ON THIS DATE

AUG. 16

1920 : Shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch in the fifth inning by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffered a fractured skull and died the next day. It is the only field fatality in major league history.

1927 : Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became the first player to clear the roof at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ruth’s home run came off White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas in the 8-1 win. 1947 : Ralph Kiner hit three successive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field.

1950 : Hank Thompson hit two insidethe-park home runs in the Giants’ 16-7 rout of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds.

1967 : Jim Maloney of Cincinnati retired 19 consecutive Pirates but had to leave the game after he injured his ankle by stepping in a hole at Forbes Field. Billy Mccool allowed two hits over the final 2 2-3 innings to give the Reds a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.

1987 : Tim Raines of the Montreal

Expos went 5-for-5 with four extra-base hits and the cycle in a 10-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1987 : New York’s Darryl Strawberry drove in five runs with four extra-base hits to lead the Mets to a 23-10 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

1989 : Tom Drees pitched his third no-hitter of the season for AAA Vancouver, beating Las Vegas, 5-0, in the 7-inning opener of a doubleheader.

He had consecutive 1-0 no-hitters, beating Calgary in nine innings (May 23) and Edmonton in seven (May 28). 1996 : With 23,699 fans at the 25,644seat Estadio Monterrey, the San Diego Padres defeated the New York Mets 15-10 in the first major league regular-season game played outside the United States or Canada.

2011 : Albert Pujols of St. Louis reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Pittsburgh.