads of the 7th and 9th with homers off Mike McCormick. The Giants scoring is an Orlando Cepeda homer in the 5th.
1961 - With a little help from George Altman, the Cubs Bob Anderson outpitches Sandy Koufax, and beats the Dodgers, 4 - 2. Altman hits two homers off Koufax, the first time anyone has done that off the Dodgers lefty.
1962 - After a doubleheader loss to the Mets, 9 - 1 and 3 - 2 in 13 innings at the Polo Grounds, Reds manager Fred Hutchinson stays in the dugout instead of joining his players in the club house. He then calls the clubhouse and tells the players to be out of there in 15 minutes. They do. Hutch has tickets for Zero Mostel's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," but doesn't use them.
1962 - At Visalia (California League) Visalia's William Dawson sets a league record, striking out 21 Silver Sox batters. Visalia beats Reno, 7 - 4.
1963 - In his first at-bat in two months after breaking his left foot, Mickey Mantle slams a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning to beat the Orioles, 11-10.
1963 - After missing 61 games, Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankee lineup as a pinch hitter for Steve Hamilton. The Orioles are leading 10 - 9 in the 7th inning, when the stiff-legged Mantle golfs a line drive to tie the game at 10. The emotional Yankees win it, 11 - 10, after the O's take the opener, 7 - 2.
1964 - Fred Hutchinson returns to manage the Reds. They respond by sweeping a pair 5 - 2 and 4 - 2 from the Braves.
1964 - A's starter John O'Donoghue gives up his 3rd homer to Mickey Mantle this year, but that's all he allows, as Kansas City tops visiting New York, 5 - 1.
1966 - Pinch-hit home runs by Mets John Stephenson and Ron Swoboda make the difference in New York's 8 - 6 defeat of the Giants at Shea Stadium.
1967 - John Fetzer, president of the ML television committee, announces a $50 million, 3-year deal with NBC to televise the World Series, All-Star Game, and 28 weekly telecasts.
1968 - In pre-game ceremonies at Busch Stadium honoring him, Stan Musial is joined by his 1941 Cardinals teammates. a 10-foot bronze statue of Musial at is unveiled at one of the Stadium entrances. The crowd of 47,445 then watch as Bob Gibson battles the Cubs for 12 innings before Chicago P Lee Elia singles home the winning run in the 13th. Cubs win 6 - 5.
1968 - The Red Sox top the Angels, 5 - 1, on the strength of Ken Harrelson's grand slam.
1969 - The Reds win another squeaker, this time 1 - 0 over the Mets at Crosley Field. Jim Maloney (5 - 2) allows two hits and beats Jerry Koosman.
1970 - In San Diego, the Reds stomp the Padres, 12 - 1.
1971 - Bob Gibson wins his 200th game, a 7 - 2 victory over the Giants at St. Louis.
1971 - Tommy Walker of Fort Worth (Dixie League) pitches a 15-inning no-hit win over Albuquerque.
1972 - Luis Aparicio returns after a 6-week layoff with a broken finger and drives in a run as the Red Sox win, 2 - 0 over Baltimore. Marty Pattin allows two hits in beating Pat Dobson.
1972 - The Angels beat the Royals, 4 - 3, in 10 innings. Vada Pinson shows the way home with five hits and three RBIs.
1972 - Bobby Murcer's grand slam in the 7th clinches the Yankees 9 - 4 win over the Brewers. Murcer also scores twice on walks.
1973 - John Briggs of the Brewers goes 6-for-6 in a 9 - 4 win over the Indians. Jim Colborn (14 - 7) is the winner.
1973 - In an outstanding relief performance, Yankee Lindy McDaniel comes to the rescue of Fritz Peterson, who exits with a muscle pull in the 2nd inning, and allows just one run in 13 innings to earn a 3 - 2 victory over the Tigers. Horace Clarke's home run is the game winner.
1975 - At Fenway, 35,866 are on hand to watch the Orioles topple the Red Sox, 12 - 8. Alexander is the winner over Willoughby. Despite the offense, Boston's Denny Doyle has his 22-game hit streak stopped.
1978 - Baltimore and Mike Flanagan hand Ron Guidry his 2nd loss of the year, stopping the Yankees, 2 - 1.
