September 21

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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 September 21.

Events

• 1889 - Four St. Louis errors in the 9th inning give the Red Stockings four runs, enabling Cincinnati to win, 5 - 4.
• 1892 - At Cleveland's League Park, John Clarkson of the Spiders beats the Pirates, 3 - 2, to become the fifth pitcher in major league history to win 300 games. The 31-year old right-hander will compile a 328-178 record games during his 12-year Hall of Fame career in the big leagues.
• 1896 - Connie Mack announces he will leave Pittsburgh to manage Milwaukee in the Western League.
• 1901:
  • Tom Hughes of Chicago and Boston Beaneater Bill Dinneen pitch 16 scoreless innings before the Orphans score in the 17th on an error, hit batter, force out, and a single by Clarence Childs. Each pitcher gives up eight singles. This will stand as the longest shutout ever by a Cub pitcher. Hughes fans 13 in 17 frames. The 17 innings sets the major-league record for the longest game (at a pitching distance of 60' 6"). The record will later be broken a number of times.
  • An American League record that still stands is set when Cleveland and Washington make 22 errors in a doubleheader, 16 by Cleveland. Washington wins both games, 18 - 7 and 11 - 3.
  • In Cincinnati, Christy Mathewson allows just three hits in beating the Reds, 5 - 1. It is Matty's 20th win.
• 1903 - Christy Mathewson, pitching for the third time in four games, keeps the Giants in second place by beating Chicago's Clarence Currie, 8 - 3. For Matty, it is his 30th win of the year.
• 1904 - The Reds sweep the Giants, winning 6 - 4 and 2 - 0, to stall the Giants' clinching of the flag. The Reds rough up Christy Mathewson in the opener and Jack Harper scatters five hits for the shutout. New York has lost three in a row for the first time this season.
• 1906 - At Chicago, the White Sox lose a pair to New York before 20,000, their largest Friday afternoon crowd. Hal Chase has 22 putouts at 1B in the first game, tying the major league record.
• 1907 - Against the Reds, New York jumps to a 6 - 0 lead against Charlie Smith, and Christy Mathewson coasts to a 6 - 2 win. Fred Merkle makes his first appearance for the Giants, playing 2B.
• 1908:
  • In New York, Christy Mathewson allows just three hits - all in the 3rd inning - and no walks, but the Pirates win, 2 - 1. Vic Willis goes one better, allowing just two New York hits for the victory.
  • Cleveland takes the American League lead, beating New York, while Detroit takes two at St. Louis. With two weeks to go, three and a half games separate four teams.
• 1909 - Rest seems to have cured Walter Johnson's sore arm, as the Nats' ace shuts out Detroit, 2 - 0, in his first appearance since August 29th. He will finish the season at 13-25, ten of the losses coming in shutouts. Five of the shutout losses are to the White Sox.
• 1910 - At Atlanta, Mobile and Atlanta break the "world's time record" for a nine-inning game, completing the match in 32 minutes. Mobile wins, 2 - 1. Both teams run in after each inning, hitters usually swing at the first pitch, though there is one walk and four stolen bases in the game.
• 1911:
  • In St. Louis, Hooks Wiltse wins the opener to extend the Giants' win streak to 12 games. The Cards stop the skein in the second game with an 8 - 7 win.
  • In Chicago, the Phils' Grover Alexander fires his fourth straight shutout, beating the Cubs' Ed Reulbach, 4 - 0. Alex also had shutouts on the 7th, 13th, and 17th.
• 1912 - Boston 3B Larry Gardner breaks his finger. He will be out until October 5th, then will play in the World Series.
• 1914 - The White Sox score in the 4th inning on a Walter Johnson wild pitch, one of four that Johnson uncorks in the game. But he strikes out 12 batters in 13 innings as the Nats finally break through against Chicago's Red Faber for a 6 - 1 win. The record book gives Johnson all four wild pitches in the 4th inning, but it appears that Eddie Collins, who opened with a single, stole second and advanced on a grounder to third, scored the Pale Hose's only tally on just one wild pitch.
• 1916 - Tris Speaker goes 4 for 6 and drives in a run as Cleveland edges Washington and Walter Johnson, 3 - 2.
• 1917 - In Boston, the White Sox clinch the pennant with a 2 - 1 win in ten innings. Pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 10th, Babe Ruth grounds into a game-ending double play.
• 1919 - The Cubs beat the Braves, 3 - 0, in 58 minutes. It takes the Robins 55 minutes to beat the Reds, 3 - 1. Slim Sallee throws 65 pitches, topping Christy Mathewson's 69-pitch complete game. One week later the Giants will close the season beating the Phils, 6 - 1, in a record 51 minutes.
• 1920 - First-place Cleveland routs the Red Sox, 12 - 1, and have a day off before meeting the second-place White Sox, winners of their last six games.
• 1922 - The American League reinstates the MVP award, last given in 1914, appointing a committee of one writer from each city, headed by I.E. Sanborn of the Chicago Tribune. As a player-manager, Ty Cobb is not eligible, and the trophy goes to George Sisler. The National League will pick up the idea two years later.
• 1923 - Babe Ruth is the unanimous choice of the American League committee of baseball writers for the MVP award.
• 1925 - Pittsburgh OF Kiki Cuyler ties the National League record by getting his tenth consecutive hit, singling in his first two at bats, off Art Decatur and Dutch Ulrich, before he fouls out in his third at bat, against the Phils' Decatur. The Pirates win the opener, 9 - 7. In the nitecap, a 14 - 4 Pirates win, Cuyler has his third 4-for-4 game in his last four outings. He clouts two homers to back Ray Kremer's pitching. Phils utility player Bernie Friberg catches the 8th inning in the game, thus playing every position during the year; he will be featured in a Ripley's Believe it or Not cartoon.
