September 29, 1954 - Willie Mays makes the Catch - Daily Rewind

09/29/24 • 3 min

September 29, 1954 - Willie Mays makes his famous running catch off the bat of Vic Wertz in game one of the World Series. In the eighth inning with a 2-2 tie and men on 1st and 2nd, Wertz slammed a 420 foot shot to the cavernous center field of the Polo Grounds. Mays was playing shallow, since Giants pitcher Don Liddle was a groundball pitcher, and had to turn his back to the infield sprinting for the outfield wall. Mays made an over the shoulder catch and a quick turn firing the ball to the infield holding Larry Doby at 3rd base and preserving the tie. As much as has been made of the catch, Mays himself did not consider it the best defensive play he ever made.

September 29, 1974 - Lou Brock steals his 118th and last base on the final day of the season setting the record for steals in a single season. Ricky Henderson would break that record in 1982 with 130 thefts.

September 29, 1978 - Jim Rice doubles and singles against the Toronto Blue Jays in Fenway Park. Rice is the first American Leaguer to amass 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio in 1937.

September 29, 2004 - MLB officially announces that the Montreal Expos franchise will move to Washington, DC in 2005. Hours after this, the Expos play their final game in Montreal, a 9 - 1 loss to the Florida Marlins before a crowd of 31,395 at Olympic Stadium.

September 29, 1957 Ted Williams becomes the oldest batting champ when the 39-year old finishes the season with a .388 average.

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September 29, 1978 - Jim Rice doubles and singles against the Toronto Blue Jays in Fenway Park. Rice is the first American Leaguer to amass 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio in 1937.

September 29, 1957 Ted Williams becomes the oldest batting champ when the 39-year old finishes the season with a .388 average.

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

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September 28 grand jury indicts eight members of the Chicago White Sox - Daily Rewind

September 28, 1920 - A grand jury indicts eight members of the Chicago White Sox on charges of fixing the1919 World Series in the "Black Sox Scandal." It is the black eye on the sport that would lead to the banning of eight players. Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson both confessed to accepting money from gamblers. Cicotte's second pitch of Game 1 of the 1919 World Series hit the Reds leadoff batter, which was the pre-arranged signal to the gamblers that the players had accepted the fix. Jackson and Cicotte would both recant their confessions after key evidence went missing from the Cook County courthouse. Years later, the missing confessions would reappear in the possession of Comiskey's lawyer.

September 28, 1941 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox goes 6 for 8 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics to finish the season with a .406 batting average. No player has batted .400 since.

September 28, 1974 - Nolan Ryan pitches his third of seven career no-hitters, striking out 15 batters and beating the Minnesota Twins, 4 - 0, at Anaheim Stadium. He also walks eight to run his season total to 202 bases on balls, joining Bob Feller in 1938 as the only pitcher to walk more than 200 in a season. Ryan will again top 200 in 1977.

September 28, 2007 The Boston Red Sox clinch the AL East title, bringing to an end a streak of 9 consecutive division titles by the New York Yankees, dating back to 1998. The Yankees will not miss the post season however, having clinched the American League Wild Card.

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September 30, 1972 Roberto Clemente collects his 3000th hit - Daily Rewind

September 30, 1972 Roberto Clemente doubles off the Mets' Jon Matlack to become the eleventh major leaguer to collect 3000 hits. On hand for the event was Clemente's hero, Willie Mays, now a New York Met, who called Clemente "The Greatest". Sealing the mutual admiration Clemente was quoted saying ""Willie Mays is the greatest player I've ever seen. I never saw Joe DiMaggio play, but if Joe DiMaggio was better than Willie Mays, he belongs in heaven." Sadly, the Pirate right fielder's 3000th hit would be his last, as he would die on New Year's Eve in a plane crash while attempting to bring relief aid to earthquake-stricken Managua, Nicaragua.

September 30, 1945 Hank Greenberg hits a pennant-winning grand slam on the final day of the season. The Tiger left fielder's ninth-inning 4 run bomb beats the Browns 6 - 3 clinching the American League flag for Detroit over the second-place Senators.

September 30, 1962 Willie Mays' 47th home run, an 8th-inning blast off Dick Farrell, leads the Giants to a critical 2 - 1 win. They would all stay in the clubhouse after the win to hear the results of the Dodger game. The season would end in a tie which required a three game playoff to settle the pennant in the Giants favor.