This Date In Baseball: Going Way Back

The Fourth of July:
1881 At Riverside Grounds in Buffalo, Mickey Welch throws two complete game victories as the Troy Haymakers sweep a doubleheader from the Bisons in National Association action, 8-3 and 12-0.
1884 In American Association action, Guy Hecker of the Louisville Colonels pitches complete games to win both ends of a doubleheader. The Youngsville, Pennsylvania native does not walk a single batter as he beats the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, 5-4 and 8-2.
1900 Approximately one thousand people in the crowd of 10,000 fans attending the game at West Side grounds celebrate Independence Day by firing pistols into the air. Chicago beats Philadelphia in 12 innings, 5-4.
1905 With the A's scoring two runs in the 20th inning, Rube Waddell beats Cy Young and the Red Sox, 4-2 with each hurler pitching a complete game.
1908 With two outs and an 0-2 count in the ninth inning, Giant pitcher George 'Hooks' Wiltse loses his perfect game when he hits opposing pitcher, George McQuillan, with a pitch. Wiltse still keeps his no-hitter intact as the Giants win 1-0 in the tenth. [Who the fuck were the Giants playing? — M.B.]
1911 (One Hundred Yrs. Ago:) Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida become the first Cuban natives to appear in a major league game as they both make their debut for the Reds. Appearing as pinch hitters in the eight inning, Almeida strikes out and Marsans singles in the 8-3 loss to the Cubs at Chicago’s West Side Grounds.
1912 Tiger pitcher George Mullins celebrates the nation's birthday and his own by throwing a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. In addition to his excellent pitching, the 32-year old also collected three hits and drove in two runs during the 7-0 victory.
1925 In a battle of southpaws at Yankee Stadium, Herb Pennock and Lefty Grove of the A's hook up in a 15 inning pitchers' duel which the Bronx Bombers win, 1-0. Penncock retires the first 18 batters and the last 21 batters he faces.
1932 Bill Dickey punches and breaks Carl Reynolds’s jaw after the Senator outfielder collides with him on a close play at home plate. The American League suspends the Yankee catcher for 30 days and fines him $1,000 for his one-punch fight.
1935 Due to his 'wandering' ball, Iola hurler Harold 'Lefty' Liell, a 5' 6 1/2", 155-pounder with pigeon-toed feet, is called up for a try out with the Kansas City Blues. The K.C. manager Dutch Zwilling is impressed with the youngster's performance, but advises the Greeley, Kansas lad to get more experience and suggests he play in the Ban Johnson League.
1938 The Phillies move into Shibe Park by splitting a twin bill with the Boston Bees (Braves) losing the first game, 10-5, and winning the nightcap, 10-2. Problems with Baker Bowl made it necessary for the Phils to share the Athletics' home field at 21st Street and Lehigh Avenue.
1939 It's Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium and ‘the Iron Horse’s’ uniform number 4 will be the first ever to be retired. After emcee Sid Mercer informs the sell-out crowd the man of the hour is too moved to speak, Gehrig changes his mind when Skipper Joe McCarthy encourages him, and delivers the keynote address in baseball history describing himself as "the luckiest man on the face of this earth".

