May 20

Events, births and deaths that occurred on May 20.

[edit] Events

• 1919 - Babe Ruth wins a game pitching and batting as he hits his first career grand slam in the Boston Red Sox's 6 - 4 victory over the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park.
• 1921 - Hal Newhouser is born in Detroit, Michigan. In 1939, Newhouser will make his major league debut for his hometown team, the Detroit Tigers. A left-handed pitcher, he will win 207 games over a 17-year career and will gain Hall of Fame honors in 1992.
• 1925 - The Cleveland Indians score six runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat the New York Yankees, 10 - 9. Tris Speaker scores the winning run from first base on a single.
• 1932 - Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits four doubles in one game to tie a major league record.
• 1941 - Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox wins his 20th consecutive game at Fenway Park, the longest home park streak in the major leagues, in a 4 - 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
• 1945 - One-armed outfielder Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns enjoys an incredible day against the New York Yankees. Gray makes three outstanding catches, collects four hits with two RBI, and scores the game-winning run during a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees.
• 1947 - The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 4 - 3, in a game that features 22 hits - all singles. The Pirates hit 12 singles, the Braves 10.
• 1948 - Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hits for the cycle and collects six RBI in a 13 - 2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. DiMaggio hits two home runs, a triple, a double and a single, and narrowly misses another extra-base hit when Chicago left fielder Ralph Hodgin makes a spectacular catch at the wall.
• 1951 - Richie Ashburn of the Philadelphia Phillies collects four hits in each game of a doubleheader as the Phillies sweep the rival Pittsburgh Pirates, 17 - 0 and 12 - 4, at Forbes Field.
• 1953 - The Milwaukee Braves play their 13th home game and surpass the attendance total for the previous season, when the franchise played in Boston. The crowd at County Stadium raises Milwaukee's attendance to 281,278 for the current season.
• 1959 - The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees, 13 - 6, to put New York in last place for the first time in 19 years.
• 1962 - In a doubleheader, Chicago Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs hits eight singles in eight at bats as the Cubs sweep the Philadelphia Phillies, 6 - 4 and 11 - 2.
• 1968 - California Angels shortstop Jim Fregosi hits for the cycle during a 5 - 4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The cycle is the second of Fregosi's career, tying him with several other players for the major league record.
• 1970 - One big hit, one big drop, two wild pitches and one bad hop are what it takes for Pittsburgh to prevail, 3 - 2, in 14 innings over Philadelphia. The big hit is Roberto Clemente's 3rd-inning triple, a 440-plus-footer off Forbes Field's left-centerfield light tower, which drives in Freddie Patek with the tying run. In the 8th, John Briggs drops a fly ball hit by Al Oliver, which allows Matty Alou to score the tying run. Alou will also score the game-winner six innings later, courtesy of two consecutive wild pitches by Dick Selma, the latter featuring the aforementioned bad hop, off the cement beneath the backstop screen, which allows Alou to score the walk-off tally from second.
• 1971 - Martin Dihigo dies in Cienfuegos, Cuba, at the age of 65. Over the course of his career, Dihigo made seamless transitions between all nine positions and played in several countries. As a hitter, he won both batting average and home run titles; as a pitcher, he won more than 250 games and once defeated Satchel Paige while touring Cuba. He will be elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1977 and also was or will be voted into the Cuban, Mexican and Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 1978 - Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a 535-foot home run off Montreal Expos pitcher Wayne Twitchell to highlight a 6 - 0 victory at Stade Olympique. It is the longest home run in the ballpark's history and is also Stargell's 407th career home run, tying him with Duke Snider on the career all-time list.
• 1983 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton passes Walter Johnson to move into second place on the all-time strikeout list. Carlton's four strikeouts put him at 3,511, just 10 behind Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros. Ryan had bettered Johnson's record earlier in the month.
• 1984 - Roger Clemens earns his first major league victory as the Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5 - 4.
• 1985 - A game between the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers scheduled for Municipal Stadium is postponed due to rain, representing the first rainout of the season. The cancellation marks the latest point that the first rainout of a season has taken place. A record 458 games have been played prior to the initial rainout.
• 1991:
  • Pete Runnels dies in Pasadena, Texas, at the age of 63. A bright light on otherwise dismal teams, Runnels won two American League batting titles for the Boston Red Sox, was a three-time All-Star, and batted .291 over a 14-year career that also included stints with the Washington Senators and the Houston Colt .45s.
  • Jeff Reardon earns his 300th career save and Steve Lyons and Jack Clark hit home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3 - 0.
• 1999 - Robin Ventura becomes the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers, 11 - 10 and 10 - 1. On September 4, 1995, Ventura also hit two grand slams in a single game while playing for the Chicago White Sox.
