TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 27, 1982 Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s breaks Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record. Henderson steals his 119th base, surpassing Brock’s total of 118 thefts. Henderson stole the base in the 3rd inning off the battery of Doc Medith and Ted Simmions. Henderson, would steal three more bases in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Henderson set several major league standards during his 25-season career; he is the all-time leader in runs (2295), stolen bases (1406), and times caught stealing (335). He was also the leader in walks at the time of his final major-league game (2190). He also holds the single season records for steals (130), times caught stealing (42), and steal attempts (172), all in 1982. He hads hit more home runs to lead-off a game than anyone in history by a wide margin, with 81. Finally, he led the American League in steals a record 12 times.

He showed his promise during his very first season as a rookie in 1979 when he became the youngest player in major league history to steal three bases in one game, doing so on August 23rd. That record held for almost 40 years, as it was broken by 19-year-old Juan Soto late in the 2018 season.

May 26, 1979 he stole 7 bases in one game for the Modesto A's no player has matched that since.

He made his debut in late June in 1979, Rickey stole 33 bases, putting him in the top ten in the AL for the first of a remarkable 22 times.

When Rickey first played for Manager Tony La Russa after being traded back to the A's in 1989, he was repeating "Rickey's a team player" in defense to local writers accusing him of being selfish. La Russa was happy to hear it and they began discussing signs. La Russa said Rickey didn't have to worry about signs, he had the green light. Rickey asked if anybody else had the green light, and La Russa said no. Rickey said he didn't want the green light because "Rickey's a team player". He and La Russa went through the signs which included a swipe of the arms which meant take off all other signs. In Henderson's fourth game, in the 5th inning Rickey singled to right field. The Toronto Blue Jays had a two-run lead and Jimmy Key on the mound. Key was death to baserunners, so La Russa ordered the third base coach to go through all the motions with an arm swipe at the end. Rickey stole the base anyway, so Tony assumed he had missed the sign. A bit later Rickey singled to give the A's a four-run lead. David Wells entered the game, and like Key he was death to baserunners. Again, the third base coach went through the motions and swiped his arms. Once again, the Man of Steal robbed second. La Russa was angry now. "Hey Rickey, all that stuff about being a team player, what gives?" Rickey looked at La Russa as if he had no idea what he was talking about. "We gave you a sign, did you not see it?" "Yeah, I saw it. You said if you swipe the arm, that means take off. And so Rickey took off."

Todays Podcast

August 27, 1929 — Rogers Hornsby has four hits and Sheriff Blake allows six to lead the Cubs to a 4 – 1 win over the Reds. Chicago now leads by 14 1/2 games, the greatest lead a National League team has enjoyed at this stage since the 1906 Cubs.

August 27, 1938, The Yankees‚ playing their 6th successive doubleheader‚ increase their AL lead to 12 games. 40‚959 fans filled Yankee Stadium‚ Joe DiMaggio has 3 triples in the first game of a doubleheader with Cleveland‚ an 8-7 Yankee win. New York scores 4 in the 9th‚ the last 2 coming around on DiMaggio’s 3rd successive triple‚ to win it. In the 2nd game‚ Yankee Monte Pearson tosses a no-hitter-the first at Yankee Stadium-winning his 10th straight game‚ 13-0. He faces just 27 batters‚ striking out 7.

August 27, 1946 — At the Owners’ Meeting, a committee formed to study integration, which includes Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, delivers its secretive report defending the covert color barrier which exists in professional baseball. The absurd reasons given why blacks shouldn’t be allowed to play in the big leagues include an absence of skills due to inferior training and lack of fundamentals as well as the need to respect existing Negro League contracts, but another lesser known motivation may have been profit, as revealed later in the report: “The Negro leagues rent their parks in many cities from clubs in Organized Baseball (and) Club owners in the major leagues are reluctant to give up revenues amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year” and the fear white fans would be driven away if black players attracted more minorities to the ballpark.

The Red Sox, became the last club to integrate despite the wealth of talent available to sign the club ultimately waited for Pumpsie Green and Earl Wilson, signed in 1953, to work their way through the farm system. Green debuted twelve years after Jackie Robinson’s rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers and two-and-a-half years after Robinson’s retirement. Robinson would later call Yawkey “one of the most bigoted guys in baseball”.

Red Sox inaction in this area cost them dearly on the field – as so many black stars entered the game in this period –and the taint of their delay haunted them for decades after.

August 27, 1955 — Sandy Koufax, in his second big league start, two-hits the Reds at Ebbets Field, 7-0. The 19 year-old bonus baby, displaying the dominance that he will feature during the 1960’s, goes the distance, striking out 14 Cincinnati batters. The 2-team total of 23 strikeouts ties a record.

Said Cincinnati outfielder Gus Bell, “the lad had as much stuff as any pitcher I’ve faced in quite a spell.”

August 27, 1958 — Owner Clark Griffith says that the Senators will probably accept a good offer from Minneapolis/St. Paul, if one is made. President Dwight D. Eisenhower says that the Senators should improve the team and stay in Washington, DC.

August 27, 1977, Toby Harrah and Bump Wills of the Texas Rangers hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs against the New York Yankees. Harrah and Wills connect on consecutive pitches in the Rangers’ 8-2 win at Yankee Stadium. This is the only time in MLB history players have hit back to back inside the park homeruns.

August 27, 1978, In the 3rd inning at Riverfront Stadium, Joe Morgan hits his 9th homerun of the year, off Mike Krukow. The two-out solo shot gives Morgan his 200th career home run. The future Hall of Fame second baseman becomes the first major league player to reach the 200-home run and 500-stolen base milestones. The Reds lose the game 7-1 to the Chicago Cubs.

August 27, 2000 Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a pair of solo homers‚ including a game-winning inside-the-park shot off San Francisco Giant reliever Aaron Fultz in the 10th inning to win 2-1. Abreu’s homer‚ his 20th‚ is the 5th inside-the-park home run game-ender in Phillies history and the first since Bob Dernier did it in 1989‚ also against the Giants. He’s the 29th major-leaguer since 1900 to end a game with an inside-the-park Home Run and the 38th extra-inning inside-the-park homerun (according to David Vincent). Ed Vosberg (1-0) picks up his 1st win since 1997.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: PAUL KONERKO  

Playing for the White Sox, Konerko homered with 3 men on base in the 7^th inning of Game 2, of the in 2005 WS, off the 1^st pitch thrown by Astros reliever Chad Qualls. Scoring ahead of him sere Juan Uribe, Tadahito Iguchi & Jermaine Dye.

- #1 MVP of the 2005 ALCS.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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