June 3
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
| Permanent link to Today's Entry | |
| Sources | |
| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on June 3.
Events[edit]
- 1888 - The poem Casey at the Bat is first printed in the San Francisco Examiner under the pen name "Phin". Its author will later be revealed to be Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
- 1902 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike O'Neill hits the first pinch grand slam ever in the majors, against the Boston Beaneaters. He also becomes the first pitcher in the National League to hit a grand slam in the 20th century.
- 1907 - Stoney McGlynn of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches both games in a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds, winning a 1 - 0 five-hitter in the opener. The Reds win the nitecap, 5 - 1.
- 1911 - Chicago Cubs slugger Frank Schulte hits a grand slam off Rube Marquard to beat the New York Giants, 8 - 4. Schulte will slam four this season, a record tied by Babe Ruth in 1919 and topped by Ernie Banks' five in 1955.
- 1918 - Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitches his second career no-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers, 5 - 0.
- 1932 - Lou Gehrig hits four consecutive home runs and narrowly misses a fifth, and Tony Lazzeri hits for the cycle as the Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 20 - 13. The Yankees set a major league record for total bases with 50 and both teams set a still-standing record for extra bases with 41.
- 1952:
- In a blockbuster trade, the Boston Red Sox send Walt Dropo, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, Fred Hatfield and Bill Wight to Detroit for George Kell, Hoot Evers, Dizzy Trout and Johnny Lipon.
- Playing for the Nagoya Dragons, Zenpei Yamazaki steals a Nippon Pro Baseball-record six bases in a game.
- 1956 - In the second game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium, future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn records the lone five-hit game of his career in a 9 - 3 win by the Phillies over the Cardinals. "Whitey" hits two doubles and three singles, and scores three runs to key the Fightin' Phils' victory.
- 1957 - Forbes Field's vast centerfield expanse provides the setting for one of Willie Mays' greatest catches, coming at the expense of Roberto Clemente. Clemente hits a ball that seems headed towards a light tower in left center in the 1st inning, with two Pirates on base and one out, more than 440 feet from home plate. Willie leaps high against the screen and makes a glove-twisting catch. The Giants go on to win the game, 6 - 5.
- 1961 - Roberto Clemente hits a 1st-inning home run and has a 4th-inning outfield assist, in Pittsburgh's 5 - 2 win over Philly.
- 1969 - Hit No. 2,417 for Roberto Clemente? A game-tying three-run homer which pushes him past two Hall of Famers on Pittsburgh's hit list - Max Carey and Pie Traynor. The blast off Jim Merritt makes the score 3 - 3 in the 6th, but the Reds score twice in each of the next two frames to win easily, 7 - 3.
- 1971 - Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitches his second career no-hitter, defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 1 - 0.
- 1978 - Davey Johnson becomes the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season as the Phillies beat the Dodgers, 5 - 1.
- 1983 - Katsuo Osugi collects his 1,000th hit in the Central League. He becomes the first player in Nippon Pro Baseball to reach 1,000 hits in both of the major leagues.
- 1995 - Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos pitches nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos' 1 - 0 win. Martinez becomes the second pitcher in history, after Harvey Haddix, to have a perfect game broken up in extra innings.
- 2003:
- Sammy Sosa is ejected in the 1st inning of Cubs' 3 - 2 victory over Tampa Bay after umpires find cork in his shattered bat.
- New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is named the 15th captain in club history.
- 2004 - At Turner Field, the 45-year-old Julio Franco hits a home run with the bases loaded in the 1st inning, to became the oldest player in major league history to hit a grand slam as the Braves beat the Phillies, 8 - 4.
- 2006 - In a long day at Shea Stadium, rookie catcher Eliezer Alfonzo hits a two-run home run for his first major league hit, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 6 - 4 victory over the New York Mets in the first game of a doubleheader, which ends after 3 hours, 12 minutes. In the second game, already delayed 2 1/2 hours by rain, the Mets win 3 - 2, in the bottom of the 11th inning, when Lastings Milledge scores the winning run on a short sacrifice fly by Chris Woodward. The twin bill ends close to 11 p.m. ET.