• 2001 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits two home runs in a 11 - 6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, giving him a total of five homers in two games, becoming the 23rd player in major league history to do so.
• 2006 - A uniform worn by Joe DiMaggio in his final World Series is sold for $195,500 during the second day of an auction of his memorabilia. The previous day, DiMaggio's 1947 American League MVP Award plaque was sold for $281,750, which included a 15 percent buyer's premium. It was his third MVP award, but it is the only plaque. The two-day auction features more than 1,000 items of DiMaggio memorabilia, also including a leather-bound album featuring autographs from DiMaggio's New York Yankees teammates and members of the Boston Red Sox, a typed note signed by Frank Sinatra, and a signed photo of DiMaggio's one-time wife, Marilyn Monroe. The auction is held by Hunt's Auctions Inc. in New York City. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.
• 2006:
  • Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits a home run in an interleague game against the Oakland Athletics, tying his home run count with that of Babe Ruth at 714. The ball is hit at the McAfee Coliseum against pitcher Brad Halsey, a left-hander. Because of interleague play, Bonds is the designated hitter rather than his normal spot in the outfield.
  • In interleague play, Josh Beckett hits a solo home run, picks up an RBI single, and pitches seven solid innings to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Philadelphia Phillies, 8 - 4, at Citizens Bank Park. Because the designated hitter isn't used in National League parks during interleague play, regular Red Sox DH David Ortiz starts at first base. Beckett posts his third straight win and gives the AL East-leading Boston its 10th victory in 13 games. He also becomes the first Red Sox pitcher to hit a home run since Marty Pattin on September 26, 1972.
  • Russell Branyan's two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning boosts the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 4 - 3 victory over the Florida Marlins. It marks Tampa Bay's second straight victory in its last at-bat. Aubrey Huff was the hero the previous day, clubbing a game-winning solo home run off Yusmeiro Petit to lead off the bottom of the 10th in a 5 - 4 win. This is the eighth time this season the Marlins have lost in their opponents' final at-bat. Florida has lost four straight games when entering the 9th inning with a lead, tying the major league record set by Tampa Bay in May 2002.
• 2008 - Mike Piazza announces his retirement. A 12-time All-Star, Piazza hit .308/.377/.545 in 16 seasons after having been picked in the 62nd round of the amateur draft. He socked 427 home runs, scored 1,048 runs and drove in 1,335 and set the all-time major league record for homers by a catcher. At the time of his retirement, Piazza is 30th in history in slugging, 39th in home runs and 64th in OPS+. Many opine that he is the greatest catcher ever, though others argue the claim, citing Josh Gibson or others.
• 2009:
  • Houston manager Cecil Cooper presents an incorrect lineup card to umpire Eric Cooper. When leadoff hitter Michael Bourn singles off Yovani Gallardo, Brewers manager Ken Macha objects and the umps call out Kazuo Matsui, who is standing in the on-deck circle, as Bourn batted out of turn. Bourn then returns to the plate, draws a walk and scores on Lance Berkman's double. Houston wins, 6 - 4, behind the pitching of Wandy Rodriguez.
  • David Ortiz ends the longest home run drought of his career when he connects for the first time this season off Brett Cecil of the Blue Jays in an 8 - 3 Boston win. Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury ties a major league record by recording 12 putouts behind pitcher Brad Penny.
  • The wife of Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, Gabrielle, is found dead of a drug overdose at their home, leaving Schoeneweis in sole charge of four children under the age of 16.
• 2010:
  • Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies flirts with his second no-hitter of the year, allowing only an infield single to Humberto Quintero before leaving the game after the 7th inning because of leg cramps. The Rockies win, 4 - 0, and Jimenez is now 8-1 with an ERA of 0.99.
  • The Braves score a 9th-inning touchdown to overtake the Reds, after trailing 8 - 0 earlier and being down by 6 when the fateful inning starts. After another good start by rookie Mike Leake, reliever Mike Lincoln gives up four consecutive singles to start the 9th, scoring two runs. He is replaced by Nick Masset, who walks Cody Ross to load the bases; Martin Prado follows with a apparent double play grounder, but 3B Miguel Cairo fails to get the ball out of his glove and the score is now 9 - 6. Arthur Rhodes strikes out Jason Heyward for the first out and Francisco Cordero comes out to face pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad. Conrad hits a drive to deep left field which deflects off the glove of Laynce Nix and falls in the stands for a walk-off grand slam. It is only the second time in major league history that a pinch-hit grand slam overcomes a three-run deficit to end a game; the first was on July 8, 1950, by Jack Phillips of the Pirates. Joey Votto also hit a grand slam earlier in the game for the Reds, and Craig Kimbrel earns his first big league win.
