September 8:
1916: In front of the smallest crowd ever in AL history, Wally Schang of the A’s becomes the 1st player to homer from each side of the plate in the same game. The total attendance for the game: 23 people.
1955: On their way to their only Championship, the Brooklyn Dodgers clinch the National League pennant with a 10-2 win over the Milwaukee Braves.
1958: Roberto Clemente ties a ML record by hitting 3 triples in 1 game.
1965: Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s becomes the 1st player to play all 9 positions in a single game. KC lost 5-3 in 13 innings.
1980: Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends pitcher Fergie Jenkins indefinitely after the pitcher is arrested in Toronto for possession of drugs.
1985: With a base hit against the Cubs Reggie Patterson, Pete Rose collects the 4191st hit of his career.
1988: NL President Bart Giamatti is unanimously elected commissioner.
1995: With a 3-2 win over Baltimore, the Indians clinch the ALC division. It ends a 41 year post-season drought for the Indians, the longest in history.
1996: Mets catcher Todd Hundley hits his 40th HR of the season as NY defeats Atlanta, 6-2. The blast ties Roy Campanella’s record of most Home Runs hit by a catcher.
1998: With a line drive HR that sails over the LF wall off of Steve Trachsel, Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris’ record of 61 HR’s in a single season.
September 9:
1945: Dick Fowler of the A’s no-hits the Browns, 1-0.
1948: Brooklyn’s Rex Barney no-hits the Giants, 2-0.
1960: With career HR # 511, Ted Williams ties Mel Ott for 3rd all-time, trailing only Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx.
1965: Sandy Koufax tosses a Perfect Game as LA beats Chicago, 1-0. Koufax fanned 14. The losing pitcher, Bob Hendley, tossed a 1-hitter.
1977: Tigers rookies Lou Whitaker (2b) and Alan Trammell (ss) debut together for the 1st time. They will play middle infield together for Detroit for a record 19 years.
1987: With a strikeout of Mike Aldrete in the 9th, Nolan Ryan reaches 4500 K’s.
1988: Bruce Sutter joins Rollie Fingers and Goose Gossage as the only Closers with 300 saves.
1992: MLB selects Bud Selig to be commissioner.
2001: Barry Bonds hits 3 Home Runs in a game, giving him 63 for the year.
September 10:
1881: Roger Connor of the Troy Trojans becomes the 1st player ever to hit a HR with the bases loaded. The ‘Grand Slam,’ as it came to be called, happened with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th as Troy beat Worcester, 8-7.
1918: Players on both pennant winning teams threaten to strike and not play in the World Series unless they are guaranteed extra money for playing: $2500 per player on the winning team and $1000 per player on the losing team. However, the players back down when they are told they will appear ‘greedy’ while Americans and fighting and dying in World War I.
1924: In one of the most lopsided games of the 20th century, the Giants annihilate the Braves, 22-1.
1950: Joe DiMaggio becomes the 1st player to hit 3 HR’s in a game at Griffith Stadium en route to an 8-1 Yankees win.
1969: Sweeping a Double-Header from the Expos at Shea, the New York Mets move into first place for the 1st time in team history.
1980: Montreal’s Bill Gullickson strikes out 18, the most ever by a rookie, as the Expos beat the Cubs, 4-2.
1997: Mark McGwire becomes the 1st player since Babe Ruth to hit 50 HR’s in back-to-back seasons.
2007: Troy Tulowitski of Colorado breaks the NL record for most HR’s by a rookie SS. The previous record of 19 was set by Ernie Banks in 1954.
September 11:
1886: Roger Connor becomes the first (and only) player to ever hit a ball completely out of the Polo Grounds.
1915: Pitching for the St. Louis Terriers, future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank becomes the 1st LHP to reach 300 wins.
1922: With Waite Hoyt defeating Philadelphia, 2-1, the Yankees win their final game they will ever play at the Polo Grounds. Starting in 1923, they will play their home games in a new stadium in The Bronx.
1948: The Phillies lose to Warren Spahn and the Braves, 13-2. This will cement the Phillies having an under 500 season for the 16th straight season.
1959: The Dodgers defeat Elroy Face and the Pirates, 5-4. Face will finish the season 18-1.
1966: Pat Jarvis becomes the 1st strikeout victim for a rookie pitcher named Lynn Nolan Ryan. There will be 5713 after Jarvis.
1974: The Cardinals defeat the Mets, 4-3. The game took 25 innings and lasted 7 hours and 4 minutes. Felix Millan and John Milner each had 12 official at-bats for New York. The losing pitcher was Hank Webb, father of future D-Backs ace, Brandon Webb.
1985: With a ringing line drive to left field against the Padres Eric Show, Pete Rose becomes baseball’s All-Time Hit Leader with 4192, passing Ty Cobb. Ironically, this comes exactly 57 years to the day after Cobb had his last at-bat in baseball.
1987: The Mets Howard Johnson becomes the 1st NL infielder to hit 30 HR’s and reach 30 SB’s in the same season.
2001: As a result of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, MLB cancels all games for security and safety reasons.
2004: Barry Bonds becomes the 1st player in history to reach 200 walks in a season.
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