- 2008 - Randy Johnson moves into second place on the all-time major league strikeout leaderboard. He strikes out eight in 6 1/3 innings, most importantly getting Mike Cameron in the 1st to pass Roger Clemens for second place with 4,673. The 44-year-old "Big Unit" trails only Nolan Ryan but will not catch him.
- 2009 - The Pirates deal All-Star CF Nate McLouth to the Braves for CF prospect Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke.
- 2010:
- A few days before he is expected to become the first overall selection in the 2010 amateur draft, Bryce Harper, playing for Southern Nevada, is ejected from a game in the National Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, CO for showing up an umpire and arguing balls and strikes. The ejection comes with an automatic two-game suspension, meaning Harper's amateur career is over unless his team manages to reach the tournament final without its star hitter. While Harper's playing talent has never been in doubt, there have been frequent questions about the make-up and maturity of the 17-year-old catcher.
- The Braves extend their winning streak to nine games with a 4 - 3 win in Los Angeles. The Dodgers come into the game with a record of 18-8 at home, but an excellent start by Kris Medlen, coupled with Troy Glaus's fourth homer in five games, propels Atlanta to the win. Jonny Venters, filling in for the unavailable Billy Wagner and an injured Takashi Saito, records his first major league save.
- Cumberland University wins the NAIA College World Series for its second national title, topping Lee University, 4 - 3. David Fanshawe drives in all four runs while Aaron Wilkerson allows only four hits in eight innings for the win.
- 2011:
- Jered Weaver, who had won six games in April, earns his first win since then in beating the Yankees, 3 - 2. The Angels starter is now 7-4.
- Jason Vargas tosses a four-hitter for his first career shutout as the Mariners defeat the Rays, 7 - 0. Adam Kennedy and Miguel Olivo hit back-to-back homers off Andy Sonnanstine in the 5th inning to ice the win, following Justin Smoak's 1st-inning blast.
- 2012:
- The Mets complete a three-game sweep of the Cardinals with a 6 - 1 win to reach a virtual tie for first place in the NL East. Jon Niese strikes out a career-high ten batters in six innings before leaving because of an accelerated heart beat. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hits a homer and drives in three runs. The Cards lost the first two games of the series by shutout, including Johan Santana's no-hitter on June 1st, and finally end their 26-inning scoring drought in the 8th, on an RBI single by Adron Chambers.
- Carlos Zambrano hits his 24th career homer as the Marlins beat the Phillies, 5 - 1. That ties him with Bob Gibson for second-most dingers by a pitcher in the post-1962 era, still nine behind leader Earl Wilson.
- 2013:
- Yasiel Puig has two hits in his major league debut and makes a strong throw from right field to complete a game-ending double play as the Dodgers defeat the Padres, 2 - 1. Scott Van Slyke and Adrian Gonzalez both hit solo homers to account for the Dodgers' two runs, while Stephen Fife earns the first victory of his career.
- The last-place Astros extend their unlikely winning streak to six games with a 2 - 1 win over the Angels, which completes a four-game sweep. Erik Bedard earns his first win of the season as Chris Carter homers. All six wins have come on the road - the first perfect road trip by Houston since 1999.
- 2015:
- The Diamondbacks trade slugging OF Mark Trumbo and P Vidal Nuno to the Mariners for C Welington Castillo, P Dominic Leone and two prospects, IF Jack Reinheimer and OF Gabby Guerrero. The trade breaks a logjam in the outfield for the D-Backs, with the emergence of Cuban defector Yasmany Tomas, while they need a catcher to replace Tuffy Gosewisch who went down with a season-ending knee injury a week earlier.
- Tempers flare in Miami in a game between the Marlins and the Cubs. In the 6th inning, Chicago's Junior Lake hits a homer that cuts his team's deficit to 6 - 2, and taunts the Marlins' bench while rounding third base; he is confronted by C J.T. Realmuto as he crosses the plate and both benches empty although no one is ejected. Giancarlo Stanton and Jeff Baker hit back-to-back homers for the second straight game for Miami, which ends up with a 7 - 3 win.
- 2016:
- The Marlins get some unwanted publicity when they are the first to announce the death of boxing great Muhammad Ali on the Marlins Park scoreboard at the end of tonight's game against the Mets. Team President David Samson had heard the news from a person close to Ali, but had not realized the family had not made the news public when he calls on the scoreboard operators to pay tribute.
