This Weekend in Baseball History

April 23rd, 2013: BJ and Justin Upton hit back to back homers in the 5th inning of the Braves 10 - 2 win over the Rockies in the second half of a day/night doubleheader at Colorado. Its the 27th time in major league history that brothers homered in the same game -- but only the second time over consecutive at-bats. Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates were the first to accomplish it on Sept. 15, 1938.

April 23rd, 2000:  Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada each hit home runs left and right-handed in the Yankees 10-7 win over the Blue Jays at Toronto's Skydome. It's the first time ever that a pair of switch hitters accomplished the feat in the same game for the same team.

April 23rd, 1999: Cardinals third baseman Fernando Tatis becomes the first player ever to hit two grand slam homers in the same inning! Both came off Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers in a 12-5 St. Louis victory. Tatis never had produced a grand slam in the big leagues (and had just 24 in 225 previous games) -- and also set a record with eight RBI in one inning. It was just the second time that a National Leaguer had hit two grand slams in the same game. The first to do was Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger in 1966.  

April 23rd, 1962: After losing their first nine games, the Mets finally win one -- a 9-1 pounding of the Pirates at Forbes Field. The expansion club did its damage early, scoring two runs in the top of the 1st inning and four more in the second. Jay Hook -- who had a two-RBI single in the second, worked a complete game, holding Pittsburgh to five hits.

April 23rd, 1961: Frank Sullivan and Art Mahaffey each throw shutouts in as the Phillies sweep the Cubs in a Wrigley Field doubleheader, 1-0 and 6-0. Mahaffey's performance in the nightcap was a gem... as he set a Phils single game record with 17 strikeouts.

April 23rd, 1954:  Hank Aaron hits the first home run of his career, a solo shot off Vic Raschi of the Cardinals. His Braves go on to win the game at Busch Stadium 7-5 in 14 innings. Aaron, of course, keeps slugging for 23 seasons, totaling 755 homers.

April 23rd, 1952: Hoyt Wilhelm makes the first of 1070 pitching appearances in his career -- working five innings of relief as the New York Giants beat the Boston Braves 9-5. He also homers his first time up -- the only home run of his 21 year career, that spanned more than 400 at bats.

April 23rd, 1948: Larry Doby's first career home run comes off Fred Hutchinson of the Tigers. The third inning blast opens the scoring in a game Cleveland goes on to win 8 - 2. Doby would finish his Hall of Fame career with 253 homers.

April 23rd, 1941: Phil Rizzuto's walk off home run against the Red Sox is the first ever by a Yankees shortstop. It comes in the 11th inning off Charlie Wagner, with George Selkirk on 1st -- lifting the Yanks to a 4-2 win over Boston.

April 23rd, 1940: Pee Wee Reese makes his major league debut in the Dodgers 8-3 win over the Boston Bees at Ebbets Field. The rookie shortstop and future Hall of Famer walks his first time up in the second inning, comes around to score on Charlie Gilbert's home run and adds an RBI single in the sixth.

April 23rd, 1903: The New York Highlanders notch their first win, a 7-2 victory over the Senators in Washington. Winning pitcher Harry Howell adds another historic note, by hitting the first triple in franchise history.

April 24th, 2013: Jordany Valdespin's walk off grand slam -- the first by a Met since Kevin McReynolds in 1991 -- lifts the team to 7 - 3, 10 inning victory over the Dodgers.

April 24th, 2003: In his third at-bat, Chase Utley gets his first major league hit, blasting a third-inning grand slam off Rockies starter Dennis Cook. It's a highlight of the Phillies' 9-1 Veterans Stadium victory.


April 24th, 1960: The Yankees score 8 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning before an out is recorded. That ties an American League record set by the 1954 Indians. Elston Howard and Tony Kubek cap the outburst with home runs. But things didn't calm down for long. The Orioles pulled close with the help of 8th and 9th innings grand slams by Albie Pearson and Billy Klaus before Johnny James strikes out Jackie Brandt for the final out in a wild 15 - 9 Yankee victory. 

April 24th, 1923: Avid baseball fan President Warren Harding is on hand for the first shutout ever thrown at Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth's fifth-inning homer off Allen Russell is the big blow in a 4 - 0 win over Washington.

April 24th, 1917: Lefty George Mogridge fires the first no-hitter in Yankee history. It took place at Fenway Park, with the Yankees winning it 2 - 1.

April 25th, 2012: David Wright becomes the Mets' all-time RBI leader with 735, when he hits a two-run home run in the team's 5-1 victory over the Marlins at Citi Field. That passes Darryl Strawberry's previous team mark.

April 25th, 2001: Rickey Henderson walks off Jose Mesa of the Phillies leading off the 9th inning. The 2063rd free pass of his career breaks the old record that Babe Ruth held for 66 years. The career steals leader with 1,371, Henderson was then erased trying to take second, in a game Philadelphia went on to win 5 - 3.

April 25th, 1967: Whitey Ford fires a complete game, holding the White Sox to two runs and eight hits, as the Yankees pound Chicago 11 - 2. It's the 236th and final victory of Ford's Hall of Fame career. (The losing pitcher is future Yankee Tommy John.)