July 31, 1983: Earnhardt Sr. Wins at Talledega For The First Time

On July 31, 1983, Dale Earnhardt Sr. took the checkered flag for the first time at Talledega Superspeedway in Alabama. It was Earnhardt's tenth attempt at conquering the track. The win in '83 began a streak of domination for The Intimidatior, he won a Sprint Cup series record ten races at the famous track, along with one Nationwide win and 3 wins in the IROC series making him the most successful driver in the history of Talledega. Jeff Gordon has 6 wins at the track and is the closest to Earnhardt's mark of 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 5 wins at the track and is third on the all time list for wins at Talledega.

July 30, 1973: Bibby Tosses The First No No In Rangers History

On July 30, 1973,  in a 6-0 win over the defending champion A's in Oakland, rookie hurler Jim Bibby tossed the first ever no hitter in the history of the Texas Rangers organization. Bibby was just the 14th rookie to accomplish the feat. His bid for perfection was lost early when he walked Reggie Jackson to lead off the second but that wouldn't stop him from dominating the potent Oakland lineup. Bibby struck out 13 and walked 6 men before he put the no no in the books.The no hitter came one month after Bibby was picked up via trade from the St. Louis Cardinals. After he picked up the historic win Rangers owner Bob Short gave him a $5,000 raise which was pretty phat at the time considering he was making the league minimum  $15,000 before he outdueled Vida Blue in front of more than 21,000 in Oakland. Bibby's numbers over the years were average at best, in '75 he was moved to the Indians for Gaylord Perry then in '78 he signed a deal with the Pirates where he spent his most productive years. He went 50-32 with the Bucco's and was a key component of the 1979 championship season in Pittsburgh.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197307300.shtml

To date only 21 rookies have tossed a no hitter, you can check out the elite list here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/rare_feats/index.jsp?feature=rookie_no_hitter

July 29, 1983: Garvey's Iron man Streak Comes To An End

On July 29, 1983, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Braves at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, the National League's Iron Man steak came to an end when Padres first baseman Steve Garvey severely dislocated his thumb in a first inning collision at home plate. The Braves went onto win the game 2-1, however Garvey's injury was the bigger blow to the team. It put him in a cast and when he had to sit out the second game of the doubleheader it put a stop to 1,207 consecutive games played. The streak began on September 3, 1975 when he was a 26 year old up and coming star with the Dodgers, he not only played in every game he established himself as one of the best men in the game. With his first all star appearance coming in 1974, Garvey would get to the mid summer classic for 8 consecutive seasons while he wore the Dodger blue. He left L.A. in the Fall of '82 and joined the Padres where they had high hopes as they added a key piece to the club. He did return to his old form in '84 and led the team all the way to the World Series where they fell to the Tigers. The 1,207 consecutive games played is fourth on the all time list, only Everett Scott, Lou Gehrig, and Cal Ripken Jr. have played in more consecutive games. Each of those players accomplished their streaks in the American League, making  Garvey the National League Iron Man.

July 28, 1993: Anthony Young Picks Up A Win... Finally

On July 28, 1993, one of the worst streaks in all of baseball came to an end at Shea Stadium in New York when Anthony Young picked up the win with a 5-4 victory over the Marlins. The hard luck hurler pitched in 74 games between April 19, 1992 before finally getting a decision that night at Shea. It appeared he would suffer his 28th loss in a row when he surrendered a ninth inning run that put the Fish up 4-3, then Young's teammates came through for him in the bottom of the ninth. Jeff McKnight led off the bottom half of the inning going for a pinch hit single. After he was moved over to second on a sac bunt, Ryan Thompson took Young off the hook by knocking in McKnight with a single. Two batters later Eddie Murray hit a line drive walk off double to right that brought Thompson into score. He was mobbed by his teammates as his nightmare came to an end, "The guys treated it like I had won a World Series game for them" he was given a bottle of champagne by his skipper Dallas Green  as they celebrated the end to the streak that no player would ever want to be a part of. Young's losing streak had surpassed Cliff Burton's mark of 23 straight losses as  a member of the Boston Braves in 1910 and 1911. During the losing streak Young did convert 12 consecutive saves but was still in search of the elusive win until he finaly picked it up on that night in New York.  

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199307280.shtml

July 27, 1946: York Hits Two Grand Slams In One Game

On July 27, 1946, Rudy York of the Boston Red Sox hit two grand slams in a 13-6 rout over the Browns in St. Louis. York was just the third player to accomplish the feat as he joined Jim Tabor and Tony Lazzeri in an exclusive club. Since that day at Sportsman's Park 10 other men have joined the two grand slam in a game club, no man has yet to hit three. The season York accomplished the feat was his only full season in Beantown. He parked a total of 17 balls over the wall that season and would help lead the club to the World Series. The two slams were not the greatest highlights for York during the '46 campaign. He hit a walk off homer in Game 1 of the World Series. Then hit another decisive long ball in the third game of the series, despite his heroics the Sox lost the the series in 7 games.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA194607270.shtml

July 26, 1933, Joe DiMaggio and the 61 Game Hit Streak

On July 26, 1933, a 19 year old kid by the name of Joe DiMaggio had his record setting 61 game hitting streak come to an end as his San Francisco Seals prevailed 4-3 over the Oakland Oaks. The 61 games in a row with a hit came 3 years before he found his way to the major leagues and 8 years before he shattered the Major League record with a 56 consecutive games with a base knock. Joe found his way to the Seals in October of  '32 when his brother Vince talked the manager of the club into letting him fill in at shorstop. The '33 season would be his rookie season and it would be one to be remembered as the kid began his hitting streak on May 27th of that season then would pick up a hit in every game until that day in late July. Joe said "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that first hitting streak. Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking, or sleeping." The day it came to an end Joe went  0 for 5, his final attempt at extending the record was a long fly ball in the ninth that scored the winning run from third. The minor league streak shattered the mark of 49 set by Joe Ness in 1914 and it put Joe on the radar of Major League clubs. He quickly became a highly sought after prospect, a freak injury nearly ended his career in 1934 but Joe bounced back from it. The Seals dealt DiMaggio to the Yankees in November of 1934, he spent one more season in California before joining the New York club where he continued to make history.

Here's a great article by PBS about the 61 game hitting streak: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dimaggio/peopleevents/pande07.html

July 25, 1956: Roberto Clemente Hits An Inside The park Walk Off Grand Slam

On July 25, 1956, in a 9-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pirates legend Roberto Clemente hit the only walk off inside-the-park grand slam in the history of Major League Baseball. The Pirates had held a 4-0 lead until the eighth, when the Cubs blew the doors open with a 7 run inning. The Buccos came back with a run in the bottom of the eighth, then the Cubs took that run right back in the top of the ninth. With the score 8-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth it looked like the Cubs just might get the W, until Turl Lown loaded the bases without even getting an out. That led to Jim Brosnan being called into the game to face the always dangerous Clemente. Brosnan threw only one pitch, Clemente lined it into left field and was off to the races.  As he came around third he flew through a stop sign and bolted toward home plate like a man on a mission. It was a mission he would accomplish, as he just beat out an Ernie Banks relay to the dish. As Clemente came sliding in he missed the plate then reached back and got a hand on it before a tag could be applied. The fans at Forbes Field went crazy as they had just witnessed something that not only had never been done before, it has not been done since. It goes to show you should always stay until the last out, you damn well know there were people walking to their cars when they heard the cheers of the walk off winner. While others have hit an inside the park walk off homer, not one of them has been of the grand slam variety. That would have been a great one to witness.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT195607250.shtml