This Date in Baseball - Randy Johnson is the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game

May 18

1912 — Detroit players went on strike to protest Ty Cobb’s suspension. To avoid a forfeit and fine, manager Hugh Jennings recruited college players and others; they lost to the Philadelphia A’s 24-2. Joe Travers gave up all 24 runs on 26 hits.

1929 — The Brooklyn Dodgers outslugged the Philadelphia Phillies for a 20-16 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Brooklyn’s Babe Herman and Johnny Frederick each had five hits. Frederick scored five times to give him a major league record eight runs in two games. The Phillies won the second game 8-6. The teams combined for a record 50 runs in a doubleheader.

1933 — The first All-Star Game is announced for July 6th at Comiskey Park. It will be played as part of the Chicago World’s Fair celebration.

1956 — Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career, setting a major league record.

1957 — Dick Williams of the Orioles hit a ninth-inning, game-tying solo home run against Chicago’s Paul LaPalme seconds before 10:20 p.m. — the curfew set so the White Sox could catch a train out of Baltimore. If Williams had done anything else, Chicago would have won. The game was later replayed from the beginning and Baltimore won.

1968 — Frank Howard hit his 10th home run in a six-game span to power the Washington Senators to an 8-4 victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium.

1981 — Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela finally loses a game, 4-0, to the Philadelphia Phillies. He is now 8-1 and his earned run average increases to 0.90.

1990 — Chicago Cubs Ryne Sandberg’s errorless game streak at second base comes to an end after 123 games and 584 chances. Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds had held the previous record of 91 games.

1990 — The Baltimore Orioles tied an AL record with eight consecutive singles in a seven-run first inning against Bobby Witt to beat the Texas Rangers 13-1. The eight straight singles equaled a record set by the Washington Senators against Cleveland in 1951 and matched by the Oakland Athletics against Chicago in 1981.

1999 — Edgar Martinez hit three home runs — tying a major league record with five homers in two games — to give the Seattle Mariners a 10-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. He homered twice in the opener of the series.

2000 — Mark McGwire homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.

2003 — The Texas Rangers swept three games at Yankee Stadium for the first time in the franchise’s 43-year existence, winning 5-3.

2004 — Randy Johnson, 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0. It was the 17th perfect game in major league history and the first since the New York Yankees’ David Cone did it against Montreal on July 18, 1999.

2009 — Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate and the New York Yankees finished a four-game sweep of Minnesota with a 7-6 victory.

_____