August 8
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on August 8.
[edit] Events
- 1903: The New York Giants' Joe McGinnity repeats his feat from August 1, when he defeats the Brooklyn Superbas in both ends of a doubleheader 6-1 and 4-3. A week earlier he beat the Boston Beaneaters 4-1 and 5-2.
- 1914: Tris Speaker of the Boston Red Sox records an unassisted double-play against the Detroit Tigers - his second of the season. He previously accomplished the feat against the Philadelphia Athletics on April 21. This is a record for outfielders
- 1915: Philadelphia Phillies' outfielder Gavvy Cravath ties a major league record with four doubles against the Cincinnati Reds.
- 1920: Detroit Tigers pitcher Howard Ehmke wins the American League's shortest game ever when he defeats the New York Yankees 1-0 in one hour, thirteen minutes.
- 1922: New York Giants pitcher Phil Douglas writes a letter to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Les Mann which says in part "I want to leave here, but I want some inducement. I don't want this guy [ John McGraw ] to win the pennant and I feel if I stay here I win it for him". Mann gives the letter to manager Branch Rickey who notifies Kenesaw Landis.
- 1931: The Washington Senators' Bobby Burke no-hits the Boston Red Sox 5-0 in Washington, DC, walking five and striking out eight.
- 1945: A line drive of the bat of Hank Greenberg fractures the skull of pitcher Jim Wilson, resulting in two hours of surgery. Wilson will recover and pitch in the majors until 1958.
- 1952: Bob Neighbors, who played seven games for the 1939 St. Louis Browns, is killed in action in North Korea. He is the only major leaguer to die in action in the Korean War.
- 1965: The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 18-0, the worst loss ever for the Dodgers.
- 1970: The New York Yankees honor Casey Stengel at Old-Timers Day in Yankee Stadium. Stengel's number 37 is retired, then the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees 4-2.
- 1976: The Chicago White Sox play the first game of a doubleheader wearing navy blue bermuda shorts. The Sox defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-2.
- 1982: Doug DeCinces hits three home runs in a 9-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners. DeCinces also hit 3 HRs on August 3.
- 1988: 91 year-old Chicago Cubs fan Harry Grossman throws a switch lighting Wrigley Field for its first ever night game. Heavy thuderstorms wipe out the Cubs-Phillies game after three innings. The first official night game would be recorded the next night.
- 1990: Pete Rose reports to the federal work camp in Marion, IL to serve his three month sentence for tax evasion.
- 1997: Randy Johnson becomes the first pitcher to strike out 19 batters in a game twice in one season when he fans 19 Chicago White Sox in a 5-0 victory.
- 2004: With the Toronto Blue Jays struggling in last place and mired in a five-game losing streak, manager Carlos Tosca was fired and replaced by first-base coach John Gibbons through the end of the season.
- 2007: Aaron Harang shuts out the Dodgers, 1-0. It is the 3rd straight shutout endured by Los Angeles. The last time the franchise suffered three whitewashes in a row was in the 1966 World Series.
