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AUGUST
2001
IN THE NEWS: The Mets defeat the Astros, 8–2 in 10 innings. NY scores six runs in the 10th, the most ever in that frame for a Mets club, with Edgardo Alfonzo's 3–run home run the big blow. It is the first 3–run homer for NY since June 21.
IN THE NEWS: The A's make it easy for Mark Mulder, giving him an 11–0 lead after 14 innings. With Jermaine Dye, Miguel Tejada and Olmedo Saenz homering, they roll to a 17–4 pasting of Cleveland.
The Padres send P Woody Williams to the Cardinals for OF Ray Lankford, who had recently been benched. Williams will prove to be the real deal for the Cards, going 7–1 in 11 starts, with a 2.28 ERA during the regular season.
IN THE NEWS: Oakland edges the Detroit Tigers, 2-1, on Jason Giambi's 9th inning solo homer. The win goes to Tim Hudson who outduels Tiger ace Jeff Weaver. The A's collect only four hits, with Giambi's blast completing a team cycle— Terrence Long has a triple, Johnny Damon a double, Jeremy Giambi has a single, and Jason Giambi the home run.
White Sox P Mark Buehrle tosses a 1–hitter in defeating Tampa Bay 4–0. Damian Rolls' leadoff single in the 7th is the Devil Rays' only hit. Buehrle walks one and faces just 28 batters.
The Blue Jays defeat the Orioles, 10–1, despite an infestation of aphids in the 3rd inning. Although the game is not delayed, home plate ump Tim Welke asks that the roof of the SkyDome be closed. Toronto's Jeff Frye wears a dust mask in the dugout.
The Brewers edge the visiting Atlanta Braves, 3–2, winning on a wild pitch by Jose Cabrera in the 11th. The Brewers break the two million mark in attendance for just the second time in their franchise history, the first being in 1983; however, the Brewers predecessor in Milwaukee, the Braves, broke two million each season from 1954 to 1957.
The Blue Jays release P Joey Hamilton ending a 3-year struggling relationship between the club and the pitcher. The Jays had originally signed Hamilton to a 3-year $16.5 million contract.
A jury orders Anheuser–Busch to pay the family of the late Roger Maris $50 million for improperly taking away a beer distributorship. Both sides plan to appeal the ruling, as attorneys for the Maris family said the panel meant to award the family $139 million, but were confused by the judge's instructions to the jury.
IN THE NEWS: Braves' 1B Wes Helms drives home a career–high seven runs with a triple and a pair of home runs as Atlanta defeats Milwaukee, 14–2. Helms had been hitless in his previous 18 at bats coming in to the game.
In a 4–2 Mets win at Arizona, Mark Grace ends the game with a ground single, which hits pinch runner David Dellucci for the last out. It's the D-backs 7th loss in nine games.
IN THE NEWS: The Indians tie a major league record (the Tigers, June 18, 1911 and the Athletics June 15, 1925) by overcoming a 12–run deficit to shock the Mariners, 15–14 in 11 innings. Cleveland, which trailed 12–0 and 14–2, scores three runs in the 7th inning, four in the 8th, and five in the 9th to become the 1st team in 76 years to come back from a 12–run hole. With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Kenny Lofton singles, goes to 2nd when Omar Vizquel singles and Jolbert Cabrera's RBI single completes the comeback. Vizquel had tripled with the sacks full in the 9th off All-star reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki.
Detroit falls to Oakland by a score of 5–1. In doing so, the Tigers tie a major league record by scoring only one run in their 5th consecutive game. The last of the seven teams who did so was the 1968 Dodgers.
Dave Winfield, Kirby Puckett, Bill Mazeroski, and Negro League star Hilton Smith are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox defeat the Rangers, 10–7, as Boston C Scott Hatteberg performs the ultimate baseball opposite in consecutive at bats. With two men the 4th inning and the Sox ahead 4–2, he lines into a triple play. Two innings later, after the Rangers score five to go ahead, he hits a grand slam to put Boston in the lead to stay.
Baseball's Hall of Fame announces changes in its voting procedure as it eliminates the closed–door Veterans Committee meetings held since 1953. It also gives new hope to 1,700 players who had failed to receive at least five percent of the votes cast by the writers. The new rules will likely make it more difficult for Negro League and pre–1900 players to be enshrined, and also will make it tougher for players not elected by the writers to be enshrined.
