HOVG REWIND: July 9, 2016

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime

2002 – Despite chants of ‘Let them play!’ from the sellout crowd of 41,871 at Milwaukee’s Miller Park, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig declares the 73rd All-Star Game a 7-7 tie after 11 innings. No player is selected to receive the first Ted Williams Most Valuable Player award, named in honor of the late Red Sox legend who died five days ago.

2005 – On the first pitch of his only big league plate appearance, 24 year-old Adam Greenberg, entering the game as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter for the Cubs, is struck in the back of the head by a 92-mph fastball thrown by Marlin hurler Valerio de los Santos. The Guilford High School (CT) standout, the first player in the history of the state to be named to four all-state teams, sustains a concussion and will experience positional vertigo as a result of the beaning.

2011 – With a third-inning home run off Tampa Bay southpaw David Price, Derek Jeter becomes the 28th player, and the first in a Yankee uniform, to collect his 3000th hit. The ‘Captain’ enjoys a five-hit day in the Bronx, including an infield single in the bottom of the eighth that drives in the winning run in the team’s 5-4 victory.

And finally…in 2013, Boston’s David Ortiz ties Harold Baines for the most hits by a designated hitter when his eighth inning single off Seattle’s Charlie Furbush gives him a total of 1,688 career hits as a DH. ‘Big Papi’, prior to the record-tying at-bat, had already collected a home run and a pair of doubles in the Red Sox’ 11-8 victory at Safeco Field.

STAT OF THE DAY provided by @HighHeatStats

80 years ago today, Chuck Klein became the oldest player to hit four home runs in a game. He was 31 years, 277 days old at the time and still holds the record. Carlos Delgado came close in his four-homer game, coming at 31 years, 92 days of age.

PLAYERS BORN TODAY

Glenn Myatt (1897), Wally Post (1929), Willie Wilson (1955) and Miguel Montero (1983)