⚾ On This Day in MLB History ⚾

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April 29. Oh those wacky old timers.

1902 - Baltimore Orioles infielder John McGraw is hit by pitches five times, but home plate umpire Jack Sheridan refuses to allow him to take first base. In the 9th inning, McGraw is hit for the last time and sits down in the batter's box in protest. American League president Ban Johnson will suspend McGraw for five games.
1913 - Wearing the uniforms of the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds lose to the Chicago Cubs, 7 - 2, at West Side Grounds. Cincinnati forgot to pack uniforms and has to don those of their opponents' crosstown rivals.
1918 - Cleveland Indians centerfielder Tris Speaker executes the fourth unassisted double play of his career in Cleveland's 8 - 4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
1931 - Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians pitches a 7 - 0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns, whose roster includes his brother, Rick. Wes helps his own cause with a home run, a double, and four RBI.
1952 - Cleveland Indians outfielder Jim Fridley goes 6 for 6 as Cleveland soundly beats the Philadelphia Athletics, 21 - 9.
2011:
The Cleveland Indians are having the best April in the team's 110-year history as today's 9 - 5 win over Detroit moves their record to an American League-best 17-8. The key hit today is a walk-off grand slam by Carlos Santana off losing pitcher Joaquin Benoit.
2018 - Making his major league debut for the Pirates, Nick Kingham retires the first 20 Cardinals batters he faces before allowing a single to Paul DeJong with two outs in the 7th. He then retires the next batter, ending his day with just that hit allowed, no walks and 9 strikeouts in 7 innings, earning his first career win, 5 - 0. No pitcher had made it through six perfect innings in his debut since 1974.

What ever happened to Nick Kingham ?

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April 30. Oh those daffy Quakers, Alleghenys and Peanuts -and- a lot of other stuff going on today.

1887:
- The Philadelphia Quakers beat the New York Giants, 19 - 10, in the first game played at the Baker Bowl located at Broad & Huntingdon Street in Philadelphia.
- In front of nearly 10,000 at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (later to be known as the Pirates) defeat the defending league-champion Chicago White Stockings, 6 - 2.
1900 - Brothers Joe, Jim, and Tom Delahanty, playing their third year together with the Allentown Peanuts, open the Atlantic League season by banging out a family total of 11 hits for 20 total bases.
1903 - The New York Highlanders win their home opener at Hilltop Park, 6 - 2, over the Washington Senators.
1919 - At the Baker Bowl, Joe Oeschger of the Philadelphia Phillies and Burleigh Grimes of the Brooklyn Robins pitch complete games in a 9 - 9, 20-inning tie. Both teams score three runs in the 19th inning. Oeschger gives up 22 hits and walks five, while Grimes allows 15 hits and walks five.
1923 - The New York Yankees sign 20 year old prospect Lou Gehrig to a contract paying him a salary of $2,000 and a bonus of $1,500. Yankees scout Paul Krichell had watched the Columbia University star blast a 450-foot home run against New York University two days earlier.

1946 - ★ The great Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians strikes out 11 and pitches his second of three career no-hitters, his first since returning from a 3 ½ year stint in World War II. Feller defeats the New York Yankees, 1 - 0, on Frankie Hayes' home run in the 9th inning.
1952 - Ted Williams plays his final game before leaving for military duty in Korea. In his last at-bat on "Ted Williams Day" at Fenway Park, he blasts a game-winning, two-run home run against Dizzy Trout of the Detroit Tigers. The home run gives the Red Sox a 5 - 3 victory.
1961 - Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hits four home runs against the Milwaukee Braves in the Giants' 14 - 4 victory at County Stadium. Mays becomes just the ninth player in major league history to hit four homers in one game.

2005: - Major league players are asked by Commissioner Bud Selig to agree to a 50-game suspension for the first offense, a 100-game suspension for the second offense and a lifelong ban after the third offense for the use of steroids. In addition to the harsher "three-strike" rule, the commissioner is also seeking a ban on amphetamines.

2013: - The Indians put on a power display, hitting seven home runs in a 14 - 2 demolition of the Phillies. Ryan Raburn hits two long balls for the second straight game, while Carlos Santana, Mark Reynolds, Lonnie Chisenhall, Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs hit the others. The first five shots are worth two runs each. Roy Halladay allows four of the homers, good for 8 runs in 3 2/3 innings.

2019 - CC Sabathia becomes the 17th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts as he fans John Ryan Murphy in the 2nd inning of a 3 - 1 loss to the Diamondbacks. He's just the third lefthander to reach the total, and the first pitcher since 2008 to do so. Justin Verlander will also join the exclusive club before the end of the season

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May 1. Cleveland baseball, Mickey and more.

1891 - In front of almost 10,000 fans, Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders defeats the Cincinnati Reds, 12 - 3, in the first game ever played in Cleveland's League Park.
1924 - Bill Barrett of the Chicago White Sox steals home twice, in the 1st and 9th innings, against the Cleveland Indians.
1947 - For the first time, the Cleveland Indians will play all their games at Cleveland Stadium. The Indians abandon League Park, where most weekday games have been played since Cleveland Stadium opened. New Cleveland owner Bill Veeck installs an inner fence to cut power alleys from 435 to 365 feet at Municipal Stadium.

