October in Baseball History
Published by Evan Wagner
Nov 01, 2023
Interesting Baseball History for the month of October:
1897 - Cap Anson closed out a remarkable 27-year career that started in the National Association in 1871. He hit two home runs against St. Louis. At 46, he was the oldest player to homer in the majors.
1903 - The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Americans, 7-3, in the first World Series game ever played. Jimmy Sebring hit the first home run. Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.
1903 - The Boston Americans won the first World Series, five games to three, with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1904 - Christy Mathewson strikes out 16 Cards in a 3-1 Giants victory. Big Six's 16 strikeouts establishes a new record as he finishes the game in one hour and 15 minutes.
1904 - Pitcher Jack Chesbro got his 41st victory of the season as New York defeated the Boston Americans, 3-2.
1905 - Christy Mathewson blanked the Philadelphia Athletics 2-0 to give the New York Giants the World Series in five games. All were shutouts, with Mathewson getting three, Joe McGinnity one, and Chief Bender of Philadelphia one.
1906 - Ed Reulbach's no-hit bid is broken by Jiggs Donahue's single in the seventh, but the Cubs beat the White Sox, 7-1. The next World Series one-hitter will come in 1945, by another Cub: Claude Passeau.
1906 - The Chicago Cubs won their 116th game of 152 played for a winning percentage (.763) that has not been matched.
1908 - Before the smallest crowd in World Series history (6,210), the Tigers are tamed on three hits by Orval Overall, who fans 10 in a 2-0 win. The Cubs win the World Series in five games.
1909 - George Mullin outlasts three Pirates pitchers for a 5-4 win that sends the World Series to a seventh game in Detroit. This is the first World Series to go the limit.
1910 - Nap Lajoie, in a batting race with Ty Cobb, collected eight hits for Cleveland in a season-ending doubleheader with the Browns. The hits were somewhat tainted, however, as St. Louis third baseman Red Corriden played back as Lajoie bunted safely six times. Regardless, Cobb was awarded the batting title by a fraction of a point.
1910 - Philadelphia's Jack Coombs, on one day of rest, had a complete game victory to beat the Chicago Cubs 12-5 and give the Athletics a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Coombs also had three hits and drove in three runs in the game.
1911 - Clark Griffith is named manager at Washington, beginning a stand in the nation's capital as manager, then owner, that will last until his death in 1955.
1911 - Cy Young's farewell appearance in a major league game is a letdown, as he loses to Brooklyn 13-3 wearing a Braves uniform in his 906th game.
1911 - The first MVPs are announced, and Ty Cobb receives the maximum 64 points. The NL winner is Cubs outfielder Frank Schulte, with Christy Mathewson second. Both winners receive Chalmers automobiles.
1911 - The World Series between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics was resumed after six days of rain, and Chief Bender beat Christy Mathewson 4-2 to give the A's 3-1 lead.
1913 - John McGraw hosts a reunion for Hugh Jennings and the old Orioles. After a night of heavy drinking, he blames his longtime friend, business partner, and teammate Wilbert Robinson for too many coaching mistakes in the recently concluded World Series. They exchange insults and McGraw fires him. They won't speak to each other for 17 years. Six days later Robbie will begin a legendary 18-year career as Brooklyn manager, 1914 - 1931. The Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series in five games with a 4-1 victory over the New York Giants.
1914 - The Boston Braves completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics, first in World Series history, with a 3-1 victory.
1915 - The Phillies win their first-ever World Series game behind Grover Cleveland Alexander, 3-1. Red Sox rookie Babe Ruth grounds out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the opener and will sit out the rest of the Series.
1916 - Babe Ruth outpitched Sherry Smith of the Brooklyn Dodgers as the Boston Red Sox won the longest World Series game to date, 2-1 in 14 innings.
1916 - Grover Alexander pitched his sixteenth shutout of the season, allowing only three Boston Braves hits in a 2-0 triumph.
1917 - The Chicago White Sox won the World Series when the New York Giants left home plate uncovered and Eddie Collins dashed home with third baseman Heinie Zimmerman chasing him in helpless pursuit.
1919 - White Sox starter Lefty Williams gets just one man out in the first inning and the Reds go on to a 10-5 victory. Cincinnati wins the best-of-nine World Series in eight games. A year after the 1919 Series ends, the White Sox will become the Black Sox, and eight players will be barred from baseball for taking part in throwing the Series.
1920 - In a 16-7 win over the White Sox, Browns first baseman George Sisler gets his 257th hit of the season to set a major league record. He also hurls a scoreless ninth inning in relief for St. Louis.
1920 - The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell, Hal Chase, and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they later recant.
1920 - The Cleveland Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 8-1 in the fifth game of the World Series. For the Indians, Elmer Smith hit the first Series grand slam and Jim Bagby, the winner, hit the first Series homer by a pitcher.
1920 - The only tripleheader in the century was played, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first two games. The Pirates won the nightcap, which was called after six innings because of darkness.
1920 - When Wheeler Johnston pinch-hits for Cleveland in the ninth inning of Game Two, his brother Jimmy is playing third base for Brooklyn. They become the first brothers to take opposite sides in a World Series.
1921 - Art Nehf tossed a 1-0, four-hitter against the New York Yankees for the World Series title in eight games. The Giants scored their run in the first inning on an error by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh.
1921 - In the first one-city World Series since 1906, the Polo Grounds is the site for all nine games between the Giants and the Yankees.
1922 - For the first time, the entire World Series will be broadcast over the radio. Writer Grantland Rice does the announcing of the Giants-Yankees Series for station WJZ, Newark, whose signal is relayed to WGY in Schenectady.
1923 - Babe Ruth makes a postseason appearance in a New York Giants uniform as the Giants defeat the minor-league Baltimore Orioles 9-0. Ruth hits a home run over the right field roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day.
1923 - It's an all-New York World Series for the third straight year. A 4-4 tie is broken in the top of the ninth by the Giants. Casey Stengel's inside-the-park home run is the first World Series homer at Yankee Stadium. It is the first World Series to be broadcast on a nationwide radio network.
1924 - Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom, at 18 years, 10 months, is the youngest ever to play in a World Series.
1924 - The Washington Senators won their only championship by defeating the Giants 4-3 in 12 innings. The winning run scored when a ball hit by Earl McNeely bounced over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head.
1925 - Fans saw the unusual spectacle of two managers, both famous hitters, pitch against each other in the season finale. Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers threw one perfect inning and George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns worked two scoreless innings in Detroit's 11-6 victory.
1927 - Facing elimination at Yankee Stadium, the Pirates are tied with the Yankees 3-3 in the last of the ninth. Reliever Johnny Miljus strikes out Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel with the bases loaded, but a two-strike wild pitch to Tony Lazzeri allows Earle Combs to score the winning run and capture the World Series.
1928 - Babe Ruth hit three home runs in a World Series game for the second time in his career as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3.
1929 - Mel Ott and Chuck Klein go into a head-to-head doubleheader tied at 42 home runs apiece. In the opener, Klein homers for the Phillies off Carl Hubbell in his first at-bat to take the home run lead. In the nightcap, Phillies pitchers intentionally walk Ott five times rather than give him a chance to tie Klein. The last walk comes with the bases loaded.
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, won by the New York Yankees, 7-5, at Wrigley Field. Ruth and Lou Gehrig each hit two homers for the Yankees.
1936 - Lou Gehrig, who hit 49 home runs, scored 167 runs, knocked in 152, and batted .354, is voted AL MVP.
