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Associated Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Barry Bonds hits his 715th HR to pass Babe Ruth for 2nd place all-time
May 28 1918 -- Boston's Joe Bush pitched a 1-0 one-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and drove in the lone run. The only Chicago hit was by Happy Felsch. It occurred when he threw his bat at the ball on a hit and run. 1939 -- Philadelphia pitcher Robert Joyce was victimized two straight days by New York's George Selkirk. Joyce gave up two homers to Selkirk a day earlier. Joyce came on in relief on this day and gave up two more homers to Selkirk. Selkirk ended with four homers in four at-bats against the same pitcher over two successive games. The Yankees won 9-5. 1946 -- The Washington Senators beat New York 2-1 in the first night game at Yankee Stadium. The first ball was thrown out by General Electric president Charles E. Wilson. 1951 -- After going 0-for-12 in his first three major league games, Willie Mays of the New York Giants hit a home run off Warren Spahn in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Braves. 1956 -- Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a home run in his eighth consecutive game, a major league record. Long connected off Brooklyn's Carl Erskine at Forbes Field. 1968 -- The American League announced the league will be split into two divisions. The East division will consist of Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Washington. California, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland and Seattle will make up the West. 1979 -- George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit for the cycle and added another home run to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 in 16 innings. 1986 -- Joe Cowley of the Chicago White Sox set a major league record by striking out the first seven batters he faced. He lasted 4 2-3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. 1995 -- The White Sox and Tigers set a major league record with 12 homers, and combined for an American League-record 21 extra-base hits in Chicago's 14-12 victory in Detroit. 1998 -- Arizona manager Buck Showalter intentionally walked Barry Bonds with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the Diamondbacks held on to beat San Francisco 8-7. 2003 -- Atlanta became the second team in major league history to start a game with three straight homers in its 15-3 win over the Reds. Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs off Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first. The Padres did it against the Giants on April 13, 1987. 2006 -- Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in behind Hank Aaron and his long-standing record of 755. 2007 -- Adrian Beltre tied a franchise record with four extra-base hits, including two homers, as Seattle pounded the Los Angeles Angels 12-5. 2010 -- Detroit's Miguel Cabrera hit three homers in a 5-4 loss to Oakland. Oakland's Ben Sheets gave up three runs -- on Cabrera's first two homers -- worked seven innings in his longest start of the season. 2012 — The Cubs end a twelve-game losing streak, their longest since 1997, with an 11-7 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field. 2010 -- Matt Cain pitched a one-hitter to match a career best, giving up only a two-out double in the second to Mark Reynolds, and San Francisco beat Arizona 5-0. 2013 — The Mets honor Yankees great Mariano Rivera, who has announced his retirement at the end of the year, by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the two teams from the Big Apple at Citi Field, with retired Mets closer John Franco acting as his catcher for the occasion. 2016 — In the 3rd inning of a game against the Dodgers, Mets P Noah Syndergaard is ejected for throwing at Chase Utley, in apparent retaliation for Utley's aggressive slide which injured Mets SS Ruben Tejada in last year's NLDS. Umpire Adam Hamari also tosses Mets manager Terry Collins for arguing his decision, then Utley gets his revenge when he opens the score with a solo homer off Logan Verrett in the 6th and adds a grand slam off Hansel Robles in the 7th. The Dodgers hit five homers in total as they win the game, 9-1. 2019 — Derek Dietrich continues his unlikely homer binge as he hits three, all two-run shots, in leading the Reds to an 11-6 win over the Pirates. With 17 homers this year, he has already topped his career high, and 12 of his last 17 hits have gone over the fence. For the Pirates, rookie Kevin Newman hits his first career homer, a grand slam off Lucas Sims. 2023 — Spencer Strider of the Braves becomes the fastest starting pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season, doing so in his 61st inning in an 11 - 4 win over the Phillies. Last year, Strider set the record for the fastest pitcher to reach 200 Ks in a season. _____
New York Times
