On This Day - May 19th

OTD - 1910 - Cy Young won his 500th game as the Cleveland Indians defeated Washington 5-4 in 11 innings.



OTD - 1960 - Juan Marichal, in his first game with the San Francisco Giants, pitched a one-hitter to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0.



OTD - 1984 - Joining the club in St. Louis, Eric Davis makes his major league debut grounding out to short as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning of the Reds' 9-1 loss to the Redbirds. The 22-rookie is forced to wear a numberless jersey when Cincinnati forgets to pack an extra road uniforms.



OTD - 2002 - Cubs' first baseman Fred McGriff's two-run homer at Miller Park ties Ellis Burks' record of homering in 40 different major league parks. The 'Crime Dog's' eighth inning blast knots the score 3-3 in an eventual 4-3, 11-inning victory over the Brewers snapping Chicago's nine-game losing streak.



OTD - 2008 - Jon Lester, who was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma two seasons ago, no-hits the Royals, 7-0, becoming only third lefty in franchise history to throw a no-no at Fenway Park. The 24-year old’s battery mate, Jason Varitek also makes the record books for being the first backstop to catch four no-hitters in the majors.



Cheers,

On This Day - May 11th

OTD - 1904 After 23-innings of pitching no-hit baseball, Cy Young's streak ends. The stretch includes six innings today, two innings April 25, six on April 30, and the perfect game against the A's on May 5


OTD - 1971 - In front of a sparse crowd of 2,992 at Cleveland Stadium, Indians starter Steve Dunning hits a grand slam off A’s right-hander Diego Segui in bottom of the second inning in Cleveland’s 7-5 victory of Oakland. It will take another 37 years before another American League hurler goes deep with the bases loaded when Felix Hernandez of the Mariners accomplishes the feat against the Mets in 2008.


OTD - 1972 - The Giants trade future Hall of Famer Willie Mays to the Mets for minor league pitcher Charlie Williams and cash.


OTD - 1980 - Thirty-nine-year-old Pete Rose steals second, third, and home in one inning for the Phillies. The last National Leaguer to pull this feat was Jackie Robinson in 1954.


OTD - 1996 - Al Leiter pitches the first no-hitter in Marlins history. After two walks and a hit batsman in the first three innings, Leiter retires the last 20 batters in a 6-0 gem.



Cheers,

On This Day - May 5th

OTD - 1904 - Boston Pilgrims pitcher Cy Young hurls the second of his three no hitters, a 3-0 perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics and Rube Waddell. Young will eventually complete 24 straight hitless innings, still the record, and 45 shutout innings in a row, a record until broken by Jack Coombs' 53 scoreless frames in 1910.


OTD - 1922 - Pitching against the Tigers, the Browns' Bill Bayne takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Detroit manager Ty Cobb then sends up five straight pinch hitters, the first of whom breaks up the no-hitter. One of the pinch hitters Cobb inserts is Bob Fothergill, who bats for Cobb and strikes out, becoming the only man ever to pinch hit for the Georgia Peach.


OTD - 1962 - Angels rookie Bo Belinsky pitches a no-hitter against the Orioles, the organization from which the cocky lefty was drafted in 1961. Belinsky has nine strikeouts and beats Steve Barber 2-0.


OTD - 1975 - Oakland releases pinch runner Herb Washington. Washington played in 105 major league games without batting, pitching, or fielding. He stole 31 bases and scored 33 runs.


OTD - 1978 - Pete Rose singles off Montreal's Steve Rogers for career hit 3,000. The Expos beat the Reds 4-3.


Cheers,