On August 24 in Baseball History...

    1894 - Chicago catcher Pop Schriver becomes the first player to catch a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument.

    1905 - The Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies at Philadelphia 2-1 in 20 innings behind the complete game pitching of Ed Reulbach.

    1918 - Secretary of War Newton D. Baker grants an extended exemption to players in the World Series. Three days later the National Commission gets an official approval to play from General Enoch Crowder, providing that 10 percent of the revenues go to war charities.

    1919 - Cleveland pitcher Ray Caldwell is flattened by a bolt of lightning in his debut with the team. He recovers to get the final out of the game, and defeats Philadelphia, 2-1.

    1940 - Left fielder Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox pitches the last two innings in a 12-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Williams allows three hits and one run but strikes out Tiger slugger Rudy York. Joe Glenn, who caught Babe Ruth's last pitching appearance in 1933, is Williams'catcher.

    1941 - During a double-header against the Cardinals, a rag tag group of five musicians, dubbed the Dodger SymPhony by announcer Red Barber, makes their Ebbets Field's debut. This band, in which none of the 'musicians' could read music, performs their zany antics at all evening and weekend games.

    1943 - The Philadelphia Athletics drop their 20th game in a row, losing to Chicago 6-5. This ties the American League record. They dodge the bullet in the nightcap by scoring eight runs in the second inning to win 8-1.

    1945 - Cleveland ace Bob Feller returns from the Navy and attracts a crowd of 46,477, who watch him strike out 12 and yield only four hits in a 4-2 win over Detroit's Hal Newhouser. He will get nine starts during the remainder of the year, including a one-hitter and a pair of four-hitters.

    1951 - In another of Bill Veeck's legendary PR stunts, "Fans Managers' Night," a thousand fans behind the Browns dugout are given yes and no placards to vote on decisions by the Browns coaches. The fans coach the Browns to a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.

    1951 - After being demoted to the minor leagues six weeks ago, Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankee lineup, going 1-for-4 with a first-inning single off Early Wynn, in the team's 2-0 victory in Cleveland. The game will mark the first time the future Hall of Fame outfielder will wear the iconic #7 on the back of his uniform jersey, his original #6 was given away during his absence to infielder Bobby Brown, who had worn the numeral in previous seasons.

    1957 - The Dodgers use eight pitchers in one game tying a major league record. Johnny Podres gives up three home runs in the third including Hank Aaron's first grand slam.

    1960 - During a dull game, Vin Scully, the play-by-play voice of the Dodgers, knowing that many fans in the stands follow the game on transistor radios, asks his listeners to help him surprise third base umpire Frank Secory. His ballpark audience responds when the veteran broadcaster tells them, "Let's have some fun. As soon as the inning is over I'll count to three, and on three everybody yell, 'Happy birthday, Frank!'".

    1963 - The Little League World Series is televised for the first time. With ABC's Wide World of Sports providing coverage of the championship game, Grenada Hills (CA) beats Stratford (CT), 2-1.

    1969 - The Pilots trade Jim Bouton to the Astros for Roric Harrison and Dooley Womack. The reinvented knuckleball pitcher, who posted a 2-1 record along with an ERA of 3.91 in his 57 games with the Northwest expansion team, will continue to chronicle the 1969 season for his controversial book, Ball Four.

    1971 - Ernie Banks hit the 512th and final home run of his career as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Banks' shot came off Jim McGlothlin in the first inning.

    1973 - Sitting in the top row of the bleachers at Cleveland Stadium, John Adams begins a tradition, that continues to this day, when he bangs on his drum to cheer on the Tribe. In 2011, the team paid tribute to the fan-favorite, in a pre-game ceremony commemorating his 3000th game that included Adams taking a ceremonial swing with his drum at a pitch thrown by Joe Charboneau.

    1975 - In the second game of a doubleheader sweep, Ed Halicki no-hits the Mets, 6-0. The Candlestick Park masterpiece includes 10 strikeouts by the Giants right-hander who will never have a winning season in San Francisco and will post a 55-66 record during his seven year career.

    1975 - After stealing second base in the seventh to add to his major league record of 38 consecutive steals, Davey Lopes is nabbed in the 12th inning by Montreal catcher Gary Carter. The Expos beat the Dodgers in 14 innings 5-2.

    1976 - At Tiger Stadium, Bill Freehan hits his 200th and final home run in a 12-7 loss to the White Sox. The Detroit catcher will finish his career with 100 homers hit at home with the other 100 dingers hit on the road.