1979 - During a 6 - 2 loss to the Astros, Braves knuckleballer Phil Niekro sets modern ML records with four wild pitches in one inning (5th) and six in one game.
1979 - At the Kingdome, the Mariner's Ruppert Jones hits a foul ball that sticks in the speaker above the 1B dugout. But the Athletics amass 11 hits fair to beat the Mariners, 5 - 3. Dwayne Murphy is 3-for-3 with a triple and a homer.
1980 - The Seattle Mariners fire manager Darrell Johnson and replace him with Maury Wills, who becomes the 3rd black manager in ML history. Seattle had lost nine games in a row and 20 of 24 since the All-Star break.
1980 - The Reds score eight runs in the 7th enroute to a 11 - 2 win over the San Diego Padres.
1982 - After driving in the winning run in a Met 7-4 victory over the Cubs, Joel Youngblood is traded and later in the day flies to Philadelphia and singles for the Expos becoming the first player to have a hit for two different teams in the same day in different cities.
1982 - OF Joel Youngblood becomes the first ML player ever to play for two different teams in two different cities on the same day, and collects a hit in each game. After going 1-for-2 off Fergie Jenkins in an afternoon game at Wrigley Field, a 7 - 4 Mets win, Youngblood is traded from the Mets to the Expos and flies to Philadelphia in time to enter the game that night in the 6th inning, going 1-for-1 off another Hall of Famer, Steve Carlton. The Phils beat the Expos, 5 - 4.
1983 - While warming up before the 5th inning of the Yankees 3 - 1 win over the Blue Jays game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium, New York OF Dave Winfield accidentally kills a seagull with a thrown ball. After the game, Winfield is brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of cruelty to animals and is forced to post a $500 bond before being released. The charges will be dropped the following day.
1985 - Rod Carew of the Angels singles off of Twin Frank Viola in the third inning to become the 16th major leaguer to amass 3000 hits.
1985 - In a day of milestones, Tom Seaver becomes the 17th pitcher to win 300 games and Rod Carew becomes the 16th player ever to collect 3,000 career hits. Seaver pitches the White Sox to a 4 - 1 six-hit victory on Phil Rizzuto Day at Yankee Stadium as 54,032 New Yorkers cheer him on, while Carew bloops a single to left off Frank Viola in the 3rd inning of the Angels 6 - 5 win over the Twins.
1985 - At Chicago, Doc Gooden wins his 11th straight, a club record, as the Mets beat the Cubs, 4 - 1. Doc triggers a 3-run 3rd with a double.
1985 - At the Yankee Stadium, White Sox Tom Seaver becomes the 17th player in major league history to win 300 games as he six-hits the Bronx Bombers, 4-1. All of the Yankees' hits are singles.
1986 - White Sox pitcher Jose DeLeon (2-0) beats Boston's Roger Clemens (17-4) for the 2nd time in five days 1 - 0 at Fenway Park. DeLeon and the White Sox also won 7 - 2 on July 30th.
1988 - Seattle's John Rabb is suspended indefinitely for "failing to comply with the ML drug testing program."
1989 - Dave Stieb retires the first 26 batters he faces before giving up two-hits in a 2-1 win over the Yankees. Last September, the Blue Jays' hard luck hurler lost back-to-back no-hit bids with two outs in the ninth inning.
1989 - Hard-luck pitcher Dave Stieb loses a perfect game when New York's Roberto Kelly doubles with two out in the 9th inning, and Stieb finishes with a 2 - 1 two-hitter. It is the 3rd time that Stieb has lost a no-hitter with two out in the 9th.
1990 - The Braves trade Dale Murphy to the Phillies for Jeff Parrett, Jim Vatcher and Victor Rosario. The move enables the youngster David Justice to return to right field and win the Rookie-of-the-Year Award.
1992 - At an auction, actor Charlie Sheen pays $93,500 for the "˜Mookie Ball' which went through Bill Buckner's legs capping the miraculous Met comeback in the sixth game of the Fall Classic in 1986. Arthur Richman, the team's traveling secretary, who was given the ball that night by right field umpire, Ed Montague, gives the all the proceeds to charity.