• 2011:
  • The Chicago Cubs make their first visit to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series, but the Red Sox prove to be poor hosts, whacking them, 15 - 5. The Cubs commit 4 errors and give up 19 hits, while the Sox take advantage of the Green Monster to launch 6 doubles and a pair of homers in its direction. Adrian Gonzalez has 4 hits and 4 RBI in the Sox's 7th straight win.
  • After being shut out by the Mets in back-to-back games, the Nationals have their biggest offensive game since moving to Washington, DC in 2005. They beat the Orioles, 17 - 5, launching 6 homers. Jayson Werth hits two of the long balls, and Danny Espinosa, who collects 6 RBI, Roger Bernadina, Wilson Ramos and Laynce Nix hit the others. Both the 17 runs and the 6 homers are team marks since the move to the nation's capital.
• 2012:
  • With his bench depleted with two outs in the 13th inning, Padres manager Bud Black turns to P Clayton Richard to pinch-hit against the Angels' David Pauley. Breaking out of an 0-for-16 slump for the season, Richard singles, then scores from first base when LF Howie Kendrick bobbles Will Venable's hit to give San Diego a 3 - 2 win. Kendrick is also playing in an unfamiliar role, having been moved from his usual 2B after injuries to OFs Vernon Wells and Ryan Langerhans.
  • Max Scherzer strikes out 15 batters in 7 innings to lead the Tigers to a 4 - 3 win over the Pirates. The strikeouts are one shy of the club record of 16, held by Mickey Lolich, and represent the highest total in the major leagues so far this season.
• 2013 - Two of the best pitchers so far this season throw complete game three-hitters today. Clayton Kershaw of Los Angeles defeats Milwaukee, 3 - 1, a win that saves manager Don Mattingly's job at least for now, as the Dodgers have been badly underperforming in spite of splurging on high-salaried players over the past 12 months. Matt Kemp hits his first homer in almost a month and Andre Ethier also homers and adds a triple, but is ejected by umpire Dan Bellino for arguing a called third strike in the 8th inning. Patrick Corbin also pitches a gem in Coors Field, getting his first career complete game, as Arizona defeats the Rockies, 5 - 1. Corbin is now 7-0 with a 1.44 ERA, which only trails Kershaw's 1.35 in the National League.

[edit] Births

• 1856 - Horace Phillips, manager (d. 1896)
• 1860 - Walt Burnham, minor league manager (d. 1937)
• 1860 - Watch Burnham, manager (d. 1902)
• 1879 - John Murphy, infielder (d. 1949)
• 1879 - Jake Thielman, pitcher (d. 1928)
• 1884 - Paul Howard, outfielder (d. 1968)
• 1889 - Ted Cather, outfielder (d. 1945)
• 1890 - Jess Buckles, pitcher (d. 1975)
• 1891 - Joe Harris, infielder (d. 1959)
• 1893 - Walter Bernhardt, pitcher (d. 1958)
• 1893 - Fritz Von Kolnitz, infielder (d. 1948)
• 1897 - Wilcy Moore, pitcher (d. 1963)
• 1900 - Claral Gillenwater, pitcher (d. 1978)
• 1900 - George Grantham, infielder (d. 1954)
• 1900 - Ollie Klee, outfielder (d. 1977)
• 1904 - Pete Appleton, pitcher (d. 1974)
• 1910 - Fernando Barradas, minor league pitcher; Salon de la Fama (d. 1995)
• 1911 - Bert Delmas, infielder (d. 1979)
• 1912 - Horacio Martinez, Negro League infielder (d. 1992)
• 1913 - Lou Scoffic, outfielder (d. 1997)
• 1914 - Stan Benjamin, outfielder (d. 2009)
• 1916 - Joe Wood, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1916 - Al Kubski, minor league infielder/manager (d. 2006)
• 1919 - Harry Taylor, pitcher (d. 2000)
• 1921 - Hal Newhouser, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1998)
• 1921 - Earl Rapp, outfielder (d. 1992)
• 1923 - Jose Zardon, outfielder
• 1924 - Herman Wedemeyer, minor league outfielder (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Lee Griffeth, pitcher (d. 2007)
• 1929 - Lamar North, scout (d. 2011)