1936 - The Yankees even the World Series and set a Series record for runs as they demolish the Giants 18-4. Lefty Gomez coasts to a six-hit win, while every member of the Yankees lineup makes a hit and scores at least one run. Tony Lazzeri hits a grand slam, the first in World Series play since 1920.
1938 - Bob Feller struck out eighteen Detroit Tigers, setting a single-game record that stood until Steve Carlton broke it in 1969.
1938 - The Yankees become the first team to win three successive World Championships.
1941 - With two outs in the ninth inning of Game Four, Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen drops a third strike on Tommy Henrich allowing him to reach 1st base, which would have given Brooklyn a 4-3 victory over New York. The Yankees then rally for a 7-4 win to take a 3-1 World Series lead.
1942 - Branch Rickey, the architect of the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system, resigned as the team's vice president.
1944 - The only all-St. Louis World Series opens with the Browns, as the visiting team, beating the Cardinals on George McQuinn's home run, 2-1. Denny Galehouse is the winning pitcher and Mort Cooper loses despite allowing just two hits.
1945 - Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Dodgers organization.
1945 - Tavern owner "Billy Goat" Sianis buys a box seat for his goat for Game Four of the World Series and is escorted out of Wrigley Field. In retaliation Sianis casts a "goat curse" over the Cubs. The Cubs will not return to the World Series again until 2016.
1946 - Enos Slaughter scored from first on a single to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 victory and the World Series title in the seventh game against the Boston Red Sox.
1946 - For the first time in major league history, a playoff series to determine a league's championship was played between the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals took the first game, 4-2, as Howie Pollet held the Dodgers to two hits, a homer and an RBI-single by Howie Schultz.
1947 - The Dodgers squeak out a 9-8 win over the Yankees, jumping on Bobo Newsom and Vic Raschi for six runs in the second inning. Yogi Berra becomes the first player to hit a pinch home run in World Series history, belting one off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca in the seventh inning.
1948 - In the opening game of the World Series, the Boston Braves beat Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians 1-0 with only two hits.
1949 - The Yankees and the Red Sox enter the last day of the season tied for first place and nearly 70,000 pack Yankee Stadium to see the finale. Vic Raschi nurses a 1-0 lead into the eighth against Ellis Kinder before the Yankees score four runs and go on to win the game and the pennant 5-3. During the game Ted Williams also loses the batting title as George Kell goes two-for-three in Detroit (.3429 to .3427).
1950 - Connie Mack, at age 87, retired as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics after 50 years, and Jimmy Dykes was named to replace him. Mack, together with Ben Shibe, founded the Athletics in 1901.
1951 - Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant
1952 - Billy Martin's running catch on a high infield pop with the bases loaded in the seventh inning snuffed out a Dodgers rally and the New York Yankees went on to win Game 7 of the World Series, 4-2.
1953 - Red Barber resigns from the Dodgers broadcast booth and takes a job with the rival New York Yankees.
1954 - Major league owners vote down the sale of the Athletics to a Philadelphia syndicate. A week later Arnold Johnson buys a controlling interest in the Athletics from the Mack family for $3.5 million and moves the team to Kansas City.
1954 - The Giants sweep the American League team with the best record in history, scoring four runs in the fifth for a 7-4 win over Cleveland. The Indians had won 111 games, a record that stood until surpassed by the 1998 Yankees.
1955 - Baseball great Branch Rickey steps down as GM of the Pirates and moves into an advisory role. Joe L. Brown, son of the actor, replaces him.
1955 - The Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series with Johnny Podres beating the New York Yankees 2-0 in game seven.
1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits.
1956 - Johnny Kucks sets down Brooklyn, 9-0, as the Yankees win the World Series in seven games. Yogi Berra hits a pair of two-run home runs and Bill Skowron hits a grand slam. It's the seventh and final time Brooklyn and the Yankees meet in the Series. In the future, it will take a jet, not a subway, to get these two teams together.
1957 - With Warren Spahn stricken by the flu, Lew Burdette, pitching with two days' rest, hurls his third complete game and second shutout to beat New York 5-0 to win the World Series
1958 - Construction began on the new ballpark for the Giants in San Francisco. The rocks in the area resembled candlesticks.
1958 - The Braves erupt for seven runs in the first and go on to defeat the Yankees 13-5. Lew Burdette is shaky but beats New York for the fourth consecutive time in the World Series. He also chips in with a three-run home run.
1960 - The NL votes to admit Houston and New York to the league, the first structural change since 1900.
1961 - Roger Maris hit his 61st home run against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipsed Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season home run record. The Yankees won, 1-0.
1962 - In the opener of the World Series at Candlestick Park, Whitey Ford's record scoreless inning streak ends at 33 2/3 when a surprise bunt by Jose Pagan brings Willie Mays home. The Yankees win, 6-2, the last of a record 10 World Series victories for Ford.
1962 - Just 25,321 fans are on hand at Dodger Stadium for the second game in the best-of-three playoff against the Giants. A ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Ron Fairly sends Maury Wills home with the deciding run in the Dodgers' 8-7 win.
1962 - The San Francisco Giants rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to win the third game of the tie-breaking playoffs, 6-4, over the Los Angeles Dodgers and move on to the World Series.
1962 - With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, San Francisco's Willie McCovey hit a hard line drive at second baseman Bobby Richardson for the final out and the New York Yankees won Game 7 by a score of 1-0 for their 20th World Series title.
1963 - In the first (and last) Hispanic-American major league all-star game, the NL team beats the AL 5-2 at the Polo Grounds.
1963 - Sandy Koufax fans the first five batters he faces and becomes the first pitcher to fan fifteen in a World Series game. Johnny Roseboro's three-run home run is the difference as Los Angeles beats the Yankees 5-2 at New York.
1964 - After just 11 years in Milwaukee, the Braves Board of Directors votes to ask the NL for permission to move to Atlanta. Milwaukee County officials sue to block the move.
1965 - Sandy Koufax tossed his second shutout to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins and the World Series in seven games.
1966 - Jim Palmer, 20, became the youngest player to pitch a World Series shutout as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0. Sandy Koufax was the loser, his last appearance in the major leagues.
1966 - Sandy Koufax clinches the third Los Angeles pennant in four years, working with just two days rest for a 6-3 win at Philadelphia. Koufax sets Los Angeles records with twenty-seven wins and a 1.73 ERA.
1967 - Joe DiMaggio is hired by Charlie Finley as executive vice president of the newly transplanted Oakland Athletics.
1967 - The AL approves the Athletics' shift to Oakland. Kansas City is promised a new team by 1971. When Senator Stuart Symington and Kansas City Mayor Ilus Davis threaten action against the move, AL President Joe Cronin reopens talks, and the expansion deadline is moved forward to 1969. Charlie Finley names Bob Kennedy the first manager of the Oakland A's.
1968 - Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals set a World Series record by striking out seventeen Detroit Tigers in Game 1.
1968 - Mickey Lolich saves Detroit, 5-3, with an unlikely assist from Lou Brock, who tries to score standing up on Julian Javier's single and is gunned down by Willie Horton's throw. Al Kaline's bases-loaded single drives in the deciding runs.
1969 - The major leagues held their first divisional championships. The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5 and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3 in 12 innings in the opening games.
1969 - The Seattle Pilots play what will be their last game in Seattle in a 3-1 loss to Oakland. A crowd of 5,473 shows up. The next season they became the Milwaukee Brewers.
