Last Updated on May 27, 2011 11:03 pm by admin
Compiled By PAUL MONTELLA
By The Associated Press
May 29
1916 – Christy Mathewson defeated the Boston Braves 3-0 for the New York Giants’ 17th consecutive road win.
1922 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled organized baseball was primarily a sport and not a business, and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations. The suit had been brought by the Federal League’s Baltimore franchise.
1928 – Bill Terry hit for the cycle to lead the New York Giants to a 12-5 win over Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Terry became the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.
1942 – New York’s Lefty Gomez, self-described as the worst-hitting pitcher in baseball, banged out four hits while pitching a 16-1 four-hitter against Washington.
1946 – In a reverse integration role, Edward Klep became the first white to play in the Negro leagues in a game played in Grand Rapids, Mich. Klep pitched seven innings for the Cleveland Buckeyes against the American Giants in his debut with the Negro American League team.
1956 – Dale Long went hitless for the Pirates, ending his major league record streak of home runs in eight consecutive games. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat Pittsburgh, 10-1.
1965 – Philadelphia’s Richie Allen hit a 529-foot home run over the roof of Connie Mack Stadium off Chicago’s Larry Jackson in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory.
1976 – Houston’s Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher and hit a home run off his brother, Phil Niekro. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1. It was the only home run hit by Joe in his 22-year major league career.
1990 – Oakland’s Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s 62-year-old American League stolen base record, but the Toronto Blue Jays still beat the Athletics 2-1. Henderson’s 893rd steal came in the sixth inning.
2000 – Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde turned the 10th unassisted triple play in regular-season history during a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. With runners on first and second in motion, Shane Spencer hit a line drive to Velarde who caught the ball, tagged out Jorge Posada (running from first) and stepped on second to beat Tino Martinez.
2002 – Roger Clemens recorded the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) were the others to have 100 double-digit strikeout games.
2002 – In an article in Sports Illustrated former NL MVP Ken Caminiti stated that about 50 percent of current major league players used some form of steroids.
2003 – Colorado, behind Todd Helton’s three home runs and Ron Belliard’s five hits beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 12-5. Helton added a single and drove in six runs.
2010 – Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. It was the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of perfect games in the same season. Halladay faced three pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, Wes Helms struck out, and Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out. Halladay struck out 11 and went to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.
Today’s birthdays: Jerry Hairston Jr. 35; Trever Miller 38.
May 30
1922 – Between the morning and afternoon games of a Memorial Day twin bill, Max Flack of the Chicago Cubs was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote. They played one game for each team.
1927 – In the fourth inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, shortstop Jim Cooney of the Chicago Cubs caught Paul Waner’s liner, stepped on second to double Lloyd Waner and then tagged Clyde Barnhart coming from first for an unassisted triple play.
1935 – Babe Ruth made his last major league appearance. He played one inning for the Boston Braves against the Philadelphia Phillies. Jim Bivin retired Babe Ruth on an infield grounder in the Babe’s final major league at-bat.
1940 – Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants threw 87 pitches in a 7-0 one-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers. He faced the minimum 27 batters. Johnny Hudson, who singled, was caught stealing.
1956 – Mickey Mantle hit a home run that came within a 1 1/2 feet of leaving Yankee Stadium. It hit the face of the upper deck in right field, 370 feet from home plate and 117 feet in the air. Mantle became the first player to hit 20 home runs by the end of May as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 4-3.
1961 – Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Bill Skowron each hit two homers to lead the New York Yankees to a 12-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox. Yogi Berra also added a homer.
1962 – Pedro Ramos of the Cleveland Indians tossed a three-hitter and hit two home runs, including a grand slam, for a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
1977 – Cleveland’s Dennis Eckersley pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the California Angels.
1982 – Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. began his record consecutive games streak by starting at third base against the Toronto Blue Jays.
1987 – Eric Davis hit a grand slam in the third inning, breaking two National League records and leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Davis became the first NL player to hit three grand slams in a month and his major league leading 19 homers broke the NL record for most homers in April and May.
1992 – Scott Sanderson became the ninth pitcher to beat all 26 major league teams as New York defeated Milwaukee 8-1. Sanderson joined Nolan Ryan, Tommy John, Don Sutton, Mike Torrez, Rick Wise, Gaylord Perry, Doyle Alexander and Rich Gossage as those who have defeated every club.
2001 – Barry Bonds hit two home runs, moving past Willie McCovey and Ted Williams into 11th place on the career list with 522. Bonds had 17 home runs in May, surpassing the mark set by Mark McGwire in 1998 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.
2003 – Ken Griffey Jr. hit a game-tying home run in the ninth and a go-ahead homer in the top of the 11th to lead Cincinnati over Florida 4-3.
2006 – Vernon Wells hit three home runs and Troy Glaus added two more in Toronto’s 8-5 victory over Boston.
2009 – Travis Tucker hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the 25th inning, leading Texas to a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the longest game in NCAA history. The game eclipsed the previous record of 23 innings, set in 1971 when Louisiana-Lafayette defeated McNeese State 6-5.
