» May 29, 1904: In a Sunday game in Brooklyn, Hooks Wiltse makes his first ML start a good one, beating the Superbas, 5-3. Hooks adds two hits as the Giants sweep all five games from Brooklyn to remain in a tie for 1st with Chicago.

» June 19, 1904: Despite yesterday's ruling by William Gaynor of the Brooklyn Supreme Court prohibiting Sunday baseball, there are no arrests today at Washington Park. Brooklyn should've arrested Giants pitcher Hooks Wiltse, who allows just three hits in collaring the Superbas, 11-0. Next Sunday, however, Brooklyn's battery of Oscar Jones and Fred Jacklitsch, along with a program seller, will be arrested on misdemeanor charges and taken to the police station.

» July 9, 1904: The Giants Iron Joe McGinnity wins two today, both in relief. In the opener Joe takes over for Christy Mathewson in the 8th with the Giants ahead, 2–1. The Cards tie it in the 8th, but New York scores three in the 9th to win, 5–3. It's deja vu all over again in the nitecap, as McGinnity relieves Hooks Wiltse and the Giants score two in the 9th to win, 5–2. McGinnity's record is now 22–2.

» September 7, 1904: Rookie George "Hooks" Wiltse records his 10th straight win without a loss, and the Giants 12th in a row, as he beats the Phillies, 6-3. Wiltse allows eight hits.

» September 10, 1904: A crowd of 15,250 cheer the first-place Giants to a pair of one-run wins over the Phillies. Roger Bresnahan's 9th inning triple scores two in the opener, as Hooks Wiltse earns his 11th straight win. Dummy Taylor wins the nitecap, 6-5, as the Giants finish four straight doubleheaders with five victories, a loss and a tie. New York leads the 2nd-place Colts by 17 games.

» September 15, 1904: Giants rookie Hooks Wiltse wins his 12th straight game, beating Boston, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds. Hooks sets a ML mark for consecutive games won at the start of a career, a record that will be tied by relief hurler Butch Metzger, in 1976. He'll end up at 13-3.

» September 22, 1904: In the opener of a twinbill with the Reds, the Giants win, 7-5, behind Joe McGinnity. Their 100th win, it clinches the NL pennant for New York. In the final game of his 19-year career as an OF/C, future Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke, 52, catches for Joe McGinnity. It is O'Rourke's first ML game since 1893 (Benton Stark writes that O'Rourke hit .358 in 1900, but it was not in OB) and is 1-for-4 and scores a run. He'll be elected to Cooperstown in 1945. The Reds come back in the nitecap to win, 7-3, in seven innings beating Hooks Wiltse.

» April 15, 1905: The Giants continue to beat up on the Beaneaters, riding Dick Harley for 16 hits, and winning 15-0. Christy Mathewson allows just three hits and is lifted after six innings in favor of Hooks Wiltse.

» June 17, 1905: At Robison Field, Christy Mathewson wilts in the heat, but Hooks Wiltse relieves to preserve the Giants, 7-2, win over St. Louis. Charlie McFarland takes the loss.

» June 19, 1905: The Giants lose to Cincinnati when New York P Hooks Wiltse accidentally swallows a quid of chewing tobacco that upsets his stomach and his pitching.

» May 15, 1906: Hooks Wiltse of the Giants becomes the first pitcher of the modern era to fan four batters in a single inning, fanning the side after the first Cincinnati batter, Jim Delahanty, in the 5th inning reaches base on Roger Bresnahan's 3rd-strike error. Wiltse also fanned the side in the 4th inning to total seven batters punched out in just two innings, the first and only time this happens. Hooks K's 12 Reds overall enroute to a victory, 4-1. However, the Giants suffer a major loss when Turkey Mike Donlin, after getting three hits, breaks his leg sliding into 2B.

» May 21, 1906: In Chicago, the Giants' Hooks Wiltse, with relief help from Christy Mathewson, stops the leading Cubs, 6-4. Mathewson allows one run in his four innings.

