It’s almost summer, and that means the action was heating up during the dates June 14-20, when amazing pitching feats and trade deadline deals dominated the news.
The Hitherto Useless Column
June 14, 1887: This is another instance where your correspondent recalls a game of no significance whatsoever but finds himself amused by what passed for sports reporting in baseball’s infancy. On this day, the Chicago White Stockings defeated the Indianapolis Hoosiers, 19-1. In his four-sentence report, the uncredited reporter for the unnamed wire service chose to spend two sentences alleging that Indianapolis got cheated out of a run by the umpire and commenting on scorecard design: “Indianapolis should have had two runs, as [Jack] Glasscock made a safe hit in the first inning, and had he been given it would have scored [a run], but Pierce called it foul, and afterwards the crack shortstop was put out. [Hank] Morrison was put in to pitch for the visitors and was not only hit freely, but his delivery was so slow the White Stockings ran bases as they pleased and the hitherto utterly useless stolen-base column in the score was for once put to some use.” The White Stockings stole 13 bases during this game. In those days, the home team had the choice of batting first or second. If the line score is accurate, Chicago elected to bat first, but waived its turn to bat in the top of the ninth inning.
Key Acquisitions
June 14, 1952: The Boston Braves purchased Henry Aaron, an 18-year-old, cross-hand hitting shortstop from the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. The purchase price was $10,000, or a fraction over $4.54 for every run he drove in as a Milwaukee/Atlanta Brave.
June 15, 1951: The Brooklyn Dodgers won three National League pennants during the 1940s. They were one left fielder short of becoming a 1950s dynasty. They closed the left field revolving door by acquiring slugger Andy Pafko from the Chicago Cubs in an eight-player trade. Brooklyn gave up Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Gene Hermanski, and Eddie Miksis. In addition to Pafko, the Cubs surrendered Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker. The United Press described the rest of the NL as “stunned” and said the deal “virtually hoisted the 1951 National League pennant to Ebbets Field’s flagpole.” St. Louis Cardinals president Fred Saigh said, “I think it is bad for the league.”
June 15, 1964: Speaking of trades that were “bad for the league,” the Cubs were involved in another one 13 years later. The St. Louis Cardinals obtained an important piece when they acquired Lou Brock along with Jack Spring and Paul Toth from the Cubs in exchange for Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens, and Bobby Shantz. With the Cubs desperate for starting pitching, Broglio was the key to the deal from their side. Chicago felt that Brock was expendable because they had rookie Billy Cowan to replace him in the outfield. It ended up being one of the most one-sided deals in MLB history. Broglio, who had several good seasons as a Cardinal, remained a Cub through 1966 and was 7-19 with a 5.40 ERA for them. Brock was a Cardinal until the end of the 1979 season, after which he retired with 3,023 hits (2,742 more than Cowan) and 938 stolen bases on the way to the Hall of Fame.
June 15, 1968: The New York Yankees sold pitcher Jim Bouton to the Seattle Pilots, a team that didn’t yet exist. Bouton was 39-20 across 1963 and 1964 for the Yankees, but encountered arm trouble and slipped to 9-24 since. The Pilots assigned Bouton to Triple-A Seattle for the remainder of the 1968 season. Bouton joined the Pilots when they began play in 1969. At the time, they had no inkling that they had a diarist/author on their hands who would forever immortalize the Pilots’ only season in Ball Four, while exposing the game’s underbelly.
June 15, 1983: An hour before the trade deadline was set to expire, the Cardinals traded first baseman Keith Hernandez to the New York Mets in exchange for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez told the Associated Press, “I wasn’t shocked that I was traded. I was shocked that I was traded to the Mets.” St. Louis called up Andy Van Slyke, who was hitting .368 at Triple-A Louisville, to take Hernandez’s place.
Amazing Pitching Feats
June 14, 1965: It wasn’t quite as tragic as Harvey Haddix’s almost-perfect game, but almost. At Crosley Field, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jim Maloney no-hit the Mets for 10 innings, allowing just one baserunner via a second-inning walk. However, Mets pitchers Frank Lary and Larry Bearnarth kept the Reds off the scoreboard as well. In the fateful 11th, Mets right fielder Johnny Lewis led off with a home run to deep center field. Maloney lost the game, 1-0, despite pitching an 11-inning two-hitter and tying an NL record by striking out 18 batters. “I never saw a guy throw harder than Maloney,” Lewis told United Press International. “I had to wear a golf glove and a sponge inside my catcher’s mitt to protect my hand,” said Reds backstop Johnny Edwards.