17-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wilmer Flores joins legendary Giants list with 3 home runs, 8 RBIs in win
Wilmer Flores came one hit away from hitting for the cycle in the Giants' 9-1 win on Friday night. If that sounds unremarkable, hold on a second. The hit he was missing was a two-run home run. The cycle he didn't complete was the home run cycle, which means Flores will have to be satisfied with a solo homer, a three-run homer, a grand slam and eight runs batted in. Advertisement He can try again Saturday. It was a career night for Flores, but it would have been a career high for anyone. It was the first three-homer and 8 RBI game for the Giants since Joc Pederson in 2022, which itself was the first since Willie Mays' four-home run game in 1961. The game was notable in other ways, to be sure. Logan Webb threw eight strong innings, allowing just one run. Camilo Doval looked like the best version of himself, striking out the side. Tyler Fitzgerald returned from the injured list, had a hustle double and made a sparkling defensive play. If the Giants are going to stay in the postseason picture, they'll take every positive sign from those three they can get. If Flores had just one home run, he would have kept them company in the land of positive signs. Instead, he trotted right past them and into the land of fun facts. Let's tally them up. Don't let the relative recency of Pederson's eight-RBI night fool you. This doesn't happen often. Only three players have done it in the San Francisco era and just 11 overall. 1. Travis Jackson, Aug. 4, 1923 2. George 'High Pockets' Kelly, June 14, 1924 3. Irish Meusel, Sept. 2, 1925 4. Mel Ott, May 11, 1936 5. Phil Weintraub, April 30, 1944 6. Hank Thompson, June 3, 1954 7. Willie Mays, April 30, 1961 8. Orlando Cepeda, July 4, 1961 9. Brandon Crawford, July 15, 2019 10. Joc Pederson, May 24, 2022 11. Wilmer Flores, May 16, 2025 That's five Hall of Famers, if you're counting. The list of 165 players to do it for any team before Flores is an excellent exercise in remembering some guys, as it offers a perfect mix of Hall of Famers and unlikely heroes. Shohei Ohtani was one of the five players whose team lost the game, adding to the 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle mythos of the Angels. Advertisement If you're in the market for some perspective on how rare this feat is, consider that the Marlins have never had an eight-RBI night in their 33-season history. The Royals have had just one in their 57 seasons. The Giants now have three of the last eight-RBI games, starting with Crawford's game in 2019. There are also three ex-Giants in that stretch, with Adam Duvall (with the Giants in 2014), AJ Pollock (2023) and Aaron Judge (seven minutes in 2022). The full list is here, but we'll focus on San Francisco history in the interest of brevity: 1. Willie Mays, April 30, 1961 (4 HR) 2. Willie Mays, June 29, 1961 3. Willie Mays, June 2, 1963 4. Willie McCovey, Sept. 22, 1963 5. Willie McCovey, April 22, 1964 6. Willie McCovey, Sept. 17, 1966 7. Gary Matthews, Sept. 25, 1976 8. Darrell Evans, June 15, 1983 9. Kevin Mitchell, May 25, 1990 10. Barry Bonds, Aug. 2, 1994 11. Barry Bonds, May 19, 2001 12. Barry Bonds, Sept. 9, 2001 13. Barry Bonds, Aug. 27, 2002 14. J.T. Snow, Aug. 13, 2004 15. Aubrey Huff, June 2, 2011 16. Pablo Sandoval, Sept. 4, 2013 17. Jarrett Parker, Sept. 26, 2015 18. Mike Yastrzemski, Aug. 16, 2019 19. Alex Dickerson, Sept. 1, 2020 20. Joc Pederson, May 24, 2022 21. Wilmer Flores, May 17, 2025 Before Flores broke the tie, half of the three-homer games in Giants history were hit by a Willie or a Barry. Most franchise fun facts related to home runs have to do with Willies and Barrys, to be clear. There was also a three-homer game for Pablo Sandoval in the 2012 World Series, but it's considered rude to talk about that in 2025. Check back next season. Eagle-eyed observers might have noticed a few omissions in the first list. McCovey isn't on there. Neither is Barry Bonds. This is because it's hard for a player to drive in eight runs in a single game. It takes good fortune, good timing and good hitting, none of which are guaranteed to show up in any given game, much less the same one. Advertisement Bonds not having an eight-RBI game is the best way to explain just how unlikely it is. Some Hall of Famers who never did it include: • Hank Aaron • Stan Musial • Carl Yastrzemski • Dave Winfield • Ernie Banks There are more Hall of Famers who didn't do it, including Bucketfoot Aloysius Harry Simmons, but it would take too long to list them all. Simmons only gets a mention to remind you there was a Hall of Famer named Bucketfoot Aloysius Harry Simmons. The RBI didn't become an official stat until 1920, so we can't find out if Ty Cobb or Honus Wagner ever did it. It's almost Occam's Razor to assume they didn't, though. He also raised his home run total by three. Judge didn't have any RBI in the Yankees' 6-2 win over the Mets, which means that Flores' 41 RBI