On August 15 in Baseball History...

    1886 - Louisville's Guy Hecker scores seven runs in a game, establishing a major league record.

    1889 - The Cleveland Spiders win 19-8 over the Boston Beaneaters, and become the first team in National League history to score in all nine innings of a single game.

    1905 - Philadelphia A's Rube Waddell pitches a five-inning no-hit game blanking the Browns, 2-0. The shortened masterpiece, which isn't officially considered a no-hitter, includes the southpaw striking out nine of the 15 St. Louis batters he faces before a torrential rain washes out the Columbia Park contest.

    1914 - Brooklyn's Jake Daubert sets a National League record with four sacrifices in one game. The first baseman efforts isn't enough when the Dodgers drop a 8-7 decision to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field.

    1916 - At Fenway Park, Red Sox southpaw Babe Ruth defeats Walter Johnson and the Senators in 13 innings, 1-0. After hold Boston to just four hits over the first twelve frames, Washington's 'Big Train' yields three more in the 13th allowing Jack Barry to score the game's lone run.

    1925 - Dickie Kerr, the southpaw who won two games for the White Sox in the 1919 World Series, makes his first major league appearance since 1921. He has been playing semipro ball rather than accept Charles Comiskey's salary offer. When he relieves Red Faber in the third inning against the Tigers, play is stopped while admirers present him with a floral horseshoe.

    1926 - When Babe Herman doubles with the bases loaded, three Dodgers wind up on third base. The runner on second rounds third but decides to go back as the runner from first reaches the same base, and a few seconds later Herman slides in to join his two teammates.

    1941 - Although leading Boston, 6-3, when the game is called at the start of the eighth after a 40-minute rain delay, the Senators will lose the game. Washington forfeits the contest when the American League upholds Red Sox manager Joe Cronin's protest that the home ground crew deliberately refused to cover the field when it started to rain.

    1945 - Commissioner Happy Chandler sells World Series radio rights for $150,000 to Gillette. Ford had been the World Series sponsor since 1934, paying $100,000 annually.

    1945 - The Chicago Cubs routed the Brooklyn Dodgers, 20-6, at Ebbets Field. Paul Gillespie knocked in six runs with two home runs and a single to lead the attack.

    1951 - With one out in the top of the eighth inning and a runner on third base in a 1-1 tied game,  Willie Mays, running a full speed, makes an incredible catch of Carl Furillo's drive to deep centerfield. After grabbing the ball, the rookie outfielder turns counterclockwise and throws a perfect strike to home to nail a surprised Billy Cox at home to complete the double play, and some believe, the catch, in the eventual Giants' 3-1 Polo Grounds victory over the Dodgers, is the impetus for the beginning of the team's incredible comeback from an 11.5 game deficit to win the National League pennant.

    1954 - The Orioles lose their 27th consecutive game as the visiting team in Cleveland with a 3-1 nightcap loss to the Indians. The record losing streak on the road against one opponent started on August 13, 1952 when the franchise played as the St. Louis Browns.

    1955 - Pitcher Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves hit a home run off Mel Wright of the St. Louis Cardinals to give Spahn a home run in every National League park.

    1962 - Choo Choo Coleman and Jim Hickman tie a major league record by each hitting a home run as a pinch hitter as teammates in the same game. The Amazin' Mets still manage to lose to the Phillies, an 8-7 defeat in 13 innings at the Polo Grounds.

    1962 - In the first game of a Polo Grounds doubleheader, Don Demeter hits home runs off two different pitchers named Bob Miller. The outfielder's third inning round-tripper off Mets' right-handed starter Robert Lane Miller, and his homer in the ninth off southpaw Robert Gerald Miller both contribute to the Phillies' 9-3 victory over the Amazin's.

    1964 - Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day" in Chicago and 26,000 fans cheer the Cubs' slugger. Banks then goes hitless as Pittsburgh wins 5-4.

