TODAY IN BASEBALL courtesy of National Pastime
1967 – Keeping a promise to his wife Merlyn, Mickey Mantle hit his 500th career home run on Mother’s Day, a shot into the lower deck into the right field corner of the lower deck at Yankee Stadium. The ‘Commerce Comet’, now the sixth big leaguer to reach the milestone, hits the historic homer off Stu Miller, helping New York defeat the Orioles, 6-5.
1986 – Angels DH/outfielder Reggie Jackson homers off Red Sox hurler Roger Clemens to surpass Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list with 537. The future Hall of Famer will retire next season, finishing his 21-year career sixth on the all-time list with 563 round-trippers.
1996 – Dwight Gooden becomes the eighth Yankee to hurl a no-hitter when he throws 135 pitches, beating the Mariners at the ballpark in the Bronx, 2-0. The 31 year-old right-handed ‘Doc’, who hadn’t won a game in nearly two years, was almost released last month after starting the season poorly.
And finally…in 2012, at the age of 19 years and 211 days, Nationals rookie Bryce Harper becomes the youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run, breaking the mark established by Gary Carter, who was 20 years and 173 days old when he went deep as an Expo before the team left Montreal to play in Washington. Harmon Killebrew remains the youngest to homer for a Washington team, accomplishing the feat with the Senators in 1955 at the age of 19 years and 88 days old.
PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Ed Walsh (1881), Earle Combs (1899), Tony Perez (1942) and Roy Halladay (1977)
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