1970 - The final game at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium is played as the Phillies beat the Expos 2-1. The fans respond by swarming onto and destroying the field.
1971 - The first World Series night game was played in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating Baltimore 4-3. Roberto Clemente had three hits for Pittsburgh.
1971 - The Orioles overcome two Reggie Jackson home runs to complete a sweep of Oakland in the ALCS with a 5-3 victory.
1972 - Catcher Gene Tenace becomes the first player ever to homer in each of his first two at-bats in the World Series, leading the A's to a 3-2 opening-game win over the Reds.
1972 - Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson dies of heart disease at age 53. Robinson had become the first black major league player of the 20th century with the 1947 Dodgers.
1972 - Oakland takes the AL pennant with a 2-1 win in Game Five of the ALCS over Baltimore. The A's Reggie Jackson steals home, but pulls a hamstring in the process, sidelining him for the World Series.
1972 - Roric Harrison homers as Baltimore beats Cleveland 4-3 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the DH rule on the horizon, it will be the last home run hit by an AL pitcher until interleague play 25 years later.
1972 - With runners at second and third and a 3-2 count, the A's fake an intentional walk and strike out Johnny Bench looking in Game Three. Blue Moon Odom fans 11, but Cincinnati's Jack Billingham is the 1-0 winner as the Reds win their first game of the World Series.
1973 - The Cubs trade six-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Rangers for third baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. Meanwhile, San Francisco trades three-time home run champion Willie McCovey, a Giant since 1959, together with a minor leaguer to the Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.
1973 - The Mets win Game Two of the World Series, 10-7, scoring four runs in an 11th inning that features the last major league hit by Willie Mays and two errors by Oakland second baseman Mike Andrews
1973 - Tom Seaver wins the NL Cy Young Award, the first time the honor has gone to a pitcher with fewer than 20 wins. Seaver was 19-10 and led the league in ERA (2.08) and strikeouts (251).
1974 - During a 13-0 Braves win over Reds, Hank Aaron homers off Rawly Eastwick. It is Aaron's 733rd career clout and comes in his last National League at-bat.
1974 - Ken Holtzman, who hadn't batted all season, belts a third-inning home run in Game Four and gets the 5-2 win.
1975 - Carlton Fisk (with his body english) broke up one of the best games in Series history with a homer in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game.
1975 - Fred Lynn, who led the league in runs, doubles and slugging percentage for the AL champion Red Sox, is the overwhelming choice as AL Rookie of the Year.
1975 - Giants pitcher John Montefusco outpoints Expos catcher Gary Carter for NL Rookie of the Year honors.
1975 - Luis Tiant throws 163 pitches in winning his second game of the World Series against Cincinnati, 5-4, to even the Series after four games.
1975 - The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the World Series with a controversial 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox in Cincinnati. In the 10th, Reds pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempted a sacrifice bunt and bounced the ball in front of the plate. Catcher Carlton Fisk, in an attempt to field the ball, collided with Armbrister and threw the ball into center in an attempt to force Cesar Geronimo at second. Geronimo went to third -- and later scored the game-winner -- and Armbrister moved to second. Home plate umpire Larry Barnett ruled there was no interference despite heated protests by the Red Sox.
1976 - Hank Aaron singles in his last major-league at bat and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5-2.
1977 - Dusty Baker homers in his final at-bat of the season during a 6-3 loss to the Astros. It is Baker's 30th home run of the year, enabling him to join teammates Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32) and Ron Cey (30) in making the Dodgers the first team ever to boast four 30-homer hitters in one season.
1977 - Reggie Jackson hit three consecutive home runs to lead New York to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and give the Yankees the World Series title in six games. Jackson drove in five runs, and all three shots came on the first pitch.
1977 - Sparky Lyle becomes the first AL reliever to win the Cy Young Award. Lyle leads the league with 72 appearances, posting a 13-5 record with 26 saves and a 2.17 ERA.
1978 - Gaylord Perry becomes the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Perry cops the NL honor with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA for the Padres
1979 - Billy Martin is involved in a barroom altercation with Joseph Cooper, a Minnesota marshmallow salesman. Cooper requires 15 stitches to close a gash in his lip. George Steinbrenner announces that Billy Martin is fired (again) as a result of his barroom fight with the marshmallow salesman, Dick Howser is named to replace Martin.
1979 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn notifies Hall of Famer Willie Mays that if he accepts a position with Bally Manufacturing Corporation, owner of several gambling casinos, he must disassociate himself from major league baseball. Mays, a part-time coach and goodwill ambassador for the Mets, will relinquish his duties upon accepting Bally's job offer.
1979 - The Orioles score five runs in the first inning of the World Series, then hang on to defeat the Pirates 5-4.
1980 - Capping an improbable comeback, the Dodgers beat the Astros for the third day in a row to force a one-game playoff for the NL West title. Los Angeles trailed Houston by three games with three games left in the season and won each game by a single run.
1980 - Kansas City's George Brett hit an upper deck three-run homer off relief ace Goose Gossage to give the Kansas City Royals a 4-2 victory and a three-game sweep of New York Yankees in the ALCS.
1980 - The Astros finally win, whipping the Dodgers in a one-game playoff at Dodger Stadium, 7-1. Art Howe drives in four runs and Joe Niekro wins his 20th game of the season to put Houston in the postseason for the first time since entering the major leagues in 1962.
1980 - The Philadelphia Phillies became World Series champions for the first time in their 98-year history with a 4-1 triumph over the Kansas City Royals in Game 6.
1980 - The Phillies capture their first NL title since 1950 with a 10-inning, 8-7 win over the Astros in the fifth and final game of the NLCS. Each of the last four games was decided in extra innings.
1981 - The Brewers and Expos clinch their first-ever postseason appearances. Milwaukee beats Detroit 2-1 to wrap up the second-half title in the AL East, while Montreal edges the Mets 5-4 to win the NL East's second playoff spot.
1982 - Paul Molitor of Milwaukee had five hits, a World Series record, in the 10-0 opener over the Cardinals in St. Louis.
1982 - Robin Yount records his second four-hit game of the World Series to lead the Brewers to a 6-4 win in Game Five and give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead overall. Yount is the first player ever to have multiple four-hit games in one World Series.
1982 - Steve Carlton becomes the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards. The Phils 37-year-old lefthander, who led the NL in wins (23), innings (295.2), strikeouts (286), and shutouts (six), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977, and 1980.
1984 - In the first LCS game played with replacement umpires, the Cubs clobber the Padres 13-0 in the opener of the National League series. Chicago hits five home runs at Wrigley Field, including one by winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.
1984 - San Diego pitchers tie a World Series record by issuing 11 walks in a 5-2 loss to the Tigers in Game Three.
1984 - The San Diego Padres won the National League pennant with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the final game of the playoffs. The Padres won three straight after dropping the first two.
1985 - After giving up just two hits in eight innings, Royals southpaw Charlie Leibrandt is raked with three two-out hits and loses 4-2. St. Louis has a 2-0 Series lead.
1985 - Cardinal's pitcher Joaquin Andujar is suspended for the first 10 games of the 1986 season as a result of his World Series Game Seven tantrum during which he twice bumped home plate umpire Don Denkinger.
1985 - The Angels announce that they will not offer seven-time batting champion Rod Carew a new contract for the 1986 season, effectively ending his 19-year career. Carew finishes with 3,053 hits and a .328 career batting average.