• 1928 - At St. Louis, Boston's Red Ruffing smashes a three-run homer in the 7th and pitches the Sox to a 5 - 3 win over the Browns.
• 1932 - Jimmie Foxx slugs home run #54 to lead the A's to an 8 - 4 win over the visiting Yankees. Al Simmons and Eric McNair also homer off Red Ruffing as Sugar Cain is able to win.
• 1933 - With lefty Walter Stewart pitching, Washington eliminates the Yankees and clinches the American League pennant in a 2 - 1 home win over St. Louis.
• 1934 - The Deans shut out the Dodgers. After Dizzy gives up just three hits in a 13 - 0 victory, allowing no hits until the 8th, Paul 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."
• 1935:
  • The Reds knock Paul Dean out of the game and beat the Cards, 9 - 7. It is the Reds' first win in St. Louis this year after eight losses. The Cards now trail the Cubs by three and a half games.
  • The Detroit Tigers clinch the pennant with a double win over the St. Louis Browns, 6 - 2 and 2 - 0. Elden Auker wins the nitecap with a complete game shutout, while Tommy Bridges takes the opener. The Tigers will coast the rest of the way, going 1-6, while the Yankees go 6-1.
  • At Wrigley Field, lefty Roy Henshaw edges the Pirates, 4 - 3, to the delight of 39,000 fans.
  • Hal Trosky powers his 24th homer to lead the Indians to a 7 - 3 win over the White Sox. Joe Vosmik is 1 for 2 and continues to hold a slight lead at .348 in the American League batting race. After the Washington-Philadelphia twinbill today, Buddy Myer (0 for 4 today) is second at .342 and Jimmie Foxx (0 for 9 today) is at .340, ending his 18-game hitting streak.
• 1939 - The National League announces that for the first time in the 20th century, games will be transferred from one city to another. The Dodgers' doubleheader in Philadelphia will be moved to Brooklyn in an effort to top one million paid attendance.
• 1940 - With the Tigers, Indians, and Yankees neck-and-neck, the Tigers boost their lead to two games, as Schoolboy Rowe shuts out Cleveland, 5 - 0. Rowe, seemingly washed up after anchoring the staff through Tiger championships in the mid-1930s, will finish at 16-3.
• 1944:
  • The Cardinals finally clinch the National League flag with a 5 - 4 win over Boston. Twenty games ahead on September 1st, the Cards then blew 15 of the next 20 games. They will finish with 105 victories and their third title under Billy Southworth, whose clubs have won 316 games in three years. Pittsburgh finishes 14 1/2 games behind.
  • Reds OF Dain Clay has no chances in a 21-inning doubleheader.
• 1947 - The Braves' Warren Spahn delays the Dodgers' clinching the pennant by shutting them out, 4 - 0, for his 20th win.
• 1950 - Warren Spahn of the Braves wins his 21st game, hurling a two-hit, 5 - 0 win over the Cards.
• 1951:
  • Rookie P Jackie Collum of the Cardinals hurls a 6 - 0 two-hitter against the Cubs in his first start.
  • In Brooklyn, the Dodgers keep a woozy Roy Campanella on the bench, preferring to rest him for the World Series. Rookie Clem Labine ignores Charlie Dressen's orders to take a full windup, preferring to pitch out of the stretch with the bases jammed in the 1st. Phils 3B Willie Jones then hits a grand slam and Labine ends up in Dressen's doghouse. The Phils win, 9 - 6, behind Robin Roberts.
• 1952 - The Braves play their last game in Boston's Braves Field, losing to Brooklyn's Joe Black 8 - 2. The Braves will announce they are moving to Milwaukee, WI just before the start of next season. The crowd of 8,822 is the Braves' second largest of the season. With the win, the Dodgers clinch a tie for the pennant; catcher Roy Campanella hits the last home run ever in Braves Field.
• 1954 - Rookie pitcher Bob Grim wins his 20th game as the Yankees defeat the Senators, 3 - 1.
• 1956 - 1B Bill Skowron has five hits, but the Yankees strand a record 20 base runners in losing to the Red Sox in Boston, 13 - 9. Mickey Mantle sends a 480-foot home run into the center field bleachers that lands a foot from the top. His three hits raise his average to .352, four points behind Ted Williams.
• 1957:
  • Gail Harris is the last player to hit a home run as a member of the New York Giants, as they beat the Pirates, 9 - 5, in the second game of a doubleheader. Ruben Gomez gains the team's last victory while representing New York.
  • The Cardinals tie a record by using eight pitchers in one game, but lose, 9 - 8, in ten innings to the Redlegs and slip five games off the pace. Jerry Lynch's 8th-inning homer ties the game; the Redlegs set the National League mark with their 11th pinch-hit home run of the year.
• 1958:
  • The Braves clinch their second straight pennant, beating the Redlegs, 6 - 5. Warren Spahn wins his 21st.
  • At Fenway Park, the Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Senators, all by 2 - 0 shutouts pitched, respectively, by Tom Brewer, Frank Sullivan and Ike Delock. Today's win, however, is marred when Ted Williams, after striking out looking with two aboard to end the 3rd inning, flings his bat aside in a fit of anger. Unfortunately, the bat flies into the stands and strikes, 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." Mercifully Heffernan is not badly hurt, but Williams is greeted with a thunderous chorus of catcalls when he takes the field in the 4th. Cronin, for his part, hastily announces a one-year contract extension for manager Mike Higgins in what is widely regarded as an attempt to distract attention from Ted's near-tragic tantrum. Nonetheless, American League President Will Harridge will impose a modest $50-dollar fine for the incident.
  • The Cubs' 1B Dale Long, a lefty, catches the 9th inning in a 2 - 1 loss to the Dodgers. This time he wears a lefty catcher's mitt, not a first baseman's glove. The Cubs strand 15 runners as Sandy Koufax tops Bob Anderson; each pitch seven innings before being relieved.
