» December 11, 1987: In a 3-team trade, the Dodgers acquire relief pitcher Jesse Orosco from the Mets and relief pitcher Jay Howell and SS Alfredo Griffin from the A's, and send pitchers Bob Welch and Matt Young to Oakland and minor leaguer Jack Savage to New York. The Mets receive two A's minor leaguers to complete the deal, pitchers Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst. » July 31, 1989: The Twins trade American League Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola to the Mets for five players, including pitchers Rick Aguilera, David West and minor leaguer Kevin Tapani. Viola is the first Cy Young Award winner to be traded during the following season. Tapani will blossom into a Cy Young Award contender in 1991.
» July 21, 1991:
Losing 14–1 to the Twins, the Red Sox put OF Steve Lyons on the mound. Lyons, who pitched once last year for Chicago, toils one inning giving up two hits and recording a strikeout. Kevin Tapani is the winner as the first-place Twins complete a 4-game sweep.
» August 31, 1991: The Twins' Chuck Knoblach hits his first ML homer, off the Orioles Mike Mussina, and it puts the Twins ahead in the 6th. It is Knoblach's only homer this year. The Twins win, 5–2, with the W going to Kevin Tapani.
» September 16, 1991:
Kevin Tapani (15-8) becomes the Twins third 15-game winner, pitching a 3-hitter for seven 2/3 inning against the Royals. The Twins win, 9–0, jumping on Mark Gubicza. Tapani is 13–2 since June 5.
» July 21, 1993:
In Minnesota's 7–2 win over Detroit, Tony Phillips goes 0–4 with two strikeouts against two Minnesota Twins pitchers —- Kevin Tapani and Carl Willis. It is his only game without a hit, walk or hit batsmen in a string of 101 games.
» June 3, 1995:
Rangers 3B Dean Palmer, hitting .333 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs in his first 114 at-bat, ruptures the biceps tendon in his left arm while swinging at, and missing, a pitch from Minnesota's Kevin Tapani. Palmer will be sidelined until the final week of the season. Tapani goes on to shut out Texas, 4-0.
» February 3, 1996: The White Sox sign free agent P Kevin Tapani, a double-figure winner in each year in the 90's.
» August 6, 1996: Darryl Strawberry strokes three home runs off Kevin Tapani in the Yankees 9-2 victory over the White Sox. In doing so, he becomes just the 8th player to hit three in a game in both leagues. The others to do it were Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Dave Kingman, Cory Snyder, Darnell Coles, Claudell Washington, and Larry Parrish.
» December 13, 1996: The Cubs sign free agent P Kevin Tapani to a 3-year contract.
» August 4, 1997:
Kevin Tapani finally makes his Cubs debut, limiting Atlanta to five hits over seven+ innings, as the Cubs win, 3–1. Tapani (1-0) signed to a three-year, $11 million deal with the Cubs after winning 13 games for the White Sox last season, had surgery April four to remove scar tissue in his right index finger.
» September 16, 1997:
At Wrigley Field, Kevin Tapani pitches a 1-hitter for his first NL shutout and Sammy Sosa breaks a scoreless tie with a two-run, 6th-inning homer as Chicago beats Cincinnati, 5–0. Bret Boone's leadoff single in the sixth is the only Reds hit.
» September 21, 1997: The Cubs beat the Phils, 11–3, but Curt Schilling racks up eight K's to match J.R. Richard for the most strikeouts by a National League righty (313). He'll finish with 319 strikeouts. Ryne Sandberg, in his final game at Wrigley, is 2-for-3 before leaving for a pinch runner in the 5th. He makes a curtain call in the 7th when Harry Caray sings. Kevin Tapani wins his 6th straight start.
» April 10, 1998:
Cubs' OF Henry Rodriguez gets five hits and drives home three runs in Chicago's 13–0 win over Montreal. Kevin Tapani limits the Expos to just three hits to gain the win.
» September 25, 1998: The home run race continues unabated as Sammy Sosa blasts his 66th homer in the 4th inning at Houston, and Mark McGwire responds in the 5th inning with his 66th in the 5th inning at Busch Stadium. Sosa's solo shot ties the game at 2–2, but the Astros score in each in the next four innings to win, 6–2. Kevin Tapani fails in his bid to win his 20th. The Cards top the Expos, 6–5, as McGwire adds another single and J.D. Drew a pair of homers.
» May 7, 1999:
The Cubs fall to the Reds, 3-2. By holding Cincinnati scoreless in the 1st inning, Chicago P Kevin Tapani ends the Cubs' record for allowing runs in 13 consecutive innings.
» August 26, 1999:
The Cubs put Kevin Tapani on the DL for the rest of the season. In the first year of a 2-year contract, Tapani is 0–9 in his last 10 starts. They don't need him today as they edge the Giants, 11–10 behind Sammy Sosa's 53rd home run.
» June 2, 2001: The red-hot Cubs push their winning streak to 12 games, beating Milwaukee, 10–4. Matt Stairs hits a 3-run homer, while Sosa and Rondell White add 2-run shots, all off Paul Rigdon. Kevin Tapani is the winning pitcher. The streak is the longest by the Cubbies since they won 15 in 1936. The streak ends tomorrow.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
