This day in sports: ‘Basebrawl’ for Yankees and Red Sox in 1976
The hot button was pushed on the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox on this date in 1976 when the teams engaged in a brawl at Yankee Stadium.
Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee and Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles were ejected. Lee suffered cartilage damage in his shoulder after he was punched by Nettles. New York outfielder Lou Piniella was sent to the hospital for X-rays on an injured hand. The fight started after Piniella slammed into catcher Carlton Fisk on a play at home to end the sixth inning.
The Red Sox ended up winning 8-2 behind Carl Yastrzemski’s two home runs. The second was Yastrzemski’s fifth homer in two games, tying a major league record held by 11 other players. He was the first American League player to achieve the feat since the Yankees’ Tony Lazzeri did it in 1936.
The Dodgers were scheduled to celebrate Walker Buehler bobblehead night Wednesday against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. The Angels were set to play the third of four games at Kansas City against the Royals. Both games were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus outbreak has athletes and medical experts from all over the world wondering how good sportsmanship can be embraced without shaking hands.
Here are some other memorable games and outstanding sports performances on this date:
1900 — The second modern Summer Olympics open in Paris. Nearly 1,000 athletes from 24 countries participate.Archery, soccer, rowing and equestrian are among the sports introduced. American athletes win 17 of the 23 track-and-field events, and French competitors earn more than 100 medals.
1919 — Babe Ruth of the Red Sox wins a game on the mound and at the plate when he hits his first career grand slam to beat the St. Louis Browns 6-4. Ruth pitches a complete game, allowing nine hits and four walks to improve to 3-0.
1941 — Coming off victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, Whirlaway runs against older horses for the first time and defeats four rivals, including San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner Mioland, in the Henry of Navarre Purse at Belmont Park in New York. Whirlaway, known as Whacky Whirly because he has trouble running in a straight line, takes the lead on the turn for home and records an easy win.
1978 — Affirmed, ridden by teenager Steve Cauthen, continues his equine war with rival Alydar and wins the Preakness Stakes by a neck. It is the Florida-bred chestnut colt’s sixth victory in eight races against Alydar, whom Affirmed would meet again in his quest for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.
1990 — No. 3-ranked Monica Seles of Yugoslavia ends Steffi Graf’s 66-match winning streak and takes the German Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Graf’s streak is the second longest in the modern era of women’s tennis. Martina Navratilova won 74 straight in 1984. Seles, 16, takes 63 minutes to oust Graf, who was trying to win her fifth German Open title.
1999 — Robin Ventura is the first big leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-10 and 10-1. In the first game, Ventura lines a pitch from Jim Abbott into the right-field seats for his 13th career grand slam. In the nightcap, on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, Ventura hits a deep drive to right off Horacio Estrada for No. 14.
2005 — Nextel Cup rookie Kyle Busch is the youngest driver, at age 20, to win a NASCAR truck series race. Busch leads for 77 laps and holds off Terry Cook and Ted Musgrave in a three-lap closing sprint in the Quaker Steak & Lube 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
The Angels will furlough some employees in June because of the financial stresses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
2006 — After a false start, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro breaks down at the start of the Preakness Stakes, galloping a few hundred yards as his eight rivals pass him. Barbaro fractures three bones in his right hind leg, ending any chance at a Triple Crown and his career. Bernardini wins the $1-million race, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1/4 lengths.
2007 — Roger Federer ends Rafael Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory in the final of the Hamburg Masters in Germany. It’s Federer’s first clay-court title in two years. Nadal, ranked No. 2 in the world behind Federer, had been unbeaten on the surface since April 2005, a run that included 13 tournament titles.
2012 — LeBron James scores 40 points and Dwyane Wade adds 30 as the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 101-93 to tie the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals at two games apiece. James grabs 18 rebounds and has nine assists to become the second player to post those numbers in a playoff game, joining the Lakers’ Elgin Baylor, who did it in 1961.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
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