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Braves Franchise History
1919: It’s Hank Gowdy Day in Boston‚ the catcher’s first game after returning from the Army. He hits the first pitch he sees from Dolf Luque for a single‚ but the Reds prevail over the Braves‚ 10 – 4.
1920: The Braves beat the Reds‚ 7-0‚ behind Jack Scott’s three-hitter. Boston chases Jimmy Ring in the 3rd inning and goes on to tally 12 hits.
1926: Hack Wilson smacks a 5th-inning home run‚ a rare blast off the Wrigley Field scoreboard‚ situated at ground level‚ to start a rout of the Braves. The Cubs score seven runs in the 8th inning to win, 14-8. Sparky Adams contributes four hits for Chicago. Later that night‚ Wilson and a few others are arrested at a friend’s apartment for drinking beer in violation of the Prohibition Act. The scoreboard will be moved to the left field corner in 1937‚ before one will be built atop the newly built bleachers.
1928: Jack Slattery quits as manager of the last-place Braves. Owner Emil Fuchs announces that “after much persuasion” Rogers Hornsby has consented to take over as manager.
1945: Mort Cooper is traded by the Cardinals to the Braves. The three-time twenty-game winner has twice jumped the club in a salary hassle. Threatening to run out again unless his contract is increased from $12‚000 to $15‚000‚ Cooper is swapped by owner Sam Breadon to the newly affluent Braves for Red Barrett and $60‚000 cash. Cooper will develop arm trouble while Barrett‚ 9-16 in 1944‚ will win 21 games for the Cards this season.
1952: Sal Maglie wins his eighth without a loss‚ stopping the Braves‚ 5-3. Maglie tires in the 9th‚ giving up three hits‚ including a two-run homer by Ebba St. Claire. Al Dark’s two-run homer in the five-run 4th is the big blow for the Giants‚ who stay a half-game behind the Dodgers.
1965: The Braves trade OF Lee Maye to the Astros for P Ken Johnson and OF Jim Beauchamp.
1987: At Wrigley Field‚ the Cubs outlast the Atlanta Braves to win‚ 7-6‚ in 16 innings. Ryne Sandberg greets new reliever Jim Acker with a single and Jerry Mumphrey doubles him home. Dale Murphy is 2 for 3 and is walked five times for the second time in his career. Teammate Ozzie Virgil strikes out five times. The Braves garner 14 walks – six off winning pitcher Jamie Moyer‚ who allows no runs in 4 1/3 innings – and strand 17 runners.
1988: Braves manager Chuck Tanner is fired and replaced by Russ Nixon. The Braves were 12-27 under Tanner‚ last in the NL West.
MLB History
1989: The Cleveland Indians lose to the Detroit Tigers, 7-2, to drop their record to 21-22, but remain in first place in the AL East by percentage points. It marks the latest point in a season a sub-.500 team has been in first place.
1999: The Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays‚ 10-8‚ as Tom Gordon extends his major league record to 50 consecutive saves in 50 chances.
2002: At Miller Park, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the 14th man in major league history to hit four home runs in a game and also sets a big league record with 19 total bases. Green goes 6 for 6, scores six runs (both franchise records), and has seven RBI in a 16 – 3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Green is the second player this year to hit four home runs in a game, after Mike Cameron did it on May 2nd. He also surpasses Joe Adcock’s former mark of 18 total bases, set in 1954. Green also is the first major league player to collect six hits while hitting four homers, and his four homers plus a double tie the National League mark for extra-base hits. The Dodgers hit eight homers in the game, another franchise record. Before today’s power display, Green had gone 0 for 15, and had been benched on May 18th.
2016: The family of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn files a wrongful death lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Gwynn died in 2014 at age 44 of salivary gland cancer caused by using smokeless tobacco for over three decades.
2023: Gerrit Cole records the 2,000th strikeout of his career when he fans Jorge Mateo of the Orioles in the 2nd inning, becoming the third-fastest pitcher to the mark in terms of both games pitched (278) and innings pitched (1,714 2/3). It’s not his best start, however, as he gives up five runs in as many innings and is briefly overshadowed by a courageous squirrel that captures the fans’ attention at New Yankee Stadium by running along the top of the outfield fence before taking an epic fall into the playing area (the squirrel is unhurt). Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the 9th, the Yankees tie the game on a homer by Aaron Judge off closer Felix Bautista, and win it in the 10th, 6-5, on a sacrifice fly by rookie Anthony Volpe.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.