This Weekend in Baseball History
July 31st, 2008: Manny Ramirez goes from the Red Sox to the Dodgers as part of a three-team trade, that also sends Jason Bay of the Pirates to Fenway. In the birth of the phenomenon called Mannywood, Ramirez hits .396 the rest of the way with 17 homers in 53 games and leads the Dodgers to the NL West title.
July 31st, 2007: The Yankees tie a franchise record with eight home runs as they crush the White Sox 16-3. Hideki Matsui hits a pair, while Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon and Shelley Duncan join the power surge.
July 31st, 2005: Jason Giambi crushes a pair of home runs, giving him 14 for July -- the most by a Yankee in a single month since Mickey Mantle in July 1961. The second blast was the 300th of his career. But the day's biggest hit belongs to Tony Womack, whose walk-off single in the 11th inning gave the Yankees an 8-7 win over the Angles.
July 31st, 1997: Mark McGwire goes from the A's to the Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews, and Blake Stein, who have little impact with Oakland. By contrast McGwire soon becomes St. Louis's biggest star, crushing 220 home runs in 545 games with St. Louis -- though his heroics are tainted by the speculation of his use of PEDs.
July 31st, 1990: Nolan Ryan, age 43, strikes out eight in the Rangers 11-3 win over the Brewers and becomes the 20th pitcher to reach 300 wins.
July 31st, 1989: The Mets trade longtime Flushing favorite Mookie Wilson to the Blue Jays. He provides a spark as Toronto wins the AL East, hitting .298 in 54 games.
July 31st, 1981: Baseball's first mid-season strike ends after 50 days. The agreement's key component is a pool compensation system for free agents.
July 31st, 1972: Dick Allen becomes the seventh major leaguer, and the first since 1939, to hit two inside-the-park home runs in the same game. The 1st and 5th inning round trippers power his White Sox to an 8-1 win over the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium.
July 31st, 1930: Lou Gehrig drives in eight runs, on a sacrifice fly, a pair of doubles and a grand slam -- which provides the winning margin as the Yankees outscore the Red Sox 14-13 at Fenway Park.
Aug. 1st, 2000: Mike Mussina strikes out a Baltimore club record 15, while holding the Twins hitless to just one hit in a 10-0 Camden Yards shutout.
Aug. 1st, 1994: Cal Ripken joins Lou Gehrig as the only players to appear in 2000 consecutive games. Mark McLemore's 2nd inning RBI single produces the day's only run in a 1-0 Orioles win over the Twins.
Aug 1st, 1993: Phillies reserve catcher Todd Pratt belts a pair of homers that make the difference in a 5-4 Veterans Stadiuim win over the Pirates -- as the Phils increase their division lead over Pittsburgh to seven games.
Aug. 1st, 1982: Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson head the inductees to the Hall of Fame, along with 1920s New York Giants shortshop Travis Jackson and former commissioner Happy Chandler, the commissioner who approved Jackie Robinson's breaking of baseball's color line in 1947.
Aug. 1st, 1978: After hitting in 44 consecutive games, Pete Rose's record hitting streak is ended by Braves pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber. Pete does reach base, walking off McWilliams to open the game, and comes around to score on a Dave Concepcion ground out for Cincinnati's first run in a game Atlanta wins 16-4.
Aug. 1st, 1975: Billy Martin replaces Bill Virdon as Yankees manager. It's the first of his five separate stints under owner George Steinbrenner. With the Yankees finishing out their two-year exile at Shea Stadium, Virdon becomes the first Yankee manager since 1920 to never win a game at Yankee Stadium.
Aug. 1st, 1972: Nate Colbert becomes the second player ever to hit five home runs in a doubleheader, driving in 13 runs as the Padres sweep the Braves in Atlanta. Ironically, Colbert was on hand the first time that occurred -- he was at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, when Stan Musial first accomplished it in 1954.
Aug. 1st, 1945: Mel Ott becomes the third player ever to reach 500 home runs, connecting off Johnny Hutchings of the Braves in the Giants' 9-2 victory at the Polo Grounds. He joins Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx in that select circle.
Aug. 2nd, 2011: Mark Teixeira sets a new record for switch hitters, as he homers from both sides of the plate for the 12th time in his career -- to erase old mark of 11 held by Eddie Murray and Chili Davis. On the scoreboard, the Yankees blank the White Sox 6-0.
Aug. 2nd, 2005: Rafael Palmeiro, just weeks after denying to Congress that he used steroids, is suspended for violating the PED policy.
Aug. 2nd, 1979: Yankee catcher and captain Thurman Munson is killed while practicing takeoffs and landings in his private plane at Canton, Ohio.
Aug. 2nd, 1973: George Brett singles off Stan Bahnsen of the White Sox for the first of his 3154 career hits.
Aug. 2nd, 1967: Pete Rose hits home runs left- and right-handed in the Reds 7-3 win over the Braves.
Aug. 2nd, 1962: Despite giving up two Home Runs to both Frank Thomas and Marv Throneberry, Art Mahaffey pitches the Phillies to a 9-4 Polo Grounds win over the Mets -- and contributes a grand slam of his own! (It was Marevlous Marv's only two-home run in a Met uniform.)
Aug. 2nd, 1933: Philadelphia A's catcher Mickey Cochrane hits for the cycle in a 16-3 win over the Yankees in the Bronx.
Aug. 2nd, 1921: The eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series are acquitted. That's not good enough for Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who claims there was "overwhelming evidence" and bans all eight from baseball for life.
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Munson- has it really been 41 years? The fateful off day...