TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

September 3, 1969 — At Dodger Stadium, Collared his first four times up by Nolan Ryan, Willie Davis hits a double off Jack DiLauro in the 9th inning to stretch his hitting streak to 31 games. The double drives in Maury Wills, the winning run as Los Angeles tops the Mets, 5 – 4. The Mets had tied the game in the 8th when Tommie Agee and Donn Clendenon each homered with a man on.

His batting streak in 1969, using a bat borrowed from veteran infielder Ken Boyer, began after a frustrating 0-for-6 night in Pittsburgh when the Dodgers lost to the Pirates, 2–1, in 15 innings on July 31.

From the start of August to the end of his hitting streak in early September, Davis batted .435 (54-for-124) to surpass Hall of Famer Zack Wheat, who recorded a hit in 29 consecutive games for Brooklyn in 1916. The 81-year-old Wheat sent Davis a congratulatory telegram from his Missouri home when Davis broke the franchise record with a double against the Mets’ Gary Gentry on Sept. 2, extending the streak to 30 games.

Davis’ double on Sept. 3 would be the last hit of the streak. The only Dodger to come close to the mark since was Andre Ethier, who put together a 30-game hit streak in 2011, but Davis’ streak stayed intact.

Davis, who passed away at age 69 in 2010, also remains the Los Angeles franchise leader in hits (2,091), extra-base hits (585), at-bats (7,495), runs (1,004), triples (110) and total bases (3,094). Davis was a member of the National League All-Star team in 1971 and 1973 and won three Gold Glove Awards between 1971 and 1973.

Todays Podcast

September 3, 1917 -- Grover Cleveland Alexander goes the distance in both games of the Phillies' doubleheader sweep of Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. In his 18 innings of work, the Philadelphia right-hander limits the Dodgers to seven hits en route to posting 5-0 and 9-3 victories in the twin bill.

September 3, 1927, the “Murderers’ Row” New York Yankees are shut out for the first and only time on the season. Lefty Grove, the ace of the Philadelphia A’s, allows three hits in blanking the Yankees, 1-0. Grove’s masterpiece represents his only shutout of the season

September 3, 1936 -- Luke Appling's 27-game hitting streak is snapped by Wes Ferrell when the Red Sox right-hander goes the distance, holding the White Sox shortstop hitless in four plate appearances, that includes two bases-on-balls, in Chicago's 3-2 victory at Fenway Park. The 29 year-old infielder, who establishes a franchise record for consecutive games with a hit, will lead the American League with a .388 batting average this season.

September 3, 1957 -- Milwaukee Braves ace Warren Spahn tossed a six-hitter and blanked the Chicago Cubs, 8-0, to set a new National League record for shutouts by a southpaw. It was the Hall of Fame left-hander’s 41st career shutout, breaking the record held by Larry French, who was a mainstay of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cubs in the 1930s. Hank Aaron added a three-run shot in the eighth. On the day, he fanned five Cubs and walked just one.

September 3, 1961 --At Yankee Stadium, after taking the first two games against Detroit, Mickey Mantle goes deep twice, including a round-tripper in the ninth to tie the score. Elston Howard wins it with a 3-run walk off homerun drive into the LF stands and Detroit leaves town 4 1/2 games in back of New York.

Roger Maris, who also blasted a pair of homers against the Tigers yesterday, has hit 53 homers in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's single-season mark of 60. Mantle is now at 50 home runs, with Roger Maris at 53, the first teammates in history to hit 50. Members can listen to this game

September 3, 1963 -- Ron Santo ties the National League record by a third baseman for errors committed in an inning. The Cub infielder's three miscues in the second frame lead to a seven-run outburst and an eventual 16-3 victory for San Francisco at Candlestick Park

September 3, 1965 — The Mets top the Cards, 6 – 3, behind the slugging of Jim Hickman, who cranks three home runs off Birds pitcher Ray Sadecki. Hickman is the first Mets player to hit three home runs in a game. Members can listen to this game

September 3, 1974 —  The Giants’ John Montefusco making his major league debut, homers in his first official time at bat, off Charlie Hough, and pitches nine innings of relief to earn a 9 – 5 victory over the Dodgers. He is one of only a handful of pitchers to do so, and is one of two players to both hit a home run in his first at bat and win the Rookie of the Year Award. The other is Wally Moon

September 3, 1977, Sadaharu Oh of the Japan Central League surpasses Hank Aaron as the game’s all-time home run king. Oh hits his 756th career home run, helping the Yomiuri Giants to an 8-1 victory over the Yakult Swallows. The Japanese superstar, a 1994 inductee into his country’s Hall of Fame, will hit a total of 868 homers during his 22 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants.

September 3, 1984 — Bruce Sutter breaks the National League record for saves in a season with his 38th in the Cardinals’ 7 – 3 win over the Mets.

September 3, 1984 -- In the Cubs' 5-4 victory over Philadelphia at Veterans Stadium, Rick Sutcliffe strikes out 15 batters, tying a franchise record shared by Dick Drott (1957) and Burt Hooton (1971). The trio's individual accomplishment will remain the club standard for a nine-inning game until Kerry Wood fans 20 Astros in 1998. Members can listen to this game

September 3, 1985 -- Future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, with his 525th career round-tripper, becomes the first major leaguer to collect one hundred home runs for three different teams. The California outfielder, who hit 269 during his ten seasons with Oakland, and 144 in five years with the Yankees, hits two homers to go over the century mark playing for the Angels in the team's 14-8 loss to Detroit.

September 3, 1988 - Dennis Eckersley sets an A's record with his 37th save of the season in Oakland's 5 - 4 win over New York. Eckersley will save 45 games this season, one shy of Dave Righetti's major league record.

September 3, 1990, Bobby Thigpen of the Chicago White Sox, breaks the mark established by Dave Righetti with the Yankees in 1986, sets a major league record with his 47th save when he pitches a scoreless ninth inning in Chicago's 4-2 defeat of Kansas City at Comiskey Park. The White Sox reliever will save another ten games before the season ends, extending the record to 57.

September 3, 2007 -- New York Mets right-hander Pedro Martinez, making his first start of the season, strikes out Cincinnati Red Aaron Harang in the 2nd inning to give him 3,000 strikeouts in the major leagues, the 15th player to reach that level. The three-time Cy Young winner has missed most of the season recovering from rotator cuff surgery.

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER: WILLIE DAVIS

In addition to MON & TEX, Davis began and ended his time in the majors with 2 Los Angeles teams, LAD & CAL.  He also played for STL, SDP as well as the Lions and Dragons in Japan and the Red Eagles in Mexico.

#1  Davis won MVP honors in 1959 in the C-level California League (Later A) w/the Reno Silver Sox.  Moving up to the AAA Spokane Indians in 1960, he was named MVP of the PCL and debuted in the majors.

#2  Mays playing first base for the first time in his major league career is shown tagging out Davis on a 3rd-inning pick-off on 01-May-1964.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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