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Happy birthday to Matt Szczur, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1976 – Hank Aaron hits the 755th, and last, home run of his career, connecting off Dick Drago of the California Angels, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1907 – Chicago’s Carl Lundgren and New York’s Christy Mathewson are stingy today with the Cubs twirler allowing just four hits while the Cubs scratch three off Matty as the Giants win, 1-0. Joe Tinker is hitless against Matty, the only time this year that Mathewson shuts down his nemesis.
- 1911 – Frank Schulte hits for the cycle to help the Cubs tip the Phils, 4-3. “Wildfire” will end the year as the first player ever to top the 20 mark in doubles, triples, homers, and stolen bases. Only Willie Mays in 1957 will match him this century; the feat will be matched twice in 2007, by Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins.
- 1916 – NY Giants trade future Baseball HOF pitcher Christy Mathewson to Cincinnati Reds.
- 1922 – At Sportsman’s Park, Rogers Hornsby belts a two-out ninth inning home run with two men on the give the Cards a 7 – 6 win over Boston. It is the Rajah’s 25th home run of the year, breaking Gavvy Cravath‘s National League home run mark (post-1900). In two weeks, Hornsby will break the record of 27 homers set in 1884 by Chicago’s Ned Williamson.
- 1938 – Johnny Mize of the Cardinals has three home runs in a game for the second time this season, in a game against the Giants.
- 1958 – Jim Bunning of the Tigers pitches a 3-0 no-hitter over the Red Sox and fans 12. Only two walks and a hit batsman mar Bunning’s performance as he wins his sixth game in seven decisions.
- 1962 – Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Co. overpower Roberto Clemente‘s Pirates with a devastating aerial assault. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle writes: “Chuck Hiller led off with a single. Mays then hit a line drive, 420-foot home run for 2-0. With two down in the third, McCovey belted a memorable shot over the left-field scoreboard. It was one of the few ever ripped into that area by a lefthander in the more than half a century existence of ivy-cloaked Forbes Field. The McCovey smash stood up for the victory. The Bucs started to move in the fourth, when Bill Mazeroski singled home Clemente, who also contributed a dazzling throw from right field to cut down the sliding McCovey at the plate in the sixth.”
- 1969 – San Francisco’s Gaylord Perry connects for his first hit of the year, and his first major league homer, to beat the Dodgers, 7-3. Last year, Alvin Dark had remarked to sportswriter Harry Jupiter about Perry’s hitting, “They’ll put a man on the moon before he hits a home run.” Perry’s homer comes about 20 minutes after the clubhouse receives word that Neil Armstrong has set foot on the moon.
- 2004 – At Wrigley Field, Albert Pujols goes 5 for 5, including three home runs and five RBIs, as the Cardinals beat Central Division rivals the Cubs, 11-8. The Redbird first baseman’s first career three-homer game helps St. Louis to erase a six-run deficit.
- 2012 – Chipper Jones becomes the all-time leader for RBIs by a player who was primarily a third baseman with a two-run single in the 8th inning; he was tied with George Brett at 1,598; Mike Schmidt continues to hold the record for RBI collected when actually playing at the hot corner.
Cubs Birthdays:Duane Underwood Jr., Matt Szczur*, Jake Fox, Gary Woods. Also notable: Tony Oliva HOF. Heinie Manush HOF.
Today in history:
- 1749 – Earl of Chesterfield says “Idleness is only refuge of weak minds.”
- 1793 – Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie completes the first European east-to-west crossing of America north of Mexico.
- 1801 – Elisha Brown Jr presses a 1,235-pound cheese ball at his farm.
- 1921 – Congresswoman Alice Mary Robertson becomes the first woman to preside over the floor of US House of Representatives.
- 1964 – First surfin’ record to go to No.1-Jan & Dean’s “Surf City.”
- 1965 – Columbia records releases the Bob Dylan single “Like a Rolling Stone.”
- 1968 – Iron Butterfly’s “In-a-gadda-da-vida” becomes first heavy metal song to hit charts; it comes in at No. 117.
- 1968 – Judy Garland headlines concert also featuring Count Basie and Jackie Wilson at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her last US concert
- 1969 – NASA’s Apollo 11 lunar module, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, lands on the surface of the Moon. Seven hours later, Armstrong becomes the first person to step on the moon at 10:56 pm EDT, and Aldrin joins him shortly after. Michael Collins remains in orbit in the command module.
- 1975 – Bruce Springteen and the E Street Band kick off the Born to Run Tour at the Palace Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island; Steven Van Zandt debuts as a full-fledged member of the group.
*pictured.
