October 3
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
| Permanent link to Today's Entry | |
| Sources | |
| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 3.
[edit] Events
- 1897 - Cap Anson closes out a remarkable 27-year career that started in the National Association in 1871. He hits two home runs against St. Louis. At age 46, he becomes the oldest player to homer in the majors.
- 1904 - Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants strikes out 16 Cardinals in a 3 - 1 Giants victory. His 16 strikeouts set a new record as he finishes the game in one hour and 15 minutes.
- 1919 - Rookie pitcher Dickie Kerr throws a three-hit shutout as the Chicago White Sox win 3 - 0 over the Cincinnati Reds. Shoeless Joe Jackson has two hits and Chick Gandil drives in two runs as the White Sox cut Cincinnati's World Series lead to 2-1. Cuban Dolf Luque becomes the first Hispanic American player to appear in a World Series game, pitching one inning of relief for the Reds.
- 1920 - In a 16 - 7 win over the White Sox, George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns collects his 257th hit of the season to set a major league record. He also pitches a scoreless ninth inning in relief for St. Louis.
- 1926 - After the Yankees score twice in the second inning, Grover Cleveland Alexander sets down the last 21 batters, striking out 10, in Game Two of the World Series. Billy Southworth and Tommy Thevenow collect three hits each for a 6 - 2 Cardinals win.
- 1934 - Dizzy Dean wins the opening game of the World Series 8-3. Detroit Tigers manager Mickey Cochrane held back his ace pitcher, Schoolboy Rowe, and veteran General Crowder is ineffective as Joe Medwick goes 4-for-4 including a home run. The Tigers make five errors.
- 1940 - In the World Series, Jimmy Ripple's two-run home run in the third inning of Game Two provides the winning margin as the Cincinnati Reds end the National League's 10-game Series losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Tigers.
- 1945 - The Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs face eachother in the World Series for the fourth time. Hank Borowy pitches a six-hitter and Hal Newhouser is demolished with eight runs in three innings as the Cubs win, 9 - 0.
- 1946 - The St. Louis Cardinals win the National League pennant by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 8 - 4 and sweeping a best-of-three playoff.
- 1947 - New York Yankees pitcher Bill Bevens holds the Brooklyn Dodgers hitless until two are out in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Cookie Lavagetto doubles in two runs for a 3 - 2 Brooklyn victory in Game Four of the World Series.
- 1951 - Bobby Thomson hits a three-run home run off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5 - 4 playoff victory and the National League pennant.
- 1956 - Sal Maglie and the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the Yankees 6 - 3 in the opening game of the World Series.
- 1957 - In Game Three of the World Series, Lew Burdette wins the first of his three decisions against the Yankees. Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves beat Bobby Shantz 4 - 2.
- 1962 - The San Francisco Giants rally for four runs in the ninth inning to win the third game of the tie-breaking playoffs, 6 - 4, over the Los Angeles Dodgers and move on to the World Series.
- 1968 - In Game Two of the World Series, Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers ties the Series 1-1. Lolich pitches a six-hitter and hits his first major league home run to defeat the Cardinals, 8 - 1.
- 1971 - Bob Robertson hits three home runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9 - 4 trouncing of the San Francisco Giants, which ties the National League Championship Series at 1-1.
- 1972 - Roric Harrison homers as Baltimore beats Cleveland 4 - 3 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the designated hitter rule on the horizon, it will be the last home run hit by an American League pitcher until interleague play 25 years later.
- 1974 - Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in the major leagues, as the Cleveland Indians name him to replace Ken Aspromonte for the 1975 season.
- 1976 - Hank Aaron singles in his last major-league at bat and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5 - 2.
- 1981 - The Milwaukee Brewers and Montreal Expos clinch their first-ever postseason appearances. Milwaukee beats Detroit, 2 - 1, to wrap up the second-half title in the AL East, while Montreal defeats the Mets, 5 - 4, to win the NL East's second playoff spot.
- 1982 - Robin Yount hits two home runs and a triple as the Brewers defeat Baltimore, 10 - 2, to win the AL East championship. Don Sutton, 4-1 since being acquired by the Brewers in late August, is the winning pitcher. The Brewers had lost three in a row to Baltimore to make this last game of the season a do-or-die affair.
- 1986 - The Baltimore Orioles lose to Detroit 6 - 3, assuring the Orioles of their first last-place finish since moving from St. Louis in 1954.
- 1987 - Benito Santiago's 34-game hitting streak, a rookie record, ends as the San Diego Padres snap a nine-game losing streak with a 1 - 0 victory over the Dodgers.
- 1990 - George Brett of the Kansas City Royals becomes the first player in major league history to win a batting title in three different decades. Brett goes 1-for-1 in Kansas City's 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians to win the American League batting title with a .329 average. Brett also won AL batting titles in 1976 and 1980.
- 1990 - Willie McGee becomes the first major league player to win a batting title in a league in which he didn't finish the season. McGee, who had a .335 average when St. Louis traded him to Oakland on August 28, wins his second National League batting crown when Dave Magadan of the New York Mets fails to catch him on the season's final day.
- 1993:
- The Toronto Blue Jays become the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud led the league with a .363 batting average. Paul Molitor finished at .332 and Roberto Alomar closed the season at .326.
- The San Francisco Giants need to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on the final day of the season to force a one-game playoff with the Atlanta Braves for the NL West title, but the Dodgers have other plans. Los Angeles rips the Giants, 12 - 1. At 103-59, San Francisco becomes the first club since the 1954 Yankees to win that many games and not play in the postseason.
- 1995 - Tony Peña hits a home run to left field in the 13th inning to give the Indians a 5 - 4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of their AL division series. It is Cleveland's first postseason victory since the 1948 season.
- 1997 - The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins both sweep their respective NL division series. The Braves, behind a three-hitter by John Smoltz, complete the sweep of Houston with a 4 - 1 win. The Marlins ride a grand slam by Devon White to a 6 - 2 win and sweep of San Francisco.
- 1999 - On the final day of the season, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 65th home run, moving past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into 10th place on the career list with 522. McGwire finishes with a two-homer edge over Chicago's Sammy Sosa, who hits his 63rd on the same day.
- 2002 - Alex Cabrera hit his 55th home run, tying the Nippon Pro Baseball record set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by Tuffy Rhodes in 2001. Cabrera ends the season with 55 homers.
- 2004 - The final game in Montreal Expos team history is played away from home, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. New York defeated Montreal 8 - 1. Jamey Carroll scored the final Expos run and Endy Chavez became the final Expos batter in history when he grounded out in the top of the ninth to end the game. Ironically, it was at Shea Stadium where the Expos played their first ever game in 1969.
- 2007 - Walt Jocketty resigns after 13 seasons as General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. During his tenure, the Cardinals reached the postseason 7 times and won the 2006 World Series.
[edit] Births
- 1850 - Alexander Nevin, infielder (d. 1921)
- 1866 - Mike Goodfellow, outfielder (d. 1920)
- 1872 - Fred Clarke, outfielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1960)
- 1877 - Bill Byers, catcher (d. 1948)
- 1880 - Henry Thielman, pitcher (d. 1942)
- 1881 - Phil Reardon, outfielder (d. 1920)
- 1887 - Armando Marsans, outfielder (d. 1960)
- 1890 - Fred House, pitcher (d. 1923)
- 1891 - Jack Richardson, pitcher (d. 1970)
- 1895 - Bert Lewis, pitcher (d. 1950)
- 1900 - Charlie Dorman, catcher (d. 1928)
- 1905 - Red Dorman, outfielder (d. 1974)
- 1905 - Johnny Riddle, catcher (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Johnny Broaca, pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1910 - Bob Bowman, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1913 - Dom Dallessandro, outfielder (d. 1988)
- 1914 - Woody Wheaton, outfielder (d. 1995)
- 1915 - Charlie Letchas, infielder (d. 1995)
- 1917 - Frank Kalin, outfielder (d. 1975)
- 1919 - Joe Wood, infielder (d. 1985)
- 1922 - Jake Eisenhart, pitcher (d. 1987)
- 1925 - Chris Haughey, pitcher
- 1927 - Bill Harrington, pitcher
- 1928 - Dave Melton, outfielder (d. 2008)
- 1931 - Bob Skinner, outfielder, manager; All-Star
- 1932 - Phil Clark, pitcher
- 1936 - Jack Lamabe, pitcher (d. 2007)
- 1947 - Chuck Scrivener, infielder
- 1949 - Jim Breazeale, infielder
- 1949 - Steve Foucault, pitcher
- 1951 - Dave Winfield, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1954 - Dennis Eckersley, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1954 - Joe Gates, infielder
- 1954 - Bert Roberge, pitcher
- 1956 - Bob Kearney, catcher
- 1958 - Daryl Sconiers, infielder
- 1962 - Rick Surhoff, pitcher
- 1966 - Darrin Fletcher, catcher; All-Star
- 1966 - Scott Taylor, pitcher
- 1967 - Junior Felix, outfielder
- 1968 - Jim Byrd, pinch runner
- 1970 - Roger Bailey, pitcher
- 1970 - Manny Martinez, outfielder
- 1971 - Wil Cordero, infielder; All-Star
- 1971 - Tim Hyers, infielder
- 1971 - Earl Johnson, minor league outfielder
- 1973 - Kerry Robinson, outfielder
- 1974 - Alex Ramirez, outfielder
- 1975 - Scott Cassidy, pitcher
- 1975 - Mike Johnson, pitcher
- 1977 - Eric Munson, infielder
- 1978 - Steve Kent, pitcher
- 1981 - Matt Murton, outfielder
- 1982 - Brett Carroll, outfielder
- 1982 - Mike Conroy, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1895 - Harry Wright, outfielder, manager; Hall of Famer (b. 1835)
- 1938 - Morgan Murphy, catcher (b. 1867)
- 1941 - Bert Inks, pitcher (b. 1871)
- 1942 - Pinky Hargrave, catcher (b. 1896)
- 1949 - John Donahue, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1962 - Don Songer, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1965 - Delos Drake, outfielder (b. 1886)
- 1965 - Jerry McCarthy, infielder (b. 1923)
- 1967 - Fritz Mollwitz, infielder (b. 1890)
- 1975 - Elmer Knetzer, pitcher (b. 1885)
- 1986 - Vince DiMaggio, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1912)
- 1986 - Heinie Mueller, infielder (b. 1912)
- 1995 - Nippy Jones, infielder (b. 1925)
- 1999 - Paul Burris, catcher (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Ken Brondell, pitcher (b. 1921)
- 2004 - John Cerutti, pitcher (b. 1960)
- 2005 - Mario Encarnacion, outfielder (b. 1975)
- 2007 - Bunky Stewart, pitcher (b. 1931)
