On September 4 in Baseball History...

    1891 - Cap Anson shows up for today's game wearing a wig and a long white beard, much to the delight of the Chicago crowd. Anson wears the costume throughout the game, which his Colts win over the Beaneaters 5-3.

    1899 - The Superbas, already famous for their late rallies, stage "Brooklyn finishes" in two different boroughs. They win the morning game at home with two in the ninth, and then take the afternoon game in Manhattan with four in the eighth.
 
    1906 - The Highlanders beat the Boston Americans, 1-0, at Huntington Avenue Grounds ending a run in which New York played five consecutive doubleheaders in six days. The overtime pays off when the team sweeps all of the twin bills posting a record of 10-0 during the streak.

    1908 - Due to a rule that will not be changed until 1920, Germany Schafer becomes the only player in major league history to steal the same base twice in one inning, and one of the only two players to ever steal first base from second. The Tiger second baseman, after successfully swiping second hoping the throw would allow the runner from third to score, goes back to first base by stealing it so he can try the play again which he does stealing same bag for the second time in the frame.

    1908 - The Pirates and Cubs are tied 0-0 in the last of the tenth at Pittsburgh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Pittsburgh's Chief Wilson singles to center, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run. Warren Gill, on first base, does not get to second base buts stops short, turns, and heads for the dugout, a common practice. The Cubs' Johnny Evers calls for the ball from Jimmy Slagle, touches second base, and claims the run does not count as Gill has been forced. The lone umpire, Hank O'Day, has left the field. When queried, he rules that Clarke had already scored, so the run counts. The Cubs protest the game, but are denied. This is the first time the Cubs try this tactic, but not the last.

    1913 - In his major league debut, 22 year-old Hal Schwenk pitches 11 innings giving up 12 hits, but earns a complete-game victory when St. Louis defeats the White Sox at Sportsman's Park, 5-4. The Browns' rookie southpaw will never again appear in a big league game.

    1916 - Reds' player-manager Christy Mathewson, pitching his only game not in a Giant uniform, beats his long-time nemesis Mordecai 'Three Finger' Brown and the Cubs, 10-8. In the 25 contests the two legends have faced one another, Matty, by winning the last decision, takes a 13-12 advantage in their final meeting.

    1923 - Sam Jones no-hits the A’s, 2–0 at Shibe Park. The Yankee hurler does not strike out any Philadelphia batters, a feat which will not be repeated again until 1969 when Ken Holtzman becomes another pitcher to record a no-hitter without fanning a hitter.

    1924 - The Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) take a twin bill from the Braves sweeping their fourth doubleheader in four consecutive days. Between September 1-3, the Brooks beat the Phillies six times.

    1927 - Pirate teammates Lloyd and Paul Waner become the first pair of brothers to both homer in the same game when they go deep in the team's 8-4 victory over Cincinnati at Redland Field. The siblings, who will also accomplish the feat in 1929 and 1938, each hit a bounce round-tripper.

    1928 - The Boston Braves start a streak of playing nine consecutive doubleheaders establishing a major league record. The club will drop 14 of the 18 contests during the twin bill marathon.

    1941 - The Yankees clinch their third straight pennant when they beat the Red Sox, 6-3. It is the earliest date in baseball history a team has captured a flag.

    1949 - At Philadelphia's Shibe Park‚ Tommy Holmes hits a two-run homer in the fifth inning of a 9-8 loss to the Phillies. Dating back to August 3rd, the Braves outfielder has hit 10 home runs without striking out once during that span.

    1957 - Orioles' rookie right-hander Jerry Walker throws a four-hitter blanking Washington in 10 innings, 1-0. The shutout is the 18-year old bonus baby's first major league victory.

    1961 - At Metropolitan Stadium, Joe Horlen makes his big league debut hurling four innings of scoreless relief to get the win in the White Sox's 9-5 victory over Minnesota. The 24-year old rookie right-hander, a last-minute call-up, is forced to wear the only road jersey the club has available, one without a number.

    1966 - Los Angeles became the first team in Major League history to draw more than 2 million at home and on the road as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 8-6, before 18,670 fans in Cincinnati.

    1969 - After hitting in 31 straight games, the third-best streak to date in modern National League history, Willie Davis of the Dodgers is stopped in a 3-0 loss to San Diego.

