1. materials characteristic of baseball and the culture of baseball; 2. collectible baseball Americana
1988
Jose Canseco belts two home runs in the A’s 6-2 win over Seattle to become the first player to hit thirty or more home runs in each of his first three Major League seasons. He’d finish the year with 42 dingers. 
1955
Smoky Burgess of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in a 16-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field. This season was the first 20+ home run season of Burgess’ career. 
1988
Tommy John makes three errors on one play as the Yankees host the Milwaukee Brewers. Although the errors led to two runs, it made little difference as the Bronx Bombers won in a 16-3 rout of the Brewers.
1977
Pete Rose singles in the fourth inning of the Cincinnati Reds 9-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. It is Rose’s 2,881st career hit, enabling him to surpass Frankie Frisch as the all-time leader among MLB switch-hitters.
1964
Kansas City A’s rookie Bert Campaneris sends the Minnesota Twins to defeat 4-3 with two home runs in his MLB debut. The first comes on the very first pitch thrown to him by Jim Kaat. The 21-year-old Cuban was one of only two players since 1900 to hit two home runs in their first MLB game.
1945
The Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics played twenty-four innings and ended in a 1-1 tie. Future Hall of Fame third baseman, George Kell, came to bat 10 times in the game without a hit.
1933
Babe Herman hit three home runs, including a grand slam, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 10-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. The eventual Hall of Famer would end the season with 16 home runs.
1987
Don Mattingly tied Dale Long’s 31-year-old Major League record when he hit a home run for the eighth consecutive game in the Yankees’ 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.
1941
This is the date on which Joe DiMaggio extended his hitting streak to fifty-six games with a 3-for-4 day as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 10-3. The next night, in front of 67,468 fans, DiMaggio went hitless against Cleveland pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby, Jr. to end the streak.
1980
Johnny Bench broke Yogi Berra’s record for home runs by a catcher as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos 12-7. Bench hit his 314th homer as a catcher off David Palmer. Bench had thirty-three home runs while playing other positions.