In a Vanity Fair magazine interview, Tommy Gioiosa, a former friend of Pete Rose, alleges that Rose bet on baseball, used a corked bat, and participated in drug dealings.
IN THE NEWS: The Braves defeat the Astros, 6–5, as Greg Maddux sets a NL record for consecutive innings without a walk. Maddux hurls six innings in the game to extend his streak to 70 1/3 frames without a free pass. The old mark of 68 innings was held by Christy Mathewson, in 1913, and Randy Jones, in 1976. Maddux left the game with the streak intact and is 14 IP away from the major league record, set by Bill Fischer in 1962.
During the 7th inning stretch of the Cubs 5–4 win over the Rockies, former Chicago Bears player Steve McMichael leads the crowd in the singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Prior to singing, however, McMichael, upset at a call that went against the Cubs in the previous inning, tells the crowd, "Don't worry, I'll have some speaks with that home plate umpire after the game." Umpire Angel Hernandez throws McMichael out of the game, as the umps fear his remarks could incite the crowd. The Cubs win in 9th when Ricky Gutierrez slides under a tag at home.
IN THE NEWS: Tigers P Nate Cornejo makes his ML debut against Rangers P Joaquin Benoit. It is the first time since August 21, 1990, that both starting pitchers are making their big league debuts. The Tigers tie a modern major-league record by scoring 13 runs in the 9th inning to snap a 6–6 tie and roll, 19–6. Damion Easley gets six hits, including two in the 9th, to tie an AL and team record, last done by Ty Cobb. The Tigers tie the modern major league record, for the 9th inning, with 13 runs. The all time record for the 9th frame is 14, by the Baltimore Orioles (NL version), against Boston, on April 24, 1894. The winning pitcher is former Ranger Danny Patterson, who faces one batter in the 8th.
Rob Mitchell of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, agrees to pay $577,610 for "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's famous bat, "Black Betsy." It is believed to be the highest price ever paid for a bat.
IN THE NEWS: The Rockies defeated the Cubs, 14–5, despite three successive home runs by Sammy Sosa. Winning pitcher Mike Hampton ties the NL record for home runs in a season by a pitcher by hitting his 7th. The major-league record is 9.
The Giants score a 6–4 victory over the Reds in a game marked by two milestone home runs. Ken Griffey Jr. hits the 450th of his career, becoming the youngest player (by 15 days, over Jimmie Foxx) in history to reach that mark. He was also the youngest to hit 350 and 400. Barry Bonds hits his 49th of the season, becoming the fastest to ever reach that number.
Yankees P Ted Lilly is suspended for six games for hitting Anaheim's Scott Spiezio in the head with a pitch in a game last Sunday. NY manager Joe Torre rips into baseball's dean of discipline Frank Robinson for the decision. Lilly was not thrown out of the game by the umpires when the incident occurred.
IN THE NEWS: Colorado slams Cincinnati, 16–7, as newly–acquired rookie 2B Jose Ortiz strokes five hits—including a double and home run—and drives in four runs.
The Royals defeat the Tigers, 7–3, in a game marked by a 6th inning brawl set off when KC 1B Mike Sweeney charges Detroit P Jeff Weaver after Weaver calls him a profane name. Numerous punches are thrown as both benches and bullpens clear. After a 12–minute delay, the game resumes with Sweeney, KC coach Al Nipper, and Detroit coach Doug Mansolino ejected from the contest. Sweeney will be suspended 10 games for his actions, and Detroit catcher Robert Fick eight games. Five other players and four coaches will also be disciplined.
The Cubs claim Miguel Cairo and Gary Matthews Jr. off waivers by St. Louis and Pittsburgh, respectively.
IN THE NEWS: Joe Borowski serves up home run No. 50 to Barry Bonds and the Giants roll to a 9–4 win over the Cubs. Winning pitcher Livan Hernandez is 4–for-4, including his first ML homer. He now has eight straight hits and is 12-for-13.