    1965 - The Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day at Candlestick Park to honor the first Japanese player to have reached the American major leagues. Ordinarily a reliever, Murakami makes his first major league start as the Giants outslug the Phillies 15-9.

    1965 - In the nightcap of a Cleveland Stadium doubleheader, Indians pinch-hitter Max Alvis hits a two-run homer in the ninth to knot the score at 3-3, and two innings later, Leon Wagner, also pinch hitting, blasts a two-run round-tripper to beat the Twins, 6-4. The two pinch-hit home runs in one game ties a major league record.

    1970 - Reds' right fielder Pete Rose goes 0-for-7 including striking out five consecutive times. The defending National League batting champ's futility at the plate contributes to Cincinnati's 5-4 loss to Philadelphia.

    1970 - With the bases loaded and one gone in the bottom of the ninth with a 2-1 lead, Tom Seaver strikes out Bob Tillman for the apparent second out, but Jerry Grote's passed ball allows Tony Gonzalez to score the tying run for the Braves. In his effort to cut down the runner at home, the Mets catcher overthrows Seaver, who is covering the plate, bringing in Rico Carty home from third base with the winning tally giving Atlanta a stunning 3-2 victory, thanks to the two runs being scored on a called third strike.

    1975 - Baltimore manager Earl Weaver was ejected twice by umpire Ron Luciano. Weaver was thrown out in the first game and was again before the second game of a doubleheader.

    1983 - Braves slugger Bob Horner, who was hitting .303 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI, breaks his right wrist sliding into second base during a 4-0 loss to the Padres and will be sidelined for the rest of the season. In Atlanta, the injury is widely attributed to the "Chief Noc-A-Homa Jinx," which seems to strike whenever the Braves remove their mascot's outfield teepee in order to sell more tickets.

    1987 - At the Pan American games in Indianapolis, the U.S.A. and Cuba are tied with two outs in the ninth when Ty Griffin hits a two-run home run to win it. For Cuba it is their first loss in twenty years of Pan Am competition.

    1989 - In his second start since returning to the major leagues after cancer treatment, Giants southpaw Dave Dravecky breaks his pitching arm while throwing to Tim Raines in the sixth inning of a 3-2 San Francisco win. Dravecky will not pitch again in the major leagues.

    1990 - Mark McGwire hits a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the tenth inning to give Oakland a 6-2 win over Boston. He becomes the first player to hit 30 home runs in each of his first four seasons.

    1990 - Philadelphia's Terry Mulholland pitched the record eighth no-hitter of the season as the Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0. The season's eighth no-hitter surpassed the modern record of seven set in 1908 and 1917.


    1993 - Nolan Ryan wins the 324th and last victory of his 27-year career when the Rangers beat Cleveland, 6-4. The 46 year-old right-hander, who will lose his his next four games, sees his career come to an end two starts sooner than he planned when a torn ligament forces him to leave the mound in the first inning in what will prove to be his worst big league outing and final major league appearance.

    1995 - Although he is hitting .287 and has 26 stolen bases in 75 games for KC, Vince Coleman is designated for assignment by the Royals. The Mariners acquire the 33 yea-old fleet outfielder and will compile a 26-14 record with their new leadoff hitter, a key factor in winning the AL Wild Card.

    1995 - At request of the Mantle family, Bob Costas delivers the eulogy at Mickey's funeral. The popular broadcaster, known for his love of the game and his admiration of the Yankee superstar, describes the Hall of Famer as "a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic."


    1999 - In the first frame of Anaheim's 10-2 victory in Detroit, Chuck Finley becomes the first major league hurler in history to strike out four batters in one inning twice in his career. The Angels' southpaw also accomplished the feat against the Yankees earlier in the season. (May 12)

    2000 - Club owner Ted Turner and two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy are inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame joining Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn.

    2005 - Randy Winn becomes the twenty-first player in Giants history to hit for the cycle. The fleet flychaser, obtained from the Mariners two weeks ago, singles in the first, homers in the third, doubles in the fourth and completes the feat with a triple in the sixth inning.