1951 - On Mother's Day, Mickey Mantle hits the first home run of his career off Randy Gumpert in an 8 - 3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. In the same game, former Negro Leagues star Minnie Miñoso becomes the first black player in the history of the White Sox franchise. Miñoso belts a home run in his first at-bat for the team off Vic Raschi.
1955 - Cleveland Indians starters show up for a "pitching clinic" during a doubleheader sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Stadium. Veteran Bob Feller pitches hitless ball for 6+ innings and hurls his major league record 12th one-hitter in a 2 - 0 victory in the opener, and in the nitecap rookie Herb Score strikes out the first nine batters (for a total of 16) en route to a 2 - 1 four-hit victory.
2015 - Alex Rodriguez ties Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list when he hits number 660 against the Red Sox. The homer comes as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning against Junichi Tazawa and gives the Yankees a 3 - 2 lead that will hold for the rest of the game.
2020 - Even though there is no baseball being currently played, P Emmanuel Clase of the Indians manages to get himself suspended, as the results of a test are positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. He will be suspended for 80 games from whenever the season eventually starts.

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And in the Baseball Almanac News today :

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May 3. Joe D, Charlie hustle and more.

1896: The Louisville Colonels lose their 11th straight game, to the Cincinnati Reds, 5 - 3.
- With an overflow crowd of 17,231 at West Side Grounds, the umpire rules that any ball hit into the crowd is a ground rule triple. The Chicago Colts take advantage and crack nine triples, including three by Bill Dahlen, to crush the St. Louis Browns, 16 - 7.

1936 - Joe DiMaggio makes his major league debut for the New York Yankees and has three hits in a 14 - 5 victory over the St. Louis Browns.
1952 - The Cleveland Indians set a record when they use 23 players in a regular game against the Washington Senators, including the first black battery in American League history. Quincy Trouppe is the catcher when pitcher Sam Jones comes to relieve.
1961:. Another brilliant Warren Spahn performance is spoiled when left fielder Mel Roach's misplay costs the Milwaukee Braves' ace a second no-hitter in a row. Spahn settles for a two-hitter in topping the Dodgers, 4 - 1.
1963: In his first and only at bat with the Baltimore Orioles, pitcher Buster Narum hits a home run off Don Mossi of the Cleveland Indians. Six days later, Narum will be optioned to Triple-A Rochester but will return to the majors next year with the Washington Senators, where he will hit two more home runs. Narum becomes the first pitcher to have more homers than wins in a season, but he will be matched on September 2nd by Ed Hobaugh, and in 1992 by Dave Eiland.
- 1963 Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits his first major league home run off St. Louis Cardinals ace Ernie Broglio.
- 1979 - Bobby Bonds of the Cleveland Indians hits his 300th career home run against Moose Haas in a 6 - 1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Bonds has collected 413 stolen bases at the time and becomes the second player, after Willie Mays, to have 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases.
- 1980:. Ferguson Jenkins of the Texas Rangers becomes the fourth pitcher in major league history to win 100 or more games in each league. Jenkins beats the Baltimore Orioles, 3 - 2 at Arlington Stadium, as he joins Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Gaylord Perry in the exclusive club.
- 1995 - Rookie third baseman David Bell makes his debut with the Cleveland Indians in a 14 - 7 victory over Detroit. His appearance represents the third generation of his family to play in the major leagues. David's father, Buddy, and his grandfather, Gus, previously starred in the big leagues. The Bells become the second three-generation family in major league history, joining the Boone family (Ray, Bob, Bret and Aaron). Gus Bell will die four days later.

2010 - Brett Cecil, feeling dizzy and congested, pitches the best game of his career as he throws six perfect innings in Toronto's 5 - 1 win over Cleveland. A one-out walk to Grady Sizemore in the 7th breaks the perfecto and is followed by Jhonny Peralta's single. Cecil is the fourth different Blue Jays pitcher to carry a no-hitter into the 7th inning this year; he allows just the one hit in 8 innings and strikes out 10.

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May 4. Not much Cleveland or Indians information today.

1869 - The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first all-professional baseball team, start their first regular season with a 45 - 9 victory over the Great Westerns of Cincinnati.
1871 - A National Association contest between the ★ Cleveland Forest Citys and Fort Wayne Kekiongas is officially the first Major League game ever played. Fort Wayne is the winner, 2 - 0, behind a four-hit shutout by pitcher Bobby Mathews. Al Pratt is the losing pitcher. Cleveland's catcher, Deacon White, is 3 for 4, including the first hit (a double) and also is the first to hit into a double play. Bill Lennon becomes the first catcher to throw a runner out trying to steal second base. In the 127 games during the 1871 season, there are a total of four shutouts.
1910 - Not wanting to offend either club, U.S. President William Howard Taft attends two games in one day. After watching part of a game between the hometown St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds at Robison Field, he travels cross-town to watch the remainder of the game between the St. Louis Browns and ★ Ceveland Naps at Sportsman's Park.
1931 - In an effort to put less strain on his leg, Babe Ruth plays first base as Lou Gehrig moves to right field. Gehrig commits a costly error in the outfield helping the Washington Senators beat the Yankees, 7 - 3.