June 15, 1938: It’s not often that a regular-season game makes front-page headlines in newspapers all over the country, but that’s what happened when 23-year-old left-hander Johnny Vander Meer of the Reds pitched his second no-hitter in succession. Four days earlier, he no-hit the Boston Bees at Crosley Field, with the final score being 3-0. This time, he no-hit the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Although this victory was by a more comfortable 6-0 score, it was more difficult for Vander Meer because he walked eight batters. In the ninth, he walked the bases loaded after one out. His manager, Bill McKechnie, came to the mound to speak with him as the crowd chanted, “Don’t take him out!” McKechnie left him in the game, and Vander Meer got Ernie Koy to hit into a force at home and Leo Durocher to fly out to center field to end it. It’s a record unlikely to be broken, as it would require a pitcher to throw three consecutive complete-game no-hitters. Can you imagine any of today’s starters even tossing three straight complete games? Me neither.
On this date in 1938, Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds threw the second of back-to-back no-hitters.
He remains the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter in consecutive starts. pic.twitter.com/dvAxR0FvgJ
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) June 15, 2026
June 17, 1880: John Ward of the Providence Grays tossed the second perfect game in major league history when he beat the Buffalo Bisons, 5-0, at Messer Street Grounds. It came just five days after Lee Richmond threw the first perfect game in MLB history for the Worcester Ruby Legs, defeating the Cleveland Blues, 1-0, at the Agricultural County Fairgrounds. Or did Richmond and Ward throw the second and third perfect games in MLB history? Pud Galvin pitched the first known professional perfect game on August 17, 1876. (The date is on his grave, which I’ve visited.) Pitching for the St. Louis Red Stockings, he beat the Cass Club of Detroit, 11-0. It’s not recognized as an official perfect game because the Red Stockings were unaffiliated in 1876. But the year before, they competed in the National Association and had many of the same players in 1876. The Cass Club was also considered a major-league-caliber team. It’s interesting to ponder whether Galvin should be considered the first. Oh – and the losing pitcher for the Bisons the day they were victims of Ward’s perfect game? None other than Galvin.
June 17, 1915: When Cubs pitcher Bert Humphries and his 0.59 ERA took the mound at West Side Grounds against Brooklyn, teammate Zip Zabel probably imagined he’d have the day off in the bullpen. But when a line drive off the bat of the Dodgers’ Zack Wheat “split” Humphries’ hand in the first inning, Zabel was pressed into service. Zabel battled his mound opponent, Jake Pfeffer, into the 19th inning. Zabel and the Cubs won, 4-3, with the winning run scoring on a throwing error.
Robbed by Jesse James
June 15, 1971: The entry Flyball: RF in Baseball Reference’s play-by-play account of the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros at the Astrodome doesn’t do justice to the catch. No film exists, but observers agreed that it was the greatest catch they ever saw. With the Pirates ahead, 1-0, in the eighth inning, slugger Bob Watson came to bat with a man on base and two outs. Watson was a right-handed-batting pull hitter, so naturally, right fielder Roberto Clemente shaded him toward right-center field. Watson hit Steve Blass’s pitch toward the right field foul line, destined to hit above the yellow line, which would have indicated a home run. As described by Phil Musick in his book, Reflections on Roberto, “Clemente sprinted for the corner and leaped. The ball’s flight to the yellow line was interrupted by the webbing of Clemente’s glove. Clemente’s face was interrupted by the wall. Bob Watson stood frozen at first base. . . staring into the corner with an expression that suggested he was having trouble accepting what he’d just witnessed.” The crowd of 16,307 applauded the rival superstar. Clemente emerged with a bruised left ankle, a swollen left elbow, and a bloody left knee. He remained in the game, which Pittsburgh won, 3-0. After the game, according to Musick, Watson said, “When you get held up by Jesse James, it’s not so bad.”
