On This Date in Baseball: May 5

1935 - At Braves Field, young pitcher Dizzy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals faced the Boston Braves and 40-year-old veteran Babe Ruth. Dean walked Ruth his first two times up, then with two strikes on the Bambino, Dean waved his outfielders back and threw a fastball down the middle that Ruth missed for a strikeout. Dean won the game, 7 - 0, and in his first at bat, hit a home run over Ruth's head in right field. Dean will face Ruth again on May 19th, holding him hitless again, and winning that game as well.

1999 - At Wrigley Field, the Colorado Rockies became the first team in 35 years and only the third in the 20th century to score in every inning in a 13 - 6 win over the Chicago Cubs. The last time a team scored in all nine innings was also at Chicago, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cubs on September 13, 1964. Hmmmm...imagine that. Yet more proof that...

2001 - Sammy Sosa homered and had four RBI, and Julian Tavarez pitched seven solid innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the Dodgers 20 - 1 at Wrigley Field. Chicago scored eight runs in each of the last two innings.

While the Cubs looked good for a night, they still finished behind the Cardinals in the Central Division in 2001 because Jesus hates them.

On This Date in Baseball: March 2

1874 - At the fourth meeting of the Professional Association in Boston, the batter's box is officially adopted.

It is also decided that expulsion will be the penalty for any player betting on his own team and any player betting on any other team will forfeit his pay or, in Shoeless Joe's and Pete Rose's case, get themselves banned for life from baseball and render themselves ineligible for the Hall of Fame. Nice going guys.

Pete just couldn't help himself from breaking a 115 year-old rule. Now he's signing crap in Vegas at Caesar's Palace for beer money. Oh, for Pete's sake.

1899 - An attempt to expel the St. Louis Browns, who had a 39-111 record in 1898, fails by a 7 - 4 margin. St. Louis will play as the "Perfectos" in the upcoming season.

1927 - Babe Ruth becomes the highest paid player in baseball history. The New York Yankees reward Ruth with a three-year contract worth an estimated $210,000. In 1926, Ruth led the American League in home runs and RBIs while batting .372.

2005 - Thirty-two years after his death, Jackie Robinson receives the Congressional Gold Medal. He joins Roberto Clemente, Joe Louis and Jesse Owens as the only athletes among about 300 Gold Medal recipients.

On This Date in Baseball: February 26

1935 - Babe Ruth is released by the New York Yankees.

On This Date in Baseball: October 1

1903 - The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Red Sox, 7-3, in the first World Series game ever played.

1932 - Babe Ruth, as legend has it, called his home run against Chicago's Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series.

1961 - Roger Maris hit his 61st home run against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipsed Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season home run record.

On This Date in Baseball: September 30

1927 - Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season. 60 would stand as the record for 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.

1934 - Dizzy Dean beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-0, for his 30th victory of the year as the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the National League pennant. The only pitcher to reach 30 wins in a season since Dizzy was Denny McClain in 1968.


1972 - Roberto Clemente doubled for his 3,000th and last hit. He was killed in a plane crash during the offseason.

1988 - Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers broke Don Drysdale's record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

On This Date in Baseball: June 18

1938 - Babe Ruth is signed as a Dodgers coach for the rest of the season.

That just ain't right.

On This Date in Baseball: June 13

1948 - Number 3 is retired in honor of Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium in front of 49,641 fans.

On This Date in Baseball: June 12

1939 - The greatest-ever gathering of members and future inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame assembles in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the dedication of the museum: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young and Connie Mack accept their plaques. They also celebrate the centennial of Abner Doubleday's "invention" of baseball.

1957 - Stan Musial plays in his 823rd game for a new N.L. consecutive-game streak.

On This Date in Baseball: June 8

1921 - Babe Ruth is arrested for speeding in New York, fined $100, and held in jail until 4 p.m.. Game time is 3:15, so a uniform is brought to him. He changes in jail and follows a police escort to the ballpark where he enters with the Yankees trailing 3-2. They rally for a 4-3 win.

1955 - The Dodgers send pitcher Tommy Lasorda down to Montreal to make room on the roster for Sandy Koufax.

1969 - Mickey Mantle Day in New York. With 60,096 fans on hand, Mantle's number 7 is retired. The Yankees then sweep a double header from the White Sox 3-1 and 11-2.

On This Date in Baseball: June 2

A bit of a downer...
1935 - Babe Ruth announces his retirement as a player at age 40.
1941 - New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 37.

On This Date in Baseball: May 30

1925 - Rogers Hornsby is named manager of the Cardinals. He will be the only player-manager to win the Triple Crown, which he does by topping .400 for the third time in four years, hitting .403 with 39 home runs and 143 RBI.

1935 - In his final major league appearance, Babe Ruth plays only the first inning of the opener of a doubleheader between the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

1956 - Mickey Mantle hits one of the most memorable home runs in his career, in the second game of a doubleheader with the Washington Senators. The ball was still climbing when it caromed off the upper-stand facade, about 396 feet from home plate. Estimates are that the ball could have traveled more than 600 feet. It is Mantle's 20th home run of the season — no one else has ever hit 20 home runs before June.

Quote of the Day

"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."

-Babe Ruth

Quote of the Day

"We need just two players to be a contender. Just Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax."

-Whitey Herzog

(about managing the 1973 Texas Rangers)