On October 25 in Baseball History...

    1911 - In Game 5 of the World Series at the Polo Grounds, Larry Doyle scores on a Fred Merkle sacrifice fly to give the Giants a 4-3 victory over the A's. According to home plate umpire Bill Klem, commenting after the game, the Giants second baseman, in his jubilation about scoring the winning run, really never touches home, but the A’s, however, fail to notice the gaffe and do not appeal.

    1927 - Garry Herrmann, citing poor health and deafness, resigns as the president of the Reds and will be replaced by C.J. McDiarmid, the club's secretary. During the 68 year-old baseball executive's 25-year tenure with the team, Cincinnati won only one pennant and World Series (1919), but finished in the first division 13 times.

    1939 - With 15 of the 24 first-place votes cast by the writers, Joe DiMaggio wins his first American League MVP award, easily out-distancing runners-up Jimmy Foxx and Bob Feller. The Yankees outfielder will also capture the prestigious prize in 1941 and 1947.

    1955 - Baseball great Branch Rickey steps down as GM of the Pirates and moves into an advisory role. Joe L. Brown, son of the actor, replaces him.

    1955 - The Indians trade Larry Doby, the first black to play in the American League, to the White Sox for Chico Carrasquel and Jim Busby. The future Hall of Fame outfielder, who will hit .275 during his two seasons in Chicago, will return to the Tribe in 1958.

    1956 - White Sox manager Marty Marion resigns and will be replaced by Al Lopez. Chicago's new skipper will pilot the Pale Hose to a 840-650 (.564) record and an American League pennant during his 11-year tenure in the Windy City.

    1960 - Gabe Paul announces his decision to leave the Reds to become the general manager of the Colt .45's, an expansion team scheduled to begin play in 1962. The experienced baseball executive, after clashing with majority owner Roy Hofheinz, will leave Houston nearly a year before the team plays an official game.

    1961 - The Mets sign their first player with major league experience when the team inks free-agent Ted Lepico. The 32-year old middle infielder, who has played with five teams during his ten-year career, will be be cut by the expansion team during spring training.

    1973 - The Cubs trade six-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Rangers for third baseman Bill Madlock and utility man Vic Harris. Meanwhile, San Francisco trades three-time home run champion Willie McCovey, a Giant since 1959, together with a minor leaguer to the Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell.

    1978 - Gaylord Perry becomes the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Perry cops the NL honor with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA for the Padres.

    1981 - Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero hit consecutive homers in the seventh inning, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees in the World Series.

    1985 - The Angels announce that they will not offer seven-time batting champion Rod Carew a new contract for the 1986 season, effectively ending his 19-year career. Carew finishes with 3,053 hits and a .328 career batting average.

    1986 - The New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox to win 6-5 and push the World Series to a decisive seventh game. The tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's slow grounder.

    1987 - The Minnesota Twins, behind Frank Viola, won their first World Series championship, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 in Game 7.

    1995 - Steve Avery throws six innings of three-hit baseball and Pedro Borbon Jr. comes out of the bullpen for his first appearance in 19 days to save Atlanta's 5-2 win in Game Four.

    1996 - Frank Torre, the brother of Yankee manager Joe Torre, receives a heart transplant after months of waiting. Frank was a recipient of a World Series ring as a member of the Milwaukee Braves when they beat the Yankees in 1957 -- and his brother Joe will make him a gift of a World Series ring that's 39 years newer after Game Six.

    1997 - Chad Ogea gets two hits, drives in two runs and scores another while also earning the win. The Indians force a seventh game with the 4-1 win over the Marlins.

    2000 - Mike Piazza becomes the first player to hit a World Series home run at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. The backstop’s third inning homer off Denny Neagle will account for the only two runs the Mets will score in a 3-2 Game 4 defeat to their cross-town rivals.

    2005 - The first World Series game ever to be played in the state of Texas proves to be memorable when Geoff Blum’s 14th inning solo home run (30th MLer to hit a HR in first WS AB) becomes the beginning of the end of the longest Fall Classic contest ever played. The 7-5 victory, which gives the White Sox a commanding 3-0 advantage over the Astros, takes 5 hours, 41 minutes to complete with the 14 frames equaling the number of innings the Red Sox needed to beat the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 1916 series.

    2005 - Mark Buehrle becomes first pitcher to start and save consecutive World Series contests. After receiving a no-decision starting Game 2, the 26-year old southpaw gets the final out in the 14th inning of Game 3 to record a save as the White Sox beat the Astros, 7-5.

    2007 - Hideki Okajima becomes the first Japanese-born player to pitch in the World Series. The former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler comes out of the bullpen in relief of Curt Schilling and retires seven straight Rockies, including Kazuo Matsui making it the first time Japanese natives have faced one another in the Fall Classic.

