May 9 in Tigers and mlb history:
1871: The first Hispanic player in major league baseball is Esteban Enrique Bellan. The 21-year old Cuban infielder plays for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association.
1906: The Cincinnati Reds purchased Jimmy Barrett from the Detroit Tigers.
1911: At Hilltop Park, Christy Mathewson and Three Finger Brown renew their rivalry, Matty emerges the winner, 5 - 2, over the Cubs' ace.
1911: Tigers pound the New York Highlanders 10-0 for a record start of 21-2. The 1911 Tigers actually had a better record through 23 games than the 1984 team, which was 19-4. But the '11 Tigers were 30-10 after 40 games, while the '84 champs tallied their immortal mark of 35-5.
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1916: Thirty walks are allowed at Philadelphia as Detroit overwhelms the A's, 16 - 2. Tiger rookie George Cunningham is lifted with one out in the 3rd inning after walking six batters. He is given the win, but leaves with a no-hitter and leading 9 - 0. Eighteen of the walks are issued by the A's - 12 by reliever Carl Ray - on their way to a season total of 715. Not until 1938 will a team (the St. Louis Browns with 737) top that. Detroit will add another 11 walks against the A's tomorrow for a two-game major-league record of 29.
1926 - In Ty Cobb's last year with Detroit Tigers, he crosses home plate after hitting one of this two home runs on the day as Tigers outlast the Yankees 14-10 in the Bronx. Cobb would go 4 for 4 to raise his season avg to .426 and also had 4 RBIs.
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1927: Pounding five Boston pitchers for 22 hits, the 2nd-place Tigers outlast the Red Sox, 17 - 11. Harry Heilmann leads the Tigers attack with two homers and two singles.
1930: The Yankees' and the Tigers' outfielders make only two putouts for an American League record which has never been equaled. The National League record for outfield idleness is one chance (Pittsburgh versus Brooklyn on August 26,1910). Detroit's George Uhle strikes out 8 in winning, 5 - 4, and dropping the Yanks to 7th place. Hank Johnson (7 innings) and George Pipgras are the New York hurlers.
1933: The Chicago White Sox selected Earl Webb off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
1937: Reds C Ernie Lombardi ties the modern major league record with six hits (5 singles and a double) in six consecutive times at bat, as Cincinnati routs Philadelphia, 21 - 10, on 24 hits. Alex Kampouris tallies 8 RBIs for the Reds on three homers, one a grand slam.
1937: At the Polo Grounds, Carl Hubbell wins his 4th straight and his 20th in a row, subduing the Cubs, 4 - 1. The game is scoreless for six innings. Hubbell matches the mark of Rube Marquard, who won one game in 1911 and 19 straight more in 1912.
1938: At Boston, Jimmie Foxx drives in five runs on a pair of homers to pace the Red Sox to a 15 - 3 drubbing of Cleveland.
1939: The St. Louis Browns purchased Les Fleming from the Detroit Tigers.
1939: The New York Giants purchased Red Lynn from the Detroit Tigers.
1943: Due to the poor grade of rubber cement used to make baseballs because of wartime rubber shortages, a different type of baseball is put into play today with dramatic results. In eight games, six home runs are hit compared to a total of nine homers tallied in the season's first 72 games.
1948: The Indians sweep a pair at Fenway Park, beating the Red Sox, 4 - 1, in 10 innings, and 9 - 5. A Ted Williams homer in the opener is the only Sox score, while Ken Keltner belts a pair of homers. They both add another in the nitecap, but Larry Doby clouts a monstrous two-run shot to dead center for the Tribe.
1949: At Detroit, the Tigers set back the first-place Yankees, 4 - 1, behind the five-hit pitching of Ted Gray. Vic Raschi also allows just five hits, including a homer by Dick Wakefield, in taking the loss.
1950: Ralph Kiner of the Pirates hits his second grand slam in three days - and the eighth of his career - and adds a three-run homer to drives in seven runs as the Pirates beat Brooklyn, 10 - 5.
1955: The Detroit Tigers purchased Charlie Maxwell from the Baltimore Orioles.
1958: The Detroit Tigers purchased Herm Wehmeier from the St. Louis Cardinals.
1961: Jim Gentile of the Orioles becomes the third player to hit grand slams in consecutive innings (after Tony Lazzeri in 1936 and Jim Tabor in 1939; Rudy York also hit two grand slams in a game in 1946, but not in consecutive innings) when he belts one off Pedro Ramos in the 1st and adds another off Paul Giel in the 2nd. His 8 RBI in consecutive innings set a major league record. Gentile also tacks on a sacrifice fly to give him a club record 9 RBI in the 13 - 5 drubbing of the Twins.
