Classic Baseball Broadcasts

September 28, 1920 - A grand jury indicts eight members of the Chicago White Sox on charges of fixing the1919 World Series in the "Black Sox Scandal." It is the black eye on the sport that would lead to the banning of eight players. Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson both confessed to accepting money from gamblers. Cicotte's second pitch of Game 1 of the 1919 World Series hit the Reds leadoff batter, which was the pre-arranged signal to the gamblers that the players had accepted the fix. Jackson and Cicotte would both recant their confessions after key evidence went missing from the Cook County courthouse. Years later, the missing confessions would reappear in the possession of Comiskey's lawyer.

September 28, 1941 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox goes 6 for 8 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics to finish the season with a .406 batting average. No player has batted .400 since.

September 28, 1974 - Nolan Ryan pitches his third of seven career no-hitters, striking out 15 batters and beating the Minnesota Twins, 4 - 0, at Anaheim Stadium. He also walks eight to run his season total to 202 bases on balls, joining Bob Feller in 1938 as the only pitcher to walk more than 200 in a season. Ryan will again top 200 in 1977.

September 28, 2007 The Boston Red Sox clinch the AL East title, bringing to an end a streak of 9 consecutive division titles by the New York Yankees, dating back to 1998. The Yankees will not miss the post season however, having clinched the American League Wild Card.

September 26, 1961 In New York's 159th game, Roger Maris rips a Jack Fisher fastball into the RF seats at Yankee Stadium for his 60th home run. New York beats Baltimore 3 - 2. There are fewer than 8,000 fans on hand to view this historic event. The legitimacy of the record would be a hot topic of debate since the American League had been expanded from 8 to10 teams and the number of games played was increased by 8.

September 26, 1998 Mark McGwire sends two balls the distance, collecting homers number 67 and 68 of the season. McGwire now stands alone as the single season home run king.. 48,212 fans would be on hand at Busch Stadium to witness McGwire's assault on history and the Cards lose 7 - 6 to Montreal.

September 26, 1971 Willie Mays hits his 646th and last home run as a member of the San Francisco Giants. It comes in the Giants' 12-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

September 26, 1955 - The Red Sox beat the Yankees 8-1 as Ted Williams goes 1-for-20. Williams finishes the season batting .356, well ahead of Al Kaline's .340, but does not have enough at bats to win the batting title due to the 71 times he walked. The same thing happened in 1954 when Williams was walked 136 times. A rule change would be made to recognize plate appearances, not times at bat.

September 26, 1981 - At the Astrodome, Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw five no-hitters, defeating the Dodgers, 5-0. Ryan had shared the record of four with Dodger great Sandy Koufax.

September 25, 1954 -- A crowd of 14,175 faithful Fenway fans pay tribute to retiring Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams who is playing his last game at home. The Splendid Splinter's retirement will only last until May when his divorce is finalized with his contract being excluded from the settlement. His true retirement from playing would come in 1960, which inspired an article by John Updike titled "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu". Updike accurately described the fans relationship with Williams when he said "The affair between Boston and Ted Williams has been no mere summer romance; it has been a marriage composed of spats, mutual disappointments, and toward the end, a mellowing hoard of shared memories." It was here that Updike referred to Fenway Park as "a lyric little bandbox of a ballpark".

September 25, 1965 -- At age 34, Willie Mays becomes the oldest player to slug 50 home runs in a season. The Giants center fielder was also the youngest to accomplish the feat hitting 51 homers in 1955.

September 25, 1968 - In Mickey Mantle's last appearance at Yankee Stadium, he slices a two-out first inning single off Cleveland's Luis Tiant, the only hit for the Yankees. Tiant tosses his 9th shutout of the year, tops in the American League, to win 3 - 0. El Tiante's ERA drops to 1.60; the previous low for an Indian pitcher was Stan Coveleski's 1.87 in 1917.

September 25, 1985 -- Rickey Henderson steals his 75th base of the season in the Yankees' 10 - 2 win over Detroit, breaking the club record of 74 set by Fritz Maisel in 1914.

September 24, 1998 Red Sox reliever Tom Gordon records his 42nd consecutive save establishing a major league record. Boston clinches the AL wild card spot behind a pair of homers and four runs scored by Nomar Garciaparra. Author Stephen King would later write a novel titled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, referring to his outstanding 1998 season with Boston and solidifying Gordon’s place as a New England folk hero.

September 24, 1931 Lefty Grove wins his 31st, beating the Red Sox 9 - 4, his 11th straight win over the Red Sox stretching back to May 26, 1930. Since July 25, 1930, Grove's record is 46 - 4, the best 50 decision streak in the century.

