Baseball's Best from the 4th of July

In glancing over the various match-ups Major League Baseball has to offer tomorrow, I wondered if anything particularly interesting would happen in the games. Baseball is known of course for its rich history, as well as a knack for delivering the unexpected.

I thought I'd take a look-see at the history of baseball on the 4th of July to see what sort of crazy things have occurred. Being the idiot that I am, I started things off by looking at the oldest box scores (1956) Baseball Reference had to offer, and making note of particularly good individual performances. Bad idea. Really bad idea.

Figure 10 games every 4th for 52 years. That's a quite a few box scores to go over. More importantly, anything out of the ordinary doesn't really jump out of a box score, especially when one's eyes are bleeding.

That's when the light flickered on and I visited The Bullpen, Baseball Reference's wiki. Oh how I love the internet.

Here's the page for the 4th of July. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

You'll notice there are words on that page. Lots and lots and lots of words. Have no fear, I've taken the time to take out the juiciest nuggets of information and post them for you here:

-1881 - At Riverside Grounds in Buffalo, Mickey Welch throws two complete game victories as the Troy Haymakers sweep a doubleheader from the Bisons in National Association action, 8-3 and 12-0.

Everyone seems to think Roy Halladay is hot shit because he starts what he finishes. Mickey Welch is not amused.

-1884 - In American Association action, Guy Hecker of the Louisville Eclipse pitches complete games to win both ends of a doubleheader. The Youngsville, Pennsylvania native does not walk a single batter as he beats the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, 5-4 and 8-2.

Guy Hecker sees Mickey Welch's performance and goes all in. Back to back complete games in one day? Pffffttttt!

-1905 - Bugs Raymond of the Charleston Sea Gulls (South Atlantic League), pitches the morning and afternoon games of a doubleheader, throwing a no-hitter in each game.

Bugs Raymond? Winner. Everyone else? LOSER.

-1906 - The visiting Cubs and Pirates deal aces today with Chicago coming out on top in both games. Three-Finger Brown beats Lefty Leifield, 1-0 in the lid lifter with both pitchers allowing just one hit.

Some people would call a game like this boring but I couldn't disagree more. I love a good pitcher's duel and this one qualifies as great.

-1908 - Lefthander Hooks Wiltse pitches a 10-inning no-hitter for the Giants over the Phillies 1 - 0. He loses his bid for a perfect nine innings when, with two outs, he hits Phils P George McQuillan with a pitch on an 1-and-2 count. Ump Charles Rigler calls the pitch earlier a ball, to the dismay of Hooks and the fans, who thought it a strike.

A no hitter is incredible enough but the fact that he kept it through ten despite getting hosed by the umpire on a perfect game bid makes it all the more impressive.

-1911 - Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida become the first Cuban natives to appear in a major league game as they both make their debut for the Reds.

Ah yes, the good ol' days. Castro was just a glimmer in Cuba's eye, and these gentlemen were no doubt serenaded with chants of wetback and dirty cube.

-1912 - In the morning game, a 9 - 3 Detroit win, Ty Cobb steals 2B, 3B, and home in the 5th inning against the battery of George Baumgardner and Paul Krichell. Cobb has stolen home five times this season.

Yeah, but he was an asshole. Ray Liotta told me so.

-1928 - Ray Schalk resigns as White Sox manager; Lena Blackburne replaces him. Blackburne will last one year and in 1930 will start selling his Rubbing Mud from the Delaware River to the AL to use to take the shine off of baseballs. The NL will adopt it in the 1950s.

Blackburne's legacy is mud. It may sound ridiculous, but he made his skid mark on the world.

-1934 - When Dodgers manager Casey Stengel comes out to the mound to remove P Boom-Boom Beck from the game in Philadelphia's Baker Bowl, the frustrated Beck turns and fires the ball at the tin wall in RF. Dodgers OF Hack Wilson, not paying attention to the happenings, hears the ball, hurries to retrieve it, and fires a strike to 2B to prevent the imaginary runner from advancing.

Hack Wilson. RBI machine and avid daydreamer.

-1934 - Satchel Paige pitches a 4-0 no-hitter against the Negro League Homestead Grays in Pittsburgh, with only a walk and an error spoiling a perfect game. After this performance, Paige drives to Chicago to shut out the Chicago American Giants 1-0 in 12 innings, giving him two shutouts in two different cities in the same day.

It may not be on par with Bugs Raymond's back to back no-hitters, but Paige's feat is impressive nonetheless.

-1939 - It's Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium and "the Iron Horse"s' uniform number 4 will be the first ever to be retired. After emcee Sid Mercer informs the sell-out crowd the man of the hour is too moved to speak, Gehrig changes his mind when Skipper Joe McCarthy encourages him, and delivers the keynote address history describing himself as "the luckiest man on the face of the earth".

Must regain composure...

-1942 - In the eighth inning of an 8-4 Negro League victory over the Newark Eagles at Yankee Stadium, Baltimore Elite Giants spitball ace Bill Byrd beans Eagles manager Willie Wells. Wells is carried from the field, and the incident causes him to design a batting helmet. When he steps into the batter's box Thursday, he will be wearing a modified construction worker's hardhat.

