1. materials characteristic of baseball and the culture of baseball; 2. collectible baseball Americana
1981
Kansas City Royals manager Jim Frey is fired and replaced by Dick Howser, whose Yankees lost to Frey’s Royals in the previous season’s American League Championship Series. Howser was fired by George Steinbrenner shortly after that series.
1965
Following his doctor’s advice, Casey Stengel announces his retirement as manager of the New York Mets. He will head up Mets scouting in California. The 75-year-old Stengel has been in professional baseball since 1910 as a player, scout, coach and manager.
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Continue readingOn This Day: August 30
1954
A disappointed crowd of 45,922 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium sees the Dodgers take take both ends of a doubleheader from the Braves, 12-4, and 11-4. In game one, the Dodgers break a tie with a record eight runs in the eleventh inning. Even so, the Braves establish a new National League attendance mark of 1,841,666 on their way to a…
Continue readingOn This Day: August 29
1983
Greg Luzinski becomes the first player to park three home runs onto the roof at Comiskey Park, connecting off Boston’s Oil Can Boyd in a 6-2 Chicago victory. Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams each accomplished the feat twice.
1955
In his rookie season, Brooklyn Dodgers bonus baby Sandy Koufax fans 14 Cincinnati Redlegs in a 7-0 win, as the two teams total 23 strikeouts in the 9-inning contest.
1972
Leo Durocher, fired by the Cubs after 90 games, replaces Harry Walker as manager of the Astros. It is only the second time someone has managed two National League teams in the same season. The first was in 1948, when Durocher himself piloted the Brooklyn Dodgers and then their arch-rivals, the New York Giants.
Continue readingOn This Day: August 26
1956
To make room for Hall of Fame outfielder Enos Slaughter, the Yankees give Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto his unconditional release. Through the instigation of Ballantine Beer, Rizzuto will be in the announcing booth the next season. In fact, Rizzuto will enjoyed a 40-year career as a radio and television sports announcer for the Yankees. He became well-known for…
Continue readingOn This Day: August 25
1982
Kansas City’s backstop, John Wathan, steals his 31st base of the season in a 5-3 win over the Rangers, breaking the single-season record for catchers set by Hall of Famer Ray Schalk in 1916. Wathan will finish the season with a career-high 36 stolen bases.
1992
Eventual Hall of Fame reliever, Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics, who previously set the record for most consecutive saves (40), becomes the first pitcher to record 40 saves in four different seasons.
1926
After three games with the Detroit Tigers are rained out at home, Connie Mack and Tom Shibe get a court injunction and the Athletics play the first Sunday game ever seen in Philadelphia. A light rain holds the crowd to 10,000 while Lefty Grove defeats the White Sox 3-2. However, a court later rules that Sunday baseball is still illegal,…
Continue readingOn This Day: August 22