July 19
1909 — Cleveland shortstop Neal Ball pulled off the first unassisted triple play in modern major league history.
1910 — Cy Young registered his 500th career victory as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators 5-4 in 11 innings.
1933 — Rick Ferrell of the Boston Red Sox hit a home run off brother Wes, pitching for the Cleveland Indians. Wes also homered in that game, marking the only time the two connected in the same contest.
1940 — Buddy Rosar of the New York Yankees hit for the cycle in a 15-6 rout of the Cleveland Indians.
1960 — Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants made his major league debut by pitching a one-hit, 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. He retired the first 19 batters before walking Pancho Herrera in the seventh inning. Clay Dalrymple singled to center with two outs in the eighth inning. Marichal struck out 12 and walked one.
1974 — Dick Bosman of the Cleveland Indians pitched a no-hit, 4-0 victory over the world champion Oakland A’s.
1977 — Joe Morgan opened the All-Star game with a home run off Jim Palmer and the National League jumped out to an early lead by scoring four runs in the first inning. The Nationals added three more runs and held on for a 7-5 win. It was the NL’s sixth straight win. NL starter Don Sutton gave up one hit over three innings and was named MVP.
1982 — In the first Old-timer’s All-Star Classic, played at Washington’s RFK Stadium before 29,000 fans, the AL won 7-2. Luke Appling, 75, led off for the AL and hit a home run over the shortened left-field fence off Warren Spahn.
1994 — The Kingdome, home of the Seattle Mariners, was closed after four ceiling tiles fell nearly 180 feet into the stands behind home plate. The Mariners were forced into a 22-day road trip before the season was cut short by the players’ strike.
2001 — Randy Johnson struck out 16, a major league record for a reliever, and came within four outs of combining with Curt Schilling on a no-hitter as Arizona beat San Diego 3-0 in the completion of their suspended game. Wiki Gonzalez hit an opposite-field single to right with two outs in the eighth for the Padres.
2013 — Rookie Brad Miller hit his first two major league homers and drove in five runs, and Seattle overcame rookie Brandon Barnes’ cycle in a 10-7 win over Houston. After doubling in the eight to complete his cycle, Barnes singled in the ninth to finish 5 for 5 and become the first Astro to collect five hits since Hunter Pence did it in May 2008.
2015 — After 20 years and 1,609 consecutive home games, the Los Angeles Angels finally lost another game to rain. Heavy downpours turned Angel Stadium’s outfield into virtual marshlands, forcing the postponement of their game against the Boston Red Sox. The Angels were rained out at home for just the 16th time in their 55-year franchise history.
2022 — The American League wins its 9th straight All-Star Game, 3 - 2 over the National League. The NL scores twice against Shane McClanahan in the bottom of the 1st, but is then limited to a single hit over the final 8 innings. In the 4th inning, the AL gets all its runs against Tony Gonsolin on a two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton and a solo shot by Byron Buxton. Stanton is named the game’s MVP.
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July 20
1906 — Malcolm Eason of Brooklyn pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
1925 — Brooklyn’s Dazzy Vance struck out 17 batters as the Dodgers tripped the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in 10 innings.
1933 — Babe Herman hit three home runs, including a grand slam, to pace the Chicago Cubs in a 10-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
1941 — New York’s Joe DiMaggio had three doubles and a homer in a 12-6, 17-inning Yankee victory over the Tigers in Detroit.
1958 — Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers threw a no-hitter, beating the Boston Red Sox 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.
1970 — Bill Singer of the Dodgers pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies for a 5-0 victory in front of 12,454 at Los Angeles.
1973 — Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox lost both ends of a doubleheader to the New York Yankees, 12-2 and 7-0.
1976 — Hank Aaron hit the 755th and final home run of his career to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 win over California.
2008 — Francisco Rodriguez became the fastest pitcher to 40 saves in big league history when he closed out the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-3 victory over Boston. Rodriguez, who struck out the side in the ninth inning, reached 40 saves in 98 games — 10 faster than John Smoltz did five years ago.
2009 — Matt Holliday homered twice, including a tying grand slam in the seventh inning, and Jack Cust followed with another shot, helping the Athletics rally from a 10-run deficit — the largest comeback in Oakland history — and beat the Minnesota Twins 14-13.
2013 — The Seattle Mariners manage only one hit but manage to beat the Astros 4-2.
2015 — Women’s baseball is played in The Pan American Games for the first time.
2017 — Matt Carpenter hits three home runs and two doubles as the Cardinals defeat the Cubs 17-5.
2021 — The Oakland, CA City Council votes to approve a non-binding term sheet for the Oakland Athletics′ ballpark project at Howard Terminal. A negative vote would have almost certainly meant the departure in short order of the team from what has been its home city for over half a century, but even with the positive vote, relocation could still happen. team President Dave Kaval having stated earlier that the A’s were not satisfied with the terms proposed for the vote. At issue is the A’s wish to see the city invest up to $855 million in public funds for land development around the project, something that may prove impossible in the current pandemic environment.
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July 21
1921 — The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees combined for an AL record 16 doubles in the Indians’ 17-8 victory. Cleveland had nine doubles and New York seven.
