On June 6 in Baseball History... 1892 - At Washington, D.C's Swampoodle Grounds, Benjamin Harrison becomes the first U.S. president to attend a major league baseball game. The Commander-in-Chief watches Cincinnati defeat the hometown Senators in 11 innings, 7-4.
1913 - The Yankees lose their thirteenth game without a victory when the team is defeated by the Indians at the Polo Grounds, 2-1. The 9-34 club's futility, which sets a franchise record, includes a 3-3 tie to Boston during the 14-game span.
1918 - In his first at-bat at Ebbets Field since being traded by the Dodgers in the off-season, Casey Stengel calls time, steps out of the batter's box, tips his hat allowing a bird to fly out much to the amazement and amusement of the fans.
1920 - The Cardinals play their last game at Robison Field (renamed Cardinal Field in 1917), their home field since 1893, beating the Cubs, 5-2. Onamit Sam Breadon's first decisions as the team's new owner is to agree to a ten-year lease for $20,000 annually allowing his team to move six blocks to share Sportman's Park with the Browns, and then using the money from selling the aging ballpark to finance Branch Rickey's idea of establishing a farm system by investing in a club afflilation with a minor league team in Houston, Texas.
1921 - The Detroit Stars' Bill Gatewood pitches the first no-hitter in Negro League history, defeating the Cuban Stars 4-0.
1934 - Myril Hoag becomes first Yankee in franchise history to collect six hits in one game, a major league record of six singles. The 26-year old outfielder’s 6-for-6 performance helps the Bronx Bombers rout Boston at Fenway Park, 15-3.
1939 - In a 17-3 win over the Reds at the Polo Grounds, the Giants become the first team to hit five home runs in one inning. Harry Danning, Frank Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo, and Joe Moore all go deep with two outs in the fourth inning.
1939 - Carl Stolz's dream of providing a wholesome baseball experience for local boys as a means of teaching the concepts of sportsmanship, fair play and teamwork becomes a reality when the first Little League game is played with Lundy Lumber defeating Lycoming Dairy in Williamsport, PA, 23-8. Allen "Sonny" Yearick, a participant in the inaugural game, will be the first graduate of the fledgling youth league to play professional ball, becoming a farmhand in the Boston Braves organization in 1948.
1940 - Warren Spahn, who will become the winningest left-hander in baseball history with 363 victories, signs a contract with the Boston Bees (Braves). Due to a clash with manager Casey Stengel and his enlistment in the U.S. Army, the 19-year old southpaw will have to wait six years before he gets his first major league win.
1941 - The Giants use plastic batting helmets for the first time against the Pirates but lose a doubleheader to the Bucs 5-4 and 4-3. In the nightcap, Pittsburgh pitcher Rip Sewell sets an N.L. record by totaling 11 assists.
1944 - Baseball cancels today's scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy. The military operation, known as D-Day, has 60,000 Allied troops landing along a heavily protected 50-mile stretch of the coastline in France to fight Germany to begin an offensive assault against Hitler and the Nazi party.
1944 - Annabelle Lee, aunt of future major leaguer Bill Lee, pitches the first of five perfect games in the 12-year history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Minneapolis Millerettes southpaw knuckleballer, who will also pitch a no-hitter for the Fort Wayne Daisies exactly one year from this date, doesn't allow any batters to reach first base in the 18-0 rout of the Kenosha (Wis) Comets.
1948 - For the second time this season, the Red Sox hit three consecutive homers (Spence, Stephens and Williams) in one inning becoming the first team to accomplish this feat twice in one season.
1957 - After an 86-minute delay, the first fog out in major league history occurs at Ebbets Field when the umpires call off the Dodgers' game against the Cubs due to poor visibility.
1958 - Ozzie Virgil, acquired from the Giants in January, becomes the first black player to appear in a Tigers game. He goes 1-for-5 in the 11-2 win over Washington.
1961 - In the midst of a 13-game losing streak, Twins manager Cookie Lavagetto is given a seven game 'vacation'. At first, team owner Calvin Griffith insists he has no intention of firing his skipper, but will replace him with Sam Mele later in the month.
1971 - Willie Mays strokes a 12th-inning home run off Joe Hoerner of the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader, his 22nd — and last — career extra-inning homer, a major-league mark.
