May 22

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 22.

[edit] Events

1880 - Pud Galvin makes his first appearance of the season for Buffalo, beating Cincinnati 2 - 1. Galvin had difficulty leaving California, where he was forced to walk 36 miles at one point to avoid local detectives who were trying to hold him to his California League contract.
1891 - Against Cincinnati's Billy Rhines, New York's Mickey Welch hits into a game-ending triple play,
1893 - In the first game at the Louisville Colonels' new Parkland Field, "played by mutual agreement with the pitcher under the old rules," Cincinnati wins 3 - 1.
1898 - A 9th-inning scratch single by Brooklyn batter Fielder Jones breaks up a no-hit effort by Chick Fraser of Louisville, who wins 3 - 0.
1901 - At Cincinnati, Reds ace Noodles Hahn strikes out 16 Boston batters en route to a 4-3 Reds win. The 16 K's will stand as the club record until it is matched by Jim Maloney in 1963.
1902 - Giants' star George Van Haltren, age 36, snaps a small bone near his right ankle while stealing second base. Van Haltren is done for the season, and will play only 80 more big league games (as noted by Bill Deane).
1911 - Boston (National League) hurler Cliff Curtis sets a ML mark by losing his 23rd consecutive game. The streak began on June 13, 1910.
1912 - The Giants complete a western trip in first place, beating the Reds today, 6 - 1. Christy Mathewson is in total control, giving up three hits in the 1st three innings, and then retiring the next 18 batters. The Giants will win nine straight, before losing to St. Louis 5 - 1 on May 31st, and will open a 14-game lead.
1912 - In an attempt to shake up the team, the Pirates send veteran Tommy Leach and pitcher Lefty Leifield to Chicago for 29-year-old Solly Hofman and pitcher King Cole. Cole, 40 - 13 in 2+ years of pitching, will be a poor contributor, eventually pitching in just 17 games for Pittsburgh before ending his career with the Highlanders.
1913 - The Giants send Red Ames, Heinie Groh and outfielder Josh Devore to Cincinnati for P Art Fromme and infielder Eddie Grant. The little-used Groh will star in Cincinnati, and eventually manage the team. Devore will be sold to the Phillies in August. Grant, a starter until today, will not play until June 4th, so there is some confusion (as noted by Cliff Blau) about whether he was sold on that date or part of today's trade.
1913 - Browns rookie Dwight Stone gives up six hits, seven walks and plunks three batters, but still beats the Yankees, 7 - 0. The visiting New Yorkers strand a modern-ML record 15 runners in the shutout by Stone, who will win just one more game in 1913. Ed Klepfer is the losing pitcher in his only decision of the year. The record will be matched three times and finally topped, in 1994. The NL record of 14 runners stranded in a shutout was set less than two weeks ago by Pittsburgh against the Phillies.
1913 - Ruling that a ballplayer on the field is a "public person," a New York judge throws out cases brought by New York and Boston players against a motion picture company that took movies of the 1912 World Series.
1914 - Otto Hess shuts down the Cubs, 2 - 0, giving the Braves back-to-back wins for the first time this year. They will have considerably more runs like that later in the year.
1922 - The Yankees, who have been sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants since 1913, begin construction on their own stadium in the Bronx.
1923 - In a Negro National League game at St. Louis' Stars Park, Chicago American Giants CF Cristobal Torriente hits for the cycle, scoring three and batting in seven runs, He finishes his offensive outburst with a homer in the top of the 9th to give the American Giants an 11-10 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Jack Marshall gets into a jam and Torriente comes in with two out and runners on 2B and 3B. With Cool Papa Bell at the plate, Torriente promptly goes from hero to goat in the space of two pitches, both of them wild, allowing the tying and winning runs to score easily.
1923 - Babe Ruth breaks a 1 - 1 tie between the Yanks and White Sox by clouting a 2-run homer in the 15th inning. The blow breaks up a tense pitching duel between little Mike Cvengros and Herb Pennock, who goes all the way giving up just four hits. The Yanks have now won 12 of 13 contests in their western swing.
1926 - At Rogers Hornsby Day in St. Louis, the Cards player-manager is presented $1,000 in gold and a medal as the National League MVP for 1925. The Cards then whip the Phillies, 9 - 2, to even their record at .500.
1926 - Before the Braves-Cubs game at Wrigley Field, Grover Cleveland Alexander is given the keys to a Lincoln automobile, a gift from the fans. The Braves then cuff Alex around and win, 7 - 1. When the Cubs end their homestand, Alexander will be left behind in Chicago, and then waived.
