October 24

Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 24.

[edit] Events

• 1908 - Baseball's anthem, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, is introduced by singer Billy Murray. The songwriting team of Albert Von Tilzer (music) and Jack Norworth (words), who created the immortal tune, had never seen a game before composing the immortal number.
• 1911 - The World Series between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics is resumed after six days of rain, and Chief Bender beats Christy Mathewson, 4 - 2, to give the Athletics a 3-1 lead.
• 1939 - Joe DiMaggio is named American League MVP, with Jimmie Foxx the runner-up.
• 1951 - Larry MacPhail suggests there should be four major leagues, including one located on the West Coast.
• 1956 - The Associated Press names Cincinnati Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts as its National League Manager of the Year.
• 1963 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax is the unanimous winner of the Cy Young Award.
• 1972 - Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson dies of heart disease at age 53. Robinson had become the first black major league player of the 20th century with the 1947 Dodgers.
• 1981 - The Los Angeles Dodgers come back to beat the New York Yankees, 8 - 7, in a sloppy three-hour marathon and tie the World Series, 2-2. The Yankees blow a 6 - 3 lead. On one play, Reggie Jackson loses the ball in the sun and it bounces off his shoulder for a two-base error.
• 1985 - Danny Jackson's five-hitter cuts St. Louis' lead to 3-2 in the World Series as the Royals take Game 5, 6 - 1. Willie Wilson's two-run triple highlights a three-run 2nd inning and chases Cardinals starter Bob Forsch.
• 1986 - Bill Russell, at age 38, announces his retirement. He is the last member of the Dodgers' Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey 1970s infield and is second on the club's all-time list with 2,183 games played.
• 1987 - Kent Hrbek's grand slam highlights a 15-hit barrage as the Minnesota Twins pound the St. Louis Cardinals, 11 - 5, at the Metrodome to force the World Series to a seventh game.
• 1991 - The Atlanta Braves take the lead in the World Series with a 14 - 5 rout of the Minnesota Twins. Atlanta blows open a 5 - 3 game with nine runs in the last two innings.
• 1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays take the major league baseball championship outside the United States for the first time ever, beating the Atlanta Braves, 4 - 3, in 11 innings, in Game 6 of the World Series.
• 1994 - Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves becomes the first pitcher in major league history to win three straight Cy Young Awards, unanimously sweeping the National League honor. Maddux posted a 16-6 record with a 1.56 ERA, the third-lowest in 75 years.
• 1995 - Eddie Murray singles home pinch-runner Alvaro Espinoza in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Cleveland Indians their first win in a World Series game in 47 years. The Tribe's 7 - 6 victory over the Atlanta Braves fittingly occurs in the first-ever Series game at Jacobs Field.
• 1996 - The New York Yankees lay claim to the last game played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Yankees, who finish the postseason with an 8-0 road record, are helped by poor Atlanta outfield defense and some great plays from their own outfielders as pitcher Andy Pettitte outduels John Smoltz, 1 - 0, in Game 5 of the World Series.
