This Date In Baseball

1911 — The Philadelphia Athletics scored twice in the 11th to beat the New York Giants 3-2 in Game 3 of the World Series. Frank Baker hit a home run in the ninth inning off Christy Mathewson to tie the score 1-1. Baker was tagged with the nickname “Home Run” for his exploits.

1960 — The National League formally awarded franchises to the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc., headed by Joan Payson and a Houston group headed by Judge Roy Hofheinz, Craig Cullinan and R.E. Smith.

1979 — Willie Stargell’s two-run homer gave the Pirates a 4-1 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles and the World Series in seven games.

1987 — The Minnesota Twins overpowered St. Louis 10-1 in the opening game of the first indoor World Series. Dan Gladden’s grand slam capped a seven-run fourth inning.

1989 — Minutes before Game 3 of the World Series between Oakland and San Francisco, an earthquake hit the Bay Area. The game was postponed and the series resumed 11 days later.

1995 — The Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0 in Game 6 of the American League championship series to claim their first AL pennant since 1954.

1996 — The Atlanta Braves had the biggest blowout in postseason history, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 15-0 in Game 7 of the NL championship series to complete a comeback from a 3-1 deficit. The Cardinals became the only club to blow a 3-1 edge three times in the postseason.

1999 — The New York Mets outlasted Atlanta with a 4-3 victory in 15 innings, cutting the Braves’ lead to 3-2 in the NL championship series. Robin Ventura’s grand slam-turned-single drove home the winning run and gave the Mets the win in the longest postseason contest in baseball history.

2000 — The New York Yankees followed the Mets into the World Series, rallying from a four-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 9-7 and win the AL championship series 4-2. David Justice, who hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 6, was the MVP.

2001 — Tom Glavine allowed Arizona one run in seven innings to tie teammate John Smoltz’s major league record with his 12th postseason victory as Atlanta posted an 8-1 win.

2005 — The NL championship series shifted back to St. Louis after Albert Pujols’ dramatic two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning rallied the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over Houston in Game 5.