1962: Brooks Robinson becomes the 6th major leaguer this century to hit grand slams in back-to-back games, as he hits one against Kansas City's Ed Rakow. Baltimore wins, 6 - 3, at home. Brooks hit a grand slam on May 6th.
1963: Ernie Banks becomes the first National League first baseman to register 22 putouts (and 23 chances) in a game, as the Cubs beat Pittsburgh, 3 - 1, on Dick Ellsworth's two-hitter.
1964: The Washington Senators purchased Alan Koch from the Detroit Tigers.
1972: The Oakland Athletics traded Reggie Sanders to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Kilkenny.
1973: The Reds' Johnny Bench slugs three home runs and knocks in seven runs in a 9 - 7 defeat of Steve Carlton and the Phillies. Bench homers in the 1st, walks in the 3rd, and homers again in the 5th and 7th. It is the second time Bench has hit three home runs in a game against Carlton; the first came on July 26, 1970. Bench ties a major-league record with four consecutive homers, having hit one in his final at-bat the previous night in the Reds' 7 - 1 win. Despite the three homers, Dave Concepcion's two-run homer in the 9th, off Barry Lersch, is the game-winner.
1980: Jason Thompson hits a game-winning home run in the top of the 10th to beat the Angels. Would be his last homer as a Tiger before being traded to the Angels.
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1984: Umpire Joe West ejects two television cameramen from Shea Stadium when they allow the Mets to view replays of a controversial play at the plate in which Hubie Brooks is called out. The Mets beat Atlanta, 3 - 1.
1984: The longest - and slowest - game in American League history ends in the 25th inning when Harold Baines homers off Chuck Porter to give the White Sox a 7 - 6 victory over the Brewers. It is the latest homer in history.
The game falls one inning shy of the major league record, but takes by far the most time to play: 8 hours and 6 minutes.
The contest was suspended the previous day after 17 innings with the score tied 3 - 3, and each team scores three more runs in the 21st. The Sox lose a chance to win in the 21st as runner Dave Stegman is touched by 3B coach Jim Leyland, which leads to a Sox protest. Tom Seaver pitches the final inning to earn the win, then wins the regularly-scheduled game as well, 5 - 4. Tom Paciorek of the Sox sets a major-league record as he enters the game in the 4th inning and registers nine at bats as a substitute.
1984: Tigers beat the Royals 3 - 1 to tie the 1955 Dodgers' record of 25 wins in their first 29 games.
Tigers are 13-0 on the road, chasing the 1912 Senators' 16-0 mark. Sparky's response: "I wish you hadn't told me that".
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1988: Oakland beats Detroit, 3 - 1, to extend its club-record winning streak to 14 consecutive games, the longest in the majors since 1977. The A's will finally lose tomorrow, 8 - 2 to the Tigers, after starting the skein on April 23rd.
1989: For the first time since April 10th, no major league games are shutouts, ending a streak of 29 consecutive days with at least one shutout.
1991: The Detroit Tigers released Mark Ettles.
1992: The Tigers beat the Mariners 13-0, outhitting them 19-5. Bill Gullickson pitched the complete game shutout, improving to 5-2 with a 2.92 ERA. Rob Deer homered & drove in 3. Tony Phillips had 3 RBI & 3 runs scored.
1997: The Minnesota Twins selected Kevin Jarvis off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
2006: Ivan Rodriguez makes his first career start at first base, after 1,914 games at catcher in a loss to baltimore.
2016: The Detroit Tigers released Michael Crotta.
2017: James McCann hits his 7th home run of the year to lead AL catchers, though he has only 4 other hits and his batting average is .157 and the Tigers beat the diamondbacks 7 - 3.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/drillle01.shtml
Lew Drill 1904-1905.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tom_Yewcic
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yewcito01.shtml
Tom Yewcic 1957.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksro02.shtml
Ron Jackson 1981.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schleda01.shtml
Dan Schlereth 2010-2012.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Prince_Fielder
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fieldpr01.shtml
Prince Fielder 2012-2013.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/krolia01.shtml
Ian Krol 2014-2015.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mallohe01.shtml
Herm Malloy 1907-1908.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mclelwa01.shtml
Wayne McLeland 1951-1952.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fletcto01.shtml
Tom Fletcher 1962.
Baseball Reference
