Cleveland Indians' Sandy Alomar Jr. Wins All-Star Game MVP

On July 8, 1997, the 68th annual Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star game was played.  

The game took place at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio and hometown hero, Cleveland Indians catcher, Sandy Alomar Jr., was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. 

Alomar Jr. is the only player to win an All-Star game MVP and have his brother win the All-Star game MVP the next year, as Roberto Alomar did in the 1998 All-Star game.

Sandy Alomar Jr. (left) taking a curtain call at the 1997 MLB All-Star Game.

The American League went on to win 1997 All-Star game by a score of 3-1, it was one of the lowest scoring games in All-Star game history.

Edgar Martinez of the Seattle Mariners opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning.  The game remained 1-0 until the seventh inning, when Javy Lopez of the Atlanta Braves tied it with a solo shot of his own.  

However, in the bottom half of the inning Sandy Alomar Jr. would hit the game winning home run, a two-run shot off San Francisco Giants pitcher Shawn Estes.

Sandy Alomar Jr. became the first player to be named All-Star Game MVP while playing in his home stadium. MLB CEO Paul Beeston awarded Alomar with the trophy, as the MLB commissioner position was vacant at the time.

Alomar Jr. put together a solid career in MLB playing 20 seasons, earning the 1990 AL Rookie of the Year and also earning the 1990 American League Gold Glove for catchers, and being selected to six All-Star games between 1990 and 1998. He finished his career with a .274 batting average, 112 home runs and 588 RBI’s.

In 2008, Alomar Jr. began his coaching career starting with the New York Mets acting as the catching instructor. He filled that role in 2008 and 2009. After the 2009 season Manny Acta the Indians manager hired Alomar Jr. to be the teams first base coach. He filled that role during the 2010 and 2011 season. After the completion of the 2011 season Alomar Jr. was promoted to being the Indians manager, a position he held for one year, but since he has taken over the duty as being the teams bench coach, the position he currently resides in.

 

Alomar Jr. was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in August of 2009.

Atlanta Braves' Tony Cloninger Hits Two Grand Slams

On July 3, 1966, in the Atlanta Braves 17-3 rout of the San Francisco Giants, Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams and collects nine RBI's at Candlestick Park. 

The Braves' pitcher is the first National league player to hit two home runs with the bases full in the same game.

Only 12 other players have hit two grand slams in one game, with four players doing it before Cloninger. 

Tony Lazzeri did it for the New York Yankees in 1936. Jim Tabor did it for the Boston Red Sox on July 4, 1939. Rudy York also did it for the Boston Red Sox, in 1946, and Jim Gentile did it for the Baltimore Orioles in 1961.

The following players completed the feat after Cloninger. In 1968 Jim Northup did it for the Detroit Tigers. Frank Robinson did it for the Baltimore Orioles in 1970. In 1995 Robin Ventura did it while a member of the Chicago White Sox. Later Ventura became the only player to hit a grand slam in each game of a doubleheader, while playing for the New York Mets in 1999.

Chris Hoiles did it as a member of the Baltimore Orioles in 1998. 
 
In 1999 Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams in one inning as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Tatis was also the first National League player to complete the feat since Cloninger. Tatis also holds the record for most RBIs in a single inning.

Also in 1999, Nomar Garciaparra did it as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Garciaparra was the only player on the list to hit two grand slams in one game, to be playing on the home team. He also hit another home run that day finishing the day with 10 RBIs.

Former Giants third baseman Bill Mueller did it in 2003 with the Boston Red Sox and in 2009 Josh Willingham did it as a member of the Washington Nationals.

Cleveland Indians Eddie Murray Joins 3,000 Hit Club

On June 30, 1995 Cleveland Indians first baseman and designated hitter Eddie Murray becomes the just the twentieth major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits in the MLB. 

Murray aka "The Crime Dog," ended his career as an eight time All-Star, including six consecutive selections from 1981-1986. He won all three of his Gold Gloves consecutively from 1982-1984 and won three Silver Slugger awards in 1983, 1984 and 1990.

Murray was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1977 and was part of the Baltimore Orioles team that won the 1983 World Series.

Murray’s career also saw playing time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and Anaheim Angels to go along with his time with the Mets and Orioles.

Murray would finish his career with a .287 batting average, 3,255 hits, 504 home runs, 1,917 RBIs and 1,627 runs scored. He is one of only four players to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. The other three are Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as well as another famous Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro.

His 504 home runs are the most of a player who never hit more than 33 home runs in a season, the second most by a switch hitter to that only of New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle, who hit 536 in his career. They also rank Murray twenty-fifth in all-time home runs.

At the time of his retirement he was tied with Chili Davis for the most games in which he hit a home run from both sides of the plate, 11. In 2011 New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeria broke the record with 12.

A record not shown on the stat book but still a valuable one is that Murray is the record holder for sacrifice flies with 128. You have to drive in the runs at any cost, and Murray got the job done.

