Time for another edition of This Week in Baseball History, this time covering the period August 2-8. Spending all day Monday refreshing various baseball news sites for trade deadline updates has fried my brain to the point where I can’t think of a clever introduction for this week, so let’s get right to the memories.
Another Grand Slam? Bank(s) on it!
August 2, 1955: Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks tied a major league record by hitting his fourth grand slam home run of the season. This time, he batted with the bases loaded in the fifth inning and crushed the second pitch he saw from Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Dick Littlefield deep into the left field bleachers at Wrigley Field. The Cubs scored six runs in the inning, aided by two Pirate errors, en route to an easy 12-4 win. It gave the young Banks, then 24 and in his second season, 32 home runs for the year. He seemed a cinch to beat former Boston Red Sox Vern Stephens’ record of 39 homers by a shortstop, which he accomplished in 1949. After the game, Banks told United Press International, “I was never a home run hitter. I’m just trying to meet the ball. And I’m not trying for any records, either.” He wasn’t doing too badly for somebody who wasn’t trying.
Thanks, Ron, but We’ve Changed Our Mind
August 2, 1968: The Washington Senators traded shortstop Ron Hansen to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for second baseman Tim Cullen. During spring training, the two were involved in a multi-player trade in which the White Sox sent Hansen and two players to Washington for Cullen and two players. This latest trade made Hansen and Cullen rare players who had been traded for one another twice in the same season. The trade came a day after Hansen hit a grand slam at Tiger Stadium to help the Senators defeat the Detroit Tigers, 9-3.
Farewells
August 2, 2022: Vin Scully, the long-time voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers – indeed, the voice of baseball – passed away at the age of 94. His 67 years with the Dodgers represent the longest any broadcaster spent with one team. Scully was at the microphone for three perfect games, 18 no-hitters, Henry Aaron’s 715th career home run (the Dodgers were the Atlanta Braves‘ opponent on that evening), Don Drysdale’s 58-inning scoreless streak in 1968, and Orel Hershiser’s 59-inning scoreless streak in 1988. He called the 1953 World Series when he was 25 years old, making him the youngest broadcaster ever to announce a Series game, and went to call 23 more World Series. The opportunity to call the 1953 Series came because Red Barber was embroiled in a dispute with Gillette, which sponsored the Series on the radio. Scully’s calls of Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6 of the 1986 Series and Kirk Gibson’s dramatic home run in Game 1 of the 1988 Series remain iconic.
August 3, 1923: The day after United States President Warren G. Harding’s sudden, late-night death from “a stroke of apoplexy,” Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, described as “supreme commissioner of the national pastime” by an overly melodramatic wire service reporter, canceled all major league games. National League president John A. Heydler called Harding “a great friend of baseball.” Harding is consistently ranked among the worst Presidents in US history, devoting all of his time to golf, poker, and his mistress, while his pals and appointees pillaged the treasury. Harding famously summed up his term as President thusly: “I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.” Major League Baseball honored him anyway.
Unique Trade Partners Again
August 3, 1960: Earlier in the year, the Cleveland ball club and the Tigers shocked the baseball world when Cleveland traded 1959 American League home run champion Rocky Colavito to Detroit for AL batting leader Harvey Kuenn. They were at it again on this date, when Cleveland swapped its manager, Joe Gordon, to the Tigers for their manager, Jimmy Dykes. It was the first time in major league history that two teams made a direct exchange of managers. Cleveland general manager Frank Lane told UPI, “We haven’t been getting results we should have. Neither has Detroit. Both clubs are having a heck of a time staying ahead of Washington.” Tigers owner Bill DeWitt, however, was the party who initiated the deal. There were rumblings that Lane was displeased with Gordon over his refusal to release center fielder Jim Piersall, whose constant battles with umpires that resulted in six ejections had become an unwanted distraction. Gordon felt that Piersall, who was hitting .291, was his best player. Meanwhile, Piersall vowed to change his ways after a discussion with AL president Joe Cronin.
“Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool. . .”
August 3, 2002: MLB fined Cincinnati Reds GM Jim Bowden for “insensitive and inappropriate remarks” he made two days earlier comparing a possible baseball strike to the 9/11 tragedy. According to the Associated Press, before the Reds’ game that day, Bowden said, “If players want to strike, they ought to just pick September 11, because that’s what it’s going to do to the game. I don’t think there’s going to be a work stoppage. I don’t think anybody’s that dumb. If they do walk out, make sure it’s September 11. Be symbolic. Let [MLB Players Association executive director] Donald Fehr drive the plane right into the building, if that’s what they want to do.” Bowden immediately apologized for those comments after the Reds’ 13-inning victory over the Dodgers that same evening. Today he co-hosts “Inside Pitch” on the MLB Radio Network and is a columnist for The Athletic. His bizarre trade proposals and untrue rumors keep baseball fans everywhere scratching their heads.
