Author: Bill Grimes

I'm from Chicago. I worked in broadcast journalism for much of the 1970's and 80's. In 1990 I became a litigation consultant, retiring in 2017. Around 2005 I recall flipping through the sports section of the newspaper coming across "On this day in baseball history Willie Mays hit his 600th home run." I enjoyed the one-liners, but I wanted more. I wanted a story. I took my news reporting skills and started researching and telling baseball stories, one for every day of the year. TodayinBaseball.com is the result.

Aug 2 in baseball history: Thurman Munson was indestructible, until this day in 1979

August 2, 1979 | AKRON, OHIO – Thurman Munson was a rock, a catcher, the face of the New York Yankees in the 1970s. Thurman Munson was indestructible, until this day in 1979.

Thursday, August 2, 1979 was a rare day off for Yankee captain. The Yankees played in Chicago against the White Sox the night before and wouldn’t play again until Friday night in New York. Chicago’s game would be Munson’s last.

He headed home to Canton, Ohio after Wednesday night’s game. Thursday afternoon Munson was practicing take-offs and landings at the Akron-Canton airport. He’d recently bought a twin engine Cessna Citation plane so he could get home to his wife and three children more easily.

At 4:02pm, while making an approach to the runway the plane crashed about 1,000 short. An investigation determined the crash was due to pilot error.

Thurman Munson played 11 years for the Yankees. He was the starting catcher for ten of those. He was a seven-time all-star who led the Yankees to three World Series – winning two of them. Munson finished his career with a .292 batting average, 113 home runs and 701 RBI. Three times he drove in over 100 runs. His leadership was immeasurable.

Thurman Munson was indestructible, until this day in 1979. Pilot error? It doesn’t compute.

Contributing Sources:
Thurman Munson Bio

July 25th in baseball history: Baseball and Castro

July 25, 1959 | HAVANA, CUBA – Playing minor league baseball in Cuba after Fidel Castro took over became a risky venture. On this date in 1959 a game between Rochester, New York from the International League and the Sugar Kings, an independent team from Havana, was abruptly halted by the sound of gunfire in and around the ball park.

It spilled into the stands. With the game tied in the 12th inning shots rang out in the direction of the field as Rochester mounted a rally. Havana shortstop Leo Cardenas, who later had a 16-year major league career, was grazed in the shoulder. Rochester third base coach Frank Verdi, was struck in the head. Fortunately, he had head-gear on because he’d been in the lineup earlier in the game. Neither was seriously hurt.

After this frightening display of fire power, the players and umpires quickly left the field. After things calmed down the league president said the game would be continued later that Sunday afternoon. The Rochester Red Wings wanted no part of that. After one more tense night in a Havana hotel, the team left Cuba for Miami. The Havana Sugar Kings played one more season in Cuba, before being relocated to New Jersey.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
“Gunfire in the Ballpark,” BASEBALL-ALMANAC”
The Baltimore Sun, July 27, 1959, “Game is called: Rain of bullets”

July 24 in baseball history: The famous pine tar incident

July 24, 1983 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK • Had you ever seen anyone so angry as George Brett when a home run of his was disallowed? The famous pine tar incident took place at Yankee Stadium on this date in 1983. You knew Yankee manager Billy Martin had to be involved.

Brett’s outburst was the culmination of a dramatic moment:

Two outs, top of the ninth, Kansas City Royals down 4-3 to the New York Yankees. Brett is facing Yankee closer Rich “Goose” Gossage. He hits a 2-run homer to give the Royals the lead.

After Brett circles the bases, Billy Martin marches out to home plate to ask the umpires to examine the bat. Turns out the pine tar, what batters use on the bat handle to improve the grip, extended more than the rules allowed (see below). Home plate umpire Tim McClelland places the bat on the ground next to home plate. When he sees that the pine tar is spread over more than 20 inches of the bat he signals, “Batter’s out!” Incensed, George Brett charges from the dugout to home plate. If Brett had been a fullback and it was 3rd and 9, he would have made the first down.