1985 - The Cardinals rout the Dodgers, 12-2, to even the NLCS. The Cards, however, lose rookie sensation Vince Coleman to one of the more bizarre injuries in major-league history. Coleman is stretching before the game when his left leg becomes caught in Busch Stadium's automated tarpaulin as it unrolls across the infield, trapping him for about 30 seconds. He does not play again in 1985.
1986 - Baltimore loses to Detroit 6-3, assuring the Orioles of their first last-place finish since moving from St. Louis in 1954.
1986 - Bill Russell, 38, announces his retirement. He is the last member of the Dodgers' Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey 1970s infield and is second on the club's all-time list with 2,183 games played.
1986 - Mike Scott strikes out eight Giants in a 2-1 Astros victory to run his season total to 306, becoming the third National League pitcher to fan 300 batters in one season. Scott loses his bid for a second consecutive no-hitter when Will Clark doubles in the seventh inning. The previous two pitchers were Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965, & 1966) and J. R. Richard (1978 & 1979).
1986 - The California Angels were one pitch away from their first pennant when they let the Boston Red Sox back into the American League playoffs with an 11-inning 7-6 victory in Game 5.
1986 - The New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox to win 6-5 and push the World Series to a decisive seventh game. The tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's slow grounder.
1987 - Billy Martin is named manager of the Yankees for a fifth time, replacing Lou Piniella, who replaced Martin and is moved to general manager. Piniella led the Yankees to an 89-73 record in 1987, fourth in the AL East.
1988 - Dodgers ace reliever Jay Howell is ejected in the eighth inning of Game Three of the NLCS for having pine tar on his glove and the Mets go on to score five times in the inning on the way to an 8-4 win. Howell will be suspended for three days by the NL.
1988 - Orel Hershiser gives up three hits and has three hits himself to beat Oakland, 6-0.
1988 - Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 to raise his league-leading batting average to .313 but sustained a hand injury in a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros. Gwynn was the first National League batting champion to win the title with an average below .320. Larry Doyle's .320 average was the lowest.
1988 - With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Kirk Gibson hit a two-run, pinch-homer to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Oakland in Game 1 of the World Series. Gibson, who did not start because of a strained left knee, limped around the bases as the Dodgers won one of the most dramatic games in Series history.
1989 - Minnesota's Kirby Puckett and San Diego's Tony Gwynn each win batting titles on the final day of the regular season. Puckett goes 2-for-5 to edge Carney Lansford .339 to .336 while Gwynn goes 3-for-4 to beat Will Clark .336 to .333.
1989 - Minutes before Game 3 of the World Series on Oct 17 between Oakland and San Francisco, an earthquake hit the Bay area. The game was postponed, and the Series resumed 11 days later.
1989 - The Giants win their first NL pennant since 1962 by defeating the Cubs 3-2 in Game Five of the NLCS. Will Clark bats .650 in the series with eight RBI to win MVP honors.
1989 - Will Clark has six RBI on four hits, including two home runs (one of which is the first NLCS grand slam since 1977) to lead the Giants to an 11-3 win over the Cubs in Game One.
1990 - George Brett became the first player to win a batting title in three different decades. Brett went 1-for-1 in Kansas City's 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians to win the American League title with a .329 average. Brett also won AL batting titles in 1976 and 1980.
1990 - The Oakland Athletics swept the Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant and their third straight trip to the World Series with a 3-1 victory. MVP Dave Stewart won for the eighth straight time in head-to-head matchups with Roger Clemens, who was ejected in the second inning for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney.
1990 - Willie McGee became the first player to win a batting title in a league he didn't finish the season in. McGee, who had a .335 average when St. Louis traded him to Oakland on Aug. 28, won his second National League crown when Dave Magadan of the New York Mets failed to catch him on the season's final day.
1991 - After 11 lead changes or ties in the closing weeks of the NL West race, the Braves finally clinch the division on the second-to-last day of the season.
1991 - Kirby Puckett prevents two Atlanta runs with a leaping catch in the third inning and then lofts a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Twins the lead in Game Six. The Braves tie it in the seventh, but Puckett turned out the lights in the 10th with a home run to force a seventh game.
1991 - The Toronto Blue Jays clinched the American League East title and became the first team in sports history to draw four million fans in one season.
1993 - In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, ninth inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8-6 win and Toronto's second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 in 24 at bats, is MVP while Philadelphia's Lenny Dykstra, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch.
1993 - The Giants need to beat the Dodgers on the final day of the season to force a one-game playoff with the Braves for the NL West title, but the Dodgers have other plans. LA rips the Giants, 12-1. At 103-59, San Francisco becomes the first team since the 1954 Yankees to win that many games and not play in the postseason.
1993 - The night after Toronto wins a 15-14 slugfest, Philadelphia's Curt Schilling outduels Juan Guzman 2-0 in Game Five to send the Series back to Toronto.
1993 - The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud led the league with a .363 batting average. Paul Molitor finished at .332 and Roberto Alomar closed the year at .326.
1995 - Jay Buhner, whose error in right field allowed the Indians to tie the game, hits his second home run of the game in the top of the eleventh inning to lead the Mariners to a 5-2 victory in Game Three of the ALCS.
1995 - The Indians sweep the Division Series with an 8-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mo Vaughn, who will later be named MVP for 1995, and slugger Jose Canseco are a combined 0-for-27 for Boston.
1995 - The Rockies are the first team to make the postseason before their seventh year in existence; they also become the National League's first wild card winner following a 10-9 win over the Giants. Colorado's .535 percentage (77-67 record) is the best ever for a third-year team.
1996 - With the ALCS tied at 1-1 and the game tied at 2-2, Orioles third baseman Todd Zeile fakes a throw and the ball trickles away to allow the go-ahead run to score.
1997 - Edgar Renteria ended one of the most thrilling Game 7s ever, singling with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Florida Marlins their first World Series championship with a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. The 5-year-old Marlins became the youngest expansion team to win a championship.
1997 - Marlins rookie Livan Hernandez matches Mike Mussina's one-day old LCS record with 15 strikeouts in a three-hit, 2-1 win in Game Five of the NLCS. Hernandez, who would not have started if not for an injury to Alex Fernandez, wins his second game of the series and will earn MVP honors.
1997 - One of the most bizarre endings in ALCS history, the winning run scores on a botched squeeze play. With Marquis Grissom racing home from third base, Omar Vizquel bunts and misses, and the ball trickles a few feet from the plate. Orioles catcher Lenny Webster thinks it's a foul ball and loafs after it as Grissom streaks home for a 2-1 Cleveland win.
1997 - The first World Series game ever played in Florida belongs to the Marlins. Moises Alou and Charles Johnson smack back-to-back home runs against Cleveland's Orel Hershiser to make a 7-4 winner of Livan Hernandez in Game One.
1997 - The snow flurries and 38-degree game time temperature in Cleveland make it the coldest World Series in history, while home runs by Manny Ramirez and Matt Williams make it a long night for the Marlins. Jaret Wright out distances Tony Saunders 10-3 in Game Four in a battle of rookies.
1998 - Chuck Knoblauch argued for an interference call at first base instead of picking up the ball while Enrique Wilson scored to break a 1-1 tie in the 12th inning of the Cleveland Indians' 4-1 victory at New York in Game 2 of the AL championship series.
1998 - The New York Yankees closed out their historic season with 3-0 victory at San Diego, sweeping the Padres in four games to win their record 24th World Series championship. The Game 4 victory gave the Yankees 125 wins against 50 losses - for a .714 winning percentage, the best in the majors since their Murderers' Row club of 1927. Their AL-record 114 regular-season victories were the most ever for a champion.
