21 June in Sports History

Our Sports Break edition today explores a story where there may have been a player that broke the color barrier of the MLB in the 19th century; the first call of the Yankees and a pitching gem. These are just a few stories of team sports from June 21.

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.

4 - 5 - 14 

June 21, 1879 - Infielder William White played as a substitute in one game for the Providence Grays and became the first African-American to play in the MLB. White's light complexion gave onlookers the belief that he was Caucasian but in fact he was a man of color. According to an article on Slate.com, William Edward White was born in 1860 to parents who were a Georgia businessman and one of his slaves, who herself was of mixed race. 

June 21, 1904 - The Boston Herald reported a story of a Red Sox trade, "Dougherty as a Yankee," which in fact became the 1st known reference to New York baseball club as the Yankees. This franchise formally became known as the Yankees eleven years later in 1913.

June 21, 1916 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Rube Foster tossed a no-hit masterpiece against the New York Yankees for 2-0  victory at Fenway Park.

June 21, 1938 - Baseball's Pinky Higgins third baseman of the Boston Red Sox, who wore Number 5 knocked out his 12th straight hit. The Red Sox were visiting the Detroit Tigers in a twin-bill in which they split. Frank Pinky Higgins 8 hits in the first game led to an 8-3 victory for Boston. He went four for four in the second game keeping a perfect slate for the day.

22 Jun 1938, Wed The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Newspapers.com

June 21, 1939 - The New York Yankees announced that Number 4, Lou Gehrig would be retiring from baseball after doctors revealed he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Gehrig died on June 2, 1941 just days before his 38th birthday.

June 21, 1950 - New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio hit a milestone, almost literally as he reached his 2,000th hit in the MLB as the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-2 in Cleveland.

22 Jun 1950, Thu Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com

June 21, 1964 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning, Number 14 threw a perfect game from the mound as Philadelphia beats the New York Mets, 6-0 on Fathers Day at Shea Stadium

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 Babe Ruth, Ernie Shore, Rube Foster, Del Gainer, Boston Red Sox, American League print from the George Grantham Bain Collection