May 31, 1968, the shutout streak of Don Drysdale appears to end when he hits Dick Dietz with a bases-loaded pitch in the ninth inning. But umpire Harry Wendelstedt rules that Dietz made no effort to avoid the pitch, thus prolonging the at-bat. Drysdale then retires Dietz on a fly ball and and the next two batters also make outs to give Drysdale his fifth straight shutout, tying a major league established by White Sox hurler Doc White in 1904.

About that streak . . .

He spent much of the 1960s in the shadows of his Dodgers teammate, Sandy Koufax. But on June 4, 1968, Don Drysdale wrote some history of his own that would one day be inscribed on his Hall of Fame plaque.

Drysdale, the 6-foot-5 hard-throwing right-hander, blanked the Pirates that day 5-0, allowing just three hits while striking out eight batters. The victory was Drysdale’s sixth shutout in a row dating back to May 14 and gave him 54 straight scoreless innings.

The sixth straight shutout broke the mark of five held by Doc White of the 1904 White Sox.

In his next start on June 8 against the Phillies, Drysdale shut out Philadelphia for four full frames, running his streak to 58 innings and breaking the mark of 55.2 set by Walter Johnson in 1913. But in the fifth inning, the Phillies’ Howie Bedell scored Tony Taylor on a sacrifice fly, ending the streak at 58 and two-thirds innings.

It was Bedell’s only RBI of the season and one of just three for his career.

Drysdale and the Dodgers went on to win the game 5-3, however, with Drysdale improving his season record to 8-3. By the end of the campaign – forever to be known as The Year of the Pitcher – Drysdale had compiled a record of 14-12 with a 2.15 earned-run average in 239 innings.

“The trick against Drysdale,” said future Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, “is to hit him before he hits you.”

Drysdale, in fact, led the National League in hit batsmen five times.

In 1969, a nagging shoulder injury forced Drysdale’s mid-season retirement at the age of only 33. Three years earlier, an arm injury had forced Koufax’s exit from the game at 32.

In 14 big league seasons, Drysdale posted a record of 209-166 with a 2.95 ERA. He was named to nine All-Star Games, led the NL in games started four times, strikeouts three times and innings pitched twice – and won the 1962 Cy Young Award after going 25-9.

A long-time broadcasting career followed his days on the diamond, as Drysdale called games for several teams and worked for many years with ABC-TV.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, and he passed away on July 3, 1993.

Today’s line up: Click to Listen

May 31, 1968 New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

May 31, 1960 New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

This Week in Baseball May 31 1977 (First Episode)

TRIVIA:

When baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, held its inaugural election for enshrinement, who received the most votes?

Hint: #1 None of the stats in his triple crown year were career highs.

Hint: #2 In fourteen of his twenty-four playing seasons, his doubles outnumbered or equaled his strikeouts.

Hint: #3 A Hall of Famer of considerable baseball stature himself, once opined, “He was the greatest all time ball player.  That guy was superhuman, amazing.”

May 31, 1925 -- At Navin Field Ty Cobb's 9th inning triple off George Uhle is his 275th triple makes him the first player ever with 1,000 extra-base hits. He will finish his career with 1,136 extra-base hits, the all-time record until Babe Ruth passes him on June 21, 1931. The Tigers will however lose the game 6-3.

May 31, 1948 - Tommy Lasorda, best known as the Dodgers' Hall of Fame skipper, strikes out 25 batters and collects the game-winning hit when the Schenectady Blue Jays defeat the Amsterdam Rugmakers, 6-5, in 15 innings. The promising southpaw, who goes the distance in the CanAm minor-league contest played in McNearney Stadium, believes he probably threw more than 300 pitches during the game.

May 31, 1961, Carroll Hardy of the Boston Red Sox becomes the only player to pinch-hit for both Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. Subbing for Yaz in the eighth inning, Hardy lays down a bunt single during a 7-6 loss to the New York Yankees.

May 31, 1964 -- At Shea Stadium, the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants play the longest doubleheader in major league history - 9 hours, 52 minutes - with the help of a 23-inning game in the nightcap that is won by the visiting Giants, 8 - 6, on run-scoring hits by Del Crandall and Felipe Alou against Galen Cisco. Gaylord Perry will get the win pitching 10 innings in relief.

On May 31, 1966 -- Ron Santo establishes a National League record when he appears in his 364th consecutive game at third base. The Cubs infielder's streak, which started on April 19, 1964, will end at 390 contests after he is struck in the face by a Jack Fisher pitch that fractures his cheek.

May 31, 1970, Baltimore Orioles star Paul Blair is hit by a pitch thrown by California Angels relief pitcher Ken Tatum. Blair suffers a broken nose and other facial fractures. Although Blair will recover and continue to play for 10 more seasons, he will never hit above .280 over the balance of his career.

May 31, 1975 - The Kansas city Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-5 in a game bridging the generation gap. Home run leaders Henry Aaron and Harmon Killebrew are in their 22nd ML seasons and winning pitcher Lindy McDaniel is in his 21st. All three were playing in the majors before Brewers SS Robin Yount was born. Yount 19, was born in 1955.

May 31, 1996 Clevaad Indians Albert Belle knocks Milwaukee Brewers Fernando Vina down to break up a double play in the top of the eighth inning.

May 31, 2008 In front of many visiting Red Sox fans at Camden Yards, Manny Ramirez becomes the 24th and 12th-youngest major leaguer to hit 500 career home runs. The historic ball, thrown in the seventh inning by Orioles right-hander Chad Bradford, is caught in the stands by Damon Woo, who presents the Boston slugger with the ball after the game.

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