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June 3
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on June 3.
[edit] Events
- 1902 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike O'Neill hit the first pinch grand slam ever in the majors, against the Boston Beaneaters. He also became the first pitcher in the National League to hit a grand slam in the 20th century.
- 1907 - Stoney McGlynn of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched both games in a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds, winning a 1 - 0 five-hitter in the opener. The Reds won the nitecap, 5 - 1.
- 1911 - Chicago Cubs slugger Frank Schulte hit a grand slam off Rube Marquard to beat the New York Giants, 8 - 4. Schulte will slam four this season, a record tied by Babe Ruth in 1919 and topped by Ernie Banks' five in 1955.
- 1918 - Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitched his career-second no-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers 5 - 0.
- 1932 - Lou Gehrig hit four consecutive home runs and narrowly missed a fifth, and Tony Lazzeri hit for the cycle as the Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics 20 - 13. The Yankees set a major league record for total bases with 50 and both teams set a still-standing record for extra bases with 41.
- 1952 - In a blockbuster trade, the Boston Red Sox send Walt Dropo, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, Fred Hatfield and Bill Wight to Detroit for George Kell, Hoot Evers, Dizzy Trout and Johnny Lipon.
- 1957 - Forbes Field's vast centerfield expanse provides the setting for one of Willie Mays' greatest catches, coming at the expense of his young friend, admirer, protégé and rival, Roberto Clemente. Conjuring up memories of two of Clemente's tape-measure IPHRs, namely his first ML home run (4/18/55) and his first ML grand slam (7/25/56), Clemente produces a reasonable facsimile of the latter, likewise ticketed for the distant left center light tower. Just one slight difference: Mays. NYT's Roscoe McGowen recounts Roberto's tale of woe: "The highlight of the game was supplied by Mays. In the first inning, with two Pirates on base and one out, Roberto Clemente whacked a terrific drive toward the screen surrounding the light tower in left center field, more than 440 feet from home plate. Willie astonished the players, as well as the fans, by leaping high against the screen and making a glove-twisting catch. Most observers thought the ball had bounced off the screen." As we learn from McGowen, Clemente almost compounds his misfortune the following inning: "Clemente got into the catching act in the Giants’ second inning. Going almost to the wall for Spencer’s long drive, Roberto saw the ball bounce out of his glove as he was making one of his 'basket catches.' But he snared the ball before it could drop to the ground."
- 1961 - Perhaps commemorating the fourth anniversary of being victimized by Willie Mays' egregious first-frame felony, Roberto Clemente decides to take matters into his own hands with a first-inning home run and a fourth-inning outfield assist, all forming a solid foundation for Pittsburgh's 5 - 2 win over Philly: "Clemente boomed his seventh home run in the first with nobody aboard." So says the Associated Press and, so far, so good. It's with United Press International's account that Clemente's name and nationality undergo unnerving transformations. "Alberto, whose first inning homer was his seventh of the year, was banished in the eighth inning in a spectacular arm-waving argument with first base umpire Ed Sudol. The fiery Cuban insisted he beat out a grounder to short but was overruled. Before leaving the field, Clemente tossed a cap high above the Pirate dugout." [Emphasis added.]
- 1969 - Hit No. 2,417 for Roberto Clemente? A game-tying three-run homer which pushes him past two HOFers on Pitt's hit list. UPI reports: "Merritt yielded all the Pirates’ runs in the sixth when Pittsburgh tied the game, 3 to 3, on Clemente’s homer following singles by Matty Alou and Willie Stargell. It was hit no. 2417 of his career, moving Clemente into third place on the all-time Pirate list ahead of Max Carey and Pie Traynor.” The Associated Press writes: "Merritt, who went all the way to pick up the victory, scattered six hits to the Pirates, all singles except for the Clemente homer." Phil Musick of the Pittsburgh Press speaks with Merritt: “‘I gambled with a little dew-drop on the first pitch to Clemente,’ he said. ‘But I got it too high.’ Clemente’s shot cleared the wall between the scoreboard and the foul pole.”
- 1971 Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitched his career-second no-hitter, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 1 - 0.
- 1978 - Davey Johnson became the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season as the Phillies beat the Dodgers 5 - 1.
- 1995 - Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos pitched nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos' 1 - 0 win. Martinez became the second pitcher in history, after Harvey Haddix, to have a perfect game broken up in extra innings.
- 2003:
- Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Cubs' 3 - 2 victory over Tampa Bay after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
- New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is named the 11th captain in club history.
- 2004 - At Turner Field, the 45-year old Julio Franco hit a home run with the bases loaded in the first inning, to became the oldest player in major league history to hit a grand slam as the Braves beat the Phillies, 8 - 4.
- 2006 - In a long day at Shea Stadium, rookie catcher Eliezer Alfonzo hit a two-run home run for his first major league hit, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 6 - 4 victory over the New York Mets in the first game of a doubleheader, which ended after three hours, 12 minutes. In the second game, already delayed 2 1/2 hours by rain, the Mets won 3 - 2, in the bottom of the 11th inning, when Lastings Milledge scored the winning run on a short sacrifice fly by Chris Woodward. The twin bill ended close to 11 p.m. ET.
