Today In Baseball History
1938 - Babe Ruth is signed as a Dodgers coach for the rest of the season. He is in uniform for batting demonstrations the following day.
1953 - Red Sox rookie outfielder Gene Stephens becomes the only A.L. player to get three hits in the same inning, as Boston scores 17 in the seventh inning in a 23-3 romp over Detroit. The Red Sox send 23 to the plate in the seventh, getting 14 hits and six walks — 20 runners — in succession before third baseman George Kell flies out to end it.
1960 - The Giants, a big favorite to win the pennant in a preseason poll of writers taken by The Sporting News, change managers, replacing Bill Rigney with Tom Sheehan. Horace Stoneham's team is 33-25 and trails only Pittsburgh. At 66 years, two months, and 18 days, Sheehan is the oldest rookie manager in major-league history.
1962 - Hank Aaron of the Braves reaches the left-center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds, the second player to find the center field bleachers in two days and only the third ever. The Braves win 7-1.
1972 - By a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court confirms lower court rulings in the Curt Flood case, upholding baseball's exemption from antitrust laws and the legitimacy of its reserve clause. Its decision is narrowly construed, however, and leaves the way open for legislation or collective bargaining to undercut the reserve system.
1975 - Boston rookie Fred Lynn drives in ten runs with three home runs, a triple, and a single during a 15-1 drubbing of Detroit. Lynn's 16 total bases tie an A.L. record.
1976 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voids the A's sales, totaling $3.5 million, of Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees, saying they are 'not in the best interest of baseball.' A's owner Charlie Finley files a $10 million damage suit against Kuhn, and will refuse to use any of the three players until June 27.
1977 - New York's Reggie Jackson loafs after a fly ball during a 10-4 loss to Boston and is taken out by manager Billy Martin. Jackson and Martin nearly come to blows in the dugout as national television cameras watch.
1986 - California's Don Sutton becomes the 19th pitcher in ML history to win 300 games, beating the Rangers 3-1 on a three-hitter.
1995 - Tigers manager Sparky Anderson moves into third place on the all-time list with his 2,158th win. He passes Bucky Harris with the 10-8 victory over Baltimore.
