This week in baseball history: August 18-24

More than 23,500 players have appeared in an MLB game in the sport’s history (as of mid-August 2025). Putting them all into the league’s smallest stadium (ignoring the two clubs playing the season in minor league parks that would be Cleveland’s Progressive Field, which seats up to 34,830) wouldn’t even put the stadium to 70% capacity.

68 players in league history were born on August 18. Eight of those accumulated 10.0 WAR throughout their careers:

1902: 1B Hal O’Hagan of the Eastern League’s Rochester Broncos turns the first unassisted triple play recorded in a professional game.

1913: Phillies RHP Erskine Mayer sets an NL record by surrendering nine consecutive hits to the Cubs in the 9th inning of their game. Chicago scores six times to win 10-4.

1915: The first National High School Baseball Championship, now known as the Koshien Tournament, is held in Japan. The wildly popular tournament has been played annually except during World War II.

1931: Lou Gehrig plays in his 1000th consecutive game, but is still 307 games short of Everett Scott’s record.

1960: Braves RHP Lew Burdette pitches a no-hitter against the Phillies.

1967: Red Sox OF Tony Conigliaro is hit in the face by a pitch, fracturing his cheekbone. Conigliaro would miss the rest of the season and all of 1968.

1975: Induction ceremonies are held in Cooperstown for Earl Averill, Bucky Harris, Billy Herman, Judy Johnson, and Ralph Kiner.

1977: Dodgers RHP Don Sutton pitches a one-hitter for the fifth time. He will never throw a no-hitter.

1982: Pete Rose surpasses Hank Aaron as the all-time leader with his 13,941st plate appearance.

1989: Dallas Green is fired as Yankees manager and replaced with Bucky Dent. It marks the 17th managerial change made by George Steinbrenner since purchasing the team in 1973.

1998: Greg Maddux wins the 200th game of his career.

2001: Mike Romano of the Saltillo Saraperos pitches the first playoff no-hitter in the Mexican League’s history.

2009: C Iván Rodríguez is traded from the Astros back to the Rangers for a pair of minor leaguers.

2010: 1B Derrek Lee is traded from the Cubs to the Braves for three minor league pitchers.

2011: Rockies minor league 1B Mike Jacobs becomes the first North American athlete to test positive for HGH. MLB issued Jacobs a 50-game suspension and the Rockies released him.

2015: Dave Dombrowski is hired as VP of baseball operations for the Red Sox. Unhappy with the hiring being made above him, general manager Ben Cherington resigns.

2016: Owners approve the sale of the Mariners from a group led by Nintendo of America to a group led by John Stanton.

2017: Albert Pujols hits the 609th home run of his career, tying Sammy Sosa for the most all-time by a player born outside the US.

2019: Zack Greinke collects the 200th win of his career.

2021: Freddie Freeman hits for the cycle for the second time.

64 players were born on August 19. Only five accumulated 10.0 WAR in their career:

1900: LHP Rube Waddell pitches both ends of a doubleheader, allowing a single run over 22 innings of work on the day.

1911: Christy Mathewson’s streak of 22-straight wins over the Cincinnati Reds comes to an end when the Reds beat the Giants, 5-4.

1921: Ty Cobb becomes the youngest player to reach 3,000 hits.

1951: 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel walks on four pitches in the lone plate appearance of his career.

1957: The New York Giants board of directors votes 9-1 in favor of moving the franchise to San Francisco.

1965: Reds RHP Jim Maloney pitches a no-hitter against the Cubs.

1969: John Hollison, the last surviving player to pitch from the mound at 50 feet before it was moved back, dies in Chicago. He was 99.

1983: The Rangers trade Rick Honeycutt to the Dodgers for Dave Stewart and Ricky Wright. Honeycutt still wins the AL ERA title since he had enough innings to qualify even after the trade.

1987: Paul Molitor collects four hits, extending his hitting streak to 34 games and tying Dom DiMaggio for the 11th-longest all-time.

1990: White Sox closer Bobby Thigpen collects his 40th save of the season, becoming just the 8th player to reach the mark. Thigpen would finish the year with 57 saves, which stood as the single-season record until Francisco Rodríguez saved 62 games in 2008.

1992: Mariners 2B Brett Boone makes his MLB debut. His grandfather, Ray Boone, and father, Bob Boone, had also played in the league, making Brett the first third-generation player in history. Younger brother Aaron Boone would debut in 1997.

