One hundred years ago today — May 30, 1913 — Red Sox outfielder Harry Hooper became the first player to lead off both games of a doubleheader with a home run.Hooper did it in Washington against pitchers Bob Groom and Walter Johnson.
Chris Jaffe has more details at The Hardball Times. It would be more than 80 years before it happened again. On July 5, 1993, Rickey Henderson of the A's connected twice. Baltimore's Brady Anderson did it on August 21, 1999.
Boston split the twinbill with the Senators, losing the opener 4-3 and beating Johnson in the second game 1-0.
Love it, cool stuff, thanks, Allan! :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's what happened 75 years ago (courtesy of my web site):
ReplyDelete30 May 1938 - Boston's Joe Cronin and New York's Jake Powell fight in the middle of the diamond after the Yankees outfielder is hit by a pitch thrown by Red Sox pitcher Archie McKain in the second game of a doubleheader. The fight lasts two to three minutes and both players are ejected, but the fight continues underneath the stands at Yankee Stadium. Both players are eventually separated by Yankee players, fined, and suspended ten days by the league.