Category: April

A STORY FROM APRIL 30 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – MAYS JOINS EXCLUSIVE GROUP

DSCN2130TODAYINBASEBALL.com TAKES US BACK TO MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN  ON APRIL 30, 1961.  Willie Mays joined an exclusive group on this date – the 4 home run group. At the time, Mays was just the 7th player in major league baseball history to hit 4 home runs in a nine-inning game. His blasts helped his San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves (today’s Atlanta Braves) 14-4.

Baseballs flew out of Milwaukee County Stadium on that Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin. Besides Mays’ 4 round-trippers, teammate Jose Pagan hit 2 home runs, as did Henry Aaron of the Braves. Solo shots were hit by the Giants’ Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou.

As of this writing [April 23, 2018], 11 players have hit four home runs in 9-inning games in the modern era:

Bobby Lowe, Boston Beaneaters, May 30, 1894
Ed Delahanty, Philadelphia Phillies, July 13, 1896
Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees June 3, 1932
Gil Hodges, Brooklyn Dodgers August 31, 1950
Joe Adcock, Milwaukee Braves July 31, 1954
Rocky Colavito, Cleveland Indians June 10, 1959
Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants – April 30, 1961
Bob Horner, Atlanta Braves – July 6, 1986
Mark Whiten, St. Louis Cardinals – Sept 7, 1993
Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners – May 2, 2002
Shawn Green, Los Angeles Dodgers – May 23, 2002
Carlos Delgado, Toronto Blue Jays – Sept 25, 2003
Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers – May 8, 2012
Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati Reds, June 6, 2017
J.D. Martinez, Arizona Diamondbacks – Sept 4, 2017

Several years usually pass between 4-home run games, but only 21 days separated Mike Cameron’s and Shawn Green’s displays of power in 2002.

Chuck Klein (1936), Pat Seerey (1948) and Mike Schmidt (1976) have also each hit 4 home runs in one game, but they needed extra innings to do it.

No one has ever hit 5 home runs in one game. But on this date in 1961, Willie Mays joined an exclusive group by hitting 4.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
MLB hitting leaders
Baseball-Almanac

A story from April 28 in baseball history – Frank Robinson among the best

TODAYINBASEBALL.com TAKES US BACK TO APRIL 28, 1956 IN CINCINNATI, OHIO. On this date in 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs rookie left fielder Frank Robinson hit his first major league home run. He would hit 585 more. The home run came in a 9-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Was Frank Robinson underappreciated? If you look at the numbers, Frank Robinson was among the best ever.

He’s the only player in major league baseball history to be MVP (most valuable player) in both leagues (National League in 1961, American League in 1966).

He’s one of just 14 players in major league history to win the Triple Crown (lead the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in).

He’s a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He had a lifetime average of .294.

He drove in 1,812 runs.

He played on 3 World Series teams (Cincinnati Reds-1961, Baltimore Orioles-1966, 1970), 2 of which were winners.

Speaking of Triple Crown Winners, until Miguel Cabrera won it in 2012 there had not been a triple crown winner in 45 years.

Here are past winners:

Miguel Cabrera (Detroit-AL) 2012
Carl Yastrzemski (Boston-AL) 1967
Frank Robinson (Baltimore-AL) 1966
Mickey Mantle (New York-AL) 1956
Ted Williams (Boston-AL) 1947
Ted Williams (Boston-AL) 1942
Joe Medwick (St. Louis-NL) 1937
Lou Gehrig (New York-AL) 1934
Chuck Klein (Philadelphia) 1933
Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia-AL) 1933
Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis-NL) 1925
Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis-NL) 1922
Heinie Zimmerman (Chicago-NL) 1912
Ty Cobb (Detroit-AL) 1909
Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia-AL) 1901
Hugh Duffy (Boston-NL) 1894
Paul Hines (Providence-NL) 1878

Maybe “Frank Robinson” doesn’t roll off the tongue like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays because he played for 5 different teams, and seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, but his numbers are remarkable. It’s safe to say, Frank Robinson was among the best ever.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Frank Robinson – Hall of Fame

A STORY FROM APRIL 26 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – 1 DOWN, 60 TO GO FOR MARIS

TODAYinBASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO APRIL 26, 1961, IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN – New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris began his historic pursuit of the most famous record in sports – Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in a season – on this date in 1961. Maris hit a home run off Tiger right-hander Paul Foytack in the 5th inning at Tiger Stadium. It was 1 down and 60 to go for Maris.

Maris didn’t come out of the blocks in a full sprint that memorable season. He hit one, I repeat, one home run in the month of April. Teammate Mickey Mantle already had 7 home runs by the time May rolled around.