[Not Gary Cooper:++mawkish. It had not stuck in our empty consciousness that this famous farewell occurred on the Fourth. — M.B.] Also in 1939: In a slugfest at Shibe Park, Red Sox third baseman Jim Tabor hits two grand slams as well as a third home run in Boston's 18-12 victory over the A's. It's only the second time the feat as been accomplished, both coming in games against the Philadelphia Athletics. 1955 In Three-I League action, Keokuk Kernels’ hurler, Mudcat Grant, hits three home runs in consecutive innings. During his 14 year major league career with seven teams, the right-hander from Lacoochee, Florida will go yard six times. 1964 Kansas City's Manny Jimenez, who didn't homer in 1963, connects for three in a 6-6 tie with the Orioles. Game is stopped by a special Baltimore curfew to permit a fireworks show to take place. 1966 In his first game after being sidelined a week with a fractured cheekbone, Ron Santo sets a franchise record hitting in his 28th consecutive game. The streak will come to an end when the Cubs' third baseman is held hitless in the nightcap of the twin bill against Pittsburgh. 1969 At Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium, Bob Oliver becomes the first player in Royals history to hit a grand slam. The center fielder's eighth-inning blast comes off Jim Bouton of the Pilots in an eventual 13-2 KC victory. 1976 After hitting an apparent game-winning grand slam, Tim McCarver is only credited with a three-run single when he passes teammate Garry Maddox on the bases paths in the Phillies' 10-5 victory over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. The other base runners are allow to score on the Philadelphia catcher's 'grand slam single' because only the player who passes his teammate is called out and there were less than two outs. [See comments. — M.B.] 1980 Reggie Smith belts the 7,000th home run in Dodgers' history and Don Sutton sets a team record with his 52nd career shutout in the Dodgers' 4-0 victory over the Giants. Nolan Ryan fans Ceasar Geronimo to record his 3000th career strike out. In 1974, the Reds' outfielder was also Bob Gibson's 3000th victim. 1982 Celebrating Independence Day at Mile High Stadium in Denver, 65,666 fans watch an American Association contest and enjoy a giant fireworks display after game. The gathering is the largest crowd in minor league history. 1985 In a 19 inning game, which goes until just before 4 a.m. the next day, the Mets beat the Braves, 16-13. After the 6 hours, 10 minutes game, the 1000 fans left in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium are treated to pre-dawn fireworks which awaken and frighten many of the ballpark’s neighbors. 1987 Giants and Padres complete a seven-player trade, including Kevin Mitchell who will be the 1989 MVP for the Giants and Mark Davis who will win the 1989 National League Cy Young Award for the Padres. 1998 The National Baseball Facility of Ireland, considered the main home of the Irish National baseball team, officially opens in Corkagh Demesne Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin when U.S. Ambassador Jean Kennedy throws out the ceremonial first pitch. Dodger owner Peter O'Malley played an instrumental role in the construction of the diamonds now known as the Fields of Dreams, which includes a regulation sized adult field and an international standard Little League field. 2001 The Brewers' new home, Miller Park, continues to be jinxed as a parachutist breaks his ankle when he misses the opening in the retractable roof and lands on a beam several hundred feet off the ground. Another member of the Sky Knights Sports Parachute Club missed the stadium completely. 2001 The fifty people stranded on the Ferris wheel ride at Comerica Park for two hours during the Royal-Tiger game are rescued by firefighters and emergency crews using a cherry picker and a fire truck ladder. The inconvenienced fans will receive tickets to another game, free dinner and team autographs from the Tigers. 2003 In a 10-3 victory over New York, the Red Sox score all their runs with the long ball hitting a record seven home runs off the Yankees. Prior to today's Independence Day fireworks, the Bronx Bombers had given up six homers in a game four times including twice to Boston (1997 and 1977) and the Indians (1970). 2004 The selection of Barry Bonds*, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa* as starters in the NL All-Stars line-up marks the first time in baseball history which three players with 500 career home runs have appeared on the same team. The trio will appear in the starting outfield in the 75th All-Star Game in Houston’s Minute Maid Park. 2006 Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's 76th birthday is less than festive, as the Indians provide all of the fireworks in 19-1 Independence Day rout over the Bronx Bombers. The victory is the Tribe's most lopsided victory at home since the 1950 team, scoring 14 first inning runs, beat the Philadelphia A's at Cleveland Stadium, 21-2. 2006 Nomar Garciaparra ties the major league record for being hit by a pitch in one game as he is plunked three times by three different Diamondback pitchers in a 10-4 Los Angeles victory. The Dodger first baseman is the first National Leaguer to equal the mark, both literally and figuratively, since the 2000 season when Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo got thwacked thrice in a game in April. 2008 Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki needs 16 stitches to close up a gash in his right palm caused by a maple bat when the he pounds it into the ground in frustration and it shatters. These types of bats are under scrunity of a major league investigation because of their tendency to shatter when the hard wood breaks instead of just cracking like the bats made from softer ash.

*: "*."