This Weekend in Baseball History
July 3rd, 2009: Albert Pujols' 8th-inning grand slam makes the difference in the Cardinals' 7-4 victory over the Reds. The 10th bases loaded homer of his career moves him past the beloved Stan Musial for the St. Louis club record.
July 3rd, 1994: The Indians retire the number 14 worn by Hall of Famer Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League -- 47 years to the date when owner Bill Veeck purchased the 23 year-old from the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League.
July 3rd, 1977: Mike Schmidt's first career inside-the-park home run -- leading off the bottom of the 8th against Larry Demery -- is a highlight of the Phillies 11-7 victory over the Pirates at Veterans Stadium.
July 3rd, 1972: Hank Aaron's three-run homer (off Houston's Jim York) makes him the first National League player ever to reach 2000 career RBIs. Atlanta wins a 13-9 Astrodome slugfest.
July 3rd, 1966: Tony Cloninger of the Braves becomes the first National League player ever to hit two grand slam home runs in the same game. He adds a run- producing single for a total of 9 RBIs, while pitching Atlanta to a 17-3 win over the Giants.
July 3rd, 1960: Hank Aaron's 200th career home run comes off Ron Kline of the Cardinals in the 7th inning of the Braves 4 -3, 14 inning win at Busch Stadium.
July 4th, 1985: Ray Knight's 19th inning double keys a five-run rally as the Mets rally past the Braves 16-13 at Fulton County Stadium. Earlier, the Braves came back twice to tie it -- on a 13th Inning homer by Terry Harper, and an 18th Inning blast by pitcher Rick Camp. The six hour-ten minite contest was also slowed by a couple of rain delays and finally ended just shy of 4am. But the night (or morning) at the ballpark wasn't over -- as it was followed with a massive fireworks display despite the very late hour. Nearby residents must have had a Twilight Zone moment, thinking that General Sherman's army was back for a fresh round of action. (But it wasn't the longest July 4th game ever, as you'll see below.)
July 4th, 1984: Phil Neikro reaches 3000 career strikeouts when he whiffs Larry Parrish of the Rangers in the bottom of the 4th -- but he reaches base on Butch Wynegar's passed ball. The Hall of Fame bound knuckleballer tosses eight shutout innings (Jay Howell works the 9th) in the Yankees 5-0 win at Texas.
July 4th, 1980: Nolan Ryan becomes the fourth pitcher ever to reach 3000 career strikeouts. He hits the milestone against Cesar Geronimo in the Reds 8 - 1 Riverfront Stadium win over the Astros. Six years early, Geronimo was part of a similar moment: he was Bob Gibson's 3000th strikeout victim.
July 4th, 1979: Steve Carlton fires a one-hit shutout against the Mets -- and scores the only run of the game, when Bake McBride doubles him in the bottom of the 3rd inning.
July 4th, 1972: Tom Seaver is again two batters from a no-hitter. Leron Lee's 9th inning single keeps Seaver from history. Oddly, the game's only two runs score on bases-loaded walks to Jim Fregosi and Ed Kranepool in the bottom of the 3rd inning.
July 4th, 1951: After the Dodgers sweep a 4th of July doubleheader from the Giants at Ebbets Field, Dodger manager Charlie Dressen is quoted as saying, "We knocked them out. They'll never bother us again." By season's end, Dressen would regret ever making those comments.
July 4th, 1948: Roy Campanella hits his first two major league homers as the Dodgers outscore the Giants 13-12 at Ebbets Field. The game wasn't decided until the bottom og the 9th, when Pete Reiser hits a bases-loaded, walk-off single.
July 4th, 1939: Lou Gehrig's number-four is the first number in pro sports to be retired, as teammates and fans pay tribute to the terminally ill Yankee captain between games of a 4th of July doubleheader with the Washington Senators. The "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech becomes the most famous such message in baseball history. The teams split the twin bill -- Washington took the opener 3-2; the Yankes won the nightcap 11-1.
July 4th, 1905: The Philadelphia Athletics score two runs in the top of the 20th inning, giving Rube Waddell a 4-2 victory over Cy Young and the Red Sox. Both pitchers worked complete games in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. (Philadephia took the opener 5-2.)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS190507042.shtml
July 5th, 1998: Roger Clemons becomes the 11th pitcher to reach 3000 strikeouts. His historic victim is Randy Winn of the Devil Rays, in a 2-1 Blue Jays victory at the Skydome.
July 5th, 1993: Rickey Henderson becomes the first major leaguer in 80 years to lead off both ends of a doubleheader with a Home Run. He connects off Cleveland's Paul Abbott in the opener and Mark Clark in the nightcap of the A's/Indians doubleheader in Oakland -- adding to his already record total of 61 leadoff homers.
July 5th, 1961: Bill White hits three home runs in the Cardinals 9-1 victory over the Dodgers at the L.A. Coliseum. Oddly, White began the day with just five homers in the season's first 73 games.
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