- Rookie SS Corey Seager hits three homers, all solo shots, in the Dodgers' 4 - 2 win over the Braves.
- 2017:
- Edinson Volquez of the Marlins throws the first no-hitter of the year, defeating the Diamondbacks, 3 - 0. He allows a pair of walks, but both baserunners are erased on double plays, so he faces the minimum 27 batters in his masterpiece. He almost leaves the game after one batter, after he collides with Rey Fuentes at first base and turns his ankle, but he stays in and pitches the game of his life.
- Albert Pujols hits the 600th home run of his career, the historic blast being a 4th-inning grand slam off Ervin Santana of the Twins in a 7 - 2 Angels win. He is the ninth player to join the exclusive fraternity.
- 2018:
- Michael Wacha of the Cardinals pitches no-hit ball for eight innings against the Pirates before pinch-hitter Colin Moran leads off the 9th with a single. Reliever Jordan Hicks then records the final three outs to complete a one-hit, 5 - 0, combined shutout.
- Blake Snell ties an American League record by striking out the first seven batters he faces for the Rays against the Mariners. Denard Span ends the streak with a ground out, but Snell then strikes out Mike Zunino to end the 3rd. However, Seattle goes on to win, 2 - 1, on a pair of runs in the bottom of the 8th after Snell has departed having struck out 12 in six scoreless innings.
- 2019 - The 2019 amateur draft begins today and, as expected, C Adley Rutschman of Oregon State University, the MVP of the 2018 College World Series, is taken first overall, by the Orioles. He is followed by SS Bobby Witt Jr., son of Bobby Witt, a first-round pick himself in 1985, by the Royals. Andrew Vaughn, winner of the Golden Spikes Award in 2018 completes the initial trifecta by going to the White Sox. Remarkably, there are only two pitchers taken in the first 16 selections.
- 2020:
- Nippon Pro Baseball's plans to start its season on June 12th hits a snag when two Yomiuri Giants players, Hayato Sakamoto and Takumi Oshiro, test positive for coronavirus antibodies before a practice game, forcing its cancellation. The two are hospitalized as a preventive measure and all teammates and team officials will be tested for the coronavirus itself.
- Plans to start the MLB season in early July are deadlocked, as the owners reject the Players' Association counter-offer of a 114-game schedule extending into November. They had earlier proposed an 82-game season, with players taking on additional salary cuts. The owners' objections are two-fold: they claim that they will lose money with every game played, and they fear that a second deadly wave of the pandemic will hit North America in the fall, just as the more lucrative postseason games are to be played.
- 2022:
- With a disappointing 22-29 record after splurging on free agents over the past few years, the Phillies fire manager Joe Girardi, who has failed to take them to the postseason in his two-plus seasons at the helm. Bench coach Rob Thomson is named manager on an interim basis to finish the season but hewill help turn the team's fortunes around and be given the job on a permanent basis.
- Batting below the Mendoza Line entering the game, Nationals OF Lane Thomas doubles his season's homer total by hitting three in an 8 - 5 win over the Reds. It's the first multi-homer game of his career.
- 2023 - Luis Arráez, the major league leader in batting average, has another great day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with five RBIs to lead Miami to a 12 - 1 beating of the awful Oakland A's. Both totals are career bests for Arráez, and the performance raises his average to .390 after 59 games - only the fifth player since 2000 to be at .390 or above after that many games.
- 2024 - Padres player Tucupita Marcano faces a lifetime ban from baseball after an investigation by MLB found that he has placed bets on a large number of major league games, in contravention of very clear rule. He is suspected of having bet on Pirates games while injured last season; he has not played this season, also due to injury. The lifetime ban will be confirmed tomorrow and four other players will receive one-year suspensions for placing bets while they were in the minor leagues: Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank.
