This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

September 2, 2001 — A pitching duel between former Yankee teammates David Cone and Mike Mussina saw New York's Mike Mussina came within one strike of pitching the first perfect game in the 89-year history of Fenway Park. Over eight innings Mussina did not allow a single Red Sox baserunner. Red Sox pitcher David Cone kept pace keeping the Yankees scoreless till the top of the 9th when the Yanks would push one across the dish. Mussina's bid was broken up by a clean single from pinch hitter Carl Everett. Prior to this, Everett was 1 for 8 with seven strikeouts against Mussina. The Yankees would hold on to win 1-0.

September 2, 1971, Houston Astros outfielder Cesar Cedeno pops a 200-foot fly ball to short right field in the fifth inning sending Dodger second baseman Jim Lefebvre back as right fielder Bill Buckner was coming in to make a play on the ball. The two would collide and with the bases loaded, Cedeno would collect an inside the park Grand Slam. The hit launched the Astros to a 9-3 victory over the Dodgers. As of August 2011, there have been 224 inside-the-park grand slams in Major League history, 26 in the past 50 years, and only eight since 1990. Honus Wagner has the most in MLB history with five.

September 2, 1990, Dave Stieb, who had lost three no-hit bids with one out to go in the previous two seasons, finally pitched one as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the 1990 season and the only one in Blue Jays history.

September2, 1996, Mike “Gator” Greenwell set a major league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one on a 10th-inning single to give the Red Sox a 9-8 victory over Seattle.

September 2, 1999, Cal Ripken hit his 400th career home run joining an exclusive circle of sluggers. Ripken connected off right-hander Rolando Arrojo in the third inning of the Baltimore Orioles' game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

September 2, 2003 Eric Gagne set a major league single season record with his 55th consecutive save in Los Angeles's 4-1 victory over Houston. When added to the eight consecutive saves he made at the end of the 2002 season, Gagne had sixty-three consecutive saves, a new Major League record.

• September 6, 1995 - Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive Major League game to surpass Lou Gehrig's 56-year record. When the game becomes official in the middle of the fifth inning, Ripken takes a victory lap around Camden Yards during the 22-minute standing ovation from the sell-out crowd. Ripken went 2 for 4, including a home run, in Baltimore's 4 - 2 win over California.
• September 6, 2001 During the Diamondbacks – Giants game, Barry Bonds becomes the fifth player in major league history to hit 60 home runs in a season. He joins Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Bonds, the oldest to join this elite group, reaches the historic plateau the quickest, needing only 141 games to reach the milestone.
• September 6, 1976 Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager is seriously injured when the jagged end of teammate Bill Russell’s broken bat strikes him in the throat while he is waiting in the on-deck circle. He had nine pieces of wood taken out of his neck during a 98 minute surgery. Yeager later invented a throat protector that hangs from every catcher's mask today.
• September 6, 1977 The Angels acquire slugger Dave Kingman from San Diego for cash consideration. Nine days later, the Yankees will buy Kingman, making him the first player to wear four uniforms in four divisions in the same year. Kingman, who started the season with the Mets, will hit twenty-six home runs to set the mark for the most by a player with more than two teams.

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

• September 9, 1953 - Mickey Mantle's 2-run home run off Chicago's Billy Pierce caps a 7-run 5th inning, as New York wins 9 - 3 at Yankee Stadium. Returning to Center Field after the 5th, Mantle is photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum. Manager Casey Stengel will publicly rebuke the Mick, who will apologize for the indiscretion. However, Mantle does get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum Company. Mantle was a Madison Avenue darling. He was so beloved that he was able to simultaneously endorse cigarettes and aids to quit smoking,
• September 9, 1931 – With the country in the grip of the Great Depression, New York’s Major League teams; the Yankees, Giants, and Robins agree to a series of benefit games for the unemployed. Sixty thousand fans, paying regular prices, raise $59,000 in the first matchup, as Babe Ruth homers and the Yankees beat the Giants 7 - 2.
• September 9, 1939 - Jimmie Foxx is operated on for appendicitis, and will be out for the season. His 35 home runs will still win the title.
• September 9, 1960 - Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams hits career homer 511 tying him with Mel Ott for third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx.
• Chicago Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed one hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 9, 1965. Unfortunately for him, opposing starter Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game - setting a record for least amount of hits by two teams in nine innings. The game's lone run was scored by the Dodgers in the fifth on a walk, sacrifice bunt, stolen base, and error.

