July 23

1925 — Lou Gehrig hit the first of his major league record 23 grand slam homers as the New York Yankees posted an 11-7 triumph over the Washington Senators.

1930 — Pie Traynor won both ends of a doubleheader for the Pittsburgh Pirates with home runs. In the first game, Traynor homered in the ninth and in the second game, he connected in the 13th.

1944 — Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the New York Giants. Nicholson hit a home run in the opener, which the Cubs won 7-4. He hit three straight in the second game, but the Giants won 12-10. In that game, Nicholson was walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

1955 — Bob Cerv and Elston Howard of the New York Yankess hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs to force extra innings against Kansas City. The Athletics won 8-7 in the 11th inning on Hector Lopez’s RBI-single. Trailing 7-5 entering the top of the ninth, Cerv batted for pitcher Tommy Byrne and homered of Alex Kellner. Tom Gorman replaced Kellner and Howard, hitting for Irv Noren, tied the game.

1964 — Bert Campaneris of Kansas City hit two home runs in his first major league game. He homered on the first pitch off Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and then connected again in the seventh to lift the Athletics to a 4-3 win.

1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.

1985 — Oddibe McDowell became the first player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

2000 — Ryan Klesko hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th to lift San Diego over Colorado 6-4.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson’s on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter — the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas.

2011 — The Red Sox extend Seattle’s losing streak to 14 games, tied for the longest in team history, with a 3 – 1 win at Fenway Park which is also Terry Francona’s 1000th as Sox manager. Josh Beckett is the winner.

2014 — Padres OF Cameron Maybin is handed a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines; he is the first major leaguer suspended for PED use this season.

2016 — Trevor Story hit two home runs to set an NL rookie record for shortstops and Colorado beat Atlanta 8-4. Story had four hits including his 25th and 26th homers to pass his mentor, Troy Tulowitzki, who had 24 for the Rockies in 2007. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox set the major league record for shortstops with 30 in 1997.

2020 — CommissionerRob Manfred springs a surprise on everyone as he announces a modified postseason format for this year only. There will be eight teams participating from each league: the two teams with the best records in each division, and the ones with the two next best records in the league. The teams will be seeded one to eight. The Wild Card Game will be replaced by a preliminary round with all teams participating, played in best-of-three format, with all games played in the better-ranked team’s ballpark.

2021 — Cleveland baseball team announced the team will be called the Guardians beginning in 2022.

---

July 24

1909 — Nap Rucker of the Brooklyn Dodgers struck out 16 batters in a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1931 — In an 8-7 loss to Pittsburgh, Babe Herman of Brooklyn hit for the cycle for the second time in the season.

1947 — Jackie Robinson stole home for the first time in his major league career in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 4-2 win over Pittsburgh.

1948 — Chicago White Sox outfielder Pat Seerey become the first major leaguer to strike out seven times in a doubleheader.

1949 — Cleveland pitcher Bob Lemon hit two home runs to lead the Indians to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Senators in the opener of a doubleheader.

1968 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Chicago White Sox passed Cy Young’s major league record when he made his 907th appearance. He retired with 1,070 appearances.

1973 — Bobby Bonds homered and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-1 rout of the AL in the All-Star game at Kansas City.

1983 — The “Pine Tar” home run was hit by the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett off New York pitcher Rich Gossage at Yankee Stadium. Brett’s shot came with two outs in the top of the ninth to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. Brett’s homer was ruled an out because the amount of pine tar exceeded what was allowed. After a protest by the Royals, the final out and the Yankees’ half of the ninth was completed on Aug. 18.

1993 — Anthony Young of the New York Mets extended his record losing streak to 27 games when he walked in the winning run in the 10th inning for a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1999 — In their biggest victory in 46 years, the New York Yankees routed the Cleveland Indians 21-1 as Chili Davis went 5-for-6 with six RBIs.

2010 — Tampa Bay won in Cleveland for the first time in nearly five years. The Rays snapped an 18-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against the Indians. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon snapped an 0-21 personal losing streak as the visiting manager that began when he was the Angels interim manager in 1996.

2016 — Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza are inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Griffey obtained the highest percentage of the vote ever – 99.3% – in being elected in his first year of eligibility by the BBWAA, while Piazza made it on his fourth try. A crowd estimated at 50,000, the second-largest ever at Cooperstown, is on hand to witness the event.

2022 — The induction ceremony is held for the Class of 2022 at the Hall of Fame. Three of the seven men inducted – David Ortiz, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva – are present to receive the honor. The others, all deceased, are represented by relatives – Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and Buck O’Neil – while Dave Winfield introduces 19th century black baseball pioneer Bud Fowler. Over 35,000 persons are present in Cooperstown, NY to witness the ceremony, and Dominican flags and Boston Red Sox gear, in honor of Ortiz, are well in evidence in the crowd.

---

July 25

1918 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitched a four-hitter in 15 innings to beat the St. Louis Browns 1-0. The only hit off him in the first 11 innings was a triple by George Sisler.

1930 — The Philadelphia Athletics came up with a triple steal in the first inning and again in the fourth in a 14-1 win over the Cleveland Indians.

1939 — Atley Donald of the New York Yankees set a rookie pitching record in the AL when he registered his 12th consecutive victory since May 9, with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Browns.

1941 — Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox won his 300th and last game, beating the Cleveland Indians 10-6.

1949 — Stan Musial of St. Louis hit for the cycle, going 4-5 and driving in four runs to lead the Cardinals to a 14-1 rout of the Broolyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

1956 — Roberto Clemente hit a game-winning inside-the-park grand slam to give Pittsburgh a 9-8 win over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field.

1961 — En route to his 61-homer season, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit four homers against the Chicago White Sox in a doubleheader to give him 40 for the year. The Yankees took both games, 5-1 and 12-0, and Maris moved 25 games ahead of Babe Ruth’s 1927 pace.

1962 — Stan Musial of St. Louis became the all-time RBI leader in the NL. His two-run home run, in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles, gave him 1,862 RBIs, passing Mel Ott.

1978 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds singled to left off New York’s Craig Swan in the third inning to set a NL record of hitting safely in 38 consecutive games. The Mets won the game 9-2.

1990 — Kansas City’s George Brett hit for the cycle in the Royals 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

2000 — Mike Lansing of Colorado hit for the cycle. The Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 19-2.

2011 — Ian Kinsler homered and drove in four runs as the Texas Rangers pounded out the most runs and hits in the majors this season with a 20-6 rout of the Minnesota Twins.

2014 — Yasiel Puig tied a franchise record with three triples and added a double and two RBIs as Los Angeles moved within a half-game of NL West-leading San Francisco with an 8-1 win over the Giants.

2015 — Cole Hamels became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in 50 years while leading Philadelphia to a 5-0 win. There was drama down to the final out, when rookie center fielder Odubel Herrera stumbled on the warning track, but managed to lean forward and catch Kris Bryant’s flyball to end the game. Hamels struck out 13 in the first no-hitter versus the Cubs since Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game in 1965.

---