• 2000 - Pitcher Orlando Hernandez, with an 8-0 record and a 1.90 ERA in his postseason career, loses his first postseason game as the Mets defeat the Yankees, 4 - 2, on a tie-breaking 8th-inning double by Benny Agbayani. New York native John Franco gets the win, ending the Yankees' record 14-game World Series winning streak. Also today, Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens is fined a reported $50,000 for throwing the jagged barrel of a shattered bat in the direction of Mets catcher Mike Piazza in Game 2 of the Series.
• 2004 - At Fenway Park, Curt Schilling becomes the first starting pitcher to win a World Series game for three different teams. In addition to his Game 2 Red Sox 6 - 2 victory over the Cardinals today, his 8-2 lifetime postseason record includes wins for the Phillies (1993) and Diamondbacks (2001).
• 2007 - In a 13 - 1 rout of the Rockies, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia becomes the second player, and first rookie, to hit a leadoff home run in a World Series. The 24-year old freshman, the 31st major leaguer to homer in his first Fall Classic appearance, joins Orioles outfielder Don Buford who went yard in 1969 as a leadoff batter in Game 1 off Tom Seaver of the Mets.
• 2009:
  • The KIA Tigers win Game 7 of the 2009 Korean Series, beating the SK Wyverns, 6 - 5. Ji-wan Na homers twice, including the walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 9th off Byung-yong Chae. Na is named Korean Series MVP.
  • The Brother Elephants and Uni-President Lions duke it out for 17 innings in Game 6 of the 2009 Taiwan Series, setting a new Taiwan Series record for longest contest. At 6 hours and 14 minutes, it is also the longest contest (in duration) of any Chinese Professional Baseball League game, regular season or postseason, by over an hour. Records set include most players used by a club in a Taiwan Series game (22 by the Lions) and errors by both clubs (9). Elephants SS Sheng-Wei Wang ends it with a solo homer off Chien-San Kao to force a Game 7.
• 2011:
  • At the 2011 Pan American Games, two unbeaten teams fall at the worst time - in the semifinals. The USA beats Cuba, 12 - 10, scoring 12 runs in the first 4 innings before surviving a late Cuban rally; it marks the best US offensive performance to date against Cuba. Brett Carroll and Matt Clark both score 3 runs, while Alexei Bell reaches base 5 times for Cuba. It will be the first time since the 1959 Pan American Games that Cuba will not play for the Gold Medal, and the first time since 1967 that a team other than Cuba will get the Gold in baseball.
  • Canada tops hosts Mexico, 5 - 3, to clinch their best finish ever in baseball in the Pan American Games. Jorge Guzmán hits a 3-run homer in the 1st, but Shawn Hill, Dustin Molleken and Chris Kissock shut out Mexico for the next 8 2/3 innings. A balanced Canadian attack leads the comeback, with Tim Smith going 3 for 5 with a run.
  • Texas takes a 3-games-to-2 lead in the World Series with a 4 - 2 win at home over the Cardinals. Mike Napoli drives in two runs in the bottom of the 8th with a bases-loaded double off Marc Rzepczynski when manager Tony LaRussa doesn't have right-hander Jason Motte ready to come into the game because of a mix-up in communications with his bullpen.
• 2012:
  • Pablo Sandoval becomes the fourth player in World Series history to hit three homers in a game, after Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols, in leading San Francisco to an 8 - 3 win over Detroit in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series. Barry Zito pitches 5 2/3 innings for the win, as Tigers ace Justin Verlander is the loser.
  • The Samsung Lions beat the SK Wyverns, 3-1, in the opener of the 2012 Korean Series. The big star is Samsung 1B Seung-yeop Lee, who hits a -2run homer off Hee-sang Yoon in the first and later adds a two-run double. It marks a triumphant return to the Korean Series for The Lion King, who had spent 9 seasons in Japan.

