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Rules: 1845-1899
Rules: 1900-present

Every Friday during the 1999 season, BaseballLibrary.com brought its readers a slice of baseball history. We called 'em Friday Flashbacks, and since we had such a great response we've continued to "Flash Back" every Friday of the 2000 season as well.

Here's a compendium of every story we've presented: from the tragic to the triumphant to the trivial.

.	APRIL
APRIL 7, 1984	» Dr. K's Debut
	.	"The guy has a 93-mile-per-hour fastball and one of the best curves in baseball and you ask me about his poise?" replied Jim Frey
APRIL 9, 1913	» The Dodgers Move Into Ebbets Field
	.	What had been a malodorous garbage dump, surrounded by shantytowns, became the home of Brooklyn's beloved Dodgers
APRIL 14, 1969	» Baseball Crosses the Border
	.	Baseball has long been known as the great American game. But on a sixty-five degree night in Montreal, the national pastime went international
APRIL 16, 1940	» Bob Feller's Opening Day No-Hitter
	.	The first -- and most memorable -- of the three no-hitters Feller would throw in his eighteen-year Hall of Fame career
APRIL 21, 1902	» The Phillies Strike Back
	.	Philadelphia may be the city of Brotherly Love, but at the turn of the century its two baseball teams were at each other's throats
APRIL 23, 1962	» Mets Win Their First Ever
	.	"I ain't fooled," Stengel confided in reporters before the season began. "They play different when the other team is trying, too"
APRIL 28, 1953	» Rumble in St. Louis
	.	Clint Courtney's brawl costs players $850, a major-league record at the time. Billy Martin was fined, too -- without throwing a punch
APRIL 30, 1939	» Lou Gehrig's Last Game
	.	"On eyewitness testimony alone," wrote Joe Williams of the New York Telegram, "the verdict must be that of a battle-scarred veteran falling apart"

Back to top	MAY
MAY 5, 1955	» Lasorda's Wild Start
	.	In the first inning of his first major-league start, the future Dodger skipper ties an NL record -- with three wild pitches
MAY 7, 1903	» Yankees vs. Red Sox, Round 1
	.	Most of the participants in that historic first game were out of baseball by the time the Babe Ruth sale broke Boston's heart
MAY 12, 1950	» Red Sox to Fans: "Ted's Sorry"
MAY 14, 1927	» Last Man Standing
	.	Boston Braves starter Charlie Robertson locked heads with the Chicago Cubs' Guy Bush for over 17 innings -- and lost
MAY 19, 1962	» Musial Passes Wagner
	.	Stan "The Man" becomes the NL hit king. "I never worked so hard as I did for the last two [hits]," he told reporters
MAY 21, 1952	» The Bums Bombard Blackwell
	.	Ewell Blackwell owned the Dodgers ... until Brooklyn got their revenge with the biggest single-inning barrage in modern baseball history
MAY 26, 1959	» The Greatest Game Ever Lost
MAY 28, 1921	» Luque Loses It
	.	Long before Joaquin Andujar and Oil Can Boyd were even born, Dolf Luque was the epitome of nastiness on the mound

Back to top	JUNE
JUNE 2, 1935	» The Babe Calls It Quits
JUNE 4, 1974	» 10-Cent Beer Night
	.	The Indians graciously gave away their beer. Their fans gave away the game
JUNE 9, 1945	» Durocher Arrested for Assault
JUNE 11, 1990	» Another No-No For Nolan
	.	In only his second start after being disabled for three weeks with back woes, Ryan becomes the oldest pitcher to ever hurl a no-hitter
JUNE 16, 1996	» Mel Allen Dies
JUNE 18, 1977	» Reggie Jackson vs. Billy Martin
	.	Like Jackson, Martin had a knack for stirring up trouble, except Martin let his fists -- not his mouth -- do the talking
JUNE 23, 1917	» Ernie Shore's Near-Perfect Game
JUNE 25, 1968	» Bobby Bonds' Grand Entrance
	.	His sixth-inning homer off Dodgers reliever Jack Purdin made him the first player in 70 years to hit a grand slam in his first major-league game
JUNE 30, 1970	» Riverfront Stadium Opens

