TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY courtesy of National Pastime
1982 – In his last major league at bat, Mario Mendoza, who will become a minor league hitting instructor, reaches first on a fielder’s choice, ending his nine-year career with a .215 batting average. The Ranger infielder’s name will become infamous as players struggling at the plate will be described as performing below the ‘Mendoza Line’.
2004 – Oakland retires Reggie Jackson jersey number 9, honoring the slugger who played his first nine Hall of Fame seasons with the A’s, helping the team club capture three-consecutive World Series (1972-74). The former Athletics’ right fielder, who had his number 44 retired by the Yankees in 1993, becomes the eighth player to have his number retired by two or more teams.
2010 – Matt Stairs ties a major league mark when he homers for his eleventh team in San Diego’s 2-1 inter-league victory in Seattle. The Padres designated hitter’s fourth inning homer off Ian Snell ties Todd Zeile’s record, who accomplished the feat by going deep in an Expo uniform in 2003.
And finally…in 2014, Barack Obama becomes the first U.S. president to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. During his visit, the Commander-in-chief, a White Sox fan, holds FDR’s green-light letter declaring that baseball should continue during World War II and a pair of spikes worn by Chicago’s “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was one of the eight players banned from the game for their alleged role in fixing the 1919 World Series.
PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Al Simmons (1902), Walt Hriniak (1943), Tommy John (1943) and Jose Mesa (1966)
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