September 3rd in baseball history
Posted by Andy on September 3, 2011
Taken from the B-R Bullpen page:
1965:
- In preparation of their move to Anaheim, CA the Los Angeles Angels change their name to the California Angels.
- The Mets top the Cards 6 - 3 behind the slugging of Jim Hickman, who cranks three home runs off Birds' pitcher Ray Sadecki. Hickman is the first Mets player to hit three home runs in a game.
The Angels didn't want their fan base limited to LA and instead wanted to draw from all of southern California, so they changed their name. In 2005, they realized there was little support outside of LA and basically changed it back.
I am embarrassed to say I've never heard of Jim Hickman, but he had an interesting career. He's exactly the kind of guy I'd expect to find with an expansion team, posting an OPS+ between 95 and 98 for his (and the Mets') first 4 seasons. Here are the most seasons (within the player's first 4) since 1901 that a guy had an OPS+ in that range with at least 400 PAs per season:
| Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Hickman | 4 | 1962 | 1965 | 25-28 | Ind. Seasons |
| 2 | Buddy Bell | 3 | 1972 | 1974 | 20-22 | Ind. Seasons |
| 3 | Tony Kubek | 3 | 1957 | 1960 | 21-24 | Ind. Seasons |
| 4 | Pinky Whitney | 3 | 1928 | 1931 | 23-26 | Ind. Seasons |
| 5 | Max Bishop | 3 | 1925 | 1927 | 25-27 | Ind. Seasons |
- 1971 - Owner Phil Wrigley takes out newspaper ads criticizing the Cubs players who want to dump manager Leo Durocher. A postscript adds, "If we could only find more team players like Ernie Banks." Banks will play his last game on September 26.
Wow, can you imagine an owner supporting his manager like this today?
- 1974 - The Giants' John Montefusco making his ML debut, homers in his first official time at bat, off Charlie Hough, and pitches nine innings of relief to earn a 9 - 5 victory over the Dodgers.
What a memorable game. Here's the box score. I feel pretty safe in saying that this is a feat we'll never see again in a major-league debut.
- 1977 - Japanese superstar Sadaharu Oh hits his 756th career homer to surpass Hank Aaron as the All-time career home run leader in professional baseball.
Funny how Selig didn't stop the game when Barry Bonds passed Oh.
- 1979 - The Orioles win a pair from Toronto, 2 - 1 in 11 innings, and 5 - 1. Eddie Murray provides the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 11th. Tippy Martinez (9-2) is the winner. Mike Flanagan is the winner in the nitecap, the major's first 20-game winner this year.
It was 32 years ago today when Mike Flanagan won his 20th game of the season. Rest in peace.
- 1988 - Dennis Eckersley sets an A's record with his 37th save of the season in Oakland's 5 - 4 win over New York. Eckersley will save 45 games this season, one shy of Dave Righetti's ML record.
Little did we know in 1988 that we were seeing the birth of closer usage for the next 20+ years.
- 1991 - Three months after undergoing 8 1/2 hours of surgery to remove two blood clots from his right forearm, White Sox rookie Roberto Hernandez makes his ML debut, limiting the Royals to one hit in seven innings. The Sox win, 5 - 1. The other medical story in the game is the return of Bo Jackson, following his hip transplant surgery. Bo is hitless.
I remember being afraid of watching Bo play on his artificial hip for fear that he was suffer some gruesome injury.
- 1997 - 2B Mike Lansing's 3rd-inning home run is Montreal's only hit, but it's enough to give the Expos a 1 - 0 win over the Red Sox. Aaron Sele and Tom Gordon baffle the Expos the rest of the way, but Carlos Perez allows only two hits himself in blanking Boston.
When I read this, I thought it had to be an error because it's an interleague play game. I had forgotten that in the early days of this "phenomenon" some interleague games were played in September. I guess that's because September usually isn't very exciting, what with having only playoff races, batting title races, etc.
- 2010 - The Phillies pull to within one game of the NL East-leading Braves with a 1 - 0 win over the Brewers. Cole Hamels pitches 7 scoreless innings, while the lone run scores after Shane Victorino's fly ball drops between LF Ryan Braun and CF Lorenzo Cain for a double; the Flyin' Hawaiian then scores on two consecutive ground ball outs. Meanwhile, the Braves drop a 6 - 1 decision toFlorida as rookie Logan Morrison hits a pair of triples.
And, the Phillies did this after they were already declared "done!"