2010 – Albert Pujols hit three long home runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Pujols homered in the first, fifth and ninth innings for the fourth three-homer game of his career.
Today’s birthday: Reggie Willits 29.
May 31
1914 – Joseph Benz of the White Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians for a 6-1 victory.
1927 – Detroit first baseman Johnny Neun made an unassisted triple play against Cleveland. He caught Homer Summa’s liner, tagged Charlie Jamieson between first and second and then touched second base before Glenn Myatt could return. The Tigers beat the Indians 1-0.
1937 – Carl Hubbell’s 24-game winning streak ended with a 10-3 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hubbell’s last defeat came on July 13, 1936, 1-0 to the Chicago Cubs.
1944 – Al Unser’s only home run of the year, a pinch-hit grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, helped the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-2.
1964 – The New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants played the longest doubleheader in major league history – 9 hours, 52 minutes – with the help of a 23-inning game in the nightcap that was won by the visiting Giants 8-6 on run-scoring hits by Del Crandall and Felipe Alou against Galen Cisco. The game took 7:23 to play.
1970 – Chicago’s Luis Aparicio and Walt Williams each collected five hits in a 22-13 rout of the Boston Red Sox. Williams also scored five times. The two teams combined for 40 hits, one short of the AL record set in 1950.
1980 – Ken Landreaux went 0-for-4 in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to Baltimore, ending his hitting streak at 31 games. It was the longest streak in the American League since Dom DiMaggio’s 34-game streak in 1949.
1997 – Ila Borders became the first woman to pitch in a regular-season professional game, in the sixth inning of the St. Paul Saints’ Northern League game against Sioux Falls. She gave up three earned runs without getting an out.
1999 – Umpire Frank Pulli used TV replay to take away a home run from Florida’s Cliff Floyd in the fifth inning of the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to St. Louis.
2008 – Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox hit career homer No. 500, a drive off Baltimore right-hander Chad Bradford to become the 24th major leaguer to reach the milestone.
2009 – Stephen Cardullo set a tournament record with seven hits, including three of Florida State’s NCAA-record 15 doubles, as the Seminoles routed Ohio State 37-6 advanced to the super regionals. Florida State set NCAA postseason records with 37 runs, 38 hits and 66 total bases, while Cardullo set the school mark for hits.
Today’s birthdays: Andrew Bailey 27; Jake Peavy 30.
June 1
1923 – The New York Giants scored in every inning to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 22-8 at the Baker Bowl.
1925 – Lou Gehrig batted for Pee Wee Wanninger in the eighth and replaced Wally Pipp at first base to start his streak of 2,130 consecutive games. The Washington Senators beat the New York Yankees 5-3.
1937 – Bill Dietrich of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in an 8-0 win.
1975 – Nolan Ryan of the California Angels pitched his fourth no-hitter, striking out nine. Ryan tied Sandy Koufax’s record by beating the Baltimore Orioles 1-0. It was Ryan’s 100th major league victory.
1977 – Seattle’s Ruppert Jones homered off Cleveland’s Dennis Eckersley in the fifth inning to snap Eckersley’s no-hit string of 22 1-3 innings, just two outs short of Cy Young’s major league record. The Indians went on to win, 7-1.
1987 – Cleveland’s Phil Niekro pitched the Indians to a 9-6 victory, his 314th, over the Detroit Tigers. The win gave him and his brother, Joe, a major league record 530 combined victories, surpassing Gaylord and Jim Perry.
2000 – Pawtucket’s Tomo Ohka became the third pitcher in the 117-year history of the International League to throw a nine-inning perfect game when he beat the Charlotte Knights 2-0.
2005 – Miguel Tejada hit a homer, three doubles and scored three runs in Baltimore’s 9-3 victory over Boston.
2009 – The New York Yankees played error free for the 18th straight game in a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians, surpassing Boston’s major league mark of 17 set in 2006. New York’s last error came on May 13 at Toronto when shortstop Ramiro Pena misplayed a groundball.
Today’s birthdays: Carlos Zambrano 30; Derek Lowe 38.
June 2
1928 – Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit three home runs and a triple at Braves Field, but the Cincinnati Reds came away with a 20-12 triumph.
1928 – The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. All the runs came from three pinch-hit home runs.
1941 – Lou Gehrig died in New York at age 37.
1949 – The Philadelphia Phillies hit five homers in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. Andy Seminick hit two and Del Ennis, Willie Jones, and Schoolboy Rowe hit one apiece. Seminick had homered earlier in the game.
1959 – The Baltimore Orioles-Chicago White Sox game at Comiskey Park was delayed for nearly half an hour as a swarm of gnats overcame the field. Groundskeepers tried using bug sprays and torches, but the gnats wouldn’t budge. A postgame fireworks display was brought in from center field and a smoke bomb was attached to the framework. The gnats left and the Orioles defeated the White Sox, 3-2.
1990 – Randy Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in the Seattle Mariners’ history as he beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. The 6-foot-10 left-hander, walked six and struck out eight while pitching the first no-hitter at the Kingdome, which opened for baseball in 1977.
