This Month in Major League Baseball History: May
Continuing our monthly series, this time we're running through the month of May. Let's reflect on the top moments in MLB history on each day.
Welcome to May, the month where player performance discussions become a bit clearer. Sample sizes have grown to a reasonable, but still small, amount and we begin to see a few more call up’s. But, we aren’t here to talk about the now. We are hear to relive the moments that helped shape this game we love. Here’s our rundown of the month of April, now let’s turn our attention to May.
May 1
1920: Babe Ruth hits his 50th career home run and first as a member of the Yankees. Ruth would go on to hit 659 home runs while playing for New York.
1926: Satchel Paige makes his debut in the Negro Southern League, earning a win.
1951: Mickey Mantle hits his first career home run – on Mothers Day.
May 2
1939: Lou Gehrig ends his consecutive game streak at 2,130 games. We would later find out this was because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, later coined “Lou Gehrig Disease”. Gehrig, a two-time MVP and seven-time World Champion, would never play again.
1995: Hideo Nomo pitches for the Dodgers becoming the first Japanese native to play in the majors in three decades. Nomo played 12 seasons with one All-Star appearance – 1995 – where he also won Rookie of the Year.
May 3
1936: Joe DiMaggio makes his debut for the New York Yankees. You know the story, 13 season with the Yankees with a three year hiatus in his prime to join the Military. DiMaggio made the All-Star team in each year he played.
May 4
1969: The Houston Astros set a National League record turning SEVEN double plays against the Giants.
2018: Albert Pujols becomes the 32nd members of the 3,000 hit club. Pujols would finish his career with 3,384 hits. Little known fact about Pujols, his 426 times he grounded into a double play in an all-time record.
May 5
1975: The Oakland Athletics release pinch runner Herb Washington. Washington had a strange career playing in 105 games without batting, pitching, or fielding. He finished his career with 31 stolen bases and 33 runs scored.
1978: Pete Rose collects his 3,000 hit. The “Hit King” would finish his career with a record of 4,256 hits across 24 seasons.
May 6
1915: Babe Ruth, then with the Boston Red Sox, collects three hits including his first big league home run.
1998: Cubs rookie Kerry Wood strikes out 20 batters, allowing one hit. The 20 year-old tied a record previously set by Roger Clemens.
May 7
2011: Tigers starter Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Blue Jays.
2016: The legend of Bartolo Colon grows. At 42-years old, Colon becomes the oldest player to hit his first career home run.
May 8
1968: Oakland’s starter Catfish Hunter pitches a perfect game. The 22-year-old pitches the first perfect game in the American League in 46 years.
1998: Cardinals Mark McGwire collects his 400th home run and no one has reached that feat in fewer at bats. McGwire would go on to lead the league in home runs with 70.
2001: Randy Johnson strikes out 20 Cincinnati batters.
May 9
2010: A’s Dallas Braden pitches a perfect game, the second in franchise history.
May 11
2003: Rangers slugger Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 19th player to join the 500 home run club.
2016: Another May 20-strikeout game as Max Scherzer reaches 20 K’s against his former team, the Detroit Tigers.
May 12
1999: Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez strike out 15 batters for the second consecutive game. Martinez would go on to lead the league with 313 strike outs while also posting a league best 2.07 ERA. One year later on the same date, Martinez strikes out 17 once again leading the league in strike outs with 284 and ERA with 1.74. He won the Cy Young in both seasons.
May 14
1967: Mickey Mantle enters the 500 home run club.
May 15
1981: Cleveland starter Len Barker throws a perfect game. Barker pitched for four teams across 11 seasons posting a 4.34 ERA.
May 16
2012: 49-year-old Jamie Moyer earns a win, but also picks up an RBI making him the oldest player to record an RBI in a game.
2015: Miguel Cabrera hits his 400th career home run. The slugger would finish his career with 511.
May 17
1961: Roger Maris hit’s his first home run of the season. Maris would go on to set a record with 61 home runs this particular season.
1998: Yankees starter David Wells pitches the 13th perfect game in modern baseball history.
May 18
2004: At 40 years of age, Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher to pitch a perfect game.
May 19
1962: Stan Musial becomes the National League leader in hits. The 41-year-old’s single put his career total at 3,431 moving past Honus Wagner.
2018: The Tampa Bay Rays “invent” bullpen games. Sergio Romo stars the game, pitching the first inning, then passing the ball to Ryan Yarbrough. Romo also starts the very next game and the new strategy begins to be adopted around the league.
May 21
1952: A crazy first inning. The Dodgers score 15 runs against the Reds and 19 consecutive batters reach first base – ten hits, seven walks, and two hit batters.
May 22
1997: The Mets acquire Mike Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for Preton Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and a player to be named. Piazza would go on to slash .296/.373/.542 with 220 home runs and six All-Star appearances across eight seasons in New York.
May 24
1935: The Reds face off against the Phillies in the first night game in MLB history. The Reds defend their turf, winning in 2-1 fashion.
2007: John Smoltz throws seven shutout innings earning his 200th win. Smoltz becomes the first pitcher in MLB history with both 200 wins and 150 saves.
May 25
1906: Martin Dihigo is born in Cuba. Dihigo played all nine positions in seven different countries. He lead the Negro Leagues in home runs twice, won over 300 games as a pitcher, and was inducted into the American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, and Venezuelan Hall of Fames.
1951: Willie Mays makes his debut for the New York Giants.
1984: The Reds Sox trade Dennis Eckersley and Mike Brumley to the the Cubs in exchange for Bill Buckner. Know that name? Sorry Red Sox fans……
May 27
1968: Major League Baseball announces expansion teams for the first time in seven years. Montreal and San Diego are the two selected.
1997: Ken Griffey Jr. sets a new home run record for the month of May hitting his 23rd of the month.
May 28
1951: Willie Mays, after starting 0-for-12, collects his first big league hit – a 450 foot home run off Warren Spahn. Mays would go on to hit 660 home runs and collect 3,293 hits in his Hall of Fame career.
2006: Barry Bonds hits the 715th home run of his career to pass Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list.
May 30
1935: Babe Ruth plays his last game leaving after one at-bat resulting in a groundout.
1982: Cal Ripken Jr.’s start at third ultimately begins his consecutive game streak of 2,632 games.
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