Led by the two Giambi brothers, Oakland beats the visiting New York Yankees, 8–6, for their 10th straight win. Jason Giambi and Jeremy Giambi each club 2-run homers, the 2nd time they've both gone deep in the same game. They did it twice last year as well.
In the Twins 4–3 loss to Tampa Bay, Minnesota 1B Doug Mientkiewicz makes all three outs in the bottom of the 2nd without touching first base. The Devil Rays have Toby Hall on 3B and Randy Winn on 1B with no outs in the inning when Aubrey Huff hits a weak grounder to Mientkiewicz. The first sacker crosses the diamond to chase Hall back to third then tags out Winn who had run all the way around from first. Mientkiewicz then catches Huff wandering off the base to complete an unassisted double play. The next Rays' batter, Jared Sandberg, hits a towering foul pop-up that Mientkiewicz caught for the third out.
IN THE NEWS: The Braves fall to the Diamondbacks, 9–1, as Greg Maddux's NL record streak for innings without allowing a walk is ended at 72–and–one–third. Maddux intentionally walks Steve Finley in the 3rd inning to end the streak. Arizona 2B Junior Spivey gets five singles in the contest, becoming the 5th rookie in 50 years to have a pair of 5–hit games in his first season. His other 5–hit contest was on June 21.
IN THE NEWS: Craig Biggio hits his 26th leadoff home run on the first pitch from Jason Bere and the Astros never look back, beating the Cubs, 9–5. Shane Reynolds is the winner, now 7–0 against Chicago. The Cubs fall out of first place as the Astros take over.
IN THE NEWS: The Tigers defeat the Angels, 5–1, as Detroit OF Roger Cedeno leads the team with five hits.
The Cardinals defeat the Reds, 8–4, for their 7th straight win. St. Louis 1B Mark McGwire singles in the 5th inning, marking his first hit other than a home run in 72 at bats. McGwire's last 11 hits had been homers, a run unprecedented in the last 25 years. Cleveland's Albert Belle had eight straight hits for home runs in 1995.
The Mets lose their 5th straight game, falling to the Padres by a score of 2–1. SD's Trevor Hoffman gets the save, becoming the 14th pitcher in history to reach the milestone of 300 saves. He also ties John Wetteland as the 2nd–fastest to reach the mark.
OF Shawn Green hits three home runs and drives home seven runs to pace the Dodgers to a 13–1 victory over the Expos.
IN THE NEWS: OF Barry Bonds strokes two home runs to lead the Giants to a 5–3 win over the Marlins. The homers give Bonds 53 for the year, setting a new league record for home runs in a season by a lefthanded hitter. Johnny Mize of the Giants held the previous mark with 52 in 1947.
The Padres defeat the Mets, 6–5. SD rookie P Jeremy Fikac gets the win in his major league debut as he strikes out the side in his only inning.
The Red Sox fire manager Jimy Williams and hire pitching coach Joe Kerrigan as his replacement.
IN THE NEWS: The Brewers defeat the Reds, 5–1. Cincinnati P Jose Rijo hurls the last two scoreless innings in relief, his first major league action in six years.
Toronto beats Texas, 11–3, as Jeff Frye becomes the 2nd Blue Jay ever to hit for the cycle. Frye's final hit of the evening is a liner to deep right-center that, in other circumstances, might have gone for a double. But with his team safely in the lead, Frye stops at first to record a single and give himself a cycle. After the game, Frye finds a bicycle leaning against his locker, the traditional reward for the feat. Kelly Gruber is the only other Toronto player to accomplish the feat.
Atlanta's Greg Maddux pitches the Braves to a 2–1 win over the Giants and Livan Hernandez. Hernandez came into the game with eight straight hits and in his 1st at bat reached on an error. He goes 1–for-3. John Smoltz racks up his first regular season save, striking out four batters.
IN THE NEWS: The Rangers pound the Blue Jays, 12–5, scoring eight runs in the 9th inning. C Ivan Rodriguez's grand slam is the big blow for Texas.
Danny Almonte, pitching for the Bronx Little League entry, the Rolando Paulino all-stars, hurls the first perfect game since 1957 in the Little League World Series, beating the eventual winner, Apopka, FL, 2–0. The Bronx team will win next week, but all the victories will be stripped from them when an investigation proves a number of rules infractions, not the least of which is that Almonte is too old. His brother, who pitched last year, will also be shown to be too old.
