Monday, October 3, 2016

On This Day (Heard Round the World)

1951: 


So there's the iconic event from October 3rd, here are some more....

1974: Cleveland announces that Ken Aspromonte has been relieved of his duties as manager, and replace him with Frank Robinson, the first African-American to ever hold the position. He would start his managerial career the following spring, calling his own number from time to time as DH.

1982: Robin Yount slams a pair of homers against Baltimore in the final game of the season, propelling Harvey's Wallbangers past the Orioles and into the playoffs. The 10-2 victory gave the Brew Crew first place in the AL East, and they carried that momentum all the way into late fall, winning the ALCS and pushing the Cardinals to the limit, dropping game 7 of the World Series to the Redbirds. (corrected)

1987: Rookie Catcher Benito "Benny" Santiago goes hitless for the Padres, snapping his 34 game hitting streak. This streak is still the longest by a Rookie in Major League History. Despite the O-fer, Santiago can't be too bummed, as the Padres snapped a different streak, a 9 game losing streak. Santiago caught the 1-0 shutout on the final day of the 1987 season.

2012: Another hitless game makes the list. Miguel Cabrera's final game of the year came and went without Miggy reaching base, but his season totals were enough to garner him the first Triple Crown in the American League since Yaz took home the honor in 1967.

Birthdays! 
Fellow Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Dennis Eckersley tangled many times over the years, and Eck's greatest gift to Big Dave came in September of 1993, when he surrendered a single in the hole for Winfield's 3,000th hit. He is still, so far, the only member of the 3,000 hit club to get the hit against a Hall of Fame pitcher. And probably the only guy to get hit # 3000 against a guy with the same birthday!

Also born on this day, former All-Star Wil Cordero, and current guy I confuse with Felix Jose, Junior Felix.

6 comments:

  1. I played catcher in Little League and would attempt that Benito Santiago throw from the crouched position. He was a little better than me at it....

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    1. One of the best! I recommend the linked Sports Illustrated article, great tidbits about Benito. He learned to speak English in part by watching "Scarface" over and over.

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  2. Great post, really liked the concept.

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    1. Thanks, I will probably make this an irregular feature like all the others!

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  3. Nice post, but somebody needs to point out that the Cards beat the Brewers in '82, sadly for Yount and Milwaukee, not the other way around.

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