Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis died on November 25, 1944 at Chicago’s St. Luke’s Hospital, just five days after his 78th birthday. Two weeks after his death, Landis was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by a special committee vote. This made him just the second person to have the five-year waiting period waived, after Lou Gehrig.
On September 19, 1883 at the Bank Street Grounds, the Red Stockings’ John Reilly completed his second cycle in eight days as Cincinnati beat Philadelphia, 12-3, at the Bank Street Grounds. The previous week, the 24-year-old first baseman collected three singles, a double, a triple, and a homer in a 27-5 rout of Pittsburgh Alleghenys.
On August 31, 1937, Detroit Tiger Rudy York smashed his 17th and 18th home runs of the month, breaking the major league record previously held by Babe Ruth. The rookie catcher’s round-trippers on the last day of the month helped the Tigers defeat the Senators at Navin Field, 12-3.
York’s one-month home run record would last until 1998, when Sammy Sosa hit 19 in June.
On July 18, 1927, Athletics outfielder Ty Cobb became the first major leaguer to collect his 4,000th career hit. Cobb hit a double off his former Tigers teammate, Sam Gibson, at Navin Field in Detroit. The hit came in the first inning of a 5-3 loss for the A’s.
Cobb retired after the 1928 season with 4,191 hits, a record that will stand until Pete Rose breaks it in 1985.
Joe DiMaggio collected his 2,000th career hit on June 20, 1950 in the seventh inning against Cleveland. It was DiMaggio’s second RBI hit of the game, as the Yankees defeated the Indians, 8-2.
After winning seven consecutive starts to kick off the season, A’s right-hander Lefty Grove lost in eleven innings on June 10, 1930 to the White Sox, 7-6. The future Hall of Famer went on to finish the season with a 28-5 record and a 2.54 ERA for Philadelphia.
Giants outfielder Willie Mays collected his first major league hit on May 28, 1951. Mays had no hits in his first twelve at-bats in the major leagues, but he hit a home run off Warren Spahn over the left-field roof of the Polo Grounds in his thirteenth plate appearance. However, the Giants would lose to the Braves, 4-1.
On May 6, 1925, Ty Cobb hit his fifth home run in two games. Cobb hit three home runs on May 5th against the St. Louis Browns, going 6-for-6 that day. The next day he hit two more home runs, tying Cap Anson’s 1884 record. The Tigers won 14-8 on May 5th, and then 11-4 on May 6th, over the Browns at Sportsman’s Park.
On Opening Day, April 25, 1901, the Tigers managed to score ten times in the bottom of the ninth to beat Milwaukee, 14-13. The game featured the largest crowd ever to attend a baseball game in Detroit as the Tigers made their major-league debut against the Brewers.
On Opening Day, April 15, 1909, Giants starter Red Ames held the Brooklyn Superbas hitless for nine innings. However, as neither the Giants nor the Superbas had scored, extra innings were required. Ames allowed a hit in the 10th inning, when second baseman Whitey Alpermann doubled to left-center. Ames then went on to allow three runs in the 13th inning as the Giants lost, 3–0.
