HOVG REWIND: July 7, 2016

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime

1948 – On his 42nd birthday, Negro League legend Satchel Paige signs a contract to pitch with for the Indians. Though viewed by many as another publicity stunt by team owner Bill Veeck, the crafty right-hander will finish the season 6-1 for the eventual world champs.

2000 – Drawing one of its largest crowds, the Butte Copper Kings newest promotion, ‘John Rocker Awareness Night’, is a huge success when the Angel farm club of the Pioneer League offers free admission to anyone belonging to a group insulted by the Atlanta reliever in his Sports Illustrated interview. The 672 fans in attendance include single moms with multiple children, people with purple hair, ‘foreigners’, as well as people with alternative life styles.

2007 – Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki records the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history when he hits Chris Young’s fastball into deep right-center field at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. The fifth inning blast caroms off the park’s quirky configuration and continues to bounce away from National League center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., allowing the American League leadoff hitter, who will be named the game’s MVP, to complete his way around the bases for the historic round-tripper.

And finally…in 2011, in an effort to grab the ball tossed into the stands by Josh Hamilton, Ranger fan Shannon Stone dies when he tumbles over the railing and falls 20 feet to the concrete pavement below. The 39 year-old Brownwood (TX) firefighter had attended the game with his six year-old son, Cooper. xx

STAT OF THE DAY provided by @HighHeatStats

Don Slaught had five hits, including two doubles, today in 1994. Amazingly, Jason Kendall replicated the feat in 1999 as the only other Pirates catcher with a five-hit game since (and Kendall also hit two doubles in his game!)

PLAYERS BORN TODAY

Satchel Paige (1906), Billy Herman (1909), Chuck Knoblauch (1968) and Brandon McCarthy (1983)