1897 - Cap Anson closed out a remarkable 27-year career that started in the National Association in 1871. He hit two home runs against St. Louis. At 46, he was the oldest player to homer in the majors.
1903 - The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Americans, 7-3, in the first World Series game ever played. Jimmy Sebring hit the first home run. Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.
1903 - The Boston Americans won the first World Series, five games to three, with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1904 - Christy Mathewson strikes out 16 Cards in a 3-1 Giants victory. Big Six's 16 strikeouts establishes a new record as he finishes the game in one hour and 15 minutes.
1904 - Pitcher Jack Chesbro got his 41st victory of the season as New York defeated the Boston Americans, 3-2.
1905 - Christy Mathewson blanked the Philadelphia Athletics 2-0 to give the New York Giants the World Series in five games. All were shutouts, with Mathewson getting three, Joe McGinnity one, and Chief Bender of Philadelphia one.
1906 - Ed Reulbach's no-hit bid is broken by Jiggs Donahue's single in the seventh, but the Cubs beat the White Sox, 7-1. The next World Series one-hitter will come in 1945, by another Cub: Claude Passeau.
1906 - The Chicago Cubs won their 116th game of 152 played for a winning percentage (.763) that has not been matched.
1908 - Before the smallest crowd in World Series history (6,210), the Tigers are tamed on three hits by Orval Overall, who fans 10 in a 2-0 win. The Cubs win the World Series in five games.
1909 - George Mullin outlasts three Pirates pitchers for a 5-4 win that sends the World Series to a seventh game in Detroit. This is the first World Series to go the limit.
1910 - Nap Lajoie, in a batting race with Ty Cobb, collected eight hits for Cleveland in a season-ending doubleheader with the Browns. The hits were somewhat tainted, however, as St. Louis third baseman Red Corriden played back as Lajoie bunted safely six times. Regardless, Cobb was awarded the batting title by a fraction of a point.
1910 - Philadelphia's Jack Coombs, on one day of rest, had a complete game victory to beat the Chicago Cubs 12-5 and give the Athletics a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Coombs also had three hits and drove in three runs in the game.
1911 - Clark Griffith is named manager at Washington, beginning a stand in the nation's capital as manager, then owner, that will last until his death in 1955.
1911 - Cy Young's farewell appearance in a major league game is a letdown, as he loses to Brooklyn 13-3 wearing a Braves uniform in his 906th game.
1911 - The first MVPs are announced, and Ty Cobb receives the maximum 64 points. The NL winner is Cubs outfielder Frank Schulte, with Christy Mathewson second. Both winners receive Chalmers automobiles.
1911 - The World Series between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics was resumed after six days of rain, and Chief Bender beat Christy Mathewson 4-2 to give the A's 3-1 lead.
1913 - John McGraw hosts a reunion for Hugh Jennings and the old Orioles. After a night of heavy drinking, he blames his longtime friend, business partner, and teammate Wilbert Robinson for too many coaching mistakes in the recently concluded World Series. They exchange insults and McGraw fires him. They won't speak to each other for 17 years. Six days later Robbie will begin a legendary 18-year career as Brooklyn manager, 1914 - 1931. The Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series in five games with a 4-1 victory over the New York Giants.
1914 - The Boston Braves completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics, first in World Series history, with a 3-1 victory.
1915 - The Phillies win their first-ever World Series game behind Grover Cleveland Alexander, 3-1. Red Sox rookie Babe Ruth grounds out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the opener and will sit out the rest of the Series.
1916 - Babe Ruth outpitched Sherry Smith of the Brooklyn Dodgers as the Boston Red Sox won the longest World Series game to date, 2-1 in 14 innings.
1916 - Grover Alexander pitched his sixteenth shutout of the season, allowing only three Boston Braves hits in a 2-0 triumph.
1917 - The Chicago White Sox won the World Series when the New York Giants left home plate uncovered and Eddie Collins dashed home with third baseman Heinie Zimmerman chasing him in helpless pursuit.
1919 - White Sox starter Lefty Williams gets just one man out in the first inning and the Reds go on to a 10-5 victory. Cincinnati wins the best-of-nine World Series in eight games. A year after the 1919 Series ends, the White Sox will become the Black Sox, and eight players will be barred from baseball for taking part in throwing the Series.
1920 - In a 16-7 win over the White Sox, Browns first baseman George Sisler gets his 257th hit of the season to set a major league record. He also hurls a scoreless ninth inning in relief for St. Louis.
1920 - The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell, Hal Chase, and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they later recant.
1920 - The Cleveland Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 8-1 in the fifth game of the World Series. For the Indians, Elmer Smith hit the first Series grand slam and Jim Bagby, the winner, hit the first Series homer by a pitcher.
1920 - The only tripleheader in the century was played, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first two games. The Pirates won the nightcap, which was called after six innings because of darkness.
1920 - When Wheeler Johnston pinch-hits for Cleveland in the ninth inning of Game Two, his brother Jimmy is playing third base for Brooklyn. They become the first brothers to take opposite sides in a World Series.
1921 - Art Nehf tossed a 1-0, four-hitter against the New York Yankees for the World Series title in eight games. The Giants scored their run in the first inning on an error by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh.
1921 - In the first one-city World Series since 1906, the Polo Grounds is the site for all nine games between the Giants and the Yankees.
1922 - For the first time, the entire World Series will be broadcast over the radio. Writer Grantland Rice does the announcing of the Giants-Yankees Series for station WJZ, Newark, whose signal is relayed to WGY in Schenectady.
1923 - Babe Ruth makes a postseason appearance in a New York Giants uniform as the Giants defeat the minor-league Baltimore Orioles 9-0. Ruth hits a home run over the right field roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day.
1923 - It's an all-New York World Series for the third straight year. A 4-4 tie is broken in the top of the ninth by the Giants. Casey Stengel's inside-the-park home run is the first World Series homer at Yankee Stadium. It is the first World Series to be broadcast on a nationwide radio network.
1924 - Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom, at 18 years, 10 months, is the youngest ever to play in a World Series.
1924 - The Washington Senators won their only championship by defeating the Giants 4-3 in 12 innings. The winning run scored when a ball hit by Earl McNeely bounced over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head.
1925 - Fans saw the unusual spectacle of two managers, both famous hitters, pitch against each other in the season finale. Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers threw one perfect inning and George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns worked two scoreless innings in Detroit's 11-6 victory.
1927 - Facing elimination at Yankee Stadium, the Pirates are tied with the Yankees 3-3 in the last of the ninth. Reliever Johnny Miljus strikes out Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel with the bases loaded, but a two-strike wild pitch to Tony Lazzeri allows Earle Combs to score the winning run and capture the World Series.
1928 - Babe Ruth hit three home runs in a World Series game for the second time in his career as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3.
1929 - Mel Ott and Chuck Klein go into a head-to-head doubleheader tied at 42 home runs apiece. In the opener, Klein homers for the Phillies off Carl Hubbell in his first at-bat to take the home run lead. In the nightcap, Phillies pitchers intentionally walk Ott five times rather than give him a chance to tie Klein. The last walk comes with the bases loaded.
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, won by the New York Yankees, 7-5, at Wrigley Field. Ruth and Lou Gehrig each hit two homers for the Yankees.
1936 - Lou Gehrig, who hit 49 home runs, scored 167 runs, knocked in 152, and batted .354, is voted AL MVP.
