April 9, 1981 Fernando Valenzuela was forced to start opening day for the Dodgers as Jerry Reuss injured himself 24 hours before the game. 

Fernando would unleash the second greatest pitching streak in baseball history and turn the Dodger fan base upside down with is incredible performance. 

As Vin Scully would say it was like a religious experience to see what he did. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

April 8 episode is about Hank Aaron and his heroic journey through a divided Nation to take one of baseballs most treasured records. 

Aaron's story is one of perseverance and worth the listen. We take you through his childhood and bring you to the ball park on April 8, 1974 with a World Series like atmosphere. 

Enjoy the show!

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 29, 1867 — Denton True “Cy” Young is born in Gilmore, a tiny village near Newcomerstown, Ohio. Young will earn his nickname for his cyclone-like pitching motion and he will win (and lose) more games than any pitcher in major league history with a 511-316 record and a 2.63 ERA over 22 seasons. Young will win 20 or more games 15 times, and top the 30-win mark five times. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1937, with 153 votes on 201 ballots.

Read More about Cy Young - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/cy-young-page/

March 29th Events - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-march-29/

Rube Waddell - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/rube-waddell-page/

SOM Day 4 Replay - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/day-4-2020-strat-o-matic-simulation/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 16th 2004  The Yankees lead the ALCS two games to none

over the Red Sox with Game 3 in Fenway Park. As in the first two games, the

Yankees began by scoring in the first and quickly building a 3-0 lead. The Red

Sox answered in the second inning with a leadoff walk by Jason Varitek and a

Trot Nixon home run to right field. A double by Bill Mueller, an infield hit by

Johnny Damon (his first hit of the series), and a Derek Jeter error led to two

more runs. The Red Sox led for the first time in the series, 4–3. This lead was

short-lived as ARod led off the third inning with a home run over the Green

Monster and the Yankees would build a 6-4 lead. By the end of the third, the

Sox would even things up at 6 apiece off a double by Orlando Cabrera. That was

as good as it would get for the Sox for the rest of the night. When it was all

over, the two teams combined for 37 hits and 20 extra-base hits, both

postseason records. At four hours and twenty minutes, the game was the longest

nine-inning postseason game ever played. The Yankees destroyed Boston, 19 -8 ,

amidst chants from Yankee fans  of

“Nine-teen -Eight-teen”...the last time the Red Sox won a World Series. With a

3 game to none, lead things looked bleak for the Red Sox.

October 16, 1969 - The New York Mets win their

fourth straight game from the Baltimore Orioles with a 5 - 3 triumph behind

pitcher Jerry Koosman, who throws a five-hitter, to take the World Series in

five games. In the third inning, Baltimore takes a 3 - 0 advantage after home

runs by pitcher Dave McNally and outfielder Frank Robinson. After a strong

argument by Mets manager Gil

Hodges in the bottom of the

sixth inning, Cleon Jones is awarded first base when shoe polish on the ball

proves he was hit by a pitch, and Jones scores on a home run by Donn Clendenon.

An inning later, Al Weis ties the game 3 - 3 with a solo home run, and in the

eighth, Ron Swoboda's double and two Baltimore errors give New York two more

runs and the World Championship. Clendenon is named Series MVP.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 15, 1988 - With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kirk Gibson hits a pinch-hit home run off Dennis Eckersley to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5 - 4 victory over the Oakland Athletics in Game One of the World Series. Gibson, who injured himself making a game saving catch in the National League Championship Series, never came out for game one introductions and never took batting practice spending the entire game on the trainer’s table receiving treatment with Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda checking on him between innings. Inning after inning, Lasorda checked and was given the thumbs down each time until the bottom of the ninth with the A’s leading 4-3 when the clubhouse boy told Lasorda that Gibson wanted to speak to him. ”I think I can hit for you, Skipper” was the message Lasorda heard when he arrived in the trainer’s room. Eckersley got the first 2 batters out. Alfredo Griffin was next up when Lasorda sent Mike Davis to the plate instead, with Gibson warming up unbeknownst to anyone. As Eck settled in to pitch, Lasorda sent Dave Anderson to the on deck circle.

Eckersley took notice and decided he wasn't going to let Davis hit it out of the ballpark. He worked the count to 3-2 and walked Davis. “Now get out there Big Boy” Lasorda ordered Gibson, whose appearance sent the crowd into a frenzy. Lasorda decided Gibson had two swings to try and hit it out of the park and then he gave Davis the green light to steal 2nd. With 1st base open, the A’s chose not to walk Gibson who worked the count to 3-2 and

Gibson launched the next pitch out of the park. Vin Scully’s call of the play say’s it all “"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!"

October 15, 1970 - For the third time, the Baltimore Orioles overcome a 3 - 0 deficit to bury the Cincinnati Reds, 9 - 3, and win the World Series in five games. Brooks Robinson won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award hitting .429 and breaking the record for total bases with seventeen. Robinsons stellar fielding earned him the nickname “Hoover”.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 14, 2003 - Holding a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning over the Florida Marlins with only 5 outs standing between them and their first World Series appearance since 1945, the Cubs fall apart after a fan, sitting along the left-field foul line at Wrigley Field, tries to catch a foul ball that is about to be caught by Cubs' outfielder Moises Alou for the second out of the inning. The Cubs argued for interference, but umpire Mike Everitt ruled there was no fan interference because the ball had broken the plane separating the field of play from the stands.  The Cubs lead proceeded to disintegrate; fueling the Wrigley faithful’s ire at this fan who would have to be escorted from the park for his own safety. Lost in all of this is the error by, the usually sure handed shortstop Luis Gonzalez, that would have resulted in an inning ending double play which would have allowed the Cubs to escape the eighth with a two run lead. The Marlins would go onto score 8 runs and win the game.  The Cubs also would lose the seventh and final game of the NLCS.

October 14, 1975 - The Cincinnati Reds take a 2-1 lead in the World Series with a controversial 6 - 5, 10-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox in Cincinnati. In the 10th inning, Reds pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempts a sacrifice bunt and bounces the ball in front of the plate. Boston catcher Carlton Fisk, in an attempt to field the ball, collides with Armbrister and throws the ball into center field attempting to force Cesar Gerónimo at second base. Gerónimo goes to third base and later scores the game winner. Home plate umpire Larry Barnett rules there is no interference despite heated protests by the Red Sox.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 13, 1960 – With the World Series between the Yankees and Pirates knotted at 3 games apiece, Game 7 at Pittsburgh’s cavernous Forbes Field would provide one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history. In the top of the 9th, with a 9-7 lead the Pirates sent eighteen game winner Bob Friend to the mound but the Yankees would manage to tie things up. The Yankees would send Ralph Terry to the mound in the bottom of the 9th to face Pirate 2nd baseman Bill Mazeroski and with a 1-0 count Mel Allen’s call of the game tells the rest:

“There's a drive into deep left field, look out now… that ball is going, going gone! And the World Series is over! Mazeroski… hits it over the left field fence, and the Pirates win it 10-9 and win the World Series!”

As the Pirates erupted, the Yankees stood across the field in stunned disbelief. The improbable champions were outscored, outhit, and outplayed, but had managed to pull out a victory anyhow. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying that losing the 1960 series was the biggest disappointment of his career. The only loss, amateur or professional, he cried actual tears over. For Bill Mazeroski, it was the highlight.

