Lou Gehrig Speech Mantle's 300th Righetti No-Hitter

July 4, 1905 - In the afternoon game of a doubleheader, Philadelphia's Rube Waddell bests Cy Young in a 25-inning marathon as the Athletics down Boston 4-2. A's catcher Ossee Schreckengost works twenty-eught innings in one day, a Major League record.

July 4, 1911 - In the morning game between Chicago and Detroit, Ed Walsh stops Ty Cobb's 40-game hitting streak as the White Sox win 7-3. Cobb has batted .491 since the streak started on May 15.

July 4, 1939 - A tearful Lou Gehrig tells 61,808 fans at Yankee Stadium, 'I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.' Gehrig's uniform number four is retired, the first Major League player so honored.

July 4, 1960 - Mickey Mantle's three-run first-inning home run off Hal Woodeshick is the 300th of his career. Mantle becomes the 18th player to join the 300 club, but the Yankees drop a 9-8 decision to Washington.

July 4, 1974 - Mike Marshall picks up a 3-2 win over Reds. Over the past 30 days, Marshall is 9-0 with three saves and a 1.82 ERA in twenty appearances.

July 4, 1980 - Nolan Ryan fans Reds outfielder Cesar Geronimo to become the fourth pitcher ever to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. Geronimo was also Bob Gibson's 3,000th career strikeout victim. Despite the milestone, Ryan is tagged with the 8-1 loss.

July4, 1983 - Dave Righetti pitches the Yankees' first no-hitter since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. He handcuffs the Red Sox 4-0 before a holiday crowd of 41,077 at Yankee Stadium.

July 4, 1984 - Phil Niekro strikes out five batters in the Yankees' 5-0 win over Texas to become the ninth pitcher in major league history to record 3,000 career strikeouts.

July 4, 1985 - In a marathon game that borders on the surreal, the Mets endure two rain delays and six hours and ten minutes of playing time to beat the Braves 16-13 in 19 innings. Relief pitcher Rick Camp, an .060 career hitter, homers in the 18th inning to tie the game no pitcher has ever homered that late in a game. Keith Hernandez hits for the cycle in a game that ends at 3:55 a.m. on July 5, the latest finish in Major League history. At 4:01 a.m., the post-game fireworks display begins, causing some local residents to think the city is under attack.

Happy Birthday George Steinbrenner

Happy Birthday Derek Jeter

Happy Birthday
Derek Jeter
born
6/26/1974




June 26, 1916 - Cleveland players, in a game with the White Sox, wear numbers on their sleeves, marking the first time players are identified by numbers corresponding to those on the scorecard.



June 26, 1920 - Lou Gehrig gets his first national mention when, as a high school junior for New York City's School of Commerce, he hits a grand slam in a high school championship game against Lane Tech in Chicago. Scouts sit with open mouths as the ball sails out of the N.L. park (later known as Wrigley Field).



June 26, 1935 - Lloyd Waner sets a major-league record with 18 putouts in center field in a doubleheader as the Pirates take a pair from the Braves at Boston.



June 26, 1940 - More than 50,000 pack the Polo Grounds to watch the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants play each other in a six-inning contest to raise money for war bonds. Each team plays successive innings against the other two teams, then sits out an inning. The final score is Dodgers 5, Yankees 1, Giants, 0.



June 26, 1960 - Hoping to speed up the election process, the Hall of Fame changes its voting procedures. The new rules allow the Special Veterans Committee to vote annually, rather than every other year, and to induct up to two players a year. The BBWAA is authorized to hold a runoff election of the top 30 vote getters if no one is elected in the first ballot.



June 26, 1968 - The major league Executive Council decides that both the A.L. and N.L. will play 162-game schedules in 1969 and operate two six-team divisions.



June 26, 1994 - Kirby Puckett becomes Minnesota's all-time hits leader by getting three safeties to pass Rod Carew with his 2,088 hit as a Twin.



June 26, 1997 - Tony Gwynn of the Padres breaks a seventh-inning tie with an inside-the-park grand slam as San Diego beats Los Angeles, 9-7. The opposite-field hit not only puts Gwynn back over the .400 mark, but is also the first N.L. inside-the-park grand slam in six years.

Ken Holtzman Tosses 2nd Career No-Hitter

June 3, 1925 - White Sox manager Eddie Collins makes hit number 3,000 against Detroit.

June 3, 1930 - Grover Alexander is released by the Phillies after posting an 0-3 record. He ends his career thinking he has the N.L. record for most wins at 373, one more than Christy Mathewson. In 1946, a win disallowed in 1902 is restored to Mathewson's record, to leave the two great pitchers at a tie.

