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September 15
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
Today's September 15 Daily Highlights
September 15 Daily Highlights →
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September 15, 1977, During the 1970s, four American League games ended in forfeit. Three came from fan chaos: the Senators’ farewell in Washington (1971), Cleveland’s infamous 10-cent beer night (1974), and Chicago’s Disco Demolition Night (1979). The fourth, however, came for a very different reason — Orioles manager Earl Weaver refusing to risk player safety in Toronto on September 15, 1977.
Baltimore entered the series in Toronto chasing the Yankees for the AL East crown. Riding a four-game streak, the Orioles swept a Wednesday doubleheader to jump ahead of Boston. A Thursday win would have kept their hopes alive. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, were enduring a 107-loss expansion season.
Rookie Jim Clancy started for Toronto against Baltimore’s Ross Grimsley. After a scoreless early stretch, the Blue Jays struck for four runs in the fourth, keyed by Rick Cerone’s RBI double and solid support hitting. With Toronto leading 4-0, steady rain made the playing surface increasingly treacherous.
The dispute began when Toronto’s grounds crew covered the bullpen mounds down the left-field line with a tarp. Weaver argued the tarp was a hazard, citing left fielder Andrés Mora’s stumble the day before. For 20 minutes he pressed umpire Marty Springstead to remove it, but the crew only folded the tarp in half. Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield wanted it left in place to keep relievers from warming up “in a quagmire.”
Unmoved, Weaver pulled his team off the field. The Orioles voted unanimously not to continue under those conditions. When the umpires refused further action, the game was declared a 9-0 forfeit in favor of Toronto.
Weaver defended his decision bluntly: “I’ll take the loss rather than have someone hurt. Maybe Hartsfield doesn’t give a damn about his players, but I do.” Baltimore’s GM Hank Peters backed him, though opinions in the press were split — some praising Weaver’s stand, others calling it a tantrum.
AL President Lee MacPhail upheld the forfeit. The Orioles won 10 of their final 15 games but couldn’t catch New York. Weaver stayed in charge another six seasons, capturing the 1979 pennant. His stance in Toronto remains one of baseball’s rare forfeits — a stand for safety in the middle of a pennant race.
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Todays Trivia . . .
Who was the first pitcher to strike out six consecutive batters in a World Series game?
Hint: #1 He surrendered Stan Musial’s three thousandth career hit and took the loss in Early Wynn’s three hundredth and final career win.
Hint: #2 Once, while sitting in the Orioles’ bullpen in Cleveland, he gave an Indians fan a hotfoot.
Hint: #3 Using the bullpen phone in Baltimore, he ordered take-out from a restaurant in Hong Kong.
Quote of the day:
"A manager's job is simple. For one hundred sixty-two games you try not to screw up all that smart stuff your organization did last December." Earl Weaver
Game of The Day:
Game of the Day — September 15, 1978 Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees
At Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees, now 1 1/2 games in front of Boston, open a 3-game series in the Bronx with the Red Sox.
Ron Guidry(22-2) again gives up just two Boston hits and wins a 4 - 0 shutout. Guidry walked 3 and fanned 5. Not one Red Sox player went past second base all game.
Chris Chambliss hit a two run shot and Craig Nettles hit successive homers off Luis Tiant in the 4-run 4th inning. Tiant falls to 10-8.
🎧 CLASSIC BROADCASTS — MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
⚾ Games +10 this week | 2585 total
🧑 Player Pages +100 this week | 4450 total
📰 News Reels +3 this week | 3,369 total
This week we added 10 new games (including 2003 ALDS & NLDS games), bringing our total library to 2,585 also added 100+ new player pages (4,450 total) one of the new players: Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.
Todays Podcast
September 15 highlights and Historic Days!
September 15, 1960 – Giants superstar Willie Mays ties a major league mark by hitting three triples in an 8-6 victory over the Phillies.
September 15, 1961: The Yankees set a new American League record for most homers in a season as they split a doubleheader in Detroit, winning 11 – 1 and losing 4 -2. Round Trippers by Bill Skowron and Yogi Berra in the opener help Whitey Ford win his 24th and increase New York’s homer total to 222.
September 15, 1990: Despite solo homers in the 5th by brothers Billy Ripken and Cal Ripken, both off David Wells, the Orioles lose 4 – 3 to Toronto. The brothers would homer together once more in 1996, again in the same inning. The Ripken Brothers joint stint in Baltimore, while managed by their father Cal Sr. from 1987 to 1988, marked the first time a father has managed two of his sons on the same team in the bigs.
September 15, 2003 Rafael Palmeiro joins Jimmie Foxx as the only players to hit 35 homers and drive in 100 runs in nine consecutive seasons. The Hall of Fame member Foxx accomplished the feat playing for the A’s and Red Sox from 1932 to 1940.
September 15, 2003: With his 2,063rd career base on balls, Barry Bonds passes Babe Ruth on the all-time walks list. The Giant left fielder now only trails Rickey Henderson, who has 2,190 free passes.
Milestones September 15
🎙️ Did you know? Gaylord Perry took his act to eight major league clubs, fooling batters with his sinking fastball. His ultimate weapon was his "phantom spitball" that he either threw or alluded to, unnerving enemy hitters, managers, and umpires. He was caught greasing the ball just once in his 22 seasons, but he admitted after his retirement that he threw the ball almost his entire career. Ironically, he refused to rely on the spitter the night he won his 300th game. Perry was the first pitcher to earn the Cy Young Award in both leagues, and he combined with brother Jim to form one of the finest sibling pitching duos in history.
Birthdays:
Notable: Gaylord Perry
Debuts:
Notable: Buzz Capra
Final Games:
Highlights: Dave Conception
Passings:
Notable: Smokey Burgess
New From Around the League!
ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA
TRIVIA ANSWER: MOE DRABOWSKY
Ans. on 06-Oct-1966, Drabowsky’s name and photo were in every newspaper in the country, a day after winning Game 1 of the 1966 World Series and striking out 11 Dodgers including 6: Jim Barbieri, Maury Wills, Willie Davis, Lou Johnson, Tommy Davis & Jim Lefebvre, in a row!
#1 Musial’s 3,000th: 13-May-1958. Wynn’s 300th victory: 13-Jul-1963(2).
#2 He became famous for easing the boredom sometimes felt by fellow relief pitchers in the bullpen.
#3 The food never arrived.
Thank you Horsehide Trivia
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