The Baltimore Orioles retired Murray’s jersey number 33 in 1998.

In 1999, Murray ranked Number 77 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Murray was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003 with 85.3 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he appeared.

After retirement Murray served as the hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians from 2002 to 2005.

On June 14, 2007, Murray was fired as hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, after just months on the job.

In 2012 a Bronze statue of Eddie Murray's left handed hitting stance unveiled at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Watch the video below of Murray getting hit 3,000:

Cal Ripken Jr. Plays 1,000th Consecutive Game

On June 25, 1988 Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles great, Cal Ripken Jr. plays consecutively for 1,000 games. He would go on to play a total of 2,131 consecutive games breaking the record previously held by Lou Gehrig, in 1995 and in 1998 he would see his consecutive game streak end at 2.632.

To this day Ripken Jr. is still holds the most games played consecutively.

 

Ripken Jr. giving a curtain call farewell to his fans at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Ripken Jr. finished his career with a .276 batting average, 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, 1,078 extra base hits, 603 doubles, 1,129 walks 1,647 runs and 1,695 RBIs in 3,001 games played. All of which are Baltimore Orioles records.

Ripken Jr. was the 1982 American League Rookie of the Year, and was a 19-time All-Star; making the All-Star team in every season he played except for his Rookie campaign. He was the All-Star Game MVP twice in 1991 and 2001, and is still the All-time leader in MLB All-Star fan balloting with 36,123,483 votes. He has the most starts at shortstop for the American League in an All-Star game with 15, and 17 in total with two at third base.

He won the World Series once with the Orioles in 1983, was a two-time Gold Glove winner in 1991 and 1992. He was an eight-time Silver Slugger award, including four straight from 1983-1986. He was a two time American League MVP in 1983 and 1991. Ripken was the 1991 Home Run Derby winner and in 1992 he received the Roberto Clemente and Lou Gehrig Awards.

In 1999 Ripken Jr. was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team. That same yea he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Ripken Jr. had his iconic number eight Baltimore Orioles jersey retired in 2001, that same year he was ranked the third greatest shortstop all-time in The New Bill James Historical Abstract.

He was elected into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with 98.53 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he appeared. The third highest for a player ever, and the highest ever for a position player.

Oakland Athletics Retire Reggie Jackson's Jersey

On May 22, 2004, the Oakland Athletics retire Reggie Jackson's jersey No. 9 honoring the slugger who played his first nine Hall of Fame seasons with the A's helping the team club capture three-consecutive World Series (1972-74).

The former Athletics' right fielder, who had his number 44 retired by the Yankees in 1993, becomes the eighth player to have his number retired by two or more teams.

Jackson would start and finish his career with the Athletics, but played for the Orioles (1976), Yankees (1977-81), and California Angels (1982-1986), before returning to the Athletics in 1987 to retire.

Jackson would finish his career with 14 All-Star appearances, six on the Athletics, five World Series Championships, three with the Athletics, two silver slugger awards, one AL MVP in 1973 with the Athletics, two World Series MVP Awards, one in 1973 with the Athletics, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977.

Jackson would be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he was inducted into Cooperstown in 1993 with 93.6 percent of the votes.

Rangers' Rafael Palmeiro Records Hit 2,000

On May 2, 1999, Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro gets his 2,000 hit of his career. He would end his career with 3,020 hits.

Palmeiro getting his 2,000th MLB hit.

Palmeiro would finish his career with two marks, which used to be an automatic bid into Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame; he hit over 500 home runs, finishing his career with 569 and marked over 3,000 hits.

On top of that he had 1,835 RBI’s and a career batting average of .288 going along with two Silver Slugger Awards in 1998 and 1999, three Gold Glove Awards in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was a four-time All-Star selection in 1988, 1991, 1998 and 1999.

Palmeiro was inducted into the Mississippi State University Hall of Fame on October 11, 2008. 

In 2009, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Despite his qualifications to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Palmeiro was in the middle of the Mitchell Investigation that put baseball at the forefront of steroid use in the last 1990s and early 2000s. During the congressional hearings Palmeiro lied in court and said he did not do steroids, something he later admitted to doing.

With that Palmeiro’s numbers are now tainted and he will likely not be elected into the Hall of Fame because of the controversy surrounding his name and steroid use.

 

Palmeiro as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Palmeiro became eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. He received 64 votes, or 11.0 percent of total ballots cast; the threshold for entry is 75 percent.

According to Barry M. Bloom on Major League Baseball's official website: "Palmeiro should have been a sure-fire first-ballot inductee, as a member of the 500-homer, 3,000-hit club, but many believe because he was suspended in 2005 after testing positive for steroid use, that was the reason why he only 11 percent of the vote."

Yankees' Lou Gehrig Game Streak Ends

On May 2, 1939, that Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak ended.  The streak was halted at 2,130 after Gehrig sat out a game against the Detroit Tigers, which the Yankees would go on to win by a score of 22-2.

Yankees Captain Lou Gehrig giving his famous speech after he retired from baseball.