    2009 - The Indians sign 40-year old Manny Acta to a three-year deal to be the team's 40th manager in franchise history. The former Nationals' field boss, who was fired by Washington in July, is the first Cleveland skipper to be hired outside the organization since John McNamara piloted the club in 1990.

    2009 - Yusei Kikuchi decides not to entertain offers from American major league teams, opting instead to start his professional career in his native Japan. The 18-year-old left-handed flamethrower, who had interested scouts from the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, Tigers, Braves, Rangers, Mariners, and the Indians, would have been the first Japanese high school student to come directly to the U.S. to play pro ball.

    2009 - With a 5-2 victory over the Angels at Yankee Stadium, New York wins its 40th American League pennant. The Bronx Bombers, after a six-year absence from the Fall Classic, will play the Phillies in quest of their 27th World Championship and the first since they beat the Mets in 2000.

    2010 - John Farrell emerges from the 18 candidates interviewed by Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos to replace Cito Gaston, the team's recently retired manager. The former Boston pitching coach's reputation of working well with youthful hurlers is thought be a real asset for the team's new skipper, given Toronto's talented young rotation.

    2011 - Canada wins their first major baseball tournament when Team Canada defeats the United States, 2-1, at the Pan American Games played in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. Jimmy Van Ostrand's sixth inning double driving in Chris Robinson and Tim Smith, both who had two-out singles to start the rally, proves to be the difference in the gold medal game.

    2014 - Mo'ne Davis throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Giants' 11-4 victory in Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Royals at AT&T Park. The 13 year-old pitching phenom, the first girl to to hurl a shutout in the Little League World Series, continues her mastery on the mound, firing a strike right down the middle of the plate.

    2016 - The Mets announce that Mike Piazza, believed by many to be the best offensive backstop in baseball history, will have his number 31 retired during the season. The Cooperstown-bound catcher's digits will join Tom Seaver (41) Casey Stengel (37) and Gil Hodges (14) above the left-field wall at Citi Field.



    Baseball Birthdays on October 25...

    1855 - McCormick, Harry
    1861 - Werrick, Joe
    1864 - Godar, John
    1866 - Hughes, Mickey
    1868 - Burke, Dan
    1869 - Doyle, Jack
    1871 - Bergen, Marty
    1874 - Stanton, Tom
    1876 - Gettman, Jake
    1880 - Henley, Weldon
    1887 - Dugey, Oscar
    1889 - Wood, Joe
    1893 - Aldridge, Vic
    1901 - Gardner, Ray
    1904 - Cohen, Andy
    1905 - Malay, Joe
    1913 - Corbett, Gene
    1913 - Marchildon, Phil
    1918 - Fernandez, Nanny
    1923 - Meyer, Russ
    1923 - Thomson, Bobby
    1924 - Brown, Bobby
    1925 - Hartsfield, Roy
    1931 - Murphy, Dick
    1937 - Schilling, Chuck
    1939 - Mikkelsen, Pete
    1944 - Guinn, Skip
    1946 - Eddy, Don
    1951 - Cowens, Al
    1951 - LaRose, John
    1952 - Smalley, Jr., Roy
    1952 - Office, Rowland
    1954 - Landrum, Tito
    1955 - Darwin, Danny
    1955 - Boggs, Tommy
    1955 - Schattinger, Jeff
    1956 - McGaffigan, Andy
    1958 - Von Ohlen, Dave
    1958 - Romano, Tom
    1960 - Downs, Kelly
    1965 - Decker, Steve
    1966 - Harkey, Mike
    1967 - Siddall, Joe
    1969 - Garagozzo, Keith
    1969 - Thomas, Larry
    1970 - King, Curtis
    1970 - Lowery, Terrell
    1971 - Martinez, Pedro
    1974 - Nelson, Joe
    1978 - Davis, J.J.
    1979 - Brown, Jeremy
    1979 - Torcato, Tony
    1980 - Nageotte, Clint
    1985 - Ramirez, Wilkin
    1988 - Cabrera, Alberto
    1998 - Soto, Juan



    Baseball Deaths on October 25...

    1911 - Rickley, Chris
    1913 - Shannon, Dan
    1922 - Kilhullen, Pat
    1927 - Brown, Tom
    1941 - Phillips, Bill
    1945 - Baker, Ernie
    1949 - Bowden, Tim
    1963 - Lindsey, Jim
    1978 - Craft, Molly
    1979 - Schick, Morrie
    1981 - Reiser, Pete
    1991 - Brunet, George
    1991 - Bokina, Joe
    1994 - Fallon, George
    1996 - Shuman, Harry
    2008 - Batista, Rafael
    2010 - Rufer, Rudy
    2011 - Cueto. Bert
    2012 - Mueller, Les
    2017 - Powell, Ross