This Date in Baseball-Week Ahead
April 29
1902 — Baltimore Orioles infielder John McGraw is hit by pitches five times, but home plate umpire Jack Sheridan refuses to allow him to take first base. In the 9th inning, McGraw is hit for the last time and sits down in the batter’s box in protest. American League president Ban Johnson will suspend McGraw for five games.
1918 — Center fielder Tris Speaker executed the fourth unassisted double play of his career in the Cleveland Indians’ 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
1922 — The New York Giants hit four inside-the-park home runs in a 15-4 win at Braves Field in Boston. George Kelly hit two and Ross Youngs and Dave Bancroft hit the others. Youngs also hit for the cycle and added a double while going 5-for-5 and driving in five runs.
1931 — Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians pitched a 7-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns, including his brother Rick. Wes also knocked in four runs with a homer and a double.
1933 — In a strange play at home plate, catcher Luke Sewell of the Washington Senators tagged out two Yankees runners on the same play. Lou Gehrig had held up, thinking a fly ball would be caught. Dixie Walker closed up on him, and both were tagged out trying to score.
1958 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox becomes the tenth major league player to get 1,000 extra-base hits.
1981 — Steve Carlton struck out Montreal’s Tim Wallach in the first inning of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-2 victory over the visiting Expos to become the sixth major league pitcher — and first left-hander — to strike out 3,000 batters.
1986 — Roger Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 batters as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1.
1987 — Andre Dawson had five hits and hit for the cycle to lead the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 victory the San Francisco Giants.
1988 — The Baltimore Orioles ended their 21-game losing streak by winning their first game of the season, 9-0 over the Chicago White Sox on a combined four-hitter by Mark Williamson and Dave Schmidt.
1994 — Kirk Rueter of the Montreal Expos becomes the first major league pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to start his career with a 10-0 record.
1996 — New York Mets closer John Franco becomes the first left-hander in major league history to record 300 saves.
1997 — Chili Davis of the Kansas City Royals becomes the 75th major leaguer to hit 300 home runs.
2005 — In the first matchup between 300-game winners in almost 18 years, the Cubs’ Greg Maddux outdueled the Astros’ Roger Clemens in Chicago’s 3-2 win over Houston. Maddux earned his first win of season and 306th of his career, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings.
2006 — Albert Pujols sets a major league record with his 14th home run in April.
2007 — Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had an unassisted triple play in the seventh inning of the Rockies’ 9-7 win over Atlanta.
2015 — In what was believed to be the first major league game played without fans in attendance, Chris Davis hit a three-run homer in a six-run first inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 8-2. After a pair of postponements caused by rioting in Baltimore, the Orioles and Chicago White Sox played at Camden Yards. The gates at Camden Yards were locked because of concern for fan safety following recent rioting in Baltimore after a 25-year-old black man died in police custody.
2017 — Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle for the second time and Rougned Odor hit a tiebreaking two-run homer to help the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3.
2017 — Yasiel Puig, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner hit consecutive homers off Hector Neris in the ninth, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers rally for a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Los Angeles trailed 5-2 before the three straight homers.
2020 — The Hall of Fame announces the cancellation of its annual induction ceremony in Cooperstown, NY, scheduled for the last week-end of July, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the ceremony will be combined one year later with the one for the Class of 2021.
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April 30
1903 — The New York Highlanders won their home opener at Hilltop Park, 6-2 over Washington.
1919 — Philadelphia’s Joe Oeschger and Brooklyn’s Burleigh Grimes pitched complete games in a 9-9, 20-inning tie. Both teams scored three runs in the 19th inning. Oeschger gave up 22 hits and walked five, while Grimes allowed 15 hits and walked five.
1922 — Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitched a 2-0 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers. Johnny Mostil, playing left field for the only time, made two outstanding catches.
1923 — The New York Yankees sign 20-year-old prospect Lou Gehrig to a contract paying him a salary of $2,000 and a bonus of $1,500.
1940 — James “Tex” Carleton of the Brooklyn Dodgers threw a 3-0 no-hitter at Cincinnati.
1944 — In the first game of a doubleheader split, New York first baseman Phil Weintraub drove in 11 runs and player-manager Mel Ott scored six runs as the Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 26-8. Brooklyn won the nightcap 5-4.
1946 — Bob Feller struck out 11 New York Yankees en route to his second of three career no-hitters, a 1-0 victory at Yankee Stadium.
1952 — Ted Williams plays his final game before leaving for military duty in Korea.
1958 —Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox became the 10th major leaguer to reach 1,000 extra-base hits in a 10-4 loss to the Kansas City Athletics at Fenway Park.
1961 — Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hit four home runs and drove in eight runs in a 14-4 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee. Hank Aaron hit two homers for the Braves.
1967 — Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles combined on a no-hitter in a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader.
1969 — Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds struck out 13 en route to a 10-0 no-hitter over the Houston Astros, the third of his career.
1986 — The Seattle Mariners strike out 16 more times in a 9 - 4 loss to the Boston Red Sox, to set a major league record of 36 strikeouts in two consecutive games.
1988 — New York and Cincinnati hooked up in a wild game at Riverfront Stadium, with the Mets winning 6-5 on a delayed call by first base umpire Dave Pallone. The call resulted in a $10,000 fine and 30-day suspension of Reds manager Pete Rose when Pallone accidentally poked Rose in the cheek and Rose shoved Pallone twice.