Bing Crosby, part owner of the Pirates, was too superstitious to watch the series live. Crosby hired a company to record the game and would only watch it a day later if the Pirates won.  His tape of game 7 is the only recording of the 1960 series known to survive as television stations routinely taped over televised sporting events. The tape sat untouched for 49 years when it was found in Crosby’s wine cellar in December of 2009. On November 13, 2010, for the 50th anniversary of the series winning home run, a gala emceed  by Bob Costas was hosted in downtown Pittsburgh. The MLB Network would air the game and gala on December 15, 2010.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Oct. 12, 1972 -- In game 5 of the American League Championship Series the A’s, win 2-1 over the Detroit Tigers. The deciding run comes in the second inning with Mickey Lolich on the mound,  Mike Epstein on first, and Reggie Jackson on third when A’s Manager Dick Williams flashes the sign for a double steal. Reggie bounded down the third base line on the delayed steal as Tiger’s shortstop Dick McAuliffe  cut off the throw to second and fired it back to A’s Catcher Bill Freehan. Reggie and Freehan collided and Jackson was called safe at the plate. Sal Bando, A’s Captain, recalled that “Reggie had an unusual way of sliding. He would jump up, then leave his feet."

Whether it was the slide or the collision, this time it would result in a torn left hamstring that would force Reggie to leave the game and keep him from appearing in the ’72 World Series. Jackson is the only player to ever steal home in league championship play. After the chaos of that hard fought series Dick Williams was quoted as saying that he slept like a baby. That is, he “woke up every two hours crying”.

October 12, 1980 - The Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Houston Astros, 8 - 7, to capture the NLCS in 6 games. In the 10th inning, Garry Maddox drives in Del Unser to end a dramatic playoff series that featured four extra-inning games.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 11, 1999 -- With the American League divisional Series between Boston and Cleveland tied at two games apiece, the Red Sox send Bret Saberhagen out to face Charles Nagy. In an eruption of runs, both starters find themselves out of the game by the third inning and the game tied at 8. With the season on the line, Sox manager Jimy Williams summons his ace, Pedro Martinez from the bullpen. The electrifying move sent shockwaves through Jacob’s field since Martinez was removed from Game 1 after 4 innings due to a strained back, and all expected they had seen the last of Pedro’s incredible 1999 season. Martinez was masterful, striking out eight and walking three despite having neither his fastball nor changeup at his disposal. Throwing hiscurveball almost exclusively, Martinez and the Red Sox won the rubber match of the ALDS 12-8 in what is cited as one of Martinez’s greatest appearances. Also memorable in this game was the Indians strategy to intentionally walk shortstop Nomar Garciapara to face outfielder Troy O’Leary. Twice they walked Nomar and twice O’Leary returned the favor with a homerun driving in 7 runs for the day.

October 11, 1985, George Brett steals the show in Game 3 of the 1985 American League Championship Series. Down 2-0 to Toronto in the series, Brett drove in or scored every Kansas City run, going 4 for 4 with a single, a double, and two home runs. When Brett wasn’t busy torturing Toronto pitcher Doyle Alexander at the plate, he was mystifying in the field making a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home, and recording the final out to give the Royals a much-needed 6–5 win; their first in a series that they would win in seven games

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 10, 2004 The Boston Globe reports growing concern for Curt Shillings ailing right ankle. With two days to go before game one of the American league Championship series against the Yankees in the Bronx, Schilling was downplaying the injury and all but guaranteed he would make every scheduled start the rest of the way. Concerns would grow more serious with each passing game leading up to the famous “Bloody Sock” of Game 6.

October 10, 1956 - Pitcher Johnny Kucks sets down the Brooklyn Dodgers, 9 - 0, as the New York Yankees win the World Series in seven games. Yogi Berra hits a pair of two-run home runs and Bill Skowron hits a grand slam. It's the seventh and final time Brooklyn and the Yankees meet in the Series. In the future, it will take a jet, not a subway, to get these two teams together, as the Dodgers will move to Los Angeles in 1958.

October 10, 1973 - Tom Seaver hurls the Mets into the World Series for the second time in four years with a 7 - 2 victory over Cincinnati in Game Five of the National League Championship Series. Tug McGraw would be brought in for relief and the two would combine for a 7 hit performance before a crowd of 50,323 at Shea Stadium.

October 10, 1999 - The Boston Red Sox set an all-time postseason record by scoring 23 runs in defeating the Cleveland Indians, 23 - 7. The win ties their American League Division Series at two games apiece. Boston gets 24 hits in the contest, including five by Mike Stanley and four each by John Valentin and Jason Varitek. Valentin hits a pair of home runs with seven RBI, while Jose Offerman and Trot Nixon have two RBI each.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 9, 1996 - Bernie Williams hit a home run in the 11th inning to give the New York Yankees a 5 - 4 victory over Baltimore in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees were also aided by an assist from a young fan, which proved to be a game changer. The O’s held a 4-3 lead when Derek Jeter hit a ball to deep right field. Right fielder Tony Tarasco positioned himself to make the play when 12 year old Jeffrey Maier reached out and deflected the ball into the stands and Umpire Rich Garcia called the hit a home run.  Garcia later admitted that there was spectator interference, though he maintained the ball was not catchable despite overwhelming visual evidence to the contrary.

October 9, 1910 - Nap Lajoie, in a batting race with Ty Cobb, collected eight hits for Cleveland in a season-ending doubleheader with the St. Louis Browns. The hits were somewhat tainted; however, as St. Louis third baseman Red Corriden played back as Lajoie bunted safely six times. Regardless, Cobb was awarded the batting title by a fraction of a point.

October 9, 1920 - Several hours before the start of Game 4 of the World Series, Brooklyn's Rube Marquard, a Cleveland native, is arrested when he tries to sell a ticket to an undercover cop for $350. He will be found guilty and fined one dollar and court costs ($3.80). For their first World Series game on the lakefront, 25,734 Indians fans watch their home team win the game 5 - 1.

October 9, 2005 - The Houston Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 7 - 6 in a record setting NLDS Game 4 in extra innings. The game set several records, including longest post season game ever at 18 innings, longest post season game by time (5 hours, 50 minutes), and first post season game with two grand slams.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 8, 1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2 - 0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits. This would be the only post season no hitter until Roy Halladay’s gem for the Phillies against Cincinnati on October 6th 2010.

October 8, 1973 - Rusty Staub's two home runs powered the New York Mets to a 9 - 2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Pete Rose of the Reds and Bud Harrelson of the Mets scuffled at second base in the fifth inning after Rose slid hard into the base. The benches cleared and when the dust settled, the 140 pound Harrelson ended up on losing end of both conflicts.

October 8, 1989 - The Oakland Athletics beat Toronto 4 - 3 in Game Five of their AL division series to advance to the World Series for the second straight year. Rickey Henderson, who hit .400 with eight stolen bases, was named Series MVP.

October 8, 2009 - The Los Angeles Angels open their fourth Division Series in recent years against the Boston Red Sox in an unusual manner - with a win. John Lackey pitches 7 1/3 scoreless innings and Torii Hunter hits a three-run homer off Jon Lester in the 5th to drive the 5 - 0 win.

October 8, 1919 - Ed Cicotte pitched Game Seven of the World Series and the Chicago White Sox played like they meant it. Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch drove in two runs each for a 4- 1 win to cut the Cincinnati Reds lead of four games to three in the best-of-nine Series.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 28, 1913, the St. Louis Browns make an unusual “trade,” sending infielder Clyde “Buzzy” Wares to the Montgomery Rebels a minor league team in exchange for the rental of a stadium. The Montgomery Rebels will allow the Browns to use their stadium during spring training-rent free. he Southern Association Class-A team will return the 26 year-old infielder to St. Louis later in the season. He will debut on September 15, 1913   vs. BOS  and he goes 0-1. Wares will play part of the 1913 and 1914 season in St Louis and hang around in the minors until 1920.

The Browns didn’t tell Wares about the deal until the last minute. When the manager called Buzzy into his office on the last day of spring training, Wares thought it was to tell him he had made the team with his strong play. However, skipper, George Stovall informed Wares that he was staying in Montgomery, telling him “You’re the payment for our grounds rental.” He played over 250 games of Montgomery.  Wares will later rejoin the Cardinals as a coach for the Gas House Gang teams.