    1982 - Kansas City's John Wathan steals his 31st base of the season in a 5-3 win over the Rangers, breaking the single-season record for catchers set by  White Sox Ray Schalk in 1916. Wathan will finish the season with a career-high 36 stolen bases.

    1983 - After six Major League seasons playing infield positions, Oriole Lenn Sakata moved behind the plate to catch relief pitcher Tim Stoddard who had also just entered the game. The Blue Jays looked to capitalize and Stoddard was ready picking off at first base in order Barry Bonnell, Dave Collins and Upshaw to record all three inning outs.

    1983 - First baseman Pete Rose does not play in Philadelphia's 5-3 loss to the Giants, ending his consecutive games played streak at 745. Manager Paul Owens had planned to use Rose as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning, but Joel Youngblood ends the game with a two-run home run off Steve Carlton in the bottom of the ninth.

    1985 - Yankee Don Baylor ties a major league record when he is hit by a pitch for the 189th time in his career.

    1989 - After weeks of legal wrangling, Commissioner Bart Giamatti permanently bans Pete Rose from baseball for his alleged gambling on major league games. Although the five-page document signed by both parties includes no formal findings, Giamatti says that he considers Rose's acceptance of the ban to be a no-contest plea to the charges.

    1999 - Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. joins Babe Ruth, Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew and Mark McGwire as the only players to hit 40 homers in four consecutive seasons.

    2000 - In his fifth rehabilitation start in the minors, Devil Rays' 26-year old pitcher Tony Saunders' left arm breaks again throwing a wild pitch. The Devil Ray southpaw first broke his left humerus on May 26, 1999 throwing a 3-2 pitch in a game against the Rangers at Tropicana Field.

    2001 - The wives of the three ironworkers who died in 1999 when a crane collapsed during the construction of Miller Park unveil Teamwork, a three-figured, 12-foot high bronze statuary honoring their husbands, Jeffery Wischer, William De Grave and Jerome Starr. The $250,000 sculpture, depicting a trio of construction workers wearing hardhats and carrying the tools of their trade, was commissioned by Milwaukee’s Habush, Habush and Rottier Charitable Foundation.


    2004 - Bud Selig, citing how disruptive a delay in the major league schedule would be on pennant races, says it is unlikely major league players will ever be able to take part in the Olympics. The baseball commissioner hopes a World Cup, which begins in 2006, will serve as a substitute for the Summer Games.

    2005 - After fouling off three Jose Valverde full-count fastballs, Mike Jacobs goes deep at BOB to become the only player to hit four home runs during the first four games of a major league career. The Mets rookie, who hits two round-trippers in the 18-4 rout of the Diamondbacks, has homered four times, including his first big league at-bat, in his first 13 plate appearances.

    2006 - Sean Casey probably becomes the first player in baseball history to ground out to left field. The unique 5-7-3 play is the result of the batter starting to head back to the dugout, believing he was robbed of a hit, when the ball actually glanced off White Sox third baseman Joe Crede's glove reaching left fielder Pablo Ozuna, whose throw to first base just beats the runner to the bag.


    2007 - After waiting four hours and one minute to start the contest because of rain, the Yankees and Tigers begin an 11-inning marathon which takes four hours and 24 minutes to complete. The last pitch, which results in a three-run walk-off round-tripper hit by Detroit's shortstop Carlos Guillen is thrown at 3:30 am and sends the several thousands fans remaining at Comerica Park home listening to Lionel Richie's 'All Night Long' as they exit the bllpark.

    2007 - A day after protests concerning the sale of the gang-related items occurs in East Harlem, New Era announces it will remove the offending headwear which bears the colors and symbols of the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings. Unknown to the Yankees, two white team caps had been wrapped with red and blue bandannas made by the MLB’s official cap manufacturer and had appeared to represent the Bloods and Crips, and also a black cap with the familiar interlocking NY had been available embroidered with a crown symbolic of the Latin Kings.

    2008 - Scoring at least one run in every inning, Hawaii wins the Little League World Series beating Mexico, 12-3. To advance to the championship game, Waipahu scored six runs in the last inning (sixth), overcoming a four-run deficit, to beat Lake Charles, Louisiana in the semi-finals, 7-5.

    2008 - After striking out, Denard Span is tossed from the game by plate umpire Brian Gorman for throwing his bat and helmet. The ejection comes after the game has ended as the rookie's called third strike is the final pitch of the Twins' 5-3 loss to the Angels.

