Hee-Seop Choi (see 2005)
photo by Tim Evearitt
1839 Due to an erroneous eye-witness account, Abner Doubleday is given credit for establishing the first baseball game is played in America. The Hall of Fame, which opens a century later in Cooperstown, celebrates the origin of our national pastime in this small upstate New York town although it is doubtful the West Point cadet was ever there or ever watched a baseball game.
1939 With much of its funding provided by the Clark Foundation, a charitable organization established by the Singer Sewing Machine Company, the Baseball Hall of Fame is dedicated in Cooperstown, the site selected due to an erroneous report made that claimed Abner Doubleday had invented the game in the small town located in upstate New York.
Players selected from the first four Hall of Fame induction elections are enshrined as its first members.
1939 In front of a record crowd of 23,864 fans at Ruppert Stadium, Lou Gehrig plays his last game as a Yankee during an exhibition game against the Kansas City Blues, their AA farm team. Playing only three innings and batting eighth, the 'Iron Horse' grounds out weakly to second base in his only at-bat.
1954 Braves' right-hander Jim Wilson beats future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts when he no-hits the Phillies, 2-0. The one hour and forty-three minute contest at County Stadium, the major league's only no-no this season, is the first for the franchise since the team relocated from Boston following the 1952 season.
1962 In the Braves' 15-2 rout of LA at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game with Tommie connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older bother Hank had hit one out in the second. The Milwaukee teammates will also accomplish the feat on July 12 and August 14.
1979 The Tigers hire Sparky Anderson as their new manager, replacing the recently fired Les Moss. The former Cincinnati skipper will spend 17 seasons in Detroit, compiling a 1331-1248 record, and will capture a World Championship in 1984.
1983 Before the game against the Giants, Dale Murphy visits with a six-year old in the stands who recently lost both arms and a leg due to a power line accident and is asked by the girl's nurse if he could hit a home run for the injured child. The outfielder modestly answers "Well, Okay", and then proceeds to hit two homers in the 3-2 Braves victory at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
1996 Marge Schott is forced to relinquish her role as managing general partner of the Reds for two years due to her questionable comments about Hitler. The Cincinnati owner, in an interview last month with ESPN, stated "Everybody knows [Hitler] was good at the beginning, but he just went too far."
2005 Former Lookout Hee-Seop Choi homers in his first three at-bats in the Dodgers' 4-3 victory over Minnesota. The southpaw-swinging first baseman's solo shot in the sixth off Brad Radke, who also gave up the infielder's first two home runs, proves to be the difference in the Chavez Ravine contest.