September 24, 1940 - George Caster of the Philadelphia Athletics allows six home runs in one game against the Boston Red Sox. One of these bombs came courtesy of Jimmie Foxx and it would be the 500th of his career.

September 24, 1979 Pete Rose singles in the Phillies' 7 - 2 loss to the Cardinals giving him 200 hits in a season for the 10th time. He breaks the major league record of nine formerly held by Ty Cobb.

September 24, 2002 Thanks to Jason's two home runs in the Yankees 6-0 whitewash of the Devil Rays, the Giambi brothers pass the DiMaggio boys for the highest single-season total for homers by two brothers with 60, 40 of which came off Jason’s bat. The DiMaggio’s went yard 59 times in 1937, 46 of them belonging to Joe.

September 22, 1968 - Cesar Tovar plays one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins, becoming only the second major leaguer in history to do it; Bert Campaneris of the Oakland Athletics was the first. He started the game on the mound, ironically facing Campaneris as the leadoff hitter. Scott Sheldon and Shane Halter later became the only other two men to accomplish this feat.

September22, 1911 - Cy Young, at age 44, beats the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 - 0, for his 511th and final major league victory.

September22, 1993:Pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers faces just three Seattle batters before hurting his right elbow. Ryan finishes his career with 324 wins, 5,714 strikeouts and seven no hitters.

September22, 1969 - Willie Mays hits the 600th home run of his career. The historic homer off Mike Corkins of the Padres proves to be the game-winner in a 4 - 2 Giants victory at San Diego Stadium.

September22, 1990 - Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs steals his 300th base in an 11 - 5 loss to the New York Mets, Joining Willie Mays as the only players in major league history with 300 home runs, 300 steals and 2,000 hits.

• September 21, 1958 At Fenway Park, the Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Senators, all by 2 - 0 shutouts.. Today's win, however, is marred when Ted Williams, after striking out looking with two aboard to end the third inning, flings his bat aside in a fit of anger. Unfortunately,the intended flip along the ground sails into the stands and striking, of all people, Boston GM Joe Cronin's 69-year-old housekeeper, Gladys Heffernan, in the head. "I didn't mean to throw the bat that way," explains the distraught Williams. "I started to flip it along the ground but the sticky stuff on my hands stuck to it and it left my hands on the fly instead. I was sick." Thankfully Heffernan was not badly hurt.
• September 21, 2001 A crowd of 41,235 at Shea Stadium witness the return of baseball to New York City for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11. Uplifting ceremonies before and during the game, which include singers Diana Ross, Marc Anthony and Liza Minnelli as well as bagpipers, pay tribute to victims of the tragedy.
• September 21, 1934 - The Dean Brothers shut out the Dodgers. After Dizzy Dean gives up just 3 hits in a 13 - 0 victory, allowing no hits until the 8th, Paul Dean wins a no hitter 3 - 0. Diz says: "If'n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I'd of throwed one, too."
• September 21, 1970 The A's Vida Blue no-hits the Twins 6 - 0, becoming the youngest pitcher to perform the feat since Paul Dean, 36 years ago to the day. An Oakland crowd of only 4,284 watches Blue's 2nd ML start.
• September 21, 1981 - Steve Carlton fans 12 Expos in 10 innings to break Bob Gibson's National League strikeout record. Carlton now has 3,128 K’s, but the Phillies lose to the Expos 1 - 0 in 17 innings.
• September 21, 1987 - With two stolen bases against the Cubs, Darryl Strawberry joins teammate Howard Johnson as a member of the 30/30 club. It is the first time in major league history players on the same team have hit 30 homers and have stolen 30 bases in the same year

• September 20, 1919 - On Babe Ruth day at Fenway Park, the Bambino ties Ned Williamson's major league mark of 27 home runs in a season with a game-winner off Lefty Williams of the Chicago White Sox. Ruth also scores the winning run in both ends of the doubleheader. Ironically, it will be the last game he plays for the Boston Red Sox in Fenway as the sale of the century would have the Bambino in pinstripes for the remainder of his career. On the same date eight years later, Ruth would again raise the single season home run mark by hitting his 60th bomb of the season off Senators pitcher Tom Zachary.
• September 20, 1955 - New York Giants slugger Willie Mays hits two home runs against the
• Pittsburgh Pirates, giving him 50 for the year and making him the seventh player in major league history to accomplish this.
• September 20, 1958 - Recently-acquired Orioles knuckleballer, Hoyt Wilhelm pitches a 1-0
• no-hitter against the New York Yankees at Memorial Stadium. The Bronx Bombers would not go hitless in a game again in the 20th Century.
• September20, 1968 - Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits the 536th and final home run of his major league career. The parting shot of this storied career came at the expense of Jim Lonborg of the Boston Red Sox in a 4 - 3 loss at Yankee Stadium.
• September 20, 1980 - In memory of Thurman Munson, a bronze plaque in Monument Park is dedicated to the deceased New York Yankees catcher and team Captain who died tragically in a plane crash in 1979.
• September 20, 1998 - Cal Ripken, Jr. takes himself out of the starting lineup and does not play in the Baltimore Orioles' loss to the New York Yankees, ending his consecutive games played streak at 2,632. After nearly 16 years, Ripken said he decided the time was right to end the streak, which began on May 30, 1982.

