After leaving the team without permissions three days prior, Detroit Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb got married to his first wife, Charlie, on August 6, 1908. Club co-owner Frank Navin considered Cobb’s six-day absence during a pennant race the most arrogant act he had ever heard of in baseball.
On August 4, 1909 (some sources list the date as August 3rd), umpire Tim Hurst instigated a riot by spitting at Athletics second baseman Eddie Collins, who had questioned a call. Hurst would have to be escorted off the field with a police guard. This incident eventually resulted in Hurst’s banishment from baseball two weeks later.
Vincent Edward Scully was born on November 29, 1927 in the Bronx, New York, growing up in Manhattan. He fell in love with baseball when, at the age of eight, he saw the results of the second game of the 1936 World Series at a laundromat and felt a pang of sympathy for the badly defeated New York Giants.
Scully was best known for calling games for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 and ending in 2016. His 67-year run calling games constituted the longest tenure of any broadcaster with a single team in professional sports history, and he was second only to Tommy Lasorda in terms of the number of years associated with the Dodgers organization in any capacity. Scully was known for his distinctive voice, his descriptive style, and his signature introduction to Dodgers games: “It’s time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good afternoon (or evening) to you, wherever you may be.”
He is considered by many to be the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, with his final game being broadcast from San Francisco’s AT&T Park on October 2, 2016. His many awards and achievements include being awarded the Ford C. Frick Award (1982), the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award (2014), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016). Scully even has a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star.
Vin Scully passed away August 2, 2022 at the age of 94.
The only people I know getting in high places by running their mouth are politicians.
~Bo Jackson
The first of five perfect games in the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was pitched on July 29, 1944. Annabelle Lee, the aunt of future major leaguer Bill Lee, was a southpaw knuckleballer for the Minneapolis Millerettes, and she managed to stop the Kenosha Comets from reaching first base as the Millerettes trounced the Comets, 18-0.
On July 26, 1975, Bill Madlock went 6-for-6 at Wrigley Field as the Cubs lost to the New York Mets, 9-8, in ten innings. Madlock’s hits consisted of five singles and a triple, and that year, he would go on to win his first (of four) batting title with a .354 average.
Earlier this month, TheDailyWoo posted this video of his trip to Cooperstown, New York and his walk through the Baseball Hall of Fame. I had the opportunity to visit the town and the museum a few years ago, and this video was a nice reminder of the sights and the atmosphere of the Cooperstown experience. The town is full of nostalgia, the Hall of Fame museum is awe-inspiring, and this video reflects those feelings well.
Don’t shed any tears. You think about this. Here I am, the grandson of a slave. And here the whole world was excited about whether I was going into the Hall of Fame or not. We’ve come a long ways.
~Buck O’Neil
I’m not sure if I like this song, in all honesty. The tune is a bit catchy, but there is literally no imagination when it comes to the “lyrics.” Nevertheless, Big Papi is getting inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in just a matter of days, so I decided it was worth sharing anyways.
The All-Star break is now underway, and the All-Start game is slated to take place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Here is the schedule for the next couple of days:
Home Run Derby: Monday, July 18, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
All-Star Game: Tuesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox
If you are interested in following the Home Run Derby, you can find the bracket and information about the competition’s participants through ESPN.com here.
Rosters for the All-Star game can be found here.