Gehrig’s consecutive games streak would be one of his greatest achievements and perhaps the most notable highlight of his career.  He became known for his durability and perseverance, as his streak saw him play through several injuries.  For example, on July 13, 1934, Gehrig suffered a “lumbago attack” and had to be assisted off the field.  The following day he was listed at shortstop and batted in the leadoff position.  Following his first at bat of the game, he was replaced and given the rest of the game off to heal his aching back.

Gehrig’s record would stand until September 6, 1995, when Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles would play in his 2,131 consecutive games.  When Gehrig first established his record of 2,130 consecutive games, many thought it would never be broken.  Despite that not being the case, it did stand for a remarkable 56 years.

Gehrig goes down as one of the greatest players to ever don the Yankee’s pin-stripes and the nickname “Iron Horse” for the consecutive games played streak had his career cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder now commonly known in the United States and Canada as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Despite the debilitating disease Gehrig finished his career with a .340 batting average, with 493 home runs, 2,721 hits and 1,995 RBIs. He was a seven-time All-Star, a six-time World Series Champion with the Yankees. He also won two MVP awards in 1927 and 1936. He was the Yankees captain from 1935 to 1938 and the Yankees retired his no. 4 jersey on July 4, 1939. He became the first baseball player to have his uniform number retired (January 6, 1940); his July 4, 1939, fans voted farewell speech as the fifth-greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002.

Gehrig won a triple crown in 1934 batting .363 with 49 home runs and 165 RBIs, but did not win the MVP award that year. He became the only player in MLB history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons as he did so in 1927, 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936.

With St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial, he is only one of two players with at least 500 doubles, 150 triples and 450 home runs in his career. He is also only one of four players with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Musial to end career with a minimum .330 batting average with 450 home runs and 1,800 RBIs. He is also only one of two players to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season three separate times.

Gehrig was named a member of the MLB All-Century team in 1999, MLB All-Time team in 1997 and was inducted into Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 through a special election.

Gehrig was also the first athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties

Ubaldo Jimenez Throws First No-Hitter In Colorado Rockies History

On April 17, 2010, Colorado Rockies' right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez pitches the first no-hitter in the 18-year history of the Colorado franchise.

Former Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, still the only Rockies pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

The 4-0 historic victory over Atlanta at Turner Field was saved in the seventh inning with a spectacular catch by center fielder Dexter Fowler.

Jimenez would walk six batters in the game but also strike out seven, throwing a career-high 128 pitches, 72 for strikes.

Jimenez would go on to win the National League Pitcher of the Month for April, becoming the second pitcher in Rockies history to win a Pitcher of the Month award.

Jimenez became only the second pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter and notch five wins in the month of April.

Orioles Sweep Dodgers

On Oct. 9, 1966, the Baltimore Orioles win the World Series as they sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to none. 

The Orioles pitchers threw 33 consecutive scoreless innings, which became a World Series record. The record spanned from the fourth inning in Game 1 through the completion Game 4.

The Baltimore Orioles pitching staff only allowed just two earned runs and finished with a team ERA of 0.50. The two runs scored by the Dodgers in the series were scored in innings two and three of Game 1.

The Orioles became the first non-Yankee American League team to win the World Series since the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The Orioles also became the last of the original eight American League teams to win a World Series at all. 

The Orioles had played in the Fall Classic as the St. Louis Browns in the 1944 World Series, in which they were also the last of the original eight AL teams to participate in a World Series.

Frank Robinson became the first non-pitcher from a winning World Series team to win the World Series MVP trophy.

Bobby Richardson had won the World Series MVP for the Series-losing New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series.

Since their first World Series title in 1966 the Baltimore Orioles have won two more World Series titles, in 1970 and 1983 while going to the World Series five more times including three straight appearances from 1969-1971.

Jackson Hits Home Run 500

On Sept. 17, 1984 California Angels slugger and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson becomes just the thirteenth player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 home runs.

Jackson joined Babe Ruth, Jimmy Foxx, Mel Ott, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantles, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Willie McCovey in the 500 home run club.

Since Jackson hit career home 500, the club has grown in size with Mike Schmidt, Eddie Murray, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield joining the club.

Jackson’s career included several other special moments including 563 regular season long balls, five World Series Championships, three with the Oakland Athletics including three consecutive from 1972-1974 and two with the Yankees in 1977 and 1978. Jackson was named the 1973 American League MVP, and in 1977 he earned the Babe Ruth award, for the most home runs hit in all of baseball. He also earned two Silver Slugger awards in 1980 and 1982. As well he was a 14-time All-Star in his 21-year career.

Jackson would finish his career with a .262 batting average, 2,584 hits and 1,702 RBI’s to go along with his 563 career home runs.

In 1993 Jackson was voted into Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame with 93.6 percent of the vote. It was the first time he appeared on the ballot. The Oakland Athletics have retired his no. 9 jersey and the Yankees his no. 44 jersey.