TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 7, 1982. The Red Sox were playing an afternoon game at Boston’s Fenway Park. Suddenly a screaming foul ball whizzed past the first base dugout, and Red Sox left fielder Jim Rice heard the unmistakable sound of the ball striking flesh. Looking around the corner of the dugout into the stands, Rice saw 4-year-old Jonathan Keane bleeding profusely from his head. Realizing in a split second that it would take several minutes for park EMTs to get to the scene, the future Hall of Famer sprang into action. Rice leaped over the railing into the stands, cradled the young fan into his arms, and carried the boy into the dugout, where he received immediate attention from the team’s medical staff. Within just a few minutes, Jonathan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors credited Rice with saving the boy’s life. Jim Rice played the rest of the game in a blood-stained uniform, a true badge of courage.

More on Rice

As a successor to Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Jim Rice emerged as the AL's most feared slugger in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The rock-solid 6'2" 200-lb righthander used his quick, compact stroke and immensely strong wrists to send home runs crashing into upper decks or soaring completely over the screen above Fenway Park's Green Monster. Rice was the classic "strong, silent type," and his silence was often perceived as moodiness. But his feats of strength spoke for themselves. He once broke a bat on a checked swing without hitting the ball, and he has reportedly had golf clubs bend in his hands on the downswing. Rice always had the ability to hit the ball to all fields, but as he aged he began to concentrate on slapping the ball to the opposite field almost exclusively, keeping his batting average near .300 while still averaging over 20 HR per year. His average declined in the late 1980s, reaching career lows in three consecutive seasons through 1989.

After winning the Eastern League batting title at Bristol in 1973 and the International League Triple Crown (.337, 25 HR, 93 RBI), Rookie of the Year, and MVP awards at Pawtucket in 1974, Rice teamed with Fred Lynn in the Red Sox' outfield in 1975 to form baseball's most powerful rookie tandem. Rice hit .309 with 22 HR and 102 RBI and Lynn was AL Rookie of the Year and MVP as Boston reached the WS. But Rice missed the entire postseason after Tiger pitcher Vern Ruhle broke his left hand with a pitch during the last week of the regular season. Rice came back to hit .282 with 25 HR in 1976, and he led the AL in home runs for the first time in 1977 with 39, while batting .320. In 1978, Rice established himself as the AL's premier power hitter. He finished third in batting with a .315 average while leading the league in HR (46), RBI (139), hits (213), triples (15), and slugging percentage (.600). His 406 total bases were the highest AL total since Joe DiMaggio's 418 in 1937, and he edged Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry (25-3, 1.74) for the AL MVP award. However, the Yankees beat the Red Sox in a one-game playoff and went on to win the WS.

In 1979, Rice hit .325 with 39 HR and 130 RBI, and became the only player in ML history with three consecutive 35 HR-200 hit seasons. Rice suffered subpar seasons in 1980-82, missing 31 games in 1980 with a fractured wrist and one-third of 1981 due to the players' strike, but he led the AL in HR (39) and RBI (126) a final time in 1983, while batting .305. He drove in at least 100 runs each season from 1983 to 1986, and in 1986 he recorded the second-highest batting average of his career, .324, as the Red Sox won the AL East. Getting his first opportunity in postseason play, Rice struggled against the Angels in the LCS, but his three-run HR clinched Game Seven. He went 9-for-27 against the Mets in the seven-game WS, scoring six runs. In 1987 his batting average fell below .280 for the first time, and he hit only 13 HR. Off-season knee surgery failed to correct the problem in 1988. Rice was forced into the DH role by the emergence of Mike Greenwell and hit only .264 with 15 HR. His frustration came to a head when he engaged in a much-publicized shoving match with 57-year-old manager Joe Morgan after Morgan sent Spike Owen up to pinch hit for him. Boston released Rice after an injury-marred season in 1989.

Rice was never blessed with great speed or agility in left field, but he mastered the intricacies of Fenway Park's left-field wall. He was particularly adept at decoying opposing baserunners, who would often be surprised to slide into outs at second base after ripping line drives high off The Wall. In 1983, Rice recorded a career-high 21 assists. Rice's consistent failing throughout his career was his penchant for grounding into double plays. A slow-footed righthanded batter who usually hit the ball hard, he grounded into a ML-record 36 double plays in 1984, and 35 in 1985.

On the Red Sox' all-time leader lists, he trails only Williams and Yastrzemski in HR, RBI, hits, and total bases. Inducted as Player in 2009. (Voted by BBWAA on 412/539 ballots).

Todays Podcast

Births: 1886 – Bill McKechnie, infielder, manager; Hall of Famer – Bill McKechnie was the first manager to ever guide three different teams to the World Series, and he won championships in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, both in seven games. Despite eight seasons at the helm of the Braves, where he won less than 46% of the time, McKechnie retired with a respectable .524 winning mark and more than 1,800 victories. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962.

