This Date in Baseball-Week Ahead
June 10
1921 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became baseball’s career home run leader by hitting his 120th off Cleveland’s Jim Bagby in the third inning. The Indians took the game 8-6.
1944 — Joe Nuxhall, at 15 years, 10 months and 11 days, became the youngest player in major league history when he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1959 — Rocky Colavito of Cleveland hit four consecutive home runs at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, a tough home run park. Billy Martin and Minnie Minoso also homered in the Indians’ 11-8 victory.
1966 — Cleveland’s Sonny Siebert threw the only no-hitter of the year as the Indians beat the Washington Senators 2-0.
1972 — Hank Aaron’s grand slam pushed the Atlanta Braves to a 15-3 rout over the Philadelphia Phillies. It was Aaron’s 649th home run, moving him ahead of Willie Mays into second place on the career home run list. It was also his 14th grand slam, tying Gil Hodges’ NL record.
1997 — Kevin Brown threw a no-hitter and kept himself from a perfect game by hitting a batter in the eighth inning, leading the Florida Marlins over the San Francisco Giants 9-0.
2005 — Baltimore’s 4-3 win over Cincinnati marked the first time that three 500-homer players appeared in the same game — the Orioles’ Sammy Sosa (580) and Rafael Palmeiro (559), and the Reds’ Ken Griffey, who hit a solo shot in the eighth inning for No. 511.
2006 — Reggie Sanders became the fifth player in major league history with 300 homers and 300 stolen bases when he hit a two-run shot in Kansas City’s 9-5 loss to Tampa Bay. Sanders homered off Chad Harville in the ninth to reach the milestone joining Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson and Bobby Bonds.
2011 — Tony La Russa managed his 5,000th game when the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 8-0. La Russa complied a 2,676-2,324 record with the White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals. Only Connie Mack managed more games with 7,755 over 53 years.
2012 — Frankie Vanderka threw a three-hitter, Travis Jankowski had four hits and Stony Brook completed an improbable run to the College World Series with a 7-2 victory over LSU in the deciding game of the Baton Rouge super regional. Stony Brook became only the second team to open the tournament as a No. 4 seed in the regional round and advance to the World Series. The first was Fresno State during its stunning 2008 run to a national title.
2019 — The Diamondbacks and Phillies play “Home Run Derby” at Citizens Bank Park, in a 13 - 8 win by the D-Backs. Arizona opens the game with three straight homers off Jerad Eickhoff, by Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta, on their way to hitting 8 long balls. The Phillies reply with 5 of their own, including two by Scott Kingery, but it’s not enough on a night when balls are flying out of the park right and left. Eduardo Escobar homers from different sides of the plate in consecutive innings for Arizona, and Ildemaro Vargas also homers twice. The combined 13 homers set a new major league record. The D-Backs had been the last team to open a game with three dingers, back on July 21, 2017.
2020 — Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Amateur draft is held virtually and limited to five rounds.
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June 11
1904 — Bob Wicker of the Chicago Cubs pitched 9 1-3 hitless innings before Sam Mertes of the New York Giants singled. Wicker won a 1-0, 12-inning one-hitter.
1938 — Johnny Vander Meer hurled the first of two consecutive no-hitters, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves 3-0.
1967 — The Chicago Cubs hit seven homers and the New York Mets four in the second game of a doubleheader, tying the major league record set by the New York Yankees (6) and Detroit Tigers (5) in 1950. Adolfo Phillips hit four home runs in the doubleheader for Chicago.
1981 — Following Seattle’s 8-2 win over Baltimore, major league players went on strike.
1985 — Von Hayes became the first player in major league history to hit two home runs in the first inning. Hayes connected twice in a nine-run first, powering the Philadelphia Phillies to a 26-7 victory over the New York Mets.
1988 — Rick Rhoden of the New York Yankees became the first pitcher since the inception of the designated hitter (1973) to start a game as the DH. He was seventh in the lineup and grounded to third out in the third inning and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jose Cruz pinch-hit for him in the fifth of the 8-6 win over Baltimore.
1990 — Nolan Ryan pitched the sixth no-hitter of his career to extend his major league record, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0. Ryan, 43, was the first to pitch no-hitters for three teams and the oldest to throw one.
1995 — Lee Smith set a major league record with a save in his 16th consecutive appearance, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the California Angels’ 5-4 victory over Baltimore. Smith broke the mark of 15 straight set by Doug Jones in 1988.
2002 — Jared Sandberg became the 16th AL player to homer twice in an inning, and the third this season, when Tampa Bay beat Los Angeles 11-2.
2003 — Houston’s Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner combined for the first no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 45 years, winning 8-0. The sextet set a record for the highest number of pitchers to throw a no-hitter in major league history — four accomplished the feat twice.
2010 — Andy Pettitte records his 200th win in pinstripes in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over Houston at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231) are the only other members of this exclusive New York club.