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/st-louis-browns-make-an-unusual-trade-sending-infielder-clyde-buzzy-wares-to-a-minor-league-team-in-exchange-for-the-rental-of-a-stadium/

Also on the Show - Dizzy Dean talking about Frankie Frisch 

and the Strat O Matic replay - Day 3 

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 7, 2001 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds extends his major league record for home runs in season to 73 as he drives a 3-2 first inning knuckleball off Dodgers pitcher Dennis Springer over the right field fence. The blast also secures two more major league records for Bonds; as he surpassed Babe Ruth’s .847 slugging percentage in 1920 with a .863 season slugging percentage and crushed Mark McGwire’s 1998 mark of one HR every 7.27 at bats by homering in every 6.52 at-bats.

October 7, 1936 - The Brooklyn Dodgers fire future Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel. Thirteen years later, Stengel will be hired by the New York Yankees and will lead the team to five straight World Championships. Stengel will eventually conclude his Hall of Fame career with the cross-town New York Mets.

October 7, 1969 - The St. Louis Cardinals trade outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies in a blockbuster deal involving slugging first baseman Dick Allen. Flood will refuse to report to the Phillies and will take baseball to court over the reserve clause that binds a player perpetually to one team.

October 7, 2001 -  On the last day of the season, Rickey Henderson of the San Diego Padres bloops a double down the right field line off Colorado Rockies' pitcher John Thomson to become the 25th major leaguer to collect 3,000 career base hits.

October 7, 1950 - At Yankee Stadium, rookie pitcher Whitey Ford gets the win against Bob Miller and the Philadelphia Phillies 5 - 2 as the Yankees complete the World Series sweep of the "Whiz Kids." The sweep of the Phillies gives the Yankees their 13th World Championship, all coming since the acquisition of “The Babe”.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 6, 1926 - Babe Ruth hits three home runs to lead the Yankees to a 10 - 5 victory over St. Louis in Game Four of the World Series. Ruth's final bomb of the day carried deep into the never-before reached centerfield bleachers, far beyond the 430-foot mark. Estimated at 530 feet, it is the longest home run in World Series history. If all this weren't enough, this also is the game during which the Babe makes good on his alleged pre-game promise to hit a home run for the bedridden young Johnny Sylvester.

October 6, 1945 – William Sianis, a Chicago bar owner and his goat attend Game Four of the World Series at Wrigley. Cubs owner, P.K. Wrigley ordered that the pair leave because the goat stunk. As they were being escorted from the park Sianis was heard saying "The Cubs ain't gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field.", The Chicago Cubs lose to Detroit 4 – 1, and Detroit would go on to win the World Series prompting Sianis to send a telegram to Wrigley that said "Who Stinks Now?”

October 6, 2003- The Boston Red Sox complete a three-game playoff comeback, beating the Oakland Athletics 4 - 3 in Game 5 of their American League Division Series.

October 6, 1985 - New York Yankees pitcher Phil Niekro becomes the 18th 300-game winner as he blanks the Toronto Blue Jays, 8 - 0, on the last day of the season. At the age of 46, Niekro also becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout in major league history; he will eventually be passed by Jamie Moyer on May 7, 2010.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 5, 2007 The Cleveland Indians can thank a bug infestation at Jacobs Field for helping them defeat the New York Yankees, 2 - 1 in 11 innings, and take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS. The bugs are at their worst in the eighth inning, when a flustered Joba Chamberlain gives up the tying run on a wild pitch. The bugs descended upon Jacobs Field in the eighth inning of Game Two like a Biblical plague come to destroy the New York postseason. Indian Pitcher Fausto Carmona pitched through the swarm unaffected  for the win.

October 5, 1921 - New York is host to the first one-city World Series since 1906 and the Polo Grounds is the site for all nine games. Carl Mays of the Yankees needs 86 pitches to set the Giants down on five hits, four of them by Frankie Frisch, as Babe Ruth drives in the first run of the Series in the opening inning of the 3 - 0 Yankees win.

October 5, 1929 - New York Giants Mel Ott and Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies go into a head-to-head doubleheader tied at 42 home runs apiece. In the opener, Klein homers for the Phillies off Carl Hubbell in his first at-bat to take the home run lead. In the nightcap, Phillies pitchers intentionally walk Ott five times rather than give him a chance to tie Klein. The last walk comes with the bases loaded. Lefty O'Doul of the Phillies has six hits on the day for a National League season-record of 254 hits.

October 5, 1953 - The New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game Six of the World Series. Billy Martin collects his 12th Series hit, a single to center field in the bottom of the ninth inning, that gives the Yankees their fifth World Championship in a row.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 4, 1955 - The Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series with MVP Johnny Podres beating the New York Yankees, 2 - 0 in Game Seven. This would be the fifth time the two teams met in the series over a nine year period and the first World Series televised in color. In 1957, the Dodgers would relocate to Los Angeles making this the Brooklyn team’s only World Series victory.

October 4, 1922 - For the first time, the entire World Series will be broadcast over the radio. Writer Grantland Rice does the announcing of the New York Giants-New York Yankees Series for station WJZ in Newark, NJ, whose signal is relayed to WGY in Schenectady, NY.

October 4, 1961 - Whitey Ford tosses his third straight World Series shutout. Home runs by Elston Howard and Bill Skowron, give the Yankees a 2 - 0 win in Game One of the 1961 World Series against Cincinnati at Yankee Stadium.

October 4, 1967 - At Fenway Park, St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lou Brock collects four hits, two stolen bases, and two runs as St. Louis defeats the “Impossible Dream” Boston Red Sox, 2 - 1, in Game One of the World Series. Bob Gibson has 10 strikeouts and outduels Jose Santiago, whose home run is Boston's only score.

October 4, 1906 - The Chicago Cubs win their 116th game of 152 played for a .763 winning percentage that has not since been matched.

 Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 3, 1951 - Bobby Thomson hits a three-run home run off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5 -- 4 playoff victory and the National League pennant. Seeing the ball disappear over the fence, Thomson hopped crazily around the bases, then disappeared into the mob of teammates who had gathered at home plate. The stunned Dodger players trudged off the field - all except Jackie Robinson. No doubt knowing of "Merkle's Boner" 43 years earlier, he watched to be sure Thomson touched every base before he, too, headed for the clubhouse. The blast would become known in baseball lore as the Shot Heard 'Round the World.

October 3, 1976 - Hank Aaron singles in his last major-league at bat and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers 5 - 2.

October 3, 1999 - On the final day of the season, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 65th home run, moving past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into 10th place on the career list with 522. McGwire finishes with a two-homer edge over Chicago's Sammy Sosa, who hits his 63rd on the same day.

October 3, 2009 - St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols ties a major league record with his 184th assist of the season. He matches the mark set by Bill Buckner with the Red Sox in 1985. He will finish the year with 185.

October 3, 1974 - Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in the major leagues, as the Cleveland Indians name him to replace Ken Aspromonte.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

October 1, 1967 – The brilliant and brief Major League managerial career of Roberto Clemente began and ended on this day. Filling in for interim manager Danny Murtaugh, Clemente puts up stratospheric – if statistically insignificant – numbers as Pittsburgh's player-manager. The Pittsburgh Press reports: "Baseball’s only undefeated ‘manager’, Roberto Clemente, climaxed his greatest season ever by smashing his 23rd homer, a triple and driving in three runs while managing the Bucs before 28,244 fans on Prize

Day."

October 1, 1932 - Babe Ruth, as legend has it, calls his home run against Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game Three of the World Series, won by the New York Yankees 7-5 at Wrigley Field. Root contended to his dying day that this was not the case; he claimed Ruth held up his bat to indicate he had one strike left.

October 1, 1961 - Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the season against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium eclipsing Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single season home run record. The record setter was the only runscored in the game giving the Yankees a 1-0 win.

October 1, 1978 - The Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees 9 - 2 on the last day of the season, to force an epic one-game playoff between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Boston won their eighth straight 5 - 0 over the Toronto Blue Jays.