[edit] Births

• 1857 - Dick Pierson, infielder (d. 1922)
• 1857 - Ned Williamson, infielder (d. 1894)
• 1858 - Sandy Griffin, outfielder, manager (d. 1926)
• 1858 - Bill Kuehne, infielder (d. 1921)
• 1859 - Jay Faatz, infielder, manager (d. 1923)
• 1861 - Charlie Jones, infielder (d. 1922)
• 1865 - Edgar McNabb, pitcher (d. 1894)
• 1870 - Phil Routcliffe, outfielder (d. 1918)
• 1871 - Heinie Smith, infielder, manager (d. 1939)
• 1871 - Chief Sockalexis, outfielder (d. 1913)
• 1885 - Del Young, outfielder (d. 1959)
• 1887 - Hugh High, outfielder (d. 1962)
• 1887 - Eddie Stack, pitcher (d. 1958)
• 1888 - Parson Perryman, pitcher (d. 1966)
• 1892 - Dick Niehaus, pitcher (d. 1957)
• 1895 - Al Pierotti, pitcher (d. 1964)
• 1899 - Cuckoo Christensen, outfielder (d. 1984)
• 1900 - Ossie Bluege, infielder, manager; All-Star (d. 1985)
• 1904 - Neal Rabe, minor league catcher and manager (d. 1962)
• 1904 - Harry Smythe, pitcher (d. 1980)
• 1905 - Jack Russell, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1990)
• 1905 - Charlie Small, outfielder (d. 1953)
• 1906 - Pete McClanahan, pinch hitter (d. 1987)
• 1907 - Grant Bowler, pitcher (d. 1968)
• 1908 - Ralph Onis, catcher (d. 1995)
• 1923 - Bill Mardo, writer (d. 2012)
• 1927 - Jim Greengrass, outfielder
• 1927 - Cal Hogue, pitcher (d. 2005)
• 1928 - George Bullard, infielder (d. 2002)
• 1929 - Jim Brosnan, pitcher
• 1933 - Bill Bell, pitcher (d. 1962)
• 1937 - John Goetz, pitcher (d. 2008)
• 1940 - Sandy Johnson, minor league infielder
• 1944 - Johnny Jeter, outfielder
• 1947 - Dean Burk, minor league pitcher (d. 2010)
• 1950 - Rawly Eastwick, pitcher
• 1952 - Omar Moreno, outfielder
• 1952 - Angel Torres, pitcher
• 1952 - Reggie Walton, outfielder
• 1956 - Ron Mazeroski, college coach (d. 2003)
• 1956 - Gary Serum, pitcher
• 1957 - Ron Gardenhire, infielder, manager
• 1957 - Bill Hayes, catcher
• 1957 - Ed Jurak, infielder
• 1958 - Hatsuhiko Tsuji, NPB infielder
• 1959 - Mike Brewer, outfielder
• 1959 - Dave Johnson, pitcher
• 1959 - Junior Ortiz, catcher
• 1961 - Rafael Belliard, infielder
• 1961 - Danny Clay, pitcher
• 1961 - Steve Ziem, pitcher
• 1962 - Gene Larkin, infielder
• 1963 - Mark Grant, pitcher
• 1967 - Rafael Perez, executive
• 1967 - F.P. Santangelo, outfielder
• 1968 - Ken Ryan, pitcher
• 1969 - Arthur Rhodes, pitcher; All-Star
• 1972 - Sean O'Brien, Canadian women's national team coach
• 1973 - Jason Lee, scout
• 1973 - Mike Matthews, pitcher
• 1974 - Wilton Guerrero, infielder
• 1974 - Garry Maddox II, minor league outfielder
• 1975 - Jong-kook Chea, KBO infielder
• 1977 - Ronnie Deck, minor league catcher
• 1977 - Rafael Furcal, infielder; All-Star
• 1978 - Chris Bootcheck, pitcher
• 1981 - Beltran Perez, pitcher
• 1981 - Omar Quintanilla, infielder
• 1982 - Macay McBride, pitcher
• 1983 - Chris Colabello, minor league infielder
• 1984 - Lucas May, catcher
• 1984 - Jose Pena, minor league player
• 1985 - Tyson Auer, minor league outfielder
• 1987 - Remco Draijer, Hoofdklasse outfielder
• 1988 - Elvin Orozco, minor league pitcher
• 1989 - Abner Abreu, minor league player
• 1989 - Eric Hosmer, infielder
• 1991 - Ted Gieschen, Hoofdklasse pitcher
• 1991 - Ayako Rokkaku, Japan womens' national team infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1916 - Hi Ebright, catcher (b. 1859)
• 1921 - Jimmy Barrett, outfielder (b. 1875)
• 1925 - Jim Price, manager (b. 1847)
• 1931 - Pete Lamer, catcher (b. 1873)
• 1938 - George Borchers, pitcher (b. 1869)
• 1941 - Emmett Rogers, catcher (b. 1870)
• 1944 - Pinky Swander, outfielder (b. 1880)
• 1948 - Jack Thoney, outfielder (b. 1879)
• 1960 - Wilbur Fisher, pinch hitter (b. 1894)
• 1965 - John Dudra, infielder (b. 1916)
• 1969 - Jack Bentley, pitcher (b. 1895)
• 1970 - Andy Oyler, infielder (b. 1880)
• 1971 - Howard Fahey, infielder (b. 1892)
• 1972 - Jackie Robinson, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (b. 1919)
• 1972 - Ron Sharpe, Baseball Australia Hall of Fame player (b. 1905)
• 1973 - Al Brazle, pitcher (b. 1913)
• 1977 - Bill Lewis, catcher (b. 1904)
• 1985 - Masaichi Nagata, NPB owner; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1906)
• 1989 - Ollie O'Mara, infielder (b. 1891)
• 1990 - Jim Clark, infielder (b. 1927)
• 1995 - Lyman Linde, pitcher (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Bill Mueller, outfielder (b. 1920)
• 2006 - Jack Radtke, infieder (b. 1913)
• 2012 - Lester Smith, owner (b. 1919)