Near-Riot in Baltimore
June 16, 1887: In this contest between the St. Louis Browns and the Baltimore Orioles at Orioles Park, the game was tied at 8-8 in the ninth inning, and the crowd was growing ornery. The uncredited wire reporter blamed it on umpire Jack McQuaid, who gave “all close decisions against the home team,” but the reporters of that era were partisan fans more than they were journalists, so it’s hard to know what to figure. In any event, with one out in the top of the ninth, the Browns’ Curt Welch hit a one-out single. Welch attempted to swipe second. The catcher’s throw got there before Welch, so he ran out of baseline and knocked second baseman Bill Greenwood off his feet, jarring the ball loose. McQuaide called Greenwood safe. As Orioles manager Billy Barnie and several players argued the call, the crowd decided to get in on the act, too, and poured into the field. Police drove the crowd back, and to restore calm, Welch was arrested, and the managers mutually agreed to stop the game and declare it a tie.
The Village Idiot
June 15, 1976: The media called it the “Tuesday Night Massacre” when Oakland Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley sold Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees in deals that netted the A’s a reported $2.5 million. Along with a preseason trade of Ken Holtzman and Reggie Jackson to the Orioles, it virtually completed the dismantling of the three-time World Series champions. Finley cited “unjust contractual demands” as the reason for the deals. But hold on. . .
June 16, 1976: Egged on by the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ powerful owner Walter O’Malley and Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn placed a hold on the deals pending a hearing, under the premise that deals involving cash of that magnitude weren’t in “the best interests of baseball.” In a letter to the 24 major league clubs, Kuhn wrote, “[T]he three players involved will remain on the active list of the Oakland club, but may not appear in uniforms or participate in any games.” The defiant Finley famously said, “I think this is a very idiotic decision by Bowie Kuhn. He sounds more like the village idiot than the commissioner of baseball.” Kuhn officially voided the sales two days later.
“Vulgar and Vicious Language”
June 20, 1922: American League president Ban Johnson fined and suspended Yankees slugger Babe Ruth for three days because of his actions during a game in Cleveland the day before, when Ruth ran in from left field and argued with umpire Bill Dinneen over a close play at second base, leading to the Bambino’s ejection. Johnson told the AP, “My reports show that Ruth used vulgar and vicious language, calling umpire Dineen one of the vilest names known.” Ruth wasn’t finished. Ruth worked out with the Yankees before the game on June 20. He spotted Dineen and followed him to the Cleveland dugout and said, “The next time you put me out of the game, I’ll put you out for life even if it keeps me out for life.” When Dineen started for Ruth, Cleveland player/manager Tris Speaker and first baseman Stuffy McInnis intervened. Nothing to see here, folks, just a superstar threatening an umpire’s life.
Ahead of Ruth’s Pace
June 20, 1956: Mickey Mantle hit his 26th and 27th home runs of the season in Briggs Stadium as the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1, in their 60th game of the season. The home runs put Mantle 18 games ahead of Ruth’s record pace when he hit 60 home runs in 1927. That year, Ruth hit 17 home runs in September; thus, it wasn’t the first time a batter was ahead of where Ruth stood in 1927. However, Mantle also got to No. 27 faster than the two players who came closest to challenging Ruth’s record, Jimmie Foxx in 1932 and Hank Greenberg in 1938. Both finished those years with 58 home runs.
Patek Connects Three Times
June 20, 1980: Anybody with the God-given talent and strength of Mantle can have a multi-homer game. But what if you’re Freddie Patek, the five-foot-five, 148-pound shortstop of the California Angels who never hit more than six in a season? Patek hit three home runs at Fenway Park in the Angels’ 20-2 demolition of the Red Sox. “The whole thing is amazing to me, but it happens,” Patek told UPI.
Urinal Lotta Trouble Now, Billy!
June 14, 1983: After losing, 9-6, in Cleveland, and without another marshmallow salesman in the vicinity to sucker punch, Yankees manager Billy Martin took a bat and smashed a urinal in the visitors’ clubhouse, giving new meaning to the term “bathroom break.” Martin later phoned Cleveland president Gabe Paul, confessed, and said he’d pay for the urinal. Paul said he’d bill the Yankees. Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner had recently become unhappy about Martin’s behavior, birthing rumors that Martin would be fired. Among other things, Steinbrenner was displeased that a weak stream of 11 players showed up for a workout, which Martin skipped. Now this latest event had to have made Steinbrenner’s face flush. I’ll show myself out now.