October 1, 2008 In Anaheim, the Red Sox continue their postseason dominance of the Los Angeles Angels by taking Game One of the ALDS, 4 - 1. Jason Bay hits a two-run homer off John Lackey, while Jon Lester gives up only an unearned run in 7 innings of work for the win.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 30, 1972 Roberto Clemente doubles off the Mets' Jon Matlack to become the eleventh major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. On hand for the event was Clemente's hero, Willie Mays, now a New York Met, who called Clemente "The Greatest". Sealing the mutual admiration Clemente was quoted saying ""Willie Mays is the greatest player I've ever seen. I never saw Joe DiMaggio play, but if Joe DiMaggio was better than Willie Mays, he belongs in heaven." Sadly, the Pirate right fielder's 3000th hit would be his last, as he would die on New Year's Eve in a plane crash while attempting to bring relief aid to earthquake-stricken Managua, Nicaragua.

September 30, 1945 Hank Greenberg hits a pennant-winning grand slam on the final day of the season. The Tiger left fielder's ninth-inning 4 run bomb beats the Browns 6 - 3 clinching the American League flag for Detroit over the second-place Senators.

September 30, 1962 Willie Mays' 47th home run, an 8th-inning blast off Dick Farrell, leads the Giants to a critical 2 - 1 win. They would all stay in the clubhouse after the win to hear the results of the Dodger game. The season would end in a tie which required a three game playoff to settle the pennant in the Giants favor.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 29, 1954 - Willie Mays makes his famous running catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in game one of the World Series. In the eighth inning with a 2-2 tie and men on 1st and 2nd, Wertz slammed a 420 foot shot to the cavernous center field of the Polo Grounds. Mays was playing shallow, since Giants pitcher Don Liddle was a groundball pitcher, and had to turn his back to the infield sprinting for the outfield wall. Mays made an over the shoulder catch and a quick turn firing the ball to the infield holding Larry Doby at 3rd base and preserving the tie. As much as has been made of the catch, Mays himself did not consider it the best defensive play he ever made.

September 29, 1974 - Lou Brock steals his 118th and last base on the final day of the season setting the record for steals in a single season. Ricky Henderson would break that record in 1982 with 130 thefts.

September 29, 1978 - Jim Rice doubles and singles against the Toronto Blue Jays in Fenway Park. Rice is the first American Leaguer to amass 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio in 1937.

September 29, 2004 - MLB officially announces that the Montreal Expos franchise will move to Washington, DC in 2005. Hours after this, the Expos play their final game in Montreal, a 9 - 1 loss to the Florida Marlins before a crowd of 31,395 at Olympic Stadium.

September 29, 1957 Ted Williams becomes the oldest batting champ when the 39-year old finishes the season with a .388 average.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 28, 1920 - A grand jury indicts eight members of the Chicago White Sox on charges of fixing the1919 World Series in the "Black Sox Scandal." It is the black eye on the sport that would lead to the banning of eight players. Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson both confessed to accepting money from gamblers. Cicotte's second pitch of Game 1 of the 1919 World Series hit the Reds leadoff batter, which was the pre-arranged signal to the gamblers that the players had accepted the fix. Jackson and Cicotte would both recant their confessions after key evidence went missing from the Cook County courthouse. Years later, the missing confessions would reappear in the possession of Comiskey's lawyer.

September 28, 1941 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox goes 6 for 8 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics to finish the season with a .406 batting average. No player has batted .400 since.

September 28, 1974 - Nolan Ryan pitches his third of seven career no-hitters, striking out 15 batters and beating the Minnesota Twins, 4 - 0, at Anaheim Stadium. He also walks eight to run his season total to 202 bases on balls, joining Bob Feller in 1938 as the only pitcher to walk more than 200 in a season. Ryan will again top 200 in 1977.

September 28, 2007 The Boston Red Sox clinch the AL East title, bringing to an end a streak of 9 consecutive division titles by the New York Yankees, dating back to 1998. The Yankees will not miss the post season however, having clinched the American League Wild Card.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 26, 1961 In New York's 159th game, Roger Maris rips a Jack Fisher fastball into the RF seats at Yankee Stadium for his 60th home run. New York beats Baltimore 3 - 2. There are fewer than 8,000 fans on hand to view this historic event. The legitimacy of the record would be a hot topic of debate since the American League had been expanded from 8 to10 teams and the number of games played was increased by 8.

September 26, 1998 Mark McGwire sends two balls the distance, collecting homers number 67 and 68 of the season. McGwire now stands alone as the single season home run king.. 48,212 fans would be on hand at Busch Stadium to witness McGwire's assault on history and the Cards lose 7 - 6 to Montreal.

September 26, 1971 Willie Mays hits his 646th and last home run as a member of the San Francisco Giants. It comes in the Giants' 12-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

September 26, 1955 - The Red Sox beat the Yankees 8-1 as Ted Williams goes 1-for-20. Williams finishes the season batting .356, well ahead of Al Kaline's .340, but does not have enough at bats to win the batting title due to the 71 times he walked. The same thing happened in 1954 when Williams was walked 136 times. A rule change would be made to recognize plate appearances, not times at bat.

September 26, 1981 - At the Astrodome, Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw five no-hitters, defeating the Dodgers, 5-0. Ryan had shared the record of four with Dodger great Sandy Koufax.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 27, 1879 —– Miller Huggins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A second baseman adept at getting on base, Huggins will lead the National League in walks four times, score 100 or more runs three times, and regularly collect 30 or more stolen bases and an on-base percentage near .400. He will start as a player-manager with the St. Louis Cardinals before heading to the New York Yankees in 1918. Huggins will lead the Yankees to six American League pennants and three World Series titles, and his “Murderers’ Row” club, which will win 110 games before sweeping the 1927 World Series, will be considered one of the greatest teams in history. Huggins will be selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1964.

Miller Huggins Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/miller-huggins-is-born-in-cincinnati-ohio/

March 27 - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-march-27/

Stan Musial - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/stan-musial-biography/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 25, 1954 -- A crowd of 14,175 faithful Fenway fans pay tribute to retiring Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams who is playing his last game at home. The Splendid Splinter's retirement will only last until May when his divorce is finalized with his contract being excluded from the settlement. His true retirement from playing would come in 1960, which inspired an article by John Updike titled "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu". Updike accurately described the fans relationship with Williams when he said "The affair between Boston and Ted Williams has been no mere summer romance; it has been a marriage composed of spats, mutual disappointments, and toward the end, a mellowing hoard of shared memories." It was here that Updike referred to Fenway Park as "a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark".

September 25, 1965 -- At age 34, Willie Mays becomes the oldest player to slug 50 home runs in a season. The Giants center fielder was also the youngest to accomplish the feat hitting 51 homers in 1955.

September 25, 1968 - In Mickey Mantle's last appearance at Yankee Stadium, he slices a two-out first inning single off Cleveland's Luis Tiant, the only hit for the Yankees. Tiant tosses his 9th shutout of the year, tops in the American League, to win 3 - 0. El Tiante's ERA drops to 1.60; the previous low for an Indian pitcher was Stan Coveleski's 1.87 in 1917.

September 25, 1985 -- Rickey Henderson steals his 75th base of the season in the Yankees' 10 - 2 win over Detroit, breaking the club record of 74 set by Fritz Maisel in 1914.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 24, 1998 Red Sox reliever Tom Gordon records his 42nd consecutive save establishing a major league record. Boston clinches the AL wild card spot behind a pair of homers and four runs scored by Nomar Garciaparra. Author Stephen King would later write a novel titled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, referring to his outstanding 1998 season with Boston and solidifying Gordon’s place as a New England folk hero.

September 24, 1931 Lefty Grove wins his 31st, beating the Red Sox 9 - 4, his 11th straight win over the Red Sox stretching back to May 26, 1930. Since July 25, 1930, Grove's record is 46 - 4, the best 50 decision streak in the century.

September 24, 1940 - George Caster of the Philadelphia Athletics allows six home runs in one game against the Boston Red Sox. One of these bombs came courtesy of Jimmie Foxx and it would be the 500th of his career.