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:13 am
http://www.viddler.com/explore/thebaseballpage/videos/213/
Here is the daily This day in Baseball video . . . today also marked the first time instant replay was used to support on a field call.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:19 am
If memory serves me correctly, Hickman drove in the winning run in the 1970 xtra inning AS game. He had his best yrs as a Cub. Too bad he couldn't sustain his 1970 season form.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:33 am
How about Sept. 3, 1961 -Mantle hits two homeruns to reach 50 and join Maris as the only teammates in history to accomplish this feat in the same season.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:36 am
Funny how Selig didn't stop the game when Barry Bonds passed Oh.
Sadarahu Oh ended up with 868 homers.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:51 am
Good point, Jimmer....obviously my comment was meant to indicate the general lack of respect that MLB pays to NBP.
September 3rd, 2011 at 9:09 am
"The Angels didn't want their fan base limited to LA and instead wanted to draw from all of southern California, so they changed their name. In 2005, they realized there was little support outside of LA and basically changed it back."
They actually shed the California label 8 years earlier. They were the Anaheim Angels from 1997-2004....
Am I the only one out there who actually loved their Disney inspired unis of that era? I miss them (along with the Stros and Brewers' unis of the late 90's)...
September 3rd, 2011 at 10:35 am
Jim Hickman was one of those guys who figured it all out for one shining year. At age 33 for the 1970 Cubs he had an OPS of 1.001 and an OPS+ of 155, having career highs in almost every offensive stat. He had a few good years with the Cubs after that, but nothing compared to 1970.
September 3rd, 2011 at 11:49 am
Andy, I'd take that bet on Montefusco's feat being matched, if I thought we'd both live another 100 years. "Never" is an awfully long time.
Since Montefusco, 4 pitchers have made their MLB debut with a relief outing of 7+ IP. Alas, 3 of the 4 were in the AL, so they never batted. But in 1980, John Martin earned a win with 7 IP of 1-run ball, and singled in his 2nd AB.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198008270.shtml
September 3rd, 2011 at 11:57 am
Still trying to run that NPB flag up the pole, I see.
Ironic, though, that in waving the banner for respecting Oh's record, you reveal that you didn't know what the number was.
You'll have to lead us by example, Andy! 🙂
September 3rd, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Jim Hickman was the last of the original Mets. He came to the Cubs in a steal of a deal where the Cubs got Phil Regan & Jim Hickman for two over the hill players Jim Ellis (Pitcher) & Ted savage (OF). He took over for Ernie Banks at 1st Base in 1970. He did have a decent run from 1969 - 1972. Yes he drove in the winning run in the 1970 All Star game the one where Rose ran over Fosse.
September 3rd, 2011 at 1:06 pm
I actually knew the number, my brain just wasn't working.
Regarding our bet, you pay me $100 at the end of each season when Montefusco's debut is not equalled. When it finally is, I'll pay you back everything, tripled. OK?
September 3rd, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Sep 3, 1918 was the date the season was called due to the influenza epedemic (final games played were Sep 2nd, a Monday). The World Series didn't start until Sep 5th, so not sure if there was consideration given to also canceling the Series. Anyone know?
September 3rd, 2011 at 5:03 pm
I thought that the 1918 season ended early due to World War I.
September 3rd, 2011 at 8:10 pm
When Jim Hickman played for the Dodgers in 1967, Walter Alston called on him to pitch in a blowout loss to the Giants. He pitched two innings and gave up a 2 run home run to Willie Mays.
I never understood the cowboy's decision to change the Angels name to California mid-season. Although 80% of the season was played as Los Angeles, all the stats say California. Several players who left the team mid-season wore L.A. uniforms, but have California stats. An interesting example is Dick Wantz. He made his major league debut in the first game of the season, playing for L.A. He died in May of an inoperable brain tumor. His stats say California, but there was no team named California in his lifetime.
September 3rd, 2011 at 9:24 pm
Genius Terry Collins.Have Jose Reyes sacrifice in the top of the 7th in a 6-6 game.
September 4th, 2011 at 12:25 am
@13
DoubleDiamond: You are correct.
September 4th, 2011 at 1:25 am
Montefusco, had he started the game, would have recorded a 73 game score for his effort. His career would be spent primarily in the rotation. He also had one of the great sports nicknames, The Count.
As for Hough, he pitched 20 more seasons after that day, 8 of them after Montefusco retired. In fact, Hough had more career starts and complete games just in those eight seasons than the Count did for his entire career.
This game also featured a grand slam from Gary Matthews Sr.