This Day In Baseball - The Daily Rewind

On November 1, 1892 –Statistics for the first 154-game season show that Dan Brouthers of the Brooklyn Grooms was the top hitter at .335, and Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders the top pitcher in terms of wins with a 36-11 record.On November 1, 1951 — Future Hall of Famer Roy Campanella (.325, 33, 108) wins the first of his three National League MVP Awards. The Dodger backstop will also receive the prestigious honor in 1953 and 1955. Campanella outpoints Stan Musial, Monte Irvin and teammates Preacher Roe and Jackie Robinson. By the standards of WAR Robinson was the best player in the league with a 9.7 WAR. November 1, 1968 -- Denny McLain is the BBWAA's unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young Award, after the right-hander posts a 31-6 (.838) record with 280 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA, for the World Champion Tigers. The 24 year-old Chicago native, who will win the prestigious pitching prize again next season,

October 24, 1994 Atlanta Braves Pitcher Greg Maddux is named the National Leagues Cy Young award winner for the strike-shortened 1994 season. Maddux became the first player to win three consecutive Cy Young Awards in the National League and would add a 4th the following year. The 1994 Major League Players Association struck over their refusal to allow a league imposed salary cap. The 232 day strike halted the season with roughly 50 games left on each team's schedule and led to the cancellation of the World Series. Tony Gwynn was batting .394 with a legitimate chance to become the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams. San Francisco's Matt Williams, with 43 home runs, was on pace to at least tie Roger Maris's single season record of 61. And the doomed Montreal Expos, who in 2005 would become the Washington Nationals, had baseball's top record, 74-40 and would lose what would prove to be their only chance at the World Series. Other National League award winners included Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell

October 23, 1993 The sixth game in the Toronto Blue Jays -- Philadelphia Phillies World Series was a rematch between Game 2 starters Terry Mulholland and Dave Stewart. Toronto scored in the bottom of the first on a Paul Molitor triple, Joe Carter sacrifice fly, and Roberto Alomar RBI single. Paul Molitor added a solo home run in the fifth inning while the Toronto fans were chanting "MVP" for Paul, bringing the score to 5--1 for Toronto. Ultimately, Molitor became the first player in World Series history to have at least two home runs, two doubles, and two triples.In the seventh inning, Philadelphia fought back with five runs to take a 6--5 lead. The big hit of the inning was a Lenny Dykstra three-run homer. The inning brought an end to Stewart's night, leaving the game with six innings pitched and four runs given up. Philadelphia closer, Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth with his team clinging to a 6--5 lead. After beginning the inning by walking Rickey Henderson, Williams t

October 22, 2000 Game Two of the "Subway Series" between the Mets and Yankees brought with it the long awaited matchup of Yankee Pitcher Roger Clemens against Mets Catcher Mike Piazza. Earlier in the year during regular season Interleague play, Clemens beaned Piazza with a fastball giving him a concussion and sending him to the disabled list. Their Game 2 matchup would not disappoint. In the first inning, Clemens quickly dispensed with the first two batters and Piazza's name was announced sending the 56,069 in attendance crazy. Clemens fired two quick strikes, then one out of the strike zone. The fourth pitch came inside and Piazza made contact shattering the bat and sending the ball foul. The pointed barrel of the bat bounced toward Clemens who fielded the wooden shard as if it were a grounder, then turned and threw the fragment sidearm toward Piazza on the first baseline. The barrel of the bat spun and skittered in front of Piazza who stood stunned, staring at Clemens, before stepping across the baseline

October 21, 1998 - The New York Yankees close out their historic season with 3 - 0 victory against the San Diego Padres, sweeping San Diego in four games to win their record 24th World Series championship. Andy Pettitte, who struggled mightily throughout the regular season secured the victory with 7 1/3 strong innings. With the Yankees clinging to a 3--0 lead in the eighth, the Padres were able to load the bases against Yankee's reliever Jeff Nelson. Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera came in and shut down Jim Leyritz, known for his clutch postseason home runs, to end the threat and went on to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to end the Series. Yankee first baseman Scott Brosius sensed as the ninth inning began that he would make the final play, and in fact did. The Padres pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney grounded to third base, and after Brosius threw to first for the final out, he raised his hands into the air. Mariano Rivera, the Yankees' closer, dropped to his knees as the other Yankees piled on around him. Scott Br