1992 - An unidentified buyer purchases a toothpick once used by Mets Hall of Fame P Tom Seaver at a memorabilia auction in New York for $400. At the same auction, actor Charlie Sheen pays $85,000 for the ball hit by Mookie Wilson which went through Bill Buckner's legs to end Game Six of the 1986 WS.
1993 - OF Tony Gwynn of the Padres gets six hits in SD's 11-10 win over the Giants. It is the 4th time this season he has five or more hits in a game, tying a major league record set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1897, and equaled by Ty Cobb and Stan Musial.
1993 - White Sox 3B Robin Ventura charges Nolan Ryan after a pitch hits him in the 3rd inning. Ryan gets Ventura in a headlock and throws six punches. Ventura is suspended two games for his actions, while Ryan is not disciplined.
1994 - Seattle defeats California, 4-2, as Rich Gossage notches the win in relief. It is Gossage's 1,000th major league appearance on the mound, making him the 3rd pitcher to ever reach that milestone. Only Hoyt Wilhelm (1,070) and Kent Tekulve (1,050) have gotten into more games as pitchers.
1996 - The Braves end their 17-game 20-day road trip, with the 6 - 4 win over the Dodgers. The extended road stay is caused by the Atlanta-based Olympics.
1996 - Baltimore managers Earl Weaver and Ned Hanlon, Kentucky congressman Jim Bunning and Negro League star Bill Foster are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
1996 - Jim Bunning, Earl Weaver, Bill Foster, and Ned Hanlon are inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.
1997 - At Anaheim, Jose Valentin, Dave Nilsson, and Jeremy Burnitz homer in the 4th inning, all off Ken Hill, as Milwaukee beats Anaheim, 5 - 2, for its 10th victory in 12 games. The loss drops Anaheim into a tie for first place in the AL West with the idle Seattle Mariners.
1997 - Manny Ramirez homers and drives in four runs, and Jim Thome hits his 30th homer as the Indians beat Detroit, 7 - 2. Charles Nagy improves to 12-4 lifetime against the Tigers, his most wins against any club. Thome is the first Cleveland lefthanded hitter to hit 30 homers in successive seasons since Hal Trosky in 1936-37. Scott Sanders (3-9), making his fourth start since being traded to Detroit from Seattle, was the loser. He has lost all three of his decisions in a Tigers uniform.
1997 - Kevin Tapani finally makes his Cubs debut, limiting Atlanta to five hits over seven+ innings, as the Cubs win, 3 - 1. Tapani (1-0) signed to a three-year, $11 million deal with the Cubs after winning 13 games for the White Sox last season, had surgery April four to remove scar tissue in his right index finger.
1997 - At Shea, the Mets top the Cards, 4 - 2, in a rain interupted game. Rick Reed (10 - 4) wins his 6th straight, beating Manny Aybar, making his ML debut. Lance Johnson has a pair of RBI triples. Completing an unusual major league-minor league sweep, the Pittsfield Mets top the New Jersey Cardinals (NY-Penn League) 8 - 4, in the earlier 9-inning game.
1997 - The Twins beat the Blue Jays, 9 - 3, as Brad Radke ties a team record with his 12th straight win. Greg Colbrunn's pinch-hit grand slam, off Chris Carpenter, is the big blow. Radke is only the 3rd pitcher since 1950 to win 12 consecutive starts. Bob Gibson of St. Louis did it in 1968 and Pat Dobson did it with Baltimore in 1971.
1998 - OF Darryl Strawberry's pinch-hitter grand slam is the big blow in NY's 9 - run 9th inning, as the Yankees come from behind to defeat the A's 10 - 5 in the 2nd game of a DH. It is his 2nd pinch-hitter slam of the season, setting a new American League record, and tying the National League mark held by his former manager, Davey Johnson, and Mike Ivie, both set in 1978. New York also wins the 1st game of the twinbill, 10 - 4.
1998 - Yankees' slugger Darryl Strawberry hits a game-tying pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth inning of New York's 10-5 win becoming the second major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in one season.
1998 - The Orioles Mike Mussina carries a no-hitter into the 8th before allowing a double to Frank Catalanotto. He ends with a 2 - hit, 4 - 0, win at Detroit. Broadcasting the game is the long - time voice of the Tigers, Ernie Harwell. Ernie is celebrating his golden anniversary, starting as an announcer for the Dodgers on August 4, 1948. The Dodgers had to trade a player, Cliff Dapper, to the Atlanta Crackers to acquire Harwell.