• September 19, 1968 – Detroit Tigers Pitcher Denny McLain's 31st win is overshadowed by Mickey Mantle's 535th homer which was good enough for 3rd on the all time list. McLain called Catcher Jim Price to the mound to have him inform Mantle he’d be seeing nothing but fastballs and Mantle delivered. Mantle tipped his cap to Denny as he rounded third base. Joe Pepitone, the next batter, signaled where he would like the ball, and McLain dusted him. The Tigers won the game, 6 - 2, the 12th straight complete game for the Tigers staff.
• September 19, 1970 Boston's Billy Conigliaro connects for a 4th inning home run off the Senators Jim Hannan, and in the 7th frame, brother Tony Conigliaro wallops a solo shot. The brothers also homered in the same game on July 4. Billy will end the year with 18 home runs, while Tony will connect for 36.
• September 19, 1973 The Brave’s' Davey Johnson hits his 43rd homer, 42nd as a second baseman tying Rogers Hornsby's record for the most home runs for a second baseman.
• September 19, 1983 Phillies 2B Joe Morgan celebrates his 40th birthday by going 4 for 5 with two home runs in a 7 - 6 win over the Cubs. He's the 2nd player to celebrate his 40th birthday with a dinger: Bob Thurman was the first in 1957.
• September 19, 1998 Mariners SS Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the season, off Jack McDowell of the Angels, to become the 3rd player in history to have 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season. Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds are the others. The Mariners lose the game however, 5 - 3.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

• September 18, 1975 - The New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7 - 5 at Shea Stadium. Rusty Staub becomes the first Mets' player to reach 100 RBIs in a season with a 2-run homer in the fifth. Dave Kingman sets a team record with his 35th home run of the season to win it in the ninth inning. Kingman would also hit his 35th homer of the year on this date in 1976 when he was named to the National League All Star Team for the first time.
• September 18, 1962 At LA, the Aaron brothers lead the Braves to a 10 - 5 pounding of the Dodgers, and cutting the Dodger lead over the idle Giants to 3 1/2 games. Hank Aaron hits his 40th homer and Tommie Aaron accounts for three RBIs with three hits.
• September 18, 1986 - For the second time in his career, Reggie Jackson belts three homers
• in a game, scoring four times with seven RBIs against Kansas City. At the age of 40 years four months, Reggie joins Stan Musial and Babe Ruth as the only player over 40 to accomplish the feat.
• September 18, 1996 Roger Clemens fans 20 Detroit Tigers without walking a single batter, tying his record for most strikeouts in a 9-inning game. The Rocket holds the Tigers to four hits en route to a 4 - 0 shutout.

September 17, 1968 Detroit clinches the American League pennant with a 2 - 1 win over the Yankees. Detroit is ahead 1 - 0 when Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey phones Tiger general manager Jim Campbell with the news that the Sox have beaten the Orioles, clinching the pennant for the Tigers. Campbell keeps the score off the radio and the scoreboard, fearing the news will send fans rampaging onto the field.

Don Wert singles home the winner in the 9th and the fans tear down the left field screen as Campbell suspected.

September 17, 1912 - Casey Stengel of the Dodgers makes an impressive major league debut against the Pirates. The likable Brooklyn outfielder from Kansas City collects four hits, drives in two runs and swipes a pair of stolen bases in the 7 - 3 win.

September 17, 1979 - The Royals' George Brett collects his 20th triple of the season in a 16 - 4 romp over the Angels. Brett becomes the 6th player ever and the first since Willie Mays in 1927, to collect 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs in the same season. He will finish with totals of 42, 20 and 23.

September 17, 1985 Dwight Gooden strikes out 16 batters for the second straight start to tie the major-league record of 32 strikeouts in consecutive games, but balks home the winning run in the 8th inning of a 2 - 1 loss to the Phillies. It is Gooden's 5th straight outing with 10 or more strikeouts.

September 17, 1986 - The Mets clinch the National League East title with a 4 - 2 win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium as Dwight Gooden tosses a 6-hitter. The Mets will win 108 games this season, most in the National League since the 1975 Reds.