Tuesday, July 9 Updated: July 22, 11:08 AM ET Baseball's 30 most memorable moments Associated Press |
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The 30 most memorable moments in Major League Baseball History, selected by media members, baseball executives and baseball historians: 1905: Christy Mathewson throws three complete-game shutouts as the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia A's 4-1 in the World Series. 1920: Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees on Jan. 3. 1934: Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants strikes out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin in succession during the first and second innings of the All-Star Game at New York's Polo Grounds on July 10. 1938: Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitches the only consecutive no-hitters in Major League Baseball history against the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers. 1939: Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees retires from Major League Baseball with his "luckiest man" farewell speech on July 4. 1941: The Yankees' Joe DiMaggio sets a new Major League Baseball record by hitting safely in 56 consecutive games from May 15 until July 17. 1941: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox finishes the season with a .406 batting average, the last player to do so. 1947: Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, becoming the first African American player in Major League Baseball. 1951: Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round The World," a homer with two on and two outs in the ninth inning on Oct. 3 gives the New York Giants a 5-4 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NL pennant. 1954: Willie Mays makes "The Catch" in deep center field during Game 1 of the World Series on Sept. 29, an over-the-shoulder grab of a line drive by Cleveland's Vic Wertz in the eighth inning to preserve a 2-2 tie. The New York Giants won with three runs in the 10th innings and swept the Indians in four games. 1956: Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 on Oct. 8 as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. 1960: Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski leads off the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 with a home run, breaking a 9-9 tie and giving the Pirates the World Series over the Yankees on Oct. 13. 1961: Roger Maris of the Yankees hits 61 home runs to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. His 61st homer came on Oct. 1, the final day of the regular season, in the fourth inning off Boston's Tracy Stallard and was the only run in New York's 1-0 victory. 1971: Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 1972: Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates doubles off the Mets' Jon Matlack in the final game of the season (Sept. 30) for his 3,000th career hit. Clemente was killed in a plane crash on New Year's Eve while traveling to aid earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 1974: Hank Aaron of Atlanta breaks Babe Ruth's career record of 714 home runs on April 8. Aaron's 715th homer was a three-run shot off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing in the fourth inning as the Braves won 7-4. 1975: Carlton Fisk of the Red Sox led off the bottom of the 12th with a home run off the left-field foul pole at Fenway Park in Game 6 of the World Series on Oct. 21, giving Boston a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. 1977: Reggie Jackson hits three home runs in three consecutive at-bats during Game 6 of the World Series on Oct. 18, giving the Yankees a series-clinching 8-4 victory over the Dodgers. 1985: Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds singled off San Diego's Eric Show in the bottom of the first inning on Sept. 11 for career hit 4,192, surpassing Ty Cobb as Major League Baseball's career hits leader. 1986: The New York Mets come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win Game 6 (Oct. 25) and Game 7 (Oct. 27) against the Boston Red Sox and clinch the World Series. 1988: Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit homer off Oakland's Dennis Eckersley with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gives Los Angeles a 5-4 win in Game 1 of the World Series (Oct. 15). The Dodgers went on to defeat the A's in five games. 1991: The A's Rickey Henderson steals third base in a game against the Yankees in Oakland on May 1 for career stolen base 939, eclipsing Lou Brock's previous record. 1991: Nolan Ryan pitches his seventh career no-hitter, extending his Major League record. The Rangers defeated the Blue Jays 3-0 in Arlington on May 1. 1991: Jack Morris pitches 10 shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves and leads the Minnesota Twins to a victory in Game 7 of the World Series on Oct. 27. 1993: Joe Carter of Toronto hits a series-ending, three-run home run off Phillies reliever Mitch Williams in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Blue Jays an 8-6 victory in Game 6 and their second straight World Series Championship on Oct. 23. 1995: Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive game on Sept. 6, breaking Lou Gehrig's record. 1998: The Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa race to break Roger Maris' single season home run record. McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season on Sept. 8. Sosa finished the season with 66 home runs and McGwire with 70. 2001: Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 71st home run of the season on Oct. 5, breaking Mark McGwire's single season home run record. Bonds finished the season with 73. 2001: After two game-tying home runs by the New York Yankees in Games 4 and 5 helped them take a 3-2 series lead, an RBI single by Arizona's Luis Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth gives the Arizona Diamondbacks a victory in Game 7 for the first World Series Championship in franchise history on Nov. 4. 2001: Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners -- the first Japanese-born position player in Major League Baseball -- earns 2001 American League MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, as well as being the leading vote-getter for the 2001 All-Star Game.
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