Aug. 16
1920 — Shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch in the fifth inning by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffered a fractured skull and died the next day. It is the only field fatality in major league history.
1927 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became the first player to clear the roof at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ruth’s home run came off White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas in the 8-1 win.
1947 — Ralph Kiner hit three successive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field.
1950 — Hank Thompson hit two inside-the-park home runs in the Giants’ 16-7 rout of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds.
1967 — Jim Maloney of Cincinnati retired 19 consecutive Pirates but had to leave the game after he injured his ankle by stepping in a hole at Forbes Field. Billy McCool allowed two hits over the final 2 2-3 innings to give the Reds a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
1987 — Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos went 5-for-5 with four extra-base hits and the cycle in a 10-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1987 — New York’s Darryl Strawberry drove in five runs with four extra-base hits to lead the Mets to a 23-10 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
1989 — Tom Drees pitched his third no-hitter of the season for AAA Vancouver, beating Las Vegas, 5-0, in the 7-inning opener of a doubleheader. He had consecutive 1-0 no-hitters, beating Calgary in nine innings (May 23) and Edmonton in seven (May 28).
1996 — With 23,699 fans at the 25,644-seat Estadio Monterrey, the San Diego Padres defeated the New York Mets 15-10 in the first major league regular-season game played outside the United States or Canada.
2009 — Derek Jeter hits an RBI double off Seattle’s Doug Fister in the 3rd for his 2,674th hit as a shortstop, surpassing Luis Aparicio’s all-time leading total for the position.
2011 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Pittsburgh.
2012 — Major League Baseball approves the sale of the San Diego Padres from John Moores to a group headed by local businessman Ron Fowler, which also includes former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley and pro golfer Phil Mickelson. The sale is for $800 million.
2013 — Grant Holman of Chula Vista, Calif. struck out 13 and became the first player to toss a no-hitter in the Little League World Series since the 85-pitch rule was put in place in 2007.
2018 — Jose Bautista hit a grand slam and had a career-high seven RBIs and the New York Mets set a franchise record for runs, forcing the Phillies to use two position players for the final three innings of a 24-4 victory in the first game of a doubleheader.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
Photo Credit: Hall of Famer Derek Jeter attends the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on July 21, 2024 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