1928 - White Sox CF Johnny Mostil handles 12 chances against the Indians, equaling Happy Felsch's American League record, also made against Cleveland as the Sox win, 4 - 3. Mostil also legs it home from 2B with the winning run on a wild pitch by George Uhle. Sam Langford has a home run and two doubles for Cleveland.
1930 - In Philadelphia, the Yankees and the Athletics continue the home run barrage as the Yankees take both games of a 2nd straight doubleheader, 10 - 1 and 20 - 13. Babe Ruth hits a pair of home runs in the opener, as does Ben Chapman and winning pitcher George Pipgras. The Yanks score nine runs in the 1st two innings of the 2nd second game, but the A's come back to tie it at 12 apiece. The Yanks win the assault 20 - 13 as Tony Lazzeri is 4-for-4 scores five runs, and knocks in 4. Ruth hits another in the 2nd game, while Lou Gehrig powers three round trippers to drive in eight runs. On the A's side, Jimmie Foxx has two homers to drive in six runs. For the afternoon, the teams combine to hit 14 round trippers, a then-record 10 in game 2.
1933 - Joe Sewell of the Yankees fans for the first time this season, a 3 - 0 win behind Lefty Gomez over Cleveland. Sewell will strike out only three more times in 524 at bats this year.
1934 - The Indians stop the Yankees, 5 - 1, with Lou Gehrig driving in the lone run for New York. For the 2nd time in his career, Lou has driven in at least one run a game for 10 straight games.
1935 - The Albany Senators sign Alabama Pitts, legendary athletic star and parolee from Sing Sing prison.
1936 - Collecting 17 hits, including eight doubles, the Cards overwhelm the Pirates, 11 - 4. Dizzy Dean breezes to his 6th win and the Cards increase their lead to one 1/2 games. Pepper Martin scores in his 13th consecutive game, but will go runless tomorrow.
1936 - Phils pitcher Bucky Walters shuts out the Dodgers, 15 - 0. Freddie Fitzsimmons, routed before getting an out, is the loser. The big blow in the 7-run 1st inning is a grand slam by Pinky Whitney.
1937 - Facing Wes Ferrell in Boston, Hank Greenberg hits a long centerfield home run out of Fenway Park. It exits to the right of the flag pole and is called the longest home run ever hit at Fenway. Gee Walker has three hits to run his hit streak to 26 straight games, but the Red Sox counter with 14 hits of their own to win, 11 - 9. Walker's streak will end on the 24th after 27 games.
1937 - The Athletics regain the American League lead by beating the White Sox, 10 - 9 in 11 innings. In the inning, however, they need two singles, runner safe on an error, and three walks to win the game as Chicago C Luke Sewell picks one runner off at 2B and throws another out at 3B on a steal try.
1937 - Before a 6 - 2 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati, the Dodgers announce that Van Lingle Mungo has been fined, suspended for three days, and given a bill for $1,500 worth of damage done to a St. Louis hotel room following a ruckus last week with teammates trying to get him to bed at four A.M. When a photographer asks to take a picture of Mungo's black eye, the pitcher replies, "You can take it for $1,000, because that's what it cost me to get it."
1938 - White Sox pitcher Ted Lyons records his 200th career win beating the Senators, 9-2.
1938 - The Dodgers announce contracts to install lights at Ebbets Field. The first night game will be played there on June 15th.
1941 - A smart play by the Reds' Lonny Frey helps Cincy to a 6 - 4 win over the Giants. With one out and the sacks full in the 1st, Chuck Aleno hits a DP grounder to short. Frey, running from 2B, allows the ball to hit him for an out, stopping play and putting Aleno on 1B. Ernie Lombardi then hits a grand slam. Frank McCormick adds a 2-run home run in the 3rd.
1942 - Ted Williams is sworn into the U.S. Navy, but will remain with the Red Sox until he is called for active duty.
1944 - The Cincinnati Clowns of the Negro American League defeat the Great Lakes Naval Center Negro team 7 - 5.
1946 - With the score tied 1 - 1 in the 10th inning at Ebbets Field, Cubs SS Lennie Merullo and Dodgers 2B Eddie Stanky start punching each other, precipitating a brawl between the two teams. Claude Passeau rips off Leo Durocher's jersey before calm is restored. The Dodgers win 2 - 1 in 13 innings, collecting 11 hits off Johnny Schmitz, who goes the distance. Joe Hatten gives up four hits in 12 innings, with Kirby Higbe pitching the last round.
1947 - The Yankees beat Boston, 9 - 0, as Allie Reynolds fires his 2nd two-hit shutout over the Red Sox in a month. Harry Dorish is the loser.