    2005 - Felix Hernandez becomes the first teenager to strike out at least 10 batters since Dwight 'Doc' Gooden accomplished the feat with the Mets in May of 1984. The 18-year old Mariner rookie righty K's 11 batters as the Mariners maul the Royals, 11-3.

    2006 - Joining Jim Hickman (1965), Dave Kingman (1978), Caudell Washington (1980), Darryl Strawberry (1985), Gary Carter (1985) and Edgardo Alfonzo (1999), Jose Reyes, in an 11-4 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, becomes the seventh Mets player to hit three homers in a game. Like all his predecessors his trifecta is accomplished on the road.

    2006 - With the 4-0 blanking of the Marlins, the Dodgers win their sixth consecutive game and 17th in 18 games. The stretch is the team's best run since the Brooklyn Superbas went 20-1 in 1899.

    2006 - In a contest which takes five-hours, 21 minutes to complete, the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies at Coors Field, 2-1. The 18-inning game ties the D-Back franchise record for the most innings played in a game, and is also longest in Colorado history for both frames played and time of game.

    2007 - The Devil Rays have come to terms with their first overall selection in the June first-year player draft, left-handed pitcher David Price. The Vanderbilt University (11-1, 2.63) southpaw signs a six-year major league contract which could be worth as much as $11.25 million if the college junior sticks in the bigs for the length of the deal.

    2008 - Buster Posey, the fifth overall pick in the June amateur draft, gets the largest up-front bonus in major league history when he agrees to a $6.2 million signing deal with the Giants. The highly touted catcher gets slightly more than infielders Tim Beckham (first pick/shortstop) who receives $6.15 million from the Rays and Pedro Alvarez (second pick/third baseman) who gets $6 million from the Pirates.

    2011 - At Petco Park, Jason Isringhausen becomes the 23rd major league pitcher to record 300 career saves when the Mets defeat San Diego in 10 innings, 5-4. The 38-year old right-handed closer is the third pitcher, along with John Franco (1996) and Billy Wagner (2006), to achieve his 300th save wearing a Mets uniform.

    2011 - Jim Thome becomes the eighth player to reach the 600 career home runs plateau when he hits a two-run homer in the sixth (599), followed by three-run blast an inning later off Detroit's Daniel Schlereth. Needing fewer at-bats to reach 600 than anyone except for Babe Ruth, the 40-year-old Twins slugger accomplishes the feat in his 8,167th at-bat, compared to the Babino's 6,921.


    2011 - The Chicago White Sox released Brian Bruney.

    2012 - Joining Philip Humber (White Sox) and Matt Cain (Giants), Felix Hernandez becomes the third hurler to throw a perfect game this season, marking the first time in major league history that three spotless gems have been hurled in the same year. "King Felix's" 1-0 victory over the Rays at Safeco Field is the fourth no-hitter in Mariner history which includes hitless games tossed by Randy Johnson (1990) and Chris Bosio (1993) and the combined effort of six pitchers in June.


    2012 - Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera will miss the rest of the season when he is suspended for 50 games by MLB for testing positive for high levels of testosterone, a performance-enhancing substance. The MVP of the All-Star Game, who currently is 13 points behind Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen as the second-leading hitter in the National League, is one plate appearance shy of automatically qualifying for the NL batting title, but could still win the crown if he were to have the circuit's best average after the addition of a theoretical at-bat.

    2013 - A proposal that would dramatically increase the number of plays that can be reviewed during a game is presented at the quarterly Owners Meetings by a committee consisting of Braves president John Schuerholz and former major league skippers Joe Torre and Tony La Russa. The rule change, which will be formally voted on by the owners in November, will allow a manager to inform an umpire that he wants to initiate a play review, with challenges being permitted once in the first six innings and twice more from the seventh through the end of the game, without any provision to cover the possibility of an obviously missed call late in the game when all of a team's challenges have been used.