» June 4, 1906: Unable to shake the effects of diphtheria contracted in the spring, a frustrated Christy Mathewson throws a rare tantrum after giving up four runs to the Phils on two hits and six walks in the first inning, and umpire Bill Klem in turn throws him out of the game. Hooks Wiltse relieves and picks up a victory as New York rallies to win, 9-6.

» August 4, 1906: The Giants slow the Chicago express, stopping the Cubs 7-4 behind Christy Mathewson and Hooks Wiltse. New York is just four 1/2 games behind Chicago, but the Cubs will go 50-8 from August 1st to outdistance the pack.

» August 13, 1906: The host Giants sweep the Pirates, winning 6-1 and 2-1. Hooks Wiltse is the winner in the opener, while Mathewson matches him in the nitecap. Spike Shannon's 9th inning single off Lefty Leifield brings home the game-winner in the 2nd game.

» September 3, 1906: At the Polo Grounds, the Giants flatten the Beaneaters twice, 4-0 and 3-2. Christy Mathewson wins his 17th in the opener, beating a wild Big Jeff Pfeffer. Cy Seymour completes the scoring with a solo homer in the 8th inning. Hooks Wiltse, in relief of Red Ames, wins the nitecap.

» May 4, 1907: Hooks Wiltse shuts out Brooklyn, 10-0, allowing just one hit in eight innings. Henry Mathewson, Christy's brother, mops up in the 9th in his final ML appearance.

» May 11, 1907: John McGraw deals three aces today against the Pirates, and emerges with a 9-6 win. Starter Joe McGinnity lasts one inning, Hooks Wiltse pitches until the 7th when he is given the hook in favor of Christy Mathewson. The Giants score four runs in the bottom of the 7th off Mike Lynch with the victory going to Matty.

» May 18, 1907: Hooks Wiltse pitches the Giants to a 6-2 win over the Cardinals. For New York, it is their 17 straight win to run their season record to 24-3. Despite the run, the Giants are in first by just one game over Chicago.

» May 23, 1907: Before a packed house of 23,000, John McGraw uses his entire pitching staff of six against the Cubs, but Chicago still wins, 5-2 to move into first place over New York. Hooks Wiltse lasts just one inning, giving up two Chicago runs. Jimmy Sheckard's three-run homer in the 5th off Christy Mathewson, pitching on a day's rest, seals the win for Chicago.

» May 24, 1907: At the Polo Grounds, Boston pitcher Pat Flaherty clubs the first grand slam by an NL pitcher when he connects in the 2nd inning off Hooks Wiltse of the Giants.

» May 30, 1907: In an a.m.-p.m. doubleheader, The Phils edge the Giants in the morning contest as Lew Moren bests Hooks Wiltse, 5-2. The afternoon match attracts 25,000 to the Polo Grounds. Christy Mathewson scatters eight hits to beat the Phillies, 6-1.

» June 27, 1907: At Baker Bowl, Christy Mathewson and Hooks Wiltse combine to beat the Phillies, 2-0. Lew Moren pitches a fine game but loses. The Giants, playing .625 ball, are still 10 games in back of the Cubs. New York buys the contract of Larry Doyle for $4500 from Mattoon (Kitty L.).

» August 8, 1907: At Pittsburgh, the Giants sweep two from the Pirates, 4-3 and 7-0. Christy Mathewson wins the opener, with relief help from Joe McGinnity, and Hooks Wiltse slams the door in the nitecap. The Giants move ahead of Pittsburgh into 2nd place.

» August 15, 1907: At the Polo Grounds, Hooks Wiltse edges the Reds for a 4-3 Giants win. Christy Mathewson preserves the win with a scoreless 9th.

» May 25, 1908: At Chicago, the Cubs treat Christy Mathewson rudely, roughing him up for seven hits and five runs in two innings. The Giants rally but lose in 10 innings, 8-7, as Hooks Wiltse takes the loss.

» June 24, 1908: The Giants sweep two games from Boston to move into 3rd place. Hooks Wiltse tosses a 2-hit shutout to win, 4-0, and Christy Mathewson follows with a 7-1 victory over Irv Young in the 2nd match. Matty leaves after seven innings.

