May 4 in Tigers and mlb history:
1869: The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first all-professional baseball team, start their first regular season with a 45 - 9 victory over the Great Westerns of Cincinnati.
1871: A National Association contest between the Cleveland Forest Citys and Fort Wayne Kekiongas is officially the first Major League game ever played. Fort Wayne is the winner, 2 - 0, behind a four-hit shutout by pitcher Bobby Mathews. Al Pratt is the losing pitcher. Cleveland's catcher, Deacon White, is 3 for 4, including the first hit (a double) and also is the first to hit into a double play. Bill Lennon becomes the first catcher to throw a runner out trying to steal second base. In the 127 games during the 1871 season, there are a total of four shutouts.
1902: George Mullin, a 5 time 20 game winning excellent Tigers pitcher, makes his big league debut.
1910: Not wanting to offend either club, U.S. President William Howard Taft attends two games in one day. After watching part of a game between the hometown St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds at Robison Field, he travels cross-town to watch the remainder of the game between the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Naps at Sportsman's Park.
1919: For the first time, Sunday baseball can be played legally in New York, following the passage of the "Sunday Baseball Law", signed by Governor Al Smith on April 19th. 35,000 fans crowd the Polo Grounds to watch the Giants lose to the Phillies, 3 - 1, while at Ebbets Field, the Robins draw 25,000 spectators to their game. Future New York City Mayor and die-hard Giants fan Jimmy Walker is the prime mover behind the law.
1922: Hall of Fame Tigers outfielder Harry Heilmann smacks his only career walk-off homer. It?s a doozy, too. With the Tigers trailing the Browns 5-3 and two on, he hits a three-run shot off Elam Vangilder.
1928: Ty Cobb becomes the second member of the 700-double club, joining Tris Speaker. All these years later only two have joined them; Stan Musial and Pete Rose.
1931: In an effort to put less strain on his leg, Babe Ruth plays first base as Lou Gehrig moves to right field. Gehrig commits a costly error in the outfield helping the Washington Senators beat the Yankees, 7 - 3.
1933: Brooklyn honors Pittsburgh Pirates legend Honus Wagner! (Pictured L-R) Borough President Henry Hesterberg, Wagner and boxing legend Jack Dempsey! #MLB #Baseball #History
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1933: Charlie Gehringer breaks up a no-hitter by the Yankees' Lefty Gomez with a home run in the bottom of the 9th.
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1939: In his first-ever at-bat in the city of Detroit, Boston Red Sox rookie Ted Williams becomes the first player to hit a home run which totally clears the right field seats at Briggs Stadium.
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1943: National League President Ford C. Frick demonstrates that the revised balata ball is livelier than the previous year's ball by bouncing it on a carpet in his office. The major leagues have turned to the balata ball because of wartime restrictions on the supplies used to make standard baseballs.
1951: Dick Kryhoski goes 4-for-4 with 3 doubles and a stolen base. Tigers score 5 runs in the 6th and 3 in the 7th to beat the Red Sox 8-4.
1961: Tigers 6 - Senators 0. Don Mossi pitches a 2-hit complete game. Norm Cash finishes 2-for-3, Jake Wood, Al Kaline, & Steve Boros with 2 hits each. Tigers are 12-5, Tied for AL lead.
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1963: The Detroit Tigers purchased Tom Sturdivant from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1963: The Milwaukee Braves purchased Bubba Morton from the Detroit Tigers.
1966: Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants establishes a new National League record for most career home runs when he hits his 512th, surpassing the total of former New York Giants great Mel Ott. Mays' blast against Claude Osteen, which puts him fourth on the all-time list, helps the Giants beat the Dodgers, 6 - 1.
1975: Bob Watson of the Houston Astros races around the bases on Milt May's home run and crosses the plate at Candlestick Park in time to score the one millionth run in major league history, seconds ahead of Dave Concepci?n of the Cincinnati Reds, playing in a different game in another city, to earn the distinction.
1976: The Illinois Legislature declares today "Rick Monday Day" to honor his patriotic gesture on April 25th of saving an American flag from being burned by two spectators at Dodger Stadium.
1980: Fans at Tiger Stadium feel tremors from an earthquake in Kentucky during a Sunday afternoon game with the A's.
1980: Chicago White Sox first baseman Mike Squires catches the final inning of an 11 - 1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the first left-handed catcher to play in major league baseball since Dale Long in 1958.
1983: The Detroit Tigers returned Bob James to the Montreal Expos as part of a conditional deal.
1984: Lou Whitaker goes 4-for-5, Larry Herndon 3-for-5. Willie Hernandez pitches 4 shutout innings in relief in Tigers 9 - 2 win over indians.
Tigers get their 20th win.
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1996: The Texas Rangers become the first American League team in 79 years to pitch consecutive one-hitters as Roger Pavlik holds the Detroit Tigers to a 5th-inning home run in a 3 - 1 win. Ken Hill one-hit Detroit on May 3rd, retiring the last 26 batters he faced.
2007: The Detroit Tigers signed Henry Mateo as a free agent.
2010: Ernie Harwell, one of the greatest broadcasters in baseball history, dies at the age of 92 after a year-long bout with cancer. He was the radio and television voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 years, retiring from the booth in 2002. He received the Ford Frick Award in 1981 and was a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
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2012: With the Tigers trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jhonny Peralta smashes a walk-off 2-run home run and the Tigers beat the white sox 4 - 3.
2018: Albert Pujols of the Angels becomes the 32nd member of the 3,000 hit club with a 5th-inning single off Mike Leake of the Mariners. Pujols is only the fourth player to combine 3,000 hits and 600 homers, after Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Aroid.
2021: The minor leagues start their season, after having been on hiatus since September of 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In the interim, the governing structure, Minor League Baseball, has been thoroughly reorganized and in effect replaced by the Professional Development League.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tsitojo01.shtml
John Tsitouris 1957.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Howie_Koplitz
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kopliho01.shtml
Howie Koplitz 1961-1962.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leachri01.shtml
Rick Leach 1981-1983.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Brian_Maxcy
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maxcybr01.shtml
Brian Maxcy 1995-1996.
Tigers players and broadcasters who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mullebi01.shtml
Billy Mullen 1926.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Vic_Sorrell
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sorrevi01.shtml
Vic Sorrell 1928-1937.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Paul_Richards
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/richapa01.shtml
Paul Richards 1943-1946.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jim_Delsing
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/delsiji01.shtml
Jim Delsing 1952-1956.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Ernie_Harwell
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ernie-harwell/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Harwell
Ernie Harwell Tigers broadcaster/announcer/surrogate dad/grandpa to generations of Tigers fans. 1960-1991, 1993-2002.
Baseball Reference
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