1936 - The Yankees even the World Series and set a Series record for runs as they demolish the Giants 18-4. Lefty Gomez coasts to a six-hit win, while every member of the Yankees lineup makes a hit and scores at least one run. Tony Lazzeri hits a grand slam, the first in World Series play since 1920.
1938 - Bob Feller struck out eighteen Detroit Tigers, setting a single-game record that stood until Steve Carlton broke it in 1969.
1938 - The Yankees become the first team to win three successive World Championships.
1941 - With two outs in the ninth inning of Game Four, Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen drops a third strike on Tommy Henrich allowing him to reach 1st base, which would have given Brooklyn a 4-3 victory over New York. The Yankees then rally for a 7-4 win to take a 3-1 World Series lead.
1942 - Branch Rickey, the architect of the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system, resigned as the team's vice president.
1944 - The only all-St. Louis World Series opens with the Browns, as the visiting team, beating the Cardinals on George McQuinn's home run, 2-1. Denny Galehouse is the winning pitcher and Mort Cooper loses despite allowing just two hits.
1945 - Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Dodgers organization.
1945 - Tavern owner "Billy Goat" Sianis buys a box seat for his goat for Game Four of the World Series and is escorted out of Wrigley Field. In retaliation Sianis casts a "goat curse" over the Cubs. The Cubs will not return to the World Series again until 2016.
1946 - Enos Slaughter scored from first on a single to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 victory and the World Series title in the seventh game against the Boston Red Sox.
1946 - For the first time in major league history, a playoff series to determine a league's championship was played between the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals took the first game, 4-2, as Howie Pollet held the Dodgers to two hits, a homer and an RBI-single by Howie Schultz.
1947 - The Dodgers squeak out a 9-8 win over the Yankees, jumping on Bobo Newsom and Vic Raschi for six runs in the second inning. Yogi Berra becomes the first player to hit a pinch home run in World Series history, belting one off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca in the seventh inning.
1948 - In the opening game of the World Series, the Boston Braves beat Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians 1-0 with only two hits.
1949 - The Yankees and the Red Sox enter the last day of the season tied for first place and nearly 70,000 pack Yankee Stadium to see the finale. Vic Raschi nurses a 1-0 lead into the eighth against Ellis Kinder before the Yankees score four runs and go on to win the game and the pennant 5-3. During the game Ted Williams also loses the batting title as George Kell goes two-for-three in Detroit (.3429 to .3427).
1950 - Connie Mack, at age 87, retired as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics after 50 years, and Jimmy Dykes was named to replace him. Mack, together with Ben Shibe, founded the Athletics in 1901.
1951 - Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant
1952 - Billy Martin's running catch on a high infield pop with the bases loaded in the seventh inning snuffed out a Dodgers rally and the New York Yankees went on to win Game 7 of the World Series, 4-2.
1953 - Red Barber resigns from the Dodgers broadcast booth and takes a job with the rival New York Yankees.
1954 - Major league owners vote down the sale of the Athletics to a Philadelphia syndicate. A week later Arnold Johnson buys a controlling interest in the Athletics from the Mack family for $3.5 million and moves the team to Kansas City.
1954 - The Giants sweep the American League team with the best record in history, scoring four runs in the fifth for a 7-4 win over Cleveland. The Indians had won 111 games, a record that stood until surpassed by the 1998 Yankees.
1955 - Baseball great Branch Rickey steps down as GM of the Pirates and moves into an advisory role. Joe L. Brown, son of the actor, replaces him.
1955 - The Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series with Johnny Podres beating the New York Yankees 2-0 in game seven.
1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits.
1956 - Johnny Kucks sets down Brooklyn, 9-0, as the Yankees win the World Series in seven games. Yogi Berra hits a pair of two-run home runs and Bill Skowron hits a grand slam. It's the seventh and final time Brooklyn and the Yankees meet in the Series. In the future, it will take a jet, not a subway, to get these two teams together.
1957 - With Warren Spahn stricken by the flu, Lew Burdette, pitching with two days' rest, hurls his third complete game and second shutout to beat New York 5-0 to win the World Series
1958 - Construction began on the new ballpark for the Giants in San Francisco. The rocks in the area resembled candlesticks.
1958 - The Braves erupt for seven runs in the first and go on to defeat the Yankees 13-5. Lew Burdette is shaky but beats New York for the fourth consecutive time in the World Series. He also chips in with a three-run home run.
1960 - The NL votes to admit Houston and New York to the league, the first structural change since 1900.
1961 - Roger Maris hit his 61st home run against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipsed Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season home run record. The Yankees won, 1-0.
1962 - In the opener of the World Series at Candlestick Park, Whitey Ford's record scoreless inning streak ends at 33 2/3 when a surprise bunt by Jose Pagan brings Willie Mays home. The Yankees win, 6-2, the last of a record 10 World Series victories for Ford.
1962 - Just 25,321 fans are on hand at Dodger Stadium for the second game in the best-of-three playoff against the Giants. A ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Ron Fairly sends Maury Wills home with the deciding run in the Dodgers' 8-7 win.
1962 - The San Francisco Giants rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to win the third game of the tie-breaking playoffs, 6-4, over the Los Angeles Dodgers and move on to the World Series.
1962 - With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, San Francisco's Willie McCovey hit a hard line drive at second baseman Bobby Richardson for the final out and the New York Yankees won Game 7 by a score of 1-0 for their 20th World Series title.
1963 - In the first (and last) Hispanic-American major league all-star game, the NL team beats the AL 5-2 at the Polo Grounds.
1963 - Sandy Koufax fans the first five batters he faces and becomes the first pitcher to fan fifteen in a World Series game. Johnny Roseboro's three-run home run is the difference as Los Angeles beats the Yankees 5-2 at New York.
1964 - After just 11 years in Milwaukee, the Braves Board of Directors votes to ask the NL for permission to move to Atlanta. Milwaukee County officials sue to block the move.
1965 - Sandy Koufax tossed his second shutout to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins and the World Series in seven games.
1966 - Jim Palmer, 20, became the youngest player to pitch a World Series shutout as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0. Sandy Koufax was the loser, his last appearance in the major leagues.
1966 - Sandy Koufax clinches the third Los Angeles pennant in four years, working with just two days rest for a 6-3 win at Philadelphia. Koufax sets Los Angeles records with twenty-seven wins and a 1.73 ERA.
1967 - Joe DiMaggio is hired by Charlie Finley as executive vice president of the newly transplanted Oakland Athletics.
1967 - The AL approves the Athletics' shift to Oakland. Kansas City is promised a new team by 1971. When Senator Stuart Symington and Kansas City Mayor Ilus Davis threaten action against the move, AL President Joe Cronin reopens talks, and the expansion deadline is moved forward to 1969. Charlie Finley names Bob Kennedy the first manager of the Oakland A's.
1968 - Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals set a World Series record by striking out seventeen Detroit Tigers in Game 1.
1968 - Mickey Lolich saves Detroit, 5-3, with an unlikely assist from Lou Brock, who tries to score standing up on Julian Javier's single and is gunned down by Willie Horton's throw. Al Kaline's bases-loaded single drives in the deciding runs.
1969 - The major leagues held their first divisional championships. The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5 and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3 in 12 innings in the opening games.
1969 - The Seattle Pilots play what will be their last game in Seattle in a 3-1 loss to Oakland. A crowd of 5,473 shows up. The next season they became the Milwaukee Brewers.
1970 - The final game at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium is played as the Phillies beat the Expos 2-1. The fans respond by swarming onto and destroying the field.
