Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Spectacular things happened on this day . . .

Sandy Koufax was a dominant southpaw for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1950s and ‘60s. A three-time N.L. Cy Young award winner, Koufax also threw four no-hitters during his illustrious career. On this day in 1965 Koufax tossed his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley gave up one hit -- a double by Lou Johnson.

Also On this day Baby Doll Jacobson hit three triples to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. William Chester ( Baby Doll ) Jacobson was born August 16th, 1890, in Cable, Illinois. Legend has it that at Mobile ( in the Southern League ) in 1912, the grandstand band played Oh, You Beautiful Doll after Jacobsons' Opening Day homer, and the next days' paper captioned his photo, "Baby Doll". He made his Major League debut on April 14,1915 with the Detroit Tigers. He played for 5 different ballclubs in his 12 year career as a center-fielder, including the St. Louis Browns from 1915 thru 1926, as a member of what some have called the greatest outfield of all time. He ranked in the top ten in MVP voting in 1924 and 1925. He had a career batting average of .311 in more than 1,400 games, and held the AL record for putouts for 24 years. At one time, he held 13 AL fielding records. Jacobson was also the Leagues' BIGGEST player, at 6'3'' and 215 lbs.. Jacobson retired from baseball in 1927, and he died on January 17, 1977 in Orion, IL., at the age of 86.

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