July 19 is the memorable day for the Cleveland Indians.
Homers, a triple play and a no-hitter have occured on this date in the team’s history.
The most recent on the list is Joe Carter‘s three home runs against the Minnesota Twins in 1989.
Carter hit three longs balls that day at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to tie Lou Gehrig‘s American League record of achieving that effort for the fourth time in his career.
In the 10-1 win, Carter drove in six runs with two of his homers coming off Allan Anderson and the other against German Gonzalez.
The slugger would later add a fifth game with three blasts when he played for Toronto in 1993 to establish a new AL mark, which was later matched by Carlos Delgado and Alex Rodriguez.
Johnny Mize set the major league standard in this category as he was able to accomplish the feat six times with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and New York Yankees from 1938 to 1950.
Sammy Sosa tied Mize as he did it six times with the Chicago Cubs, which is also the National League record.
Carter played 16 seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs, Indians, San Diego Padres, Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants.
He hit 396 homers in his career and 151 with the Indians. He was a five-time all-star that hit over 30 homers in a season six times, including in 1989 when he had his career-high of 35.
His most famous homer is the walk-off blast in the 1993 World Series in game six that clinched the second title for the Blue Jays.
No-Hitter
Dick Bosman played 11 seasons with the Washington Senators, Texas Rangers, Indians and Oakland A’s from 1966 to 1976.
Bosman’s best year was in 1969 when he was 14-5, while leading the AL with a 2.19 ERA. His career-best win total came the next year with the Senators when he was 16-12 with an ERA of 3.00.
In 1974, the right-hander was 7-5 for the Indians with a 4.10 ERA.
But on one night at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, Bosman was nearly perfect as he faced 28 batters in a 4-0 no-hitter against the A’s.
The only blemish was an error in the fourth inning by Bosman that allowed Sal Bando to reach base with two outs.
Joe Lis hit a two-run homer in the third for the Indians, while Buddy Bell and Tom McGraw each knocked in a run in the fourth.
According to the 1975 Sporting News Guide story about the no-hitter, Bosman’s effort was saved by two plays from Frank Duffy and Charlie Spikes.
Brothers with Bats
Wes Ferrell and Rick Ferrell, would eventually become teammates with the Boston Red Sox (1934-37) and Washington Senators (1937-38), but in 1933 they were on different squads.
In 1933, the brothers were matched up in Fenway Park as the Red Sox entertained the Indians.
The younger of the two siblings, Wes was the starting pitcher for Cleveland, while Rick was Boston’s catcher.
The fourth inning became a memorable one for the brothers.
Wes hit a his third long ball of the season to extend Cleveland’s advantage to 5-0.
Not to be outdone by his brother, Rick had an answer in the bottom of the frame. With two runners on base, Rick tagged Wes for a three-run homer to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Indians would eventually win 8-7 with an unearned run in top of the 13th inning.
The 1933 season was the seventh and final year for Wes with the Indians. A six-time 20-game winner and a two-time all-star, he would go on to play for the Red Sox, Senators, Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves before retiring in 1941.
Wes ended his 15-year career with a 193-128 record, His best year was in 1935 as he the the AL in wins with a 25-14 mark. He also tossed a no-hitter in 1931 for the Indians against Rick’s team, the St. Louis Browns. He hit a homer and drove in four runs in the 9-0 victory.
Although he nearly won 200 games as a pitcher, Wes does hold the major league record for homers by a pitcher with 37. Overall, his finished with 38. His nine homers in 1931 for the Indians is still a single-season big league record by a pitcher.
Rick was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. He was an eight-time all-star playing for the Browns, Red Sox and Senators from 1929-1947. He hit 28 homers in his career with only one against his brother.
Wes is a member of the Indians Hall of Fame, while both are in the Red Sox shrine.
I’ll Do It Myself
There have been 15 unassisted triple plays in the Major Leagues since 1900.
The very first one was by Cleveland’s Neal Ball on July 19, 1909.
The shortstop executed the monumental play for the Naps against the Boston Red Sox in a 6-1 win at League Park in the first game of a doubleheader.
Ball would get two hits that day with Cy Young earning the win on the mound
Starting his time in the big leagues in 1907 with the New York Highlanders (Yankees), Ball was eventually sold to the Indians during the 1909 season.
Ball finished his career with the Red Sox as a member of the World Series champs in 1912.
The Indians have two other unassisted triple plays in their history.
Bill Wambsganss turned one in the 1920 World Series against Brooklyn.
Asdrubal Cabrera had the most recent for the Indians in 2008 against the Blue Jays.
The last in the majors was by Philadelphia Phillies infielder Eric Bruntlett against the New York Mets in 2009.