September 30, 1984: The Rams Set a Record For Safeties In One Game

On September 30, 1984, at the Coliseum in L.A. the Los Angeles Rams set an NFL record by scoring three safeties in a 33-12 win over the New York Giants. Things weren't looking good for the Rams from the start, they fumbled the opening kickoff and it was picked up by Phil McConkey who took it in for a quick score, the Giants failed to convert the extra point which was just the beginning of a long list of problems they would experience in this one. One of the biggest highlights of the second quarter was an 83 yard punt return by Henry Ellard that gave the Rams a 14-6 advantage.  By the end of the second they were up 17-6 and there was no looking back. The three safeties all came in the third, the first one came on a blocked punt by Ivory Sully that went out of the back of the endzone, the second came when Jack Youngblood and Reggie Doss dragged down Phil Simms in the endzone, and the third came on another blocked punt in the endzone, this time it was Norwood Vann getting in on the action. The Giants added 6 more points to the board with a touchdown in the fourth but at that point they were beaten. The three safeties in a game is not only a record for a single team in one game it's the most recorded by both teams in a game. As I dug into this one I was a little surprised that it hasn't been broken.

Here's the box score: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198409300ram.htm

September 29, 1954: Willie Mays "The Catch"

On September 29, 1954, one of the most sensational defensive plays in the history of the game was made by New York Giants center fielder Willie Mays during Game One of the World Series at the Polo Grounds in New York. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth the Cleveland Indians were threatening to take the lead after starter Sal Maglie walked Larry Doby then gave up a single to Al Rosen. The Giants skipper Leo Durocher decided he was going to call on a lefty by the name of Don Liddle to pitch to left-handed hitter Vic Wertz then Mays made a play that will be remembered forever. On a 2-1 count Wertz took one of Liddle's pitch for a long ride deep to center, the 23 year old Mays, who was in his first full year in the majors was playing in shallow center and took off for the ball that looked like Superman would have had trouble catching. He tracked it down and made the over-the-shoulder grab on the warning track which was 420 feet away from home plate. After he made the grab Mays turned around and gunned the ball back to the infield, Doby might have been able to score if he would have tagged up in time, but since it looked as if there was no way he would make the play Doby was only able to tag up in time to get to third base while Rosen was still stuck at first. Wertz was the only batter Liddle faced that day, he joked that at least he got his man, I hope he bought Mays a nice steak for helping him get that man. Marv Grissom took over pitching duties for the Giants and walked a man before sitting down the next two to get the Giants out of the jam. With the crowd still buzzing in the tenth, Mays drew a one out walk, after Mays stole second the Cleveland starter Bob Lemon walked Hank Thompson  in hopes of an inning ending double play. Durocher called on Dusty Rhodes to pinch hit for Monte Irvin and the move won him the ballgame as Rhodes took pounced on the first pitch he saw and parked it over the wall in right. The crazy thing about Rhodes' homer was it barely cleared the wall which was a little more than 270 feet away from the dish. What would have been a sure home run in most ballparks was stolen away from the Indians in the eighth, then what looked like a lazy fly ball in the tenth beat them. It can be a crazy game, the Giants would go onto sweep their way to a Championship, it was their fifth title in the history of the franchise and their last in New York.

Watch Mays Make The Grab Here:http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=3218956

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1195409290.shtml

September 28, 1941: Ted Williams Tops .400

On September 28, 1941, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox refused to sit out of a doubleheader at Shibe Park in Philadelphia as he was sitting on a batting average of .39955 and his manager Joe Cronin offered to let him ride the pine so he could maintain the rounded up .400 average. The 23 year old Williams said "I don't want to be known as a .400 hitter with a lousy average of .39955." Williams came out and put on a show at the plate as he went 6 for 8 and brought that lousy average up to .406. In the first game "The Splendid Splinter" went 4 for 5 as his club battled their way to a 12-11 victory over the hometown A's. Three of those four hits were singles, the fourth was his 37th home run of the season which was good for the league lead. After the first game Williams had brought his average up to .403 but that didn't keep him from taking the field in an effort to preserve it, he wanted to add to the total and that's exactly what he did. He went 2 for 3 with a double in the 7-1 win that  brought his average up to .406 as he completed one of the most sensational seasons any batter has ever seen. In that '41 season, Williams played in 143 ballgames, he picked up 185 hits in 456 plate appearances, which included 151 walks, he knocked in 120 runs while scoring 135 of them himself. One of the most astounding stats besides hitting .400 of course is the fact that he only struck out 26 times during that campaign. Williams was the first person to hit .400 since Bill Terry of the New York Giants hit .401 in 1930 and it was the first time it had been done in the American League since Detroit's Harry Heilmann finished with a .403 average in 1923. Williams is the last man to accomplish the feat, it is a threshold that I doubt is crossed anytime soon or ever.

