1886 – Charles Comiskey, player-manager of the Browns, prevents a double play by running full tilt into Reds second baseman Bid McPhee, enabling the Browns to win 2-1. The Cincinnati fans are irate, but the American Association umpire allows the play.
1913 – Washington’s Walter Johnson gave up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators won 10-5.
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 – Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 300th victory with a 9-8 win over the Detroit Tigers.
1941 – The Dean brothers suffer setbacks in their careers. The Chicago Cubs release Dizzy while the New York Giants demote Paul to the minor leagues. Paul will return to the major leagues two years later with the St. Louis Browns, his last season, but Dizzy won’t return until 1947, when he makes a one-game comeback also with the Browns.
1950 – Pittsburgh first baseman Johnny Hopp hit two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16-9 victory over the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago.
1965 – Boston Red Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski hits for the cycle against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Yastrzemski’s historic day includes two home runs and five runs batted in, but does not prevent Boston from losing the game, 12 – 8. Willie Horton hits two home runs for the Tigers.
1972 – In his first game with the New York Mets, Willie Mays hit a fifth inning home run off Don Carrithers for the difference in a 5-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants.
1977 – Jim Colborn pitches a no-hitter for the Kansas City Royals, beating the Texas Rangers, 6 – 0.
1978 – Dave Kingman of the Chicago Cubs hits three home runs with eight RBI, including a game-winning three-run blast in the 15th inning against Los Angeles. The game marks the second time in his career that Kingman has hit three homers and driven in eight runs in a game at Dodger Stadium.
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.
1988 – Jose Oquendo became the first non-pitcher in 20 seasons to get a decision, taking the loss in the 19th inning when Ken Griffey’s two-out, two-run double led the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5.
1989 – Benny Distefano became the first left-handed catcher in a major league game in nine years when he caught the ninth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Mike Squires caught two games with the Chicago White Sox in 1980 and Dale Long caught two games for the Chicago Cubs in 1958.
1996 – Dwight Gooden becomes the eighth pitcher in New York Yankees history to throw a no-hitter in the 2 – 0 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.
2002 – At Latino-American Stadium, 77-year-old Jimmy Carter throws the ceremonial first pitch of the Cuban League All-Star Game. Warming up, the former U.S. President is coached by Fidel Castro.
2014 – Masahiro Tanaka pitches his first major league shutout as the Yankees defeat the Mets, 4 – 0. The Japanese off-season signee is now 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA after eight starts in the majors. The Yankees’ win follows six straight losses to the Mets, dating back to last season.
2016 – In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6 – 5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning.
2017 – The Yankees officially retire uniform number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter and unveil a plaque in his name in Monument Park at New Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader against the Astros. They win the opener, 11 – 6, thanks to a bases-loaded triple by Chase Headley and homers by Starlin Castro, Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner. In the nitecap, Masahiro Tanaka gives up three 1st-inning homers, including a grand slam by Alex Bregman as New York goes down, 10 – 7. George Springer homers twice for Houston which leads 9 – 0 before the Yankees score some late runs to make the game appear closer than it is.