2012 — The Cubs sign Cuban defector Jorge Soler to a nine-year contract worth $30 million. The 20-year-old outfielder was the subject of a bidding war among several teams.
2013 — The Dodgers and Diamondbacks engage in a beanball war. The hostilities start when D-Backs pitcher Ian Kennedy hits super rookie Yasiel Puig in the head with a fastball in the 6th inning. The ball hits his nose, and he stays on the ground for a few minutes but stays in the game; Andre Ethier follows with a game-tying two-run homer. In the top of the 7th, Dodgers P Zack Greinke hits the first batter, Miguel Montero, in the back, prompting both benches to empty, although only stares are exchanged. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Kennedy throws a pitch near Greinke’s head, and pandemonium breaks out, with both benches and bullpens emptying again, and players and even coaches going at each other. When order is restored, Puig and coach Mark McGwire are ejected for the Dodgers, and manager Kirk Gibson and coach Turner Ward for the D-Backs. Incidentally, Los Angeles wins the game, 5 - 3. Major League Baseball will hand out eight suspensions and twelve fines as a result of the events, with Kennedy getting a ten-game suspension and Eric Hinske of the D-Backs getting five; both managers are suspended for one game, and two for the two coaches.
2017 — Max Scherzer of the Nationals records the 2,000th strikeout of his career, beating out Clayton Kershaw, who reached the milestone less than a week ago, as the third fastest pitcher to the mark.
2017 — Rookie sensation Aaron Judge hit two more home runs, including a drive that cleared the distant bleachers at Yankee Stadium and sent New York romping past Baltimore 14-3. The 6-foot-7 Judge led the majors with 21 homers and topped the AL with 47 RBIs and a .344 average.
2022 — Jared Walsh hits for the cycle and Mike Trout blasts a pair of homers as the Angels defeat the first-place Mets, 11 - 6. Walsh is the 9th player in team history to achieve the feat, almost exactly three years after teammate Shohei Ohtani was the last to do so, while Trout appears to be out of the deep slump that contributed to recent 14-game losing streak, costing manager Joe Maddon his job.
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June 12
1922 — Hub Pruett struck out Babe Ruth three consecutive times, and the St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees 7-1.
1928 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees had two triples and two homers in a 15-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
1939 — The Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.
1954 — Milwaukee’s Jim Wilson pitched the year’s only no-hitter, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0.
1957 — Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals broke the National League record for endurance when he played in his 823rd consecutive game. The previous mark was established in 1937 by Pirates first baseman Gus Suhr.
1959 — The San Francisco Giant’s Mike McCormick tossed a 3-0, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Richie Ashburn singled in the top of the sixth for the Phillies, but the hit didn’t count because the game was stopped by rain.
1962 — In Milwaukee’s 15-2 rout of Los Angeles at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game with Tommie connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older brother Hank had hit one out in the second.
1970 — Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates hurled a 2-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. Ellis walked eight and hit a batter, and Willie Stargell hit two homers.
1981 — Thirteen games were canceled due to the players’ strike.
1997 — After 126 years, baseball broke its tradition and played interleague games. The San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 4-3.
1999 — Cal Ripken went 6-for-6, homering twice and driving in six runs as the Baltimore Orioles scored the most runs in franchise history with a 22-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves.
2006 — Jason Grimsley was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball, less than a week after federal agents raided his home during an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.
2007 — Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0. Verlander struck out a career-high 12, walked four and benefited from several stellar defensive plays.
2009 — Chicago right fielder Milton Bradley had a bad day at Wrigley Field. Bradley lost Jason Kubel’s pop-up in the sun for a single, couldn’t catch Michael Cuddyer’s RBI bloop double, made a baserunning blunder and, most egregiously, flipped the ball into the stands after catching Mauer’s one-out sac fly.
2009 — New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez’s lazy popup with two outs in the ninth inning as two runs scored, helping the Yankees escape with a wild 9-8 victory over the Mets.
2010 — Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer for a grand slam — only the second player to do it — leading the Boston Red Sox to a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nava connected on a fastball from Joe Blanton in the second inning. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a slam on the first pitch he saw Sept. 2, 2006, for Cleveland against Texas.
2011 — Realignment is on the table again as Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association are in discussions to renew the collective bargaining agreement, which expires on December 11th. One of the options being discussed would see one team moving from the National League to the American League to create two 15-team leagues, with the Houston Astros the likeliest candidate for a move.
2012 — Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig’s record by hitting his 23rd career grand slam.
2016 — Sam Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville 4-3 in the Super Regionals.
2017 — Royce Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, is selected first overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 amateur draft.
2018 — Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera suffers a season-ending injury when he tears a biceps tendon while swinging at pitch in the 3rd inning of a game against the Twins. He had already missed all but one game of May with a hamstring injury.
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