October 23

Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 23.

[edit] Events

• 1910 - Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Coombs wins his third game of the World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs, 7 - 2, as the Athletics take the championship in five games. Eddie Collins helps Coombs with three hits, including two doubles.
• 1920 - The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell and baseball players Hal Chase and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they will later recant.
• 1923 - Babe Ruth makes a postseason appearance in a New York Giants uniform as the Giants defeat the minor league Baltimore Orioles, 9 - 0. Ruth hits a home run over the right field roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day.
• 1935 - Gabby Hartnett is selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America as the National League MVP, with Dizzy Dean the runner-up.
• 1945 - Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. The 26-year old Negro League star will be the first black player to play in Organized Baseball since 1899 and the first in the majors since 1884, paving the way for integration.
• 1951 - Leo Durocher of the New York Giants is selected Manager of the Year by The Associated Press.
• 1952 - The Pacific Coast League announces its teams will play 176-game schedule next season.
• 1974 - The Cubs trade sweet-swinging Billy Williams, a fixture at Wrigley Field for 16 years, to the Oakland Athletics for second baseman Manny Trillo and pitchers Darold Knowles and Bob Locker.
• 1979 - Billy Martin is involved in a barroom altercation with Joseph Cooper, a Minnesota marshmallow salesman. Cooper requires 15 stitches to close a gash in his lip. The fight will result in Martin being fired as Yankees manager for the second time.
• 1981 - Los Angeles beats the Yankees, 5 - 4, in Game 3 of the World Series, narrowing the Yankees' lead to 2-1.
• 1984 - Rick Sutcliffe, who was 16-1 for the Cubs after arriving from Cleveland two days before the June 15 trading deadline, is a unanimous choice as National League Cy Young Award winner.
• 1985 - John Tudor pitches a five-hit, 3 - 0 victory over the Kansas City Royals, giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the World Series.
• 1986 - At Fenway Park, Bruce Hurst's complete game victory gives the Boston Red Sox a 4 - 2 win and 3-2 lead in the World Series against the New York Mets. Hurst scatters 10 hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
• 1991 - Mark Lemke hits his second triple of the night in the 9th inning and then scores on a close play on Jerry Willard's sacrifice fly for Atlanta's 3 - 2 win over the Twins.
• 1993 - In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, 9th-inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8 - 6 win and Toronto's second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 (12 for 24), is named Series MVP while Lenny Dykstra of the Phillies, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch. Following the 2010 season, a panel of experts at the MLB Network will vote this game the 14th greatest of the past fifty years.
• 1996 - At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Braves jump to a 6 - 0 lead, but the Yankees mount the biggest comeback in their long World Series history with a three-run home run by Jim Leyritz that ties the game in the 8th inning. After Bernie Williams is intentionally walked with runners on first and second base in the 10th, Steve Avery walks Wade Boggs to bring in the deciding run.
• 1997 - The Florida Marlins move within one win of their first World Series title as Moises Alou hits his second three-run home run of the Series against Cleveland Indians pitcher Orel Hershiser. Rookie Livan Hernandez pitches into the 9th inning of Game 5 and Florida holds off the Indians, 8 - 7.
• 1998 - Davey Johnson is hired as the manager of the Dodgers. The former Mets, Reds and Orioles skipper has finished first with evey team he has managed, but will fail to do so in Los Angeles.
• 2005 - The Chicago White Sox crash two of the more dramatic home runs in recent World Series history to score a 7 - 6 victory against the Houston Astros and take a two-games-to-none lead in the Series. Paul Konerko, who hit 40 homers in the regular season, and Scott Podsednik, who hit none, provide the fireworks. Konerko, the ALCS MVP, hits a grand slam in the 7th inning to give the White Sox a 6 - 4 lead. After the Astros tie the score in the 9th against Chicago closer Bobby Jenks, Podsednik smacks a 2-1 pitch from Houston closer Brad Lidge into the bleachers in right-center field to trigger a boisterous celebration.
• 2010 - The Brother Elephants complete a sweep of the Sinon Bulls in the 2010 Taiwan Series. Jim Magrane allows one run in nine innings for his second victory of the Series, winning Taiwan Series MVP honors. It is the fourth straight year an American pitcher takes that honor, following Nelson Figueroa (2007) and Luther Hackman (2008 and 2009). Jui-Chen Chen becomes the youngest Taiwan Series-winning manager at age 35. Ssu-Chi Chou's three-run homer is the big blow in the finale, a 6 - 1 win.
• 2011 - The Rangers tie the World Series at two games each with a 4 - 0 shutout of the Cardinals in Game 4. Derek Holland is masterful, pitching 8 1/3 innings while giving up only two hits, and Mike Napoli hits a three-run homer in the 6th.
• 2012 - Ozzie Guillen is fired after one tumultuous season as manager of the Miami Marlins. Guillen managed to infuriate local fans by praising Fidel Castro in an early-season interview, then picked fights with opponents such as Nationals rookie Bryce Harper, and his own players, most notably closer Heath Bell, while leading his team to a disappointing last-place finish. Guillen had three years and $7.5 million remaining on his contract.