The king of thives:

August 27, 1982, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s breaks Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record. Henderson steals his 119th base, surpassing Brock’s total of 118 thefts. Henderson stole the base in the 3rd inning off the battery of Doc Medith and Ted Simmions. Henderson, would steal three more bases in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, he will finish the season with 130 stolen bases.

Inside the Park Homerun madness . . .

On August 27, 1977, Toby Harrah and Bump Wills of the Texas Rangers hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs against the New York Yankees. Harrah and Wills connect on consecutive pitches in the Rangers’ 8-2 win at Yankee Stadium. This is the only time in MLB history players have hit back to back inside the park homeruns.

Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a pair of solo homers‚ including a game-winning inside-the-park shot off San Francisco Giant reliever Aaron Fultz in the 10th inning to win 2-1. Abreu's homer‚ his 20th‚ is the 5th inside-the-park home run game-ender in Phillies history and the first since Bob Dernier did it in 1989‚ also against the Giants. He's the 29th major-leaguer since 1900 to end a game with an inside-the-park Home Run and the 38th extra-inning inside-the-park homerun (according to David Vincent). Ed Vosberg (1-0) picks up his 1st win since 1997.

Lets play Two!

The Yankees‚ playing their 6th successive doubleheader‚ increase their AL lead to 12 games. 40‚959 fans filled Yankee Stadium‚ Joe DiMaggio has 3 triples in the first game of a doubleheader with Cleveland‚ an 8-7 Yankee win. New York scores 4 in the 9th‚ the last 2 coming around on DiMaggio's 3rd successive triple‚ to win it. In the 2nd game‚ Yankee Monte Pearson tosses a no-hitter-the first at Yankee Stadium-winning his 10th straight game‚ 13-0. He faces just 27 batters‚ striking out 7.

Historical Recap performed by:

Robyn Newton from - Robyn Says

September4, 2000, the Red Sox's defeat the Seattle Mariners, 5 – 1. Boston Outfielder, Carl Everett drives in his 100th ribbie of the year becoming only the sixth major-league switch-hitter to drive in 100 runs in both leagues. Pedro Martinez however, is the star of the day, striking out 11 in eight innings to go 7 - 0 over the M's.

Prior to the game, Boston retires Hall of Fame Catcher Carlton Fisk's uniform number 27. “Pudge”, as Fisk was known, was the author of perhaps the most famous homerun in Red Sox history, as he willed a towering shot to left to stay fair during game 6 of the 1975 World Series, The dramatic bomb broke a 6-6, 12th inning tie giving Boston the victory.

September 4, 1978 Behind Ron Guidry's 20th win and an 8 run 7th inning, the Yankees take the first game of a double header against Detroit, 9 - 1. Detroit wins the second, 5 - 4, to keep New York five games behind Boston. Guidry would go on to win 25 games and the AL Cy Young.

September 4, 1996 Andy Pettitte wins his 20th as the Yankees prevail over the A's, 10 - 3. Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez hit solo homers in the 4th inning. The Yanks' last 20-game winner was Ron Guidry in 1985.

September 4, 1924, The Brooklyn Robins take a twin bill from the Braves, sweeping their forth doubleheader in four consecutive days. Four years later on September 4th 1928 the Boston Braves would begin a run of 9 consecutive doubleheaders establishing a Major League record that still stands. Unfortunately for the Beantown 9, they would drop 14 of the 18 contests during their twin bill marathon.