TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 10, 1971, At Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th the 500-home run club. “Killer” hits his 500th and 501st home runs in a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. His historic homer in the first inning off Mike Cuellar ‘Killer’s’ two round-trippers are to no avail when the Twins lose to the Orioles in 10 innings, 4-3. Cuellar prvalies in the end to pick up the win.

More on Harmon . . .

In the mid-1960s, it wasn't Hank Aaron or Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle but Harmon Killebrew who seemed to have the best shot at Babe Ruth's lifetime homer record. At the end of 1967, the 31-year-old Killer, a nickname that contradicted his gentle nature, had hit 380 home runs, more than Ruth had at the same age. But in 1968 he was out much of the year with an injury, and after 1970 his enormous power dissipated quickly. Killebrew finished fifth in HR all-time, and third in home run frequency, and left behind a legacy of pure power.
Killebrew was the Senators' first "bonus baby" in 1954, signing a week before his 18th birthday on the recommendation of a U.S. Senator from his home state of Idaho. He shuttled between the majors and minors for five years before finally getting a legitimate shot. He made the starting lineup for good in 1959 when second baseman Pete Runnels got spiked and Killebrew came through with two HR. He finished the season with a league-leading 42, the first of eight times he would top 40.

Throughout his career, Killebrew changed positions frequently. He came up as a second baseman, was soon moved to third, then to left field for a few seasons, over to first base for a while, then back to third, back to first, and finally off the field altogether to DH. He would often shift between two positions in the same game. But Killer never groused and his lack of a permanent defensive spot never seemed to affect his power. In 1962, the second year after the original Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, Killebrew hit a ball completely over the left-field roof at massive Tiger Stadium. On May 2, 1964 he was the fourth straight Twin to homer in the eleventh inning against the Angels to tie a ML record. On June 3, 1967 against the Angels, Killebrew rifled a three-run shot six rows into Metropolitan Stadium's upper deck in left field, shattering two seats. The shot was estimated to have gone 530 feet. The splintered seats were painted orange and never sold again. The next day he hit another shot to almost the same spot, the ball pounding off the upper deck facing.

All-Star games brought out the best and worst in Killebrew. He homered in three contests. His first came in the first game in 1961 and provided the AL with its first run in an eventual 5-4 loss. In the 1965 game, his sixth-inning two-run homer in front of his home fans tied the game at 5-5 in another one-run AL loss. In 1968, he overstretched for a throw for an error that led to the only run of the game. The stretch also caused him to pull his hamstring, and he was out for the rest of the season, effectively ruining his chance to catch Ruth. In the homer-rich contest at Tiger Stadium in 1971, his two-run shot in the sixth provided the eventual winning runs in a 6-5 AL victory to snap an eight-game AL slide.

Killebrew, who never drank and was never thrown out of a game, came back from his All-Star hamstring injury to have his best season in 1969. He had career highs with 49 HR and 140 RBI and was selected the AL MVP. He hit another 41 HR in 1970 but saw his home run total slide to only 28 in 1971, although he did lead the league in RBI with 114. His home run totals slid further to 26 in 1972, to 5 in an injury-plagued 1973, and to 13 in 1974. The press reported acrimony between Killebrew and Twins owner Cal Griffith when Killer was released after the 1974 season, which Killebrew denied. But it was obvious that his eroding skills could no longer help Minnesota. He signed on with Kansas City for a final season in 1975. After retirement, he became a Twins broadcaster. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.

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August 10, 1924, Ty Cobb steals second base once, third base twice and home plate once in the Tigers’ 13-7 win over Boston that puts them on top in the American League.

August 10, 1929, At the Baker Bowl, 42 year old Pete Alexander wins his 373rd career game, tying Christy Mathewson for the most in National League history. Alexander earns the victory in relief, helping the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-9. Alexander came in with the Phillies down 9-8 in the bottom of the 8th. The Phillies will tie the game at 9 in the top of the 9th when Jim Bottomley leads off with a double and Chick Hafey knocks him in. The game stays tied at 9 until the 11th, when Frankie Frish and Bottomley hit back to back doubles and Charlie Gelbert tops off the scoring with a single. Alexander closes out the bottom of the 11th, he pitches 4 innings, gives up 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Alexander will be sent back to St. Louis on August 20th after one too many curfew violations and finish the season at 9-8.

He will round out his career going 0-3 for the Phillies in 1930. He will retire tied with fellow Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson for the most victories in the National League history with 373, including a league-leading ninety shutouts.

August 10, 1930, Before 45,000 fans, the Cubs sweep two from the Boston Braves at Wrigley Field to move a game back of Brooklyn. Hack Wilson drives home seven runs on three homers, the last his 39th, to back up Charlie Root’s three-hit shutout in the opener. The Cubs win, 6 – 0, beating Bob Smith. Pat Malone completes the sweep. twirling a 5-hitter to beat Bruce Cunningham, 11 – 1, in the nitecap.

Wilson, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979, will drive in a record 191 runs in 1930.

August 10, 1944, Red Barrett of the Boston Braves throws only 58 pitches and shuts out the Cincinnati Reds 2-0. This is the major-league record for fewest pitches in a nine-inning game. The game takes one hour 15 minutes, the shortest night game ever.

August 10, 1957 — Mickey Mantle becomes the first player to clear the center field-hedge at Memorial Stadium with his 460-foot homer in the Yankees’ 6-3 victory over the Orioles. Baltimore’s Boog Powell (1962) and Twins’ slugger Harmon Killebrew (1964) will also accomplish the feat.

August 10, 1971, At Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th the 500-home run club. “Killer” hits his 500th and 501st home runs in a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. His historic homer in the first inning off Mike Cuellar ‘Killer’s’ two round-trippers are to no avail when the Twins lose to the Orioles in 10 innings, 4-3. Cuellar prvalies in the end to pick up the win.

August 10, 1971 — Sixteen baseball researchers at Cooperstown form the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), with founder Robert Davids as president

August 10, 1977, Billy Martin installs Reggie Jackson as the Yankees’ regular clean-up hitter. New York will win 40 of its final 53 games on the way to a World Series title with Jackson contributing 13 home runs and 49 RBIs.

August 10 , 1981 – Baseball’s “second season” begins after a two-month strike interrupts play. the Phillies’ Pete Rose passes Stan Musial to claim the number 4 spot on the all-time hit list when he collects his 3,631st off Cardinal hurler Mark Littell.

August 10, 1983 –At Olympic Stadium, Al Oliver collects his 2nd hit of the day his 2,500th career hit, a 7th-inning single off Carlos Diaz, as the Expos beat the Mets, 5 – 3.

August 10, 1985 Oakland’s Dave Kingman becomes the 21st member of the 400 club after a 2 run bomb off Matt Young in the first inning of the A’s 11-5 win at Seattle.

August 10, 1995, the Cardinals are awarded a 2-1 victory by forfeit over the Dodgers at “Ball Day” at Dodger Stadium. After striking out looking in the bottom of the 9th., Raul Mondesi is ejected for arguing the call. Tommy Lasorda also gets tossed when he joins the discussion. Taking matters into their own hands, the fans rained more than 200 balls they had received as souvenirs onto the field. The umps order the Cardinals into the dugout and award them the win by forfeit. It is the first forfeit in the major leagues since the infamous Disco Demolition Night, a promotion that occurred July 12, 1979.

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