Here are the box scores from that day in Philly
Game 1: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHA/PHA194109281.shtml
Game 2: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHA/PHA194109282.shtml

September 27, 1940: Floyd Giebell Pitches The Tigers To a Pennant

On September 27, 1940, 30 year old Detroit rookie Floyd Giebell outdueled Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians in a 2-0 pennant clinching win for the Tigers. The Tigers club hadn't been on the radar at the beginning of the season, however, they battled to the end and found themselves in a heated pennant race with the Yankees and Indians. The day before the contest that decided the season the Yankees fell out of contention with a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia A's. With both the Indians and Tigers sitting on 89 wins apiece it all came down to the one game, surprisingly Detroit's manager Del Baker decided to start Giebell rather than aces Schoolboy Rowe or Bobo Newsom. The choice to pitch Giebell paid off as he scattered 6 hits in the unlikely victory over the ace of the Indians. Feller allowed just three hits with one of them being a fluke double by Hank Greenberg that was lost in the sun by Indians center fielder Roy Weatherly. The hit that hurt the most came off the bat of Detroit's Rudy York in the fourth, with two out, Charlie Gehringer received a free pass before York came to the dish and hit a towering two run home run that would be all that Giebell needed to pitch the Tigers to the A.L. Pennant. Giebell had spent most of his season with a minor league club before he found himself on the major league roster. He had recorded one win before this all important game with a hostile crowd in Cleveland. Before the game even began the crowd was throwing fruits, vegetables, and eggs at the Tigers players. After the game began the hostility continued, one fan dropped a fruit basket from the upper deck and hit catcher Birdie Tebetts in the head knocking him out cold, the way it was reported in the paper the next day the catcher was not seriously injured by the falling fruit. The Chief umpire Bill Summers had to warn the crowd that if it continued that every flyball any Cleveland player hit in the air would be called out if the visitors were interfered with. The hostile crowd made Giebell's victory that much more impressive, he rarely went to his fastball as he worked the corners to keep hitters off balance. Four times the Indians put two men on in an inning but Giebell pitched like a pro and kept them from doing damage as he pitched his team to a pennant. It was the highlight of Giebell's career, it was just his second of three major league victories and an important victory it was. The Tigers would fall to Reds in 7 games in the World Series. Giebell wasn't allowed to pitch in the series because he only appeared in two games during the regular season. That second appearance in 1940 punched a ticket to the Fall Classic.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE194009270.shtml

September 26, 1973: Wilt Heads To The San Diego Conquistadors

On September 26, 1973, Wilt Chamberlain signed a 3 year $600,000 deal with the San Diego Conquistadors to become a player/coach of the ABA club. This marked the end of his storied NBA career and the beginning of a legal battle for the former superstar. Chamberlain's former team the Los Angeles Lakers refused to let him play as they still had an option on his contract. The team had no issues with him coaching but promised a legal fight if he were to play. The Lakers won the battle that followed and Chamberlain wasn't able to play for the Conquistadors, instead he took on coaching duties. Chamberlain's run as a coach was nowhere near as legendary as his run as a player. He left most of the coaching duties to his assistant Stan Albeck as the team posted a 37-47 record in the '73-'74 season then lost in the Division Semi-Finals to the Utah Stars. That one season proved to be the only season Chamberlain would spend with the Conquistadors, coaching just wasn't for him. He officially retired following that one campaign in San Diego.

September 25, 1986: Mike Scott Clinches a Division Title With a No-No

On September 25, 1986, Astros hurler Mike Scott pulled off s double dose of history when he no-hit the San Francisco Giants in a 2-0 win in front of more than 32,000 at the Astrodome in Houston. Scott's no-no also clinched the National League West Title for the Astros. It was the first time in the history of the game that a no-hitter had been tossed in a clincher. The 31 year old righty had a filthy splitter working for him which ironically he learned from the manager of the Giants, Roger Craig. The Giants skipper realized by the fourth or fifth inning that there was a very real possibility that Scott was going to achieve the no-hitter and he called it one of the most dominating performances he had ever seen. Scott needed just 102 pitches to complete the no-hitter. He began the game by hitting Dan Gladden then made quick work out of the next three men he faced. The second inning started with a walk of Chili Davis then Scott retired the next 19 men in a row before giving up a eighth inning walk to Phil Ouellette. The final out of the ballgame was a soft grounder off the bat of Will Clark that completed the no-no. The dominant performance by Scott only had three balls make it out of the infield as he struck out 13 men on his way to putting himself in the history books. The victory moved Scott to 18-10 and locked down a Cy Young award for the hurler who finished that season with 306 K's. When interviewed after the game Scott said "I'm numb, I'm tired, but this is fantastic," he went onto say "Right now, I hope I don't fall down and pass out." The crowd in the Astrodome was so electrified by the historic performance that they sat in the stands for more than a half hour after the game ended chanting "We want Scott!!!" Finally the pitcher appeared, to the delight of the crowd his teammates carried him onto the field as they cheered on the man who turned in one of the best performances in the history of a clincher. The Astros went on to meet the New York Mets in the NLCS. Despite two outstanding performances by Scott in that series they ended up losing in 6 games to the team that would go onto win the World Series. While the season didn't have the storybook ending that Scott and his teammates would have hoped for it was a season that had many great moments including a no-no that clinched them a division title.

This a great video about Scott's No-No: http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=3235120

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU198609250.shtml

September 24, 1988: Jackie Joyner-Kersee Takes Home The Gold

On September 24, 1988, Jackie Joyner-Kersee battled through a knee injury and won the gold medal in the seven pronged heptathlon event at the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea. On the first day of the event Joyner-Kersee opened up a big lead despite injuring her knee in the second event of the day. She still managed personal bests in the 100 meter and the shot put before seeking therapy for the injured knee. Like all great athletes she put the pain aside and performed admirably. With her best event on tap the long jump she had to compensate for the injured knee by pushing off on her right foot, normally it would have been her left. The only way you would know she was injured was if you were told, she pulled off a record setting 23 feet 10 and 1/4 inches in the long jump and was on track to win the gold. The knee did hamper her in the javelin throw but she finished strong with another personal best in the 800 meters to win the gold medal. The East St. Louis native's final score for the heptathlon was a record 7,291 points, that record still stands today. Joyner-Kersee was arguably the best woman athlete of her time, she won a total of four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in four trips to the Olympic Games.

You can watch a short video about the event here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z-QfDiV2XA