THIS DATE IN BASEBALL
October 1
1903: The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Red Sox, 7-3, in the first World Series game. Jimmy Sebring hit the first series home run. Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.
1932: Babe Ruth, as legend has it, called his home run against Chicago's Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series, won by the New York Yankees 7-5 at Wrigley Field. Ruth and Lou Gehrig each hit two homers for the Yankees.
1950: The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL pennant on Dick Sisler's three-run homer against Don Newcombe in a 4-1 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers on the season's last day.
1961: Roger Maris ended a season of personal torment by hitting his 61st home run against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipsed Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season home run record. The Yankees won, 1-0.
1967: The Boston Red Sox won the American League pennant with a 5-3 win over the Twins on the final day of the season. Boston's Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-4 and finished with 44 home runs, 121 RBIs and a .326 average to win the batting Triple Crown.
1978: The Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees 9-2 on the last day of the season to force a one-game playoff between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won their eighth straight game with a 5-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
2000: Detroit's Shane Halter became the fourth major leaguer to play all nine positions in a game, and capped his adventure by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tigers over Minnesota 12-11.
2009: Pitcher Chris Carpenter hit a grand slam and drove in six runs to lead St. Louis to a 13-0 victory over the Reds.
2014: Madison Bumgarner pitched a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Brandon Crawford hit the first grand slam by a shortstop in postseason history as the San Francisco Giants routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 in the National League wild-card game.
2015: The New York Yankees clinched an AL wild-card spot, ending a two-year absence from the postseason by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.