TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime
1940 – On Opening Day, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s errant ceremonial first pitch smashes a Washington Post camera. The Chief Executive is not charged with a wild pitch as Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove blanks the Senators, 1-0.
1989 – Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber becomes the first player to hit for the cycle in franchise history when he singles in the eighth inning of the team’s 15-8 win against Kansas City. The 27 year-old All-star infielder’s Toronto teammates buy him a tricycle in recognition of the Exhibition Stadium accomplishment.
1994 – After being escorted into Mile High Stadium by a Colorado National Guard contingent, the ‘dinosaur egg’, which was ‘uncovered’ during the excavation for Coors Field, hatches, revealing an anthropomorphic purple triceratops named Dinger, the Rockies’ new mascot. The use a three-horned dinosaur as the team’s good luck charm was inspired the actual discovery of a number of dinosaur fossils throughout the construction site of the new ballpark, including a 7-foot-long triceratops skull that weighed half ton.
And finally…in 2015, Giancarlo Stanton becomes the Marlins’ all-time home run leader when he goes deep off Dillon Gee in the first inning of the team’s 7-5 loss to New York at Citi Field. The Miami outfielder’s two-run blast, the 155th round-tripper of his career, surpasses the franchise mark established in 2010 by Dan Uggla.
STAT OF THE DAY provided by @HighHeatStats
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGH-IHyRn-w] Nolan Arenado turns 25 today. Last year, he joined Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953) and Troy Glaus (47 in 2000) as the only third basemen with a 40-homer season before turning 25.PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Paul Waner (1903), Bruce Bochy (1955), Fernando Vina (1969), Antonio Alfonseca (1972) and Nolan Arenado (1991)
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