Category: April

A STORY FROM APRIL 19 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – RANGERS BY 3 TOUCHDOWNS

TODAYinBASEBALL.COM TAKES US TO ARLINGTON, TEXAS ON APRIL 19, 1996. The Texas Rangers ran up a heck of a score against the Baltimore Orioles on this date. The host Rangers showed no mercy in beating the Orioles 26 to 7. Both teams were in first place in their respective divisions at the time. 

The game was relatively close into the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers last at bat if they were ahead, which they were; 10 – 7. But the Rangers scored an astounding 16 runs in an 8th inning that lasted almost an hour. No team ever scored that many runs in an 8th inning.

The inning consisted of a grand slam home run and an Oriole reliever walking four – three with the bases loaded. Some sniping developed between the managers, Davey Johnson for Baltimore and Johnny Oates for Texas. Each thought the other had run up the score in previous games

That was not the only time Texas and Baltimore were involved in a massive slugfest. Texas set a new record for the most runs scored in an American League game by beating Baltimore 30 to 3 August 22, 2007. But on this date the Rangers win by just 3 touchdowns.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Runs scored records: Baseball-Almanac
April 19, 1996 box score, etc: Retrosheet

A STORY FROM APRIL 18 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT OPENS

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 18, 1923. ‘The house that Ruth built’ opened on this date in 1923. That’s what Yankee Stadium quickly became known as.

Babe Ruth  came to the Yankees in 1920, the result of an infamous purchase from the Boston Red Sox. He went on to become the biggest drawing card in all of sports.

The Yankee Stadium that Ruth built, in effect, disappeared in the mid-1970's when it was completely overhauled.

Yankee Stadium was baseball’s first triple deck structure. It was also the first baseball venue to be called a “stadium.” Others were usually called “Parks” or “Fields.”

It had some interesting dimensions that changed from time to time. For most of the original stadium’s history the fences down the foul lines were quite inviting: 301 down the left and 296 down the right. Left quickly ballooned out to over 400 feet. Straight-away center-field was 461 feet from home plate. The Yankee Stadium that Ruth built, in effect, disappeared in the mid-1970’s when it was completely overhauled.

Before Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers played their home games in the Polo Grounds as tenants of the New York Giants. Tenant and landlord had a falling out in 1920. The Yankees were told to leave as soon as possible. The discord was partly due to the Yankees Bronx Bombers doubling their attendance that season to almost 1.3 million fans, 100,000 more than the Giants. Babe Ruth, with his prodigious home runs, was the main attraction. So Yankee Stadium was built a quarter mile from the Polo Grounds.

The Yankees won the first of many World Championships in that inaugural year of 1923. The victim – their former landlord, the New York Giants. The Giants couldn’t wait for the Yankees to move into the house that Ruth built.

A STORY FROM APRIL 17-YOUNG MANTLE SHOWS OF WHAT HE’S CAPABLE

FOR TODAY IN BASEBALL WE GO BACK TO APRIL 17, 1953 IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Imagine someone hitting a baseball the length of almost two football fields! Sportswriters, and others who claim to know, believe 21-year old Mickey Mantle did just that on this date in 1953. The prevailing belief is that the blast traveled an estimated 565 feet out of old Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. where the old Washington Senators (today’s Minnesota Twins) were hosting the New York Yankees. A young Mickey Mantle showed what he was capable of.

Mantle wasn’t a super star yet. At this stage of his career, he was a young, inconsistent ‘can miss’ switch-hitter from Commerce, Oklahoma.

On this day, Mantle was batting right-handed. On a 1 and 0 pitch, he crushed the ball. According to those present, it not only cleared the regular fence, it sailed over a 55 foot wall 70 feet behind the left center field fence! No one had ever done that before. A ten-year old boy reportedly found the ball in a backyard 105 feet further back.

Almost overlooked in the same game were some of the talents speed helped Mantle bring to his game early in his career. He dragged a bunt for a single and stole a base.

Before a series of nagging injuries, and the toll of many nights on the town, Mantle was clocked at 3.1 seconds from the left-handed batter’s box to first. One of the fastest times ever recorded. But on this date in 1953, a  young Mickey Mantle showed what he was capable of.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Bleacher Report, Mantle hits one 565 feet 

A STORY FROM APRIL 16 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-FIRST AB HR NO OMEN

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO APRIL 16, 1929\  DETROIT, MICHIGAN – What a way to start a career. On this date in 1929 Cleveland Indians outfielder Earl Averill hit a home run in his first major league at bat. He hit an 0-2 pitch off Detroit’s Earl Whitehill to help the Indians beat the Detroit Tigers 5 to 4 in 11 innings.

That first at-bat turned out to be an indicator of a stellar career for Averill; 18 home runs, 96 RBIs that first year. He ended up with 238 career homes, was a 6-time all-star, and was elected into The Hall of Fame.

As spectacular as it is to hit a home run in your first major league at-bat, it has not been a great omen for most players. According to Baseball-Almanac, 120 rookies got the ultimate hit in their first at-bat (30 of them on the first pitch), but 20 never hit another major league home run. For example, the first American League player to hit a home run in his first at bat, Luke Stuart of the St. Louis Browns, not only never hit another, he only had two more major league at bats.

The first-at-bat-home-run-hitter with the most career home runs is Gary Gaetti who retired with 360. Second is Jermaine Dye who hit 325 HR’s in his career. But only 6% of the players who hit home runs in their first at-bat hit more than 200 for their careers.

Contributing Source:
First at-bat HRs

A STORY FROM APRIL 15 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-JACKIE ROBINSON MAKES HISTORY

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK APRIL 15, 1947 – Jackie Robinson made history on this date, becoming the first Black man to play Major League Baseball. He went hitless, but handled 11 chances at first base to help the Brooklyn Dodgers (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) beat the Boston Braves (today’s Atlanta Braves) 5-3.

Technically, Jackie Robinson was not first Black major leaguer. There were others, but you had to go back to the late 1800s to find them. An unwritten “gentleman’s agreement” created a color barrier in major league baseball from roughly the late 1880s until 1947.

Many point the finger at Chicago White Stockings (the modern day Cubs) star Cap Anson for leading the charge to exclude Blacks. The story is, Anson refused to take the field in an 1883 exhibition game against the Toledo Blue Stockings because they had an African American catcher. Even if true, Anson was certainly not alone in his bigotry. By the end of the decade the “gentleman’s agreement” was in force barring teams from signing Black players. The color barrier lasted until the Dodgers’ Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Ironically, the Black player Cap Anson reportedly threatened a boycott over was probably the smartest man on the field. Moses Fleetwood Walker studied Greek, French, German, Latin and math at Oberlin College in Ohio before going to law school at the University of Michigan. But on this date, Jackie Robinson makes history.

Additional Source:
Spalding’s World Tour, Page 68, by Mark Lamster, 2006