Steff Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 1903 — The New York Highlanders won their first major-league game with a 7-2 decision over the Washington Senators. 1913 — New York's Christy Mathewson beats the Phillies 3-1, throwing just 67 pitches. 1939 — Rookie Ted Williams went 4-for-5, including his first major-league home run, but the Red Sox lost to Philadelphia 12-8 at Fenway Park. 1946 — Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers no-hit the Boston Braves 5-0 at Ebbetts Field. 1952 — Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians (news) and Bob Cain of the St. Louis Browns matched one-hitters but Cain was able to pull out the victory 1-0. 1952 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Giants won his first major-league game (in relief), but more dramatically, hit a home run at the Polo Grounds in his first major-league at-bat. Although he pitched in 1,070 games in the majors, he never hit another homer. 1954 — Hank Aaron hit the first home run of his major-league career. The blow was off Vic Rashi in the Milwaukee Braves' 7-5 victory over St. Louis. 1962 — After an 0-9 start, the New York Mets (news) won their first game beating the Pittsburgh Pirates (news) 9-1 behind Jay Hook. 1964 — Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the first pitcher to lose a nine-inning no-hitter when Pete Rose scored an unearned run to give the Cincinnati Reds (news) a 1-0 victory. 1989 — Nolan Ryan came within two outs of his sixth career no-hitter, losing it when Nelson Liriano tripled in the ninth inning as the Texas Rangers (news) beat the Toronto Blue Jays (news) 4-1. Ryan finished with his 10th lifetime one-hitter. 1999 — Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams in one inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals (news) to a 12-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers (news). Tatis became the first in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning and set the record with eight RBIs in one inning. 2000 — New York Yankees (news) outfielder Bernie Williams and catcher Jorge Posada each homered from both sides of the plate as the Yankees beat Toronto 10-7. It is the first time that feat has been accomplished by two players on the same team in the same game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwsox Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 913 — New York's Christy Mathewson beats the Phillies 3-1, throwing just 67 pitches. That is incredible. Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSF Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 1954 — Hank Aaron hit the first home run of his major-league career. The blow was off Vic Rashi in the Milwaukee Braves' 7-5 victory over St. Louis. Raschi was probably thinking "That kid is too small to go yard again. Powerful wrists? Bah!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 That is incredible. Wow. So I take it he looked pretty good that day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandoFan Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 So I take it he looked pretty good that day Yeah, but during that era ballparks were spacious, mound high, baseball heavier, hitters out of shape and strike-zone HUGE. It's a feat no doubt, but it's hard to judge it by today's standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Yeah, but during that era ballparks were huge, mound high, baseball heavier, hitters out of shape and strike-zone HUGE. It's a feat no doubt, but it's hard to judge it by today's standards. The pitchers also didn't throw nearly as hard, they didn't have anywhere near the assortment of pitches they do now, they didn't have video and scouting reports of hitters, not to mention the physical training they do now... It goes both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 1952 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Giants won his first major-league game (in relief), but more dramatically, hit a home run at the Polo Grounds in his first major-league at-bat. Although he pitched in 1,070 games in the majors, he never hit another homer. He had a good major league career. It's a shame he couldn't hit another one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandoFan Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 The pitchers also didn't throw nearly as hard, they didn't have anywhere near the assortment of pitches they do now, they didn't have video and scouting reports of hitters, not to mention the physical training they do now... It goes both ways. Actually, it doesn't always go both ways -- just like it didn't go both ways in 1968 and in 1930. Velocity difference wasn't THAT great and pitchers made up for it by almost uninterupted cheating (which made breaking ball tougher) and intimidation (knocking batters on their ass), as well as other factors I mentioned in the previous post. When you have a line-up full of punch-and-judy hitters, you can keep on grooving pitches with little consequence if you're Chrissy [/slight exaggeration] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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