Baseball History
This Day in Baseball History
-
On July 29th, 1915, 41-year-old Honus Wagner became the oldest player in the history of the modern era to hit a grand slam. Honus Wagner is probably most famous now for the being the player featured on the world’s most expensive baseball card, his 1909 T-206 card. In a 2022 auction someone paid $7.25 million… Read more
-
On July, 26th, 1984, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announced that free-agent pitcher Vida Blue will be suspended for the remainder of the season as a result of his conviction on cocaine possession charges in November 1983. In July of 1984, I was living in Houston, Texas, and going to Astros games. I was a child of the 1970s… Read more
-
On July 25, 1998, Jesse Orosco pitched in his 1,000th career game in relief for the Baltimore Orioles. The visiting Seattle Mariners won the game 4-2. Orozco pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Jesse Orosco pitched in an astounding 1252 Major League games in four different decades. No one else has pitched in so many… Read more
-
On July 24th, 1983, in the memorable Pine Tar Game at Yankee Stadium, George Brett hits an apparent 2-run home run off Rich Gossage to give the Royals a 5-4 lead with two outs in the ninth inning. But Yankees manager Billy Martin points out that the pine tar on Brett’s bat handle exceeds the seventeen inches allowed in the rules. As a… Read more
-
On July 23rd, 1991, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble, who was just back from a three-game suspension, was ejected for throwing at, and hitting, Chicago Cubs baserunner Doug Dascenzo in an 8-5 Reds loss. The model professional ballplayer is even-tempered and steady. In other words, kind of boring. Think Mike Trout, Derek Jeter, and Aaron Judge. Great… Read more
-
On July 22nd, 1960, the Red Sox playing at home in Fenway defeated visiting Cleveland, 6 – 4. Vic Wertz hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs. Ted Williams also homered and, in the 7th inning, stole second base. Williams set a major-league record as the first and only player to steal bases in four consecutive decades (1930s, 1940s… Read more
-
On July 21st, 1970, San Diego’s Clay Kirby held the New York Mets hitless for eight innings but was lifted for a pinch hitter by manager Preston Gomez. With the Padres trailing 1-0 with two out in the eighth, Gomez elected to go for the win instead of letting Kirby finish the game. The Padres lost the no-hitter… Read more
-
On July 20th, 1925, Brooklyn’s Dazzy Vance struck out 17 Cubs’ batters. The Dodgers beat Chicago 4-3 in 10 innings. What has happened to all the great baseball nicknames players used to have? Names like Dizzy, Dazzy, or Babe? My childhood team, the Oakland A’s, had an owner who loved nicknames, thought it was good for business… Read more
-
On July 14th in 1967 and 1968, two different players went into the history books by hitting their 500th Major League homer. In 1967, Eddie Mathews of the Astros hit his 500th home run off San Francisco’s Juan Marichal at Candlestick Park helping the Houston defeat San Francisco 8-6. Then exactly a year later, in 1968, Hank Aaron got… Read more
-
On July 13th, 1993, Minnesota Twins great Kirby Puckett homered and doubled in the 1993 All-Star Game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kirby was awarded the MVP award as the American League defeated the National League 9-3. I was lucky enough to move to the Twin Cities and to begin going to Twins games regularly in… Read more
ClimbingSky 