May 6
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 6.
[edit] Events
- 1915 - Babe Ruth, as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, had three hits, including his first major league home run when he connected off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.
- 1917 - Bob Groom of the St. Louis Browns duplicated teammate Ernie Koob's feat of the previous day by pitching a 3 - 0 no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park.
- 1925 - Ty Cobb batted his fifth home run in two games tying the record set by Cap Anson in 1884.
- 1929 - The American League announced it will discontinue the league's MVP award.
- 1931 - Willie Mays is born in Westfield, Alabama. After a brief career in the Negro Leagues, Mays will make his major league debut with the New York Giants in 1951. During a 22-year major league career, Mays will bat .302 with 660 home runs and 1903 RBI. Mays will gain Hall of Fame honors in 1971.
- 1934 - At Fenway Park, Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell and Bucky Walters hit four consecutive triples for the Boston Red Sox en route to a 14-4 win over the Detroit Tigers.
- 1941:
- The Brooklyn Dodgers acquired second baseman Billy Herman from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for OF Charlie Gilbert, IF Johnny Hudson, and cash. Herman, struggling with a .194 batting average, will hit .291 for the Dodgers over the balance of the season.
- Hank Greenberg made his last game before entering the U.S. military a memorable one as he hit two home runs with three RBI helping the Detroit Tigers to a 7 - 4 victory over the New York Yankees.
- 1951 - Cliff Chambers of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a 3 - 0 no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the host Boston Braves, despite walking eight batters and throwing a wild pitch. Chambers became only the second Pittsburgh pitcher to hurl a no-hitter.
- 1953 - Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6 - 0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics, becoming only the third pitcher in major league history to fire a no-hitter in his first start. Holloman will win only two more games during a brief one-year career and he never pitched another complete game in the majors.
- 1956 - Cincinnati Reds outfielder Gus Bell hit home runs off Bob Miller in both ends of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field. Cincinnati won 10 - 2 and 11 - 9.
- 1968 - San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Lindy McDaniel set a National League record playing his 225th consecutive game without committing an error. The streak includes 108 chances handled successfully since June 16, 1964.
- 1974 - Oakland Athletics pitcher Paul Lindblad's major league streak of 385 consecutive games without committing an error came to an end when he made an errant throw in a 6 - 3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
- 1982 - Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners became the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeated the New York Yankees 7 - 3 at the Kingdome. Perry became the first pitcher to notch his 300th win since Early Wynn did it in 1963.
- 1983 - At Tiger Stadium, the California Angels defeated Detroit, 4 - 2, as Rod Carew went 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .500 (48-for 96). The Angels' first baseman will finish the season at .339, second best in the American League as Wade Boggs of the Red Sox leads the league with .361 pace.
- 1994 - Anthony Young won as a starter for the first time in more than two years as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10 - 1. The hard luck pitcher, obtained from the Mets for shortstop Jose Vizcaino, ended his 29-game losing-streak major league record as a starter.
- 1998 - Rookie Kerry Wood tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, pitching a one-hitter to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Houston Astros 2 - 0. The 20-year-old right-hander tied the record set by Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox against Seattle in 1986, and matched by Clemens against Detroit in 1996. Wood also broke the National League record of 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, held by Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver and David Cone.
- 2005 - Preserving a 6 - 5 win over the Cardinals, Trevor Hoffman became the third closer in major league history to save 400 games The Padres reliever joined Lee Smith (478) and John Franco (424) as the other bullpen artists who have also reached this milestone.
- 2007 - Hideki Matsui doubles to left in an at-bat against Jarrod Washburn. It his 2,000th hit between MLB and NPB and makes him the 46th member of the meikyukai.
- 2008 - The Red Sox top the Tigers, 5-0. The game is historic in that it features a combined shutout by two pitchers over age 40, the first such contest in over a century. Tim Wakefield allowed two hits in 8 innings and Mike Timlin finishes off the game.
