TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime
1951 – Becoming the first black to play for the White Sox, Minnie Minoso makes his debut, hitting a home run against the Yankees’ Vic Raschi in his first plate appearance for the club. The speedy outfielder, who previously played with the Cleveland Indians, bats .326 (173 hits) and leads the league in stolen bases and triples, but loses out to Yankee infielder Gil McDougald for Rookie of the Year Award honors.
1991 – Rangers right-hander Nolan Ryan pitches the seventh no-hitter of his career when he defeats the Blue Jays at Arlington Stadium, 3-0. The 44 year-old Texan fireballer, who strikes out 16 batters, becomes the oldest major leaguer ever to throw a no-hit game.
2000 – San Francisco’s left fielder Barry Bonds becomes the first player to hit a ball into San Francisco Bay aka McCovey’s Cove. The first ‘splashdown’ home run at Pacific Bell Park helps the Giants to beat the Mets, 10-3.
And finally…in 2002 – Recording his 321st save for San Diego, Trevor Hoffman establishes a new big league record for the most saves for one team, surpassing Dennis Eckersley’s mark of 320 with Oakland. The long-time Padre closer, now eighth on the all-time list, was traded as a rookie pitcher by the Marlins as part of the Gary Sheffield deal in 1993.
STAT OF THE DAY provided by @HighHeatStats
[mlbvideo id=”3235127″ width=”600″ height=”338″ /]25 years ago today, Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock’s career stolen base record. At retirement, Henderson had stolen 1406 bases, while the active leader, Ichiro, has just 449. It seems unlikely anybody will ever get close to Rickey’s record.
PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Charlie O’Brien (1960), Jose Lind (1964), Scooter Gennett (1990) and Marcus Stroman (1991)
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