IN THE NEWS: The Mariners rout the Yankees, 10–2, as OF Mike Cameron gets four hits—including two home runs—and drives home eight runs. OF Ichiro Suzuki stretches his hitting streak to 16 games, giving him three streaks of 15 or more games this year. He's the 1st major leaguer with three 15–game streaks in the same season since Milwaukee's Cecil Cooper in 1980.
The Orioles bounce back from a 6–1 deficit to defeat the Red Sox, 13–7. Jeff Conine has five hits for Baltimore. The Birds steal five bases on slow Nomo.
Greg Colbrunn hits a pinch-hitter home run in the Diamondbacks' 13–6 win over the Cubs. Colbrunn's blast is the 13th pinch-hitter round–tripper of the year for Arizona, breaking the NL mark set by the 1957 Reds.
IN THE NEWS: The Reds defeat the Cardinals, 5–4, on Ken Griffey Jr.'s 11th–inning inside–the–park home run. The run-off home run breaks the Cardinals 11–game winning streak. The Cards, who also won 10 in a row in May, are the 1st team since the 1978 Pirates to post a pair of double–digit win streaks in the same season.
Kerry Wood has an MRI that comes out clean, but the Cubs ace will miss a month with tendinitis in his shoulder.
IN THE NEWS: In what is believed to be an OB first, Tim Raines Jr. and Tim Raines face each other in a double header between Ottawa and Rochester (IL). Each is 1-for-3 in the opener, while Jr. tops his dad in the nitecap, going 1-for-4.
IN THE NEWS: Cubs OF Sammy Sosa hits three home runs in a game for the second time in two weeks as he leads Chicago to a 16–3 win over the Brewers. Sosa is removed from the game following his home run in the 6th inning, missing a chance to tie the ML single–game mark of 4.
The Mariners score six runs in the 1st inning and seven in the 3rd on their way to a 16–1 victory over the Tigers. 3B David Bell gets five hits for Seattle, including a double and home run.
KC scores seven runs in the 1st inning, but the White Sox bounce back with an 8–run 6th frame on their way to a 13–12 win over the Royals.
IN THE NEWS: The Pirates defeated the Diamondbacks, 5–1, despite a 16–strikeout performance in seven innings of work by Randy Johnson. In doing so, Johnson became the first pitcher in history to fan 300 in four straight seasons.
Barry Bonds and Shawon Dunston of the San Francisco Giants became just the 12th pair of teammates to hit back-to-back homers as pinch hitters when they go deep in the top of the ninth. Bonds pinch homer is his first since 1989 and snaps a 5–5 tie. It is also his 549th home run, moving him ahead of Mike Schmidt into 8th place. The Giants win, 10-5.
In a 6–2 loss to the Blue Jays, it is a busy night for Twins CF Torii Hunter. Hunter throws out consecutive runners at Darrin Fletcher and Homer Bush, both trying to stretch singles. Later in the inning he bobbles a ball for an error. Roy Halladay is the winning pitcher.
IN THE NEWS: The Colorado Rockies defeat the Mets, 10–0, in P Jason Jennings' major league debut. Jennings hurled a 5–hit shutout, while getting three safeties himself, including a home run. He becomes the first pitcher since 1900 to hurl a shutout and hit a home run in his first big league game.
IN THE NEWS: The Mariners edge the Indians, 3–2 in 11 innings, in a game marked by a bench–clearing incident in the 9th inning. When Seattle's Arthur Rhodes comes on to pitch in relief, Cleveland batter Omar Vizquel complains that sunlight is reflecting off the reliever's right earring. Rhodes begins yelling at Vizquel and is eventually ejected by 3rd–base umpire Tim McClelland.
The Yankees defeat the Angels, 7–5, as Roger Clemens becomes the 1st AL hurler to go 17–1 to begin a season. OF Paul O'Neill hits his 20th home run of the year, making him the oldest player in history—at age 38—to reach the 20 home run–20 SB mark in a season.
