TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 2, 1979, 32-year-old Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees is killed when the Cessna Citation I/SP jet he is learning to fly clips a tree and crashes 1,000 feet short of the runway at Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The Yankee catcher had been taking lessons for over two years so he could get home more easily on off-days to be with his family in Ohio.

The following day the Yankees will honor their captain before their game against the Baltimore Orioles. Fans will give Munson, who helped the Yankees to titles in 1977 and 1978, a thundering 10-minute ovation.

Watch the TV news coverage on the death of Thurman Munson starting with a brief note by David Brinkley on that evening's NBC Nightly News followed by more extensive reports from that evening on local New York stations WPIX, WABC and WCBS. The compilation concludes with a report from the next evening on the NBC Nightly News.

Todays Podcast

August 2, 1907, Walter Johnson makes his major league debut. The Washington Senators’ rookie loses a 3-2 decision to the Detroit Tigers. In an interesting twist, Ty Cobb collects the first hit against Johnson. Cobb would go on to collect more hits against Johnson than any other batter, and bat .366 against the hard-throwing righthander. In 1936, both players will become part of the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame.

August 2, 1921 – With the jurors lifting the men onto their shoulders, the eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series are acquitted by the jury. The next day, Commissioner Kenesaw Landis will say the overwhelming evidence clearly shows the Black Sox fixed the games with gamblers and all involved will be banned from playing professional baseball again.

August 2, 1930, Smoky Joe Williams of the Homestead Grays strikes out 27 Kansas City Monarchs in a memorable 12-inning night game. The 54-year-old Williams, who outduels Chet Brewer, 1-0, benefits from pitching under a portable light system that makes it difficult for hitters to see the baseball. Oscar Charleston scores the only run.

August 2, 1938, the Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals use yellow baseballs in the first game of a doubleheader. The experiment will end quickly, as the two teams switch to white baseballs in the second game. The Dodgers sweep both games, winning 6-2 and 9-3.

August 2, 1959 — In the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to Boston at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium, Jim Bunning, tossing a frame in relief, strikes out three batters on nine pitches, sending Sammy White, Jim Mahoney, and Ike Delock back to the dugout with bats in their hands. The Tiger right-hander becomes only the tenth pitcher in major league history to accomplish the feat.

The last American League hurler to strike out the side on nine pitches was Lefty Grove, in 1928.

August 2, 1960, In an agreement with the major leagues, the Continental League abandons plans to join the American League and National League as a third major league. Walter O’Malley, chairman of the NL Expansion Committee, says, “We immediately will recommend expansion and that we would like to do it in 1961.” Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a compromise that four of the CL territories be admitted to the current majors in orderly expansion. Branch Rickey‘s group quickly accepts. The Continental League ends without playing a game.

August 2, 1961 — Juan Marichal fires a one-hitter (a Tommy Davis single) at the Dodgers, winning, 6 – 0. Felipe Alou has three hits, including two home runs, to pace the Giants’ win over the league leaders.

August 2 , 1972 — Cesar Cedeno becomes the first Astro to hit for the cycle during a 10-1 whipping of the Reds . Cesar doubles in the first then smacks a two-run shot off Gary Nolan into the seats. Cedeno adds a run-scoring single in the fifth then triples off Pedro Borbon in the eighth to cap a four-RBI night. His average jumps to a league-leading .353 and Houston trails the Reds by six for the division lead.

August 2, 1979, 32-year-old Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees is killed when the Cessna Citation I/SP jet he is learning to fly clips a tree and crashes 1,000 feet short of the runway at Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The Yankee catcher had been taking lessons for over two years so he could get home more easily on off-days to be with his family in Ohio.

The following day the Yankees will honor their captain before their game against the Baltimore Orioles. Fans will give Munson, who helped the Yankees to titles in 1977 and 1978, a thundering 10-minute ovation.

August 2, 1981 — Cardinal ace right-hander Bob Gibson, slugging first baseman Johnny Mize, who played with the Cardinals, Giants, and Yankees, and Negro League pioneer Rube Foster are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Gibson was elected in the first year of his eligibility by the BBWAA, with Mize and Foster getting the nod from the Veterans Committee.

August 2, 1982 — Oakland’s Rickey Henderson steals his 100th base of the season in a 6 – 5 win over Seattle, tying the American League record he set last season and leaving him with 56 games to break Lou Brock’s single-season record of 118. Henderson is the first player ever to steal 100 bases twice since the modern definition of a stolen base was put in place.

August 2, 1987 — When Eric Davis’ bat made contact Sunday afternoon, San Francisco Giants reliever Jeff Robinson didn’t bother to follow the flight of the ball. “You know that sound,” Robinson said simply, drearily. Years from now, people who were there, and even some people who weren’t, will recall that sound, that flight, that place where it hit. It hit the concrete facing of the upper deck in left field at Riverfront Stadium. How far is it? Estimates begin at 500 feet. What did it do? In dramatic and sudden fashion, it propelled Cincinnati to a 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Giants that proved, if nothing else, that the Reds have a little Humm-Baby in them as well. Before the largest Riverfront crowd since opening day (44,368), with air temperature 95 degrees and on-field temperature measured at 140, Davis led off the bottom of the 11th and got ahead on the count, 2-1. “He tried to get me on a couple of split-fingers but they missed,” Davis said. “I figured that he didn’t want to throw another split-finger because he didn’t want to fall behind in the count at 3-1.” Robinson said he wanted to throw a sinking fastball. It didn’t sink. “It was right down the middle of the plate,” Davis said. Davis stopped and admired his blast, barely moving until it hit the concrete facing.

Davis becomes the seventh and earliest player to join the 30-30 club no one had ever accomplished the feat with still nearly two months left to play in the season.

August 2, 1992 — Rollie Fingers, Bill McGowan, Hal Newhouser and Tom Seaver are inducted in the Hall of Fame.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: LOU BOUDREAU 

- Ans. In 1948, Boudreau’s MVP season, he had 106 RBI & struck out 9 X.

- #1 Four doubles & a HR makes for a fine day’s offensive output. Six ALers have done it in the 21^st century. Only 3 NL players did it in the 20^th century.

- #2 Thornton Township HS in Harvey, Illinois, is where he led the "Flying Clouds" to 3 consecutive Illinois high school championship games, winning in 1933, finishing as runner up in 1934 & 1935.

- #3 Boudreau attended the University of Illinois. During the 1936-37 basketball & baseball seasons, he led each Fighting Illini team to a Big Ten Conference title & was named a NCAA Men's Basketball All-American.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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