May 23
From BR Bullpen
| 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 23.
[edit] Events
- 1901:
- Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics received the ultimate sign of respect from an opposing team when he was intentionally walked with the bases loaded by the Chicago White Sox.
- The Cleveland Blues rallied for nine runs with two outs in the ninth inning to post an amazing 14 - 13 victory over the Washington Senators. The Blues collected six singles, two doubles, a walk, and a hit batsman during the rally.
- 1926 - Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs hit a fifth-inning home run off the Wrigley Field scoreboard, situated at ground level, to start a 14 - 8 rout of the Boston Braves. Wilson became the first player to hit a ball off the scoreboard, which, in 1937, will be moved atop the newly built bleachers.
- 1924 - Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators struck out 14 in a 4 - 0, one-hitter win over the Chicago White Sox for his 103rd major league career shutout.
- 1925 - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Pete Donohue hit a home run and four singles to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11 - 2.
- 1944 – Wartime restrictions were eased and the Polo Grounds was the scene of the first night game in New York City since 1941 as the visiting Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the New York 3 - 2.
- 1945 - The St. Louis Cardinals traded ace pitcher Mort Cooper to the Boston Braves in exchange for pitcher Red Barrett and $60,000 in cash. Cooper, a 20-game winner for the last three seasons, had bolted the Cardinals on two occasions because of a salary dispute.
- 1948 - Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hit three consecutive home runs a 6 - 5 victory over the Cleveland Indians Two of his homers came off Bob Feller.
- 1962 - Joe Pepitone of the New York Yankees hit two home runs in the nine-run eighth-inning of the Yankees' 13 - 7 triumph over the Kansas City Athletics.
- 1970 - The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants battled for 15 innings, with San Diego winning 17 - 16. Nate Colbert led the Padres with five hits and four runs batted in.
- 1978 - The American League approved the transfer of the Boston Red Sox to a group headed by Jean R. Yawkey, Buddy LeRoux, and Haywood Sullivan. The purchase price was estimated at $15 million. Sullivan had a seven-year career as a catcher for the Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, while LeRoux was the Boston trainer for eight years.
- 1980 - Five hours after the midnight deadline, MLB players and owners averted a strike by announcing a new four-year basic agreement. The new deal raised the minimum salary from $21,000 to $30,000 and increased the clubs' contributions to the players' pension fund, but the major issue of free agent compensation remained unresolved.
- 1984 - At Anaheim Stadium, the Detroit Tigers won their 16th consecutive road game, 4 - 2 over the California Angels, tying an American League record.
- 1989:
- The Cleveland Indians lose to the Detroit Tigers, 7 - 2, to drop its record to 21-22, but remained in first place in the A.L. East by percentage points. It marked the latest in a season a sub-.500 team has been in first place.
- Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals hit a monstrous 461-foot home run against Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers. Jackson had struggled in his previous matchups against Ryan, striking out the last six times in succession.
- 1991 - Tommy Greene of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a 2 - 0 no-hitter over the Montreal Expos.
- 1995 - Pitchers Kevin Foster of the Chicago Cubs and Marvin Freeman of the Colorado Rockies each hit home runs off each other in a 7 - 6 Chicago victory at Coors Field. Foster and Freeman became just the tenth duo in the 20th century to hit and throw homers against each other.
- 2002 - At Miller Park, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the 14th man in major league history to hit [four home runs in a game and also set a big league record with 19 total bases. Green hit 6-for-6, scored six runs (both Dodgers records), and had seven RBI in a 16 - 3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Green is the second player this year to hit four home runs in a game. He also surpassed Joe Adcock's former mark of 18 total bases, set in 1954. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, six players have produced 17 or more total bases in a game, with the last being Mike Schmidt in 1976. Green also is the first major league player to collect six hits while hitting four homers, and his four homers plus a double tied the National League mark for extra base hits. The Dodgers hit eight homers in the game, another franchise record. Before today's power display, Green had gone 0-for-15, and had been benched on May 18.
- 2003 - Jeremi Gonzalez earned his first major league victory in nearly five years as the Devil Rays beat the Angels, 3 - 1, at Anaheim Stadium. Gonzalez won for the first time since June 28, 1998, while with the Chicago Cubs. He had elbow surgery in 1998 and 1999 before the Cubs released him in 2001.
- 2004 - Eelco Jansen wins his 100th game in Hoofdklasse, the 10th pitcher to reach that level. The Neptunus hurler beats ADO 1-0 in this contest, striking out nine. Tom Becker closes it up for the save. Jansen will retire later this year but will win Pitcher of the Year honors for the second time in his career.
- 2006:
- Ramón Hernandez of the Baltimore Orioles hit 3-for-5 with two home runs, including a three-run shot and a grand slam, in the Orioles 14 - 4 victory over Seattle.
- Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 16th that gave the Mets a 9-8 victory over Philadelphia. The game lasted 5 hours, 22 minutes, had 522 pitches and was the longest for the Mets since 1995.
- Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his major-league leading 23rd home run in the Cardinals 8 - 5 victory over San Francisco.
- 2007:
- Kimiyasu Kudoh of the Yokohama BayStars beats his former club, the Seibu Lions. It marks his 23rd consecutive season with at least one win, a Nippon Pro Baseball record. The old mark of 22 was held by Tetsuya Yoneda. Kudoh moves to 15th all-time with his 216th victory.