• 1959 - The Braves' Warren Spahn notches his 20th win, 8 - 6, and his 266th National League victory to tie Eppa Rixey of the Phillies and Reds for the career-high in wins by a lefthander. The Braves and the Dodgers are now tied for the lead in the three-team pennant race.
• 1960 - Masaichi Kaneda strikes out his 3,000th batter, the first pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball history to whiff that many.
• 1961 - At New York, Roger Maris is held hitless in four at bats, as the Orioles win, 5 - 3, behind Jack Fisher's three-hitter. All the runs off him are unearned. Maris is the only Yankee regular to play the entire game.
• 1963:
  • Kansas City beats New York, 5 - 3, despite homers by Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle. For Yogi, it is his 358th and last home run.
  • Minnesota's Harmon Killebrew ties an American League record with four home runs in a doubleheader, a split with the Red Sox. Minnesota loses, 11 - 2, after winning the opener 13 - 4. The Killer has three homers in the lid lifter.
• 1964 - John Tsitouris hurls a 1 - 0 shutout for the Reds over Art Mahaffey and the first-place Phillies, launching a ten-game Phils' losing streak. Rookie Chico Ruiz scores the only run when, with Frank Robinson at bat, he steals home with two out in the 6th inning.
• 1966 - The players almost outnumber the fans at Wrigley Field, as the Cubs draw just 440 for a game with the Reds. Chicago wins, 9 - 3, behind Ken Holtzman, with Sammy Ellis taking the loss.
• 1967 - Gary Bell beats his old team, Cleveland, to give Boston a 6 - 5 win.
• 1968
  • At Yankee Stadium, Red Sox pitcher Ray Culp fires his third successive shutout, stopping the Yankees on one hit, 2 - 0. Roy White's single in the 7th is the only hit. It's Culp's 15th win of the year.
  • Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis pitches a complete game win over the Cubs, winning 5 - 1. Joe Niekro allows four runs to take the loss. Cubs reliever Jophery Brown goes two innings, allowing the other run, in his only major league appearance. His next appearance will be in the opening scene of the movie Jurassic Park when he is eaten by a raptor. Brown tossed two no-hitters in the minors, losing them both.
• 1970:
  • The Braves trade veteran Hoyt Wilhelm to the Cubs. In December the Cubs will trade him back to Atlanta.
  • 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. The only baserunner against Blue is Harmon Killebrew, who walks in the 4th inning. Bert Campaneris, who helps Blue with a leaping catch on George Mitterwald in the 5th, adds a triple and home run. An Oakland crowd of only 4,284 watches Blue's second major league start.
• 1971 - Dave McNally shuts out the Yankees, 5 - 0, for his 20th win. It is the fourth straight 20-win year for the Oriole ace.
• 1972:
  • The American League East is in a virtual tie as Detroit's Joe Coleman posts his 18th win, a critical 10 - 3 defeat of first-place Boston. Coleman strikes out ten and knocks in three runs.
  • The Pirates clinch the National League East title with a 6 - 2 victory over the Mets.
• 1973:
  • Jim Rice's three-run home run is the key blow as Pawtucket (International League) defeats Tulsa (American Association), 5 - 2, to win the Junior World Series.
  • At Los Angeles, Tony Perez has five hits to lead the Reds to a 4 - 1 win over the Dodgers. Tony's last hit is a three-run homer in the 10th.
  • The Mets complete an amazing climb from last place to first, as a 10 - 2 win over the Pirates raises their record to a modest 77-77. They will finish 82-79, one and a half games ahead of St. Louis, and two and a half ahead of Pittsburgh.
• 1975 - During a 6 - 5 win over Detroit, Boston rookie star Jim Rice breaks his arm, sidelining the rookie sensation for the rest of the year, including the World Series. The Red Sox maintain their three-and-a-half-game lead over the Orioles.
• 1976 - In Los Angeles, the Reds clinch the National League West title with a 9 - 1 pasting of the Dodgers.
• 1978 - The Cubs tie a National League record by using 27 players during a 14-inning 3 - 2 loss to the Pirates. Pittsburgh's margin comes when Rennie Stennett walks in the 14th and pinch runner Matt Alexander steals second. When C Dave Rader's throw goes into center field, Alexander heads for third where the CF's throw hits him in the back, allowing him to score. The Pirates are now one and a half games behind the Phils.
• 1979 - Royal infielder U.L. Washington homers from both sides of the plate during a 13 - 4 win over the A's. These are the first homers of Washington's three-year career.
• 1981 - Steve Carlton fans 12 Expos in ten innings to break Bob Gibson's National League strikeout record (Carlton now has 3,128), but the Phillies lose to the Expos, 1 - 0 in 17 innings. Montreal's Bryn Smith retires just one batter, but picks up his first major league victory.
• 1982 - Playing against the Royals at Anaheim Stadium, outfielders Fred Lynn and Brian Downing crash through the left field fence while trying to catch a fly ball. Lynn makes the catch and it is ruled an out, the umpires reason that it is the same as if he had tumbled into the seats. California wins, 2 - 1, when Daryl Sconiers singles home the winner in the 9th.
• 1984 - Rookie Jim Traber makes his debut in Baltimore, first by singing the national anthem before the Red Sox game, then by DHing. The Red Sox are unimpressed, clipping the Orioles, 8 - 0. Traber had sung the national anthem a number of times before minor league games.
• 1985 - In a Boston 7 - 6 win over Detroit, Wade Boggs ties Tris Speaker's club mark of 222 hits with a single in the 2nd inning. His 5th-inning single, his 185th, sets a new American League record for singles, breaking the mark set by Willie Wilson in 1980. Wade will end with 187, a mark that will stand until 2001.
• 1986:
  • In his major league debut, San Diego's Jimmy Jones pitches a one-hitter against the Astros, allowing only a 3rd-inning triple to opposing pitcher Bob Knepper on the way to a 5 - 0 win. He's the first National League pitcher to debut with a one-hitter since Juan Marichal.