The Rangers defeat the Red Sox, 8–7 in 18 innings, in six hours, 35 minutes—the longest game of the season. The teams combined to use 17 pitchers, one away from the major-league record for an extra–inning contest. Boston makes an error and a wild pitch in the last frame, and Chad Curtis scores on a grounder after stealing 3B. Chris Michalak is the winning pitcher: he was the loser yesterday.
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs defeat the Cardinals, 6–1, as Sammy Sosa hits two more home runs, his 50th and 51st of the season. In doing so, he joins Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players with four 50–homer seasons.
The Indians edge the Mariners, 4–3, ending Ichiro Suzuki's 21–game hitting streak.
Led by hot-hitting Adam Dunn's four hits and Ken Griffey Jr.'s four RBIs, the Reds roll by Montreal, 17–4. Robin Jennings, in his ML debut, collects four hits, a Reds club record and tying the ML record.
The Diamondbacks score in the 10th inning to defeat the Phillies, 4–3. Philadelphia rookie SS Jimmy Rollins is caught stealing in the 3rd inning, the first time in his career after a streak of 35 consecutive steals. Luis Gonzalez receives the ultimate compliment when the Phils give him an intentional walk with the bases empty. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gonzalez joins Manny Ramirez Jason Giambi, Mike Piazza, and Jim Thome as the only players to receive an intentional pass with the bases empty this season. Ramirez is the only one of the group to have been walked intentionally twice this year with no ducks on the pond.
IN THE NEWS: The Marlins defeat the Cubs, 4–3, despite Sammy Sosa's 52nd home run. The blast gives Sosa a share of the NL record for home runs in August, tying the mark set by Willie Mays in 1965. He also ties Babe Ruth for the most homers in seven consecutive seasons: the Babe hit 343 between 1926-32. Mark McGwire has hit 338 homers from 1995 through this year.
Seattle OF Ichiro Suzuki reaches 200 hits for the season as the Mariners fall to the Devil Rays, 6–0. By going 2–for–3, Suzuki becomes only the 3rd AL rookie to reach 200 hits since 1964. KC's Kevin Seitzer reached the mark in 1987 and Boston's Nomar Garciaparra ten years later.
IN THE NEWS: The Cardinals down the Padres, 16–14, in the highest scoring game of the season. St. Louis scores nine runs off Bobby Jones in the 2nd inning, while Ryan Klesko goes 5–for–6 for San Diego, with two home runs, two doubles, and five RBIs. One of the homers travels an estimated 472 feet, the longest by an opposing player at Busch Stadium since figures were recorded in 1988.
The Diamondbacks whitewash the Giants, 2–0, as OF Luis Gonzalez becomes the 19th player in history to hit 50 home runs in a season.
IN THE NEWS: 3B Bill Mueller's walk–off home run gives the Cubs a 5–4 victory over the Marlins. 1B Fred McGriff hits a 3–run home run as he reaches 80 RBIs for the 14th straight season, becoming only the 2nd player in ML history to do so. Hank Aaron holds the record with 17 straight years.
The Mariners defeat the Devil Rays, 4–0, giving them a major-league record 27 consecutive regular–season road series without losing a series. The old record of 26 road series without a loss was set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs.
Led by Eric Chavez, who drives home a eight runs, the A's defeat the Orioles, 15–0. He'll knock in three more tomorrow in the A's 9–5 win over Tampa Bay.
The Little League forfeits all games won by the Bronx World Series entry after it is discovered that star pitcher Danny Almonte is 14. Sports Illustrated first broke the story with evidence of two birth registrations, the 2nd, which took two years off, made just weeks before the boy entered the United States. Continued protests of racism against Dominicans prompts further investigations which will show that Almonte and others did not even attend school in the Bronx, did not play the requisite number of games with their Bronx team, that their coach had been banned from Caribbean Little League play in 1988 for using overage players, and that Danny's older brother was 14 when he played in 2000.
IN THE NEWS: The Reds rout the Pirates , 11–3, behind the slugging of rookie Robin Jennings. Jennings hits his 1st ML homer, a grand slam, in the 7-run 4th and adds a bases-loaded triple for seven RBIs.
The Braves acquire vet Julio Franco from the Mexico City Tigers. Franco, 40, who led the Mexican League with a .437 average, has been out of the majors since 1997. In a separate deal, the Braves pick up P Rudy Seanez from the Padres for a player to be named later.
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