Pitching Feats
August 4, 1884: Pud Galvin of the Buffalo Bisons tossed the most lopsided no-hitter in baseball history when he beat the Detroit Wolverines, 18-0. The Detroit Free Press wasn’t overly impressed by Galvin’s accomplishment, writing, “It may not be much of a feat to shut out without a hit such a lot of weak batters as Detroit has managed to consolidate in four seasons, but whatever credit attaches thereto belongs to Galvin.” Indeed, the Wolverines would finish 28-84, dead last in the NL, and hit just .208 as a team.
August 4, 1945: One-legged left-handed pitcher Bert Shepard took the mound for Washington for his only major league appearance, giving up just one run in 5.1 innings of relief against the Red Sox at Griffith Stadium. Unfortunately, the game was too far gone by the time Shepard entered, as Boston already had 14 runs and went on to win,15-4. Shepard had enlisted in the Army in 1942, but by 1943, he was a flying cadet. His plane was shot down by German gunfire. He looked down and saw his right leg was nothing more than a bloody stump. The leg was amputated in a German hospital. Of his artificial leg, he told Walter Stewart of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “I don’t really think this leg is much of a handicap. Running doesn’t win or lose games for a pitcher.” Washington club president Clark Griffith signed him as a batting practice pitcher in 1945, but after he pitched well in a July exhibition game, he was added to the roster.
August 4, 1945 Bert Shepard pitches in relief for the Washington Senators against the Boston Red Sox. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 2 in his only MLB appearance.
He did it with an artificial leg due to his leg being amputed in World War 2 pic.twitter.com/vMe0goYttp— Cool Old Sports (@CoolOldSports) August 4, 2026
After his successful appearance, Shepard thought he had a good chance to pitch for the Senators in 1946. He made two spring training appearances, not allowing a run in six innings, but was cut. He was understanding when he reflected on it in 1986 for John B. Holway of Baseball Digest. “It’s hard for a manager to believe that his best chance is a guy with a leg off,” he said. “But I could run good, and I could field bunts good.”
August 6, 1952: St. Louis Browns manager Marty Marion had a strict rule: The day after a Browns loss, there would be a morning workout. “I’d much rather go fishing than take morning practice,” Browns pitcher and Negro League legend Satchel Paige told The Afro American. Thus, Paige, who was listed at 46 years old in the official records but may have been as old as 49, pitched a 12-inning shutout against the Tigers at Sportsman’s Park. Three days after pitching 1.2 innings of relief, Paige dueled Tigers pitchers Virgil Trucks for nine innings and Hal White for three more, until Browns right fielder Bob Nieman won the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th to win it, 1-0, for St. Louis. Along the way, Paige faced 44 batters, giving up just seven hits, six of which were singles, and two walks. After the game, according to the AP, owner Bill Veeck rushed into the Browns clubhouse and told Paige, “That’s worth a new suit of clothes, Satch, old boy. Get the best you can find in town.” Paige replied, “Yeah, I will, Burr Head [his nickname for Veeck], but I’m gonna put it off a day or two. I’m tired.”
Reluctantly, I Guess I Have to Write This Stuff
It’s a controversial subject, but as a purist, I’m disappointed that so many achievements in baseball during the late 1990s and 2000s have been tainted by suspicions of alleged use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs by certain players. But it’s my duty to write about them as a chronicler of baseball history, even if it means editing out such epochal moments as Dave Winfield accidentally killing a seagull with a throw (August 4, 1983) and Ty Cobb getting married and running off on his honeymoon without telling the Tigers (August 6, 1908). I suppose if I use the word “alleged” often enough, Pitcher List and yours truly can’t get into any trouble over the following four paragraphs. So, keep that in mind, folks; these are alleged PED users.
August 4, 2007: At Petco Park, controversial San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds hit career home run No. 755, tying him with Aaron on the all-time list. The big solo blast came off Padres righty Clay Hensley in the second inning, with the left-handed-hitting Bonds hitting a 382-foot drive to left-center field in the spacious ballpark. Bonds, who was under suspicion of alleged PED use, was booed when he took the field in the bottom of the inning. He walked in his other three plate appearances. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that the Padres won the game, 3-2, in 12 innings.
Meanwhile, on the same date, another suspected alleged PED user, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, age 32 at the time, became the youngest player in major league history to reach the 500 home run milestone with a homer down the left field line off of Kansas City Royals righty Kyle Davies at Yankee Stadium. The three-run shot jump-started New York to a wild 16-8 win. He told the AP afterward, “I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once.”
August 4, 2010: Exactly three years later, Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach the 600 home run mark, with his first-inning, two-run homer off right-hander Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays. The drive went deep over the center field wall at Yankee Stadium and into Monument Park. It was the eventual margin of victory in a 5-1 win. “A-Rod” had been trying for No. 600 since July 22, when he hit No. 599. “It was a relief just to put it past me,” he told Ronald Blum of the AP. “There’s no question I was pressing because I wanted to get it out of the way.”
It’s fair to point out that Bonds was never suspended for violation of MLB’s PED policy. Rodriguez received a 162-game suspension in 2014 for alleged involvement with Biogenesis, a charge the player has consistently denied. There. That should keep the legal department happy.