  • Another rookie, the Phils' Marvin Freeman wins his first big league game, beating the Mets in New York, 7 - 1. Marvin has another cause for celebration: his daughter Paris is born today.
• 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. The losing pitcher is Doc Gooden, who had his ten-game win streak over Chicago snapped in August; however, today's win will start him on another 12-game win streak over the Cubs.
• 1990 - The Padres fire Jack McKeon, who has been the team's general manager for ten years.
• 1992 - Oakland P Dennis Eckersley becomes the second pitcher in history to record 50 saves in a season as he preserves the Athletics' 6 - 5 win over Chicago. The White Sox' Bobby Thigpen had 57 saves in 1990.
• 1993:
  • The Rockies win their 63rd game of the year, beating the Padres, 15 - 4. Colorado (63-90) is now slightly ahead of the expansion Marlins (62-89). Andres Galarraga is 4 for 6 to raise his average to .381 but must get 502 plate appearances to beat the idle Tony Gwynn for the batting title.
  • At Montreal, the Braves swamp the red-hot Expos by a score of 18 - 5 as the two teams combine to use a record 13 pinch hitters. The Expos, winners of 19 of their last 22 games, and fighting to catch the Phils, use four pinch batters, the Braves a record nine. In the 7th, Bobby Cox decides to rest his regulars and sends a record six pinch hitters to the plate, including the first five batters, another record.
• 1996:
  • The International Baseball Association approves the participation of professional baseball players in the summer Olympic Games to be held in the year 2000.
  • Christie's Fine Art Auctioneers sell a 1910 T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card to an anonymous buyer for $640,000, including the $60,500 auction house fee.
• 1997:
  • The Cubs beat the Phils, 11 - 3, but Curt Schilling racks up eight strikeouts to match J.R. Richard for the most Ks by a National League righty (313). He'll finish with 319 strikeouts. Ryne Sandberg, in his final game at Wrigley Field, is 2 for 3 before leaving for a pinch runner in the 5th. He makes a curtain call in the 7th when Harry Caray sings "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Kevin Tapani wins his sixth straight start.
  • The Expos put a dent in Denny Neagle's possible Cy Young Award as they twice unload back-to-back homers to beat the Braves, 7 - 1. Neagle retires the first 12 batters before giving up a single, then homers to Rondell White and Hensley Meulens. In the 6th David Segui and White hit consecutive homers.
  • Brad Radke goes ten innings to win his 20th as the Twins beat the Brewers, 2 - 1.
  • The first-place Giants top the Padres, 8 - 5 when Stan Javier snaps a 9th-inning tie with a two-run triple. In the 4th, Barry Bonds legs out an inside-the-park homer when his fly ball in the sun bounces off Greg Vaughn's knee.
• 1998:
  • Jim Abbott (4-0) continues his comeback with the White Sox, beating the Twins, 7 - 1, with six innings of pitching.
  • Tony Tarasco clubs a pinch grand slam in the 7th to lift the Reds to a 8 - 5 win over the Phils.
  • Pittsburgh C Jason Kendall steals his 26th base of the season to set a new National League record for catchers. The previous mark was set by John Stearns in 1978. The Pirates lose to the Giants, however, 8 - 1.
• 1999 - The Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays, 3 - 0, as Pedro Martinez fans 12 for his 22nd win. He joins Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to strike out at least 300 in both leagues, and breaks Roger Clemens' club mark of 291 strikeouts.
• 2000:
  • In a 10 - 3 victory over the Marlins, Expo right fielder Vladimir Guerrero establishes a franchise single-season home run record by hitting his 43rd round tripper.
  • The Giants edge the Diamondbacks, 8 - 7, to clinch the NL West division title.
  • The Blue Jays defeat the Yankees, 3 - 1, as former Yankee David Wells becomes the majors' first 20-game winner.
• 2001:
  • Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez hits his 47th home run tying the major league record for home runs in a season by a shortstop. Cubs legend Ernie Banks established the record in 1958.
  • 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 11th. 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. Mike Piazza's 8th-inning home run gives the Mets a dramatic 3 - 2 victory over the Braves.
  • Yankees closer Mariano Rivera blows a save, giving up a two-run single to Jerry Hairston and the Orioles prevail, 7 - 6.
  • The Brewers fall to the Reds, 5 - 2. In the process, they set a new major-league record for most strikeouts in a season with 1,272. The old mark of 1,268 was set by the Detroit Tigers in 1996.
  • The Cardinals defeat the Pirates, 9 - 5, as Albert Pujols hits his first career grand slam. The homer gives him a new major league rookie record for extra base hits in a season with 83. The old mark of 82 was set by Brooklyn's Johnny Frederick in 1929.
• 2002:
  • Florida's Brad Penny goes to 3-0 this year against the Braves, winning 6 - 4. Kevin Millar, whose 25-game hitting streak was stopped the previous day, has an RBI in the 8th.
  • The Rockies collect 20 hits and crush the Diamondbacks, 15 - 8, as OF Juan Pierre strokes five base hits. The Snakes blow a five-run lead, but need just one win to clinch the National League West. They also lose P Brian Anderson, who is forced to leave the game after suffering a broken foot when he is hit by a line drive off the bat of Ben Petrick in the 3rd.
  • The Yankees beat the Tigers, 3 - 2, to clinch the American League East title for the fifth straight year.
  • Behind Wade Miller's 12th straight win, Houston beats the Cardinals, 6 - 3. Miller's streak ties a club record. Lance Berkman has a double and homer, driving in three runs, and Eli Marrero hits a home run for the third straight game. Miller's batterymate, Brad Ausmus, collects his 1,000th career hit, but also ties the National League record with his 30th GIDP of the season. Ernie Lombardi had 30 GIDP to set the mark.
