HOVG REWIND: July 8, 2016

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime

1949 – Hank Thompson, who broke in to the majors as a member of the St. Louis Browns twelve days after Larry Doby’s American League debut with the Indians in 1947, becomes the first African-American to play for the Giants. When the former Kansas City Monarchs’ standout faces Dodger right-hander Don Newcombe, it marks the first time a pitcher-batter confrontation takes place between black players in the major leagues.

1987 – Gerald Young becomes the first player from Honduras to appear in the majors. In his big league debut, the Tela native plays the outfield for the Astros and goes 0-for-4 in a 1-0 loss to the Expos at the Astrodome.

1994 – Red Sox shortstop John Valentin snares Marc Newfield’s sixth inning line drive, steps on second retiring Mike Blowers and then tags the runner coming from first, Kevin Mitchell, to turn an unassisted triple play against the Mariners.

And finally…in 2002, the Charleston Riverdogs, the Class A minor league affiliate of the Devil Rays, padlock the gates of Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park and hold a party outside the ballpark in an attempt to set the record for the lowest attendance at a professional baseball game. When the ‘Nobody Night’ contest becomes official in the fifth inning, and the attendance is recorded as zero, patrons are allowed through the gates to watch the South Atlantic League contest against the Columbus RedStixx.

STAT OF THE DAY provided by @HighHeatStats

Today in 1972, Nolan Ryan shut out the Red Sox while striking out 16 batters. It was his fourth career game with 15+ K’s–he went on to record a then-record 26 such games. Randy Johnson now holds the record with 29 games of at least 15 strikeouts.

PLAYERS BORN TODAY

Hank O’Day (1859), Alan Ashby (1951), Terry Puhl (1956) and Jerome Walton (1965)