On this day in 1973, the great Roberto Clemente becomes the first Latin-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The late Pirates outfielder, who died tragically only a few months earlier in a airplane crash, was elected posthumously after the mandatory five-year waiting period was waived. Immensely proud of his…
July 30th, 1973… The late Jim Bibby becomes the 14th rookie ever and the first Texas Ranger pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Facing off against the great Vida Blue, the hard throwing right-hander held Oakland A’s hitless in a 3-0 Texas victory at the Oakland Coliseum. At 6’5″ tall and well over 220 pounds, Bibby…
On the day in 1980, Mike Schmidt hit the 260th and 261st home runs of his career… the most in Philadelphia Phillies history. Schmitty jumped ahead of former Phillies slugger Del Ennis with a first inning 2 run blast and added another in the third inning, both off Atlanta lefty Larry McWilliams. In the game…
On this day in 2007, Colorado Rockies minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh died on the field after getting struck with a line drive while coaching first base for the Tulsa Drillers. A baseball lifer, Mike bounced around the minors for a decade before reaching the major leagues in 2001 with the Brewers. He played 39…
July 18th, 1970: San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays becomes to 10th player in baseball history to collect 3000 hits. Facing Montreal Expos right-hander Mike Wegener at Candlestick Park the ‘Say Hey Kid’ smacked a single to left to reach the milestone during the second inning of the Giants 10-1 rout over the Expos. Willie…
July 16, 2009 Ryan Howard, playing in his 658th game, becomes the fastest player to hit 200 home runs when he goes deep off Chris Volstad with his solo shot in the sixth inning in team’s 4-0 victory in Miami. The previous mark was held by Hall of Fame slugger Ralph Kiner, who played in…