1946 - Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators collects six straight hits before having his streak ended by Steve Gromek of the ★ Cleveland Indians. Travis' performance marks one of the few highlights of his career after World War II, where he suffered frozen feet.

1967 - Roberto's Revenge: Old Testament Style – Donn Clendenon and Roberto Clemente combine to give Don Drysdale a taste of his own medicine (perhaps taking Orlando Cepeda's adage – "the trick with Drysdale is to hit him before he hits you" – a tad literally). Dodger beat writer Frank Finch reports: "Before Drysdale retired, he took a physical pounding from the Pirates. Clemente's third hit almost tore Don's right hand off, and later in the same inning Donn Clendenon's drive drilled Drysdale on the shins so hard that it bounced to first base, where Wes Parker made an easy put-out."
1991 - Chris James of the ★ Cleveland Indians drives in nine runs with two home runs and two singles, breaking a club record for RBI and leading the Indians to a 20 - 6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
2021 - The minor leagues start their season, after having been on hiatus since September of 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In the interim, the governing structure, Minor League Baseball, has been thoroughly reorganized and in effect replaced by the Professional Development League.

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You never know what you will see in any sporting event.

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May 5. Slow day.

1904 - At Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans hurls the second of his three no-hitters, a 3 - 0 perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics and Rube Waddell. Young will eventually complete 24 straight hitless innings, still the record, and 45 shutout innings in a row, a record until broken by Jack Coombs' 53 scoreless frames in 1910.
1922 - Facing the Detroit Tigers, Bill Bayne of the St. Louis Browns pitches a no-hitter into the 9th inning. Detroit manager Ty Cobb then sends up five straight pinch hitters, the first of whom breaks up the no-hitter. One of the pinch hitters Cobb inserts is Bob Fothergill, who bats for him and strikes out, becoming the only man ever to pinch hit for Cobb. The Browns win, 6 - 1.

1954 - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Bob Turley gives up two hits to the New York Yankees but is defeated by his former teammates, 4 - 2. It is Turley's second two-hit loss of the season; the Cleveland Indians defeated him on April 2nd.
1955:. Brooklyn Dodgers rookie Tom Lasorda makes his first major league start as he he throws three wild pitches in one inning, tying a major league record. After his pitching career, Lasorda will enjoy far more success as a Hall of Fame manager.
1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the 14th major leaguer to collect 3,000 hits when he singles off Montreal's Steve Rogers at Riverfront Stadium.
1980 - National League president Chub Feeney suspends Pittsburgh's Bill Madlock for 15 days and fines him $5,000 for shoving his glove in the face of home plate umpire Jerry Crawford, after being called out on strikes with the bases loaded in a game a few days earlier.

2011 - The Indians pull out a 4 - 3 victory in 12 innings over the A's to improve to 21-9, the best 30-game start in team history. The Tribe needs to use its entire bullpen to secure the win, obtained when Jack Hannahan hits a bases-loaded single off Craig Breslow in the top of the 12th. Cleveland adds another run, which will be needed, as its 7th pitcher of the night, Chris Perez, gives up a run in picking up the save in the bottom of the 12th.

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May 6. Ruth, Mays -but- no Indians classics today ? That's a first so far.

1915 - Babe Ruth, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, collects three hits, including his first major league home run when he connects off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.
1931 - Willie Mays is born in Westfield, Alabama. After a brief career in the Negro Leagues, Mays will make his major league debut with the New York Giants in 1951. During a 22-year major league career, Mays will bat .302 with 660 home runs and 1903 RBI. Mays will gain Hall of Fame honors in 1979.
1941.- Hank Greenberg makes his last game before entering the U.S. military a memorable one as he hits two home runs with three RBI helping the Detroit Tigers to a 7 - 4 victory over the New York Yankees.
1955 - Roberto Clemente crashes Willie Mays's birthday party in his second visit to the Polo Grounds, by banging a 430-foot triple over the birthday boy's head in the midst of a decisive rally in a 3 - 2 Pirate win over the Giants. Jesse Abramson of the New York Herald Tribune reports: "Roberto Clemente tripled so far over Mays' head that even Willie on his charger, shedding the cap, couldn't catch it..."
1958 - Commemorating the three-year anniversary of his party-crashing heroics, Roberto Clemente again disrupts Willie Mays's birthday celebration, if not quite so dramatically. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle reports: "Only a spectacular catch by Clemente on a 400-foot blast by Mays in the 6th with the bases loaded and George Witt on the mound prevented San Francisco from making a genuine rout of the thing." Circus catch notwithstanding, the Bucs' bats fail to ignite as they suffer a 7 - 0 whitewashing.
1982 - Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners becomes the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeats the New York Yankees, 7 - 3, at the Kingdome. Perry becomes the first pitcher to notch his 300th win since Early Wynn did it in 1963.

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May 7.