1995: Braves assistant general manager Chuck LaMar is hired as the first general manager for the Devil Rays.

1998: Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou collects the 521st win of his career, setting a new franchise record. He’d finish with 691.

2000: Jeff Bagwell hits a pair of home runs to reach 300 for his career. He’s the first Astros player to reach the mark.

2001: Danny Almonte pitches the first perfect game since 1957 in the Little League World Series. His Bronx, New York team will win again the next week, but will have to forfeit all of their victories in the tournament after it is discovered that Almonte is too old and ineligible.

2007: John Smoltz strikes out 13 Diamondbacks hitters en route to passing Phil Niekro’s franchise record of 2,912 strikeouts.

2007: Johan Santana strikes out 17 Rangers hitters, setting the Twins’ single-game record.

2011: General manager Jim Hendry is fired by the Cubs after nine years in the job.

2012: Japan defeats the US in the finals of the Women’s World Baseball Cup. It is Japan’s third straight title in the tournament and the highest finish for the USA team in almost 10 years.

2015: Ryan Braun passes Robin Yount as the Brewers’ all-time home run leader, hitting his 252nd against the Marlins.

64 players were also born on August 20. Eight of them totaled at least 10.0 WAR:

1915: The White Sox trade Braggo Roth, Larry Chappell, and Ed Klepfer (plus cash) to Cleveland for “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.

1933: The Negro League’s Chicago American Giants defeat the Nashville Elite Giants for their 28th consecutive win.

1938: Lou Gehrig hits the 23rd grand slam of his career, a record which stood until Alex Rodriguez broke it in 2013.

1945: 17-year-old Dodgers shortstop Tommy Brown becomes the youngest player in history to hit a home run.

1957: White Sox RHP Bob Keegan pitches a no-hitter over Washington.

1960: Ted Williams draws the 2,000th walk of his career. Only Babe Ruth had reached the mark before him.

1974: Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 hitters in an 11-inning, 1-0 loss against the Tigers. It marks the third time that season Ryan reached the 19-strikeout mark. He also became the first pitcher in history to record a pitch above 100 mph during a game.

1980: Pirates CF Omar Moreno steals his 70th base of the season. He is the first player since 1900 with 70+ stolen bases in three consecutive seasons.

1982: Rookie Padres OF Alan Wiggins is suspended for a month by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn following a July arrest for cocaine possession.

1985: Dwight Gooden passes the 200 strikeout mark, becoming the first player to do so in each of his first two seasons.

1986: Dave Winfield hits the 300th home run of his career.

1998: Mark McGwire becomes the first player to hit 50 home runs in three consecutive seasons.

2008: MLB and the World Umpires Association sign an agreement allowing the use of instant replay, with plans to have it in place by the 2010 season.

2017: The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 6-3, in the first Little League Classic.

2019: Clayton Kershaw passes Sandy Koufax as the winningest left-hander in Dodgers history.

79 players who appeared in an MLB game were born on August 21. A dozen of them totaled 10.0 WAR:

1912: Senators owner Thomas C. Noyes passes. Clark Griffith would become the new principal owner.

1926: White Sox RHP Ted Lyons pitches a no-hitter against the Red Sox.

1931: Babe Ruth becomes the first player to reach 600 career home runs.

1932: Cleveland RHP Wes Ferrell becomes the first pitcher to win at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons. He would win 193 over his 15-year career.

1947: The first Little League World Series is held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

1957: Masaichi Kaneda pitches the fourth perfect game in NPB history.

1975: Rick Reuschel works 6.1 IP against the Dodgers. Paul Reuschel comes in and pitches the last 2.2 IP. It is the first combined shutout by siblings in MLB history.

1977: Tom Seaver returns to Shea Stadium for the first time as a visitor. He strikes out 11 and allows just six hits on the mound, while hitting a double at the plate. The Reds won, 5-1.

1977: Legendary Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson announces his retirement after 23 seasons.

1982: Brewers RHP Rollie Fingers becomes the first player to reach 300 career saves.

1984: Rookie Red Sox RHP Roger Clemens strikes out 15 Royals hitters.

1987: Dale Murphy hits the 300th home run of his career.

1996: Rookie Phillies 3B Scott Rolen hits the first two home runs of his career, both off of Hideo Nomo.

2002: Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa collects the 1,887th win of his career, moving him into 10th all-time.

2003: Vladimir Guerrero hits his 226th career home run with the Expos, moving him past Andre Dawson into first on the club’s all-time list.

