TODAY IN BASEBALL: August 23

august 23

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TODAY IN BASEBALL courtesy of National Pastime

1936 – The Indians seventeen year-old rookie pitcher, Bob Feller, makes his first Major League start, striking out the first eight batters he faces. ‘Rapid Robert’ will finish the game with 15 strikeouts, one shy of the AL record, as Cleveland beats the Browns, 4-1.

1998 – Barry Bonds becomes the first player in Major League history to hit 400 home runs and steal at least 400 bases (438). The Giant slugger reached the unmatched plateau with his 26th homer of the year against Marlin southpaw Kirt Ojala in a 10-5 San Francisco victory.

2007 – With his 1,150th victory as the Bronx Bombers skipper, Joe Torre passes Casey Stengel for second place on the Yankees all time managerial win list. Joe McCarthy compiled a franchise record, winning 1,460 contests during his 16-year tenure in the dugout.

And finally…in 2009, after a shaky defensive bottom of the ninth inning at Citi Field, in which he makes an error and another poor play allowing a batter to reach on an infield hit, Eric Bruntlett redeems himself when he turns the Mets’ attempted double steal into a game-ending unassisted triple play. The fourteenth single-handed regular-season triple killing, only the second one which results in the last three outs of a game, occurs when the Phillies second baseman snares Jeff Francoeur’s line drive up the middle for the first out, steps on second to double up Luis Castillo, and then tags the runner coming from first base, Daniel Murphy, for the last out of Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory.

PLAYERS BORN TODAY

George Davis (1870), George Kell (1922), Mike Boddicker (1957) and Julio Franco (1958)

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