    1969 - Trailing by three runs entering the top of the ninth, the Orioles quickly tie the score when their first three batters, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Brooks Robinson, hit consecutive solo home runs off Earl Wilson. The Birds go on to score the eventual winning tally later in the frame and will beat the Tigers, 5-4.

    1974 - Don Wilson of the Houston Astros was replaced by a pinch hitter after pitching eight no-hit innings against Cincinnati. Mike Cosgrove pitched the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff single to Tony Perez for the only hit as the Reds won the game, 2-1.

    1978 - In his first major league at-bat, Dorian Boyland strikes out sitting on the bench. The Pirate rookie is removed with a 1-2 count when the Mets make a pitching change and pinch hitter Rennie Stennett takes the third strike.

    1985 - Gary Carter hit a pair of solo home runs to tie a Major League record and singled in another run to lead the New York Mets to a 9-2 victory over San Diego. Carter's feat followed a three-homer performance the night before as he became the 11th player in Major League history to hit five home runs in two games.

    1991 - The Statistical Accuracy Committee re-defines a no-hit game as one which ends after nine or more innings with one team failing to get a hit thereby removing 50 games from the list that had previously been considered hitless, including the 1959 performance of Harvey Haddix's 12 perfect innings against the Braves and Jim Maloney's 1965 1-0 loss to the Mets in 11-innings.

    1991 - Following commissioner Fay Vincent's recommendation, baseball's committee on statistical accuracy votes to eliminate the distinction of number of games played in a league's schedule in determining all-time home run mark hit in a season. The decision can't take away an asterisk because it really never existed in the record books, but it does remove Babe Ruth's name leaving the other Yankee outfielder, Roger Maris, as the undisputed home run champ with 61 hit in 1961.

    1992 - Eddie Murray ties Al Simmons for most consecutive years (16) with at least 75 RBI.

    1993 - With their 6-5 loss to the Reds, the Phillies set a new National League record by not being blanked in 151 straight games. The major league mark for avoiding a shutout is 308 consecutive contests accomplished by the Yankees.

    1993 - Jim Abbott pitched the New York Yankees' first no-hitter in 10 years in a 4-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

    1995 - Robin Ventura became the eighth player in Major League history - and the first in 25 years - to hit two grand slams in one game as the Chicago White Sox beat Texas, 14-3.

    1996 - Babe Dahlgren, the man who replaced Lou Gehrig at first base to end the streak, dies in Arcadia, California. In the game, he goes 2-for-4, including a home run, in a 22-2 victory over the Tigers at Briggs Stadium.

    1998 - Defeating the White Sox, 11-6, the Yankees win their 100th game on the earliest date in major league history besting the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 1954 Cleveland Indians by five days. The 1906 Cubs set the major league record for fewest contests to reach 100 victories accomplishing the milestone in 132 games

    1999 - The Reds set a National League record with nine homers with as they rout the Phillies, 22-3. Eddie Taubensee (2), Greg Vaughn, Jeffrey Hammonds, Aaron Boone, Dimitri Young, Pokey Reese, Brian Johnson and Mark Lewis all go yard for Cincinnati.

    2000 - The Red Sox honor Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. The New Hampshire resident, who played his first nine seasons with Boston, joins Bobby Doerr [1], Joe Cronin [4], Carl Yastrzemski [8] and Ted Williams [9] in having his number [27] be retired at Fenway.

    2002 = In front of 55,528 fans at the Coliseum, the A's set an American League record by extending their winning streak to 20 consecutive games. After blowing an 11-run lead to the Royals, Scott Hatteberg hits a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning giving Oakland the historic victory, 12-11.

    2003 - In his first at-bat after his arrest in Pittsburgh for felony counts of sexual assault and related charges, Ramon Castro receives a supportive ovation from the Florida fans as he approaches the batter box as a pinch-hitter. The Marlin catcher connects for a home run in the 5-1 victory against the Pirates.

    2006 - With an 8-5 comeback victory over the Diamondbacks, the Marlins improve their record to 69-68. After an 11-31 start, Florida becomes the first club in big league history to have a winning record after being 20 games under .500.

    2007 - Francisco Cordero establishes a new Milwaukee mark when he gets his 40th save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in the Brewers' 5-3 win over Houston. The right-handed reliever surpasses the record previously shared by Dan Kolb (2004) and Derrick Turnbow (2005).

