TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

July 4, 1939, the New York Yankees retired the uniform #4 of future Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig in emotional ceremonies at Yankee Stadium. It will be the first ever to be retired. After emcee Sid Mercer informs the sell-out crowd the man of the hour is too moved to speak.  For over 40 minutes, current and former Yankee greats, including Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, parade onto the field to honor the “Iron Horse.” Other former Yankee greats, such as pitcher Waite Hoyt, second baseman Tony Lazzeri, and outfielder Bob Meusel, also attend. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy presents Gehrig with a special silver trophy.

Gehrig changes his mind when Skipper Joe McCarthy encourages him, and he delivers one of the most memorable speeches in baseball history describing himself as "the luckiest man on the face of the earth"."Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans." - LOU GEHRIG. Gehrig, who is stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, will die from the muscular disease in 1941.

July 4, 1983 Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees pitches a no-hitter against the rival Boston Red Sox. Righetti strikes out Wade Boggs to complete the 4-0 masterpiece at Yankee Stadium. He is the first Bronx Bomber left-hander to throw a no-no since George Mogridge accomplished the feat in 1917. Righetti's teammate, third baseman Bert "Campy" Campaneris, plays in a record 11th no-hitter.

The no-hitter was added by Roy Smalley made a fine running catch of a popup by Glenn Hoffman in the sixth, Righetti said, and Steve Kemp's eighth-inning leap into the stands to snare a foul fly by Dwight Evans was "the best play of the game," the pitcher added.

Boggs, who struck out only 36 times on his way to winning the batting crown was punched out on a 2-2 slider. Boggs would also add, there was not much good contact that day but he hit two balls to right center that Dave Winfield caught, he was playing Centerfield and most other Centerfielders shaded the other way but Winfield played Boggs a little more to pull. (Listen to the game below)

Todays Podcast

July 4, 1932 – Bill Dickey punches and breaks Carl Reynolds’s jaw after the Senator outfielder collides with him on a close play at home plate. The American League suspends the Yankee catcher for 30 days and fines him $1,000 for his one-punch fight.

July 4,1948 Ted Williams faces three pitchers in the 7th inning, a first in American League history, as Boston snaps a 5 – 5 tie by scoring 14 runs to beat the visiting Philadelphia Athletics, 20 – 8. A’s pitcher Charlie Harris retires one batter in 14 and coughs up 12 runs, before Bill McCahan takes over. Williams, who makes the final out in the inning, and Bobby Doerr, tie records by drawing two walks apiece. Pitcher Ellis Kinder has two hits, off Harris and McCahan. The 14 runs in one inning is a record, but five years later they will do even better with 17 in one inning.

July 4, 1950 New York Giants fan named Bernard “Barney” Doyle was killed at the Polo Grounds by a stray bullet fired into the air by a teenager over 3/4 of a mile away. The scheduled doubleheader between the Giants and the Dodgers went on as planned. Giants winning the first game and the Dodgers win game 2.

July 4, 1967 — Opposing his younger brother, Joe, Phil Niekro goes the distance to get the victory when the Braves beat the Cubs at Atlanta Stadium, 8-3. Joining Jesse and Virgil Barnes, who face one another five times as starters in the 1920’s, the Niekro’s become the second pair of siblings to start in the same major league game.

July 4, 1976 — After hitting an apparent grand slam in the top of the second inning, off Larry Demery, Tim McCarver is credited with only a three-run single when he passes teammate Garry Maddox on the basepaths in the Phillies’ 10-5 victory over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. The other baserunners are allowed to score on the Philadelphia catcher’s ‘grand slam single’ because only the player who passes his teammate is called out and there were less than two outs.

July 4 , 1979 — Fireworks in Cincinnati. The upstart Astros nip the Reds, 3-2, to take their first-ever ten-game divisional lead. Jose Cruz and Jeff Leonard drive home runs in the seventh to lead the come-from-behind victory. Joaquin Andujar and Ray Knight, ex-teammates in the Cincy farm system, start a bench-clearing brawl after hurling insults across the diamond. Joe Sambito cools the Reds with two shutout innings for the save. Andujar had thrown a ball over the head of Joe Morgan in the 4th inning. Morgan had said before the game no team is good enough to be up 9 games. John McNamara the Reds Manager told the Reds Starting pitcher Bill Bonhan, “I let Bonhan know to let Andujar we ain’t gonna take that shit.” Bonham promptly buzzed Andujar his next time up in the 6th. Andujar who later grounded out told Bohan as he was running by the mound, “You know you have to hit again.” This prompted a bench-clearing face off the mounted into nothing at the time. Knight and Andujar exchanged words but little else. JR Richard did put on an entertaining Ali little Bob and weave. Four pitches later Knight and Cedeno face-off and Knight was able to connect with two shots before the fight was broken up. Cedeno claimed Knight missed him pointing how pretty his face was. Both players were ejected. Andujar and Knights battles went back to the minor leagues when Knight was hit the back with an Andujar pitch. Knight said he wouldn’t face him man to man. Andjuar said no one liked Knight because he talked too much.

July 4, 1980, at Riverfront Stadium, Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros collects his 3,000th strikeout during an 8-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. “The Express” fans Cesar Geronimo, becoming the fourth major league pitcher to reach the milestone. Ironically, Geronimo was also Bob Gibson‘s 3,000th career strikeout victim six years earlier. Despite the milestone, Ryan allows 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings and Houston loses, 8 – 1.

July 4, 1984, future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro collects his 3,000th career strikeout. Pitching for the New York Yankees, the knuckleballing veteran fans Larry Parrish of the Texas Rangers to reach the milestone

July 4 1985 – The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 16-13 In 19 Innings at Atlanta. The game went until Just before 4 a.m. on July 5. and was followed by a fireworks display for the 1,000 still left In the stands, causing local residents to think the city is under attack. Keith Hernandez of the Mets hit for the cycle in 10 at-bats. The score was tied 8-8 after Innings. Both teams scored two runs apiece in the 13 th. The Mets scored a run In the 18th to take an 11-10 lead, but Braves but relief hurler Rick Camp (a .060 hitter who is batting because Atlanta has no more position players available to pinch-hit) ties the score with his first major league home run on a two-out, two-strike pitch in the bottom of the inning. No pitcher had ever homered that late in a game before.. Camp then gave up five runs in the top the 19th. Ron Darling, the seventh Mets pitcher, closed the game giving up two runs. With a double in the first, a triple in the fourth, a homer in the eighth inning, Keith Hernandez completes the cycle with a single in the twelfth frame of a 19-inning contest with the Braves. The Mets first baseman’s four hits, all off different pitchers. The game ends at 3:55 A.M. on July 5th, the latest finish in major league history.

July 4, 1989 — Tom Browning just misses becoming the first hurler in big league history to throw two perfect games when Dickie Thon’s leadoff double in the ninth breaks up the Cincinnati southpaw’s bid for perfection. After the Philadelphia shortstop scores on a Steve Jeltz single, John Franco replaces the disappointed pitcher and induces Lenny Dykstra to hit into a game-ending double play, giving the Reds a 2-1 victory at Veterans Stadium

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: Tim McCarver

Hit 13 3B in 1966, leading the majors.

-  #1  Winning R in 1966 ASG in St. Louis. Heat on the field at 1st pitch was 106° F.

-  #2  The Memphis Chicks play in Tim McCarver Stadium. McCarver is a Memphis native. (No! Not the one in Egypt.)

-  #3  GS = 09-Jun-1963, 2nd career HR.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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