TODAY IN BASEBALL courtesy of National Pastime
1972 – In his final appearance in a big league uniform, 29 year-old right-hander Denny McLain, who will finish his ten-year career with a 131-92 record, is tagged with the loss when he gives up three runs in the ninth inning without retiring a batter in the Braves’ 7-5 loss to Cincinnati at Atlanta Stadium. The last batter the one-time 30-game winner, rumored to have been involved with gambling and bookmaking during his time in the Major Leagues, will face is Pete Rose, who will be banned from baseball for life for wagering on the game.
1976 – At age 53, Minnie Minoso becomes the oldest player to get a hit in a regular season game as he singles in three at-bats as the designated hitter for the White Sox. Angels’ southpaw Sid Monge gives up the historic hit.
1979 – Carl Yastrzemski, in a 9-2 Red Sox victory over the Yankees, collects his 3000th hit an eighth-inning single off Jim Beattie at Fenway Park. After Captain Carl’s milestone marker, the game pauses for a lengthy on-field celebration of the historic moment.
And finally…in 1995, during a WGN pre-game radio broadcast at Wrigley Field, Cubs announcer Harry Caray remarks to the team’s skipper Jim Riggleman, “Well, my eyes are slanty enough, how ’bout yours?”, referring to Hideo Nomo, the Japanese rookie hurler scheduled to start for the Dodgers. The veteran announcer, known for not backing off for his on-the-air off-handed comments, does issue an apology, calling the incident “unfortunate.”
PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Mickey Lolich (1940), Pat Listach (1967), Luis Castillo (1975) and Freddie Freeman (1989)
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