1994 — Toronto’s Joe Carter finished April with 31 RBIs to set a major league record for the month. Colorado’s Andres Galarraga finished with 30 to set a National League record.
1996 — Jeff King of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the third major leaguer to hit two home runs in one inning twice in his career.
2000 — Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks defeats the Chicago Cubs, 6-0, as he becomes only the third pitcher in major league history to win six games in April.
2002 — Al Leiter cruised through seven three-hit innings in the New York Mets’ 10-1 rout of Arizona to become the first pitcher to beat all 30 teams in the majors.
2005 — Major league players are asked by Commissioner Bud Selig to agree to a 50-game suspension for the first offense, a 100-game suspension for the second offense and a lifelong ban after the third offense for the use of steroids.
2008 — Julio Franco announces his retirement as a player at age 49.
2012 — Ryan Braun hit three homers and a two-run triple in Milwaukee’s 8-3 win over San Diego. No player had hit three homers and a triple in a game since Fred Lynn in 1975.
2017 — Anthony Rendon had 10 RBIs, three home runs and six hits, powering the Washington Nationals past the New York Mets 23-5. Rendon went a career-best 6 for 6 and scored five times.
2019 — CC Sabathia becomes the 17th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts.
2020 — The latest event to be cancelled due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic is the annual Little League World Series.
2022 — Clayton Kershaw becomes the Dodgers all-time franchise leader for strikeouts when he fans Spencer Torkelson of the Tigers in the 4th inning. With 2,697 strikeouts, he moves past Hall of Famer Don Sutton.
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May 1
1884 — Toledo’s Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black player in the pre-modern era of the major leagues. His Blue Stockings lost 5-1 to Louisville.
1891 — In front of almost 10,000 fans, Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders defeats the Cincinnati Reds, 12 - 3, in the first game ever played in Cleveland’s League Park.
1901 — Chicago’s Herm McFarland hit the first grand slam in American League history and Dummy Hoy also homered in the Chicago White Sox’ 19-9 rout of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers committed an AL record 12 errors, 10 by the infield, in the loss.
1906 — John Lush of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter at Brooklyn, beating the Dodgers 6-0.
1920 — Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves and Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers each pitched 26 innings in a 1-1 tie, the longest in major league history.
1920 — Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a Yankee, and 50th of his career, as New York beat Boston 6-0 at the Polo Grounds.
1925 — The Philadelphia Athletics introduce another future Hall of Famer, 17-year-old catcher Jimmie Foxx, who pinch-hits a single in the 9-4 loss to the Washington Senators.
1926 — Legendary pitcher Satchel Paige makes his debut in the Negro Southern League.
1944 — George Myatt of Washington went 6-for-6 and the Senators beat the Boston Braves 11-4.
1951 — New York’s Mickey Mantle hit his first major league home run in an 8-3 loss at Chicago. The first of Mantle’s 536 homers came in the sixth inning off Randy Gumpert.
1968 — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher John Boozer was ejected by umpire Ed Vargo at Shea Stadium for throwing spitballs during his warmup pitches. Boozer was the second major league pitcher to be ejected from a game for this.
1969 — Houston’s Don Wilson beat the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-0 no-hitter at Crosley Field, one day after the Reds’ Jim Maloney no-hit the Astros and nine days after Wilson absorbed a 14-0 pounding by Cincinnati.
1973 — The San Francisco Giants scored seven runs with two outs in the ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7.
1975 — Hank Aaron collects four hits and two RBI in the Brewers’ 17-3 win over Detroit. This brings his career RBI total to 2,211, breaking Babe Ruth’s published record of 2,209.
1984 — Dwight Gooden became the first teenager to strike out a least ten batters in a game since Bert Blyleven did it in 1970. The Mets’ 19-year-old phenom would set a major league rookie record with 276 strikeouts.
1991 — Rickey Henderson surpassed Lou Brock as baseball’s career stolen base leader with his 939th steal as the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-4.
1991 — Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh no-hitter, struck out 16 and shut down the best-hitting team in the majors, as the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0.
1992 — The Dodgers postponed a three-game series against Montreal because of rioting in Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict.
1992 — Rickey Henderson garners his 1,000th stolen base.
2000 — San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds becomes the first player to hit a ball into San Francisco Bay (McCovey’s Cove) as the first “splashdown” home run at Pacific Bell Park.
2002 — With a save against the Chicago Cubs, San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman set the major league record for the most saves with one team, 321. He broke Dennis Eckersley’s record of 320 with Oakland.
2012 — Orioles manager Buck Showalter wins his 1,000th game as a major league skipper when the O’s defeat the Yankees, 7-1.
2015 — Alex Rodriguez ties Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list when he hits number 660 against the Red Sox.
2020 — Even though there is no baseball being currently played, P Emmanuel Clase of the Indians manages to get himself suspended, as the results of a test are positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. He will be suspended for 80 games from whenever the season eventually starts.
2022 — Kelsie Whitmore becomes the first woman to start a game in the Atlantic League, which is now part of Organized Baseball as a partner league of Major League Baseball, when she starts in left field for the Staten Island FerryHawks against the Gastonia Honey Hunters.
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