May 18

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Events

1897

• William Joyce of the New York Giants hit four triples in a game, setting a record.

1929

• Johnny Frederick scores 5 times in a 16-0 Los Angeles Dodgers win over the Philadelphia Phillies, giving him 8 runs in two games, a major league record.

1931

• Babe Herman hits for the cycle. He would go on to hit for the cycle again in the next two games setting a major league record.

1933

• The first major league All-Star Game was announced. It was scheduled for July 6 and was to be played at Cominskey Park in Chicago.

1934

• The first home run was hit at Cominskey Park. Jimmie Foxx was the batter.

1942

• New York ended night baseball games for the duration of World War II.

1956

• For the third time in his career, Mickey Mantle hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game.

1988

• Dave Stewart commits his 12th balk, setting a major league record. He would go on to balk 16 times over the course of the season.

1990

• Ryne Sandberg's record setting errorless game streak comes to an end after 123 games and 584 chances. He shattered the record of Joe Morgan which was set at 91 games.

1998

• The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3, giving them a sweep of their four game series. They became just the second expansion team in major league history to sweep a four game series on the road. The 1993 Colorado Rockies were the first to accomplish the feat.

1999

• Luis Gonzalez extends his hitting streak to 30 games with a first inning home run. The streak is tied for the longest of the decade.

2000

• The Florida Marlins steal 10 bases in a 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, coming one shy of a National League record. Luis Castillo and Cliff Floyd both stole 3 while Preston Wilson and Mark Kotsay had 2 a piece. No one was caught stealing. Wiki Gonzalez was catching for the Padres.
• Mark McGwire homers 3 times in a 7-2 St. Louis Cardinals win over the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the home runs would put McGwire past Mickey Mantle into 8th place on the all-time home run list.

2004

• Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson becomes only the 17th person in major league history to throw a perfect game, throwing 13 strikeouts on his way to a 2-0 defeat of the Atlanta Braves. He is the oldest player to ever have a perfect game and just the fifth player to have a no-hitter in each league.
• The International Olympic Committee announced the list of cities accepted as candidates to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. The five candidate cities are Paris, New York, Moscow, London and Madrid.

2008

• The Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 at Mellon Arena to win the Eastern Conference Finals four games to one. The Penguins advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992.