1975 - Nolan Ryan's bid for a second no-hitter in a row is foiled by Hank Aaron's single in the sixth inning. Ryan gives up one other hit in overpowering the Brewers 6-0.
1978 - The Braves select Bob Horner as their first overall pick in the June draft and promptly promote him to the parent club. The Arizona State corner infielder was the first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given annually by USA Baseball to the best amateur baseball player.
1983 - The Twins select pitcher Tim Belcher with the first pick in the annual June free-agent draft, but Belcher will reject their $125,000 signing bonus offer and pitch for Team USA in the Pan American Games instead. Belcher will be the first person selected in the January 1984 draft. The Reds take Kurt Stillwell with the second pick. Roger Clemens is taken with 19th pick.
1986 - Prior to the game against the Braves, Padres' manager Steve Boros tries to give ump Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed play from the previous night. The San Diego skipper is ejected prior to the first pitch of today's contest.
1990 - Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as Yankee manager. During his two-year tenure in the dugout, the former minor league skipper will compile a 120-155 (.436) record before being fired at the end of next season in favor of Buck Showalter.
1990 - For the second time this season, Cecil Fielder belts three home runs in a game, as Detroit beats the Indians 6-4. Fielder becomes the fourth A.L. player to have two three-homer games in a season.
1991 - Albert Belle is shipped to the minors for not running out a ground ball in Cleveland's 2-1 loss to the White Sox.
1992 - Driving in the 1,510th run of his career, Eddie Murray sets a new RBI record for switch hitters. The Mets first baseman surpasses Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle's 18-year total to established the new mark.
1993 - Cal Ripken suffers a twisted right knee when his spikes catch in the infield grass in a contest against the Mariners, The resulting swollen knee the next day almost ends the streak at Game 1,790.
1996 - John Valentin becomes the 14th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle when he collects a two-run homer in the first inning, a triple in the third, a single in the fourth and a double in the sixth. The Red Sox shortstop's ten total bases, three runs, and two RBIs contribute to Boston's 7-4 victory over Chicago at Fenway Park. 1997 - At Fenway Park, Sandy Alomar hits four doubles in one game to tie the major league record. The Indians catcher's quartet of two-baggers helps the first-place Tribe to beat Boston, 7-3.
1999 - Derek Jeter’s streak of reaching base safely ends at 54 straight games when the Mets keep him off the base paths in their 7-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. The defeat also marks the end of Roger Clemens' streak of 20 consecutive victories, an American League record.
2000 - Thanks to the Angels' video crew playing a clip from the 1994 movie "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" on the JumboTron, the Rally Monkey is born. With the words "Rally Monkey" superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild when Anaheim scores two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Giants, 6-5.
2002 - The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission agrees to drop its lawsuit against the Twins and Major League Baseball. The deal settles a lawsuit blocking baseball's contraction plan and removes the Twins from consideration for elimination for the 2003 season.
2003 - Insisting the corked bat, designed to put on home run displays during batting practice, was accidentally used in the Devil Rays' game, Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa is suspended for eight games by Major League Baseball. Bob Watson, baseball's vice president of on-field operations, agreed the Chicago's outfielder use of an illegal bat was an "isolated incident," but one that still deserved a penalty.
2006 - When Eric Gagne, who will earn his first save in over a year, throws his first pitch to his receiver Russell Martin, the pair become the first All-French-Canadian battery in major league history. The pitcher and catcher both attended Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit High School, one of the few schools in Montreal which had a baseball program.
2006 - On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the century, the Dodgers score six runs in the sixth inning during the sixth game of the homestand beating the Mets, 8-5. On 05/05/05, the Twins scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Indians.
2006 - Striking out 16 Marlins during a 2-1 complete-game victory, Jason Schmidt ties a franchise record established in 1904 by Christy Mathewson. The 33-year old right-hander surpasses the San Francisco record of 15 strike outs set in 1966 by Gaylord Perry.
2007 - At Petco Park, Trevor Hoffman becomes the first reliever to save 500 games. It takes the all-time saves leader 10 ninth inning pitches, including an 87 mph fastball thrown past Russell Martin for the final out, to reach the milestone in the Padres' 5-3 victory over the Dodgers.
2008 - At Turner Field, Brad Lidge gets his 16th consecutive save when Gregor Blanco is thrown out at home plate, dramatically ending the game and preserving a Phillies 4-3 victory over the Braves. The Philadelphia closer's unblemished record from the start of the season breaks Al Holland’s club record, who converted his first 15 opportunities in 1984.