1947 - The Pirates beat the Braves, 4 - 3, as both teams combine for 22 hits - all singles. The Pirates have 12.
1949 - Brooklyn's Don Newcombe makes his first ML start a dandy, shutting out the Reds, 3 - 0 in Cincinnati. It's the first shutout in a National League debut in eleven years and extends Brooklyn's win streak at Cincinnati to 19 games going back to June 1947. Newk gives up hits to the first two batters, then allows just three more hits while walking none. He drives in two runs as well. Ken Raffensberger then matches Newk by firing a one-hitter to beat Brooklyn, 2 - 0, tossing only 83 pitches. The only hit is a leadoff single by Gil Hodges in the 8th. Raffensberger pitched two one-hitters against the Dodgers in 1948.
1952 - The Celler committee finds legislation for government control of baseball to be unnecessary. It says that the sport can solve its own problems, and opposes legislation exempting the reserve clause from antitrust laws.
1953 - Yanks' OF Irv Noren ends the game by lining back to P Bob Porterfield, who starts a triple play, as the Senators beat the Yankees 12 - 4. The Nats score five in the 1st inning off Allie Reynolds. Washington tallies 18 hits including a 3-run homer and 2-run double by Clyde Vollmer. Johnny Mize hits pinch single in the 9th, his 5th pinch single in a row, breaking a mark set by Cleveland's Les Fleming in 1947. Mize has had a walk and been hit by a pitch in his last seven pinch appearances.
1954 - At Yankee Stadium, Allie Reynolds tosses a 7-hit shutout over the Red Sox to win 7 - 0. Mickey Mantle is the offense, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Mick will knock in 10 runs in the 3-game series against the Red Sox.
1955 - The 2nd game of a Giants-Pirates doubleheader is called at the top of the 9th due to rain, 28 minutes short of the Sunday curfew, with the Giants leading 5 - 3. If the rain had started before the end of the 8th, the game would have gone to the Pirates by a score of 3 - 2. The umpires almost ruled it a suspended game rather than a called game, because they felt they had to wait at least half an hour before calling a game, which would set the time two minutes after the curfew. But a Giants vice president finds the rule that puts weather and similar conditions first when determining whether a game is called or suspended.
1956 - Detroit's Red Wilson belts a two run home run in the bottom of the 9th to give the Tigers a 3 - 2 win against the Yankees. The loss goes to Whitey Ford, his first following six wins. Ford had given up just five earned runs through 54 innings before today.
1957 - The Red Sox set an American League record by smashing four home runs in the 6th inning in an 11 - 0 win over Cleveland. Gene Mauch, Ted Williams, Dick Gernert and Frank Malzone do the honors. All of these come on the first 16 pitches from Cal McLish. Williams had set the record with Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin and Jim Tabor in 1940.
1958 - Ted Williams hits his 16th career grand slam to provide the Red Sox with the margin in an 8 - 5 win over the A's. Ted's 4th inning blast, off Jack Urban, tied him with Babe Ruth for 2nd place on the career slam list.
1959 - Baltimore's Hoyt Wilhelm one-hits the Yankees 5 - 0, with Jerry Lumpe's single in the 8th the spoiler. Switch-hitter Mickey Mantle hits righty against Wilhelm and does no better than he has been lefty. On May 28, Wilhelm will beat the Yankees again, 5-0.
1960 - With Rocky Colavito on the bench because of poor hitting, the Tigers sweep the visiting Red Sox, 6 - 2 and 5 - 2. Boston has now lost nine straight and extend that to 10 games before winning. Jim Bunning and Hank Aguirre notch the wins, as the Hubmen strand 15 runners in the nitecap.
1962 - Roger Maris, who went all of 1961 without receiving an intentional walk, gets four in a 12-inning 2 - 1 win against the Angels to set an American League record. Maris receives five walks in all. Four Yankee pitchers (Whitey Ford, Jim Coates, Bud Daley and Bob Turley) combine to give up just one hit in 12 innings. Ford leaves after seven innings because of back spasms, and Coates gives up the lone hit, a one-out 9th-inning single to Buck Rodgers.
1963 - At Yankee Stadium, New York blows a 7 - 0 lead and allows Kansas City to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Mickey Mantle, leading off the 11th, is fooled by Bill Fischer on a slow curve, then cannons a 2 - 2 pitch that almost clears the RF roof. "The hardest ball I ever hit," Mantle later comments, a ball that, by some accounts, was still rising when it struck a foot below the top. It is conservatively estimated by Dr. James McDonald, a physicist who studies long-ball trajectories, that the ball would have traveled 620 feet if it had not struck the facade. "That was the only homer I ever hit that the bat actually bent in my hands," Mantle tells Dale Long, from whom he borrowed the bat.