1971 - The first World Series night game was played in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating Baltimore 4-3. Roberto Clemente had three hits for Pittsburgh.
1971 - The Orioles overcome two Reggie Jackson home runs to complete a sweep of Oakland in the ALCS with a 5-3 victory.
1972 - Catcher Gene Tenace becomes the first player ever to homer in each of his first two at-bats in the World Series, leading the A's to a 3-2 opening-game win over the Reds.
1972 - Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson dies of heart disease at age 53. Robinson had become the first black major league player of the 20th century with the 1947 Dodgers.
1972 - Oakland takes the AL pennant with a 2-1 win in Game Five of the ALCS over Baltimore. The A's Reggie Jackson steals home, but pulls a hamstring in the process, sidelining him for the World Series.
1972 - Roric Harrison homers as Baltimore beats Cleveland 4-3 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the DH rule on the horizon, it will be the last home run hit by an AL pitcher until interleague play 25 years later.
1972 - With runners at second and third and a 3-2 count, the A's fake an intentional walk and strike out Johnny Bench looking in Game Three. Blue Moon Odom fans 11, but Cincinnati's Jack Billingham is the 1-0 winner as the Reds win their first game of the World Series.
1973 - The Cubs trade six-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Rangers for third baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. Meanwhile, San Francisco trades three-time home run champion Willie McCovey, a Giant since 1959, together with a minor leaguer to the Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.
1973 - The Mets win Game Two of the World Series, 10-7, scoring four runs in an 11th inning that features the last major league hit by Willie Mays and two errors by Oakland second baseman Mike Andrews
1973 - Tom Seaver wins the NL Cy Young Award, the first time the honor has gone to a pitcher with fewer than 20 wins. Seaver was 19-10 and led the league in ERA (2.08) and strikeouts (251).
1974 - During a 13-0 Braves win over Reds, Hank Aaron homers off Rawly Eastwick. It is Aaron's 733rd career clout and comes in his last National League at-bat.
1974 - Ken Holtzman, who hadn't batted all season, belts a third-inning home run in Game Four and gets the 5-2 win.
1975 - Carlton Fisk (with his body english) broke up one of the best games in Series history with a homer in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game.
1975 - Fred Lynn, who led the league in runs, doubles and slugging percentage for the AL champion Red Sox, is the overwhelming choice as AL Rookie of the Year.
1975 - Giants pitcher John Montefusco outpoints Expos catcher Gary Carter for NL Rookie of the Year honors.
1975 - Luis Tiant throws 163 pitches in winning his second game of the World Series against Cincinnati, 5-4, to even the Series after four games.
1975 - The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the World Series with a controversial 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox in Cincinnati. In the 10th, Reds pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempted a sacrifice bunt and bounced the ball in front of the plate. Catcher Carlton Fisk, in an attempt to field the ball, collided with Armbrister and threw the ball into center in an attempt to force Cesar Geronimo at second. Geronimo went to third -- and later scored the game-winner -- and Armbrister moved to second. Home plate umpire Larry Barnett ruled there was no interference despite heated protests by the Red Sox.
1976 - Hank Aaron singles in his last major-league at bat and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5-2.
1977 - Dusty Baker homers in his final at-bat of the season during a 6-3 loss to the Astros. It is Baker's 30th home run of the year, enabling him to join teammates Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32) and Ron Cey (30) in making the Dodgers the first team ever to boast four 30-homer hitters in one season.
1977 - Reggie Jackson hit three consecutive home runs to lead New York to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and give the Yankees the World Series title in six games. Jackson drove in five runs, and all three shots came on the first pitch.
1977 - Sparky Lyle becomes the first AL reliever to win the Cy Young Award. Lyle leads the league with 72 appearances, posting a 13-5 record with 26 saves and a 2.17 ERA.
1978 - Gaylord Perry becomes the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Perry cops the NL honor with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA for the Padres
1979 - Billy Martin is involved in a barroom altercation with Joseph Cooper, a Minnesota marshmallow salesman. Cooper requires 15 stitches to close a gash in his lip. George Steinbrenner announces that Billy Martin is fired (again) as a result of his barroom fight with the marshmallow salesman, Dick Howser is named to replace Martin.
1979 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn notifies Hall of Famer Willie Mays that if he accepts a position with Bally Manufacturing Corporation, owner of several gambling casinos, he must disassociate himself from major league baseball. Mays, a part-time coach and goodwill ambassador for the Mets, will relinquish his duties upon accepting Bally's job offer.
1979 - The Orioles score five runs in the first inning of the World Series, then hang on to defeat the Pirates 5-4.
1980 - Capping an improbable comeback, the Dodgers beat the Astros for the third day in a row to force a one-game playoff for the NL West title. Los Angeles trailed Houston by three games with three games left in the season and won each game by a single run.
1980 - Kansas City's George Brett hit an upper deck three-run homer off relief ace Goose Gossage to give the Kansas City Royals a 4-2 victory and a three-game sweep of New York Yankees in the ALCS.
1980 - The Astros finally win, whipping the Dodgers in a one-game playoff at Dodger Stadium, 7-1. Art Howe drives in four runs and Joe Niekro wins his 20th game of the season to put Houston in the postseason for the first time since entering the major leagues in 1962.
1980 - The Philadelphia Phillies became World Series champions for the first time in their 98-year history with a 4-1 triumph over the Kansas City Royals in Game 6.
1980 - The Phillies capture their first NL title since 1950 with a 10-inning, 8-7 win over the Astros in the fifth and final game of the NLCS. Each of the last four games was decided in extra innings.
1981 - The Brewers and Expos clinch their first-ever postseason appearances. Milwaukee beats Detroit 2-1 to wrap up the second-half title in the AL East, while Montreal edges the Mets 5-4 to win the NL East's second playoff spot.
1982 - Paul Molitor of Milwaukee had five hits, a World Series record, in the 10-0 opener over the Cardinals in St. Louis.
1982 - Robin Yount records his second four-hit game of the World Series to lead the Brewers to a 6-4 win in Game Five and give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead overall. Yount is the first player ever to have multiple four-hit games in one World Series.
1982 - Steve Carlton becomes the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards. The Phils 37-year-old lefthander, who led the NL in wins (23), innings (295.2), strikeouts (286), and shutouts (six), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977, and 1980.
1984 - In the first LCS game played with replacement umpires, the Cubs clobber the Padres 13-0 in the opener of the National League series. Chicago hits five home runs at Wrigley Field, including one by winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.
1984 - San Diego pitchers tie a World Series record by issuing 11 walks in a 5-2 loss to the Tigers in Game Three.
1984 - The San Diego Padres won the National League pennant with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the final game of the playoffs. The Padres won three straight after dropping the first two.
1985 - After giving up just two hits in eight innings, Royals southpaw Charlie Leibrandt is raked with three two-out hits and loses 4-2. St. Louis has a 2-0 Series lead.
1985 - Cardinal's pitcher Joaquin Andujar is suspended for the first 10 games of the 1986 season as a result of his World Series Game Seven tantrum during which he twice bumped home plate umpire Don Denkinger.
1985 - The Angels announce that they will not offer seven-time batting champion Rod Carew a new contract for the 1986 season, effectively ending his 19-year career. Carew finishes with 3,053 hits and a .328 career batting average.
