TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

May 18, 1973 -- Bill North's bat sails onto the infield when he swings and misses the first pitch thrown by Kansas City Royals rookie reliever Doug Bird, who will be shocked when the A's center fielder, retrieving his bat, unexpectedly goes to the mound and begins to pummel him. The Oakland outfielder, who will be ejected, suspended for three days, and receive a $100 fine for initiating the brawl, was retaliating against the 23 year-old KC right-hander for an incident that occurred in a Class A game played in Waterloo (IA) three seasons earlier.

The fight was unexplainable at the moment, but North gave Williams an explanation for his actions. In a 1970 Midwest League game, North and Bird faced off. Bird surrendered back-to-back home runs before North came to the plate. Frustrated, Bird nearly hit North with the first pitch and knocked him to the ground. What could be seen as a mistake by Bird was confirmed as malicious when he hit North in the ear with the next pitch. The dangerous incident stayed with North, and he wanted to get even with Bird down the road.

Oddly enough, Williams was mad at North for not giving the Athletics a heads-up. “Why didn’t you at least tell us, and we would have gotten back at him some other way!" Williams said in his co-authored book. “This is a team that doesn’t just play together; it fights together!”

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The speedy North had a four-year run as one of the premier centerfielders in the game. After the A's acquired him in November 1972 for Bob Locker, North posted stolen-base totals of 53, 54, 30, and 75, leading the AL in 1974 and 1976 and finishing second in 1973. He turned an unassisted double play on July 28, 1974 against the White Sox. North also utilized his speed in the field to lead AL outfielders three times in total chances per game, twice in putouts, and once each in assists and double plays.

A good leadoff hitter, he walked often and scored a career-high 98 runs in 1973, when he also had his highest batting average, .285. In 1974, despite a LCS average of .063 and a WS average of .059, North was productive, scoring three runs in each series. Hampered by hand, foot, and ankle injuries in 1977, he was traded to the Dodgers after a slow start in 1978. Granted free agency after another disappointing season, he returned to form with the Giants in 1979, hitting .259 and finishing second in the NL in steals (58) and fourth in walks (96). The 58 steals were a San Francisco record, and North missed the overall franchise mark of 62 because injuries kept him out of 20 games. After a similar season in 1980, he tailed off in 1981.

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May 18, 1912 — As a replacement player, Allan Travers, a St. Joseph’s College pitcher, takes the mound for the Tigers, who are fielding an amateur team, as 19 players went on strike to protest and refused to play the A’s in support of suspended teammate Ty Cobb. Hughie Jennings recruited the semi-pro and college players to avoid a $5000 fine and a forfeit

May 18, 1933 — The first All-Star Game is announced for July 6th at Comiskey Park. It will be played as part of the Chicago World’s Fair celebration and is sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. Fans will pick the players.

May 18, 1956, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career, setting a major league record. Mantle’s day includes four hits in four at-bats, helping the New York Yankees to an 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox.

May 18, 1962 — Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew hit grand slams in the 1st inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 14 – 3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

May 18, 1962 At County Stadium Future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn beats the Mets on a 3 hitter. Hank Aaron, Mack Jones and Eddie Mathews homer for the Braves. Gil Hodges knocks one out for the Mets.

May 18 , 1967 — Jim Wynn ‘s first-inning homer off the left-field foul pole ignites a near riot during a 6-2 Astros win. Giants Manager Herman Franks and umpire Shag Crawford nearly come to blows as Franks insists the hit was foul. A voice in the dugout calls Crawford a “meathead” and Ollie Brown gets tossed for it, inciting another feud. Pitcher Gaylord Perry, who gave up the homer, later admits it was he who used the n-word.

May 18, 1969, Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins steals second, third, and home during the third inning of an 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Carew pulls off the trifecta against the battery of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Carew becomes the first player in 28 years to steal three bases in sequence in the same inning. Cesar Tovar also steals two bases.

May 18, 1970 At Parc Jarry during an afternoon game on the Canadian holiday of Victoria Day. In front of a capacity crowd of 29,184 who came to watch the Montreal Expos play the reigning world champion New York Mets. With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth of a 4-4 game, Gene Mauch sent Bob Bailey to the plate hoping for a sacrifice fly to score Adolfo Phillips from third against Cal Koonce. Instead, Bailey hit his third career grand slam. It will spur the struggling utility player into becoming one of the National League’s most feared power hitters.

May 18, 1973 — Bill North‘s bat sails onto the infield when he swings and misses the first pitch thrown by Kansas City Royals rookie reliever Doug Bird, who will be shocked when the A’s center fielder, retrieving his bat, unexpectedly goes to the mound and begins to pummel him. The Oakland outfielder, who will be ejected, suspended for three days, and receive a $100 fine for initiating the brawl, was retaliating against the 23 year-old KC right-hander for an incident that occurred in a Class A game played in Waterloo (IA) three seasons earlier.

May 18, 2004, At the age of 40, Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves, 2 – 0. It is the 17th perfect game in major league history and the first since David Cone of the Yankees did it against Montreal on July 18, 1999. Johnson also joins Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Hideo Nomo and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in both leagues, and creates the longest time span between no-no’s, having first accomplished the feat against the Detroit Tigers on June 2, 1990, while he was with the Mariners.

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