• 2005 - At Shea Stadium, Mudcat Grant and Al Downing welcome Marlins' southpaw Dontrelle Willis to the "Black Aces", a fraternity of African-Americans who have won 20 games in a big league season. Beating the Nationals earlier in the month, the D-Train became the 13th black pitcher to accomplish the feat and will join the Aces' foundation to help in promoting baseball in the African-American community.
• 2007 - Lance Berkman hits a home run for the seventh straight September 21st. This is a record for a single date; Lou Gehrig had homered on June 8th six years in a row.
• 2008:
  • In the last game ever played at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees defeat Baltimore, 7 - 3. Andy Pettitte earns his 14th win of the season, while Johnny Damon and José Molina hit home runs. Mariano Rivera closes out the game with a perfect 9th inning, forcing Brian Roberts to ground out to 1B Cody Ransom for the last out. New York thus avoids being eliminated from the playoffs in their final game at the historic stadium.
  • The Yomiuri Giants win their tenth straight, 9 - 5, beating the Hanshin Tigers to tie Hanshin for first in the Central League. Alex Ramirez collects his 1,338th hit in Japan (off Scott Atchison) to break Wally Yonamine's record for hits by a foreign hitter in NPB; Yonamine had held the record for over five decades.
• 2009:
  • The USA wins, 4 - 3, over Australia on a walk-off homer by Trevor Plouffe in the 2009 Baseball World Cup. Justin Smoak hits his ninth home run of the Cup, breaking the 31-year-old record held by Cuban legend Antonio Muñoz. Smoak's record will not last through the Cup as Cuba's Alfredo Despaigne will pass him five days from now.
  • Houston fires manager Cecil Cooper after falling to 70-79. The Astros were on the edge of the playoff race until early August, when a surge by the Cardinals sent them down to fourth place in the NL Central. Coach Dave Clark replaces Cooper on an interim basis and loses his first game at the helm, 7 - 3 to the Cards, for Houston's eighth straight loss.
  • For the second straight night, the Yankees fail to become the first major league team to clinch a playoff spot. After the Mariners yesterday, it's the Angels' turn to spoil the Yankee celebration, with a 5 - 2 win over New York, thanks to a strong performance by P Joe Saunders.
  • 21-year-old Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman, who pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and is said to possess a 100 mph fastball, has established residence in the tiny European principalty of Andorra after defecting in July. This allows him to bypass the amateur draft and offer his services to all major league teams as a free agent. Bidding is expected to be fierce.
  • Angel Villalona, a top prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization, is charged with murder in the death of a man at a bar in La Romana, in the Dominican Republic. The 19-year-old 1B faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.
• 2010 - The Columbus Clippers beat the Tacoma Rainiers, 12 - 6, in the Triple-A National Championship. Jerad Head wins MVP honors after going 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBI. Jason Kipnis, who had never played at AAA before the postseason, falls a single shy of the cycle and scores three. Columbus raps out 19 hits. David Huff gets the win.
• 2011 - Leo Nunez pitches for the Marlins in their 4 - 0 win over the Braves, then is placed by the team on the restricted list for the remainder of the season. It is revealed that Nunez has been playing under an assumed identity since being signed as an amateur free agent by Pittsburgh in 2000 and is in reality named Juan Carlos Oviedo and one year older than his listed birthdate of August 14, 1983. Nunez is sent back to the Dominican Republic where he will need to sort out his issues with U.S. immigration authorities.
• 2012:
  • In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg, host Germany opens with a bang, crushing the Czech Republic, 16 - 1, in a game ended in the 6th inning by the mercy rule. Matt Weaver hits a grand slam in an eight-run 5th inning as Mike Bolsenbroek is the winner. In the other qualifying group, playing in Jupiter, FL, Israel wins again as 1B Nate Freiman hits a pair of homers for the second straight game and drives in all of Israel's runs in a 4 - 2 win over Spain. The win places Israel in the group finals, while Spain must play the winner of today's other game, in which South Africa and France are tied, 2 - 2, after nine innings when play is stopped by rain.
  • Suspended Giants OF Melky Cabrera asks that his name be taken out of consideration for the National League batting crown. Cabrera was hitting .346 while one plate appearance short of qualifying for the batting title when he was suspended for PED use on August 15th. In an agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Association that ends a budding controversy, Cabrera agrees that rule 10.22 (a) which allows additional hitless plate appearances to be added to a player who falls just short of meeting the qualifying minimum, will not be applied to him this year, thus making him ineligible for the prestigious honor. Andrew McCutchen is currently leading the batting race with a .339 average, well behind Cabrera's immutable number.
  • The Yankees win their sixth straight game, 2 - 1, on Russell Martin's walk-off homer off Oakland's Sean Doolittle in the 10th inning. However, the surprising Orioles continue to keep pace, with a 4 - 2 win over the Red Sox, staying one game behind. Matt Wieters drives in three runs and Jim Johnson saves his 46th game of the year, passing Randy Myers for the team record.
• 2013:
  • The Pirates defeat the Reds, 4 - 2, behind A.J. Burnett's 12-strikeout performance. Jason Grilli records his first save since going on the disabled list in late July to put the Bucs one game ahead of the Reds.
  • DOOR Neptunus beats the Vaessen Pioniers, 4 - 3, in Game 7 of the Holland Series, for their 14th Dutch Hoofdklasse title. Neptunus scores three runs in the first two innings off Eddie Aucoin but then stalls, while the Pioniers slowly come back against Orlando Yntema and Brendan Wise, tying the score in the 9th. In the 10th, Raily Legito doubles home Gianison Boekhoudt with the winning Neptunus run and Wise tosses a scoreless bottom of the 10th for the win. Neptunus 2B Benjamin Dille wins Series MVP, having done so four years earlier. It is the second straight Holland Series to be won by a rookie manager, this time Evert-Jan 't Hoen.