1945 — The Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics played 24 innings in a 1-1 tie. Les Mueller pitched 19 2-3 innings for the Tigers.
1956 — Brooks Lawrence of the Cincinnati Reds had his 13-game winning streak broken when Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory.
1970 — San Diego’s Clay Kirby held the New York Mets hitless for eight innings but was lifted for a pinch hitter by manager Preston Gomez. With the Padres trailing 1-0 with two out in the eighth, Gomez elected to go for the win instead of letting Kirby finish. The Padres lost the no-hitter and the game, 3-0.
1973 — Hank Aaron of Atlanta hit his 700th home run in the third inning of an 8-4 Braves loss to Philadelphia. Aaron connected on a 1-1 fastball off Phillies pitcher Ken Brett.
1975 — Joe Torre of the New York Mets grounded into four double plays in a 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros. Felix Millan had four singles but was wiped out each time by Torre.
2001 — In their highest-scoring game in 58 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers routed Colorado 22-7. The 22 runs were the most scored by the Dodgers since Brooklyn beat Pittsburgh 23-6 on July 10, 1943, at Ebbets Field.
2006 — Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach 450 home runs when he homered in the New York Yankees’ 7-3 loss to Toronto. Rodriguez also got his 2,000th career hit.
2007 — Jamie Moyer and David Wells face off. The two combine for 88 years and 307 days of age, making it the second-oldest matchup of starting pitchers in major league history. The only older duel was between Don Sutton and Phil Niekro in June of 1987.
2008 — Detroit’s 19-4 victory at Kansas City marked the third time this season the Tigers scored 19 runs. The Boston Red Sox were the last team to accomplish that feat, scoring 19 or more four times in 1950. Detroit beat Texas 19-6 on April 23 and Minnesota 19-3 on May 24.
2015 — Shin-Soo Choo hit for the cycle, leading the Texas Rangers past the Colorado Rockies 9-0. Choo, who had three RBIs, doubled in the second inning, homered in the fourth and singled in the fifth. He completed the cycle with a triple to center to start the ninth.
2019 — The 2019 Hall of Fame Class is inducted in Cooperstown, NY, with six former players being honored: Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith. All are present, save for Halladay, who passed away in a plane crash in 2017 and, who is represented by his wife, Brandy. Rivera, the first player to be elected unanimously to the Hall, gets the honor of speaking last, befitting his status as the greatest closer in history.
2021 — Eddy Alvarez is named one of two flag-bearers for Team USA at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that will take place in two days - after a full year’s delay. A member of the U.S. baseball team, Alvarez previously won an Olympic medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in short-track speed skating and is vying to become one of the few athletes ever to win medals in both a summer and a winter Olympics. Sue Bird, a member of the women’s basketball team, will join him as a flag-bearer.
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July 22
1905 — Weldon Henley of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a no-hitter, defeating the St. Louis Browns 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the highlight of Henley’s 4-11 season.
1906 — Bob Ewing pitched the Cincinnati Reds to a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies without a single assist by teammates.
1923 — Washington’s Walter Johnson struck out opposing pitcher Stan Coveleski for his 3,000th career strikeout. The Big Train, the first player in MLB history to reach 3,000 strikeouts, struck out five and allowed one run to give the Senators a 3-1 win over Cleveland.
1926 — Cincinnati had four triples in an 11-run second inning as the Reds beat the Boston Braves, 13-1. Curt Walker hit two in the inning to tie an NL record for most triples in an inning.
1932 — Philadelphia’s Mickey Cochrane hit for the cycle and drove in four runs to lead the Athletics to an 8-4 win over the Washington Senators.
1962 — Floyd Robinson of the Chicago White Sox had six singles in six at-bats in a 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
1964 — Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hit for the cycle, drove in three runs and scored four times in the Pirates’ 13-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.
1967 — The Atlanta Braves used a major league record five pitchers in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The pitchers were Ken Johnson, Ramon Hernandez, Claude Raymond, Dick Kelley and Cecil Upshaw.
1997 — Atlanta’s Greg Maddux turned in a masterful pitching performance, using 76 pitches in a complete game 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
2000 — Seattle’s 13-5 win over Texas was interrupted for 54 minutes when a rainstorm drenched fans at Safeco Field and the $517.6 million stadium’s roof wouldn’t close because of a computer problem. The roof finally began closing about 20 minutes later.
2006 — Alfonso Soriano had three doubles, a triple and scored two runs to lead Washington to a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
2012 — Seth Smith hit a tying homer in the ninth inning, Coco Crisp singled home the winning run in the 12th and the surging Oakland Athletics rallied from four runs down to stun the New York Yankees 5-4 and complete a four-game sweep. The Yankees had not been swept in a four-game series since May 2003 against Toronto.
2013 — Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, was suspended for the rest of the season and the postseason, the start of sanctions involving players reportedly tied to a Florida clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. The Milwaukee Brewers star accepted the 65-game ban, 15 games more than the one he avoided last year when an arbitrator overturned his positive test for elevated testosterone because the urine sample had been improperly handled.
2014 — The Minnesota Twins turn a triple play against the Yankees.
2022 — In their first game after the All-Star break, the Blue Jays set a team record for runs in a 28 - 5 beatdown of the Red Sox.
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