HankAaron (see 1972)
photo by Tim Evearitt
1921 Yankee slugger Babe Ruth hits his 120th home run off Indian pitcher Jim Bagby to become baseball's career home run leader. It is a position the 'Sultan of Swat' will hold until Hank Aaron hits number 715 in 1974.
1944 Six weeks shy of his 16th birthday, Joe Nuxhall becomes the youngest person to play in a major league contest in this century. After being called in the ninth inning into a 13-0 rout by the Cardinals at Crosley Field, the 15 year-old high school southpaw, who will stay in the Reds organization for over sixty years, becoming best known as the voice for the team's radio broadcasts, retires the first batter he faces, but is unable to get out of the inning, yielding five walks, two hits, one wild pitch and five runs.
1959 In Baltimore, Rocky Colavito becomes the sixth player to hit four home runs in one game, helping the Indians defeat the Orioles, 11-8.
The New York City native joins Lou Gehrig as the only ones to accomplish the feat with four consecutive shots.
1969 With a 9-4 victory over the Giants, the Mets win their 11th consecutive game to establish a franchise record. Later in the season, the Amazins will also a post a ten-game (Sep 06-13) and a nine-game winning streak (Sep 21-Oct 01).
1972 Henry Aaron passes Willie Mays into second place on the all-time home run list. The Braves outfielder connects for a grand slam, his 14th, to tie Gil Hodges' NL mark, against the Phillies for his 649th career homer, 65 shy of Babe Ruth's total.
2005 For the first time in nearly 90 years, the Red Sox play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The two teams which have had the fates influenced by curses last met in the 1918 World Series, won by Boston behind the solid pitching of Babe Ruth.
2006 In a 9-5 loss to Tampa Bay at Kauffman Stadium, former Lookout Reggie Sanders hits his 300th career home run off Chad Harville. The Royals outfielder becomes just the fifth player in major league history to both hit 300 home runs and steal 300 bases, joining Barry and Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson and Willie Mays.
2010 White Sox third baseman Omar Vizquel, who made his major league debut in 1989, becomes the fourth player to hit a home run in four different decades when he goes deep off Max Scherzer in the first inning of the team’s 3-0 victory over Detroit at U.S. Cellular Field. The 43 year-old Venezuelan infielder joins Ted Williams (1939-1960), Willie McCovey (1959-1980), and Rickey Henderson (1979-2003) on the a short list of big leaguers who have accomplished the rare feat.