1917 - Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox allows only two hits as he outpitches Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators, 1 - 0, at Griffith Stadium. Ruth helps himself by driving in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.
1922 - Jesse Barnes of the New York Giants pitches the only no-hitter of the year, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 6 - 0, at the Polo Grounds.
1925 - At Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Glenn Wright turns an unassisted triple play in the 9th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals when he catches Jim Bottomley's line drive, steps on second base to double Jimmy Cooney, and tags Rogers Hornsby coming from first. Despite Wright's effort, the Cardinals win, 10 - 9.
1940 - The Brooklyn Dodgers become the first National League team to fly when they travel by air to Chicago from St. Louis.

I remember this next one when I was 6 years old Herb Score's picture was on the May 8 front page of our Youngstown Vindicator, it was awful.

1957 - Cleveland Indians pitcher Herb Score is hit on the right eye by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees' Gil McDougald in the 1st inning. The ball breaks Score's nose and damages his eye; he will miss the rest of the season.

1995 - Former All-Star outfielder Gus Bell dies at the age of 66. As the patriarch of a three-generation baseball family, Bell reached the 100-RBI mark four times while starring for the Cincinnati Reds. His son, Buddy, and his grandsons, David and Mike, later played in the major leagues.
1999 - In the biggest comeback in Jacobs Field history, the Cleveland Indians score 18 runs in the final three innings to overcome a 9 - 1 deficit and beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 20 - 11. Tampa Bay's first baseman Fred McGriff sets a major league record by homering in his 34th major league ballpark.
2009:. - The Dodgers' star outfielder, Manny Ramirez, is suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance. He is the most prominent player yet caught under Major League Baseball's PED policy implemented in 2005.
2009 - The Red Sox score 12 runs in the 6th inning before recording an out in their 13 - 3 win over Cleveland. Jason Bay drives in four of the runs with a double and a three-run homer in the record-tying scoring spree.
2014:.- Nolan Arenado of the Rockies matches a team record by extending his hitting streak to 27 games when he goes 3 for 5 in a 9 - 2 win over the Rangers; Michael Cuddyer had set the record only a year ago. Arenado does not have to wait long as he hits a two-run double off Colby Lewis in the 1st. In the game, Adrian Beltre hits his 100th homer as a member of the Rangers; he is only the 5th player to hit 100 or more homers with three different teams, having previously done so with the Dodgers and Mariners; the four others are Darrell Evans, Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez and ★ Jim Thome.

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May 8.

1896: - The St. Louis Browns dismiss manager Harry Diddlebock for intoxication. Player Arlie Latham and owner Chris Von der Ahe manage two games apiece before Von der Ahe settles on Roger Connor.

1899 - Harry Wolverton's bases-loaded home run in the bottom of the 9th gives the Chicago Orphans an 8 - 7 victory over ★ Cleveland.
1902 - The Chicago Orphans again top the Giants, winning 10 - 4. Chicago manager Frank Selee comments that the distance from the pitcher's mound to the plate looks short. Horace Fogel, the Giants manager, measures the distance and finds the lane is 15 inches short. New York protests and it is upheld on June 3rd. The two games are ordered replayed.
1922: - Hasty makes wasty as ★ Cleveland hits a major league record-tying four triples in the 5th off the A's Bob Hasty and roll over Philadelphia, 14 - 4. George Uhle is the winner.
- Sam Breadon buys a controlling interest of 72% in the St. Louis Cardinals. He and Branch Rickey, who owns the rest of the stock, will combine to create one of baseball's most successful operations. Breadon demotes Rickey to vice-president, but allows him to remain as field manager.
1925 - Every National League city will have a Golden Jubilee Day. The first, between two of the original teams left from the 1876 season, at Boston, sees former Boston players from 1876 on hand. The Braves beat Chicago, 5 - 2.

1957: - The ★ Indians clout three homers to back Early Wynn's 10 - 4 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a homer and three RBIs for New York.

1964 - In ★ Cleveland, there are tornado warnings, but New York supplies the damage when Mickey Mantle cracks a three-run homer off Tommy John in the 4th inning to lead the Yanks to a 10 - 3 win.
2009 - In his first game of the season after missing six weeks because of hip surgery, Alex Rodriguez hits the first pitch he sees from Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie for a three-run home.
2013.- Adam Rosales apparently hits a game-tying homer for the A's in the 9th inning of a game against ★ Cleveland, but the umpires rule it a double, and stick to their guns even after a video review. A's manager Bob Melvin gets tossed for arguing the call, but the A's lose, 4 - 3, as Rosales is stranded at second base. In a rare admission of an error, MLB Vice-President Joe Torre will state the next day that the umpires made an error in not granting Rosales a home run, but that the call would still stand.

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May 9. Oh those wacky old timers.

