August 7, 1956: Ted Williams Fined For Spitting

On August 7, 1956, after being booed for dropping a flyball in the 11th inning of a game against the Yankees in Boston, Ted Williams made a spectacular play to end the inning then ran in and spit toward the crowd and the press box at Fenway. More boos rang out after Williams reacted to the crowd's displeasure for his misplay in the outfield. Williams would end up getting the game winning rbi with a bases loaded walk on the bottom of the 11th but that didn't stop the team owner Tom Yawkey from letting him know that his actions were unacceptable. Yawkey heard the incident on the radio and put a call into the team's GM Joe Cronin and told him to fine the slugger $5,000 which would be the equivalent of more than $40,000 by today's standards. The ever defiant Williams made no apologies for the incident, he paid the fine and would say "I'm not sorry for what I did. I was right and I would spit again at the same fans that booed me today. Nobody's going to stop me from spitting." Williams never did acclimate real well when it came to dealing with fans and media, he had several run ins with both parties throughout his career. It was something that the fans in Boston just had to accept as Williams was one of the best hitters to ever swing a bat.

August 6, 1926: Gertude Ederle Becomes The First Woman To Swim Across The English Channel

On August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. The 19 year old New York native was more than just the first woman to accomplish the feat, she did it faster than any man that came before her, as she completed the swim in 14 hours and 31 minutes. The previous record was held by an Italian swimmer by the name of Sebastian Tirrabocchi who had swam from France to England in 16 hours and 23 minutes, making Ederle's swim that much more impressive. Ederle had a tug boat with some family as well as her trainers aboard following her as she swam her way into the history books. It took sheer determination for here to complete her journey, several times throughout her trainer wanted her to come out but her father and sister encouraged her to keep going. Thousands gathered on the shore in Kingstown, England as the young American girl made it after more than 14 hours of fighting the sea, it took everything she had to complete the historic swim. Hundreds of people gathered around her as she walked ashore she was met by an immigration officer who asked for her passport before she was able to even hug her father as she had just made history. Only 5 men had swam the channel before Ederle completed the historic swim, her record stood until 1950 when Florence Chadwick swam the channel in  13 hours and 20 minutes. The record has been broken many times since then, but nothing will ever change the fact that Trudy was the first woman to complete the feat. Ederle was treated like a true American hero when she arrived back in the States, more than two million people lined the streets of New York as they threw her a ticker tape parade to celebrate the historic swim.

This story appeared in the New York Times after Ederle's Swim:  http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/08.06.html

August 5, 1973: Niekro's No No

On August 5, 1973, at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, Phil Niekro pitched the first no hitter for the Braves organization since the team moved to Atlanta.The knuckleballer had it working that night and so did his offense as they scored 9 runs against the Padres, while Niekro baffled batter after batter. Niekro fanned 4 men and walked 3 while two more reached on throwing errors by his teammates. The bid for a perfecto was broken up way early with a second inning walk but that didn't stop the Braves hurler from thinking about the possibility of a no no. He didn't think his chances were good since there hadn't been one for the club since the team moved, especially with the fact that he was in a hitter friendly park that the ball was flying out of on a  pretty consistent basis. On this day Niekro not only kept it in the park he kept the Padres from recording a hit and made history in Atlanta. It was the first no hitter for the franchise since Warren Spahn accomplished the feat with the Milwaukee Braves. Since that day the Braves have picked up a combined no no in 1991, then in 1994 Kent Mercker accomplished the feats against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Mercker also started the '91 combined no no.  Niekro spent 21 years in a Braves uniform, 268 of his 318 wins came with that uniform on. The 5 time All Star had his # 35 retired by the organization in 1984, then in 1997 he found his way into baseball immortality when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL197308050.shtml

August 4, 1982: Joel Youngblood... Two Hits, Two Teams, One Day

On August 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood became the first and only player in the history of Major League Baseball to pick up a hit for two teams in two different cities one day. Youngblood started the day as a member of the New York Mets, the club was in Chicago to take on the Cubs and Youngblood was batting 3rd in the lineup. In his second at bat of the game he knocked in two runs with a single off of  Ferguson Jenkins, before being replaced by Mookie Wilson after the third inning ended. The Mets skipper George Hamberger told Youngblood he was being shipped to the Montreal Expos and had to jump on a plane headed for Philadelphia where his new club was taking on the Phillies. The Mets did go onto win 7-4 with a little help from the newest Expo. It didn't take long for Youngblood  to make his presence known with his new team, he was called into the game in the seventh inning and picked up a single off of Steve Carleton. The Expos ended up losing 5-4, however, Youngblood's single was a history making moment. The fact that he picked up both hits off of two future Hall of Famers makes it just a bit more remarkable. Youngblood was a .265 career hitter who bounced around a bit throughout his 14 years in the big leagues. While his career did not end in Cooperstown he will always have the distinction of picking up a hit for two teams in two different cities in one day. Definitely a pretty interesting day in the life of a ballplayer.