June 3, 1932 - Lou Gehrig hits four consecutive home runs and narrowly misses a fifth in a Yankees-Athletics slugfest won by New York 20-13. Tony Lazzeri hits for the cycle, and the teams set a still-standing record for extra bases on long hits in a single game (41).

June 3, 1937 - Negro Leagues star Josh Gibson is credited with a drive that hits just two feet below the rim of Yankee Stadium, about 580 feet from home plate. It is estimated that the ball would have traveled nearly 700 feet if unimpeded.

June 3, 1953 - Congress cites the research of New York City librarian Robert Henderson in proving that Alexander Cartwright founded baseball and not Abner Doubleday. His 1947 book Bat, Ball and Bishop documents Cartwright's contributions to the origins of the game of baseball.

June 3, 1955 - Stan Musial hits the 300th home run of his career, a fifth-inning, three-run shot against Brooklyn's Johnny Podres. The Cards use an N.L.-record eight pitchers but still lose 12-5.

June 3, 1958 - The Dodger referendum passes in Los Angeles by a slim margin of 24,293 votes. The proposition allows the city to sell 300 acres of Chavez Ravine to the Dodgers for their stadium. The N.L. president had stated that the Dodgers should vacate Los Angeles if the bill failed.

June 3, 1971 - Cubs southpaw Ken Holtzman tosses the second no-hitter of his career, victimizing the Reds 1-0. Holtzman scores the only run, in the third inning.

June 3, 1980 - The New York Mets select 18-year-old Darryl Strawberry from Los Angeles's Crenshaw High School with the first pick in the annual June free-agent draft. The Blue Jays then pick shortstop Garry Harris.

Babe Ruth Retires

June 2, 1935 - Babe Ruth announces his retirement as a player at age 40.

June 2, 1941 - New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 37 in New York. From that time on, the illness is known primarily as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
June 2, 1942 - Red Sox star Ted Williams enlists as a Navy aviator. He will finish the season with his team, as will many other players who enlist or await draft. Among A.L. regulars of 1941 who are now in the service: Johnny Rigney, Joe Grace, Johnny Berardino, Cecil Travis, Bob Feller, Pat Mullin, Buddy Lewis, Sam Chapman, and Johnny Sturm.

June 2, 1958 - Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford fans six in a row to tie an A.L. record as he shuts out the White Sox 3-0.

June 2, 1987 - The Mariners select Cincinnati high schooler Ken Griffey, Jr., the son of Braves outfielder Ken Griffey, with the first overall pick in the free-agent draft.

June 2, 1990 - Seattle's Randy Johnson, at six feet ten inches the tallest pitcher in major-league history, pitches the first Mariners' no-hitter, a 2-0 win over the Tigers. He walks six and strikes out eight.

Lou Gehrig Starts Iron Man Streak

June 1, 1925 - Lou Gehrig begins a consecutive-game streak that will surpass Everett Scott's mark by pinch-hitting for Pee Wee Wanninger, the shortstop who replaced Scott in the Yankees lineup. The next day, first baseman Wally Pipp shows up with a headache, and Gehrig takes over.

June 1, 1941 - Mel Ott's two-run homer, the 400th of his career and his 1,499th and 1,500th RBI, gives the Giants a 3-2 win over the Reds.

June 1, 1943 - Rip Sewell of the Pirates throws his dew-drop ball in a game. Sewell loops the ball 18 to 20 feet high on its way to the strike zone. Later it is called a blooper or eephus ball. The pitch is more than a gag, and Sewell is on his way to a 20-win season.

End Of Lou Gehrig Streak

1909 - Honus Wagner steals his way around the bases in the first inning of a game against the Cubs. It is the fourth time he has performed this feat, an N.L. record.

1917 - The Cubs lefthander Hippo Vaughn and righthander Fred Toney of the Reds toe the mound in Chicago for a one-of-a-kind game. At the end of nine innings, both pitchers have no-hitters. With one out in the top of the tenth and men on second and third, Jim Thorpe hits a swinging bunt near the mound. Vaughn picks it up and throws home, but catcher Art Wilson freezes the ball hits his chest protector, and Larry Kopf slides in safe for the only run. Fred Toney sets the Cubs down in order and has the fourth ten-inning no-hitter to date.

1939 - Lou Gehrig voluntarily benches himself for the good of the team. His consecutive-game string stops at 2,130. Babe Dahlgren his replacement, has a home run and double as the Yankees rout Detroit 22-2.

1958 - In what nearly turns into a TV war, the Yankees threaten to broadcast their games nationwide if the N.L. goes ahead with its plans to allow other broadcasts, especially those of the Dodgers and Giants, into New York territory.

1988 - Reds manager Pete Rose is suspended for 30 days by N.L. president Bart Giamatti. This is the stiffest suspension ever levied against a manager for an on-field incident. On April 30 Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss to the Mets, inciting a near riot among Cincinnati fans.