[edit] Births
- 1846 - Harry Deane, outfielder, manager (d. 1925)
- 1849 - Count Gedney, outfielder (d. 1922)
- 1855 - Bonesetter Reese, trainer (d. 1931)
- 1859 - Gid Gardner, outfielder (d. 1914)
- 1864 - Mike McDermott, pitcher (d. 1947)
- 1865 - Artie Clarke, catcher (d. 1949)
- 1865 - Bill Stemmeyer, pitcher (d. 1945)
- 1875 - Pat Duff, pinch hitter (d. 1925)
- 1877 - John Lovett, pitcher (d. 1937)
- 1883 - Ed Karger, pitcher (d. 1957)
- 1890 - Lute Boone, infielder (d. 1982)
- 1890 - Walton Cruise, outfielder (d. 1975)
- 1893 - Pat Griffin, pitcher (d. 1927)
- 1898 - Dewey Metivier, pitcher (d. 1947)
- 1898 - Al Wingo, outfielder (d. 1964)
- 1901 - Earle Brucker, catcher, manager (d. 1981)
- 1905 - Ned Porter, pitcher (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Ivy Andrews, pitcher (d. 1970)
- 1908 - Jack Owens, catcher (d. 1958)
- 1913 - Slim Jones, Negro League pitcher (d. 1938)
- 1913 - Walt Laskowski, scout (d. 1970)
- 1915 - Les Webber, pitcher (d. 1986)
- 1917 - Mike McCormick, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1921 - Bob Chesnes, pitcher (d. 1979)
- 1921 - Dick Wakefield, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1985)
- 1923 - Earl Turner, catcher (d. 1999)
- 1926 - Dick Cole, infielder
- 1931 - Willie Mays, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1932 - Charlie Rabe, pitcher
- 1934 - Tom Baker, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1934 - Leo Burke, outfielder
- 1939 - Russ Gibson, catcher
- 1940 - Bill Hands, pitcher
- 1943 - Tim Murtaugh, minor league catcher
- 1944 - Masanori Murakami, pitcher
- 1948 - Frankie Libran, infielder
- 1951 - Steve Staggs, infielder
- 1953 - Larry Andersen, pitcher
- 1954 - Albert Williams, pitcher
- 1954 - Jeff Albert, minor league pitcher
- 1956 - Alberto Lois, outfielder
- 1957 - Kim Seaman, pitcher
- 1958 - Keefe Cato, pitcher
- 1962 - Tom Bolton, pitcher
- 1964 - Daisuke Araki, NPB pitcher
- 1968 - Phil Clark, outfielder
- 1969 - José Ibar, Cuban National League pitcher
- 1971 - Israel Alcantara, outfielder
- 1973 - Mike Kinkade, outfielder
- 1975 - Jim Chamblee, infielder
- 1976 - Earl Snyder, infielder
- 1977 - Jordy Alexander, minor league pitcher
- 1977 - Benito Baez, pitcher
- 1977 - Maxime Leblanc, French national team pitcher
- 1978 - Jeremy Johnson, minor league outfielder
- 1980 - Chih-Chia Chang, NPB pitcher
- 1980 - Bill Mauer, minor league pitcher
- 1981 - Dustin Nippert, pitcher
- 1982 - Shawn Nottingham, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1907 - Frank Selman, infielder (b. 1852)
- 1928 - Sam Wright, infielder (b. 1848)
- 1945 - Eddie Zimmerman, infielder (b. 1883)
- 1946 - Bill Deitrick, outfielder (b. 1902)
- 1947 - Ferdie Moore, infielder (b. 1896)
- 1949 - Charlie Hallstrom, pitcher (b. 1864)
- 1949 - Speed Kelly, infielder (b. 1884)
- 1952 - Harry Berte, infielder (b. 1872)
- 1952 - Rube Dessau, pitcher (b. 1883)
- 1953 - Jim Jones, outfielder (b. 1876)
- 1956 - Harry Ostdiek, catcher (b. 1881)
- 1957 - Ralph Judd, pitcher (b. 1901)
- 1959 - Vance McIlree, pitcher (b. 1897)
- 1959 - Al Scheer, outfielder (b. 1888)
- 1960 - Vern Bickford, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1920)
- 1960 - Merlin Kopp, outfielder (b. 1892)
- 1965 - Lee Head, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1899)
- 1967 - Clayton Sheedy, scout (b. ????)
- 1975 - Les Burke, infielder (b. 1902)
- 1979 - Allen Elliott, infielder (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Charlie Ripple, pitcher (b. 1921)
- 1979 - Bunny Roser, outfielder (b. 1901)
- 1980 - Hank Sweeney, infielder (b. 1915)
- 1981 - Shinji Hamazaki, NPB pitcher and manager, Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1901)
- 1982 - Beauty McGowan, outfielder (b. 1901)
- 1985 - Joe Glenn, catcher (b. 1908)
- 1985 - Kirby Higbe, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1915)
- 1985 - Red Peery, pitcher (b. 1906)
- 1986 - Ernesto Carmona, minor league manager; Salon de la Fama (b. 1896)
- 1986 - Len Schulte, infielder (b. 1916)
- 2003 - Art Houtteman, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Joe Lafata, infielder (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Pete Gebrian, pitcher (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Lee Stine, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 2007 - Bruce Andrew, minor league infielder (b. 1939)