Another baseball pioneer. First we have baseball mud, now a batting helmet. Good old American ingenuity on the 4th of July.

-1948 - Ted Williams faces three pitchers in the 7th inning, a first in American League history, as Boston snaps a 5 - 5 tie by scoring 14 runs on 14 RBIs to beat the visiting Philadelphia Athletics, 20 - 8.

His frozen head is about two miles from my office. Poor bastard.

-1951 - In a wild doubleheader featuring a double ejection of manager Charlie Dressen, the first-place Dodgers sweep the Giants, winning 6 - 5 in 11 innings, and 4 - 2. Dressen is tossed in the second inning of game two for protesting pitch calls; after he takes a seat behind the dugout umpire Robb tosses him a second time.

Bobby Cox has nothing on Charlie Dressen. Also, Bobby Cox is a wife beater.

-1954 - Morganna the Kissing Bandit is born.

This isn't actually from the Bullpen page but if there's anything this post needs it's really, really, really large breasts.


-1964 - Manny Jimenez, who went the entire 1963 season without a home run, hits 3, and goes 4-for-4 for Kansas City against Baltimore. The game ends in a 6 - 6 tie when halted by a special curfew so a fireworks display can take place in Baltimore.

I did some research and it turns out Bud Selig was NOT on the Baltimore city council that year.

-1970 - The Cards send three pinch hitters to the plate in the 8th inning and all three strike out.

Talk about your all-time backfires.

-1976 - On the nation's bicentennial anniversary, Philadelphia splits a doubleheader with Pittsburgh, 10 - 5 and 7 - 1. In the first game, the Phils' Tim McCarver loses a grand slam when he passes a teammate on the bases.

I heard McCarver tell this story just last week on the Fox game of the week. Turns out he isn't completely full of shit.

-1982 - Celebrating Independence Day at Mile High Stadium in Denver, 65,666 fans watch an American Association contest and enjoy a giant fireworks display after game. The gathering is the largest crowd in minor league history.

The creativity of the American Association is sad. Veeck wouldn't have settled for just fireworks.

-1983 - Dave Righetti pitches the Yankees' first no-hitter since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, handcuffing the Red Sox 4 - 0 before a holiday crowd of 41,077 at Yankee Stadium. It's the first no-hitter by a Yankee lefty since George Mogridge in 1917.

Bugs Raymond is not impressed.

-1985 - In a marathon game that borders on the surreal, the Mets endure two rain delays and 6:10 of playing time to beat the Braves 16 - 13 in 19 innings on Fireworks Night in Atlanta. The Mets had taken a 10 - 8 lead in the top of the 13th inning, only to watch the Braves tie it up. The Mets score again in the 18th, but relief hurler Rick Camp (a .060 hitter who was batting because Atlanta had no more position players available to pinch-hit) ties the score with his first ML home run on a 2-out 2-strike pitch in the bottom of the inning. No pitcher had ever homered that late in a game before. Finally the Mets erupt for five runs in the 19th off Camp and Atlanta can respond only with 2. Keith Hernandez hits for the cycle for the Mets, and the game ends at 3:55 A.M. on July 5th, the latest finish in ML history. At 4:01 A.M. the post-game fireworks display begins, causing local residents to think the city is under attack.

Hernandez celebrated by doing one, two, three and then four lines of cocaine and screaming "I'M KEITH HERNANDEZ!" at the top of his lungs.

-1987 - With the Phillies' 9-6 win over the Tigers, the Niekro brothers pass the Perrys (Gaylord and Jim) with 530 combined victories.

Gaylord. Never not funny.

-1998 - Dodger interim GM Tommy Lasorda sends blue chippers Dennys Reyes and Paul Konerko to the Reds for closer Jeff Shaw. Lasorda later admits he was unaware that Shaw, under terms of the Basic Agreement, has the right to demand a trade at the end of the season.

What's my opinion of the trade? What the fuck do you think is my opinion of it? I think it was fucking horseshit. Opinion of the trade? Jesus Christ, he traded away two studs for a bum. What the fuck do you mean what is my opinion of the trade. Jesus Christ. That's a tough question to ask. Jesus Christ.

-1999 - The Pirates lose to the Brewers, 4-3, losing C Jason Kendall to a severely dislocated ankle in the process. Trying to break up Steve Woodard's perfect game, Kendall drags a bunt in the 5th inning and hits the 1B bag awkwardly, ripping the ankle bone from the joint. He will be out for the rest of the season.

Still one of the worst injuries I've ever seen. I believe I was discussing it with my friend at the DBacks/Brewers game the other night before Chris Snyder had his nuts abused.

-2001 - The fifty people stranded on the Ferris wheel ride at Comerica Park for two hours during the Royal-Tiger game are rescued by firefighters and emergency crews using a cherry picker and a fire truck ladder. The inconvenience fans will receive tickets to another game, free dinner and team autographs from the Tigers.

They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.

-2008 - TBD

Posted by McLane at 8:50 AM