September 24, 1979 Pete Rose singles in the Phillies' 7 - 2 loss to the Cardinals giving him 200 hits in a season for the 10th time. He breaks the major league record of nine formerly held by Ty Cobb.

September 24, 2002 Thanks to Jason's two home runs in the Yankees 6-0 whitewash of the Devil Rays, the Giambi brothers pass the DiMaggio boys for the highest single-season total for homers by two brothers with 60, 40 of which came off Jason’s bat. The DiMaggio’s went yard 59 times in 1937, 46 of them belonging to Joe.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 22, 1968 - Cesar Tovar plays one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins, becoming only the second major leaguer in history to do it; Bert Campaneris of the Oakland Athletics was the first. He started the game on the mound, ironically facing Campaneris as the leadoff hitter. Scott Sheldon and Shane Halter later became the only other two men to accomplish this feat.

September22, 1911 - Cy Young, at age 44, beats the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 - 0, for his 511th and final major league victory.

September22, 1993:Pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers faces just three Seattle batters before hurting his right elbow. Ryan finishes his career with 324 wins, 5,714 strikeouts and seven no hitters.

September22, 1969 - Willie Mays hits the 600th home run of his career. The historic homer off Mike Corkins of the Padres proves to be the game-winner in a 4 - 2 Giants victory at San Diego Stadium.

September22, 1990 - Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs steals his 300th base in an 11 - 5 loss to the New York Mets, Joining Willie Mays as the only players in major league history with 300 home runs, 300 steals and 2,000 hits.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 21, 1958 At Fenway Park, the Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Senators, all by 2 - 0 shutouts.. Today's win, however, is marred when Ted Williams, after striking out looking with two aboard to end the third inning, flings his bat aside in a fit of anger. Unfortunately,the intended flip along the ground sails into the stands and striking, of all people, Boston GM Joe Cronin's 69-year-old housekeeper, Gladys Heffernan, in the head. "I didn't mean to throw the bat that way," explains the distraught Williams. "I started to flip it along the ground but the sticky stuff on my hands stuck to it and it left my hands on the fly instead. I was sick." Thankfully Heffernan was not badly hurt.
• September 21, 2001 A crowd of 41,235 at Shea Stadium witness the return of baseball to New York City for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11. Uplifting ceremonies before and during the game, which include singers Diana Ross, Marc Anthony and Liza Minnelli as well as bagpipers, pay tribute to victims of the tragedy.
• September 21, 1934 - The Dean Brothers shut out the Dodgers. After Dizzy Dean gives up just 3 hits in a 13 - 0 victory, allowing no hits until the 8th, Paul Dean wins a no hitter 3 - 0. Diz says: "If'n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I'd of throwed one, too."
• September 21, 1970 The A's Vida Blue no-hits the Twins 6 - 0, becoming the youngest pitcher to perform the feat since Paul Dean, 36 years ago to the day. An Oakland crowd of only 4,284 watches Blue's 2nd ML start.
• September 21, 1981 - Steve Carlton fans 12 Expos in 10 innings to break Bob Gibson's National League strikeout record. Carlton now has 3,128 K’s, but the Phillies lose to the Expos 1 - 0 in 17 innings.
• September 21, 1987 - With two stolen bases against the Cubs, Darryl Strawberry joins teammate Howard Johnson as a member of the 30/30 club. It is the first time in major league history players on the same team have hit 30 homers and have stolen 30 bases in the same year

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 20, 1919 - On Babe Ruth day at Fenway Park, the Bambino ties Ned Williamson's major league mark of 27 home runs in a season with a game-winner off Lefty Williams of the Chicago White Sox. Ruth also scores the winning run in both ends of the doubleheader. Ironically, it will be the last game he plays for the Boston Red Sox in Fenway as the sale of the century would have the Bambino in pinstripes for the remainder of his career. On the same date eight years later, Ruth would again raise the single season home run mark by hitting his 60th bomb of the season off Senators pitcher Tom Zachary.
• September 20, 1955 - New York Giants slugger Willie Mays hits two home runs against the
• Pittsburgh Pirates, giving him 50 for the year and making him the seventh player in major league history to accomplish this.
• September 20, 1958 - Recently-acquired Orioles knuckleballer, Hoyt Wilhelm pitches a 1-0
• no-hitter against the New York Yankees at Memorial Stadium. The Bronx Bombers would not go hitless in a game again in the 20th Century.
• September20, 1968 - Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits the 536th and final home run of his major league career. The parting shot of this storied career came at the expense of Jim Lonborg of the Boston Red Sox in a 4 - 3 loss at Yankee Stadium.
• September 20, 1980 - In memory of Thurman Munson, a bronze plaque in Monument Park is dedicated to the deceased New York Yankees catcher and team Captain who died tragically in a plane crash in 1979.
• September 20, 1998 - Cal Ripken, Jr. takes himself out of the starting lineup and does not play in the Baltimore Orioles' loss to the New York Yankees, ending his consecutive games played streak at 2,632. After nearly 16 years, Ripken said he decided the time was right to end the streak, which began on May 30, 1982.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 19, 1968 – Detroit Tigers Pitcher Denny McLain's 31st win is overshadowed by Mickey Mantle's 535th homer which was good enough for 3rd on the all time list. McLain called Catcher Jim Price to the mound to have him inform Mantle he’d be seeing nothing but fastballs and Mantle delivered. Mantle tipped his cap to Denny as he rounded third base. Joe Pepitone, the next batter, signaled where he would like the ball, and McLain dusted him. The Tigers won the game, 6 - 2, the 12th straight complete game for the Tigers staff.
• September 19, 1970 Boston's Billy Conigliaro connects for a 4th inning home run off the Senators Jim Hannan, and in the 7th frame, brother Tony Conigliaro wallops a solo shot. The brothers also homered in the same game on July 4. Billy will end the year with 18 home runs, while Tony will connect for 36.
• September 19, 1973 The Brave’s' Davey Johnson hits his 43rd homer, 42nd as a second baseman tying Rogers Hornsby's record for the most home runs for a second baseman.
• September 19, 1983 Phillies 2B Joe Morgan celebrates his 40th birthday by going 4 for 5 with two home runs in a 7 - 6 win over the Cubs. He's the 2nd player to celebrate his 40th birthday with a dinger: Bob Thurman was the first in 1957.
• September 19, 1998 Mariners SS Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the season, off Jack McDowell of the Angels, to become the 3rd player in history to have 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season. Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds are the others. The Mariners lose the game however, 5 - 3.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 18, 1975 - The New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7 - 5 at Shea Stadium. Rusty Staub becomes the first Mets' player to reach 100 RBIs in a season with a 2-run homer in the fifth. Dave Kingman sets a team record with his 35th home run of the season to win it in the ninth inning. Kingman would also hit his 35th homer of the year on this date in 1976 when he was named to the National League All Star Team for the first time.
• September 18, 1962 At LA, the Aaron brothers lead the Braves to a 10 - 5 pounding of the Dodgers, and cutting the Dodger lead over the idle Giants to 3 1/2 games. Hank Aaron hits his 40th homer and Tommie Aaron accounts for three RBIs with three hits.
• September 18, 1986 - For the second time in his career, Reggie Jackson belts three homers
• in a game, scoring four times with seven RBIs against Kansas City. At the age of 40 years four months, Reggie joins Stan Musial and Babe Ruth as the only player over 40 to accomplish the feat.
• September 18, 1996 Roger Clemens fans 20 Detroit Tigers without walking a single batter, tying his record for most strikeouts in a 9-inning game. The Rocket holds the Tigers to four hits en route to a 4 - 0 shutout.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 17, 1968 Detroit clinches the American League pennant with a 2 - 1 win over the Yankees. Detroit is ahead 1 - 0 when Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey phones Tiger general manager Jim Campbell with the news that the Sox have beaten the Orioles, clinching the pennant for the Tigers. Campbell keeps the score off the radio and the scoreboard, fearing the news will send fans rampaging onto the field.