1963 - The all-time shortest managerial career ends after one game - a loss - when Eddie Yost, who replaced Mickey Vernon (14-26) as the Senators pilot, is replaced by Gil Hodges. Hodges was acquired today from the Mets, who receive veteran Jimmy Piersall.
1963 - Los Angeles' Don Drysdale beats the Mets 7 - 3 on two hits - homers by Duke Snider and Tim Harkness.
1964 - Baltimore edges the Twins 6 - 5, scoring two runs in the 9th for the victory. Twins reliever Gerry Arrigo allows a 2-out home run to Sam Bowens, his 2nd home run of the game, then throws three balls to John Orsino before being lifted for Bill Fischer. Fischer throws a strike to Orsino who then hits his next pitch for the winning home run. It is Fischer's last ML throw: on the 24th he is placed on the voluntarily retired list.
1965 - The Pirates and Giants trade infielders, Dick Schofield Sr. going to San Francisco and Jose Pagan to Pittsburgh. The Pirates come out ahead on the trade as Pagan will spend seven years with the Bucs.
1968 - The Cards fall 2 - 0, as Don Drysdale's streak reaches three consecutive scoreless games.
1968 - At Wrigley Field, Pirates' slugger Willie Stargell hits three home runs and just misses a fourth in a 13-6 rout over the Cubs. 'Pops' also hit a single and a double which bounced off the railing in left field fence back onto the playing field.
1976 - Reggie Smith slams three homers and drives in five runs to give the Cardinals a 7 - 6 win over the Phillies. Smith's 3rd round tripper is a solo shot with two out in the 9th inning off Tug McGraw to give Al Hrabosky the win.
1977 - The Red Sox split a doubleheader with the Brewers, winning the opener 14 - 10. The two teams tie a major-league record in Game One when they combine for 11 home runs, six by Boston. Dwight Evans clocks one of the homers over the new upper section of the CF wall, about 20 feet to the right of the flagpole. In the past three games, the two teams hit 23 homers. Eddie Rodriguez stops the slugging in game 2, allowing two Boston hits to win, 6 - 0.
1981 - Coach Billy Gardner replaces the fired Johnny Goryl as manager of the Twins. Minnesota (11-25) had lost eight consecutive games, but shuts out Kansas City 7 - 0 in Gardner's managerial debut.
1988 - Pedro Guerrero throws his bat at David Cone after being hit by a pitch in the Dodgers' 5 - 2 loss to the Mets and will be suspended for four games by National League president Bart Giamatti.
1990 - Andre Dawson sets an major-league record when he is intentionally walked five times during a 16-inning 2 - 1 Cubs' win over the Reds. Cincinnati issues seven intentional passes altogether to tie a major-league record set by Houston in 1984.
1991 - Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersley picks off Toronto pinch-runner Kenny Williams in the 9th of a 2 - 1 A's victory. Eck's last pickoff occurred four years ago when, on June 29, 1987, he picked off a White Sox runner, none other than Kenny Williams!
1991 - Manager John Wathan is fired by the Royals. He will be replaced by Hal McRae.
1992 - Replacing Tom Runnells, Felipe Alou is named as the manager of the Expos. The eventual second-place Montreal club is 17-20 at the time of the Colorado native's firing.
1993 - Cardinal minor leaguer Diego Ruiz is killed and Eddie Williams are injured when their car slams into a cement pole. Williams, a catcher with the Springfield (IL) Cardinals of the Midwest League, is the driver.
1994 - Kansas City P David Cone hurls a 1-hit, 4-0 shutout over the Angels. Chili Davis' opposite-field single in the 5th inning is California's only safety.
1995 - The Durham Bulls and Winston-Salem Warthogs engage in a brawl that takes more than 30 minutes to sort out. 10 players ejected are ejected from the Carolina League game. Winston-Salem P Glen Cullop is knocked unconscious in the melee which occurs on "Strike Out Domestic Violence Night." A total of $6,000 in fines is levied, and 124 games in suspensions.
1996 - Albert Belle's 21-game hit streak is stopped when, with two men on, he strikes out in the 9th inning to end the game, a 10 - 8 Cleveland loss to the Brewers.
1996 - The Athletics spoil Dwight Gooden Day in New York City by hitting five solo homers -- three by Yankee-killer Geronimo Berroa -- to beat the Yankees 5 - 1. The five runs, all coming on homers, ties the ML mark.