» July 4, 1908: Lefthander Hooks Wiltse pitches a 10-inning no-hitter for the Giants over the Phillies 1–0. He loses his bid for a perfect nine innings when, with two outs, he hits Phils P George McQuillan with a pitch on an 1-and-2 count. Ump Charles Rigler calls the pitch earlier a ball, to the dismay of Hooks and the fans, who thought it a strike. Art Devlin scores the winner in the 10th after singling off McQuillan and coming around on two errors. New York wins the nitecap more easily, 9–3.

» July 13, 1908: New York sweeps the Pirates, beating Lefty Liefeld, 7–0, on a 3-hitter by Christy Mathewson, then taking the nitecap 7–4. Pittsburgh racked up three homers -- by Wagner, Chief Wilson and Alan Storke -- but to no avail. McGinnity wins the nitecap with relief help from Hooks Wiltse.

» July 18, 1908: The Cubs win by a run, beating the Giants, 5–4, behind Orval Overall. Hooks Wiltse takes the loss as Joe Tinker once again wins the game, this time with a two-run double in the 9th inning. Tinker also had a 6th inning triple off Hooks.

» July 24, 1908: At the Polo Grounds, the Giants edge the visiting Pirates, 2–1, behind Hooks Wiltse. Larry Doyle leads the offense with a single, double and RBI triple.

» July 28, 1908: Hooks Wiltse and Vic Willis lock horns and the Giants and Pirates duel for 16 innings before the game is called, 2–2, because of darkness. Honus Wagner is 0-for-6 but drives home a run with a "sacrifice fly."

» August 24, 1908: The Giants gain the NL lead by winning two at Pittsburgh, after first refusing to play a doubleheader. John McGraw protests that only one game was scheduled and he was not given 24 hours notice about the 2nd match. But after polling the players, he relents. Hooks Wiltse then tops Vic Willis, 4-1 and Christy Mathewson beats Lefty Leifield, 5-1. Willis tires in the 8th, giving up a 2-run triple to Roger Bresnahan, followed by a Mike Donlin homer. In the nitecap, Donlin and Larry Doyle each drive home a pair. The doubleheader is watched in New York on electric diamonds known as "Compton's Baseball Bulletin" at Madison Square Garden and the Gotham Theatre. Bulletins will display all remaining games.

» September 1, 1908: The month starts with the Giants in 1st in the NL with a 69-45 record, followed by Chicago (70-47) and the Pirates (69-47). New York shakes off its three loss to Chicago by beating up on Boston, winning two at South End Grounds. Hooks Wiltse takes the opener, 4-1, and Mathewson coasts home in the 2nd game, 8-0, allowing three hits. Dummy Taylor pitches the 9th against the Doves.

» September 18, 1908: The largest crowd in the history of the NL-35,000-cheer as the Giants shove the Pirates to five games off the pace by sweeping a doubleheader. Christy Mathewson shuts out the Bucs in the first game, 7-0, for his 11th shutout and his 33rd win. Then the Giants collect 18 hits to take the nitecap, 12-7, as Hooks Wiltse and Joe McGinnity combine for the win. The other hitting occurred in the first game when Mike Donlin tired of a heckler and punched him in the eye. Police quickly moved in.

» September 24, 1908: Harry Pulliam upholds Hank O'Day's delayed decision and declares the game a tie, a decision nobody likes. The Cubs demand the game be forfeited to them as the crowd prevented play from continuing, although darkness would have soon ended it. Both teams appeal. Pulliam sees no inconsistency with the September 4th incident and claims he has merely upheld his umpire on a question of fact in each case. Meanwhile, the Giants beat the Cubs 5-4, after almost blowing a 5-0 lead. Hooks Wiltse is relieved by Christy Mathewson, and the official scorer awards the W to Matty. The L goes to Three Finger Brown, his first loss to Mathewson since June 13, 1905.