Don Wert singles home the winner in the 9th and the fans tear down the left field screen as Campbell suspected.

September 17, 1912 - Casey Stengel of the Dodgers makes an impressive major league debut against the Pirates. The likable Brooklyn outfielder from Kansas City collects four hits, drives in two runs and swipes a pair of stolen bases in the 7 - 3 win.

September 17, 1979 - The Royals' George Brett collects his 20th triple of the season in a 16 - 4 romp over the Angels. Brett becomes the 6th player ever and the first since Willie Mays in 1927, to collect 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs in the same season. He will finish with totals of 42, 20 and 23.

September 17, 1985 Dwight Gooden strikes out 16 batters for the second straight start to tie the major-league record of 32 strikeouts in consecutive games, but balks home the winning run in the 8th inning of a 2 - 1 loss to the Phillies. It is Gooden's 5th straight outing with 10 or more strikeouts.

September 17, 1986 - The Mets clinch the National League East title with a 4 - 2 win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium as Dwight Gooden tosses a 6-hitter. The Mets will win 108 games this season, most in the National League since the 1975 Reds.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 15, 1990: Despite solo homers in the 5th by brothers Billy Ripken and Cal Ripken, both off David Wells, the Orioles lose 4 - 3 to Toronto. The brothers would homer together once more in 1996, again in the same inning. The Ripken Brothers joint stint in Baltimore, while managed by their father Cal Sr. from 1987 to 1988, marked the first time a father has managed two of his sons on the same team in the bigs.
• September 15, 2003: With his 2,063rd career base on balls, Barry Bonds passes Babe Ruth on the all-time walks list. The Giant left fielder now only trails Rickey Henderson, who has 2,190 free passes.
• September 15, 1960 - Giants superstar Willie Mays ties a major league mark by hitting three triples in an 8-6 victory over the Phillies.
• September 15, 2003 Rafael Palmeiro joins Jimmie Foxx as the only players to hit 35 homers and drive in 100 runs in nine consecutive seasons. The Hall of Fame member Foxx accomplished the feat playing for the A's and Red Sox from 1932 to 1940.
• September 15, 1961: The Yankees set a new American League record for most homers in a season as they split a doubleheader in Detroit, winning 11 - 1 and losing 4 -2. Round Trippers by Bill Skowron and Yogi Berra in the opener help Whitey Ford win his 24th and increase New York's homer total to 222.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 13, 2011 Due to terrorist attacks against targets in New York and Washington,

D.C. Major League Baseball postpones all games through September 17. The 91 missed games are re-scheduled for the week after the regular season was supposed to end, meaning the World Series would extend into November for the first time in history. This would be the most regular-season contests not played since World War I forced the cancellation of the final month of the 1918 season.

September 13, 1965 - At the Astrodome, Giant outfielder Willie Mays becomes the fifth player in major league history to hit 500 career home runs. The 'Say Hey Kid' will hit a league-leading and career-high 52 home runs en route to his second MVP season.

September 13, 1909 - Ty Cobb clinches the American League home run title with his 9th

round-tripper. It is an inside-the-park drive against the Browns. In fact, all his nine home runs this season are inside-the-park, including two on July 15th.

September 13, 1946 - The Boston Red Sox clinch the American League pennant, edging the Cleveland Indians 1 - 0 on Ted Williams' inside-the-park home run, the only one of his career. Williams punched the ball over the shift which was often employed against him and managed to beat the ball home.

September13, 1948 - Cleveland P Don Black suffers a cerebral hemorrhage while at bat

against the Browns. Black's life will hang in the balance for a week; his career will end. Indians Owner Bill Veeck arranges a benefit game for Black that attracts 76,000; $40,000 of the receipts are turned over to the pitcher.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 21, 1975, Hall of Fame outfielder Joe “Ducky” Medwick dies in Saint Petersburg, Florida at the age of 63. As one of the feared hitters on the famed “Gashouse Gang,” Medwick clubbed 205 home runs and batted .324 over a 17-year career. Medwick gained election to the Hall of Fame in 1968.

Listen to the hall of fame interview conducted on February 2 1968 - https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/joe-medwick-oral-history-interview-1968-february-08

Check out Ducky Medwicks Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/joe-medwick-page/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 12, 1911 - In a game billed as a pitchers' duel, Boston's Cy Young and the Giants' Christy Mathewson face each other for the first time before 10,000, Boston's largest crowd of the year. Young gives up three homers and nine runs
• in less than three innings. With a 9 - 0 Giants lead, John McGraw lifts Mathewson, who pitched just two innings, preferring to save his ace for the pennant race against Chicago and Philadelphia. This would end up being the only time the two pitchers ever face each other. The Giants coast to an 11–2 win.
• September 12, 1979 - Carl Yastrzemski, an eighteen time All-Star, and the last man to win the Triple Crown in major league baseball, reaches the 3000 hit milestone, singling off Yankee Jim Beattie. Yaz had one of the longest careers in
• major league history, appearing in 3,308 games over twenty-three seasons. He is second on the all-time list for games played and third in at-bats.
• September 12, 1984 - Dwight Gooden strikes out 16 batters in a 2 - 0 victory over the Pirates to break Herb Score's major league rookie strikeout record of 245. Doc’s whiff of Marvell Wynne raised his season total to 246 to set the new standard.
• September 12, 1998 Cubs OF Sammy Sosa becomes the 4th player in history to reach the 60-home run mark for a season when he slugs number 60 off Valerio de los Santos of the Brewers in the 7th inning of the 15-12 Chicago win.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 11, 1918 - The Red Sox win the World Series in game six, on Carl Mays's 2nd victory, a 2-1 three-hitter. Cubs pitchers compile a 1.04 ERA, while Boston's .186 batting average is the lowest ever for a World Series winner. They compensated for their poor showing at the plate by making just one error, a record not beaten this century in a 6-game World Series. The Cubs each earned $671, and the Red Sox $1,102 , the smallest winner's share ever earned. The inning by inning results of the game are relayed to Fort Devens, 58 miles away, via nine homing pigeons.
• September 11, 1956 Yogi Berra ties the ML career record for home runs by a catcher in the Yankees' 9-5 victory over Kansas City. His 236th ties him with Cub great Gabby Hartnett.
• September 11, 1974 At Shea Stadium, the Mets lose a 25-inning night game to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3. The seven-hour, four minute marathon is the longest game played to a decision in major league history. Only a thousand fans are on hand when the game ends at 3:13 a.m.
• September 11, 1985 Pete Rose becomes baseball's all-time hit leader, singling to left center off Eric Show in the first inning of the Reds' 2–0 win over San Diego. His 4,192nd career hit breaks Ty Cobb's record before 47,237 fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