    2007 - In the fifth inning of Florida's loss 4-3 to Washington, Miguel Cabrera singles off Shawn Hill to drive home Hanley Ramirez for his 500th career RBI. The Marlin third baseman reaches the milestone at the age of 24 years and 139 day with only Hall of Famers Mel Ott (23, 74 days) and Ted Williams (24 years, 4 days) getting to the mark at a younger age.

    2010 - Jim Thome hits a pair of homers to pass Mark McGwire for eighth place on the all-time career list with 584. The Twins designated hitter's historic round-trippers, which he blasts in the third and fourth innings off Colby Lewis at Target Field, contribute to Minnesota's 12-4 victory over Texas.

    2011 - In an episode of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bill Buckner, appearing as himself, is promptly thrown out of a shiva service because one of the mourners is a Red Sox fan who hasn’t forgiven him for his infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The former Boston first baseman redeems himself when he uses his baseball skills to catch a falling baby, who has ricocheted off the firemen’s rescue net after being thrown out of a burning building.


    2012 - An unofficial rain delay occurs in Toronto when the retractable roof of the Rogers Centre closes so slowly that the fans have to run for cover as the stands and field get soaked with rain that begins to fall during the middle of the sixth inning. Surprisingly, there have been six official rain delays in the Rogers Centre, formerly known as the Skydome.

    2013 - In a 20-4 rout of the Tigers at Fenway Park, the Red Sox hit eight home runs matching a franchise record last accomplished 35 years ago. Boston homers in six of eight frames they bat with Mike Napoli, Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Nava, Will Middlebrooks, David Ortiz (2), Jacoby Ellsbury, and Stephen Drew all going deep in the Fenway Park contest.

    2016 - The San Diego Padres released Alexei Ramirez.




    Baseball Birthdays on September 4...

    1869 - Horton, Elmer
    1875 - Gilbert, Jack
    1875 - Houtz, Lefty
    1887 - Corriden, Red
    1887 - Walker, Tilly
    1888 - Hedgpeth, Harry
    1889 - Meehan, Bill
    1894 - Worden, Fred
    1894 - Dixon, Leo
    1904 - Morse, Bud
    1906 - Mooney, Jim
    1911 - Vaughn, Roy
    1912 - Walters, Fred
    1912 - Maltzberger, Gordon
    1913 - Fieber, Clarence
    1918 - Endicott, Bill
    1918 - Pfister, George
    1919 - Waitkus, Eddie
    1928 - Santiago, Jose
    1936 - McAnany, Jim
    1941 - Harrelson, Ken
    1941 - Smith, Bernie
    1943 - Guindon, Bobby
    1946 - Wright, Ken
    1949 - Jata, Paul
    1950 - White, Frank
    1950 - Alexander, Doyle
    1957 - Heath, Kelly
    1958 - Booker, Rod
    1958 - Householder, Paul
    1968 - Piazza, Mike
    1970 - Lopez, Luis
    1972 - Einertson, Darrell
    1973 - Simmons, Brian
    1973 - Fultz, Aaron
    1976 - Myrow, Brian
    1977 - DeWitt, Matt
    1977 - Kim, Sun Woo
    1978 - Regilio, Nck
    1980 - Neshek, Pat
    1984 - Donald, Jason
    1985 - Herndon, David
    1986 - Schafer, Jordan
    1986 - Stutes, Mike
    1988 - Duvall, Adam
    1989 - Martin, Cody
    1989 - Simmons, Andrelton
    1990 - Beck, Chris
    1992 - García, Willy
    1992 - Slegers, Aaron



    Baseball Deaths on September 4...

    1910 - Nelson, Candy
    1935 - Cotter, Dan
    1943 - Hardy, Harry
    1944 - Gleason, Jack
    1945 - Fischer, William
    1951 - Doyle, Carl
    1952 - Schmidt, Butch
    1953 - Herzog, Buck
    1955 - Weyhing, Gus
    1956 - Ragan, Pat
    1958 - Miller, Ward
    1958 - Killefer, Red
    1967 - Loepp, George
    1967 - Canavan, Hugh
    1967 - Manion, Clyde
    1968 - Orsatti, Ernie
    1971 - Hassler, Joe
    1972 - Bowman, Bob
    1976 - Mitchell, Monroe
    1982 - Lopez, Ramon
    1982 - Bray, Buster
    1985 - Bramhall, Art
    1986 - Greenberg, Hank
    1989 - Lee, Hal
    1996 - Dahlgren, Babe
    2000 - May, Pinky
    2002 - Constable, Jim
    2009 - Blattner, Buddy