Ted Williams Hits 500th Home Run

June 17, 1941 - Joe DiMaggio is credited with a hit in his 30th consecutive game when an easy grounder to short bounces up and hits Luke Appling on the shoulder. Chicago beats the Yankees 8-7.

June 17, 1943 - Player-manager Joe Cronin of the Red Sox hits two three-run pinch home runs, one in each game of a doubleheader, as Boston beats the St. Louis Browns 5-4 and loses 8-7. He had hit a three-run pinch homer two nights before against the A's, giving him three home runs in four at-bats. He will pinch-hit 42 times this year with 18 hits, including an A.L. record five pinch-hit homers.

June 17, 1960 - A two-run home run off Wynn Hawkins at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium makes Ted Williams the fourth player in major-league history to hit 500 home runs. The Red Sox win 3-1.

June 17, 1962 - Lou Brock of the Cubs hits a home run into the right-center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds, 460 feet from home plate, in the first game of a Chicago doubleheader sweep, 8-7 and 4-3. He is the second player to reach those bleacher seats, Joe Adcock being the first.

June 17, 1967 - A nine-hour and five-minute doubleheader between the Tigers and Athletics is the longest ever. The first game includes a rain delay, and the second goes 19 innings before a Dave Duncan home run wins it 6-5 for the A's. Detroit takes the opener 7-6.

June 17, 1978 - Ron Guidry strikes out 18 batters in a four-hit 4-0 shutout of the Angels, setting an A.L. record for lefthanders. The victory raises the Yankee southpaw's record to 11-0.

June 17, 1987 - Dick Howser dies at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. He led the Royals to their first World Championship in 1985, but was forced to give up managing during the 1986 season because of a brain tumor. His uniform number, 10, will be retired by the club on July 3.

June 17, 1997 - 'The Freeway Series' hits the street in LA, and the Dodgers drive home with the first win in this interleague series on Todd Zeile's second home run of the game. The Dodgers trailed the Angels by one run in the ninth, but tied it on a wild pitch and won it 4-3 on Zeile's homer.

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.

Red Sox Players Yaz & Ted Williams Reach Milestones

May 25, 1906 - Jesse Tannehill snaps the Boston Pilgrims' 20-game losing streak (19 at home, both A.L. records) with a 3-0 win over the White Sox. Both Boston teams will finish last, while both Chicago teams finish first. It's the first time two cities have had two winners and two cellar-dwellers.

May 25, 1919 - Ever-popular Casey Stengel, now a Pirate, is good-naturedly applauded when he comes to bat in the seventh inning at Brooklyn. He doffs his cap in response and, to everyone's delight, releases a sparrow he had hidden there.

May 25, 1922 - Babe Ruth is suspended one day and fined $200 for throwing dirt on an ump after being called out on a play at second base, then going into the stands after a heckler. He is also stripped of his title as team captain.

May 25, 1935 - Babe Ruth has a last hurrah, hitting three home runs at Pittsburgh. The final one, the last of his 714 career home runs, is the first to clear the right field grandstand at Forbes Field and is measured at 600 feet.

May 25, 1941 - Ted Williams raises his batting average over .400 for the first time during the season. His run to be the first since Bill Terry in 1930 to exceed the magic number will be marked in newspapers throughout the season, although it will often give way to the batting streak by Joe DiMaggio.

May 25, 1951 - Giants rookie Willie Mays, who was hitting .477 with Minneapolis, goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut against the Phils.

May 25, 1953 - Max Surkont of the Braves fans eight Reds in a row, establishing a new major league mark, as the Braves win 10-3 in the second game of a doubleheader. Surkont strikes out seven in a row before rain delays the game, then strikes out Andy Seminick to start the fifth inning. Surkont fans 13 on the way to his sixth straight win.

May 25, 1981 - Carl Yastrzemski plays in his 3,000th major league game, scoring the winning run in Boston's 8-7 triumph over Cleveland. Yaz joins Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, and Hank Aaron as the only major leaguers to appear in 3,000 games.

May 25, 1982 - Fergie Jenkins of the Cubs fans Garry Templeton in the third inning of a 2-1 loss to the Padres to become the seventh pitcher in major league history to record 3,000 career strikeouts

Billy Martin's Birthday Ends In Fight

May 16, 1939 - The first A.L. night game is played at Shibe Park, with Cleveland beating the host Philadelphia Athletics 8-3 in ten innings.

May 16, 1954 - Ted Williams returns to action after breaking his collarbone in spring training and goes 8-for-9 with two home runs and seven RBI in a doubleheader against the Tigers. Williams has three hits in game one, a 7-6 loss. He goes five-for-five in the nightcap, including two home runs, but Boston loses 9-8 in 14 innings.

May 16, 1957 - The Yankees celebrate Billy Martin's 29th birthday in a raucous fashion. An ensuing fight at Manhattan's Copacabana Club leads to $5,500 in fines and the eventual trade of Billy to Kansas City. Hank Bauer allegedly starts the fight by hitting a patron, although Bauer denies it.

May 16, 1967 - Philadelphia voters approve a $13 million bond issue to build a new stadium.
1979 - N.L. owners approve the sale of the Astros from the Ford Motor Credit Company to John J. McMullen for a reported $19 million.

May 16, 1984 - The Twins sell 51,863 tickets to their 8-7 loss to the Blue Jays, but only 6,346 fans show up for the game. The skewed numbers are the result of a massive ticket buyout plan organized by Minneapolis businessman Harvey Mackay to keep the Twins in Minnesota; if the club does not sell 2.41 million tickets this season it can break its lease with the Metrodome. Taking advantage of reduced prices on the Family Day promotion, Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets.

Walter Johnson Gets 400th Career Win

May 12, 1926 - Walter Johnson wins the 400th game of his career, defeating the St. Louis Browns 7-4.

May 12, 1932 - Carey Selph of the White Sox strikes out for the ninth time this season. It won't happen again. Selph will go another 89 games, a major league-record, without whiffing, hitting .283 (in 396 at bats) in his second and last season.

May 12, 1950 - Red Sox star Ted Williams apologizes to the hometown fans for "insulting gestures" he made in response to catcalls prompted by his two errors in a doubleheader loss (13-4 and 5-3) to Detroit. His second bobble allowed the Tigers' eventual winning run to score in game two.

May 12, 1958 - Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants and adds another home run as Los Angeles loses 12-3.

May 12, 1966 - The Cardinals open new Busch Memorial Stadium with a 12-inning 4-3 win over the Braves.

May 12, 1970 - Ernie Banks becomes the eighth member of the 500 home run club, connecting off Pat Jarvis during a 4-3 Cubs win over the Braves. It his 1,600th career RBI. Atlanta's Rico Carty, meanwhile, hits safely in his 30th consecutive game.

April 30, 1946 Bob Feller Throws His Second No-Hitter

April 30, 1946 - Dispelling the rumors that he had lost his fastball after nearly four years in the Navy, Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians hurls his second no-hitter, beating the New York Yankees 1-0 on Frankie Hayes' home run in the ninth inning.

April 30, 1958 - Ted Williams becomes the tenth major league player to tally 1,000 extra base hits. The A's beat Boston 10-4.

April 30, 1961 - Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hit four home runs in a 14-4 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee.

April 30, 1997 - Tino Martinez, who got off to a painfully slow start in his first season as a Yankee in 1996, does not have that problem this April. Martinez finishes the month with a major league record 34 RBI.