[edit] Births
- 1844 - Caleb Johnson, infielder (d. 1925)
- 1856 - Al Bradley, outfielder (d. 1937)
- 1859 - Elias Peak, infielder (d. 1916)
- 1862 - Dummy Hoy, outfielder (d. 1961)
- 1864 - Jack McGeachy, outfielder (d. 1930)
- 1869 - Algie McBride, outfielder (d. 1956)
- 1872 - Deacon Phillippe, pitcher (d. 1952)
- 1873 - Jack Taylor, pitcher (d. 1900)
- 1874 - Nap Shea, catcher (d. 1968)
- 1879 - Bill Miller, outfielder (d. 1957)
- 1881 - Frosty Thomas, pitcher (d. 1970)
- 1885 - Hugh Bradley, infielder (d. 1949)
- 1885 - Ralph McLaurin, outfielder (d. 1943)
- 1888 - Zack Wheat, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1972)
- 1890 - George Payne, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1892 - Pop-Boy Smith, pitcher (d. 1924)
- 1892 - Luke Stuart, infielder (d. 1947)
- 1893 - Elmer Leifer, infielder/outfielder (d. 1948)
- 1894 - Lee McElwee, infielder (d. 1957)
- 1899 - Frank Kelliher, pinch hitter (d. 1956)
- 1899 - Charlie Niebergall, catcher (d. 1982)
- 1900 - Herb Brett, pitcher (d. 1974)
- 1901 - Arch McDonald, announcer (d. ????)
- 1903 - Charlie Sullivan, pitcher (d. 1935)
- 1905 - Harry Child, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1906 - Pat Creeden, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1906 - Willis Hudlin, pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1909 - Chile Gomez, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Earl Huckleberry, pitcher (d. 1999)
- 1912 - Augie Galan, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1993)
- 1918 - Frank Mancuso, catcher (d. 2007)
- 1921 - Bill Drescher, catcher (d. 1968)
- 1921 - Roland LeBlanc, scout (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Lawrence Ritter, author (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Jerry McCarthy, infielder (d. 1965)
- 1924 - Clyde King, pitcher, manager
- 1929 - Spider Wilhelm, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1938 - Skip Bertman, college coach
- 1948 - Reggie Cleveland, pitcher
- 1952 - Pepe Mangual, outfielder
- 1952 - Butch Metzger, pitcher
- 1956 - Buck Showalter, manager
- 1958 - Nelson Norman, infielder
- 1961 - Kevin Romine, outfielder
- 1964 - Gino Minutelli, pitcher
- 1969 - Ramon Caraballo, infielder
- 1969 - Gi-tae Kim, KBO DH
- 1970 - Ricky Gutierrez, infielder
- 1971 - Marshall Boze, pitcher
- 1972 - Casey Whitten, minor league pitcher
- 1973 - Mike Stoner, minor league player
- 1976 - Jake Robbins, pitcher
- 1977 - Omar Moraga, minor league player
- 1978 - Scott Dunn, pitcher
- 1978 - Mike Gonzalez, pitcher
- 1979 - Cesar Crespo, infielder
- 1979 - Kirk Saarloos, pitcher
- 1979 - Chris Sampson, pitcher
- 1979 - John Webb, pitcher
- 1985 - Matt McBride, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1905 - George Zettlein, pitcher (b. 1844)
- 1920 - Doc Kennedy, catcher (b. 1853)
- 1923 - Willard Mains, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1931 - Bob Miller, pitcher (b. 1862)
- 1932 - Doug Neff, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1936 - Ted Lewis, pitcher (b. 1872)
- 1937 - Danny Clark, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1941 - Jack Clements, catcher, manager (b. 1864)
- 1946 - Johnny Grabowski, catcher (b. 1900)
- 1947 - Harry Bemis, catcher (b. 1874)
- 1947 - Goat Cochran, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1950 - Ernie Groth, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1952 - Bill McGilvray, pinch hitter (b. 1883)
- 1954 - Bill Davidson, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1962 - Rip Radcliff, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1906)
- 1963 - Gavvy Cravath, outfielder, manager (b. 1881)
- 1964 - Ernie Wolf, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1965 - Earl Webb, outfielder (b. 1897)
- 1973 - Neil Mahoney, scout (b. ????)
- 1974 - Rolla Daringer, infielder (b. 1888)
- 1976 - Pete Falsey, pinch hitter (b. 1891)
- 1977 - Sam Bohne, infielder (b. 1896)
- 1979 - Bob Chesnes, pitcher (b. 1921)
- 1979 - Hiroshi Oshita, NPB outfielder and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1922)
- 1981 - Gene Green, outfielder (b. 1933)
- 1985 - Whitey Wilshere, pitcher (b. 1912)
- 1986 - Carlos Galina, minor league infielder; Salon de la Fama (b. 1920)
- 1986 - Hugh McMullen, catcher (b. 1901)
- 1990 - Charlie Keller, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1916)
- 1995 - Ab Wright, outfielder (b. 1905)
- 2000 - Art Reichle, college coach (b. 1914)
- 2008 - Bob Ferguson, pitcher (b. 1919)
