7 July in Sports History

In this episode of the Sports Break we discuss a couple of early All-Star games and some great performances on the field of play,  as well as many more HOF Legendary stories.

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.

51 - 2 - 6 - 9 - 4

July 7, 1900 - Boston Beaneaters pitcher Kid Nichols notches his 300th career MLB victory with an 11-4 win over Chicago Orphans. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame Charles “Kid” Nichols recorded 362 victories as he played for 15 seasons in the MLB. That lofty total over a century later, still ranks among the game’s all-time top win totals. Nichols was a professional baseball success story right out of the gate, and after being signed by Boston in 1890 he won 20-or-more games every year for his first 10 seasons, relying almost completely on his fastball throughout his career. For clarity Nichols currently sits at 7th on the MLB all-tme wins list for a pitcher behind Cy Young (511), Walter Johnson (417), Pete Alexander (373),  Christy Mathewson (373), Pud Galvin (365), and Warren Spahn (363).

July 7, 1912 - At the Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden all-around athlete Jim Thorpe took home gold medals in 4 of the 5 events his competed in. The former Carlisle football star would eventually lose the honor of gold for decades when the Olympic Committee stripped him of his winnings when they found out he was paid to play baseball in 1910.

July 7, 1919 - The Philadelphia Phillies had some fast players on their roster in 1919. The Phils baserunners tied an MLB record of 8 steals in an inning as they took these all in the 9th frame of a 10-5 loss vs NY Giants.

July 7, 1923 - The Cleveland Indians set an American League record of 27 runs including 13 in the 6th inning in a 27-3 win against the Boston Red Sox

July 7, 1936 - The 4th MLB All Star Game took place at Braves Field in Boston and the winds of change were blowing, mainly from the Windy City. After losing the first 3 All Star Games, finally the National League broke through and won by the score of 4-3. To aid in the cause were 4 different Cubs players scoring all the runs for the NL squad: Augie Galan, Number 51 homered a solo shot in the fifth inning; Number 2 Billy Herman; Frank Demaree wearing Number 6; and Gabby Hartnett in his Uniform Number 9

July 7, 1937 - The very next year at the 5th MLB All Star Game played at Griffin Stadium in Washington DC. The American League won the game 8-3 powered by Number 4 Lou Gehrig drove in 4 of the runs with a Home Run as well as a  later double.

July 7, 1948 - The Cleveland Indians in a surprising move by signed a 42 year old veteran Negro Leagues pitcher Satchel Paige to a Major League contract. Paige who wore Number 31 that season,  in 7 starts pitched 3 complete games with 6 wins and and an ERA of 2.48 in the partial season with the club. Oh and did I mention he also had a save too?

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 an Umpire making a call at a baseball game, taken by an unknown.