Today in Baseball History
August 29th
1918 At Wrigley Field, Lefty Tyler tosses a gem as the Cubs edge the Reds, 1-0. The victory clinches the National League pennant for Chicago, which will end the season 10.5 games ahead of the second-place Giants.
1934 Schoolboy Rowe, after sixteen straight victories, finally loses when the A's chase him after seven innings in a 13-5 final at Philadelphia's Shibe Park. In his last start, the Tiger right-hander tied the American League record for consecutive wins shared by Smoky Joe Wood, Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove.
1939 Wheaties sponsors the first telecast of a baseball game when their ads are aired during the Ebbets Field contest between Reds and the Dodgers. The commercial broadcast is available only in New York City, where an estimated 500 people own television sets.
1948 Jackie Robinson hits for the backward cycle when he homers in the first inning, triples in the fourth, doubles in the sixth, and completes the rare event with single in the eighth. In addition to his ten total bases, the Dodger second baseman drives in two runs, scores three times and steals a base, helping Brooklyn beat the Cardinals at Sportsman's Park, 12-7.
1951 The Yankees trade rookie hurler Lew Burdette along with $50,000 to the Braves for right-hander Johnny Sain. The right-hander will come back to haunt the Bronx Bombers, pitching three complete-game victories in the 1957 World Series won by Milwaukee in seven games.
1951 With his second home run of the game, the sixth time he has accomplished the feat this year, Gil Hodges hits his 36th round-tripper to establish a new franchise record for homers in a season. The Dodger first baseman's seventh-inning three-run blast in the team's 13-1 rout of Cincinnati at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field surpasses the mark of 35 set by Babe Herman in 1930.
1965 Giants center fielder Willie Mays breaks Ralph Kiner's record for home runs in a month when the 'Say Hey Kid' hits a moon shot off Jack Fischer for his 17th round tripper in an 8-3 victory over New York. The former Pirates outfielder, now a broadcaster for the Mets on WHN radio and WOR-TV, calls the round tripper which breaks his mark he established in 1949 with 16 round-trippers in the month of September.
1966 In San Francisco, the Beatles play their last concert ever at the Giants' home, Candlestick Park. The 'Fab Four' will never perform in public again.
1966 Getting the Cubs’ 4-2 win in relief, Robin Roberts becomes the first and only pitcher to beat the Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. The future Hall of Famer gains his third career big league victory against the Boston Braves on Independence Day in 1948.
1967 At spacious Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Bert Campaneris hits three triples. The shortstop's trio of three-baggers is to no avail when the A's lose to the visiting Cleveland club, 9-8, in ten innings.
1967 A's lead-off batter Bert Campaneris hits three triples in the A's 9-8, 10-inning loss to Cleveland at Municipal Stadium. The Kansas City shortstop becomes the first American Leaguer to accomplish the feat since Ben Chapman totaled a trio of three baggers in 1939 for the Tribe.
1971 Braves' outfielder Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the National League to drive in at least 100 runs in eleven different seasons. The future Hall of Famer will collect 2297 RBIs during his 23-year Hall of Fame career to set an all-time major league mark.
1972 In a 3-0 victory, Giants right-hander Jim Barr retires the first 20 Cardinals he faces and in his last game he retired the last 21 players, giving him a major league record of 41 consecutive outs.
1977 After four seasons and 1,382 major league at-bats, Duane Kuiper hits his first and only homer. The Indians' second baseman will come to bat 3,379 times in his 12 year career.
1977 At Jack Murphy Stadium, 39 year-old Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock steals two bases, breaking the 49 year-old career stolen bases record with his 893rd swipe. The Georgia Peach had established the mark in 1928 as a member of the Philadelphia A's at the age of 41.
1977 In a 6-1 loss at Baltimore, Angel starter Nolan Ryan, who will finish the season fanning 341 batters, strikes out 11 Orioles to pass 300 mark for the fifth time in his career. The future Hall of Fame right-hander will retire as baseball’s all-time leader with 5,714, averaging 9.5 K’s per nine innings.