  • The Argentinian national team wins the 2013 South American Championship for their third straight win in the tournament, their best stretch ever. The finale is a nail-biter; they trail unbeaten Brazil, 1 - 0, entering the 9th in a pitching duel between Argentina's Ezequiel Cufré and Brazil's Rômulo Shindo. One strike away from a loss, Argentina rallies. Lucas Nakandakare gets aboard and Exequiel Talevi pinch-runs and steals second. Tourney MVP Martín Mondino singles in the tying run. In the 10th, Jean Tomé comes in for Brazil and allows runs to Juan Pablo Angrisano and Juan Martín for the loss.
• 2014:
  • Brett Gardner hits the 15,000th home run in Yankees history off Toronto's Drew Hutchison in the 5th inning of a 5 - 2 New York win. The total dates back to the team's first season in the Big Apple in 1903 and is the most of any major league franchise. Masahiro Tanaka is the winner in his return to the mound after a ten-week layoff.
  • The Pirates shut out the Brewers, 1 - 0, behind the pitching of Vance Worley and an RBI single by Russell Martin. The Bucs are now four and a half games ahead of Milwaukee for the second wild card spot in the National League
  • The Dutch national team wins the 2014 European Championship, their first title in seven years but their 21st overall. Curt Smith and Kalian Sams homer twice each and Randolph Oduber goes deep once as the Netherlands win, 6 - 3, over defending champion Italy. Rob Cordemans, limited by injury last month, fans six in four shutout innings and Tom Stuifbergen (out with injury almost all year) tosses 2 2/3 hitless innings for the win over Mike Colla. Smith is named European Championship MVP and thus becomes the first person to win both that honor and Baseball World Cup MVP.
• 2015:
  • Jeff Samardzija pitches a one-hitter against the Tigers in the opening game as the White Sox sweep a doubleheader, 2 - 0 and 3 - 2. Erik Johnson is the winner in the second game. The losses guarantee that the Tigers will finish with a losing record for the first time since 2008.
  • All-Star Shelby Miller loses his 15th straight decision for the Braves, 4 - 0 to the Mets. It is the 23rd consecutive start without a win for Miller, who has been a victim of poor run support all season and falls to 5-16 on the year. Jonathon Niese is the winner
  • The Stockholm Monarchs complete a three-game sweep of the Sölvesborg Firehawks to win their third straight Swedish Elitserien title and sixth overall, putting them third all-time. Jakob Claesson gets credit for the 13 - 3 win today over Paul Waterman, while SS Matt Merrifield is named finals MVP after going 8 for 11 with 13 total bases, 3 runs and 4 RBI.
• 2016 - The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders become the first International League team to win the Triple-A National Championship in five years. Chris Parmelee's three-run dinger off Walker Lockett in the 1st gives them all their runs for the day and wins Parmelee game MVP. Jordan Montgomery and three relievers hold the El Paso Chihuahuas to one run, with Giovanny Gallegos getting the save.
• 2018:
  • Mired in last place in the AL West, the Rangers fire manager Jeff Banister and replace him with bench coach Don Wakamatsu, who will guide the team for the remainder of the season.
  • The Gurriel brothers become the first set of brothers to have multiple-homer games on the same day. Lourdes Gurriel of the Blue Jays goes deep in the 1st and 4th innings in an 11 - 3 loss to the Rays, and older brother Yuli Gurriel hits a grand slam in the 1st and has a two-run shot in the 3rd as Houston defeats the Angels, 11 - 3, to clinch a postseason slot.
• 2019:
  • The Padres fire manager Andy Green with eight games left to play and replace him on an interim basis by coach Rod Barajas. The young team was at .500 at the All-Star break, but went on a steep downhill slide soon after and is now assured of finishing with a losing record for the ninth straight year. Green is the first manager to be fired this season.
  • Italy's hopes for the 2020 Olympics come to an end as they lose, 4 - 3, to Spain in a game marred by a brawl at the end. Israel falls to Czechia, 7 - 4, with a three-run homer by Martin Červenka the key blow; had they won, they would have clinched an Olympic spot. In the other game today, the Netherlands routs South Africa, 7 - 1, with a combined two-hitter.
• 2022:
  • The Czech national team wraps up a spot in the World Basbeall Classic for the first time. Facing a Spanish national team with several former major leaguers that had scored 21 runs against them earlier in the Qualifiers, they turn in a 3 - 1 win. Martin Schneider and Marek Minařík contain the Spanish offense while Martin Mužík's two-run homer off Ronald Medrano in the 2nd puts the Czechs ahead for good. Marek Chlup also goes deep.
  • The Mets set a modern record for most batters hit by pitch in a season when three more of their hitters are plunked in a 6 - 0 loss to the Brewers today. Mark Canha is hit twice and Luis Guillorme once to give them 106 for the season. Canha leads the majors with 24, and five teammates are in double figures. This seems to be a recent trend, as the three highest HBP totals have occured over the last two years, including the previous record of 105 by the 2021 Cincinnati Reds. The all-time record of 160, set by the 1898 Baltimore Orioles, appears to be safe for now, however.
• 2023 - The Tigers announce the appointment of Jeff Greenberg as General Manager, while acting GM Scott Harris will concentrate on his role as the team's President of Baseball Operations. Greenberg leaves his current job of Assistant GM for the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, but worked for many years in major league front offices before that career detour.
• 2024:
  • With a 6 - 2 defeat at the hands of the Padres, the White Sox tie the 2003 Detroit Tigers for most losses in a season by an American League team, with 119. With a week of games left, they are almost certain to not only set a new AL record, but to also eclipse the major league mark of 120 losses by the 1962 New York Mets.