1896: - Washington defeats Pittsburgh, 14 - 9, in a beanball battle. Senators pitcher Win Mercer hits three Pittsburgh batters while Pirate Pink Hawley plunks three Washington batters in a disastrous 11-run 7th inning, tying a mark he set on July 4, 1894. Hawley retires in 1900 after only nine seasons with a still-standing National League record of 195 hit batters. All told, eight batters are plunked in the contest, a National League-record five by Hawley. The five Washington batters hit by pitches ties the NL mark and won't be matched till July 2, 1969.
- Baltimore's Hughie Jennings knocks down Reds 3B Charlie Irwin before he can catch Bid McPhee's throw. Jennings scores afterward to give the Orioles a controversial 6 - 5, 10-inning win over Cincinnati. Umpire Bob Emslie is escorted out of the ballpark by Cincinnati police.
- 1901 - In Cleveland, rookie P Earl Moore, purchased from Dayton for $1,000, allows two unearned runs but no White Sox hits through nine innings. Cleveland matches the White Sox with two runs of their own in the 3rd inning. In the 10th, with rain coming down, the Sox use singles by Sam Mertes and Dutch Hartman off Moore, "The Steam Engine in Boots", to score two runs and win, 4 - 2. The threatening weather keeps the crowd to 400 at League Park.
- 1903 - The Boston Americans top the visiting New York Highlanders, 12 - 5, with a little help from umpire Bob Caruthers, who tosses out New York P Jesse Tannehill and 2B Jimmy Williams for a ball call at home.
- 1930 - The Yankees' and the Tigers' outfielders make only two putouts for an American League record which has never been equaled. The National League record for outfield idleness is one chance (Pittsburgh versus Brooklyn on August 26, 1910). Detroit's George Uhle strikes out 8 in winning, 5 - 4, and dropping the Yanks to 7th place. Hank Johnson (7 innings) and George Pipgras are the New York hurlers.
- 1938 - At Boston, Jimmie Foxx drives in five runs on a pair of homers to pace the Red Sox to a 15 - 3 drubbing of ★ Cleveland. Jim Bagby is the winner.
- 1958:Roberto- Roberto Clemente's defensive gem and Ted Kluszewski's leadoff, walk-off, 12th-inning blast over Forbes Field's right field screen give Pittsburgh's Ron Kline a complete-game, 1 - 0 victory over Philly ace, and future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts. Neither Kline's nor Klu's heroics, however, could have come to pass without Clemente's 4th-inning-ending eye-popper which turns what appears to be a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chico Fernandez into a double play. Clemente catches the ball and fires a perfect on-the-fly strike to the plate to nail a sliding Granny Hamner.
- After six straight home rainouts, the Yanks play their first home night game of the year, against Washington. Mickey Mantle breaks a 2 - 2 tie in the 3rd with an inside-the-park solo homer off Pedro Ramos. New York rolls to a 9 - 5 win.

1964 - At Cleveland, Pedro Ramos gives up four home runs to New York - Tony Kubek, Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone, and Hector Lopez - as the Yankees win, 6 - 2.
1965 - In the second game of a doubleheader, Cleveland and Boston combine for nine double plays, tying an American League record.
1995:- The Cleveland Indians tie a major league record by scoring eight runs in the 1st inning before making an out. Seven of the runs score as the results of home runs, including Kenny Lofton's leadoff round-tripper, Paul Sorrento's grand slam and Carlos Baerga's two-run blast. Cleveland goes on to a 10 - 0 victory behind Orel Hershiser and Paul Assenmacher.
High school star Shawn Gallagher is intentionally walked his last time up and goes hitless. Entering the game, Gallagher, from Wilmington, North Carolina, had hit safely in 51 straight games, tying the prep mark set by Stan Brown of Noblesville, Indiana.

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May 10. Some older Cleveland Indians players today.

1894 - For the first time in major league history, teammates combine for three straight home runs, as Frank Shugart, George "Doggie" Miller and Heinie Peitz of St. Louis hit consecutive roundtrippers in the 7th inning. In all, Shugart hits three home runs and Peitz two, giving St. Louis a total of six. However, their heroics are to no avail as their club falls to Cincinnati, 18 - 9.
1895 - During the course of a 14 - 4 win over St. Louis, Philadelphia slugger Sam Thompson becomes the third man in National League history to hit 100 home runs in a career.
1897 - ★ Nap Lajoie slugs two home runs and a double to lead the Phillies to a 13 - 1 rout of St. Louis. Lajoie continues the hitting streak he started on May 8th and will not go hitless until May 31st, a string of twenty games.
1918 - Pittsburgh's lefty Earl Hamilton is 6-0 with an 0.83 ERA after beating the Giants. He then enlists in the Navy.

1936 - Joe Sullivan, Detroit pitcher, weakens after 12 innings of scoreless relief and ★ Cleveland edges Detroit, 9 - 7. Sullivan takes over for Elden Auker in the 2nd and is splendid before losing in the 15th.

1944: - Mel Harder wins his 200th career game as ★ Cleveland defeats the Red Sox, 5 - 4. He is the 50th to reach this mark.