Forget about Ruth’s record. If Maris, the shy right-fielder from Hibbing, Minnesota wanted to hit 30 home runs in 1961 he’d have to shift it into gear. He did. Maris hit 50 home runs over a 4 month span that summer. Here’s how his record-breaking 61 home runs were spread out over the season:

April                 1
May                 11
June                15
July                 13
August           11
September     9
October          1

The race to break Ruth’s record was pretty much between Maris and Mantle. Maris eventually broke it on October 1, the 162nd and last game of the season.

This led to a controversial ruling by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick; since Maris didn’t break Ruth’s record by the 154th game of the season, an asterisk would be put next to his name because Ruth set the single season record in a 154-game schedule. There’s no evidence an asterisk ever actually appeared in the “record books,” but people think it did, so Maris’ name was unjustifiably tarnished.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, by Leonard Koppett, 1998

APRIL 25: Time for MLB to makeup

TODAYINBASEBALL.com TAKES US TO MIAMI, FLORIDA, APRIL 25, 1995. 42,125 fans turned out for the first Major League baseball game since a strike stopped play 257 days earlier. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 8-7 on this day in 1995. Ramon Martinez got the win. John Burkett took the loss for the Marlins. Major League Baseball had a lot of making up to do after the ’94 strike, which stretched into 1995.

The previous season ended August 12 when the players went on strike. There was no World Series for the first time in over 90 years, no playoffs either.

San Diego Padres' Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 when the strike started. He had a legitimate shot at .400.

The predominant discussion from spring training on in 1994 centered on a strike, overshadowing some noteworthy events taking place.

Roger Maris‘ single season home run record (61) was in jeopardy.

  • Matt Williams of the San Francisco Giants had 43 home runs when play stopped with more than 40 games remaining.
  • Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. had 40 when play stopped
  • The Astros’ Jeff Bagwell was not out of range with 39 home runs
  • Nor was Frank Thomas of the White Sox with 38.

A .400 batting average was within reach.

  • San Diego Padres’ Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 when the strike started. He had a legitimate shot at .400.

Could those milestones have been reached? We’ll never know.

The division leaders when play stopped in August of ’94 were the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers in the American League, and Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National. Only the Dodgers out of those six teams went on to win their division in ’95 (the Yankees made it to the post-season by winning the wild card). Oh, what might have been for the White Sox, Rangers, Reds and Expos. But the task at hand, Major League Baseball had a lot of making up to do after the ’94 strike.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, by Leonard Koppett, 1998

 

A STORY FROM APRIL 20 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – THE SPLENDID SPLINTER ARRIVES

TODAYinBASEBALL.com TAKES US TO NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 20, 1939. For my entire life – I was born in 1952 – there has always been a “Splendid Splinter.” I didn’t have to wonder who or what it was. The “Splendid Splinter” was Ted Williams. But, what, in God’s name, is a “Splendid Splinter”? As my wife would say, “Bill, you’re over-thinking it.” I’ll leave it at that.

Before he became the “Splendid Splinter,” Theodore Samuel Williams was a skinny 20-year old kid from San Diego who joined Boston Red Sox in New York on this date in 1939 to play his first major league game. The first of his 2,654 hits was a 400-foot double in the vast outfield of Yankee Stadium as the Red Sox lost 2-0.

Ted Williams’ career spanned 19 seasons and 4 decades – interrupted twice by military duty. He amassed some of the greatest offensive numbers of all time:

Lifetime Stats
• .344 lifetime batting average
• 521 home runs
• 1,839 RBI
• 2-time Triple Crown winner (1942, 1947)
• 2-time MVP (1946, 1949)

… this despite missing three full seasons – 1943 to 45 – to serve in World War II, and playing only 43 games during the 1952 and 1953 seasons because of the Korean War.

Take a close look at the stats above. Williams’ 2 MVP years and 2 Triple Crown years do not overlap. They’re 4 separate seasons. How he could win the Triple Crown and not be MVP is a mystery, but it is what it is.

And consider this; there was a 45-year stretch (1967-Carl Yastrzemski to 2012-Miguel Cabrera) where no one won the Triple Crown (lead either league in home runs, runs batted in and batting average). Williams won it twice in five years. In addition, “Teddy Ballgame” won the batting crown at the age of 40.

Williams was truly larger than life; a Hall of Famer, a decorated fighter pilot, a tireless champion of charity and the loudest guy in the room almost until his death July 5, 2002.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Boston Globe, New York, New York, April 21, 1939
Sports Illustrated reviews 2 books about Ted Williams
The Triple Crown