May 3
1927 — Brooklyn’s Jesse Barnes defeated his brother Virgil Barnes for a 7-6 victory over the New York Giants. It was the first matchup of pitching brothers in major league history.
1936 — Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut for the New York Yankees and had three hits in a 14-5 victory over the St. Louis Browns.
1951 — Rookie Gil McDougald of New York drove in six runs in one inning to tie a major league record as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 17-3 at Sportsman’s Park. McDougald had a two-run triple and a grand slam in an 11-run ninth inning.
1959 — Detroit’s Charlie Maxwell hit four consecutive homers in a doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees, 4-2 and 8-2, at Briggs Stadium.
1963 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hits his first major league home run off St. Louis Cardinals ace Ernie Broglio.
1975 — Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson decides to switch Pete Rose from left field to third base.
1979 — Cleveland’s Bobby Bonds hit the 300th home run of his career against Moose Haas in a 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Bonds, with 413 stolen bases at the time, became the second player to have 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, joining Willie Mays.
1980 — Ferguson Jenkins of the Texas Rangers became the fourth pitcher in major league history to win 100 or more games in each league. Jenkins beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 at Arlington Stadium. Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Gaylord Perry also reached the milestone.
1980 — Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hits his 521st and final career home run against Scott Sanderson of the Montreal Expos, helping the Giants to a 3-2 win. His shot ties him with Ted Williams on the all-time list. McCovey will enter the Hall of Fame in 1986.
1992 — Baltimore closer Gregg Olson, age 25, became the youngest pitcher in major league history to record 100 saves.
1994 — Philadelphia reliever Andy Carter made his major league debut and was ejected from the game after hitting two of three San Diego Padres batters he faced.
1998 — Dan Wilson of the Seattle Mariners hits the first inside-the-park grand slam in the franchise’s history.
1999 — Boston’s Creighton Gubanich hit a grand slam for his first major league hit in a 12-11, 10-inning loss to Oakland. Gubanich became the fourth player to accomplish the feat and the first since Seattle’s Orlando Mercado did it Sept. 19, 1982. Bill Duggleby (1898 – Phillies) and Bobby Bonds (1968 – Giants) were the others.
1999 — Jeff Kent of the San Francisco Giants went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
2001 — Johnny Oates resigns as the Texas Rangers manager and will be replaced by the team’s third base coach Jerry Narron. A poor start of 11-17 due to a lack of pitching, and owner Tom Hicks’s high expectations after signing prized free agent Alex Rodriguez, had led to speculation the Texas skipper would soon be fired.
2009 — Carl Crawford tied a modern major league record with six stolen bases to help Tampa Bay beat Boston 5-3. Crawford was 4-for-4 with an RBI and became the fourth player to swipe six bases in a game, joining Eddie Collins (twice), Otis Nixon, and Eric Young.
2011 — Francisco Liriano pitched the major leagues’ first no-hitter of the season, throwing his first career complete game in Minnesota’s 1-0 victory over Chicago. Liriano walked six and struck out two. Liriano, the reigning AL comeback player of the year, was backed by Jason Kubel’s fourth-inning homer.
2012 — The great Mariano Rivera, baseball’s all-time save leader, suffers a torn ligament in his right knee while shagging fly balls during batting practice before the Yankees’ game with the Royals.
2015 — Owners of the worst record in the major leagues at 7-18, the Brewers fire manager Ron Roenicke. He will be replaced tomorrow by Craig Counsell, who has been inactive after retiring as a player following the 2011 season.
2018 — The Mariners announce that they have released 44-year-old OF Ichiro Suzuki, who is hitting .205 with no extra-base hits in 15 games and that he will stay on as a special assistant to the Chairman.
2022 — In Houston’s 4 – 0 win over the Mariners, Dusty Baker becomes the 12th manager in history to reach the 2,000-win mark.
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