» October 8, 1908: According to published reports, nearly 250,000 fans show up at the Polo Grounds to watch the disputed replay of the September 23 game between the Cubs and Giants. The gates were closed at 1:30 for the 3:00 game, but still fans tried to storm the gates. Fireman with high pressure hoses knocked down fans who tried to scale the walls. Nearly 40,000 fans watched from Coogan's Bluff, telephone poles and other vantage points. Two fans are killed when they fall from a pillar on the elevated subway platform. Later admitting he had nothing on the ball, Christy Mathewson loses, 4–2, to the Cubs, giving way to Hooks Wiltse in the 8th.: Three Finger Brown, relieving Jack Pfiester in the first, gets the win. The Giants played to a record 910,000 in attendance for the year, a figure that will be unmatched until 1920.

» May 31, 1909: The Giants sweep an a.m.-p.m. twinbill. Hooks Wiltse wins the morning game, 3-2 and Mathewson, thrills the crowd of 35,000 with a 5-4 victory over Lew Moren. Matty wins the game with an 8th inning home run into the LF bleachers.

» June 25, 1909: The Giant sweep their 3rd DH in a row, beating Brooklyn 4-2 and 9-1. Hooks Wiltse wins the opener and Christy Mathewson takes the nitecap, leaving after five innings with a 7-0 lead.

» June 30, 1909: At Washington Park, the Superbas gaff the Giants, 7-2 beating Hooks Wiltse in the opener. The Giants come back in the nitecap, 3-0, behind Christy Mathewson. Matty strikes out nine and allows four hits.

» August 24, 1909: The Giants split with the Pirates, taking the first game 4-3 behind Hooks Wiltse, then losing the 2nd. Bugs Raymond toils the whole nine innings for the Giants and gets clobbered 11-3. John McGraw leaves the high-living pitcher in the runaway to teach him a lesson.

» April 20, 1910: At the Polo Grounds, Hooks Wiltse tosses a 3-hit shutout over the Doves in the Giants' home opener. New York tops Boston, 4–0.

» October 13, 1910: At the Polo Grounds, 25,000 fans show up for the start of the City Series between the Giants and Highlanders, and to watch Christy Mathewson and rookie phenom Russ Ford square off. The score is 1–1 when Mathewson and Devore single in the bottom of the 8th. An error loads the bases and Ford plunks Al Bridwell to score the winning run. The Giants score three more for a 5–1 win, with Matty striking out 14 Highlanders. The American Leaguers will win tomorrow when Jack Warhop tops Hooks Wiltse, but the Giants take the game on the 15th when Matty preserves the 5–1 win for Drucke. Matty will win game four by another 5–1 score.

» July 26, 1911: Christy Mathewson wins his 21st straight game from the Reds 5–3. He replaces Hooks Wiltse in the 8th and his single in the 9th scores a run to help win it.

» August 19, 1911: Thirty-five thousand gather at the not-yet-completed Polo Grounds to watch the Reds finally get to Christy Mathewson after 22 straight losses, beating him for the first time since May 1908. Matty, after saving the 5–4 opener for Hooks Wiltse with two scoreless frames, starts the nightcap, goes five innings, and loses 7–4. Mike Mitchell leads the Reds in the nitecap by hitting for the cycle off Matty, and adding a double. A crowd of 35,000 view the loss.

» September 14, 1911: At Boston, the Giants pound the Rustlers 13–9, scoring six runs in the 9th inning for a 13–4 lead. The winner is Hooks Wiltse with little relief from Doc Crandall in the 9th: Doc allows seven hits and five runs.

» September 21, 1911: In St. Louis, Hooks Wiltse wins the opener to extend the Giants win streak to 12 games. The Cards stop the skein in game two with an 8–7 win.

» October 26, 1911: Chief Bender cruises to his second victory, a 4-hit 13–2 breeze. The A's cap the win with a 7-run 7th, battering three tired Giant hurlers, Red Ames, Hooks Wiltse, and Rube Marquard. Overall, the Giants manage just 13 runs and a .175 BA off Chief Bender, Jack Coombs, and Eddie Plank. Because of the NL's extended playing season, this is the latest ending ever for a World Series, until the "Earthquake Series" of 1989.

