TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

May 5, 1925, at Sportsman’s Park, 38-year-old Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers hits three home runs against the St. Louis Browns. Cobb’s explosion comes as part of a six-hit day, helping the Tigers to a 14-8 win over St. Louis. Cobb also ties a modern record with 16 total bases. The next day, Cobb will blast two more homers to set a record for homers in back-to-back games. Cobb’s outburst of power comes after he tells sportswriters to watch what he can do if he tries to hit home runs and just three years earlier . . .

In 24 seasons, mostly with the Detroit Tigers, Ty Cobb compiled a .367 batting average, the highest in the history of the game. He was the all-time leader in runs scored for more than 70 years, and in hits for nearly 60 years. In 1936, Cobb became the first man inducted into the Hall of Fame, earning 222 out of a possible 226 votes, more than Babe Ruth, Nap Lajoie, Walter Johnson, or Honus Wagner. Cobb blazed and battled a path through baseball, retiring with more records than any other player. He was raised by a demanding father who named his son after the Lebanon city of Tyre, which showed tremendous courage in repelling the armies of Alexander the Great.

Big League Debut: August 30, 1905
Cobb had never been above the Mason-Dixon Line, and now he was on his way to a city larger than any he had ever seen. After a few missed connections, Cobb arrived in Detroit by train on August 29, and checked in to a hotel within walking distance of Bennett Park. Detroit’s Bennett Park was located on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in the heart of the city in a section called “Corktown,” because of the predominance of Irish immigrants living there. Cobb reported to the park on August 30, just over three weeks after the death of his father. He was ready to start his big league career. The Detroit Free Press, writing of his arrival and his minor league batting success, speculated that the young Georgian “wouldn’t pile up anything like that in this league.”

Cobb saw action immediately with the Tigers, who were hosting the New York Highlanders in the second of a three-game series. Bennett Park was named for Charlie Bennett, a star for the National League’s Detroit Wolverines in the 1880s. A catcher, Bennett’s career was ended abruptly when he lost both of his legs in a terrible train accident in 1894. Bennett had been tremendously popular in Detroit, and in 1900, when the city earned a team in the Western League (later to become the American League), their ballpark was named in his honor.

The Highlanders, later to be known as the Yankees, started ace “Happy Jack” Chesbro, a master of the spitball. The previous season, Chesbro had won an amazing 41 games and pitched more than 400 innings for the New York club. The Tigers, managed by Bill Armour, countered with “Big George” Mullin, a fidgety right-hander from Wabash, Indiana. In front of an afternoon crowd of approximately 1,200 fans, Cobb hit fifth in the lineup, playing center field. Armour’s Tigers, due to injury, had a shortage in the outfield. In the bottom of the first inning, the Tigers hit Chesbro hard, putting together a double, single, and a sacrifice bunt to plate one run and move another runner to third. With one out, the left-handed hitting Cobb strolled to the plate for his first major league at-bat. Using the hands-apart grip that he’d perfected as a boy in Georgia, 18-year old Ty Cobb peered out at Jack Chesbro and tried to overcome the nerves that were causing his stomach to twist and turn. The first pitch he saw was a high fastball that he swung through and missed. The next offering from Chesbro was a spitter that fooled Cobb for strike two. Chesbro then returned to his fastball, sending a pitch into the heart of the strike zone that Cobb met with a flick of his bat. The ball soared into the left-center field gap where it was retrieved by New York left fielder Noodles Hahn, whose throw to second base was a split second too late to catch the sliding Georgian. “Pinky” Lindsay, the Tigers’ runner on third, trotted home to make the score 2-0. Ty Cobb had his first hit, first run batted in, and first double in the big leagues, having victimized one of the best pitchers in the league. Ty walked against Chesbro his next time up, and with Sam Crawford in front of him on second base, Cobb was out on the backend of a double steal attempt, but it did little to dampen the day for the Tigers, as they vanquished the Highlanders, 5-3. In center field, Cobb handled two putouts without incident and his first big league game was under his belt.

— from Ty Cobb, by Dan Holmes

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May 5, 1904, At Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston ace Cy Young hurls a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics. Young outduels another future Hall of Famer, Rube Waddell, winning 3-0. It’s the first perfect game since the rules change that moved the pitching mound to 60 feet, six inches away from home plate. Young will eventually complete 24 straight hitless innings, still the record, and 45 shutout innings in a row, a record until broken by Jack Coombs’ 53 scoreless frames in 1910.

May 5, 1946 -- Leon Day, pitching for the Newark Eagles, throws an Opening Day no-hitter against the Philadelphia Stars, winning, 2 - 0. It is the last 9-inning no-hitter in the Negro Leagues.

May 5, 1949, former Detroit Tigers second baseman Charlie Gehringer is elected to the Hall of Fame. "The Mechanical Man" batted over .300 in 13 seasons, including 1937, when he won the American League batting title and MVP Award.

May 5, 1955, in Ebbets Field in front of a robust crowd of 7,000 fans, Brooklyn Dodgers lefthander Tom Lasorda makes his first major league start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Lasorda throws three wild pitches in one inning, tying a major league record. Lasorda will only pitch one inning for the future World Champs, allowing no hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run.

May 5, 1962, at Dodger Stadium colorful lefthander Robert “Bo” Belinsky of the Los Angeles Angels fires a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles. Belinsky strikes out nine batters and walks four in beating fellow left-hander Steve Barber, 2-0. Belinsky strikes out nine and walks four and will become a short-lived star in southern

May 5 1963, at the Polo Grounds Willie Mays hits his final home run in the old ballpark, a titanic 3 runs blast in the first inning. Helping the Giants to a 6-3 win. Jack Sanford improves to 5-1. May's blast helps propel the Giants into first place.

May 5, 1977, fans at Yankee Stadium throw dozens of newly created “Reggie” bars onto the field, halting play momentarily. Fans had been given free samples of the candy bars, which are named after New York Yankees star Reggie Jackson. It all started with a remark that Reggie Jackson made while he was still an Oakland Athletic. ''If I played in New York,'' he said, ''they'd name a candy bar for me.''

May 5, 1978, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds collects the 3,000th hit of his career - a single to left field against Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos. Rose becomes the 13th player in history to reach the milestone. Rose receives a five-minute standing ovation from the 37,823 fans at Riverfront Stadium.

May 5, 2004 -- Mets backstop Mike Piazza passes Carlton Fisk for most home runs hit by a catcher when he hits his 352nd round-tripper as a catcher. The Norristown, PA native's 405-foot opposite-field historic homer comes off a Jerome Williams' 3-1 fastball during the first inning of the Mets' 8-2 victory at Shea Stadium.

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