1956 - At Yankee Stadium, Bob Lemon gives ★ Cleveland a 7 - 2 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a solo homer in the 6th for New York. By the end of the month, Mantle will have hit his 20th homer and will be batting .425 with 50 RBIs.
1960 - Grand slams by Red Sox teammates Vic Wertz and Rip Repulski at Fenway Park give Boston a 9 - 7 win over Chicago. The National League veteran Repulski's 8th-inning shot off Don Ferrarese comes in his first American League at bat.
1962 - Minnesota's Lenny Green and Vic Power hit back-to-back home runs off ★ Cleveland's Jim Perry to start the game, tying a major league record. Cleveland comes back to win, 9 - 4. It will be another nine years before two leadoff batters in the American League belt homers, and it will be Perry teeing up those as well.
1965 - At Fenway Park, the 9th-place Yankees lose again, 3 - 2, when Carl Yastrzemski outhits a hobbling Mickey Mantle. Yaz hits a pair of homers and a sacrifice fly, while Mantle is 3 for 4 with a homer. After Mantle doubles with two outs in the 9th, starter Jim Lonborg is lifted and Dick Radatz gets the final out. It is Lonborg's first major league win.
1999: - Pete Rose, banned from all aspects of the game by Commissioner Giamatti in 1989, appears as a special instructor for the newly created Sacramento Steelheads. The team plays in the Western Baseball League which is independent, and therefore not governed by Major League Baseball.
2000 - The Twins defeat the ★ Indians, 10 - 9, overcoming an 8 - 1 deficit. It is the biggest comeback in Minnesota's 40-year history.
2001 - The Royals defeat the ★ Indians, 8 - 3, ending Cleveland's 10-game winning streak. Brian Meadows goes 6 2/3 innings for the win over Bartolo Colon. Mike Sweeney and Mark Quinn each have three hits.

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May 12. Guardians -OFF- today but so what baseball lives on !

1910 - Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitches a 4 - 0 no-hitter against the ★ Cleveland Naps. Bender, who misses a perfect game by issuing a walk, will compile a 23-5 record during the season.
1932 - Carey Selph of the Chicago White Sox collects his ninth strikeout of the season. But it won't happen again. Selph will go another 89 games without striking out, to set a major league record, hitting .283 in 396 at-bats in his second and last season. Selph's record will last until 1958, when Nellie Fox sets a new mark with 98 consecutive games whitout striking out.
1958 - Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants. Mays also belts another home run in a 12 - 3 victory over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants moved from New York to San Francisco prior to the season.
1959 - At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra commits an error as his errorless streak of 148 games for a catcher comes to an end in a New York 7 - 6 loss to ★ Cleveland.
2000: - Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who posted 17 strikeouts in his last start on May 6th against Tampa Bay, strikes out 15 in a 9 - 0 shutout over the Orioles, to tie an American League record set by the ★ Indians' Luis Tiant in 1968 for most strikeouts over two games.
2008 - In the second game of a doubleheader, the ★ Indians lose, 3 - 0, to the Blue Jays against Shaun Marcum and two relievers. The historic note goes to ★ Cleveland, which is involved in the 6th unassisted triple play in franchise history (3 for them, 3 against them) and the 14th overall in major league annals. In the 5th, Cliff Lee lets the first two men reach. Lyle Overbay hits a liner that is caught by a diving Asdrubal Cabrera at second. Cabrera steps on the bag to force Kevin Mench, then tags out Marco Scutaro to complete the trifecta. Also of note is that Ron Hansen, involved in a 1968 unassisted triple play against ★ Cleveland, is at the game as a Phillies scout.

Born.
1925 - Yogi Berra, catcher, manager; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 2015)
1935 - Felipe Alou, outfielder, manager; All-Star

And finally.... Deaths

1979 - Clyde Kluttz, catcher (b. 1917) <--- what a name for a catcher.

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May 13. A few ★ Cleveland Indians items here and there.

1911: - Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers hits his first grand slam. After six innings, Detroit leads the Boston Red Sox, 10 - 1. Boston comes back to win the game, 13 - 11, in 10 innings.

1923 - Joe Sewell of the ★ Cleveland Indians strikes out twice in one game for the first time in his career. Washington Senators rookie Cy Warmoth is the pitcher. In a 14-year career, Sewell will have only one other multiple strikeout game.
1929 - At Cleveland's League Park, the ★ Indians defeat the Yankees, 4 - 3, in the first game in major league history in which players from both teams wear numbers on the back of their jerseys.
1955 - At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career. The New York Yankees slugger finishes the game with three home runs - two left-handed and one right-handed - and drives in all of his team's runs in a 5 - 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Whitey Ford is the winning pitcher and Steve Gromek the loser.
1958 - Teammates Willie Mays and Daryl Spencer each have four extra-base hits as San Francisco beats the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 16 - 9. Mays hits two home runs, two triples, a single and drives in four runs, and Spencer has two home runs, a triple, a double and six RBI for a combined 28 total bases.
- Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 3,000th career hit with a pinch double off Chicago Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals win, 5 - 3.
- 1955 - At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career. The New York Yankees slugger finishes the game with three home runs - two left-handed and one right-handed - and drives in all of his team's runs in a 5 - 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Whitey Ford is the winning pitcher and Steve Gromek the loser.
- 1993 - George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hits his 300th career home run in the 6th inning of a 7 - 3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Brett is only the 6th major league player with at least 3,000 hits and 300 home runs.
- 2002 - 38 home runs shy of the exclusive 500 home run club, Jose Canseco retires at 37 age due to injuries sustained in recent years. The former American League MVP, who was cut by the Expos during spring training, had his best years in Oakland, forming with Mark McGwire one of the most feared one-two punches of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
- 2015: - Last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber of the ★ Indians, finally gets his first win of the year after starting off 0-5. He strikes out 18 Cardinals batters and allows only one hit over 8 innings to lead Cleveland to a 2 - 0 win. The 18 strikeouts tie a club record set by Bob Feller in 1938 and are the most by any American League pitcher since Roger Clemens also struck out 18 in 1998.

mjp28

May 14. Kind of a slow day in baseball. Almost no Indians in the news.

