May 2

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 May 2.

[edit] Events

1876 - Ross Barnes of the Chicago White Stockings hits the first home run in major league history off the Cincinnati Reds' Cherokee Fisher. According to the Chicago Tribune, "Barnes, coming to bat with two men out, made the finest hit of the game straight down the left field to the carriages, for a clean home run."
1909 - Honus Wagner steals his way around the bases in the first inning of a game against the Cubs. It is the fourth time he steals second base, third and home in a same inning, a National League record. Previously, Wagner performed this feat in 1899, 1902 and 1907. The record holder in the American League is Ty Cobb, in 1909, 1911, 1912 and 1924. Through the 2005 season, not one player in major league history has ever accomplished this feat once in each league and only two more have accomplished the feat twice during their careers: Max Carey (NL) and Jackie Tavener (AL).
1917 - At Wrigley Field, Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds and Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs pitch a double no-hitter for nine innings, but the Reds win 1 - 0 on two hits in the top of the 10th. Jim Thorpe drives in the winning run, scored by Larry Kopf, and Toney retires three Cubs in the bottom half of the inning, completing the fourth ten-inning no-hitter to date.
1920 - The first game in the history of the Negro National League is played. The Indianapolis ABCs host the Chicago American Giants, managed by Rube Foster. The ABCs, featuring Oscar Charleston, win the game, 4 - 2.
1923 - Walter Johnson records his first shutout of the season and the 100th of his major league record 113 career shutouts as the Washington Senators defeat the New York Yankees 3 - 0. Yankees shortstop Everett Scott receives a medal from the American League for playing in his 1,000th consecutive game.
1939 - Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees does not play against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium, ending at 2,130 his streak of consecutive games played. An ailing Gehrig removes himself from the lineup, telling his manager Joe McCarthy that he could not play because of continuing weakness. Doctors will later diagnose Gehrig with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal disease that affects the muscles. Gehrig will never play again.
1943 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Schoolboy Rowe pinch hits with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and cracks a grand slam off Boston Braves' Al Javery to break a tie. The Phillies win, 6 - 5, but it takes them 12 innings. For Rowe, it is his second career grand slam. He hit one in 1939 while with Detroit, as he is the only pitcher in major league history to hit a grand slam in each league. Rowe will finish the 1943 season with a .306 batting average as a pinch hitter.
1944 - Charley Schanz of the Philadelphia Phillies takes a 1 - 0 no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a two-run home run to Joe Medwick of the New York Giants, the only Giants' hit of the day. Schanz wins his own game by clearing the bases with a triple in the ninth.
1947 - At Cleveland Stadium, Bob Feller fires his second one-hitter in 10 days, stopping the Boston Red Sox, 2 - 0, while striking out 10. Johnny Pesky has the only hit for Boston. Joe Gordon's home run off Dave Ferriss is the only run Feller needs.
1949 - In his first major league start, Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers shuts out the Cincinnati Reds, 3 - 0.
1951 - For the first time in MLB history, a Jewish batter faces a Jewish pitcher while a Jewish catcher is behind the plate; through 2009, such an instance has not reoccurred. With Saul Rogovin on the mound and Joe Ginsberg catching, Lou Limmer steps in as a pinch-hitter. Limmer promptly deposits the ball into the seats.
1953 - Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Carlos Bernier hits three consecutive triples in a 12 - 4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Bernier adds a single and a stolen base as Ralph Kiner and Jim Greengrass match home runs. In a stretch of 11 at bats, Bernier will hit four triples, two doubles, and two singles.
1954 - Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals hits five home runs in a doubleheader split against the New York Giants. The Cardinals win the first game 10 - 6 but lose the second 9 - 7. In a strange twist, one of the fans in attendance at Sportsman's Park is a young boy named Nate Colbert. In 1966, Colbert will make his major league debut. Six years later, he will tie Musial's record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader.
1955 - At Ebbets Field, Carl Furillo hits his sixth home run of the season with Jackie Robinson on base in the 12th inning to give the Brooklyn Dodgers a 2 - 0 victory over the Milwaukee Braves. Carl Erskine wins his fourth game in a row, beating Gene Conley, as both pitchers posted complete games.
1956 - At Wrigley Field, the New York Giants (25) and Chicago Cubs (23) set a major league record with 48 players on the field in a 17-inning marathon finally won by the visiting Giants, 6 - 5. The two teams combine to intentionally walk 11 batters, also a record, with the Cubs contributing seven of the free passes. Losing pitcher Jim Brosnan chips in with four walks, all intentional. Cubs third baseman Don Hoak is not one of the strollers, as he sets a National League record with six strikeouts, all against different pitchers, while Ernie Banks, Willie Mays and Wes Westrum are twice walked intentionally. Whitey Lockman starts in left field, switches to first base, returns to LF, and finishes at 1B. Ex-Giant Monte Irvin is 0-for-5 against five pitchers. The game is six minutes shy of the 5:19 record set by the Dodgers-Braves in 20 innings in 1940.
1959 - Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds hits for the cycle, in a 16 - 4 rout of the Dodgers.
1960 - Birmingham and Memphis set a Southern Association record by hitting 11 home runs in one game. With Russwood Park unavailable due to a fire, a temporary park proves especially inviting for home runs. Six of the home runs clear the right-field fence, which is only 204 feet from home plate.