1985 Don Baylor is hit by a first inning pitch thrown by Angels' hurler Kirk McCaskill. It is the 190th time the Yankee DH has been plunked which breaks, pardon the expression, Minnie Minoso’s American League record.
1986 The Angels, down by eight runs in the bottom of the final frame, score nine times to beat the Tigers, 13-12. **** Schofield, batting for the second time in the inning, completes the amazing comeback with a two-out walk-off grand slam off Willie Hernandez.
1989 Giving up just three singles, recently acquired Mets southpaw Frank Viola out duels Orel Hershiser and beats the Dodgers, 1-0. The classic contest between two aces marked the first time in baseball history that the reigning winners of the Cy Young Award have faced one another in the regular season.
1993 Joining Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, George Brett becomes only the third player in baseball history to swipe his 200th stolen base as well as collecting 3,000 hits and 300 home runs. The Royals' third baseman's historic heist takes place during a 5-4, 12-inning victory over the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
1995 With two out in the ninth inning at Three Rivers Stadium, Paul Wagner loses a no-hitter against Rockies on an infield single by Andres Galarraga. The 27-year old Pirates right-hander will win the game, 4-0, but will lead the National League in losses this season, posting a 5-16 record for Pittsburgh.
1996 The Orioles become the first major league team to have seven players hit 20 or more home runs in the same season when Bobby Bonilla goes deep off right-hander Bob Wells in the first inning of a 9-6 loss to Seattle at the Kingdome. The other Baltimore sluggers to reach the plateau include Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken, B.J. Surhoff, Brady Anderson, and Chris Hoiles.
1998 Derek Jeter hits his 17th home run of the season to establish a new record for Yankee shortstops. The 24 year-old infielder surpasses Roy Smalley's 1982 mark when he goes deep to right field off Bob Wells in the team's 11-6 victory over Seattle in the Bronx.
1999 Tony Eusebio's home run in the top of the 13th inning is the difference in the Astros' 11-9 victory over the Braves in Atlanta. The Houston catcher's homer breaks the skid of eleven consecutive losses, which is a team record.
2000 As the Braves come to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Reds, 4-2, a power spike causes most of the lights to go out at Turner Field, causing a 12-minute delay. As the Atlanta crowd waits for play to resume, it is treated to a rendition of the song, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".
2001 The Cardinals score two runs on a strikeout when runners, who are breaking from first and second, score after pinch-hitter Bobby Bonilla strikes out throwing his bat down the third-base line, causing the Padres third baseman Phil Nevin to duck to avoid being hit by the flying lumber. At the same time, catcher Ben Davis's throw, attempting to cut down the runner at an unmanned third base, goes into left field, which allows Edgar Renteria to score from second and Eli Marrero also tallies from first as left fielder Rickey Henderson misplays the ball.
2002 At Milwaukee's Miller Park, Mark Bellhorn becomes the first National Leaguer and joins Carlos Baerga as the only other switch-hitter to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The Cub infielder connects off southpaw Andrew Lorraine to start Chicago's 10-run fourth-inning and then goes deep again with a three run homer with two outs off Jose Cabrera.
2002 To show their displeasure about tomorrow's impending strike, fans at the Devil Ray-Angel game begin throwing foul balls back onto the field at Edison Field and over 100 people are ejected for throwing trash. New words are added to the traditional seventh-inning rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as many of the fans in attendance begin to chant, "Don't strike! Don't strike! Don't strike!".
2004 At Toronto's SkyDome, Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek joins former players George Bell, Joe Carter and Tony Fernandez, Dave Stieb, former manager Cito Gaston and former general manager Pat Gillick as the seventh member of the club's Level of Excellence. The recipient of the team’s highest award for individual achievement, which comes as an emotional surprise for the play-by-play announcer, called 4,306 consecutive regular season games, and another 41 during the postseason during the first 27 1/2 seasons of the franchise’s existence.