    2010 - Bud Selig, former Brewers owner and baseball's current commissioner, is honored with the unveiling of a bronze, seven-foot statue at Miller Park. Brian Maughan's piece of art, which portrays Selig with his right arm extended with his hand holding a baseball, joins the sculptures of Robin Yount and Hank Aaron in front of the Milwaukee ball park.

    2013 - For the first time in history, the All-Star Game starters face each other in the same regular season when Mets right-hander Matt Harvey and Tigers' Max Scherzer are opposing pitchers in Detroit's 3-0 victory over the Amazins' at Citi Field, the site of this year's Mid-Summer Classic. The historic match up ends with the New York starter, who gives up 13 hits in 6.2 innings, going on the DL for season-ending surgery, and his opponent becoming just the third pitcher to start a season with a 19-1 record, joining Rube Marquard (1912 Giants) and Roger Clemens (2001 Yankees).

    2013 - After the teams combine for 137 at-bats, 35 hits, 32 strikeouts and 28 walks, the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, 12-7. The 18-inning contest takes seven hours and six minutes to compete, making it the longest game in history, in terms of time, for both franchises.

    2014 - Joc Pederson becomes the fourth player in the history of the Pacific Coast League to have a 30-30 season, and the first to accomplish the feat in 80 years, when he steals his 30th base for the Isotopes. The 22 year-old Albuquerque slugger, who has 32 home runs and a .432 slugging percentage in 116 games this season, will join the Dodgers when rosters expand next week.

    2014 - The Arizona Diamondbacks released Lucas Harrell.

    2014 - The Texas Rangers sold Geovany Soto to the Oakland Athletics.




    Baseball Birthdays on August 24...

    1859 - Noftsker, George
    1863 - Hall, Charlie
    1864 - Hill, Belden
    1864 - Hardie, Lou
    1881 - Kelsey, Billy
    1887 - Hooper, Harry
    1889 - Ens, Jewel
    1889 - Gowdy, Hank
    1890 - Mattis, Ralph
    1893 - Desjardien, Shorty
    1894 - LeBourveau, Bevo
    1894 - Cooney, Jimmy
    1895 - Howe, Les
    1897 - Bool, Al
    1897 - Pratt, Frank
    1898 - Monroe, John
    1902 - Blott, Jack
    1902 - Hudgens, Jimmy
    1907 - Richmond, Beryl
    1912 - Secory, Frank
    1914 - Turbeville, George
    1916 - Dean, Chubby
    1916 - Suarez, Luis
    1928 - Griggs, Hal
    1932 - Woodeshick, Hal
    1939 - Joseph, Rick
    1953 - Sanchez, Luis
    1954 - Batton, Chris
    1956 - Bernazard, Tony
    1956 - Fiala, Neil
    1957 - Benton, Butch
    1960 - Ripken, Jr., Cal
    1964 - Gross, Kip
    1965 - Garrison, Webster
    1966 - Wilkins, Dean
    1968 - Salmon, Tim
    1970 - Waszgis, B.J.
    1971 - Stull, Everett
    1972 - Miller, Kurt
    1972 - Grzanich, Mike
    1973 - Pozo, Arquimedez
    1974 - Kubenka, Jeff
    1977 - Furcal, Rafael
    1980 - Correia, Kevin
    1981 - Beltre, Omar
    1983 - Gardner, Brett
    1983 - Johnson, Alan
    1985 - Garcia, Christian
    1985 - Ortega, Anthony
    1986 - Adenhart, Nick
    1991 - Hernandez, Enrique
    1991 - Jackson, Luke



    Baseball Deaths on August 24...

    1900 - Puhl, John
    1908 - Meister, George
    1917 - McCauley, Al
    1921 - Gross, Emil
    1935 - Keefe, George
    1940 - Hallinan, Ed
    1955 - Raleigh, John
    1956 - Fromme, Art
    1963 - Kelly, Ren
    1966 - Dell, Wheezer
    1971 - Chetkovich, Mitch
    1974 - Miller, Jake
    1977 - Cristante, Leo
    1980 - Fink, Herman
    1984 - Easterwood, Roy
    1986 - Diehl, George
    1990 - Witek, Mickey
    1991 - Martinez, Tony
    2001 - Sauer, Hank
    2006 - Thompson, Junior
    2011 - Flanagan, Mike
    2016 - Bell, Juan
    2016 - Berry, Neil