  • The Rättvik Butchers win their third straight Elitserien title, beating the Stockholm Monarchs in the Swedish Series. In today's finale, they win 9-5 as Oskar Jerfsten scores 3, Albin Käck drives in 3 and Joel Johnson raps three hits. Sam Börjes wins over Jakob Claesson.

Births

• 1849 - Al Thake, outfielder (d. 1872)
• 1856 - Frank Bishop, infielder (d. 1929)
• 1858 - Dick Buckley, catcher (d. 1929)
• 1860 - Tom Brown, outfielder, manager (d. 1927)
• 1863 - Jack Horner, pitcher (d. 1910)
• 1864 - George Vanderbeck, minor league owner (d. 1938)
• 1865 - Charlie Hoover, catcher (d. 1905)
• 1868 - Joe Daly, outfielder (d. 1943)
• 1869 - George Blackburn, pitcher (d. 1938)
• 1869 - Jim Garry, pitcher (d. 1917)
• 1876 - Joseph Creamer, trainer (d. 1918)
• 1882 - Tad Quinn, pitcher (d. 1946)
• 1883 - Bris Lord, outfielder (d. 1964)
• 1886 - Art Bader, outfielder (d. 1957)
• 1889 - Joe Kernan, minor league player and manager; scout (d. 1968)
• 1890 - Johnson Hill, infielder (d. 1960)
• 1891 - Gil Britton, infielder (d. 1983)
• 1891 - Pete Shields, infielder (d. 1961)
• 1892 - Elmer Smith, outfielder (d. 1984)
• 1895 - Ad Swigler, pitcher (d. 1975)
• 1896 - Herschel Bennett, outfielder (d. 1964)
• 1899 - Del Lundgren, pitcher (d. 1984)
• 1900 - John Bogart, pitcher (d. 1986)
• 1902 - Cicero Weaver, minor league pitcher (d. 1976)
• 1903 - Tom Meany, writer (d. 1964)
• 1904 - Carl Howard, pitcher (d. 1980)
• 1909 - Al Blanche, pitcher (d. 1997)
• 1910 - Elden Auker, pitcher (d. 2006)
• 1910 - Max Butcher, pitcher (d. 1957)
• 1910 - Susumu Nakane, NPB outfielder and umpire (d. ????)
• 1916 - Ewing Kauffman, owner (d. 1993)
• 1917 - Joe Haynes, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1967)
• 1918 - Ed Walczak, infielder (d. 1998)
• 1921 - Charles England, pitcher (d. 1999)
• 1921 - John McHale, infielder; general manager (d. 2008)
• 1921 - Harry Pilarski, minor league pitcher (d. 2014)
• 1924 - Daam Hoogendijk, Hoofdklasse pitcher (d. 2019)
• 1926 - Al Ronning, minor league catcher; scout (d. 2013)
• 1927 - Jim Clark, infielder (d. 1990)
• 1928 - James Miller, minor league pitcher (d. 2014)
• 1929 - Toots Ferrell, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1930 - Agnes Allen, AAGPBL pitcher (d. 2012)
• 1930 - Billy Muffett, pitcher (d. 2008)
• 1931 - Gertrude Alderfer, AAGPBL infielder (d. 2018)
• 1931 - Gloria Cordes, AAGPBL pitcher (d. 2018)
• 1932 - Bob E. Stephenson, minor league figure (d. 2018)
• 1934 - Jerry Zimmerman, catcher (d. 1998)
• 1936 - Gene Cory, Canadian national team utility man
• 1938 - Lynn Aase, minor league pitcher (d. 2021)
• 1940 - Jerry Fosnow, pitcher
• 1942 - Sam McDowell, pitcher; All-Star
• 1942 - Bill Wilson, pitcher (d. 1993)
• 1946 - Toshiyuki Yamada, Japanese national team outfielder
• 1947 - Jim Todd, pitcher
• 1948 - Gary Lance, pitcher
• 1948 - Aurelio Lopez, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1992)
• 1951 - Mark Cresse, minor league catcher
• 1951 - Steve Peterson, college coach (d. 2020)
• 1952 - Art Gardner, outfielder
• 1952 - Gary Gray, infielder
• 1953 - Takumi Hanano, Japanese national team infielder
• 1954 - Frank MacCormack, pitcher
• 1959 - Danny Cox, pitcher
• 1960 - Rick Rodriguez, pitcher
• 1962 - Rene Gayo, scout
• 1963 - Troy Afenir, catcher
• 1963 - Cecil Fielder, infielder; All-Star
• 1963 - Hiroki Katsuragi, Japanese national team infielder
• 1965 - Gary Blouin, minor league pitcher
• 1965 - Koichi Morita, NPB pitcher
• 1965 - D.J. Dozier, outfielder
• 1966 - John Cohen, college coach
• 1966 - Anthony Willows, South African national team outfielder
• 1967 - Tom Hardgrove, minor league infielder
• 1967 - Yui Tomori, minor league pitcher
• 1968 - Mike Grahovac, college coach
• 1969 - Jason Christiansen, pitcher
• 1969 - Geoffrey Kohl, Hoofdklasse pitcher
• 1969 - Ben Shelton, outfielder
• 1970 - Rob Kell, minor league pitcher
• 1970 - Chris Norton, minor league infielder
• 1971 - Yosvani Madera, Cuban league catcher
• 1972 - Keith Heberling, minor league pitcher
• 1972 - Scott Spiezio, infielder
• 1972 - Shannon Withem, pitcher
• 1973 - Tom Bergan, minor league pitcher; college coach
• 1974 - Manuel Barrios, pitcher
• 1974 - Dennis Konrady, minor league player
• 1974 - Toshikazu Sawazaki, NPB pitcher
• 1975 - Doug Davis, pitcher
• 1976 - Lukman Kurnia Ramdhoni, Indonesian national team pitcher
• 1976 - Pedro Santana, infielder