2004 In the Cardinals’ 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh at PNC Park, Albert Pujols homers to become only the fourth player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and compile 100 RBIs in four consecutive seasons. The St. Louis first baseman joins Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams in accomplishing the feat.
2006 Roy Oswalt and the Astros reach agreement on a $73 million contract extension, keeping the two-time 20-game winner in Houston for the next five years. The deal, the largest multi-season deal in franchise history, is signed on the right-hander's 29th birthday.
2006 With his two homers (726, 727) in a 13-8 losing effort to the Braves at Miller Park, Giants slugger Barry Bonds passes Sammy Sosa into second place with 69 career multi-homer games. Babe Ruth hit two or more homers on 72 occasions during his 22-year career in the majors.
2006 Willy Taveras' consecutive game hitting streak team is stopped at 30, establishing a new team record. The Astros center fielder, who is plunked twice by Brewer starter Tomo Ohka, goes 0-for-3 in Houston's 10-3 win at Minute Maid Park.
2006 In a pre-game ceremony at Coors Field, the Rockies unveil a five-sided commemorative plaque which will be placed in the parking lot at the exact spot where home plate was located at Mile High Stadium. Although the team played just two seasons in the old ballpark before it was torn down to make room to park cars, the structure, built in 1948, served as the home for the popular minor league Denver Bears, the precursor to a major league team arriving in 1993.
2007 With Bobby Abreu at bat and Derek Jeter on second base during the bottom of the second inning at Yankee Stadium, visiting Red Sox manager Terry Francona is told to go to the dugout tunnel to show compliance with baseball's dress code. The Boston skipper, who is known not to wear his uniform jersey underneath his pullover, is upset with timing of 'Shirtgate' because the inspection takes place as the game is being played.
2008 With a 14-3 victory over the Orioles, the Rays are assured of their first winning season in the 11-year old history of the franchise. Tampa Bay, presently in first place with an 82-51 record, had never won more than 70 games in a season.
2010 After initially ruling Brian McCann's drive a double, the umpires take just 86 seconds to overturn the call, making it the first time in baseball history a game ends with a walk-off home run thanks to a video review of a play. The backstop's ninth inning round-tripper, which clearly bounced off the top of the outfield wall and strikes a second barrier, gives the Braves a 7-6 comeback victory over Florida.
2010 Nationals manager Jim Riggleman benches Nyjer Morgan for the 'unprofessional' play of his outfielder during yesterday's 14-5 victory over St. Louis. The center fielder had bowled over and severely injured Bryan Anderson at home plate in the bottom of the eighth inning even though the Cardinal catcher didn't have the ball, and when he neglected to touch home plate is called out on the play.
2010 In a pre-game ceremony prior to their game against New York, the White Sox retire Frank Thomas’ jersey number 35. The 'Big Hurt', a two-time American League MVP who played 16 of his 19 years in the big leagues in Chicago, retired in the off season with a .301 lifetime batting average along with 521 homers and 1,704 RBIs.
2012 Thanks to official scorer Bob Rosenberg changing his ruling, Darwin Barney establishes a National League single-season record when he plays in his 114th straight errorless game at second base in the Cubs' 3-1 loss to Milwaukee at Wrigley Field to break the mark set by David Eckstein, who had accomplished the feat playing for the Padres in 2010. After Barney originally received an error for his toss to the third base, the retired sportswriter changed his mind and gave the error to third baseman Luis Valbuena for mishandling the throw.
2014 Minnesota, dating back to its origins in the nation's capital, becomes the 16th franchise in baseball history to reach the 10,000 home run plateau. The historic homer, struck by the Twin third baseman Trevor Plouffe, receives little fanfare, being the only tally the team scores in a 9-1 loss in Baltimore.