1914 - Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitches a no-hitter for nine innings, then loses to the Senators, 1 - 0, in the 10th. The first hit is batted by Chick Gandil, who scores the winning run on Howie Shanks' single. It is the first of three nine-inning no-hitters that White Sox catcher Ray Schalk will catch in his 17 years with the team.
1916 - At Robison Field, St. Louis Cardinals rookie Rogers Hornsby hits his first major league home run, off Brooklyn Robins pitcher Jeff Pfeffer.
1918 - Sunday baseball is made legal in Washington, DC; District commissioners rescind the ban in view of the large increase in the city's wartime population and the need for recreation and amusement facilities.
1920 - Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson records his 300th win with a 9 - 8 victory over the Detroit Tigers

1966 - Roberto Clemente's sixth and final career home run off Sandy Koufax is another no-doubter. It comes during Koufax's final season, the net result being one less shutout for Sandy and one more moon shot for Clemente. There was "only Bob Clemente's 9th-inning home run spoiling Sandy's bid for his 36th career shutout," writes Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times. "One of the few people who wasn't fooled by Sandy's slants was Clemente, who at .325 is making a strong bid for his third consecutive league batting crown. 'I'm hitting the ball good,' said the temperamental Pirate star. 'I feel strong.' He certainly looked robust when he tied into an outside pitch and sent it into the upper deck in right field. Ron Fairly didn't even move, it was so solidly hit."
1967:
- Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees joins the 500 home run club when he connects against Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles. Mantle becomes the sixth major leaguer to reach 500. Mantle's home run helps New York to the 6 - 5 victory at Yankee Stadium.
- Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits home run number 450, a 6th-inning solo shot in today's contest between the Braves and Pirates. Roberto Clemente responds almost immediately with his own "number 450". Les Biederman explains in the Pittsburgh Press: "Aaron whistled when he talked of the two shots Clemente drilled. One struck the left field wall and bounced back on the field for a double. The other traveled over Mack Jones' head in dead center (450 feet) and he got a triple." Both the two-out, 3rd-inning double and 6th-inning, leadoff triple are followed by RBI singles from Bill Mazeroski. In the 7th, Clemente singles home the insurance run in the Bucs' 5 - 2 win.
1972 - Willie Mays, playing his first game with the New York Mets, hits a game-winning home run against his former teammates, the San Francisco Giants. Just three days earlier, the Mets had acquired Mays from the Giants for a player, pitcher Charlie Williams, and cash.

1986 - California Angels slugger Reggie Jackson hits his 537th career home run to move past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list. Jackson delivers the milestone blast against Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox.
Rocky Colavito had won a game in relief for the Yankees in 1968, in the last of two career appearances on the mound.
1994 - In only his second major league appearance, ★ Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Shuey strikes out four batters in the 9th inning of the Indians' 9 - 3 victory over Detroit. Shuey becomes only the 10th pitcher in American League history, and the first rookie, to strike out four in an inning.

mjp28

May 15. Oh those rowdy old-timers ! ★ And who can forget in 1981 at the Ol' Muni Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

1862 - Baseball's first enclosed park, the Union Grounds, opens in Brooklyn, NY.mersm.

1893 - After tagging out St. Louis Browns OF Steve Brodie in a collision at the plate, Cincinnati Reds C Harry "Farmer" Vaughn throws a bat at Brodie, hitting him on the shoulder. Vaughn is ejected and fined $25 as St. Louis wins, 10 - 6, and moves past the @★ Cleveland Spiders and the Pittsburgh Pirates into first place.
1894 - In the aftermath of a fierce fight between Baltimore's John McGraw and Boston's Tommy Tucker in the 3rd inning, a devastating fire starts in the RF stands at Boston's South End Grounds. The fire destroys $70,000 worth of equipment as well as the park, the only truly double-decked grandstand Boston would ever have. The fire spreads to adjacent blocks and eventually destroys or severely damages 170 buildings. The team moves to the Congress Street ballpark for several months before returning to the rebuilt Walpole Street park.
1917 - In ★ Cleveland, pitcher Babe Ruth is lifted with one out in the 6th and the Red Sox leading 6 - 5. Dutch Leonard then shuts down the Indians to preserve the victory, and he is awarded the win by the official scorer. The decision is eventually reversed, giving Ruth his 8th straight win. The White Sox will stop his streak on May 18th.
1911: - Ring Lardner writes, "They are using a new ball this year. It's livelier and that means more hitting, and more hitting means longer games, and that's the devil. It appears to be impossible to finish a game in less than two hours."
1912 - Ty Cobb charges into the stands at Hilltop Park in New York and attacks a crippled heckler named Claude Lueker. Other fans and Tigers mix it up before order is restored. Ban Johnson suspends Cobb indefinitely for the incident.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio gets a single in four at bats against Eddie Smith of the Chicago White Sox to start his ★ 56-game hitting streak. Joe D's hit goes unnoticed as the Yankees lose, 13 - 1. Taffy Wright homers and drives in four White Sox runs, the 8th straight game he's driven in a run.
1946:- Mel Harder and Steve Gromek fire back-to-back shutouts over the A's as ★ Cleveland wins two, 3 - 0 and 5 - 0.
1976: - Mark Fidrych wins his first major league start, a complete-game two-hit, 2 - 1 victory over the ★ Indians. The Bird holds the Indians hitless for six innings, talks to the ball, and tamps down the mound before toeing the rubber each inning.