    Baseball Birthdays on August 15...

    1857 - Hackett, Walter
    1859 - Comiskey, Charlie
    1861 - Foster, Elmer
    1864 - Miller, Doggie
    1871 - Kissinger, Bill
    1872 - Carr, Lew
    1872 - Warner, John
    1875 - Becker, Bob
    1875 - Hess, Tom
    1877 - Mills, Willie
    1885 - Moyer, Ed
    1887 - Casey, Joe
    1888 - Van Dyke, Ben
    1889 - Smith, Harry
    1891 - Bowden, Tim
    1896 - Sherdel, Bill
    1896 - Rochefort, Ben
    1901 - Sweetland, Les
    1906 - Peery, Red
    1908 - Walter, Bernie
    1911 - Flohr, Mort
    1916 - Garriott, Cecil
    1919 - Pawelek, Ted
    1922 - McDonnell, Jim
    1924 - Whitman, Frank
    1926 - Schultz, Barney
    1926 - Goodwin, Jim
    1930 - Martyn, Bob
    1932 - Snyder, Jim
    1934 - Morehead, Seth
    1935 - Jay, Joey
    1940 - Brunsberg, Arlo
    1940 - Santiago, Jose
    1941 - Reynolds, Tommie
    1942 - Peterson, Cap
    1943 - Trevino, Bobby
    1944 - Compton, Mike
    1944 - Matias, John
    1945 - Dyer, Duffy
    1946 - Lis, Joe
    1946 - McAnally, Ernie
    1947 - Conigliaro, Billy
    1950 - Kelly, Tom
    1953 - Espinosa, Nino
    1958 - Cowley, Joe
    1958 - Johnson, Randy
    1958 - James, Bob
    1958 - Dodd, Tom
    1961 - Brown, Chris
    1963 - Fox, Eric
    1964 - Huson, Jeff
    1966 - Brosius, Scott
    1966 - Walters, Dan
    1967 - James, Mike
    1970 - Rodriguez, Tony
    1972 - Singleton, Chris
    1974 - Morel, Ramon
    1975 - Ford, Ben
    1977 - Levrault, Allen
    1978 - Ramirez, Santiago
    1979 - Budde, Ryan
    1980 - Stocker, Mel
    1981 - Perez, Oliver
    1984 - Brummett, Tyson
    1984 - Dyson, Jarrod
    1984 - Pettit, Chris
    1987 - De Leon, Jorge
    1990 - Cimber, Adam
    1991 - Moscot, Jon
    1992 - Rodriguez, Yorman
    1995 - Gardewine, Nick



    Baseball Deaths on August 15...

    1901 - Whitehead, Milt
    1901 - Bagley, Gene
    1912 - Polchow, Lou
    1915 - Evans, Roy
    1916 - Dyler, John
    1923 - Hogan, Marty
    1929 - Manning, Jack
    1930 - Tutwiler, Guy
    1936 - Richie, Lew
    1943 - Whitney, Art
    1945 - Kennedy, Snapper
    1947 - Hall, Bill
    1947 - Lord, Carlton
    1957 - Baecht, Ed
    1960 - Wheeler, Ed
    1963 - Drews, Karl
    1965 - Pitula, Stan
    1966 - Burns, George
    1967 - Meister, Karl
    1969 - Williamson, Howie
    1970 - Bates, Ray
    1972 - Pfeffer, Jeff
    1973 - Luhrsen, Wild Bill
    1976 - Lajeskie, Dick
    1976 - Henry, Jim
    1978 - Chaplin, Ed
    1990 - Garbark, Bob
    1994 - Brovia, Joe
    1999 - George, Greek
    2002 - Moser, Arnie
    2003 - Hardy, Red
    2008 - Winston, Darrin
    2014 - Lumpe, Jerry
    2015 - Daugherty, Doc
    2015 - Thomas, Bud
    2016 - Coleman, Choo Choo