- 2008 - Randy Johnson moves into second place on the all-time MLB strikeout leaderboard. He strikes out 8 in 6 1/3 innings, most importantly getting Mike Cameron in the first to pass Roger Clemens for second place with 4,673. The 44-year-old "Big Unit" trails only Nolan Ryan.
- 2009 - The Pirates deal All-Star CF Nate McLouth, their #3 batter, to the Braves for CF prospect Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke.
[edit] Births
- 1863 - Woody Wagenhorst, infielder (d. 1946)
- 1867 - Wild Bill Widner, pitcher (d. 1908)
- 1875 - John Dobbs, outfielder (d. 1934)
- 1881 - Charlie Hanford, outfielder (d. 1963)
- 1888 - Jesse Baker, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1890 - John Taff, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1890 - Tom Wilson, catcher (d. 1953)
- 1891 - Bill McTigue, pitcher (d. 1920)
- 1892 - Howard Lohr, outfielder (d. 1977)
- 1895 - Johnny Bassler, catcher (d. 1979)
- 1899 - Urbane Pickering, infielder (d. 1970)
- 1900 - Harry Baldwin, pitcher (d. 1958)
- 1903 - Chappie Geygan, infielder (d. 1966)
- 1908 - Don Osborn, coach (d. 1979)
- 1913 - Jim Sheehan, catcher (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Max Wilson, pitcher (d. 1977)
- 1924 - George Armstrong, catcher (d. 1993)
- 1928 - Dick Young, infielder
- 1934 - Jim Gentile, infielder; All-Star
- 1934 - Perry Pelekoudas, minor league umpire
- 1937 - Phyllis Baker, AAGPBL pitcher (d. 2006)
- 1939 - Steve Dalkowski, minor league pitcher
- 1940 - Dick McLaughlin, minor league outfielder-infielder and manager
- 1942 - Duane Josephson, catcher; All-Star (d. 1997)
- 1943 - Ron Keller, pitcher
- 1946 - G. Mike Floyd, minor league outfielder
- 1953 - Ed Glynn, pitcher
- 1955 - Jim Gaudet, catcher
- 1956 - Julio Valdez, infielder
- 1960 - Barry Lyons, catcher
- 1960 - Steve Lyons, infielder
- 1961 - Jose Tolentino, infielder
- 1964 - Nelson Liriano, infielder
- 1966 - Omer Muñoz, minor league player and manager
- 1967 - Satoshi Iriki, NPB pitcher
- 1970 - Earl Cunningham, minor league outfielder
- 1971 - Carl Everett, outfielder; All-Star
- 1971 - Craig Griffey, minor league outfielder
- 1971 - Aaron Ledesma, infielder
- 1971 - Izzy Molina, catcher
- 1972 - Bryan Rekar, pitcher
- 1973 - Robert Machado, catcher
- 1975 - Daisuke Hayakawa, NPB outfielder
- 1975 - Jose Molina, catcher
- 1975 - Carlos Ros, minor league pitcher
- 1977 - Travis Hafner, designated hitter
- 1978 - John Ogiltree, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Juan Rivera, outfielder
- 1978 - Steve Smyth, pitcher
- 1980 - Dimitrios Douros, Greek national team outfielder
- 1980 - Tjerk Smeets, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1981 - Munenori Kawasaki, NPB infielder
- 1981 - Rich Rundles, pitcher
- 1984 - Oleh Shkatula, Ukrainian national team catcher
- 1985 - Lucas Harrell, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Zach Lutz, minor league infielder
- 1987 - Kazuhito Futagami, Japanese national team pitcher
- 1990 - Augustin Avila, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1904 - Bill Pfann, pitcher (b. 1863)
- 1911 - Dad Clarke, pitcher (b. 1865)
- 1923 - Harry Billiard, pitcher (b. 1883)
- 1930 - George Hemming, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1936 - Billy Shindle, infielder (b. 1860)
- 1940 - Billy Kelly, catcher (b. 1886)
- 1941 - Andy Cooper, Negro League pitcher; Hall of Fame (b. 1896)
- 1950 - Dan Griner, pitcher (b. 1888)
- 1954 - Zaza Harvey, outfielder (b. 1879)
- 1956 - Roxy Walters, catcher (b. 1892)
- 1960 - Ed Kippert, outfielder (b. 1880)
- 1962 - Art Stokes, pitcher (b. 1896)
- 1969 - Cobe Jones, infielder (b. 1907)
- 1970 - Jakie May, pitcher (b. 1895)
- 1971 - Vern Spencer, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1973 - Jack Mills, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1976 - Paul Chervinko, catcher (b. 1910)
- 1976 - Dwight Stone, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1977 - Bob Glenn, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1978 - Marv Rickert, outfielder (b. 1921)
- 1980 - Fred Lieb, writer (b. 1888)
- 1997 - Pidge Browne, infielder (b. 1929)
- 2004 - Joe Cleary, pitcher (b. 1918)