I’d Much Rather Write This Stuff
August 4, 1985: At age 39 in his final season, and with a possible strike looming, California Angels star Rod Carew recorded hit No. 3,000 for his career at Anaheim Stadium. Ironically, the hit came against the Minnesota Twins, the team with which he began his illustrious career, when the left-handed batter singled off lefty Frank Viola in the third inning. Afterward, Carew told the press, “It’s something I never thought I’d accomplish in my career. I’ve been around for 19 years. I guess [the hits] start to pile up.” He was the first to reach the milestone since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1979. Carew was now tied with Roberto Clemente for 15th place on the all-time hits list. Oh – and the Angels won, 6-5.
August 6, 1999: It was San Diego Padres all-time great Tony Gwynn’s turn to reach the 3,000-hit plateau, when he singled off Montreal Expos right-hander Dan Smith in the first inning at Stade Olympique. Just for good measure, the left-handed hitter hit three more singles in the game, which the Padres won, 12-10. Gwynn became the 21st player to achieve the feat. No NL player had done so since Lou Brock in 1979. Gwynn was chasing 3,000 hits at the same time as Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman Wade Boggs, who went 0-for-3 on this night and remained stuck at 2,997. After the game, Gwynn told Bernie Wilson of the AP that it was Boggs whom he tried to emulate early in his career. “He was the hitter I wanted to be like,” said Gwynn. “He became the hunted.”
The First Broadcast
August 5, 1921: When the Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field, 8-5, the otherwise unremarkable game made history as the first baseball game to be broadcast on the radio. Harold Arlin described the action for Pittsburgh radio station KDKA. Sadly, no recordings exist of this historic moment. Arlin, apparently a man for all seasons, was also the first sportscaster to announce a football game and a tennis match. His grandson, Steve Arlin, was a dentist who pitched in the major leagues from 1969 to 1974.
Some Deterrent!
August 7, 1901: Calling it “an offense that cannot be overlooked,” AL president Ban Johnson suspended Baltimore Orioles first baseman Jimmy Hart indefinitely for “assaulting” umpire Jack Haskell in the first inning of a 9-0 victory over the Boston Americans at Orioles Park two days earlier. Hart’s suspension was later reduced to 10 games. Meanwhile, that same day, undeterred by the disciplinary action against Hart, Milwaukee Brewers player-manager Hugh Duffy charged in from center field at Cleveland’s League Park to join a dispute over a call at home plate in the eighth inning. Of course, this was understandable, as the center fielder has a wonderful, unobstructed view of plays at home plate. During the argument, he slugged umpire Al Mannassau in the jaw with a hard right. Police were called to the field to break up the free-for-all. Cleveland won the game, 6-5, and Duffy eventually received a 10-game suspension of his own. Maybe these aren’t the two greatest stories I’ve ever told, but who wouldn’t love to go back in time and witness this era of baseball, dominated by rogues and ruffians as it was?
Premature Obituary
August 8, 1951: It was Mark Twain who, upon seeing a report of his death in an 1897 newspaper, wired the paper to say, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Jumping ahead to this day in 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers swept a day/night doubleheader at Ebbets Field against the rival New York Giants by scores of 7-2 and 7-6. The first game was a slugfest that saw Dodgers Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, and Carl Furillo blast home runs. Furillo and Snider also homered in the nightcap, but the hero was Billy Cox, whose RBI single in the bottom of the 10th won the game. The victories increased the Dodgers’ first-place lead in the NL to 11.5 over the Giants, who were in second place. After the second game, the Dodgers’ classy manager Chuck Dressen opened the door to the Giants’ clubhouse and led a few of his players in a chorus of “Roll out the barrel, the Giants is dead!” Dressen was only a slightly better manager than he was a lyricist or a prognosticator.
Fashion Statement
August 8, 1976: By this time, Veeck was the owner of the White Sox, and he was never short (pun intended) of gimmicks. For the first game of a doubleheader against the Royals at Comiskey Park, the White Sox unveiled a uniform that featured short pants and high white knee socks. For those interested in fashion, the shorts were navy blue and provided a nice contrast to the white jerseys with navy blue collars and lettering. The White Sox won that game, 5-2. The winning pitcher was burly lefty Terry Forster, whom his teammate Dave Hamilton said looked like a “Pilgrim going out to shoot a wild turkey” in the new duds. Postgame reviews by the White Sox players were positive, but one wonders whether they were merely towing the company line. Pat Kelly told UPI, “They were very comfortable and very ideal.” Donning more conventional pants for the nightcap, the White Sox were soundly defeated, 7-1. Said Chicago first baseman Jim Spencer, “I guess we should have stayed with the shorts.”
Ralph Garr in the White Sox shorts uniform, 1976. The shorts were worn as a marketing gimmick by owner Bill Veeck to increase attendance, provide better airflow for players, and emulate minor league styles. The team wore navy blue Bermuda shorts with knee-high socks during the… pic.twitter.com/zN15AJal5h
— Baseball In Pics (@baseballinpix) March 25, 2026
