September 17th in Baseball History


September 17th is one of those dates on the baseball calendar that absolutely jumps out at you. We've got several "famous firsts" from Baseball Hall of Famers all timestamped 9/17.
  • 1967: Reggie Jackson belts the first of 563 career homers. The Kansas City A's rookie connects off California's Jim Weaver, in a game the Angels won 3-2.
  • 1955: Brooks Robinson makes his major league debut, getting two hits for the Orioles in a 3-1 win over the Washington Senators at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
  • 1941: Stan Musial plays in his first game for the Cardinals and goes 2-for-4 in a 3-2 win over the Boston Braves in the nightcap of a Sportsmen's Park doubleheader. Stan's first hit, a two-RBI second inning double off Jim Tobin was the the first of a remarkable 3630 career hits -- exactly half of them at home at the venue later renamed Busch Stadium.
  • 1912: Casey Stengel makes his major league debut -- and for a guy who was a good but not great player, it was an impressive afternoon -- four singles, a walk, two stolen bases, and two RBIs in Brooklyn's 7–3 win over Pittsburgh.

 And we have a Hall of Fame birthday as well:

  • Orlando Cepeda, the only player to be unanimously selected National League Rookie of the Year (1958) and Most Valuable Player ('67) and the second Puerto Rican-born (after Roberto Clemente) member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

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