This Date in Baseball

1923: Lefty O’Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, allowed 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 273. In 1928, he was to return to the majors as a great hitting outfielder.

1936: The NL won its first AllStar Game 43 at Braves Field in Boston.

1937: Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 83 victory over the NL in the AllStar Game at Washington’s Griffith Stadium. In attendance was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1959: At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two AllStar games played that season went to the NL, 54. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays.

1964: The NL beat the AL 74 in the AllStar Game on Johnny Callison’s twoout, threerun homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York’s Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17171) for the first time since the series began.

1998: Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter’s haven as the American League beat the National League 138 at Coors Field in the highestscoring AllStar Game in majorleague history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL’s 119 win in 1954.

2006: Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in majorleague history to hit five grand slams before the AllStar break when he connected in the second inning of a 90 win over Baltimore.

2009: Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado’s 54 victory over Washington without throwing a pitch. He entered with two outs in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. It was the first time a majorleaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003.