This Date in Baseball – Sammy Sosa Becomes Third Player to Hit 50 Home Runs in 3 Different Seasons

Sept. 16

1914 — Roger Peckinpaugh, at 23, was hired to finish the season as manager of the New York Yankees.

1924 — Jim Bottomley went 6-for-6 and batted in a record 12 runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 17-3. His hits included two home runs.

1926 — The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 23-3 at the Baker Bowl. The Cardinals scored 12 runs in the third inning to set a franchise record.

1939 — The New York Yankees clinched their fourth successive pennant with a win over Detroit. It was the 11th pennant overall.

1957 — The Los Angeles City Council approved a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for a ballpark for the Dodgers. The club’s obligation was to finance a public recreation area.

1960 — Warren Spahn, 39, pitched a no-hitter and set an all-time Braves record with 15 strikeouts. Milwaukee beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.

1965 — Dave Morehead of the Boston Red Sox pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Morehead walked one batter and struck out.

1975 — The Pittsburgh Pirates routed the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field 22-0. It was the most one-sided shutout since 1900. Rennie Stennett had seven hits, including two two-hit innings. Pittsburgh’s Rennie Stennett tied a major league mark established in 1892 going 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game. The Pirates’ second baseman got two hits in one inning twice (in the first and fifth innings.

1988 — Cincinnati’s Tom Browning pitched a perfect game as the Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. Browning struck out eight and allowed eight balls to be hit out of the infield.

1993 — Dave Winfield of the Minnesota Twins became the 19th player in major league history to get 3,000 hits. Winfield singled off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in a 5-1 win at home.

1996 — Minnesota’s Paul Molitor got his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 21st major leaguer to reach the mark, in a 6-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

1997 — Philadelphia’s Curt Schilling struck out nine in the Phillies win over the New York Mets to become the 13th pitcher since 1900 with 300 strikeouts in a season.

2000 — Chicago’s Sammy Sosa became the third player to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire. Sosa homered in the Cubs’ 7-6 loss to St. Louis, joining McGwire as the only players to hit 50 in three straight years.

2006 — Washington’s Alfonso Soriano became the fourth player in major league history to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season in an 8-4 win over Milwaukee. Soriano when he swiped second base, his 40th stolen base, to go along with 45 home runs.

2006 — Chone Figgins hit for the cycle in the Los Angeles Angels’ 12-6 loss to the Texas Rangers.

2007 — Jim Thome became the 23rd player — and third this season — to reach 500 home runs. The slugger hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning off reliever Dustin Moseley to give the Chicago White Sox a 9-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

2014 — Jake Arrieta took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before giving up Brandon Phillips’ one-out double, the only blemish for the Chicago Cubs pitcher in a 7-0 win over Cincinnati. Arrieta struck out 13 and walked one in his first career complete game.

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Photo Credit: Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hits a home run and then does his hop during the game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on August 12, 2001. (Photo by John Grieshop/MLB via Getty Images)