2010: Matt Stairs hits the record-breaking 21st pinch-hit home run of his career.

2013: Ichiro Suzuki collects the 4,000th hit of his pro career.

2015: Astros RHP Mike Fiers pitches a no-hitter against the Dodgers.

62 ballplayers were born on August 22. Nine of those totaled 10.0 WAR:

1961: Roger Maris hits his 50th home run of the season. He’s the first player ever to reach 50 home runs before September.

1974: 18-year-old Pirates minor league outfielder Alfredo Edmead collides with a teammate during a game and dies from a massive skull fracture.

1979: Johnny Bench passes Frank Robinson with his 325th home run, the most by a Reds player.

1980: White Sox owner Bill Veeck reaches an agreement to sell the team to Eddie DeBartolo Sr. for a reported $20 million. Owners vote against the deal twice, over concerns with DeBartolo’s connection to gambling and horse racing.

1982: Ernie Banks becomes the first Cubs player to have his uniform number (14) retired.

1989: Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson for the 5,000th strikeout of his career.

1998: Cal Ripken Jr. scores the 1,500th run of his career.

1999: Mark McGwire reaches the 50-homer mark for the fourth consecutive season.

2000: Eric Karros becomes the first Dodgers player to hit two home runs in the same inning.

2003: Garrett Anderson becomes the first Angels player to reach 100 RBI in four straight seasons.

2007: The Rangers score an AL-record 30 runs against the Orioles, winning 30-3 in the first game of a doubleheader. They score nine more in the second game to set the record for a doubleheader.

2008: Cuba defeats the US, while South Korea tops Japan to determine the Gold Medal Game at the Olympics.

2010: Lou Piniella retires after 23 seasons as a manager.

2014: Rusney Castillo and the Red Sox agree to a record $72.5 million, seven-year deal.

2021: Miguel Cabrera becomes the 28th member of the 500 home run club.

72 who appeared on the diamond were born on August 23. 15 of those accumulated at least 10.0 WAR in their careers:

1936: 17-year-old Bob Feller makes the first start of his career after six relief appearances and strikes out 15.

1953: Former Boston Braves RHP Phil Paine becomes the first ex-major leaguer to play in Japan, appearing in nine games for the Nishitetsu Lions.

1958: Gil Hodges hit his NL-record 14th career grand slam.

1980: A’s owner Charlie Finley agrees to sell the team for $12.7 million in a move that will keep the team in Oakland.

1996: The Yankees acquire LHP Graeme Lloyd and IF Pat Listach from the Brewers for OF Gerald Williams and RHP Bob Wickman. Both Lloyd and Listach prove to be injured, prompting a grievance being filed by the Yankees. Listach is traded back to Milwaukee for LHP Ricky Bones six days later.

1998: Barry Bonds hits the 400th home run of his career, becoming the first player with 400+ homers and 400+ stolen bases.

1999: Ken Griffey Jr. joins Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire as only the third player with 200+ home runs over a four-season span.

2001: Randy Johnson joins Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers with 300+ strikeouts in three straight seasons.

2003: Ron Guidry has his uniform number (49) retired by the Yankees.

2008: South Korea defeats Cuba in the Olympic Gold Medal game. Team USA beats Japan to take home the bronze medal.

2009: Phillies 2B Eric Bruntlett completes an unassisted triple play.

2011: Craig Kimbrel ties the rookie record for saves, collecting his 40th of the season.

2019: Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes the second-youngest player to have a 30-30 season (after Mike Trout).

2024: Shohei Ohtani becomes the sixth member of the 40-40 club.

69 more players were born on August 24. Seven of those totaled 10.0 WAR:

1904: “Wee” Willie Keeler hits a pair of home runs, both inside-the-parkers.

1940: Ted Williams makes the only pitching appearance of his career, allowing a run on three hits over two innings in a 12-1 Red Sox loss.

1945: Bob Feller returns to the mound for the first time after missing more than three seasons serving in the U.S. Navy.

1963: The Little League World Series is televised for the first time.

1971: Braves OF Rico Carty suffers permanent eye damage in an altercation with three Atlanta police officers.

1971: Ernie Banks hits the final (and 512th) home run of his career.

1975: Giants RHP Ed Halicki pitches a no-hitter against the Mets.

1975: Lou Brock steals the 800th base of his career.

1976: “Mariners” is selected as the new nickname of the Seattle franchise.

1989: Commissioner Bart Giamatti announces his decision to place Pete Rose on baseball’s permanently ineligible list.