1985 - The Cardinals rout the Dodgers, 12-2, to even the NLCS. The Cards, however, lose rookie sensation Vince Coleman to one of the more bizarre injuries in major-league history. Coleman is stretching before the game when his left leg becomes caught in Busch Stadium's automated tarpaulin as it unrolls across the infield, trapping him for about 30 seconds. He does not play again in 1985.
1986 - Baltimore loses to Detroit 6-3, assuring the Orioles of their first last-place finish since moving from St. Louis in 1954.
1986 - Bill Russell, 38, announces his retirement. He is the last member of the Dodgers' Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey 1970s infield and is second on the club's all-time list with 2,183 games played.
1986 - Mike Scott strikes out eight Giants in a 2-1 Astros victory to run his season total to 306, becoming the third National League pitcher to fan 300 batters in one season. Scott loses his bid for a second consecutive no-hitter when Will Clark doubles in the seventh inning. The previous two pitchers were Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965, & 1966) and J. R. Richard (1978 & 1979).
1986 - The California Angels were one pitch away from their first pennant when they let the Boston Red Sox back into the American League playoffs with an 11-inning 7-6 victory in Game 5.
1986 - The New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox to win 6-5 and push the World Series to a decisive seventh game. The tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's slow grounder.
1987 - Billy Martin is named manager of the Yankees for a fifth time, replacing Lou Piniella, who replaced Martin and is moved to general manager. Piniella led the Yankees to an 89-73 record in 1987, fourth in the AL East.
1988 - Dodgers ace reliever Jay Howell is ejected in the eighth inning of Game Three of the NLCS for having pine tar on his glove and the Mets go on to score five times in the inning on the way to an 8-4 win. Howell will be suspended for three days by the NL.
1988 - Orel Hershiser gives up three hits and has three hits himself to beat Oakland, 6-0.
1988 - Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 to raise his league-leading batting average to .313 but sustained a hand injury in a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros. Gwynn was the first National League batting champion to win the title with an average below .320. Larry Doyle's .320 average was the lowest.
1988 - With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Kirk Gibson hit a two-run, pinch-homer to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Oakland in Game 1 of the World Series. Gibson, who did not start because of a strained left knee, limped around the bases as the Dodgers won one of the most dramatic games in Series history.
1989 - Minnesota's Kirby Puckett and San Diego's Tony Gwynn each win batting titles on the final day of the regular season. Puckett goes 2-for-5 to edge Carney Lansford .339 to .336 while Gwynn goes 3-for-4 to beat Will Clark .336 to .333.
1989 - Minutes before Game 3 of the World Series on Oct 17 between Oakland and San Francisco, an earthquake hit the Bay area. The game was postponed, and the Series resumed 11 days later.
1989 - The Giants win their first NL pennant since 1962 by defeating the Cubs 3-2 in Game Five of the NLCS. Will Clark bats .650 in the series with eight RBI to win MVP honors.
1989 - Will Clark has six RBI on four hits, including two home runs (one of which is the first NLCS grand slam since 1977) to lead the Giants to an 11-3 win over the Cubs in Game One.
1990 - George Brett became the first player to win a batting title in three different decades. Brett went 1-for-1 in Kansas City's 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians to win the American League title with a .329 average. Brett also won AL batting titles in 1976 and 1980.
1990 - The Oakland Athletics swept the Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant and their third straight trip to the World Series with a 3-1 victory. MVP Dave Stewart won for the eighth straight time in head-to-head matchups with Roger Clemens, who was ejected in the second inning for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney.
1990 - Willie McGee became the first player to win a batting title in a league he didn't finish the season in. McGee, who had a .335 average when St. Louis traded him to Oakland on Aug. 28, won his second National League crown when Dave Magadan of the New York Mets failed to catch him on the season's final day.
1991 - After 11 lead changes or ties in the closing weeks of the NL West race, the Braves finally clinch the division on the second-to-last day of the season.
1991 - Kirby Puckett prevents two Atlanta runs with a leaping catch in the third inning and then lofts a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Twins the lead in Game Six. The Braves tie it in the seventh, but Puckett turned out the lights in the 10th with a home run to force a seventh game.
1991 - The Toronto Blue Jays clinched the American League East title and became the first team in sports history to draw four million fans in one season.
1993 - In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, ninth inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8-6 win and Toronto's second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 in 24 at bats, is MVP while Philadelphia's Lenny Dykstra, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch.
1993 - The Giants need to beat the Dodgers on the final day of the season to force a one-game playoff with the Braves for the NL West title, but the Dodgers have other plans. LA rips the Giants, 12-1. At 103-59, San Francisco becomes the first team since the 1954 Yankees to win that many games and not play in the postseason.
1993 - The night after Toronto wins a 15-14 slugfest, Philadelphia's Curt Schilling outduels Juan Guzman 2-0 in Game Five to send the Series back to Toronto.
1993 - The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud led the league with a .363 batting average. Paul Molitor finished at .332 and Roberto Alomar closed the year at .326.
1995 - Jay Buhner, whose error in right field allowed the Indians to tie the game, hits his second home run of the game in the top of the eleventh inning to lead the Mariners to a 5-2 victory in Game Three of the ALCS.
1995 - The Indians sweep the Division Series with an 8-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mo Vaughn, who will later be named MVP for 1995, and slugger Jose Canseco are a combined 0-for-27 for Boston.
1995 - The Rockies are the first team to make the postseason before their seventh year in existence; they also become the National League's first wild card winner following a 10-9 win over the Giants. Colorado's .535 percentage (77-67 record) is the best ever for a third-year team.
1996 - With the ALCS tied at 1-1 and the game tied at 2-2, Orioles third baseman Todd Zeile fakes a throw and the ball trickles away to allow the go-ahead run to score.
1997 - Edgar Renteria ended one of the most thrilling Game 7s ever, singling with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Florida Marlins their first World Series championship with a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. The 5-year-old Marlins became the youngest expansion team to win a championship.
1997 - Marlins rookie Livan Hernandez matches Mike Mussina's one-day old LCS record with 15 strikeouts in a three-hit, 2-1 win in Game Five of the NLCS. Hernandez, who would not have started if not for an injury to Alex Fernandez, wins his second game of the series and will earn MVP honors.
1997 - One of the most bizarre endings in ALCS history, the winning run scores on a botched squeeze play. With Marquis Grissom racing home from third base, Omar Vizquel bunts and misses, and the ball trickles a few feet from the plate. Orioles catcher Lenny Webster thinks it's a foul ball and loafs after it as Grissom streaks home for a 2-1 Cleveland win.
1997 - The first World Series game ever played in Florida belongs to the Marlins. Moises Alou and Charles Johnson smack back-to-back home runs against Cleveland's Orel Hershiser to make a 7-4 winner of Livan Hernandez in Game One.
1997 - The snow flurries and 38-degree game time temperature in Cleveland make it the coldest World Series in history, while home runs by Manny Ramirez and Matt Williams make it a long night for the Marlins. Jaret Wright out distances Tony Saunders 10-3 in Game Four in a battle of rookies.
1998 - Chuck Knoblauch argued for an interference call at first base instead of picking up the ball while Enrique Wilson scored to break a 1-1 tie in the 12th inning of the Cleveland Indians' 4-1 victory at New York in Game 2 of the AL championship series.
1998 - The New York Yankees closed out their historic season with 3-0 victory at San Diego, sweeping the Padres in four games to win their record 24th World Series championship. The Game 4 victory gave the Yankees 125 wins against 50 losses - for a .714 winning percentage, the best in the majors since their Murderers' Row club of 1927. Their AL-record 114 regular-season victories were the most ever for a champion.