On June 23 in Baseball History...
1917 - Boston pitcher Babe Ruth starts against Washington. He walks leadoff man Eddie Foster, griping to plate umpire Brick Owens after each pitch. On ball four, Ruth plants a right to the umpire's jaw. He is ejected, and Ernie Shore relieves. Foster is caught stealing, and Shore retires all 26 men he faces in a 4-0 win, getting credit in the books for a perfect game.
1932 - Lou Gehrig plays his 1,103rd successive game in a Yankees uniform, equaling Joe Sewell's record with one team (Cleveland).
1961 - Ernie Banks voluntarily takes the bench as a sore knee brings his 717 consecutive-games-played streak to an end.
1962 - Larry Doby, retired from the Cleveland Indians, signs on with the Chunichi Dragons. He becomes, with Don Newcombe, the first former major league player to toil for a Japanese team. Doby's season batting average will be a mediocre .225.
1963 - After taking Phillies pitcher Dallas Green deep, Jimmy Piersall runs around the bases in the correct order, but backward, to celebrate his 100th career home run. Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick, who was in the stands, was not amused. The Mets' outfielder, who thought of the stunt after being disappointed by the lack of attention Duke Snider's 400th round-tripper received, will be released two days later by manager Casey Stengel.
1971 - In a spectacular performance, Phillies pitcher Rick Wise no-hits the Reds 4-0 and hits two home runs in the game. Wise gets Pete Rose for the last out.
1973 - Phillies pitcher Ken Brett beats the Expos 7-2 and hits a home run for a major-league record for a pitcher fourth consecutive game. He hit home runs on June 9, 13, and 18: he will total ten for his career.
1981 - Dave Koza scores Marty Barrett with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 33rd inning, giving Pawtucket a 3-2 win over Rochester and ending the longest game in professional baseball history. The game had been suspended April 19 after 32 innings and eight hours, seven minutes of play, but the continuation took only eighteen minutes to complete. Bob Ojeda pitches one inning to earn the win.
1984 - Chicago's Ryne Sandberg hit two late-inning home runs off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bruce Sutter to tie the game twice as the Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to tie the game 9-9 then hit a two-run, two-out homer in the 10th to tie the game 11-11.
1988 - George Steinbrenner fires Billy Martin for the fifth time, replacing him with Lou Piniella. In 1985, Piniella was fired and replaced by Martin. In 1985, Martin was fired and replaced by Piniella. New York's 40-28 record is the fourth best in the big leagues, but the Yankees had just completed a 2-7 road trip.
1994 - Replays show that A's pitcher Bobby Witt beat Kansas City's Greg Gagne to first base in the sixth inning, but umpire Gary Cedarstrom sees it differently. The infield hit is the only blemish on what otherwise would have been a perfect game.
Baseball Birthdays on June 23...
1850 - Bird, George
1861 - Jackson, Henry
1875 - Nops, Jerry
1877 - Hardy, Jack
1884 - Egan, Dick
1886 - Priest, Johnny
1890 - Calhoun, Bill
1890 - Williams, Harry
1895 - Smith, Jack
1900 - Harris, Bill
1902 - Pettit, Leon
1906 - Foley, Ray
1907 - Cooke, Dusty
1910 - Perrin, Bill
1912 - Ford, Gene
1913 - Cox, Bill
1915 - Robinson, Aaron
1915 - Humphries, Johnny
1916 - Jungels, Ken
1917 - Sanford, Jack
1917 - Floyd, Bubba
1920 - Donahue, Deacon
1924 - Schaeffer, Harry
1931 - Spooner, Karl
1937 - Haller, Tom
1949 - Goltz, Dave
1956 - Johnson, Tony
1958 - Barrett, Marty
1960 - Deshaies, Jim
1960 - Rabb, John
1962 - Beasley, Chris
1965 - Walker, Mike
1967 - Meulens, Hensley
1970 - Castillo, Juan
Baseball Deaths on June 23...
1894 - Say, Jimmy
1902 - Firth, Ted
1908 - Traffley, Bill
1911 - O'Rourke, John
1924 - Gallagher, Shorty
1928 - Kittridge, Malachi
1931 - Cross, Clarence
1941 - Nelson, Bill
1949 - Godar, John
1954 - Massey, Roy
1958 - Boehler, George
1959 - Hitchc*ck, Jim
1967 - Bashang, Al
1967 - Gilbert, Tookie
1970 - Reynolds, Ross
1973 - Aberson, Cliff
1974 - Boucher, Al
1975 - Callaghan, Marty
1976 - Warneke, Lon
1985 - Anderson, Alf
1989 - Anderson, Rick
1994 - Throneberry, Marv
1994 - Dobson, Joe
1999 - Haas, Bert
2000 - Tillman, Bob
2003 - Smith, Bob
2006 - Wells, Leo
2007 - Beck, Rod