ON THIS DATE

MAY 17

1925: Cleveland’s Tris Speaker got his 3,000th career hit, off Tom Zachary, in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators.

1939: The first baseball game on television was broadcast by W2XBS, an experimental station run by NBC in New York. Bill Stern handled the play-by-play as Princeton beat Columbia, 2-1, in 10 innings.

1945: For the fourth time in four days, every American League game in the country was postponed by rain.

1961: Roger Maris hit his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (fourth overall) on his way to a record 61.

1963: Don Nottebart pitched Houston’s first no-hitter as the Colt .45s defeated the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4-1.

1970: Hank Aaron scratched out an infield single against Cincinnati’s Wayne Simpson

to become the ninth player with 3,000 hits. The hit came in the nightcap of the Atlanta Braves’ doubleheader loss to the Reds in Cincinnati.

1977: The Chicago Cubs hit seven home runs in beating the San Diego Padres 23-6 at Wrigley Field. Larry Biittner, Jerry Morales and Bobby Murcer hit consecutive home runs in the fifth for the Cubs.

1979: Dave Kingman of the Cubs hit three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hit two, and Philadelphia beat Chicago 23-22 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBIs for Chicago. The game included 11 home runs and 50 hits.

1984: Alan Wiggins of the San Diego Padres tied a National League record by stealing five bases in one game. He joined three others who have performed the feat — Dan McGann in 1904, Davey Lopes in 1974 and Lonnie Smith in 1982.