TODAY IN BASEBALL courtesy of National Pastime
1965 – In a promotion to increase Kansas City’s poor attendance, Bert Campaneris becomes the first Major Leaguer to play all nine positions in a single game. After being involved in a collision at home plate in the ninth inning, Campy is replaced by Rene Lachemann as the team’s catcher in the A’s eventual 5-3, 13-inning victory over California.
1985 – At Wrigley Field, Pete Rose gets two hits off Chicago hurler Reggie Patterson, including his historic single that ties Ty Cobb’s career record of 4,191 hits. The game will be suspended due to darkness, enabling the Reds’ player-manager to break the Georgia Peach’s record at home.
1998 – Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire connects off of Cub hurler Steve Trachsel and sends a 341-foot line-drive over the left field fence for his historic 62nd home run, breaking the single-season home run record set in 1961 by Roger Maris. Big Mac’s historic homer comes in the fourth inning of a nationally televised game.
And finally…in 2008, Gary Sheffield’s second home run of the game is the 250,000th round-tripper in Major League history. The Tigers slugger, who needs only four more to reach a personal milestone of 500 homers, hit the round tripper that set the record for the number of home runs hit in the Major League in season, bringing the total to 4,458 blasts.
PLAYERS BORN TODAY
Ken Forsch (1946), Don Aase (1954), Gil Meche (1978) and Gerrit Cole (1990)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