are tied with Judge for the major-league lead. If people laughed at you for drafting Flores first in your fantasy draft this year, now's the time to make a few phone calls. Is it especially meaningful that Flores is responsible for these fun facts? In the sense that they're fun, yes. In terms of predictive value, no. Don't get carried is meaningful, though, is that Flores is healthy and producing again. From 2016 through 2023, eight seasons in total, Flores was better than the average major-league hitter. Last year, he wasn't even close. Considering his age last season (32), there was a chance the unproductive Flores was going to stick around. Instead, here's more evidence that Flores has some more of those 2016-2023 seasons in him. His eight-RBI performance is the flashiest game in a career filled with steady, workmanlike games, but the big picture regarding Flores remains the same. Muster up your best Mike Krukow impression, and sing along: He can hit.
Associated Press
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - The NY Yankees officially retire uniform #2 in honor of Derek Jeter
May 14 1913 — Washington's Walter Johnson gave up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators won 10-5. 1914 — Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitched nine innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Senators, but lost 1-0 after giving up two hits in the 10th inning. 1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 300th victory with a 9-8 win over the Detroit Tigers. 1927 — Chicago pitcher Guy Bush went the distance for the Cubs in a 7-2 18-inning win over Boston. Charlie Robertson of the Braves almost matched the feat, leaving with one out in the 18th. 1950 — Pittsburgh first baseman Johnny Hopp hit two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16-9 victory over the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago. 1965 — Carl Yastrzemski of Boston hit for the cycle and added another home run for five RBIs in a 12-8 10-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers. 1966 — Roberto Clemente's sixth and final career home run off Sandy Koufax is another no-doubter. It comes during Koufax's final season, the net result being one less shutout for Sandy and one more moon shot for Clemente 1967 — Mickey Mantle's 500th home run, off Stu Miller, lifted the New York Yankees to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. 1972 — In his first game with the New York Mets, Willie Mays hit a fifth inning home run off Don Carrithers for the difference in a 5-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants. 1977 — Jim Colborn of the Kansas City Royals no-hit the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 victory. 1986 — California Angels slugger Reggie Jackson hits his 537th career home run to move past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list. Jackson delivers the milestone blast against Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox. 1988 — Jose Oquendo became the first non-pitcher in 20 seasons to get a decision, taking the loss in the 19th inning when Ken Griffey's two-out, two-run double led the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5. 1989 — Benny Distefano became the first left-handed catcher in a major league game in nine years when he caught the ninth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates' 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Mike Squires caught two games with the Chicago White Sox in 1980 and Dale Long caught two games for the Chicago Cubs in 1958. 1993 — Jay Gainer of the Colorado Rockies hit a home run on the first major league pitch he saw. The first baseman became the fifth National Leaguer and 12th major leaguer to accomplish this feat. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Rockies 13-5. 1996 — Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter as the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0. Gooden struck out five and walked six. 2000 — Although Sammy Sosa collects five hits, Henry Rodriguez has seven RBI and Eric Young steals five bases, the Chicago Cubs still manage to lose to Montreal, 16-15. Young's five stolen bases are the most by a Cubs player since 1881 when George Gore stole seven. 2010 — After Twins manager Ron Gardenhire orders an intentional walk to Mark Teixeira and brings in righty Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez in the 7th, the Yankee third baseman blasts his 19th career grand slam to pass Frank Robinson for 7th on the all-time career home run list and give New York an 8-4 win. 2012 — Major League Baseball fires arbitrator Shyam Das after 13 years on the job. The Commissioner's office was incensed at Das for overturning Ryan Braun's suspension for PED use on a technicality on February 23rd, and the last straw comes when the same ruling is used today to justify ending Eliezer Alfonzo's 100-game suspension early. 2016 — In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6-5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning. 2017 — The Yankees officially retire uniform number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter and unveil a plaque in his name in Monument Park at New Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader against the Astros. _____