1998 - Pittsburgh 1B Kevin Young goes 4 - for - 4, with four runs scored and four RBIs, to lead the Pirates to a 13 - 5 mauling of the Rockies. Three of Young's hits are doubles.
1999 - The Mariners send vet Butch Huskey to Boston for AAA pitcher Robert Ramsey. Tomorrow, the send vet 1B David Segui to Toronto for minor leaguers Tom Davey and Steve Sinclair.
1999 - Prior to a game with the Royals, with his team in the midst of a slump, Angels' batting coach Rod Carew suggests the club use a single bat through the starting lineup as a way of loosening up the players. When leadoff hitter Orlando Palmeiro strikes out in bottom half of the first inning, he drops the bat for the next hitter to use. Umpire Tim Tschida sees this as an act of defiance and ejects Palmeiro from the game. Anaheim manager Terry Collins eventually convinces Tschida that Palmeiro wasn't trying to show him up, and the umpire changes his decision and allows him to stay in the game. The Angels go on to defeat the Royals, 4-3.
2000 - Joining Dave Kingman Frank Huelsman, Willis Hudlin, Paul Lehner, Wes Covington, Ted Gray and Mike Kilkenny, Dave Martinez ties a major league record as he appears for his fourth team in a season. In the past four months the veteran outfielder/first baseman has played for the Devil Rays, Cubs, Rangers and now the Blue Jays.
2000 - The Blue Jays obtain OF Dave Martinez from the Rangers for a player to be named later. Martinez becomes the 9th major leaguer to play for four teams in a season. He began the year with Tampa Bay and also played with the Cubs, in addition to Texas and Toronto. The last to do so was Dave Kingman, in 1977: before him, according to historian Scott Flatow, the four-in-one players were Frank Huelsman, 1904; Willis Hudlin, 1940; Paul Lehner, 1951; Ted Gray, 1955; Wes Covington, 1961; and Mike Kilkenny, 1972.
2000 - With 32 home games remaining, the Astros, who moved from the pitcher-friendly Astrodome to homer-haven Enron Field this season, set a franchise-record by already hitting 83 homers at home this season.
2000 - The Padres obtain SS Desi Relaford from the Phillies in exchange for a player to be named.
2001 - In a 4 - 2 Mets win at Arizona, Mark Grace ends the game with a ground single, which hits pinch runner David Dellucci for the last out. It's the D-backs 7th loss in nine games.
2001 - Braves' 1B Wes Helms drives home a career - high seven runs with a triple and a pair of home runs as Atlanta defeats Milwaukee, 14 - 2. Helms had been hitless in his previous 18 at bats coming in to the game.
2002 - The Athletics defeat Detroit, 4 - 0, as Cory Lidle, Ricardo Rincon, Chad Bradford, and Billy Koch combine on the 1 - hit shutout. Tiger OF Wendell Magee's single is the only Detroit safety.
2002 - The Braves edge the Cardinals, 2 - 1, as Damian Moss and John Smoltz combine on a 1 - hitter. Mike Matheny's single is the only St. Louis hit.
2002 - Cincinnati defeats San Diego, 15 - 10, as LF Russell Branyan slugs three home runs and drives home five runs for the Reds.
2003 - Major League Baseball announces a five-year deal, which will generate more than $500 million in revenue, for apparel and head wear global licensing rights. The seven companies involved in the deal include Majestic Athletic, New Era Cap, Twins Enterprises, Nike USA, Dynasty Apparel Industries, Drew Pearson International and VF Imagewear.
2004 - Continuing a tradition over a half a century old, the Cardinals announce their new ballpark scheduled to open in 2006, will also be known as Busch Stadium. In 1953, a month after Anheuser-Busch purchased the Cardinals, the brewery bought Sportsman Park renaming it Busch Stadium and then kept the name in its new downtown stadium which opened in 1966 calling the facility Busch Memorial Stadium.
2005 - After the teams goes into a free fall from first place, the Orioles fire manager Lee Mazzilli (129-140) and replaces him with bench coach Sam Perlozzo on an interim basis. Currently suffering an eight-game losing streak, the Birds have dropped 16 of their 18 games.