Here's the box score for Youngblood's game with the Mets: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN198208040.shtml

Here's the box score from his game with the Expos: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI198208040.shtml

August 3, 1948, Satchel Paige Makes His First Major League Start

On August 3, 1948, more than 70,000 fans in Cleveland witnessed Satchel Paige make his first major league start  as his Indians took on the Washington Senators. The 42 year old Paige gave up two runs in the first then settled down and gave the Indians seven strong innings while striking out 6 Senators. When Paige left the game the Indians held a 4-2 lead and would end up holding onto win it 5-3 giving the Negro League legend his second major league win. Paige became the oldest man to ever make his big league debut on the 9th of July then on the 15th of July he picked up his first major league win in relief. Paige pitched several games in relief before he finally got a start, the start came with a lot on the line as the Indians were just one game back in the race and Paige did not disappoint as he helped lead the team to victory. Paige finished the '48 season with a 6-1 record, each of those wins were crucial as the Indians ended the season tied with the Boston Red Sox atop the American League. The Indians knocked off the Sox in one game playoff and would take on the Boston Braves in the Fall Classic. The Indians took down the Braves in six games. When Paige made an appearance in Game 5 he became the first African American to take the mound in the Fall Classic. He only pitched two thirds of an inning in the series but there is a good chance they wouldn't have been there without his contributions. Paige pitched for the Indians for two seasons before spending 3 seasons with the St. Louis Browns. He did return to the hill in 1965 as a member of the Kansas City A's, the 59 year old Paige pitched 3 innings and gave up one hit in the lone appearance. To this day he is the oldest to make his debut and the oldest player to play in Major League Baseball. While Paige's record in the majors was just 28-31, he had made his true mark in the sport in the Negro Leagues, with 5 All Star appearances and a Negro League World Series Title in 1942. In 1971, Paige became the first African American to be inducted into The Baseball Hall of Fame, it was well deserved for a man that gave his life to the sport. The Negro League stats aren't readily available which makes it hard to say what his exact numbers were before he reached the majors. In 1961, Paige estimated he had taken the mound 2,500 times, won 2,000 games and had thrown more than a 100 no hitters. There is one thing that we can say without a doubt, he was a legend in his time and his legend still lives on today.

Here's the box score from Satch's first start in the majors: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE194808030.shtml

August 2, 1979: The Death of Thurman Munson

On August 2, 1979, Thurman Munson lost his life after crashing his plane at the Akron-Canton Airport in Green, Ohio. The 32 year old Yankees Captain had taken flying lessons over the last two years and was practicing landing in a Cessna he had recently purchased, in his third attempt at landing Munson's plane clipped some trees just short of the runway and crashed 870 feet short of the runway. The plane burst into flames upon impact, the two passengers Munson had on board were able to escape the fiery wreckage but couldn't get close enough to the plane to try and save Munson's life due to the intense heat. Munson broke his neck during the crash and would have most likely been quadriplegic if he would have survived. At the time of the accident The Yankees catcher was a 10 year veteran who had a .292 career average, he had topped the .300 mark 5 times.  He had taken home American League Rookie of the Year honors in 1970 and the league MVP award in 1976. The 7 time All Star and 3 time Gold Glover had helped lead the Yankees to three American League Pennants and two World Series championships. Following his death George Steinbrenner retired his #15 immediately. In September of 1980 Munson joined the rest of the Yankees immortals with a plaque in Monument Park, these words are on that plaque; Our captain and leader has not left us today, tomorrow, or the next day... Our endeavors will reflect our admiration for him. Those same words composed by Steinbrenner had flashed in the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium the day after he lost his life. The game that followed the passing of Munson was against the Orioles in the Bronx, the team honored their fallen comrade by having all their starters stand at their respective positions while the catcher position remained vacant, following a prayer and a rendition of America The Beautiful the crowd of more than 50,000 gave a standing ovation that was eight minutes long, following the ovation the stadium announcer Bob Sheperd said "Thank you ladies and gentleman, thank you for your wonderful response."  The Yankees took the field without their captain and ended up losing to the Orioles which in the end just didn't matter as they had lost one of their own. While today is a sad anniversary of one of the greats losing his life, it is also a day to celebrate the life he lived. It was a great one.

This video tells the story quite well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xJDZ0dDilc

August 1, 1972: Colbert Hits 5 Bombs In a Doubleheader

On August 1, 1972, San Diego Padres first baseman Nate Colbert hit 5 home runs and drove in 13 during a 7 for 9 performance in a 9-0 and 11-7 doubleheader sweep of the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium. Only one man has equaled the five home runs in a doubleheader and that was the one and only Stan The Man Musial. A native St. Louisan, Colbert witnessed Stan's record setting day on May 2, 1954 when he was just an 8 year old little boy at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Colbert started the first game of the doubleheader with a 3 run blast in the first, he followed it up with a solo shot in the seventh as the Padres cruised to the 9-0 victory. After going 4 for 5 in the first game with 2 homers and 5 ribbies some might have thought it couldn't get much better in the second game but they were wrong. Colbert went 3 for 4 in the second game with 3 bombs and 8 ribbies. The first bomb came in the 2nd inning, it was a grand slam that opened up a 7-0 lead over the hometown Braves. Atlanta plated a run before Colbert struck again, this time it was a two run shot to open up a 9-1 lead. While Colbert was acting like a one man wrecking crew the Braves fought back and by the time the ninth rolled around they had closed the gap to 9-7, then the one man wrecking crew wrecked them one last time. With two outs in the top of the ninth he got a hold of his 5th home run of the day the two run bomb made history as it sailed over the wall as he had just matched his childhood hero's record of 5 homers in a doubleheader. Colbert's 13 ribbies and 22 total bases broke Stan's records that he had set 18 years earlier. When Colbert witnessed Stan's heroics he turned to his dad and said "That's what I want to do when I grow up" he was one kid that accomplished his dream.

Here's the box score for the first game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL197208011.shtml

Here'e the box score for the second game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL197208012.shtml