Aardsma is No. 1 in one MLB category
Just like his superstar Giants teammate Barry Bonds, David Aardsma once knocked Hall of Famer Hank Aaron from the top spot in Major League Baseball’s record book after decades spent being No. 1.
Unlike Bonds, though, there wasn’t a hint or suspicion of anything unnatural about the way the then-rookie relief pitcher dropped the great Aaron down a notch in baseball annals. A check of Aardsma’s birth certificate would have confirmed that.
Aardsma got the better of Aaron three years before Bonds, amid performance-enhancing drug accusations, became the sport’s all-time home run king by launching career homer No. 756 off Washington’s Mike Bacsik at AT&T Park in 2007 as the nation watched. Aardsma passed Aaron with little to no fanfare, and he did it by just being himself.
Most didn’t notice when Aardsma made his major league debut with the Giants on April 6, 2004 he also ended Aaron’s 50year hold as the first player listed alphabetically in baseball history. Aardsma remains solidly on top alphabetically among the list of 19,364 players who have appeared in a game since Major League Baseball began 150 years ago.
Aardsma figures to stay atop baseball’s alphabetical list for the foreseeable future. His latest threat vanished in 2014 when Brian Aanderud of the Frontier League’s River City Rascals in Missouri decided to retire.
As far as quirky baseball records go, Aardsma’s also may be No. 1. But he wasn’t really overly impressed about his place in baseball history. This is a guy who, after being told in a short 2003 draft day phone call with Giants general manager Brian Sabean he was the team’s No. 1 pick, drew a blank after he hung up and his dad excitedly asked him which team drafted him.
“Oh ... oh, I don’t remember!” Aardsma sheepishly admitted to his dad while laughing. “I don’t know. I think it was the Giants, but I don’t know!”
Aardsma was acutely aware of what was going on a year later when Giants manager Felipe Alou summoned him into San Francisco’s second game of the season in Houston.
It was time for Aaron to move aside when Aardsma entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was also the right-hander’s time for his first challenge — future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio was the first batter he faced. Biggio quickly bounced out to first baseman J.T. Snow.
Aardsma would finish his first game by throwing two scoreless innings and picking up the victory in the Giants’ 7-5 win.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for Aardsma the rest of the 2004 season. After 11 games with the Giants, his ERA sat at 6.75 and he was sent down to Triple-A Fresno. He would bounce up and down between Fresno and the Giants five more times that year.
Aardsma was traded to the Cubs in 2006 and went on to spend the next 10 years pitching for seven different major league teams. His career peaked in 2010 when he saved 31 games for the Mariners, then plummeted a year later after having Tommy John surgery.
Since his career ended, Aardsma has learned to have a little fun with his slice of notoriety. He’s been known to send a celebratory tweet out on Feb. 5 to Aaron himself as a playful reminder.
Now working in the Blue Jays organization, Aardsma last appeared in a big league game in 2015 with the Braves. His final career statistical sheet shows he went 16-18 overall with a 4.27 ERA with 69 saves.
If you’re looking for more statistics and details on Aardsma’s career, it should be easy to find on any site for MLB players. Just look at the very top.
Also on this date ...
2019: The Giants beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 in their second game of the season, but San Francisco had its lowest single-game attendance in nine years at Oracle Park. The 31,828fans were the least amount since Sept. 1, 2010. San Francisco finished 2019with its lowest season attendance — 2.7million — while averaging a park-low 33,429fans per game.
2010: The Stanford women’s basketball team, playing in the NCAA championship game for the second time in three years, came up short again, losing to UConn 53-47at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The Cardinal (36-2) led 20-12at halftime, a record-low for first-half points in UConn history, but the Huskies (39-0) rallied behind Maya Moore, who finished with 23points and 11rebounds. Two years earlier, Stanford had lost the final to Tennessee 64-48.
1977: New 49ers general manager Joe Thomas fired coach Monte Clark, who had led San Francisco to an 8-6record in 1976, and replaced him with Ken Meyer. The career assistant coach lasted just one year before getting fired immediately after the season - the 49ers went 5-9after a disastrous 0-5start.
1973: On Opening Day in Oakland, the Twins’ Tony Oliva became the first designated hitter to ever hit a home run when he blasted a two-run shot off Catfish Hunter in Minnesota’s 8-3win. The A’s Billy North served as the team’s first ever designated hitter and had two hits.