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★ 1981 - ★ The Indians' Len Barker pitches the 9th perfect game in 20th century major league history, 3 - 0 over the Blue Jays before just 7,290 fans on a rainy night at Cleveland Stadium. Last year's American League strikeout leader, Barker fans 11. It is the 11th time in major league history the feat has been accomplished, and the first time in 13 years since it's been done, by Catfish Hunter in 1968. ★
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1993: - In Milwaukee, ★ Cleveland starter Charles Nagy leaves the game with a shoulder injury after pitching to just two batters. Nagy will go on the disabled list in two days and undergo surgery on June 29th.
2003 - The Red Sox play before a sellout crowd at Fenway Park. They will continue to do so for almost a decade, breaking the record for consecutive sellouts (held by the ★ Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field) on September 8, 2008. The streak will not end until April of 2013.

mjp28

May 17. Not much baseball news.

1912 - Historic Fenway Park in Boston is officially dedicated, one month after hosting its first game, as the Red Sox host the Chicago White Sox. Playing in front of an overflow crowd, the Red Sox lose the game, 5 - 2.
1925 - At League Park, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians collects his 3,000th hit off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators. Zachary leads Washington to a 2 - 1 victory. George Uhle is the loser.
1945 - For the fourth time in four days, every American League game is postponed because of rain.
1961 - Roger Maris hits his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (and fourth overall) on his way to a major league season-record 61.
1963 - Don Nottebart of the Houston Colt .45s pitches the first no-hitter in franchise history, leading Houston past the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, 4 - 1.
1973 - California Angels center fielder Bobby Valentine tries to scale a wall to prevent a Dick Green home run during a 5 - 4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Valentine catches his spikes in the wall and fractures his leg. The injury will ruin his career.

TexasAg1969

Tonight watching the Astros going into the top of the 2nd down 1-0 to Boston, they end up setting an all-time Astros record and tied a major league record of 5 HRs in one inning for a 9-1 lead. Two innings later now leading 9-3 Tucker hits his second HR of the game, a grand slam to take a 13-3 lead.

mjp28

May 18.

1929 - Babe Ruth hits an Ed Morris pitch over the right field bleachers, for one of the longest home runs ever at Fenway Park.
1931 - Babe Herman of the Brooklyn Robins hits for the cycle for the first of three times in his career, which will become a major league record. Brooklyn beats the Cincinnati Reds, 14 - 4.
1933 - The first All-Star Game is announced for July 6th at Comiskey Park. It will be played as part of the Chicago World's Fair celebration and is sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. Fans will pick the players.
1937 - Brooks Robinson is born in Little Rock, Arkansas. The perennial Gold Glove third baseman will make his debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 1955. In 1964, Robinson will win the American League MVP Award. Six years later, his defensive brilliance will lead the Orioles to a World Series victory.
1955 - At Fenway Park, the ★ Cleveland Indians score 11 runs in the 5th inning to beat the Boston Red Sox, 19 - 0, and give Herb Score an easy win over Willard Nixon. The big blow in the inning is a grand slam by Vic Wertz. It is the worst shutout pasting ever by Boston and the most runs ever in a shutout for the Indians.
1956 - Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career, setting a major league record. Mantle includes a perfect 4-for-4 day, helping New York to an 8 - 7 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
1946 - Reggie Jackson is born in Abington, Pennsylvania. Jackson will make his debut in 1967 with the Kansas City Athletics. He will finish his career with 563 home runs and earn election to the Hall of Fame.
1957 - Dick Williams of the Baltimore Orioles hits a 9th-inning, game-tying solo home run off Paul LaPalme of the Chicago White Sox seconds before 10:20 p.m., the curfew set so Chicago can catch a train out of Baltimore. If Williams had done anything else, the White Sox would have won. The game is later replayed from the beginning and Baltimore wins.
1958 - ★ Cleveland Indians outfielder Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for Roger Maris and responds with his first major league home run, a three-run shot off Billy Pierce, to give Cleveland a 7 - 4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. With the Boston Red Sox, Hardy will pinch-hit for Ted Williams on September 20, 1960, and will also pinch-hit for rookie Carl Yastrzemski on May 31, 1961, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers.

2011: - Five different games end in shutouts today. The most remarkable performance is a three-hitter thrown by Jake Peavy of the White Sox, making only his second appearance since undergoing shoulder surgery 10 months earlier. He wins 1 - 0 over ★ Cleveland, with Justin Masterson being saddled with the loss in spite a solid performance of his own.