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’, Robert…

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.…

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…

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 G…

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 f…

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…

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 wit…

September 23, 1908 Giants Pitcher Christy Mathewson and Cubs P Three Finger Brown battle in one of the most controversial game ever played. The score is 1-1 with two outs in the last of the 9th, when Fred Merkle's failure to touch second after an apparent game - winning hit by Al Bridwell costs the Giants a 2 - 1 win. The ump calls Merkle out and r…

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 oth…

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 …

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…

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 ba…

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…

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…

September 16, 1968: One day after seeing their team mathematically eliminated, Candlestick Park's patrons show up in 'record' numbers, the smallest crowd to see a Giants game in San Francisco. The 2,361 fans witnessed the rare sight of Willie Mays being restrained from charging into the stands to confront two hecklers. 'Nice catch, Willie,' they je…

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 ti…

September 14, 1994 - The remainder of the baseball season is canceled by acting commissioner Bud Selig after 34 days of the players' strike. The last 50 games of the season and post season were cancelled due to the strike called by the Players Association and their leader Don Fehr. The World Series would not be played for the first time in 90 years…

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 …

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…

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-…

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 Fam…

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. Howeve…

September 8, 2007 - Alex Rodriguez continues to lead the Yankees in their playoff hopes with an 11-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. He homers twice off rookie pitcher Brian Bannister. The first of the homers is his 49th of the year and breaks the record for homers by a third baseman. Previously, Mike Schmidt and Rodriguez (2005) had shared the re…

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 lea…

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, i…

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 cro…

September4, 2000, the Red Sox's defeat the Seattle Mariners, 5 – 1. Boston Outfielder, Carl Everett drives in his 100th ribbie of the year becoming only the sixth major-league switch-hitter to drive in 100 runs in both leagues. Pedro Martinez however, is the star of the day, striking out 11 in eight innings to go 7 - 0 over the M's. Prior to the ga…

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 Ja…

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 sc…

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 si…

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 …

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 Ma…

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 …

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-…

August 28, 1990, Ryne Sandberg of the Chicago Cubs becomes the first second baseman in history to notch consecutive 30-home run seasons. Sandberg hits his milestone 30th home run against the Houston Astros, helping the Cubs to a 5-2 win. Sandberg went onto hit 40 homeruns, he is 1 of 9 men to hit 40 homeruns in a season and the cubs ar the only tea…

The king of thives: August 27, 1982, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s breaks Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record. Henderson steals his 119th base, surpassing Brock’s total of 118 thefts. Henderson stole the base in the 3rd inning off the battery of Doc Medith and Ted Simmions. Henderson, would steal three more bases in a 5-4 loss to the…

August 26th The Mariners fall to the Royals‚ 7-3‚ despite Ichiro Suzuki's 200th hit of the season. With the HR‚ Suzuki becomes the 1st player to reach 200 hits in each of his 1st 4 ML seasons. A trend that would continue through the 2010 season. August 26, 1995, Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves ties a major league record by posting his 16th consec…

August 25, 1985, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets becomes the youngest pitcher to win 20 games in a season. At 20 years, nine months, and nine days - one month younger than Bob Feller was when he won 20 games in 1939 - Gooden defeats the San Diego Padres, 9-3. Gooden will not follow Feller into the Hall of Fame but had 194 career wins and was par…

August 24, 1989, Pete Rose signs an agreement that bans him from baseball permanently. Commissioner Bart Giamatti announces that the agreement does not contain either “an admission or a denial” that Rose bet on baseball games. The ruling will prevent Rose from seeking employment in the major leagues. August 24, 1971, Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs…

Grease Discovery: August 23, 1982, Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners is caught putting a foreign substance on the ball. Long suspected of throwing a “spitball,” Perry is ejected from a game for the first and only time in his career. Hall of Fame Debut: August 23, 1936, future Hall of Famer Bob Feller makes his first major league start and strik…

Today we are covering August 19 – 25, we are going to be talking about – Jimmie Foxx pitching career, Gooden early excellence, Bill Veek grand stand moment, Yogi Berra and the harmonica, Juan Marichal and John Roseboro fight and the professional pinch hitter Matt Stairs. If you love the history of the game, and relate all your stories in life to ba…

Cooperstwon Match up: On August 22, 1989, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the first major league pitcher to reach the 5,000 strikeout mark. Ryan fans Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s On a 96 mph fastball in the fifth inning. The "Ryan Express" strikes out 13 and gives up only five hits, but loses the game 2-0. On August 22, 1965, San Fra…

August 20th, 1923 - A four-piece bat used by Babe Ruth is banned by American League president Ban Johnson because of the glue used on it. Johnson rules that all bats must be one piece with nothing added except tape extending to 18 inches up the handle. On August 20th, 1934 Lou Gehrig hits a first-inning grand slam off A’s pitcher Buck Ross in an 11…

August 19th, 1917 While Coaching at third base for Detroit in a 1-1 tie against The Senators, Ty Cobb shoves base runner George Burns as he pulled up at third on a long hit. Burns headed home scoring the winning run. Senators Manager and future Hall of Famer Clark Griffith protested and American League President Ban Johnson upheld the protest, as t…

August 18th, 1967 During the Red Sox “Impossible dream” season, tragedy strikes when Tony Conigliaro is beaned by the Angels' Jack Hamilton. Hit just below his left eye, Conigliaro would miss the rest of the season and all of ‘68. The injury effectively ended the career of a player who by the time he was 22 had become the youngest in American Leagu…

August 17th, 1966 San Francisco Giant outfielder Willie Mays moves into second place on the all-time home run list with a 4th-inning blast off Ray Washburn. Seven years to the day later, in 1973, the 42-year old Mays, now with the Mets hits the 660th and final home run of his career off Reds lefty Don Gullett. August 17th, 1923. After 111 games, Ba…

“The Babe”, George Herman Ruth, was the first sports superstar. He had the potential to be baseball’s greatest left-handed pitcher. Instead, he moved to the outfield and became its greatest hitter. Until Ruth arrived in New York in 1918, the Yankees had never won a pennant. Babe Ruth dies of throat cancer at age 53 in New York on August 16th 1948. …

On August 15th, 1971 - Vida Blue raised his record to 22-4 as the A's beat the Yankees, 6 - 4. Blue masterfully scattered 10 hits and scored the tie breaking run on a wild pitch. He would finish the season at 24-8, with a 1.82 ERA earning him not only the American League Cy Young Award, but also the American League MVP. On August 15th, 1977 In a 2 …

For two straight years, August 14th belonged to Pitcher Lynwood "Schoolboy" Rowe. In 1934 the largest weekday crowd in history watched the Tigers' win their 14th straight at Yankee stadium as Schoolboy Rowe notched his 13th consecutive “W”. One year later to the day, in 1935, the “Schoolboy” tossed an 18-2 victory over the Senators while going 5 fo…

This week we look at Curt Flood going to Washington. Bean Balls that changed lives - Ray Chapman and Tony C, Power steals by Vic Power, and lost icon as Mickey Mantle Passes away, One incredible streak by Jack Taylor. Listen to our new section on Fan Stories - today we thank Ray Wilson. On Episode 3 – we are backstepping through August 12 – 18th. O…