October 20, 2004 Game 7 of the ALCS began at 8:30 in the evening at Yankee Stadium. After winning the first three and loosing the next three, the Yankees were sending Kevin Brown to the mound to face Derek Lowe for the Red Sox. Johnny Damon, suffering through a 3 for 29 slump decided to play aggressively leading off the game with a single to left and a stolen base, but was thrown out at home trying to score on a Manny Ramirez base hit. The very next pitch, however, was lined into the right-field bleachers by David Ortiz to give Boston a 2--0 advantage. In the second inning, the Sox loaded the bases against Brown, causing Yankees manager Joe Torre to remove him and put in Javier Vázquez to face Johnny Damon. Damon hammered Vázquez' first pitch into the right-field seats for a grand slam. The rout was on. Damon, who also added an upper deck two-run blast in the fourth, had three hits in the game. Boston also enjoyed a solid performance from their starting pitcher, Derek Lowe, who allowed only one run and one hi

October 19, 2004 --The Yankees hold a 3-2 lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS with Game 6 to be played at Yankee Stadium. The starting pitchers were Curt Schilling of the Red Sox and Jon Lieber of the Yankees. Schilling pitched with a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle, which was sutured in place in an unprecedented procedure by Red Sox team doctors. The game was scoreless till the fourth inning when Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn hit a shot into the leftfield stands. The ball struck a fan in the chest and dropped back onto the field, where Left field umpire Jim Joyce signaled that the ball was still in play. After a discussion with Sox Manager Terry Francona, the umpires huddled and overruled the call giving Bellhorn a three run homer and the Sox a 4-0 lead. Despite his injury, Shilling provided seven strong innings giving up only 1 run on a Bernie Williams homer before leaving the game completely exhausted and his sock soaked in blood. Bronson Arroyo would take over for Schilling in the eighth and give u

October 18, 1977 With the Yankees up three games to two against the Dodgers, Reggie Jackson seizes control of the game, the series, and is crowned  "Mr. October" when he hits three consecutive home runs in Game Six of the World Series. Jackson hit a two-run homer in the fourth on the first pitch he saw from starter Burt Hooton to give the Yankees the lead. Lou Piniella made it 5–3 by adding a sacrifice fly. Once again, in the fifth with a man on Jackson connected on the first pitch off Elias Sosa to make the score 7–3. Finally, in the eighth, Jackson strode to the plate, amid chants of "REG-GIE, REG-GIE, REG-GIE!", and drove the first Charlie Hough knuckleball he saw 475 feet into the stands. An inning later, Jackson had led the Yankees to an 8 - 4 victory and the World Championship over the Los Angeles Dodgers.  He became only the second player in history to smash three home runs in a single Series game. In addition, five home runs in one Series and four consecutive blasts over a two game period in

October 16th 2004  The Yankees lead the ALCS two games to noneover the Red Sox with Game 3 in Fenway Park. As in the first two games, theYankees began by scoring in the first and quickly building a 3-0 lead. The RedSox answered in the second inning with a leadoff walk by Jason Varitek and aTrot Nixon home run to right field. A double by Bill Mueller, an infield hit byJohnny Damon (his first hit of the series), and a Derek Jeter error led to twomore runs. The Red Sox led for the first time in the series, 4–3. This lead wasshort-lived as ARod led off the third inning with a home run over the GreenMonster and the Yankees would build a 6-4 lead. By the end of the third, theSox would even things up at 6 apiece off a double by Orlando Cabrera. That wasas good as it would get for the Sox for the rest of the night. When it was allover, the two teams combined for 37 hits and 20 extra-base hits, bothpostseason records. At four hours and twenty minutes, the game was the longestnine-inning postseason game ever playe

October 15, 1988 - With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kirk Gibson hits a pinch-hit home run off Dennis Eckersley to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5 - 4 victory over the Oakland Athletics in Game One of the World Series. Gibson, who injured himself making a game saving catch in the National League Championship Series, never came out for game one introductions and never took batting practice spending the entire game on the trainer’s table receiving treatment with Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda checking on him between innings. Inning after inning, Lasorda checked and was given the thumbs down each time until the bottom of the ninth with the A’s leading 4-3 when the clubhouse boy told Lasorda that Gibson wanted to speak to him. ”I think I can hit for you, Skipper” was the message Lasorda heard when he arrived in the trainer’s room. Eckersley got the first 2 batters out. Alfredo Griffin was next up when Lasorda sent Mike Davis to the plate instead, with Gibson warming up unbeknownst to anyone. As Eck