Births[edit]
- 1863 - Woody Wagenhorst, infielder (d. 1946)
- 1867 - Wild Bill Widner, pitcher (d. 1908)
- 1875 - John Dobbs, outfielder (d. 1934)
- 1881 - Charlie Hanford, outfielder (d. 1963)
- 1888 - Jesse Baker, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1890 - John Taff, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1890 - Tom Wilson, catcher (d. 1953)
- 1891 - Bill McTigue, pitcher (d. 1920)
- 1892 - Howard Lohr, outfielder (d. 1977)
- 1895 - Johnny Bassler, catcher (d. 1979)
- 1898 - Burdell Young, outfielder (d. ????)
- 1899 - Urbane Pickering, infielder (d. 1970)
- 1900 - Harry Baldwin, pitcher (d. 1958)
- 1900 - Ernie Smith (smither02), outfielder (d. 1973)
- 1903 - Chappie Geygan, infielder (d. 1966)
- 1907 - Ameal Brooks, catcher/outfielder (d. 1971)
- 1908 - Don Osborn, coach (d. 1979)
- 1910 - Carl Fairly, minor league infielder (d. 1977)
- 1910 - Barney Morris, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1962)
- 1913 - Jim Sheehan, catcher (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Max Wilson, pitcher (d. 1977)
- 1920 - Kazuo Kasahara, NPB outfielder and manager (d. 1998)
- 1921 - Lindy Lauro, college coach (d. 2012)
- 1924 - George Armstrong, catcher (d. 1993)
- 1928 - Dick Young, infielder (d. 2018)
- 1934 - Jim Gentile, infielder; All-Star
- 1935 - Max Puckett, Australian national team player (d. 2021)
- 1934 - Perry Pelekoudas, minor league umpire
- 1937 - Phyllis Baker, AAGPBL pitcher (d. 2006)
- 1939 - Steve Dalkowski, minor league pitcher (d. 2020)
- 1940 - Dick McLaughlin, minor league outfielder-infielder and manager
- 1942 - Eizo Goda, NPB pitcher
- 1942 - Duane Josephson, catcher; All-Star (d. 1997)
- 1943 - Ron Keller, pitcher
- 1945 - Yukinobu Miyamoto, NPB pitcher
- 1946 - Mike Floyd, minor league outfielder (d. 2023)
- 1946 - Makoto Kurata, NPB pitcher (d. 2021)
- 1947 - Willy Lagrilliere, First Division infielder
- 1953 - Ed Glynn, pitcher
- 1954 - Stan Jakubowski, minor league pitcher
- 1955 - Jim Gaudet, catcher
- 1956 - Julio Valdéz, infielder (d. 2022)
- 1957 - John Hessler, minor league pitcher (d. 2012)
- 1960 - Barry Lyons, catcher
- 1960 - Steve Lyons, infielder
- 1961 - Jose Tolentino, infielder
- 1964 - Nelson Liriano, infielder
- 1967 - Milton Croes, Aruban national team pitcher
- 1967 - Satoshi Iriki, NPB pitcher (d. 2023)
- 1970 - Earl Cunningham, minor league outfielder
- 1971 - Carl Everett, outfielder; All-Star
- 1971 - Craig Griffey, minor league outfielder
- 1971 - Craig Horswell, Canadian national team catcher
- 1971 - Aaron Ledesma, infielder
- 1971 - Izzy Molina, catcher
- 1972 - Javier Pérez, Bundesliga utility man
- 1972 - Bryan Rekar, pitcher
- 1973 - Dae-ik Kim, KBO infielder
- 1973 - Robert Machado, catcher
- 1973 - Ivan Montane, minor league pitcher
- 1975 - Daisuke Hayakawa, NPB outfielder
- 1975 - Jose Molina, catcher
- 1975 - Carlos Ros, minor league pitcher
- 1975 - Shintaro Yoshitake, NPB pitcher
- 1977 - Travis Hafner, designated hitter
- 1977 - Chih-Hao Hsu, CPBL catcher
- 1978 - John Ogiltree, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Juan Rivera, outfielder
- 1978 - Steve Smyth, pitcher
- 1979 - Craig Mosher, minor league pitcher
- 1979 - Hui-Hsien Yen, CPBL pitcher
- 1980 - Dimitrios Douros, Greek national team outfielder
- 1980 - Sang-hoon Han, KBO infielder
- 1980 - Tjerk Smeets, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1981 - Munenori Kawasaki, infielder
- 1981 - Chandler Rose, college coach
- 1981 - Rich Rundles, pitcher (d. 2019)
