This Weekend in Baseball History
May 15th, 1984: Mike Schmidt's 400th career home run, off Bob Welch, is the biggest hit in the Philles 12-1 victory at Dodger Stadium.
May 15th, 1981: Len Barker pitches the 11th perfect game in major league history -- and first in the AL since Catfish Hunter in 1968 -- as the Indians freeze out the Blue Jays, 3-0.
May 15th, 1976: Mark Fidrych makes his first major league start one to remember: a complete game two-hitter as the Tigers edge the Indians 2- 1 in Cleveland. The animated rookie held the Indians without a hit until the 7th inning.
May 15th, 1973: Nolan Ryan fires the first of his seven career no-hitters, in the Angels 3-0 win at Royals Stadium.
May 15th, 1967: Roberto Clemente enjoys the first three-home run game of his career -- and adds a double. While the future Hall of Fame drives in all seven Pirates runs, it's still not enough to author a victory. Tony Perez doubles in Pete Rose in the bottom of the 10th for an 8-7 Reds win at Crosley Field.
May 15th, 1960: Two days after coming to the Cubs from Philadelphia, Don Cardwell no-hits the Cardinals in first no-hitter pitched against St. Louis since May of 1919. Cardwell is the first pitcher ever to keep the opponents hitless on his first start after a trade.
> This is quite a date for no-hitters: in 1952, Virgil Trucks authors the first of his two no-hitters on the season, in the Tigers 1-0 Briggs Stadium win over the Senators. And in 1944, at Crosley Field, Clyde Shounno-hits the Braves, 1-0. Chuck Aleno's only home run of the 1944 season accounts for the game's lone run.
May 15th, 1956: Sal Maglie goes from the Cleveland to Brooklyn on waivers -- where, at age 39, he suddenly revives his career. "The 'Barber' will go 13-5 for the Dodgers with an under-3 ERA the rest of the way. He'll finish second to teammate Don Newcombe for the Cy Young Award.
May 15th, 1955: Talk about rarities, Irv Noren of the Yankees hits an inside-the-park grand slam (off Ray Herbert) in an 8-4 win over the A's in the Bronx.
May 15th, 1941 Joe DiMaggio begins his history-making 56-game batting streak with a hit against White Sox pitcher Edgar Smith and will collect at least one hit in every game until July 17th.May 16th, 2008: Jayson Werth ties the Phillies' single-game RBI record when he drives in eight in a 10-3 win over Toronto. Equalling the mark last reached by Mike Schmidt in 1976, Werth smacks three home runs at Citizens Bank Park.
May 16th, 2007: Carlos Gomez, Carlos Beltrán and Carlos Delgado are in the Mets lineup, marking the first time in major meague history that a single team had three starters named "Carlos" in the same game. The combination worked well, backing a strong start from Jorge Sosa in the Mets 8-1 Shea Stadium victory.
May 16th, 2004: Ben Sheets strikes out 18 -- including eight of the final 11 batters -- in the Brewers 4-1 win over the Braves at Miller Park.
May 16th, 1996: Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cubs player to hit two home runs in one inning. He leads off the 7th with a solo job against Jeff Tabaka and returns for a two-run shot off Jim Dougherty. Chicago won it 13-1.
May 16th, 1983: Darryl Strawberry hits his first major league home run in the Mets 11-4 rout of the Pirates, as he connects against Pittsburgh's Lee Tunnell at Three Rivers Stadium.
May 16th, 1972: Greg Luzinski's home run off Burt Hooten bangs off the Liberty Bell replica hanging from Veterans Stadium's center-field roof. The blast, measured at 500 feet, accounts for the Phillies' only run in an 8-1 loss to the Cubs.
May 16th, 1965: Jim Palmer earns the first of 268 career victories in the Orioles 7-5 win over the Yankees. The 19 year old rookie fires 3-2/3 inning of relief, and adds a two-run home run off New York's Jim Bouton.
May 16th, 1957: A scuffle breaks out at New York's Copacabana nightclub between severa; Yankee players, out to celebrate Billy Martin's 29th birthday at a Sammy Davis Junior performance, and a drunken man named Edward Jones. While Hank Bauer was blamed for (but denied) hitting Jones, Martin wound up being blamed and was soon traded to Kansas City.
May 16th, 1939: Night baseball comes to the American League, as the Indians beat the A's 8-3 at Shibe Park, 8-3. But an unseasonably cold night held the crowd down to just 15,000. For trivia buffs: Frank Hayes of the Athletics hits the first AL home run under the lights.
May 17th, 2012: Yan Gomes becomes the first native of Brazil to appear in a major eague game. Starting at 3rd base for the Blue Jays, the 24 year old, who began playing the game in Sao Paulo before his family moved to Miami when he was 12, gets a pair of hits for the Blue Jays in a 4-1 Roger Centre win over the Yankees.
May 17th, 2009: Pudge Rodriguez's 300th career home run is a highlight in the Cubs 6-5 win over the Astros at Wrigley Field.
May 17th, 1993: John Kruk has the first five hit game of his career to lead the Phillies past the expansion Marlins 10-3 at Joe Robbie Stadium.
May 17th, 1979: The Phillies outlast the Cubs 23-22 at Wrigley Field. The 11 home runs hit in the game tie a record, previously set at Wrigley in a 1967 game against the Reds and 1977 versus the Mets.
May 17th, 1977: The Cubs tie a franchise record, witj seven home runs during their 23-7 Wrigley rout. Larry Biittner goes deep twice, with Dave Rosello, Gene Clines, Bobby Murcer, Jerry Morales, and Steve Ontiveros also clearing the ivy-covered walls.
May 17th, 1971: Luis Tiant, released earlier in the year by the Twins and Braves, signs as a free agent with the Red Sox. There, he turns his career around, winning 122 games over the next eight years, including a pair of 20 victory seasons.
May 17th, 1970: Hank Aaron's 3000th hit is an infield single against the Reds' Wayne Simpson. The future Hall of Famer is the first player with 500 home runs and 3000 hits.
May 17th, 1939: NBC's experimental TV station in New York shows the second game of a doubleheader between Columbia and Princeton from Baker Field in the Bronx. Bill Stern called the action in Princeton's 2-1 victory -- the first baseball game ever televised and the first sporting event of any kind in the US. For trivia mavens -- future NFL quarterback and coach Sid Luckman was Columbia's shortstop.
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