This Date in Baseball Aug 16

Updated Aug. 16, 2020 11:11 a.m. ET
Associated Press

Aug. 16

1920 — Shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch in the fifth inning by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffered a fractured skull and died the next day. It is the only field fatality in major league history.

1927 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became the first player to clear the roof at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ruth’s home run came off White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas in the 8-1 win.

1947 — Ralph Kiner hit three successive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field.

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1950 — Hank Thompson hit two inside-the-park home runs in the Giants’ 16-7 rout of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds.

1964 — Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals had eight straight hits in a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the first game 3-0 and the Cardinals took the second, 4-0.

1987 — Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos went 5-for-5 with four extra-base hits and the cycle in a 10-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1987 — New York’s Darryl Strawberry drove in five runs with four extra-base hits to lead the Mets to a 23-10 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

1996 — With 23,699 fans at the 25,644-seat Estadio Monterrey, the San Diego Padres defeated the New York Mets 15-10 in the first major league regular-season game played outside the United States or Canada.

2005 — Bobby Bragan became the oldest manager of a pro baseball game when the 87-year-old managed the Fort Worth Cats of the Central League for one game against Coastal Bend. Hall of Famer Connie Mack previously held the record, but Bragan eclipsed Mack by eight days. Bragan was tossed out of the game in the third inning after he went on the field following the ejection of a player.

2006 — Bruce Froemming umpired his 5,000th major league game — second-most in big league history. Bill Klem worked 5,374 games from 1905-40.

2011 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Pittsburgh. Pujols connected in the sixth inning off the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jeff Karstens. The NL home runs leader became the first player in major league history to hit 30 homers in each of his first 11 seasons.

2013 — Grant Holman of Chula Vista, Calif. struck out 13 and became the first player to toss a no-hitter in the Little League World Series since the 85-pitch rule was put in place in 2007. Holman led Chula Vista into the second round with a 3-0 seven-inning victory over Grosse Pointe, Mich. Holman also became the first pitcher since 1979 to throw an extra-inning no-hitter in the LLWS.

2015 — Madison Bumgarner homered and doubled, struck out 14 and pitched a three-hitter as San Francisco beat Washington 5-0.

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