» June 20, 1912: With no hint that a record is about to be set, the Giants coast to a 14–2 lead through eight innings at Boston, then score seven more in the 9th for a 21–2 lead. The Braves rally for 10 in the last of the 9th, but lose 21–12. The 17 runs are the NL post-1900 record scored by two teams in the 9th. Another 20th century mark set is the 11 stolen bases by the Giants—four by Josh Devore, including two in the 9th—and 14 swipes by both clubs. Thirteen Giants score runs, tying the ML record. The Giants' Ernie Shore makes his ML debut in this game and surrenders eight hits, a walk, and 10 runs (3 earned) in one inning, the 9th, of relief work, but is credited with a save for Hooks Wiltse. It is his only appearance in the NL. Buster Brown takes the loss.

» July 4, 1912: Brooklyn ends the Giants win streak of 16 games by sweeping a doubleheader, 10–3 and 5–2. The Superbas take the a.m. game, cuffing Christy Mathewson for five runs on five hits in three innings. Hooks Wiltse is the loser in the afternoon contest, but the Giants are still in the lead by 14 1/2 games.

» August 24, 1912: Fred Merkle's 3-run homer off Babe Adams in the 7th to give the Giants a 3–2 lead over Pittsburgh, and Christy Mathewson pitches the last three innings to preserve Hooks Wiltse win over the Bucs. The Giants won a pair yesterday from the Bucs by one-run scores.

» June 30, 1913: At Philadelphia, New York's thrilling 11–10 win over the Phils puts the Giants on top to stay. Hooks Wiltse pitches the first nine innings for New York before wilting, and Christy Mathewson relieves. In the 10th, Buck Herzog singles off Pete Alexander and Matty wins his 14th. The fireworks continue after the game when McGraw, walking to the clubhouse with several Phillies, is belted and then jumped by several Philley fans. McGraw is cut up and Phils P Ad Brennan is identified as the instigator of the fight. After investigating, National League Prexy Thomas Lynch will suspend both McGraw and Brennan for five days, with Brennan also fined $100.

» October 8, 1913: Christy Mathewson ties the Series, shutting the Athletics out for 10 innings to beat Eddie Plank 3–0. Mathewson also brings in the winning run with a double in the 10th. In the 9th, Matty is saved twice by pitcher Hooks Wiltse, playing 1B. Wiltse entered the game in the 3rd as a pinch runner for Fred Snodgrass, pressed in to action at 1B. The A's put runners on 2B and 3B with no outs in the final inning, and the next two batters hit shots to 1B. Both times Wiltse guns out a runner at home and Matty gets the last out to send the game into extra innings. Before the game, Walter Johnson (36–7, 243 strikeouts, 11 shutouts) is presented the Chalmers Award, and an automobile, as the AL's MVP. Joe Jackson is 2nd in the voting.

» August 29, 1914: In Chicago, the Giants split with the Cubs, Rube Marquard losing the opener, 1–0, and Christy Mathewson topping Bert Humphries in the 2nd game, 7–5. The Giants waive Hooks Wiltse, ending his 11 years with the Giants. Hooks will pitch for the Brookfeds next season.

» September 30, 1921: Prior to the Braves-Giants game, the Giants Old Timers take on the Giants regulars in a 5-inning contest. Twenty thousand fans cheer as former stars, Christy Mathewson, Roger Bresnahan, George Wiltse, Art Devlin, Larry Doyle and Fred Tenney whip the current Giants, 2–0. The regular game is called because of rain after one inning, but only 4,000 fans ask for a refund.

» August 8, 1976: Padres rookie Butch Metzger (10-0) is credited with a 4–3 victory over the Astros, his 10th win without a defeat. With a victory in each of the past two seasons, Metzger's mark of 12–0 to start a career matches Hooks Wiltse, in 1904. Metzger will lose his last four decisions this year.

» April 29, 1994: Montreal P Kirk Rueter defeats SD by a score of 3-1. In doing so, he becomes the first major league pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to begin his career by winning his first 10 decisions. The all-time record is 12, held by former Giants hurler, Hooks Wiltse, who did so in 1904, and tied by Butch Metzger (1974-76).