- 1982 - Akihisa Makida, NPB outfielder
- 1984 - Bobby Carrington, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Oleh Shkatula, Ukrainian national team catcher
- 1985 - Luis Gonzalez, Panamanian national team pitcher
- 1985 - Greg Bordes, minor league infielder
- 1985 - Lucas Harrell, pitcher
- 1986 - Zach Lutz, infielder
- 1986 - Adam Reifer, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Kazuhito Futagami, NPB pitcher
- 1988 - Cory Brownsten, minor league catcher
- 1988 - Marcus Lemon, minor league infielder
- 1989 - Nefi Ogando, pitcher
- 1990 - Augustin Avila, minor league player
- 1990 - Harry Glynne, Bundesliga pitcher
- 1991 - Yordano Ventura, pitcher (d. 2017)
- 1991 - Duke von Schamann, minor league pitcher
- 1992 - Takayuki Kato, NPB pitcher
- 1992 - Andy Otero, minor league pitcher
- 1992 - Sebastian Vader, minor league pitcher
- 1994 - Harrison Bader, outfielder
- 1994 - Sasagi Sánchez, minor league pitcher
- 1994 - Ramón Urías, infielder
- 1994 - Brandon Waddell, pitcher
- 1995 - Lake Bachar, pitcher
- 1995 - Chen-Yen Chiang, CPBL pitcher
- 1995 - Eric Lauer, pitcher
- 1995 - Ho-yeon Lee, KBO infielder
- 1996 - Charles Leblanc, infielder
- 1996 - Jackson Tetreault, pitcher
- 1997 - Ryan Jeffers, catcher
- 1997 - Luis Urías, infielder
- 1997 - Syvone Yelee, Laotian national team outfielder
- 1998 - Luis Gil, pitcher
- 1999 - Max Lazar, pitcher
- 2000 - Angel Tiburcio, minor league pitcher
- 2003 - Brock Porter, minor league pitcher
- 2005 - Hao-Wei Chang, CPBL infielder
- 2005 - Taek-yeon Kim, KBO pitcher
- 2006 - Aviv Bobrov, Israeli national team pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1902 - Henry Moore, outfielder (b. 1862)
- 1904 - Bill Pfann, pitcher (b. 1863)
- 1911 - Dad Clarke, pitcher (b. 1865)
- 1923 - Harry Billiard, pitcher (b. 1883)
- 1930 - George Hemming, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1934 - John Kent, umpire (b. 1853)
- 1936 - Billy Shindle, infielder (b. 1860)
- 1940 - Billy Kelly, catcher (b. 1886)
- 1941 - Andy Cooper, pitcher, manager; All-Star, Hall of Fame (b. 1897)
- 1952 - Roswell Hildebrand, minor league pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1954 - Zaza Harvey, outfielder (b. 1879)
- 1956 - Roxy Walters, catcher (b. 1892)
- 1968 - Alvin Gardner, minor league executive (b. 1890)
- 1970 - Forrest Mashaw, outfielder (b. 1898)
- 1970 - Jakie May, pitcher (b. 1895)
- 1971 - Vern Spencer, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1972 - Ikushi Yamanouchi, author; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1902)
- 1973 - Jack Mills, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1976 - Paul Chervinko, catcher (b. 1910)
- 1976 - Dwight Stone, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1977 - Bob Glenn, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1978 - Marv Rickert, outfielder (b. 1921)
- 1980 - Fred Lieb, writer (b. 1888)
- 1991 - Jimmie Bennett, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 1997 - Pidge Browne, infielder (b. 1929)
- 2004 - Joe Cleary, pitcher (b. 1918)
- 2009 - Don Johnson (b. 1943)
- 2017 - Jim Piersall, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1929)
- 2018 - Larry Jones, minor league pitcher (b. 1955)
- 2020 - Oscar Brown, outfielder (b. 1946)
- 2020 - Ray Webster, infielder (b. 1937)
- 2021 - Bruce Holt, US national team player (b. 1930)
- 2021 - Tim Tolman, outfielder (b. 1956)
- 2023 - Bob White, minor league outfielder (b. 1951)
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