Happy Birthday Jacoby Ellsbury born on this day in 1983

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 10, 1960 - Mickey Mantle unloads a cannon shot clearing the RF roof in Detroit and landing in Brooks Lumber Yard across Trumbull Avenue. In June, 1985, Mantle's blow was retroactively measured at 643 feet, and was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Home Run in History. New research by National Baseball Hall of Fame, overturned that estimate and instead gives the mark to a 575 ft blast by Babe Ruth hit on July 18, 1921, also in Detroit.
• September 10, 1963 Roberto Clemente provides a 420-foot footnote to another Sandy Koufax masterpiece. Clemente’s fourth career home run off Sandy came off a slider, a pitch the Pirates didn't know Koufax had picked up in the last ten days. Koufax shelved the slider for the rest of the night. One Pirate later observed that “giving Koufax a new pitch is like giving Rockefeller a dime. Neither of them really needs it."
• September 10, 1999, The Red Sox trip the Yankees, 3 - 1, as Pedro Martinez hurls an impressive one-hitter for his 21st victory of the year. Martinez strikes out 17 batters, the most Yankees ever fanned in a single game.
• September 10, 1918 - Players on both sides of the World Series threaten to strike unless they are guaranteed $2,500 to the winners and $1,000 each for the losers. They back off, however, when told they will appear greedy while their countrymen are fighting a war.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 9, 1953 - Mickey Mantle's 2-run home run off Chicago's Billy Pierce caps a 7-run 5th inning, as New York wins 9 - 3 at Yankee Stadium. Returning to Center Field after the 5th, Mantle is photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum. Manager Casey Stengel will publicly rebuke the Mick, who will apologize for the indiscretion. However, Mantle does get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum Company. Mantle was a Madison Avenue darling. He was so beloved that he was able to simultaneously endorse cigarettes and aids to quit smoking,
• September 9, 1931 – With the country in the grip of the Great Depression, New York’s Major League teams; the Yankees, Giants, and Robins agree to a series of benefit games for the unemployed. Sixty thousand fans, paying regular prices, raise $59,000 in the first matchup, as Babe Ruth homers and the Yankees beat the Giants 7 - 2.
• September 9, 1939 - Jimmie Foxx is operated on for appendicitis, and will be out for the season. His 35 home runs will still win the title.
• September 9, 1960 - Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams hits career homer 511 tying him with Mel Ott for third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx.
• Chicago Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed one hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 9, 1965. Unfortunately for him, opposing starter Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game - setting a record for least amount of hits by two teams in nine innings. The game's lone run was scored by the Dodgers in the fifth on a walk, sacrifice bunt, stolen base, and error.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• On the seventh day of September 1978, the Boston Red Sox lead was just four games over a charging Yankee team who arrive in Boston for a crucial 4-game series, which would become known as the “Boston Massacre”. The Yanks dominate game one with a 15 - 3 rout as Willie Randolph accounts for five of the runs. On July 24, the Red Sox held a 14 game lead in the AL East but played only 25 - 24 ball leading up to this series. The Yankees, in that same time frame had won 35 of 49. When the bloodshed was over on September 9th, the Yankees pounded out 42 runs and 67 hits. Boston managed just nine runs and 21 hits. The Sox also committed a dozen errors. The Yankees won all four games by an average margin of over eight runs.
• September 7, 1998 - In the first inning at Busch Stadium, Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire ties Roger Maris' single-season home run mark hitting his 61st in a nationally-televised Labor Day game against the Cubs. Big Mac hits his historic homer on his dad's 61st birthday.
• September 7, 1927 - After blasting three home runs in a doubleheader split with the Red Sox the day before, Babe Ruth hits two more in a 12-10 win, giving him a record-tying 5 in 3 games. He leads Lou Gehrig 49 homers to 45.
• September7, 1955 - Whitey Ford continues his mastery with his second consecutive one-hitter, beating the A's 2-1. Jim Finigan hits a 2-out single in the 7th for the A's only hit. Ford is the 5th ML pitcher to throw consecutive one-hitters.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 6, 1995 - Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive Major League game to surpass Lou Gehrig's 56-year record. When the game becomes official in the middle of the fifth inning, Ripken takes a victory lap around Camden Yards during the 22-minute standing ovation from the sell-out crowd. Ripken went 2 for 4, including a home run, in Baltimore's 4 - 2 win over California.
• September 6, 2001 During the Diamondbacks – Giants game, Barry Bonds becomes the fifth player in major league history to hit 60 home runs in a season. He joins Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Bonds, the oldest to join this elite group, reaches the historic plateau the quickest, needing only 141 games to reach the milestone.
• September 6, 1976 Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager is seriously injured when the jagged end of teammate Bill Russell’s broken bat strikes him in the throat while he is waiting in the on-deck circle. He had nine pieces of wood taken out of his neck during a 98 minute surgery. Yeager later invented a throat protector that hangs from every catcher's mask today.
• September 6, 1977 The Angels acquire slugger Dave Kingman from San Diego for cash consideration. Nine days later, the Yankees will buy Kingman, making him the first player to wear four uniforms in four divisions in the same year. Kingman, who started the season with the Mets, will hit twenty-six home runs to set the mark for the most by a player with more than two teams.

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

• September 5th, 1954, Hank Aaron goes 4 for 4 in a 9 – 7 triumph over the Cubs, but breaks his ankle in the second game of a doubleheader and is lost for the remainder of the season.
• September 5th, 1995, Cal Ripken ties Lou Gehrig’s all-time mark by appearing in his 2,130th consecutive game. In the fifth inning, when the game became official the crowd erupted in applause. The 35 year old shortstop played every game of the Orioles schedule for 14 years and would continue to do so for another three seasons.
• September 5th, 1998: Giant’s 0utfielder Barry Bonds sets a new National League mark reaching base in 15 consecutive plate appearances breaking Dodger Pedro Guerrero’s mark of 14 established in 1983. Mark McGwire slugs his 60th home run of the season to become the 3rd player in history to reach the milestone. The 1st-inning blast off lefty Dennys Reyes helps the Cards on their way to a 7 – 0 blanking of the Reds.
• 1998 Sammy Sosa hits home run #58 in Chicago’s 8 – 4 win over the Pirates, as the Cubs maintain their lead in the race for the wild card spot.
• September 5th, 2002 Texas pounds Baltimore 11 – 2 as SS Alex Rodriguez homers twice to give him 50 for the year. He becomes the 5th player in history to record successive 50-home run seasons.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 3, 2009 — Yankee Catcher, Jorge Posada hit his 20th homer of the season and drove in four runs to help New York beat Toronto 7-5. Posada's homer gave New York a major league-leading seven players with at least 20 dingers. The ’09 Yankees are the only team in franchise history to accomplish this feat. Only the ’96 Orioles, the 2000 Blue Jays and the ’05 Rangers have been able to collect 20 home runs from 7 players in a single season. No National league team has yet to reach that milestone.

September 3, 2008 — Baseball's first use of instant replay is used to support an on field call of a home run during the ninth inning of the Yankee-Tampa Bay Devil Rays contest. Third-base umpire Brian Runge signaled a home run after A-Rod's towering two-run shot off Troy Percival caromed off the catwalk behind the foul pole in left field. Rays catcher Dioner Navarro protested the call bringing manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout. The umpires convened before leaving the field to check the replay on a monitor; 2 minutes and 15 seconds later they upheld the homer giving the Yankees an 8-3 lead.

September 3, 2007 — Pedro Martinez pitches his way back from major shoulder surgery and quickly into the record books. Needing just two strike outs to become only the 15th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career he fanned Aaron Harang with an 87-mph fastball as the Mets posted a 10-4 win over Cincinnati.

September 3, 2006 — Ryan Howard homered in his first three at-bats, leading Philadelphia to an 8-7 victory over Atlanta in the first game of a doubleheader. Howard raised his major league-leading total to 52 and set a record for second-year players.

September 3, 2006 — Albert Pujols homers in his first three at-bats, helping St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 6-3. Pujols, with 42 homers, reached 40 or more for the fourth straight season.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 2, 2001 — A pitching duel between former Yankee teammates David Cone and Mike Mussina saw New York's Mike Mussina came within one strike of pitching the first perfect game in the 89-year history of Fenway Park. Over eight innings Mussina did not allow a single Red Sox baserunner. Red Sox pitcher David Cone kept pace keeping the Yankees scoreless till the top of the 9th when the Yanks would push one across the dish. Mussina's bid was broken up by a clean single from pinch hitter Carl Everett. Prior to this, Everett was 1 for 8 with seven strikeouts against Mussina. The Yankees would hold on to win 1-0.

September 2, 1971, Houston Astros outfielder Cesar Cedeno pops a 200-foot fly ball to short right field in the fifth inning sending Dodger second baseman Jim Lefebvre back as right fielder Bill Buckner was coming in to make a play on the ball. The two would collide and with the bases loaded, Cedeno would collect an inside the park Grand Slam. The hit launched the Astros to a 9-3 victory over the Dodgers. As of August 2011, there have been 224 inside-the-park grand slams in Major League history, 26 in the past 50 years, and only eight since 1990. Honus Wagner has the most in MLB history with five.