October 14, 2003 - Holding a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning over the Florida Marlins with only 5 outs standing between them and their first World Series appearance since 1945, the Cubs fall apart after a fan, sitting along the left-field foul line at Wrigley Field, tries to catch a foul ball that is about to be caught by Cubs' outfielder Moises Alou for the second out of the inning. The Cubs argued for interference, but umpire Mike Everitt ruled there was no fan interference because the ball had broken the plane separating the field of play from the stands.  The Cubs lead proceeded to disintegrate; fueling the Wrigley faithful’s ire at this fan who would have to be escorted from the park for his own safety. Lost in all of this is the error by, the usually sure handed shortstop Luis Gonzalez, that would have resulted in an inning ending double play which would have allowed the Cubs to escape the eighth with a two run lead. The Marlins would go onto score 8 runs and win the game.  The Cubs also would l

October 13, 1960 – With the World Series between the Yankees and Pirates knotted at 3 games apiece, Game 7 at Pittsburgh’s cavernous Forbes Field would provide one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history. In the top of the 9th, with a 9-7 lead the Pirates sent eighteen game winner Bob Friend to the mound but the Yankees would manage to tie things up. The Yankees would send Ralph Terry to the mound in the bottom of the 9th to face Pirate 2nd baseman Bill Mazeroski and with a 1-0 count Mel Allen’s call of the game tells the rest:  “There's a drive into deep left field, look out now… that ball is going, going gone! And the World Series is over! Mazeroski… hits it over the left field fence, and the Pirates win it 10-9 and win the World Series!”As the Pirates erupted, the Yankees stood across the field in stunned disbelief. The improbable champions were outscored, outhit, and outplayed, but had managed to pull out a victory anyhow. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying that losing the

Oct. 12, 1972 -- In game 5 of the American League Championship Series the A’s, win 2-1 over the Detroit Tigers. The deciding run comes in the second inning with Mickey Lolich on the mound,  Mike Epstein on first, and Reggie Jackson on third when A’s Manager Dick Williams flashes the sign for a double steal. Reggie bounded down the third base line on the delayed steal as Tiger’s shortstop Dick McAuliffe  cut off the throw to second and fired it back to A’s Catcher Bill Freehan. Reggie and Freehan collided and Jackson was called safe at the plate. Sal Bando, A’s Captain, recalled that “Reggie had an unusual way of sliding. He would jump up, then leave his feet."Whether it was the slide or the collision, this time it would result in a torn left hamstring that would force Reggie to leave the game and keep him from appearing in the ’72 World Series. Jackson is the only player to ever steal home in league championship play. After the chaos of that hard fought series Dick Williams was quoted as saying that

October 11, 1999 -- With the American League divisional Series between Boston and Cleveland tied at two games apiece, the Red Sox send Bret Saberhagen out to face Charles Nagy. In an eruption of runs, both starters find themselves out of the game by the third inning and the game tied at 8. With the season on the line, Sox manager Jimy Williams summons his ace, Pedro Martinez from the bullpen. The electrifying move sent shockwaves through Jacob’s field since Martinez was removed from Game 1 after 4 innings due to a strained back, and all expected they had seen the last of Pedro’s incredible 1999 season. Martinez was masterful, striking out eight and walking three despite having neither his fastball nor changeup at his disposal. Throwing hiscurveball almost exclusively, Martinez and the Red Sox won the rubber match of the ALDS 12-8 in what is cited as one of Martinez’s greatest appearances. Also memorable in this game was the Indians strategy to intentionally walk shortstop Nomar Garciapara to face outfielder

October 10, 2004 The Boston Globe reports growing concern for Curt Shillings ailing right ankle. With two days to go before game one of the American league Championship series against the Yankees in the Bronx, Schilling was downplaying the injury and all but guaranteed he would make every scheduled start the rest of the way. Concerns would grow more serious with each passing game leading up to the famous “Bloody Sock” of Game 6.October 10, 1956 - Pitcher Johnny Kucks sets down the Brooklyn Dodgers, 9 - 0, as the New York Yankees win the World Series in seven games. Yogi Berra hits a pair of two-run home runs and Bill Skowron hits a grand slam. It's the seventh and final time Brooklyn and the Yankees meet in the Series. In the future, it will take a jet, not a subway, to get these two teams together, as the Dodgers will move to Los Angeles in 1958.October 10, 1973 - Tom Seaver hurls the Mets into the World Series for the second time in four years with a 7 - 2 victory over Cincinnati in Game Five of the Nationa

