2 August in Sports History

Great events in sports history by individuals occurred on the date of August 2 and we try and capture them to share the memory of the players of seasons past.

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from some great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

38 -  44 - 6 - 4 - 25 - 35 - 1 - 18 - 21

August 2, 1907 - Legendary pitcher Walter Johnson at 19 began his 21 year Baseball Hall of Fame playing career with Washington with 3-2 loss v Detroit

August 2, 1921 - After 3 hours deliberation a Chicago jury acquits 8 Chicago White Sox accused in Black Sox scandal. However the very next day the players suffered a sentence as they were all banned from organized baseball for life.

Photo above is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the Chicago White Sox players known as the "Black Sox" with their lawyers during the 1921 trial.
Seated from left: Chick Gandil, Lefty Williams, Swede Risberg, Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, and Shoeless Joe Jackson., taken by an unknown.

August 2, 1924 - Philadelphia A's first baseman Joe Hauser set an AL record of 14 total bases in a game. Hauser crushed 3 home runs and a double as Philadelphia beats Cleveland Indians, 12-4 at Dunn Field

August 2, 1929 - Philadelphia 1st baseman Don Hurst set an NL record of 6 consecutive games with a home run in the Phillies' 2-0 triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates

August 2, 1959 - Milwaukee Braves outfielder Bill Bruton, Number 38 hit 3 triples in 11-5 win v St. Louis Cardinals; 2 of them bases loaded, first time in 20th Century

August 2, 1959 - San Francisco Giants Future Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey, Number 44 hit the first of his 521 MLB home runs in SF Giants 5-3 win v Pittsburgh Pirates

August 2, 1968 - Yes there are trade backs! Ron Hansen (Washington Senators Number 6) and Tim Cullen (Chicago White Sox Number 4) became the first MLB players to be traded for each other twice in the same season. The pair had been swapped for each other earlier that year in February in opposite directions. They even took on the uniform number of the other when they switched teams. Both were number 4 with the Chisox and number 6 with the Sens in 1968.

August 2, 1973 - Future Baseball Hall of Fame 3rd baseman George Brett, wearing Number 25 that season smacked his 1st MLB hit on debut for the Kansas City Royals in 3-1 win over Chicago White Sox

August 2, 1979 - Some convenient shopping, when you see it you buy it. The New York Mets purchased contract of outfielder José Cardenal, Number 1 from Philadelphia Phillies between games of a double-header between the two teams and then wore Number 6 with the Mets.

August 2, 1982 - Oakland outfielder Rickey Henderson, Number 35 stole his 100th MLB base of the season in 6-5 win v Seattle. With this he became the first to swipe 100 bases in a season twice in modern era of baseball

August 2, 1987 - Cincinnati Reds outfielder Number 44, Eric Davis was the 7th to hit 30home runs and steal 30 bases in one season as he homers in Reds 5-4 win versus the  Giants

August 2, 1987 - Michael Andretti in the Number 18 Blue and gold Kraco sponsored Indy car ran the fastest Indy car race in history (171.49mph) in winning the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan

August 2, 1990 - He did it in just 77 at bats for a MLB record. New York Yankees rookie first baseman Kevin Maas, Number 21 belted his 10th MLB homer in 6-5 loss v Detroit, fastest to reach that mark, just 77 visits to the plate.

August 2, 1992 - Tom Seaver, Rollie Fingers, Hal Newhouser and Bill McGowan are welcomed and inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the Chicago White Sox players known as the "Black Sox" with their lawyers during the 1921 trial.
Seated from left: Chick Gandil, Lefty Williams, Swede Risberg, Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, and Shoeless Joe Jackson., taken by an unknown.