September 2, 1990, Dave Stieb, who had lost three no-hit bids with one out to go in the previous two seasons, finally pitched one as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the 1990 season and the only one in Blue Jays history.

September2, 1996, Mike “Gator” Greenwell set a major league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one on a 10th-inning single to give the Red Sox a 9-8 victory over Seattle.

September 2, 1999, Cal Ripken hit his 400th career home run joining an exclusive circle of sluggers. Ripken connected off right-hander Rolando Arrojo in the third inning of the Baltimore Orioles' game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

September 2, 2003 Eric Gagne set a major league single season record with his 55th consecutive save in Los Angeles's 4-1 victory over Houston. When added to the eight consecutive saves he made at the end of the 2002 season, Gagne had sixty-three consecutive saves, a new Major League record.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 1, 2007 — Clay Buchholz throws a no-hitter in his second major league start just hours after being called up by the Boston Red Sox. Buchholz threw 115 pitches, striking out nine, walking three, with one hit batter to give the Red Sox a 10-0 victory over Baltimore. He became the 21st rookie to throw a no-hitter and the third MLB pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first or second major league start. He is the first Red Sox rookie and 17th Red Sox pitcher to pitch a no-hitter. In post game interviews,Manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein independently confirmed a conversation in the 7th or 8th inning where they agreed that Buchholz would not be allowed to exceed 120 pitches. Buchholz’ battery mate, Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek also sets a Major League mark catching his 4th no hitter.

September1, 1919 in the first of two Labor Day games‚ Babe Ruth allows 10 Washington hits but wins 2–1. Helping his own cause, Ruth drives home one run with a triple. The win is his last as a pitcher in a Red Sox uniform.

September 1, 1975, Tom Seaver strikes out Manny Sanguillen in the seventh inning to become the first pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in eight consecutive seasons. Seaver recorded ten strikeouts in the Mets' 3-0 triumph over Pittsburgh.

September 1, 2008, Stephen Drew and Adrian Beltre became the first players to hit for the cycle on thesame day since Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers and George Burns of the NewYork Giants did it on Sept. 17, 1920.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 20, 1973 — Roberto Clemente becomes the first Hispanic American to gain election to the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association of America announces the results of a special ballot, with Clemente receiving 393 of 424 votes. Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve. In light of his tragic death, the Hall’s Board of Directors waived the five-year waiting period that is normally required before a player is eligible for election. A twelve-time All-Star, Clemente batted .317 and won a dozen Gold Gloves over an 18-year career, and batted .362 in World Series play. Named National League MVP in 1966, he was voted the outstanding player in the 1971 World Series, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games.

Roberto Clemente sits down with WPXI [then-WIIC]'s Sam Nover in October 1972, less than 3 months before his untimely passing. This is definitely his final at-length interview, and probably his only surviving extended interview that was captured visually. This was re-run by WPXI for the first time in 1989, and again on New Year's Eve 1997 [marking the 25th anniversary of his death], which is the source of this upload.

Check out his Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/?s=roberto+clemente

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

August 31, 1990, the Houston Astros make one of their best trades ever, acquiring minor league infielder Jeff Bagwell from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Larry Andersen. Refusing to part with Triple-A third baseman Scott Cooper to get Larry Andersen from the Astros for the stretch run, Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman trades the Eastern League's MVP Jeff Bagwell for the right-handed relief pitcher.The University of Hartford standout will go on to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1991 and we will win the National League’s MVP Award in 1994 and become one of the greatest players in Astros franchise history. Anderson was a key member of the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch and helped Boston capture the the AL East Title. What is also lost is the Red Sox had a future MVP themselves in Mo Vaughn at firstbase who became on of the top offensive players in team history.

August 31, 1990, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. become the first father and son combination to play together in a major league game. The elder Griffey plays left field and bats second, while the younger Griffey bats third and plays center field. They each pick up one hit in four at-bats.

August 31, 1950, Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers ties a major league record by piling up 17 total bases in a game against the Boston Braves. Hodges hits four home runs and a single in leading the Dodgers to a 19-3 win at Ebbets Field.

August 31, 1917, 22-year old Red Sox lefty Babe Ruth won his 20th game of the season, defeating the Athletics, 5-3. Ruth won 24 games that season, the second straight year he had reached the 20-win mark. Ruth posted a career 94-46 mark as a pitcher, but earned his fame as a slugger

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On August 30, 2006, Boston right-hander Curt Schilling fans Oakland slugger Nick Swisher with his trademark splitter to record the 3,000th strikeout of his career. Schilling becomes the 14th pitcher to reach the milestone. Schilling ranks 2nd all time with 4.38 strikeouts for every walk allowed. Third on the all time list is 2004 team mate Pedro Martinez with a 4.15 ratio. After recording the strikeout Schilling said, "Earlier in my career, the two guys I wanted to emulate were Clemens and Maddux. I wanted Clemens' power with Maddux's control. I never quite got to either one of them, but I felt like I was kind of a mishmash of the two in some cases."

August 30, 1978, Sadaharu Oh of the Tokyo Giants hits the 800th home run of his career. Oh, the world’s all-time home run king, had previously broken Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs. He went on to hit 868 for his career. Aaron, six years Oh's senior, out-homered him in home run hitting contests held in 1974 and 1984.

August 30, 1965, one of the game’s most legendary figures, New York Mets manager Casey Stengel, announces his retirement. Doctors had advised Stengel to step down after suffering a broken hip in a bathroom fall on July 25. Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame the next year.

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel made his big league debut as an outfielder with John McGraw’s New York Giants in 1912. His greatest moment as a player came in the 1923 World Series with the Giants. With two outs in the ninth inning, Stengel won Game 1 with an inside-the-park home run. After his playing career he managed the Dodgers, Braves and in 1949 took over the Yankees, His record of 1149 wins versus 696 losses with the Yankees over the next 12 seasons was among the greatest in managerial history, and included 10 American League pennants and seven World Series victories. He finished his career with Mets and in 1962 posted the single worst record in baseball history as the amazing mets went 40 - 120. The year following his retirement, Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

1977 - Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock steals second base in a 4-3 loss to the Padres. It is career steal 893 for Brock, breaking Ty Cobb's modern record. Brock wasted no time, leading the game off with a walk, he stole second base off the battery of Danny Freisleben and Dave Roberts, he advanced to third and scored on Jerry Mumphries single. Brock would steal another base in the seventh after a force out and was left stranded in the 7th at third in the Cardinal loss.

1972 - During a 3-0 win over St. Louis, San Francisco's Jim Barr retires the first 20 batters to face him, his no hit bid was broken up by a pinch hit double by Bernie Carbo. Six days earlier, Barr had gotten out the last 21 Pittsburgh Pirates to face him in a 8-0 Giants victory, the only Pirates to reach in the game were second inning singles by Willie Stargell and Milt May and a walk to pitcher bob Moose in the third inning. This gave Barr a major league-record of 41 consecutive batsmen retired, which stood until Mark Buehrle broke it 36 years later in 2009 retiring 45 straight.

1925 - After a night on the town, Babe Ruth shows up late for batting practice. Miller Huggins suspends Ruth and slaps a $5,000 fine on him for disobeying orders on the field and team rules off the field. Ruth is forced to apologize before he's reinstated nine days later. The day after his return to the lineup, Ruth hits career home run number 300. A few days later, Ruth will take his case to Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, who sides with Huggins.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

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Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

This Week we cover August 26 - Sept 1 . . . We are going to talk Tom Yawkey, Jackie Robinson, Jeff Bagwell, The First Televised Game, Rob Dibble, The Rat and Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. 

If you want to dive deeper into these subjects check out my show notes page on my website. 

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/daily-rewind-season-3-episode-5-jackie-robinson-meets-branch-rickey/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts