April 24
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 24.
Events[edit]
- 1901 - Three rain postponements give Chicago the honor of hosting the first major league game in American League history (the circuit played as a minor league in 1900). At South Side Park, a crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game to see pitcher Roy Patterson take the win for the Chicago White Sox over the the visiting Cleveland Blues, 8 - 2. Clark Griffith manages Chicago.
- 1902 - Professional baseball gets its start in Durham, North Carolina as the Durham Tobacconists (who will be renamed the Bulls 11 years later) play an exhibition game against Trinity College (now Duke University). The Bulls, except for 1971-1980, when minor league baseball didn't exist in the city, will continue to play in Durham until the present day.
- 1911 - The Battle Creek Crickets of the Southern Michigan League turn two triple plays in the first two innings of today's game.
- 1917 - George Mogridge of the New York Yankees pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, 2 - 1, at Fenway Park. Mogridge strikes out three batters and walks three as he becomes the first Yankee pitcher to actually win a no-hit game.
- 1923 - U.S. President Warren G. Harding witnesses the first shutout ever thrown at Yankee Stadium as Babe Ruth hits a home run in New York's 4 - 0 victory over the Senators.
- 1926 - Unfazed by Forbes Field's ample dimensions, St. Louis Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby leads by example, slugging his team to a 9 - 3 thrashing of the Pirates. He goes 3 for 3 with a single, double, sacrifice fly and tape-measure inside the park home run for a total of five RBI.
- 1931 - Three days before his 35th birthday, Chicago's player-manager Rogers Hornsby again has a great game at Forbes Field as he hits three consecutive home runs to beat the Pirates, 10 - 6. Two of the long balls come off Larry French and the third off Claude Willoughby.
- 1945 - Happy Chandler becomes the second baseball commissioner. The major league owners unanimously elect the former governor of Kentucky on the first ballot and reward him with a seven-year contract. Chandler succeeds Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the game's first commissioner, who died in 1944.
- 1946 - Former major leaguers Jesse Burkett, Frank Chance, Jack Chesbro, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Tommy McCarthy, Joe McGinnity, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell and Ed Walsh are inducted into the Hall of Fame. This comes as a result of the BBWAA having once again failed to elect anyone: clearly overstepping its mandate, the Old Timers Committee steps into the breach and elects a boatload of players, many of which are under active consideration by the baseball writers.
- 1947 - Johnny Mize of the New York Giants becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in a game on five different occasions. Mize hits his trio off Johnny Sain of the Boston Braves, but in spite of his barrage, the Giants lose to the Braves, 14 - 5.
- 1956 - American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular-season game when he officiates a contest between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics. A former NFL tackle for the New York Giants, Umont still presents an intimidating appearance to most players and fans.
- 1957 - The Chicago Cubs set a National League record by walking nine batters in the 5th inning of a 9 - 5 loss to the Cincinnati Redlegs. Moe Drabowsky walks four batters, Jackie Collum issues three free passes, and Jim Brosnan two during the wild inning.
- 1958 - Lee Walls hits three home runs and drives in eight runs as the Cubs rout the Dodgers, 15 - 2, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
- 1962:
- Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers strikes out 18 Chicago Cubs in a 10 - 2 victory at Wrigley Field. Koufax ties the record of 18 strikeouts in a single game, matching the mark set by Bob Feller with the Cleveland Indians.
- New York Mets manager Casey Stengel is fined $500 dollars by Commissioner Ford Frick for appearing in a beer advertisement.
- 1965 - Casey Stengel records his 3,000th victory as a manager as the Mets beat the Giants, 7 - 6.
- 1966 - The Atlanta Braves establish a major league record by winning their 18th consecutive game at home. The first 17 wins of the streak had actually occurred in Milwaukee, the Braves' home in 1965.
- 1978 - Nolan Ryan of the California Angels strikes out 15 batters for the 20th time in his career, but leaves in the 9th inning without a decision. The Seattle Mariners prevails over the Angels, 6 - 5, in the 12th.
- 1994 - Chicago White Sox hitters Julio Franco and Robin Ventura hit home runs back-to-back twice in a 7 - 6 defeat to the Detroit Tigers.
- 1996 - Greg Myers and Paul Molitor each have five RBI as the Minnesota Twins set a team record for runs and rout the Detroit Tigers, 24 - 11. It is the highest run total against the Tigers in 84 years, matching the mark set in a 24 - 2 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics on May 18, 1912, in a game in which Detroit used replacement players due to a players' strike.
- 1998:
- Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza ties a major league record hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run 2nd inning which leads Los Angeles to 12 - 4 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs.
- At Candlestick Park, Geoff Jenkins hits a home run off Orel Hershiser to become the first Milwaukee Brewers player to hit a home run in his major league debut. The Brewers defeat the Giants, 7 - 5. Jenkins joins Chuck Tanner, who accomplished the feat in 1955 as a member of the Milwaukee Braves, as the only players in Milwaukee baseball history to homer in their first game.
- 2001 - The American League celebrates its 100th anniversary as a major league.
- 2009:
- Zack Greinke continues to dominate opposing hitters as he pitches a second straight complete game for the Kansas City Royals. He strikes out ten in a 6 - 1 win over Detroit. The Tigers' lone run in the 5th inning is unearned, but it ends Greinke's streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last season. He is nonetheless 4-0 with a virgin ERA so far this year, on his way to winning the AL Cy Young Award.
- At Fenway Park, Mariano Rivera is charged with a rare blown save in the first matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox this season. With two outs in the 9th inning, Rivera gives up a two-run home run to Jason Bay to tie the score, 4 - 4. Kevin Youkilis homers over the Green Monster in the 11th for a 5 - 4 Boston win.
- 2010:
- After undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2009, Ted Lilly pitches six scoreless innings in his first start of the year for the Cubs, leading his team to a 5 - 1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Zambrano, who, in a controversial decision, was moved to the bullpen to make room for Lilly in the starting rotation, pitches an inning and a third in his first relief appearance in almost eight years. He gives up the Brewers' sole run, but drives in one of the Cubs' tallies with a sacrifice fly.
- Wade LeBlanc pitches six scoreless innings and records his first win of the year as the Padres shut out the Reds, 5 - 0, for their eighth consecutive victory. Adrian Gonzalez, Will Venable and Yorvit Torrealba all hit home runs for the red-hot Padres.
- Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins goes 0 for 4 in the second game of today's doubleheader, ending his hitting streak at 21 games, dating back to last September. He still drives in the Marlins' lone run in an 8 - 1 loss to the Rockies, giving him 20 RBI for the season. Cantu went 1 for 4 as Florida won the first game, 4 - 1. His hitting streak included a ten-game stretch to start the year during which he collected at least a hit and a RBI in each game.
- Pitcher Chris Jakubauskas of the Pirates is hit in the back of the head by a line drive off the bat of Lance Berkman in the 1st inning of a game at Minute Maid Park. He suffers a concussion and is taken out the game and placed on the disabled list, but there is no fracture or hemorrhage. The Pirates lose to the Astros, 5 - 2.
- 2011:
- The Dodgers' Andre Ethier extends his hitting streak to 21 games with an RBI single in a five-run 1st inning as Los Angeles beats the Cubs, 7 - 3.
- The Braves complete their first sweep of the Giants in San Francisco since 1998 with a 9 - 6 win in ten innings. Nate McLouth hits a two-run single off Brian Wilson to place the Braves ahead. Atlanta also beat last postseason's heroes, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, during the three-game series.
- Roy Halladay strikes out a career-high 14 batters in a 3 - 1 win over the Padres. The Phillies ace shows some fatigue in the 9th and newly-minted closer Antonio Bastardo picks up the save, with regular closer Brad Lidge and his understudy Jose Contreras both on the disabled list.
- 2012:
- The Mets defeat the Marlins, 2 - 1, in a game marking the return of star shortstop Jose Reyes to New York after leaving the Big Apple for Miami as a free agent the previous off-season. Johan Santana strikes out 11 in 6 2/3 innings for the Mets, but leaves the game trailing, 1 - 0, as his teammates have yet to score a run in support of his pitching this year. The Mets score two late runs to win the game, but it is reliever Jon Rauch who gets the W. Before the game, the Mets place two key players on the disabled list, LF Jason Bay who has a broken rib, and starting P Mike Pelfrey, who has swelling in his elbow.
- The game between the Yankees and Rangers features a duel between two Japanese free agent signees, Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish. Darvish gets the upper hand, pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out ten in leading Texas to a 2 - 0 win.
- Chipper Jones homers on his 40th birthday (off Aaron Harang) as the Braves beat the Dodgers, 4 - 3. He becomes the fifth player in major league history to do this, following Bob Thurman, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs and Tony Phillips.
- 2013 - The Rockies continue to surprise, today beating the Braves, owners of the major leagues' best record, with a 12-inning, 6 - 5 win. The Rockies rally to tie the game against closer Craig Kimbrel on Dexter Fowler's two-out double in the bottom of the 9th, and Yorvit Torrealba, playing 1B because the Rox have used all of their substitutes, drives in Wilin Rosario with a single off Luis Ayala with two outs in the bottom of the 12th to end the game.
- 2014:
- P Michael Pineda of the Yankees is handed a ten-game suspension after being caught using pine tar on the mound in the previous day's game. The sentence is longer than previous ones, as there had already been controversy over his alleged use of the substance earlier this season. Pineda acknowledges his sin and states that he will not appeal the suspension.
- David Ortiz breaks Harold Baines' record for games played at Designated Hitter (1,644); Ortiz already held records for hits, homers and RBI as a DH. Ortiz goes 0 for 1 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch before leaving early in a 12 - 5 Boston loss to the Yankees.
- 2015:
- Rumors emerge that the Rangers have reached a tentative deal with the Angels to acquire troubled OF Josh Hamilton. Hamilton left Texas after the 2012 season to sign a five-year deal worth $125 million, but has not been as productive a player since the deal and suffered a relapse of dependency problems. He has yet to play a game this season.
- The Yankees snap the Mets' franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak with a 6 -1 win. Jacob deGrom allows three homers, two by Mark Teixeira and the other by Jacoby Ellsbury, to be tagged with the loss. Michael Pineda is the winner.
- 2016 - Chris Heisey ends a 16-inning marathon by belting a walk-off homer off Michael Tonkin that gives the Nationals a 6 - 5 win over the Twins. At 5 hours and 56 minutes, it is the longest regular season game in Nats history. It goes into extra innings after Bryce Harper hits the first pinch homer of his career off closer Kevin Jepsen to tie it at 4 in the 9th. Washington is down by a run again in the 15th when Danny Espinosa draws a two-out walk and steals second; out of pinch-hitters, manager Dusty Baker lets P Oliver Perez bat for himself and he lays down a bunt down the third base line. C John Ryan Murphy picks it up and throws wildly to first base, allowing Espinosa to score and prolonging the game. The Twins strike out 20 times during the game.
- 2017:
- Eric Thames hits two more homers, both off Amir Garrett, to lead the Brewers to an 11 - 7 win over the Reds. Thames has hit ten homers in his first 19 games after three years spent in the Korea Baseball Organization.
- Dovydas Neverauskas becomes the first Lithuanian to play in the majors. He allows one run in two innings to close out a 14 - 3 Pirates loss to the Cubs. He is also the first major league pitcher to emerge from the MLB European Academy.
- 2023:
- The Tampa Bay Rays see their record streak of hitting at least one homer in every game since the start of the season end at 21, but they still defeat the Astros, 8 - 3, to improve their record at Tropicana Field to 14-0. It is the best home start by any major league team since the 1886 Detroit Wolverines began the year with 18 winning games at home. In the win, SS Wander Franco makes the highlight reels for running almost 100 feet from his position to catch a foul pop-up with his back to the play - with his bare hand!
- In a rare highlight for the A's this season, Brent Rooker and Jesus Aguilar become the first players in franchise history to homer back-to-back twice in the same game. They pull off the feat in the 1st and 3rd innings against the Angels, although Oakland still needs ten innings to win the game, 11 - 10.
Births[edit]
- 1863 - Jim Field, infielder (d. 1953)
- 1873 - Bob Ewing, pitcher (d. 1947)
- 1878 - Charlie Graham, catcher (d. 1948)
- 1889 - Joe Wagner, infielder (d. 1948)
- 1890 - Henry Smoyer, infielder (d. 1958)
- 1891 - Pete Falsey, pinch hitter (d. 1976)
- 1893 - Walt Smallwood, pitcher (d. 1967)
- 1894 - Howard Ehmke, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1895 - Harry Harper, pitcher (d. 1963)
- 1895 - Dixie Parker, catcher (d. 1972)
- 1896 - Pug Griffin, infielder (d. 1951)
- 1896 - Ken Penner, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1897 - Andy Cooper, pitcher, manager; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1941)
- 1903 - Jimmy Moore, outfielder (d. 1986)
- 1906 - Lloyd Brazil, college coach (d. 1965)
- 1906 - Red Worthington, outfielder (d. 1963)
- 1908 - Felton Wilson, catcher (d. 1973)
- 1910 - Sam Harshany, catcher (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Herb Harris, pitcher (d. 1991)
- 1920 - Dixie Howell, catcher (d. 1990)
- 1922 - Ed Musial, minor league outfielder (d. 2003)
- 1925 - Faye Dancer, AAGPBL outfielder (d. 2002)
- 1927 - Marvin Hecht, umpire (d. 2019)
- 1927 - Frank Lucchesi, manager (d. 2019)
- 1931 - Lou DiMuro, umpire (d. 1982)
- 1935 - Kusuo Tanaka, NPB outfielder and manager (d. 2001)
- 1936 - Glen Hobbie, pitcher (d. 2013)
- 1938 - Dale Orem, college coach
- 1940 - Terry Tata, umpire
- 1942 - Ming-Cheng Lin, Taiwan national team manager; Taiwan Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1943 - Ivan Murrell, outfielder (d. 2006)
- 1943 - Joe Verbanic, pitcher
- 1944 - Bill Singer, pitcher; All-Star
- 1947 - Masatake Yamanaka, college coach; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1948 - Bob Beall, infielder
- 1952 - Pat Zachry, pitcher; All-Star
- 1955 - John Peerens, First Division player and manager
- 1956 - Steve Collins, minor league pitcher
- 1957 - Osamu Ino, NPB umpire
- 1958 - Bill Krueger, pitcher
- 1958 - Herman Segelke, pitcher
- 1959 - Doriano Bindi, Serie A1 manager
- 1961 - Makoto Maeda, Japanese national team outfielder
- 1963 - Tony DeFrancesco, manager
- 1963 - Ian Jordan, minor league outfielder
- 1964 - Mick Billmeyer, coach
- 1965 - Mike Blowers, infielder
- 1967 - Omar Vizquel, infielder; All-Star
- 1968 - Todd Jones, pitcher; All-Star
- 1968 - Randy Marshall, minor league infielder
- 1969 - Erik Remmerswaal, Hoofdklasse pitcher
- 1969 - Ryan Turner, minor league outfielder
- 1972 - Nobuyuki Ebisu, NPB pitcher
- 1972 - Chipper Jones, infielder; All-Star
- 1973 - Carlos Mirabal, NPB pitcher
- 1974 - Will Cunnane, pitcher
- 1974 - Yoshinori Murata, NPB catcher
- 1976 - John Barnes, outfielder
- 1977 - Carlos Beltran, outfielder; All-Star
- 1978 - A.J. Zapp, minor league infielder
- 1978 - Jose Flores, minor league player
- 1979 - Benjamin Deruelle, Division Elite catcher
- 1980 - Gregory Palanzo, Italian Baseball League pitcher
- 1982 - Jan Jablonka, Extraliga infielder
- 1982 - Fernando Miqueleiz, Division Honor catcher
- 1983 - Daniel Barone, pitcher
- 1985 - Zach Booker, minor league player
- 1985 - Renny Osuna, minor league infielder
- 1985 - Ryan Reid, pitcher
- 1986 - Brett Butts, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Aaron Cunningham, outfielder
- 1987 - Welington Castillo, catcher
- 1987 - Jeff Urlaub, minor league pitcher
- 1988 - Robert Donovan, minor league pitcher
- 1988 - Bruce Kern, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Steven Souza, outfielder
- 1990 - Yuji Kaneko, NPB outfielder
- 1990 - Julio Torrealba, minor league pitcher
- 1991 - Forrestt Allday, minor league outfielder
- 1991 - Meagan Cornellsen, Canadian women's national team outfielder
- 1991 - Mourik Huijser, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1991 - Nikos Lekkas, Greek national team outfielder
- 1991 - Tyler Naquin, outfielder
- 1991 - Brady North, coach
- 1991 - Carlos Ramirez, pitcher
- 1992 - Bongkot Anantansan, Thai national team catcher
- 1992 - Rangel Ravelo, infielder
- 1993 - Keisuke Honda, NPB pitcher
- 1993 - Daniel Liu, Peruvian national team outfielder
- 1993 - John Means, pitcher; All-Star
- 1994 - Asanka Lakmal, Sri Lankan national team outfielder
- 1994 - Yu-Ning Tsao, Taiwan national team outfielder
- 1997 - Willi Castro, infielder
- 1997 - Bailey Falter, pitcher
- 1997 - Jovani Moran, pitcher
- 1999 - Justin Olic, Bundesliga pitcher-outfielder
- 2000 - Juan Elorza, Argentinian national team pitcher
- 2004 - Mathis Nayral, French Division I pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1899 - Pat Luby, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1905 - Jim Gardner, pitcher (b. 1873)
- 1914 - S.L. Kahn, umpire (b. 1849)
- 1936 - Tacks Latimer, catcher (b. 1875)
- 1941 - Lawrence Whitney, Olympic outfielder (b. 1891)
- 1946 - Bill Supple, umpire (b. 1866)
- 1966 - Rinaldo Williams, infielder (b. 1893)
- 1967 - Lester Patterson, minor league catcher and scout (b. 1897)
- 1971 - Erv Lange, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1976 - Pel Austin, minor league outfielder and manager (b. 1925)
- 1978 - Marty Walker, pitcher (b. 1899)
- 1979 - Fred Koster, outfielder (b. 1905)
- 1980 - Dink Mothell, infielder, manager (b. 1897)
- 1980 - Beryl Richmond, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1981 - John Krider, minor league pitcher and manager (b. 1907)
- 1982 - Buster Ross, pitcher (b. 1903)
- 1987 - John Mihalic, infielder (b. 1911)
- 1988 - Mike Blazo, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1917)
- 1992 - Elio Chacon, infielder (b. 1936)
- 1995 - John Campbell, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1996 - Gary Geiger, outfielder (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Fuzz White, outfielder (b. 1916)
- 2006 - Sibby Sisti, infielder (b. 1920)
- 2007 - Richard Bélec, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1935)
- 2012 - Fred Bradley, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 2012 - Fokke Jelsma, Hoofdklasse outfielder (b. 1943)
- 2018 - Marv Rackley, outfielder (b. 1921)
- 2020 - Ray Jarvis, pitcher (b. 1946)
- 2020 - George Zuraw, scout (b. 1930)
- 2022 - Kevin Garner, minor league outfielder (b. 1965)
- 2022 - Chris Haughey, pitcher (b. 1925)
- 2023 - José Corpas Jr., Colombian national team outfielder (b. ~1943)
- 2023 - Dennis Ribant, pitcher (b. 1941)
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