1964 - At Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, the visiting Minnesota Twins hit four consecutive home runs in one inning. Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall, and Harmon Killebrew go deep in the 11th inning to defeat the Athletics, 7 - 3.
1969 - Al Lopez resigns as manager of the Chicago White Sox due to health reasons. Lopez, who left the game with 840 wins and two American League pennants, is replaced by Don Gutteridge.
1972 - The long holdout of Oakland Athletics All-Star pitcher Vida Blue comes to an end. Blue, who won both the American League MVP and Cy Young awards in 1971, agrees to a contract for $63,000, after balking at owner Charlie Finley's previous offers. Perhaps affected by the long layoff, Blue will win only six games in 1972.
1976 - Jose Cardenal goes 6-for-7 with four RBI, including a double and a home run, as the Cubs defeat the Giants, 6 - 5, in the 14-inning first game of a doubleheader.
1984 - LaMarr Hoyt faces 27 batters in a 3 - 0, one-hit shutout against the New York Yankees. Don Mattingly has the only hit for New York, an opposite-field blooper in the seventh inning, which is followed by a double play.
1987:
- After having missed spring training and the first month of the season because of collusion, Montreal Expos outfielder Tim Raines debuts going 4-for-5, including a 10th-inning grand slam, in an 11 - 7 win over the New York Mets.
- Graig Nettles and Dion James each hit grand slams to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 12 - 4 rout of the Houston Astros. It is the first time since July 3, 1966 (when pitcher Tony Cloninger did it by himself), that the Braves have hit two grand slams in one game.
1992 - New York Yankees pitcher Scott Sanderson becomes the 12th pitcher in major league history to surrender four home runs in a single inning. Sanderson is rocked in the fifth inning of the game against the Minnesota Twins by Shane Mack, Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, and Randy Bush. The Twins need all the homers as they win, 7 - 6.
1993 - Texas defeats the Brewers, 13 - 2, collecting 15 hits. Jose Canseco hits a single, double and home run before leaving for a pinch runner. Protecting a 12 - 2 lead, Jeff Bronkey pitches three innings in relief of Robb Nen, and earns a save in his major league debut with Texas. Bronkey is the first major leaguer born in Afghanistan.
1995:
- Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first Japanese native to play in the majors in three decades. Nomo pitches five scoreless innings of one-hit ball, but the Dodgers blow a 3 - 0 lead and lose to San Francisco 4 - 3.
- The Red Sox defeat the Yankees, 8 - 0, scoring their runs on grand slams in back-to-back innings by former college teammates John Valentin and Mo Vaughn. According to SABR statistician David Vincent, it is the first time ever that two grand slams account for all the runs scored in a major league game.
1998 - New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens (seven innings) and Paul Quantrill (two innings) combine to one-hit the Oakland Athletics, 7 - 0. Oakland's only hit is a single by rookie Ben Grieve.
1999 - Texas Rangers designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro has three hits, including his 2,000th, and Juan Gonzalez belts his third home run in three games as Texas wins over the Cleveland Indians, 8 - 6.
2000:
- The Atlanta Braves become the first National League team in 49 years to win 15 straight games by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5 - 3. The last team to do so was the 1951 New York Giants. The Braves' streak will end tomorrow.
- In Kerry Wood's comeback game following surgery, the fireballer sets down the Houston Astros for six innings, allowing three hits and one run. The Chicago Cubs make it easy for Wood, scoring 10 runs in the first five innings. Wood helps himself with one of three Cubs home runs.
- The Kansas City Royals score three runs in the 10th inning to defeat the Oakland Athletics, 8 - 7. Oakland closer Jason Isringhausen, who was 14-for-14 in career saves, was two outs away from tying the major league mark for consecutive saves to start a career.
2001 - The Braves beat the Brewers, 1 - 0, as Greg Maddux hurls a two-hitter and strikes out a career high 14, including eight of the last 10 batters he faces. It is his 100th complete game, as B.J. Surhoff's solo home run in the third inning off Paul Rigdon is the only run he needs.
2002 - Mike Cameron hits four home runs and came close to a record-setting fifth in leading the Seattle Mariners to a 15 - 4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cameron is only the 13th player in major league history to homer four times in a game. He connects in his first four at-bats in just five innings as he joins Bret Boone as the first teammates to hit two home runs in the same inning. They connect back-to-back twice in a 10-run first.
2005 - Jim Edmonds hits a three-run home run off closer Danny Graves, and John Mabry adds a two-run homer that completes the greatest ninth-inning comeback in St. Louis Cardinals history. The Cardinals sent 12 batters to the plate and score seven runs in the top of the ninth to beat Cincinnati 10 - 9.
2006:
- At Wrigley Field, Zach Duke of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches a five-hitter for his first complete game and shutout in the Pirates' 8 - 0 win victory over the Chicago Cubs.
- Fernando Nieve collecteshis first win, hit and RBI as a big leaguer, and the Houston Astros rough up Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets in an 8 - 5 victory. Nieve, who retires 14 in a row at one point, gives up four runs and six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
2007 - Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Braves sets the record for the longest name in major league history. 15 prior players have had 13 letters in their last names, with the record having stood since the 19th Century. Saltalamacchia debuts on his 22nd birthday and gets the appearance due to injuries to Brian McCann and Brayan Pena a day earlier, both hit by bats.