Back to top	JULY
JULY 2, 1903	» The Odd Death of The King of Swat
	.	Ed Delahanty was the sport's first bona fide slugger, leading the league with 19 homers and 146 RBI in 1893. Ten years later he was dead
JULY 7	» From Mobile to Cleveland to Cooperstown
JULY 9, 1971	» "Bananas" Foster's Bumbling Debut
	.	Hank Aaron once recalled, "My arrival in the major leagues was pretty dull. No drama, no excitement, absolutely none." Leo Foster wasn't as fortunate
JULY 14, 1946	» Boudreau's "Williams Shift" Is Born
JULY 16, 1941	» 56 In A Row For Joltin' Joe
	.	Only 15,000 fans showed up at League Park to see Joe DiMaggio extend his record hitting streak to 56 games with a first-inning single off Cleveland's Al Milnar
JULY 21, 1972	» Hoyt Calls it Quits
JULY 23, 1960	» Jimmy Piersall's Williams Shift
	.	Piersall's seventeen-year tenure in the big leagues spanned the spectrum from the ridiculous to the sublime
JULY 28, 1993	» Anthony Young Finally Wins One
JULY 30, 1980	» Stroke Ends J.R. Richard's Career
	.	"What's with J.R.?" was Baseball's Big Question after the crown jewel of the Astros' rotation left for the All-Star Game complaining of a "dead arm"

Back to top	AUGUST
AUGUST 4, 1982	» Let's Play Two, Joel Youngblood
AUGUST 6, 1952	» Ol' Satch Goes the Distance
	.	Satchel Paige found himself throwing a lot of extra innings in 1952. In the process, he became the oldest man ever to throw a complete game
AUGUST 11, 1988	» Carter Hits No. 300 ... Finally
AUGUST 13, 1958	» Rocky Colavito Pitches In
	.	The slugger's first appearance on a major-league mound wasn't mop-up duty. It came in a tight game against Detroit, and he dominated the Tigers
AUGUST 18, 1983	» The Pine Tar Game Finally Ends
AUGUST 20, 1964	» Phil Linz Tunes Up the Yanks
	.	1964 marked the last year of a great Yankee dynasty. It also marked the end of harmonica tunes on the Yankee team bus
AUGUST 25, 1986	» McGwire Hits His First Home Run
AUGUST 27, 1982	» Rickey Runs to Glory
	.	Rickey Henderson has said that runs are the most important statistics in baseball. But on Aug. 27, 1982, he only cared about stealing second

Back to top	SEPTEMBER
SEPT. 3, 1966	» Robin Roberts: HR Record-Breaker
	.	Good news for gopherballers: the most homered-upon pitcher in baseball history is enshrined in the Hall of Fame
SEPT. 10, 1934	» Happy New Year, Hank!
	.	Detroit's chief rabbi had opined earlier in the week that since Rosh Hashanah was a festive holiday, Greenberg would not be out of line if he chose to play
SEPT. 17, 1935	» The Fateful Fire Extinguisher
	.	Being cut loose from the Dodgers prompted another drinking binge, and the intoxicated Koenecke caught an American Airlines flight heading north from St. Louis
SEPT. 24, 1969	» "We're No.1! We Really Are!"
	.	Joe Torre's grounder at 9:07 p.m. clinched the NL East title for the Mets, who had been in first place for just two weeks

Back to top	OCTOBER
OCT. 1, 1961	» Roger Takes On the Babe
	.	With one more round-tripper, Maris would pass the Bambino as baseball's most prolific single-season slugger. But he'd hit just two in the past two weeks
OCT. 8, 1973	» Friday Night at the Fights
	.	In a desperate move designed to kick-start his team, Pete Rose throttled lightweight Mets shortstop Buddy Harrelson
OCT. 15, 1988	» Gimpy Gibson Beats the A's
	.	As Mel Didier had predicted, Eckersley served up a hanging slider. Gibson launched it into the right-field seats