2008 - Tigers’ general manager Dave Dombrowski announces the club is optioning their off-season blockbuster acquisition Dontrelle Willis to their Class A minor league team in Lakeland of the Florida State League. The 2003 Rookie of the Year, who posted a 22-10 record two years later with the Marlins, recently signed a three-year, $29 million deal to play with Detroit.
2010 - The Nationals announce the team is donating the hat Stephen Strasburg wore in his major league debut to the Hall of Fame. The 21-year old rookie right-hander struck out 14 batters in Washington's 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
2013 - With John Sebastian's song "Welcome Back" playing in the background, the Seattle fans give Ichiro Suzuki a warm reception when the longtime Mariner legend returns to Safeco Field as a Yankee. The 39-year-old outfielder, who hit .322 during his 12 seasons with the team, was traded to the Bronx last July for for Danny Farquhar and D.J. Mitchell.
2015 - In the inaugural contest played MGM Park, the Biloxi Shuckers, coming off a season-long, 54-game road trip, beat the Mobile BayBears, 5-4, in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,065 enthusiastic fans. The Opening Night dramatic 14-inning walk-off Southern League victory marks the first time since 1908 when the Sand Crabs played in the Cotton States League that the city has been represented by a minor league team at home.
2017 - The Atlanta Braves released Emilio Bonifacio.
2017 - Scooter Gennett, who was claimed off of waivers by the Reds at the end of spring training, becomes 17th player in major league history, and the first in the franchise's 135 years of existence to hit four homers in a game. The Cincinnati second baseman establishes a franchise record with 17 total bases with his quartet of round-trippers in consecutive at-bats, contributing 10 RBIs to club's 13-1 victory over the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.
Baseball Birthdays on June 6... 1864 - McKean, Ed
1870 - Hewitt, Jake
1870 - Creely, Gus
1871 - Lange, Bill
1873 - Hach, Irv
1874 - Mellor, Bill
1883 - St.Vrain, Jim
1891 - Cashion, Carl
1892 - Pate, Joe
1897 - Pierce, Ray
1902 - Thompson, Fresco
1907 - Dickey, Bill
1908 - Goldstein, Izzy
1910 - Morgan, Chet
1914 - Silber, Eddie
1915 - Stoviak, Ray
1916 - Lodigiani, Dario 1927 - Talbot, Bob
1931 - Arias, Rudy 1931 - Willey, Carl
1942 - Davis, Bill
1943 - Rettenmund, Merv
1944 - Harrelson, Bud
1945 - Howard, Larry
1946 - Pitts, Gaylen
1949 - Deidel, Jim
1953 - Bergman, Dave
1955 - Nyman, Chris 1955 - Moreno, Angel
1957 - Venable, Max
1957 - Fireovid, Steve 1959 - Frobel, Doug
1964 - Caceres, Edgar
1967 - Ramos, Ken
1972 - Graffanino, Tony 1972 - Kieschnick, Brooks
1972 - Williams, Jeff
1975 - Lamb, David
1977 - Ellis, Mark
1978 - Bubela, Jaime
1979 - Feliciano, Jesus
1980 - Belisle, Matt
1981 - Bonine, Eddie
1983 - Falu, Irving
1984 - Fruto, Emiliano
1985 - Magnuson, Trystan
1986 - Balester, Collin
1986 - Tazawa, Junichi
1989 - Martin, Ethan
1990 - Collins, Tyler
1990 - Rendon, Anthony
1991 - Fontana, Nolan
1993 - Lucchesi, Joey
Baseball Deaths on June 6... 1904 - McGarr, Chippy
1927 - Fox, Henry
1939 - Murch, Simmy
1950 - Thomas, Walt
1953 - Burns, Bill 1955 - Kelley, Mike
1958 - Daniels, Bert
1963 - Mullen, Charlie 1966 - Henderson, Bernie
1967 - Brannan, Otis
1968 - Burns, C.B.
1972 - Rigney, Topper
1973 - Low, Fletcher
1987 - Koch, Barney
1989 - Glazner, Whitey
2001 - Garrison, Ford
2003 - Medeiros, Ray
2010 - Stephenson, Jerry
2013 - Guckert, Elmer
2016 - Williams, Jimmy