[edit] Births
- 1859 - Hal McClure, outfielder (d. 1919)
- 1861 - Jocko Milligan, catcher (d. 1923)
- 1864 - Toad Ramsey, pitcher (d. 1906)
- 1865 - Henry Fournier, pitcher (d. 1945)
- 1865 - Billy Gumbert, pitcher (d. 1946)
- 1870 - Dan Leahy, infielder (d. 1903)
- 1875 - Ernie Baker, pitcher (d. 1945)
- 1880 - John Taylor, Negro League player (d. 1956)
- 1884 - Hi West, pitcher (d. 1963)
- 1889 - Al Cypert, infielder (d. 1973)
- 1891 - Chick Keating, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1893 - Jack Smith, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1897 - Charlie Eckert, pitcher (d. 1986)
- 1897 - Ken Holloway, pitcher (d. 1968)
- 1898 - John Slappey, pitcher (d. 1957)
- 1899 - Dewey Griggs, scout (d. 1968)
- 1903 - Clise Dudley, pitcher (d. 1989)
- 1906 - Tot Pressnell, pitcher (d. 2001)
- 1907 - Jack Marshall, Negro League infielder (d. 1990)
- 1913 - Cecil Travis, infielder; All-Star (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Ken Raffensberger, pitcher; All-Star (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Red Roberts, infielder (d. 1998)
- 1918 - Marlin Stuart, pitcher (d. 1994)
- 1923 - George Jefferson, Negro League pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1927 - Johnny Temple, infielder; All-Star (d. 1994)
- 1928 - Vern Morgan, infielder (d. 1975)
- 1928 - Jane Stoll, AAGPBL outfielder
- 1932 - Vicente Amor, pitcher
- 1936 - Frank Howard, outfielder, manager; All-Star
- 1943 - Jim Miles, pitcher
- 1947 - Jose Cruz, outfielder; All-Star
- 1952 - Mike Ivie, infielder
- 1952 - Greg Mahlberg, catcher
- 1952 - Doug Melvin, general manager
- 1953 - Al Woods, outfielder
- 1956 - Cliff Speck, pitcher
- 1957 - Ray Fontenot, pitcher
- 1957 - Mark Ross, pitcher
- 1958 - Alan Fowlkes, pitcher
- 1959 - Dave Meier, outfielder
- 1959 - Dave Myers, coach
- 1961 - Ed Sedar, coach
- 1963 - Brett Gideon, pitcher
- 1963 - Ron Karkovice, catcher
- 1966 - John Hudek, pitcher; All-Star
- 1966 - Bridget Venturi-Veenema, Women's Baseball World Cup pitcher-outfielder
- 1967 - Kevin Belcher, outfielder
- 1967 - Matt Whiteside, pitcher
- 1969 - Ray Montgomery, outfielder
- 1970 - Byron Browne Jr., minor league pitcher
- 1971 - Johnny Balentina, Hoofdklasse catcher-outfielder
- 1974 - Cody Allison, minor league catcher
- 1974 - Rafael Gross, minor league pitcher
- 1975 - Chad Meyers, infielder
- 1977 - Jeremy Hill, pitcher
- 1978 - Dan Neil, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Brian Sanches, pitcher
- 1979 - Alex Dvorsky, minor league catcher
- 1979 - Humberto Quintero, catcher
- 1980 - Craig Breslow, pitcher
- 1980 - Jack Cassel, pitcher
- 1980 - Diegomar Markwell, minor league pitcher
- 1981 - Eddy Rodriguez, pitcher
- 1982 - Matthew Brown, infielder
- 1982 - Ross Ohlendorf, pitcher
- 1983 - Jake Blalock, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1889 - Harry McCormick, pitcher (b. 1855)
- 1895 - Ed Colgan, catcher
- 1911 - Joe Walsh, infielder (b. 1864)
- 1913 - John Gaffney, manager (b. 1855)
- 1927 - Billy Gilbert, infielder (b. 1876)
- 1929 - Dan Minnehan, infielder (b. 1865)
- 1932 - Steve Bellan, infielder (b. 1849)
- 1934 - Wilbert Robinson, catcher, manager; Hall of Famer (b. 1863)
- 1941 - Ralph Works, pitcher (b. 1888)
- 1952 - Bob Neighbors, infielder (b. 1917)
- 1958 - Fred Winchell, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1959 - Phil Lewis, infielder (b. 1884)
- 1974 - Howie Pollet, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1921)
- 1977 - Tod Dennehey, outfielder (b. 1899)
- 1980 - Allan Collamore, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1982 - Al Gould, pitcher (b. 1893)
- 1984 - Bert Hamric, pinch hitter (b. 1928)
- 1989 - Bob Harris, pitcher (b. 1915)
- 1997 - Oad Swigart, pitcher (b. 1915)
- 1997 - Tom Kruta, minor league pitcher (b. 1926)
- 1999 - Harry Walker, outfielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1916)
- 2004 - Pete Center, pitcher (b. 1912)
- 2005 - Gene Mauch, infielder, manager (b. 1925)
