9 July in Sports History

For this date in history of July 9 we have seen some truly great events in sports. A player with not one but two homeruns inside the ballpark and some pitching legends make their names remembered.

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.

3 - 6 - 31 - 36 - 24

July 9, 1914 - The Boston Red Sox purchased the contract of future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth's from minor league team of the Baltimore Orioles. Ruth had been trained as a child at the St. Mary's Inustrial School for Boy by a man there known as Brother Matthias according to BabeRuth.com. George Herman Ruth Jr.'s skills at the game became so refined that the Brothers at St. Marys invited the owner of the Orioles, Jack Dunn out to their campus to watch him play. Dunn was so impressed that he became the legal guardian of the 19 year-old and signed him on with the Orioles. So it would be a Baltimore to Boston and eventually the Yankees wearing Number 3 and Braves for the Great Bambino in his baseball career.

July 9, 1932 - Ben Chapman, wearing Number 6 for the New York Yankees hit 2 inside-the-park Home Runs, in just one game tying the record. In total he hit three home runs in the second game of a doubleheader with Detroit at Yankee Stadium. Two were  the inside-the-park, and the other was a smash over the wall as the Yankees won, 14 – 9.  Chapman ended his playing days in 1945 with 15 IPH for his career. To put that into perspective, Edd Roush hit 29 IPH, including four in the Federal League in 1914-15, over a career that ran to 1931. Kiki Cuyler had the best season mark for a player in that period with eight in 1925. Rabbit Maranville hit 22 in a very long career that finally wound up in 1935 according to SABR.org.

July 9, 1948 - Number 31, Satchel Paige, at the age of 42, debuted in the majors pitching 2 scoreless innings for the Cleveland Indians in St. Louis against the Browns.

July 9, 1953 - The Philadelphia Phillies Robin Roberts, Number 36 ended his pitching streak of 28 consecutive complete games 

July 9, 1968 - Wilt Chamberlain, Number 13 became the first reigning NBA MVP to be traded the next season when he moves from Philadelphia 76'ers to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

July 9, 1968 - At the 39th MLB All Star Game, Astrodome, Houston, it was the National League outlasting the American League, 1-0. The game's MVP was none other than centerfielder Willie Mays, wearing Number 24 of the Giants.

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 1933 Goudey baseball card of Ben Chapman of the New York Yankees #191. PD-not-renewed. From Goudey.