1996 – Houston starter Darryl Kile tied the modern major league record by hitting four batters in St. Louis, and the first to do it in the NL since Moe Drabowsky in 1957.
2000 – Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff hit his 400th career home run, but the Devil Rays lost to the Mets 5-3.
2000 – Rick Aguilera of the Chicago Cubs became the 13th pitcher with 300 saves in a 2-0 win over Detroit. Aguilera reached the mark in 614 career appearances, third quickest.
2002 – Philadelphia pitcher Robert Person drove in seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run homer in an 18-3 win over Montreal. Person had just come off the disabled list and collected his first win of the season.
2005 – Kansas City completed a sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5-2 victory. The Royals, who have the worst record and second-lowest payroll in the major leagues, finished their first three-game sweep of the Yankees at home in 15 years.
2009 – Dan Uggla of the Marlins became the fastest second baseman to 100 homers in Florida’s 10-3 win over Milwaukee. Uggla’s two-run shot in the bottom of the second came in his 502nd game as a second baseman, beating Alfonso Soriano to 100 by 34 games.
2010 – Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers lost his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on a call that first base umpire Jim Joyce later admitted he blew. First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fielded Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and made an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball was there in time, and all of Comerica Park was ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signaled safe.
Today’s birthdays: Tim Stauffer 29; Raul Ibanez 39.
June 3
1918 – Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitched his second no-hitter, blanking the Detroit Tigers 5-0.
1932 – Lou Gehrig became the first American League player to hit four home runs in a game, helping the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia A’s 20-13. The event was overshadowed by the resignation of John McGraw as manager of the New York Giants.
1954 – Henry Thompson of the New York Giants hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 13-8 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Willie Mays drove in the other five runs with two homers.
1971 – Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitched his second no-hitter, beating the Cincinnati Reds 1-0.
1978 – Dave Johnson became the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season. His grand slam in the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1989 – Los Angeles and Houston played 22 innings at the Astrodome in the longest night game in National League history – 7 hours, 14 minutes. The Astros won the game on Rafael Ramirez’s RBI single off Jeff Hamilton, normally the Dodgers’ third baseman. When the game ended, Fernando Valenzuela was playing first and Eddie Murray was at third.
1989 – Nolan Ryan pitched his 11th career one-hitter and struck out 11 as Texas beat Seattle 6-1. It was Ryan’s 16th low-hit game (no-hitter or one-hitter), breaking Bob Feller’s record of 15.
1995 – Pedro Martinez of Montreal pitched nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos 1-0 win.
2003 – Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Chicago’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
2006 – Damion Easley hit three homers and had seven RBIs in Arizona’s 13-9 victory over Atlanta.
2008 – Randy Johnson took sole possession of second place on baseball’s career strikeout list after getting the Milwaukee Brewers’ Mike Cameron to go down swinging in the first inning. It was Johnson’s 4,673rd career strikeout, breaking a tie with Roger Clemens and leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks’ veteran ace behind only Nolan Ryan, who had 5,714 strikeouts in his career.
Today’s birthdays: Travis Hafner 34; Jose Molina 36.
June 4
1940 – The Pirates beat the Boston Bees 14-2 in the first night game at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.
1940 – The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman’s Park, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-1.
1951 – Pittsburgh’s Gus Bell hit for the cycle to lead the Pirates to a 12-4 victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia.
1964 – Sandy Koufax pitched his third no-hitter, striking out 12, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Phillies 3-0 in Philadelphia.
1968 – Don Drysdale of the Dodgers blanked the Pirates 5-0 for his sixth straight shutout en route to a record 58 2-3 scoreless innings.
1974 – The game between the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium was forfeited to Texas. Umpire Nestor Chylak had problems with the fans throughout the evening – primarily because it was 10-cent beer night. They got out of control when the Tribe tied the score 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth.
1990 – Ramon Martinez struck out 18 batters and pitched a three-hitter as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0.
1996 – Pamela Davis pitched one inning of scoreless relief and got the win in a minor league exhibition game. She is believed to be the first woman to pitch for a major league farm club under the current structure of the minor league system. Davis, a 21-year-old right-hander, pitched for the Jacksonville Suns, a Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, against the Australian Olympic team.
2000 – Tampa Bay’s Esteban Yan became the 77th major league player to homer in his first at-bat. Yan was the fourth American League pitcher to do so and the first since California’s Don Rose in 1972, the year before the DH rule took the bat out of AL pitchers’ hands.
2005 – Rafael Palmeiro and Melvin Mora each hit grand slams to help Baltimore rally for a 14-7 win over Detroit.
2007 – Mark Ellis hit for the cycle and Eric Chavez hit a two-out homer in the 11th inning to lift Oakland to a 5-4 win over Boston.
2009 – Randy Johnson became the 24th major league pitcher to win 300 games by leading San Francisco to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader. The Big Unit tossed two-hit ball over six innings and became the sixth left-hander to win 300, and the first pitcher to do it on his first try since Tom Seaver in 1985.
Today’s birthday: J.C. Romero 35.