• 1977 - Brian Tallet, pitcher
• 1979 - Ging Aaron, minor league infielder
• 1979 - Josh Karp, minor league pitcher
• 1979 - Martin Malpica, minor league infielder
• 1979 - Juei Ushiromatsu, minor league pitcher
• 1980 - Chia-Yuan Chang, CPBL infielder
• 1980 - Kremlin Martinez, minor league pitcher
• 1980 - Kenji Yano, NPB outfielder
• 1981 - Billy Sadler, pitcher
• 1981 - Scott Rice, pitcher
• 1982 - Greg Burke, pitcher
• 1983 - Chris Brown, minor league infielder
• 1984 - Joaquin Arias, infielder
• 1984 - Carlos Rosa, pitcher
• 1984 - Harold Rumion, Division Honor pitcher
• 1984 - Keith Weiser, minor league pitcher
• 1985 - Antonio Bastardo, pitcher
• 1985 - Eddie Burns, minor league pitcher
• 1985 - Eduardo Nunez, minor league infielder
• 1986 - Jordan Crystal, minor league pitcher
• 1986 - Sean McSheffery, college coach
• 1986 - Zach Phillips, pitcher
• 1986 - T.J. Steele, minor league outfielder
• 1987 - Daniel Camou, French national team pitcher
• 1987 - Glenn Gibson, minor league pitcher
• 1987 - Jeremy Jeffress, pitcher; All-Star
• 1988 - Kyle DiMartino, minor league pitcher
• 1988 - Drew Gagnier, minor league pitcher
• 1988 - Che-Hsuan Lin, outfielder
• 1988 - Max Russell, minor league pitcher
• 1989 - John Ruettiger, minor league outfielder
• 1989 - Joaquin Santamaria, minor league pitcher
• 1991 - Dean Jacobs, South African national team pitcher
• 1991 - Carlos Martinez, pitcher; All-Star
• 1993 - Aaron Bummer, pitcher
• 1993 - Luis Ortega, Colombian national team pitcher
• 1993 - Tyler Wolfe, minor league infielder
• 1994 - Devin Williams, pitcher; All-Star
• 1995 - Jerry Rachman, Indonesian national team catcher
• 1995 - Yeralf Torres, minor league pitcher (d. 2015)
• 1996 - Elys Escobar, minor league catcher
• 1996 - Hei-Ting Lau, Hong Kong women's national team utility woman
• 1998 - Yainer Díaz, catcher
• 1998 - Shoma Fujihira, NPB pitcher
• 1998 - Namoh Iyang, CPBL infielder
• 1998 - Ju-chan Lee, KBO infielder
• 1999 - Henry Davis, outfielder
• 1999 - Fumimaru Taura, NPB pitcher
• 2001 - Ticara Geldenhuis, Australian women's national team outfielder
• 2001 - Guan-Yu Lu, CPBL pitcher
• 2002 - Kanta Aiba, Japanese national team infielder
• 2002 - Dean Olsson, Swedish national team pitcher
• 2002 - Jamal Zalm, minor league infielder

Deaths

• 1883 - Dan Collins, outfielder (b. 1853)
• 1898 - Bill Tierney, infielder/outfielder (b. 1858)
• 1907 - Claude Gouzzie, infielder (b. 1873)
• 1916 - Hezekiah Allen, catcher (b. 1863)
• 1925 - Charlie Irwin, infielder (b. 1869)
• 1926 - Jim Keenan, catcher (b. 1856)
• 1931 - Walter Byrne, umpire (b. 1849)
• 1935 - Herm McFarland, outfielder (b. 1870)
• 1935 - Henry Yaik, catcher/outfielder (b. 1864)
• 1940 - Billy Otterson, infielder (b. 1862)
• 1945 - Bert Humphries, pitcher (b. 1880)
• 1950 - Bill Kenworthy, infielder (b. 1886)
• 1951 - Joe Devine, scout (b. 1895)
• 1954 - Herbie Moran, outfielder (b. 1884)
• 1956 - Roy Snyder, minor league infielder (b. 1881)
• 1962 - Joe Green, outfielder, manager and owner (b. 1878)
• 1965 - Socks Seibold, pitcher (b. 1896)
• 1967 - Eddie Hooper, college coach (b. 1885)
• 1970 - Biggs Wehde, pitcher (b. 1906)
• 1977 - Joe Connell, pinch hitter (b. 1902)
• 1979 - Al Preston, pitcher (b. 1926)
• 1985 - George Jefferson, pitcher (b. 1922)
• 1987 - Jimmy Johnson, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1918)
• 1989 - Murry Dickson, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1916)
• 1993 - John Goodell, pitcher (b. 1907)
• 1995 - Tony Cuccinello, infielder; All-Star (b. 1907)
• 1999 - Erma Keyes, AAGPBL outfielder (b. 1926)
• 2008 - Mary Garber, writer (b. 1916)
• 2009 - Purnal Goldy, outfielder (b. 1937)
• 2009 - Al Purduski, umpire (b. 1920)
• 2010 - Aaron Peel, minor league outfielder (b. 1983)
• 2011 - Bill Boudreau, minor league infielder (b. 1921)
• 2011 - Richard Rose, minor league outfielder (b. 1940)
• 2012 - Tom Umphlett, outfielder (b. 1931)
• 2013 - Chester Moody, Negro League player (b. 1935)
• 2013 - Rene Solis, minor league pitcher (b. 1925)
• 2014 - Concepción Cruz, minor league pitcher (b. 1941)
• 2014 - Todd Welborn, minor league pitcher (b. 1963)
• 2017 - Bill Spaeter, minor league infielder (b. 1924)
• 2018 - Lee Stange, pitcher (b. 1936)
• 2019 - Wim van der Poel, Hoofdklasse executive (b. 1926)
• 2021 - Cheong-ok Kim, KBO coach (b. ????)
• 2021 - Ron McKee, minor league executive (b. 1945)