October 9, 1996 - Bernie Williams hit a home run in the 11th inning to give the New York Yankees a 5 - 4 victory over Baltimore in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees were also aided by an assist from a young fan, which proved to be a game changer. The O’s held a 4-3 lead when Derek Jeter hit a ball to deep right field. Right fielder Tony Tarasco positioned himself to make the play when 12 year old Jeffrey Maier reached out and deflected the ball into the stands and Umpire Rich Garcia called the hit a home run.  Garcia later admitted that there was spectator interference, though he maintained the ball was not catchable despite overwhelming visual evidence to the contrary.October 9, 1910 - Nap Lajoie, in a batting race with Ty Cobb, collected eight hits for Cleveland in a season-ending doubleheader with the St. Louis Browns. The hits were somewhat tainted; however, as St. Louis third baseman Red Corriden played back as Lajoie bunted safely six times. Regardless, Cobb was awarded

October 8, 1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2 - 0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits. This would be the only post season no hitter until Roy Halladay’s gem for the Phillies against Cincinnati on October 6th 2010.October 8, 1973 - Rusty Staub's two home runs powered the New York Mets to a 9 - 2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds and a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Pete Rose of the Reds and Bud Harrelson of the Mets scuffled at second base in the fifth inning after Rose slid hard into the base. The benches cleared and when the dust settled, the 140 pound Harrelson ended up on losing end of both conflicts.October 8, 1989 - The Oakland Athletics beat Toronto 4 - 3 in Game Five of their AL division series to advance to the World Series for the second straight year. Rickey Henderson, who hit .400 with eight stolen bases, was named Series MVP.October 8, 2009 - The Los Angeles Angels open their fourth Divisi

October 7, 2001 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds extends his major league record for home runs in season to 73 as he drives a 3-2 first inning knuckleball off Dodgers pitcher Dennis Springer over the right field fence. The blast also secures two more major league records for Bonds; as he surpassed Babe Ruth’s .847 slugging percentage in 1920 with a .863 season slugging percentage and crushed Mark McGwire’s 1998 mark of one HR every 7.27 at bats by homering in every 6.52 at-bats.October 7, 1936 - The Brooklyn Dodgers fire future Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel. Thirteen years later, Stengel will be hired by the New York Yankees and will lead the team to five straight World Championships. Stengel will eventually conclude his Hall of Fame career with the cross-town New York Mets.October 7, 1969 - The St. Louis Cardinals trade outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies in a blockbuster deal involving slugging first baseman Dick Allen. Flood will refuse to report to the Phillies and will take baseball t

October 6, 1926 - Babe Ruth hits three home runs to lead the Yankees to a 10 - 5 victory over St. Louis in Game Four of the World Series. Ruth's final bomb of the day carried deep into the never-before reached centerfield bleachers, far beyond the 430-foot mark. Estimated at 530 feet, it is the longest home run in World Series history. If all this weren't enough, this also is the game during which the Babe makes good on his alleged pre-game promise to hit a home run for the bedridden young Johnny Sylvester.October 6, 1945 – William Sianis, a Chicago bar owner and his goat attend Game Four of the World Series at Wrigley. Cubs owner, P.K. Wrigley ordered that the pair leave because the goat stunk. As they were being escorted from the park Sianis was heard saying "The Cubs ain't gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field.", The Chicago Cubs lose to Detroit 4 – 1, and Detroit would go on to win the World Series prompting Sianis to send a telegram

October 5, 2007 The Cleveland Indians can thank a bug infestation at Jacobs Field for helping them defeat the New York Yankees, 2 - 1 in 11 innings, and take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS. The bugs are at their worst in the eighth inning, when a flustered Joba Chamberlain gives up the tying run on a wild pitch. The bugs descended upon Jacobs Field in the eighth inning of Game Two like a Biblical plague come to destroy the New York postseason. Indian Pitcher Fausto Carmona pitched through the swarm unaffected  for the win.October 5, 1921 - New York is host to the first one-city World Series since 1906 and the Polo Grounds is the site for all nine games. Carl Mays of the Yankees needs 86 pitches to set the Giants down on five hits, four of them by Frankie Frisch, as Babe Ruth drives in the first run of the Series in the opening inning of the 3 - 0 Yankees win.October 5, 1929 - New York Giants Mel Ott and Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies go into a head-to-head doubleheader tied at 42 home runs apiece. In t