Brett, his manager, Dick Howser, and a couple other players were thrown out of the game. The Royals protested. The game was suspended. A few weeks later, American League President Lee MacPhail, former president of the Yankees, I might add, overruled the umpires. The home run was reinstated. Play was resumed on August 18th with two outs in the 9th, Royals up 5-4, and that’s how the game ended.

Years later, Brett said he was so furious that day because a home run off Hall of Famer Goose Gossage was so rare, he couldn’t handle it being taken away.

Note the “note” from MLB Official Rules:

Rule 1.10 (c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18-inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game. NOTE: If the umpire discovers that the bat does not conform to (c) above until a time during or after which the bat has been used in play, it shall not be grounds for declaring the batter out, or ejected from the game.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
MLB Official rules
July 24, 1983 Royals-Yankees box score

July 23 in baseball history: MLB’s 18th Perfect Game

JULY 23, 2009 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MLB’s 18^th perfect game was thrown by Mark Buerhle on this date in 2009. To take nothing away from the Chicago White Sox southpaw, another left-hander positioned about 250 feet behind Buerhle’s right shoulder did the unbelievable.

Dewayne Wise had just been put in as a defensive replacement in centerfield in the 9^th inning. Defend, he did. Tampa Bay Rays’ right fielder Gabe Kapler hit a 2-2 pitch from Buerhle to the farthest point of left-center field. It was on its way out. The perfect game would be lost. The no-hitter would be lost. The shutout would be lost.

Dewayne Wise would not have it. He ran to the wall like he was the 4^th leg of a relay race. Jumped at just the right time to pull the ball back into the field of play. Then the ball slipped out of his glove, but he managed to regain control, holding on to the perfect game as he fell the ground.

The 26^th hitter struck out.
The 27^th hitter grounded out to short.

Mark Buerhle had MLB’s 18th perfect game. How could he possibly thank Dewayne Wise enough?

Contributing sources:
July 23, 2009 box score, stats, play-by-play
Dewayne Wise

July 21 in baseball history: Last team to integrate

JULY 21, 1959 • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Elijah “Pumpsie” Green was put in as a pinch runner for the Boston Red Sox on this night in 1959. The Red Sox became the last team to integrate. It completed what Jackie Robinson started in 1947. Every other major league team had had an African American in the lineup by this time, except the Red Sox.

It was a bumpy road for Green through the Red Sox system. He was invited to training camp in Scottsdale, Arizona that spring and reportedly had a good one, but was sent to the Red Sox minor league team in Minneapolis to start the season.

The Boston chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) asked for an investigation to determine if Green had been discriminated against as a player and in the housing he was provided. According to a July 22, 1959 United Press International story, the Red Sox said “they would call a Negro player when they developed one of major league caliber in their farm system.” The Red Sox now believed they had “a Negro of major league caliber,” and the team was cleared of discrimination.

Here are the first Black players (in the modern era*) for each team and the season of their first game:

Jackie Robinson Larry Doby Hank Thompson Monte Irvin Sam Jethroe Minnie Minoso Bob Trice Ernie Banks Curt Roberts Tom Alston Nino Escalera Chuck Harmon Carlos Paula Elston Howard John Kennedy Ozzie Virgil Pumpsie Green	Brooklyn , 1947 Cleveland , 1947 St. Louis , 1947 New York Giants, 1949 Boston Braves, 1950 Chicago White Sox, 1951 Philadelphia Athletics, 1953 Chicago Cubs 1953 Pittsburgh , 1954 St. Louis Cardinals, 1954 Cincinnati Reds, 1954 Cincinnati Reds, 1954 Washington Senators 1954 New York Yankees, 1955 Philadelphia Phillies, 1957 Detroit Tigers, 1958 Boston Red Sox

*Blacks were not allowed to play in the major leagues from the late 1800s until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 because of a “gentleman’s agreement” between the owners.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Baseball-Almanac famous firsts
United Press International, July 22, 1959
Cap Anson, instigator of the Gentleman’s Agreement

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