August 7, 1901 – Ban Johnson suspends Baltimore 1B Burt Hart for striking umpire John Haskell yesterday, stating “This is the first time a player in the American League has struck an umpire, and it is an offense that cannot be overlooked.” The 31-year-old Hart will never play again.

August 7, 1907, Walter Johnson picks up his first major league victory. The Washington Senators’ rookie defeats the Cleveland Indians, 6-2. Johnson will win 417 games during his Hall of Fame career.

August 7, 1915 — Another future Hall of Famer takes a turn on the mound as George Sisler pitches to two Yankees in the 6th inning, hitting one and walking the other. The Browns-Yankees game is called at the end of 10 innings with the score tied, 4 – 4.

August 7, 1940 — A crowd of 53,997, a National League record for a night game, watches the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Giants, 8 – 4, on Mel Ott Night at the Polo Grounds.

August 7, 1956 — The Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans, as the Red Sox edge the Yanks in 11 innings on Williams’s bases-loaded walk. It’s the serial spitter’s third incident in three weeks; in the words of Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey: “It’s got to stop, that’s all.” The costly saliva salvo comes after the crowd of 36,350, a record for a night game at Fenway Park, starts booing the Splendid but sensitive Splinter for muffing Mickey Mantle’s wind-blown fly with two out in the 11th. Immediately thereafter, the jeers turn to cheers when Williams redeems himself with a leaping grab of Yogi Berra’s drive against the scoreboard. The Splinter, however, is not so easily appeased. Thus, the fickle Fenway patrons find themselves the target of Teddy’s spittle repeatedly as he makes his way towards the Red Sox dugout. A less publicized, but potentially more disastrous, incident is narrowly averted when, before the game, Red Sox RF Jackie Jensen has to be restrained by teammates from going into the stands after a heckler. The previous year Jensen had challenged a fan to come out of the stands.

August 7, 1971, just a week into August, Vida Blue of the Oakland A’s wins his 20th game of the season. The hard-throwing left-hander shuts out the Chicago White Sox, 1-0. The only run of the game scores on a balk committed by Joe Horlen in the sixth inning of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum contest.. Blue will finish the season with 24 wins and will capture both the American League’s MVP and Cy Young awards.

Blue said, “I was shaking in the 9th I wanted to win so bad.” after he closed out the White Sox on 4 hits he said,”I was just glad to win.”

August 7, 1972, the Hall of Fame inducts one of its largest classes ever. The list of eight new members includes Yogi Berra – presently the manager of the New York Mets – Negro leagues stars Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, and standout pitchers Sandy Koufax and Early Wynn.

August 7, 1992 — The Giants announce that the team has been sold to a group of Tampa Bay investors for a reported $110 million an the team will move to St. Petersburg for 1993. The move will be blocked by other investors.

August 7, 1999, Wade Boggs of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays becomes the first major leaguer to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit. Boggs connects against Chris Haney of the Cleveland Indians, just one day after Tony Gwynn collected his 3,000th hit.

August 7, 2004, Cubs’ pitcher Greg Maddux wins his 300th career game, becoming the 22nd member of the 300-Win Club. Maddux defeats the Giants, going five innings and allowing four earned runs at SBC Park in San Francisco.

August 7, 2007, Giants slugger Barry Bonds became the all-time home run king when he belted his 756th roundtripper. Bonds hit the milestone homer in the fifth inning into the right-center field bleachers off Mike Bacsik of the Nationals at AT&T Park.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: HOWIE POLLET  

- Ans. When Pollet left to register after his game on 10-Jul-1943, he sported a tidy 1.75 ERA.

- #1 In the return season of 1946, Pollet had 21 W, 266.0 IP, an era of 2.10 & even an impressive ERA+ of 165. He made the All-Star team & finished 4^th in MVP voting. Teammates Stan Musial & Enos Slaughter were 1^st & 3^rd in that MVP vote.

- #2  Cardinals scout Chase Riddle became aware of the lanky teenage Steve Carlton playing American Legion ball in Florida.  Pitching coach Pollet accompanied Riddle to evaluate Carlton.  Pollet was impressed, but St. Louis was initially hesitant to offer the requested $5,000 signing bonus. When Pollet heard the Cardinals' front office balk at the price, he offered to pay the money himself. The Cardinals ultimately matched the request & Carlton went on to a Hall of Fame career, striking out 4,136 batters and winning four Cy Young Awards.

- #3 He hit his 2 triples on 25-Jul-1947 in Sportsman’s Park off Boston Braves pitchers, Ed Wright & Red Barrett. Pollet hit as many triples that day as his catcher, Joe Garagiola, hit all that season.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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