[edit] Births

• 1832 - William Hulbert Hall of Famer (d. 1882)
• 1860 - Jack (DA) Jones, pitcher (d. 1936)
• 1866 - Mike Sullivan, pitcher (d. 1906)
• 1881 - Lave Winham, pitcher (d. 1951)
• 1882 - Birdie Cree, outfielder (d. 1942)
• 1886 - Lena Blackburne, infielder, manager (d. 1968)
• 1889 - Hugh Bedient, pitcher (d. 1965)
• 1889 - Jack Mills, infielder (d. 1973)
• 1890 - Owen Conway, infielder (d. 1942)
• 1894 - Rube Bressler, outfielder (d. 1966)
• 1907 - Barney Brown, Negro League pitcher (d. 1985)
• 1907 - Lee Grissom, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1998)
• 1910 - Billy Sullivan, catcher (d. 1994)
• 1917 - Bones Sanders, minor league infielder and manager (d. 1960 or 1961)
• 1918 - John Brown, Negro League pitcher (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Groundhog Thompson, Negro League pitcher
• 1920 - Vern Stephens, infielder; All-Star (d. 1968)
• 1922 - Ewell Blackwell, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1996)
• 1929 - Bruce Barmes, outfielder
• 1930 - Solly Drake, outfielder
• 1931 - Jim Bunning, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer
• 1933 - Jake Striker, pitcher (d. 2013)
• 1937 - Bob Allen, pitcher
• 1937 - Cecil Butler, pitcher
• 1939 - George Williams, infielder (d. 2009)
• 1944 - Jim Rittwage, pitcher
• 1949 - Greg Thayer, pitcher
• 1952 - John Poff, outfielder
• 1952 - Randy Tate, pitcher
• 1953 - Bo McLaughlin, pitcher
• 1954 - John Castino, infielder
• 1954 - Don Lyle, minor league outfielder
• 1956 - Luis Silverio, outfielder
• 1957 - Dwight Lowry, catcher (d. 1997)
• 1957 - Ricky Carriger, minor league pitcher
• 1959 - George Hinshaw, outfielder
• 1961 - Jim Presley, infielder; All-Star
• 1965 - Al Leiter, pitcher; All-Star
• 1967 - Efrain Nieves Sr., Puerto Rican national team catcher
• 1968 - Mun-sook Jeon, South Korean womens' national team outfielder
• 1972 - Giomar Guevara, infielder
• 1975 - Todd Belitz, pitcher
• 1975 - Sheng-Hsien Feng, CPBL infielder
• 1975 - Kazuo Matsui, infielder
• 1975 - Casey Myers, minor league catcher
• 1975 - Todd Sears, infielder
• 1976 - Romeil Agladius, Croatian national team catcher
• 1976 - Hernando Arredondo, minor league infielder
• 1976 - Letticia Horstman, Dutch womens' national team infielder
• 1976 - David Riske, pitcher
• 1977 - Jon Hamilton, minor league player
• 1978 - John Lackey, pitcher; All-Star
• 1979 - Ramon A. Castro, infielder
• 1979 - Bud Smith, pitcher
• 1980 - Brett Evert, scout
• 1980 - Pedro Liriano, pitcher
• 1981 - Ben Francisco, outfielder
• 1981 - Edgar Martinez, minor league pitcher
• 1982 - Denny Bautista, pitcher
• 1985 - Sam Demel, pitcher
• 1987 - Felix Doubront, pitcher
• 1987 - Kyle Gibson, minor league pitcher
• 1989 - Garrett Buechele, minor league infielder
• 1994 - Haifan Yang, China Baseball League pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1912 - Piggy Ward, outfielder (b. 1867)
• 1918 - Jimmy Williams, manager (b. 1848)
• 1937 - John Singleton, pitcher (b. 1896)
• 1940 - Harry Krause, pitcher (b. 1887)
• 1943 - Heinie Peitz, catcher (b. 1870)
• 1947 - Cy Rheam, infielder (b. 1893)
• 1949 - Bill Burdick, pitcher (b. 1859)
• 1965 - Ed Fitzpatrick, infielder (b. 1889)
• 1965 - Otis Lawry, infielder (b. 1893)
• 1965 - Ted Odenwald, pitcher (b. 1902)
• 1965 - Chick Shorten, outfielder (b. 1892)
• 1966 - Fred Fussell, pitcher (b. 1895)
• 1966 - Jack Peerson, infielder (b. 1910)
• 1968 - Jack Bliss, catcher (b. 1882)
• 1969 - Monk Dubiel, pitcher (b. 1918)
• 1970 - Sherry Robertson, infielder (b. 1919)
• 1971 - Jesse Petty, pitcher (b. 1894)
• 1971 - Woody Upchurch, pitcher (b. 1911)
• 1977 - George Gerken, outfielder (b. 1903)
• 1983 - Buck Crouse, catcher (b. 1897)
• 1986 - Paul Gehrman, pitcher (b. 1912)
• 1992 - Lou Rochelli, infielder (b. 1919)
• 1993 - Marv Blaylock, infielder (b. 1929)
• 1993 - John Wells, pitcher (b. 1922)
• 1996 - Bob Grim, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1930)
• 2000 - Benny Culp, catcher (b. 1914)
• 2000 - Hank Wyse, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1918)
• 2003 - Al Corwin, pitcher (b. 1926)
• 2004 - Jim McDonald, pitcher (d. 1927)
• 2007 - Don Nicholas, pinch hitter (b. 1930)
• 2008 - Dave Melton, outfielder (b. 1928)
• 2009 - Rafael Castro, minor league pitcher (b. 1991)