Sept. 9
1914 — George Davis of the Boston Braves pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Davis’ no-hitter was the first thrown at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
1922 — Baby Doll Jacobson hit three triples to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1936 — The New York Yankees clinched their eighth American League pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3 and 12-9. The Yankees finished 19½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the largest margin in team history.
1945 — Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.
1948 — Rex Barney of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 2-0 no-hit victory against the New York Giants on a rainy day at the Polo Grounds. He walked two and struck out four.
1965 — Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers tossed his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed one hit — a double by Lou Johnson.
1987 — Nolan Ryan strikes out his 4,500th batter.
1988 — Atlanta’s Bruce Sutter joined Rollie Fingers and Rich Gossage as the only pitchers to save 300 games as the Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 in 11 innings.
1992 — Robin Yount became the 17th player to reach 3,000 hits in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Yount singled to right center off Cleveland’s Jose Mesa in the seventh inning.
1998 — The New York Yankees officially clinched the AL East title, the earliest in AL history, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-5. The Yankees improved to 102-41 — 20½ games ahead of second-place Boston.
2001 — Barry Bonds hit three home runs to give him 63 for the season. The third homer was a three-run shot in the 11th inning lifting San Francisco over the Colorado Rockies 9-4. Bonds broke Roger Maris’ record of 61 for most homers in a season by a left-handed hitter.
2004 — Joe Randa had six hits and tied a major league record with six runs, and Alex Berroa hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs in Kansas City’s 26-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader. Randa became the first AL player to have six hits and six runs in the same nine-inning game.
2007 — Milwaukee became the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected off Cincinnati’s Phil Dumatrait in a 10-5 victory. Weeks and Braun each hit two home runs and J.J. Hardy homered and hit two doubles — all in the first four innings.
2017 — Jose Abreu became the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle in 17 years in Chicago’s 13-1 rout of the San Francisco Giants.
2020 — At the urging of Roberto Clemente’s family, Major League Baseball pays tribute to its first Latin American superstar by allowing Puerto Rican players and others to wear his uniform number, 21, in his honor, on this day. This is akin to the wearing of #42 on Jackie Robinson Day. In addition, all members of the Pirates, Clemente’s former team, wear the number, the first time it has been worn by a team member since Clemente’s passing 48 years earlier.
2022 — Major League Baseball announces the adoption of a number of changes to the rules to be introduced at the start of the 2023 season. They include a pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, and larger bases. All of these changes have already been successfully tested in minor league games and aim to improve pace of play, reduce injuries and create more in-game action.
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Sept. 10
1919 — Cleveland’s Ray Caldwell pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees, a 3-0 victory by the Indians in the opening game of a doubleheader.
1950 — Joe DiMaggio became the first player to hit three home runs in one game at Griffith Stadium, and the New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators 8-1.
1967 — Joe Horlen of the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers with a 6-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader.
1969 — The New York Mets swept Montreal in a doubleheader at Shea Stadium, 3-2 in 12 innings and 7-1. The victories moved the Mets into first place in the NL East for their first time on top.
1974 — Lou Brock tied Maury Wills’ single-season stolen base record in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies. He broke the record with steal No. 105 in the seventh inning.
1977 — Roy Howell hit two home runs, two doubles and a single and drove in nine runs, powering Toronto past the New York Yankees 19-3.
1980 — Bill Gullickson struck out 18 — the most by a rookie — to lead the Montreal Expos past the Chicago Cubs 4-2.
1997 — Mark McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history with consecutive 50-homer seasons by hitting a 446-foot shot off Shawn Estes in the third inning of St. Louis’ game against at San Francisco. McGwire, who hit a major league-leading 52 homers for Oakland last season, became the first player with back-to-back 50-homer seasons since Ruth did it in 1927 and 1928.
2000 — Arizona’s Randy Johnson became the 12th player to reach 3,000 strikeouts, fanning a season-high 14 in seven innings in the Diamondbacks’ 4-3 loss to Florida in 12 innings.
2003 — St. Louis’ Tony La Russa became the eighth manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins when the Cardinals beat Colorado 10-2. La Russa is 2,000-1,782 in 25 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis.
2007 — Kurt Suzuki and Dan Johnson hit grand slams to power Oakland past Seattle 9-3.
2013 — Mark Trumbo matched a team record with four extra-base hits, including back-to-back home runs with Josh Hamilton, and Los Angeles beat Toronto 12-6.
2017 — Aaron Judge became the second major league rookie with a 40-homer season, going deep twice in New York’s 16-7 rout of the Texas Rangers 16-7.
2002 — 42-year-old Albert Pujols, who has stated many times that he will retire at the end of the season, hits his 17th homer of the year and #696 of his career off J.T. Brubaker of the Pirates in the 6th inning of a 7 - 5 Cardinals win to tie Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the all-time list.
2024 — By leading off the bottom of the 1st with a homer off Taj Bradley at Citizens Bank Park, Kyle Schwarber sets a new record with his 14th leadoff homer of the season. The Phillies go on to defeat the Rays, 9 - 4. The previous record holder was Alfonso Soriano, who had hit 13 such long balls for the 2003 Yankees.
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Sept. 11
1912 — Eddie Collins set a major league record with six stolen bases for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.
1918 — The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games. This was Boston’s third championship in a four-year stretch — 1915, 1916 and this season.
1936 — Hod Lisenbee of the Philadelphia A’s tied a major league record for hits allowed, giving up 26 in a 17-2 rout by the Chicago White Sox.
1949 — The New York Yankees sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Washington. In the 50-minute half-inning the Senators walked a major-league record 11 batters as the Yankees went on to a 20-5 win. New York won the second game 2-1 in one hour and 22 minutes.
1959 — The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4, putting an end to reliever Roy Face’s 22-game winning streak. It was his only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.
1974 — It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings — seven hours, four minutes — to beat the New York Mets. A record 202 batters went to the plate, Felix Millan and John Milner had 12 appearances apiece.
1985 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the all-time hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb’s record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game in the majors.
1987 — New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with 34 homers, became the first National League infielder to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1996 — San Diego’s Ken Caminiti broke his own major league record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo shot to break his record set last year.
2008 — Albert Pujols drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Cubs, becoming only the third player in major league history to reach the milestone in his first eight seasons. Pujols also extended his major league-record streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his first eight seasons, two more than any player in history.
2014 — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a pitch. Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball from Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers in the fifth inning of a 4-2 loss.
2021 — Corbin Burns and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers throw a combined no-hitter to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.
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