May 8 in Tigers and mlb history:
1900 - John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson end their holdout and sign with the Cardinals. Both contracts have the reserve clause crossed out, freeing McGraw to return to Baltimore in the American League in 1901.
1901: In a letter to American League team owners, Ban Johnson says that the rule requiring clubs to cut their players to 14 will not be enforced until May 20th.
1914 - When the Senators relieve with Walter Johnson, the A's greet him with six runs in three innings to drive the "Big Train" from the mound. Johnson throws the one and only beanball of his career, a fastball at the head of Frank "Home Run" Baker, a particular nemesis of Johnson's. The beanball misses Baker, whom Johnson calls "the most dangerous batter that I ever faced." Baker had hit .385 against the Nats ace up till this game in 4 seasons; he'll hit just .207 off him in the next nine years. When the dust settles, the game ends in a 9 - 9 tie.
1921 Ty Cobb hits a home run, a triple, and two doubles but no single, so no cycle.
1927: At Detroit, Marty McManus singles in two runs in the 9th to lead the Tigers to a 3 - 2 win over the Red Sox. Fats Fothergill goes hitless for the first time this season to end his 18-game hitting streak.
1937 - Washington's Bobo Newsom, who will pitch in four decades, hits his only major-leaguer homer. It comes in Detroit off Tiger ace Schoolboy Rowe as the "Talkative One" wins, 8 - 3.
1946: At Griffith Stadium, Detroit 2B Eddie Mayo snags a 3rd-inning liner off the bat of Gil Torres to start a triple play. The ball is deflected by P Hal Newhouser, but Mayo grabs it before it hits the ground. It is the second time in a year that Mayo has started a triple play off Torres: in the 2nd inning of the nitecap on July 20, 1945, Mayo grabbed a Torresline drive to start the triple killing.
1947 - A movement among Cardinal players to protest the first meeting with Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers is aborted by a clubhouse talk from owner Sam Breadon, according to a story by writer Stanley Woodward. League president Ford Frick had warned the team that if a strike occurred, any player involved would be suspended. Cardinal manager Eddie Dyer denies there was any strike talk
1961: The new National League entry in New York is officially named the "Mets." Not Metropolitans, just Mets. At a ceremony at the Savoy Hilton, owner Joan Payson swings a bottle of champagne and, after three unsuccessful whacks, turns the job over to a waiter who uses a bottle opener. The "Mets" was the choice among the 10 finalists: Continentals, Burros, Mets, Skyliners, Skyscrapers, Bees, Rebels, NYBs, Avengers, and Jets. The original list was 644 names from 9,613 suggestions. The Metropolitans nickname had been used by the New York American Associationteam in the 1880s.
1963: Pirates LF Willie Stargell's first major league homer and Cubs P Bob Buhl's first major league hit in 88 at-bats highlight a 9 - 5 Chicago win over Pittsburgh.
1963: The Braves acquire Chico Fernandez from the Tigers for Lou Johnson and cash, then turn around and swap him to the Mets for Larry Foss.
1963: A Stan Musial home run against the Dodgers gives him 1,357 extra-base hits, surpassing Babe Ruth's major league record. He will get 20 more; his record will later be broken by Hank Aaron.
1965: A major league-record streak of 438 chances accepted without an error and 89 straight errorless games by Baltimore2B Jerry Adair ends with his 8th-inning fumble in a 4 - 3, 15-inning loss to the Tigers.
1968 - Oakland's Catfish Hunter pitches a perfect game against the Twins, winning 4 - 0. The 22-year old righthander hurls the first American League regular-season perfecto in 46 years. He strikes out 11, including Harmon Killebrew three times, and drives in three of the A's four runs, the other coming on a two-out, bases-loaded walk to 1B Danny Cater in the 8th inning. Only 6,298 fans are in attendance.
1973: Ralph Miller, the last living 19th century ballplayer, dies in Cincinnati at 100 years of age. He is the first former major leaguer to become a centenarian.
1979: During an 8 - 7 loss to Texas, Kansas City loses two regulars, both as a result of being hit by pitches from Ed Farmer. OF Al Cowens suffers a fractured jaw and will miss 21 games; 2B Frank White sustains a broken hand and will sit out 33 contests. Farmer will be traded three times in the next 12 months. On June 20, 1980, Cowens will hit a grounder off Farmer and charge the mound in retaliation for today's game.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dan_Brouthers
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/broutda01.shtml?redir
Dan Brouthers Detroit Wolverines 1886-1888.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/skopejo01.shtml
John Skopec 1903.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Turkey_Stearnes
http://www.baseball-reference.com/nonmlbpa/steartu99.shtml
http://baseballhall.org/hof/stearnes-turkey
http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?ID=967
Norman 'Turkey' Stearnes Detroit Stars Negro Leagues 1923-1931, 1937.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/simonal01.shtml
Alfredo Simon 1915.
Tigers players who passed away:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Slick_Coffman
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coffmsl01.shtml?redir
Slick Coffman 1937-1939.
from Baseball Reference
