Nobody Noticed Ty Cobb's 3,000th Hit

Nobody Noticed Ty Cobb's 3,000th Hit (1921)

Cobb went 5 for 10 across a doubleheader against Boston and somewhere in there became the fourth man ever to reach 3,000 hits. At 34 he was the youngest to do it, and he still is. The Sporting News did not mention it. The Detroit Free Press noted only that Cobb hit like a fiend all afternoon. Nobody worked out when it had happened until 1958, when Stan Musial closed in on 3,000 and the Detroit News had to dig through the files for the date. Historians still argue over which hit that afternoon was the one.

Bill Veeck's Best Bad Idea (1951)

Between games at Sportsman's Park, a seven-foot birthday cake was rolled to home plate and Eddie Gaedel climbed out. That was supposed to be the whole joke. In the first inning of the nightcap he came up wearing number 1/8, crouched, and took four straight balls. He bowed twice on his trot to first. All 18,369 fans stood. The American League voided his contract. Gaedel's career on-base percentage is 1.000.

The Night Pascual Perez Could Not Find the Ballpark (1982)

Perez had a new license, a rental car, and a start against Montreal. He got on I-285, the loop that rings Atlanta, and missed his exit. So he stayed on the loop and came around again. And again. He ran low on gas and pulled into a station, where the clerk asked why he was not at the game. Phil Niekro started instead and Atlanta won 5-4. Joe Torre fined him 100 pesos, his teammates made him a jacket with I-285 where his number went, and the Braves won the division.

Three Generations of Boones (1992)

Ray Boone came up with Cleveland in 1948. His son Bob caught in the majors from 1972 through 1990. On this night at Camden Yards, Bob's son Bret started at second for Seattle, singled in his first at-bat, and scored. Three generations of one family had reached the big leagues, a first. It happened in a lost August, which is exactly why a 23-year-old got the call.