1997 - The visiting Red Sox collect 19 hits, but strand 16, in beating the Yankees, 8 - 2. Former Yankee Mike Stanley hits a three-run homer, and Wil Cordero adds five hits; Tim Naehring has four hits and Mo Vaughn belts his 10th homer of the season in the 8th.
1997 - San Diego P Joey Hamilton homers and Tony Gwynn has three hits off Hideo Nomo as the San Diego Padres top the Dodgers, 4-1. It is the Pads' seventh straight win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gwynn, whose wife, Alicia, is being sued by Nomo, goes 3-for-4 to raise his average to .387. Nomo sued Alicia Gwynn last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming the unauthorized use of his name and picture in a jigsaw puzzle.
1998 - The Mets acquire C Mike Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for OF Preston Wilson, P Ed Yarnall and a player to be named. Piazza spent a week with Florida following the Dodger trade.
1999 - Mo Vaughn's single in the 8th snaps a tie and rescues Steve Sparks' wild knuckler as the Angels beat the Devil Rays, 8 - 6. In the 3rd inning, Sparks hits Paul Sorrento to load the bases, then plunks the next two batters with a knuckler. He is the 4th pitcher to hit three batters in a row, joining 1988 Houston's C.J. Nitkowski, 1977 White Sox P Wilbur Wood and 1974 Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis. He also plunks Jose Canseco in the 1st inning to tie the ML mark for HPB. Sparks only allows five hits, but walks six in addition to hitting 4.
1999 - The Yankees defeat the White Sox, 10-2, in the 1st game of a DH. Roger Clemens gets the win for NY, giving him an AL-record 19 consecutive victories over the course of two seasons; he will extend the streak by one before losing. This win was delayed by a stint on the Disabled List and a rainout. The White Sox come back to take the 2nd game by a score of 2-1.
2000 - Scoring seven times in the ninth, the Brewers make their biggest comeback in franchise history knotting the score at 9 before only 3,913 fans at County Stadium. Jose Hernandez's solo homer in the next inning completes the come-from-behind victory as Milwaukee beats the Astros, 10-9 in the first game of a doubleheader. Milwaukee also wins the 2nd game of the twinbill, 6-1.
2001 - The Twins score eight runs in the 3rd inning to give Brad Radke an 8 - 0 lead, then hold on to edge the Mariners, 12-11. The M's will use the momentum to win their next 15 and set a franchise record.
2001 - For the second time this season, Barry Bonds homers in six consecutive games. His nine homers during this span games establishes a National League mark. 1968 Senators' slugger Frank Howard's feat of hitting 10 homers in six games major league is the major league record. The Giants lose to the Diamondbacks, 12-8 as Mark Grace has four hits, including two doubles.
2002 - The Tigers defeat the Indians, 2 - 0, on Jeff Weaver's 1 - hitter. OF Chris Magruder's double with two outs in the 8th inning in his Cleveland debut is the Tribe's only safety.
2002 - The Athletics send OF Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies in exchange for IF/OF John Mabry. The trade, viewed as one - sided for the Phils, especially by the statistically oriented community, will be a good one for Oakland. Giambi will homer in his first two Phillie at bats on the 25th, and be the first player in major - league history to hit eight homers in each league before the All-Star break. He'll finish the year with 20. That, plus Jason Giambi's 41, will give the Giambi boys the record for homers by brothers in the same season, topping the 59 hit in 1937 by Joe DiMaggio (46) and Vince DiMaggio (13).
2002 - The Wichita Wranglers (Texas League) score 14 runs in the 3rd in beating Tulsa Drillers, 19 - 2. They set league records for singles (10) in an inning, and by having 16 straight players reach base. Five players make two hits in the inning.
2002 - Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura approves a financing framework for a $330 million open-air stadium. The bill is the result a seven-year effort by the Twins to secure help from the state, but the plan has only tepid support from the club because team officials are unsure if they'll be able to find $120 million for a required down payment and get a guarantee from major league baseball that a team will play in Minnesota for at least 30 years.
2003 - Arturo Moreno purchases the World Champion Angels from Walt Disney for $184 million to becoming the third owner in the 43-year history of the franchise. The 56-year-old outdoor advertising tycoon, who is a fourth-generation Mexican-American, is the first Hispanic to have a controlling interest in a major league club.
2008:
- David Price, the first overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft, finally makes his professional debut, delayed to an elbow injury. Price hits 98 mph in the first inning for the Vero Beach Devil Rays and tosses five scoreless frames for the victory.
- Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 200th home run as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He becomes the fourth player in MLB history to hit 300 for one team and 200 with another. Preceding him are Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jimmie Foxx.