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Wrigley Field gives a perfect tribute to Giants' legendary icon Willie Mays
Wrigley Field gives a perfect tribute to Giants' legendary icon Willie Mays (Image Source: Getty) Wrigley Field pays tribute to Willie Mays 'Say Hey Kid,' 'Say hey' 'Happy birthday, Willie Mays! The 'Say Hey Kid' played 179 games at Wrigley Field, hitting 54 home runs, the most of any opposing player in Wrigley Field history.' Nick Castellanos hits a home run 'Oh gosh what happened today?' 'Uh oh checking the news,' Every baseball fan knows the legend that Willie Mays was. He was a true baseball giant, who dedicated most of his life on the field, inspiring the youth through his innings. Not only was he a great player, but also a legendary icon. To celebrate him, the Wrigley Field gave a nice tribute to the legend along with the present San Francisco Giants former Giants' player, legendary baseball icon, Willie Mays, passed away on June 18, 2024, at the age of 93. Fondly called thea nickname given due to his continuous use of the phrasewhen he forgot someone's name, Mays left a big impression on all baseball a homage to the legend, Wrigley Field shot up a billboard with the inscription,Mays entered the National League with the San Francisco Giants, back when they were called the New York Giants, and stayed with the team till 1972. For the last two seasons of his baseball career, Mays joined the New York Mets and finally retired in the baseball community is celebrating Willie Mays Day, some mourning his passing, there's one player who is bound to make a home run during this time. Yes, it's Nick Castellanos who has a record of hitting homers during awkward Castellanos hit a home run during the tribute? Well, it seems like he did. The match between Philadelphia Phillies vs Tampa Bay Rays, which took place miles away from Wrigley Field, did see Castellanos hitting a 3-run the Phillies appreciated the home run, fans immediately took to social media, searching for any bad news that might have happened. One fan commented,Another fan went on to say,indicating how Castellanos hitting a home run usually means something bad has fans are speculating what might go wrong after Castellanos's home run, let's take a moment to praise the baseball giant, Willie Mays. May your legacy continue Say Hey Kid !Also Read: Willy Adames surprises MLB fans by topping disappointment poll while Juan Soto escapes criticism
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Team Draws Disappointing Crowd on Thursday Despite Winning Record
There were a total of 11 games across the MLB on Thursday as the rest of the league had an off day or a travel day. With May now here, only three teams have 20 or more wins: The Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Detroit Tigers. Advertisement However, a number of teams have 19 wins as of May 1, with the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs all on the cusp of the 20-win threshold. On Thursday, the Giants hosted the Colorado Rockies in the first of a four-game series in San Francisco. The Rockies have the worst record in the MLB with just five wins entering Thursday, but they snuck out a 4-3 win over the Giants at Oracle Park. San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning at Oracle Howard-Imagn Images Surprisingly, it was the Rockies' second straight win and the Giants' third straight loss. The Giants are fresh off a two-game sweep against the Padres. However, Oracle Park was not as full as usual on Thursday as the Giants drew a disappointing crowd. Advertisement Right at first pitch, one video surfaced that showed a lot of empty seats. First pitch was at 6:45 pm PT in San Francisco, but fans were not flocking to the stadium to watch the last-place Rockies. Later, another photo surfaced of the crowd in the sixth inning, and there were still a lot of empty seats. The attendance number from ESPN was 27,198, although it looked like far less than that. For comparison, the Giants are 8th in the league in average attendance with a 35,132 per game. But, for a team just a couple of games away from first place in the National League West, it was a bit disappointing, and the loss didn't make things any better. Advertisement On April 24, which was also a Thursday, the Giants' attendance was just over 28,000, although that was a 12:45 pm PT start compared to an evening start for this one. The Giants have three more home games against the Rockies before hitting the road for a six-game trip. Related: San Francisco Giants Outfielder Enters Willie Mays Territory With Historical Feat