• 1930 - Tom Morgan, pitcher (d. 1987)
• 1931 - Ken Boyer, infielder, manager; All-Star (d. 1982)
• 1937 - Bob Giallombardo, pitcher
• 1940 - Sadaharu Oh, NPB infielder and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
• 1943 - Boudewijn Maat, Hoofdklasse player
• 1943 - Dave McDonald, infielder
• 1946 - Jim Lyttle, outfielder
• 1946 - Bobby Murcer, outfielder; All-Star (d. 2008)
• 1956 - David Farina, Italian Baseball League pitcher
• 1957 - John Zisk, minor league outfielder-infielder
• 1958 - Hector Heredia, minor league pitcher
• 1959 - Gary Davenport, minor league infielder
• 1959 - Kim Jessop, Australian national team pitcher
• 1959 - Russ Stephans, minor league catcher
• 1961 - Ralph Bryant, outfielder
• 1963 - Glen Kuiper, minor league infielder
• 1963 - David Wells, pitcher; All-Star
• 1964 - Gordon Dillard, pitcher
• 1964 - Jeff Schwarz, pitcher
• 1965 - Wayne Housie, outfielder
• 1965 - Todd Stottlemyre, pitcher
• 1965 - Carlos Yánes, Cuban leagues pitcher
• 1971 - Miguel Jabalera, minor league infielder and manager
• 1971 - Motoi Okoshi, NPB outfielder
• 1972 - Byung-kyu Kang, KBO pitcher
• 1973 - Jason Pruitt, minor league pitcher
• 1974 - Jun Du, China Baseball League outfielder
• 1974 - Yoel Hernandez, Italian Baseball League pitcher
• 1974 - Brian McNichol, pitcher
• 1975 - Amaury Garcia, infielder
• 1975 - Luis Garcia, infielder
• 1976 - Ramon Hernandez, catcher; All-Star
• 1976 - Tomoya Satozaki, NPB catcher
• 1977 - Steve Stemle, pitcher
• 1978 - Wilson Valdez, infielder
• 1979 - Jayson Werth, outfielder; All-Star
• 1979 - Jae-woong Yoo, KBO outfielder
• 1980 - Austin Kearns, outfielder
• 1981 - Atsushi Fujii, NPB outfielder
• 1981 - Kensuke Tanaka, NPB infielder
• 1983 - Adam Rosales, infielder
• 1984 - Pedro Powell, minor league outfielder
• 1985 - Toru Murata, minor league pitcher
• 1987 - Daniel Lamb-Hunt, Bundesliga infielder
• 1988 - Chase Burnette, minor league outfielder
• 1988 - Patrick Lawson, minor league pitcher
• 1988 - Carlos Rivero, minor league infielder
• 1988 - Tony Sanchez, minor league catcher
• 1989 - Yu-Hsun Chen, Taiwan national team pitcher
• 1989 - Daniele Malengo, Italian Baseball League outfielder
• 1989 - Hayden Simpson, minor league pitcher
• 1990 - Chris Reed, minor league pitcher
• 1991 - Sek Sitthikaew, Thai national team pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1889 - Oscar Walker, outfielder (b. 1854)
• 1891 - Jim Fogarty, outfielder, manager (b. 1864)
• 1905 - Ed Kennedy, outfielder (b. 1856)
• 1914 - Chub Collins, infielder (b. 1857)
• 1917 - Jim Galligan, infielder (b. 1860)
• 1933 - Billy Lauder, infielder (b. 1874)
• 1942 - Amby McConnell, infielder (b. 1883)
• 1945 - Masaru Kageura, NPB pitcher, outfielder and infielder; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1915)
• 1948 - Frank Browning, pitcher (b. 1882)
• 1957 - Roy Hutson, outfielder (b. 1902)
• 1958 - Frank Bird, catcher (b. 1869)
• 1958 - Cotton Minahan, pitcher (b. 1882)
• 1960 - Pat Collins, catcher (b. 1896)
• 1964 - Frank Moore, pitcher (b. 1876)
• 1964 - Cy Neighbors, outfielder (b. 1880)
• 1969 - Lee Allen, researcher (b. 1915)
• 1969 - Charlie Pickett, pitcher (b. 1883)
• 1971 - Martin Dihigo Hall of Famer (b. 1905)
• 1972 - Wally Dashiell, infielder (b. 1902)
• 1972 - Hoge Workman, pitcher (b. 1899)
• 1978 - Bob Logan, pitcher (b. 1910)
• 1978 - Harrison McGalliard, NPB catcher (b. 1906)
• 1982 - Leo Taylor, pinch runner (b. 1901)
• 1983 - Fred Schulte, outfielder (b. 1901)
• 1989 - Mike Reinbach, outfielder (b. 1949)
• 1991 - Pete Runnels, infielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1928)
• 1993 - Al Aber, pitcher (b. 1927)
• 2001 - Bob Keely, catcher (b. 1909)
• 2004 - Doug Pappas, researcher (b. 1962)
• 2008 - Herb Hash, pitcher (b. 1911)
• 2011 - Randy Poffo, minor league outfielder (b. 1952)