TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

Ernest Grady Shore was born on March 24, 1891, in Yadkin County, North Carolina, near East Bend. He was the second of five sons born to Henry and Martha Shore. The Shores lived on a farm with over 200 acres (81 ha) of crops, but Ernie did not enjoy farming. Every Saturday, he went into East Bend or Forsyth County to play baseball as an outfielder for a local amateur team.

Shore enrolled at Guilford College in 1910, and he played college baseball for the Guilford Quakers as a pitcher under Chick Doak. Shore made his debut on June 20, 1912, for the Giants and got whopped for 10 runs in the 9th inning, the Giants won 21-12, and he would have gotten a save had they existed. John McGraw was optioned off the squad quickly.

From there, Shore's baseball career was intertwined with Babe Ruth's. They both went to the Red Sox together from the Baltimore Orioles in 1914. Shore fared much better, going 10-5 with an ERA of 2 in 1914. He would be even better in 1915, going 19-8 with a 1.64 ERA. He pitched in Games 1 and 4 of the 1915 World Series, losing 3-1 in Game 1. Against the great Pete Alexander, the Phillies scratched out 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th without hitting the ball out of the infield.

"Shore deserved to win," teammate Tris Speaker said. "He pitched the best game I have ever seen turned in during a World Series." The Philadelphia Public Ledger conceded that Alexander "was really outpitched by young Ernie Shore, the giant right-hander of the Red Sox." Even as an elderly man, Shore recalled that if the Phillies' hits were lined up end-to-end, "they still wouldn't reach the outfield grass."

He came back and won game 4, 2-1. Shore scattered 7 hits and walked 4. This time, the luck was all on his side. "Shore was wild and was batted hard," the Public Ledger groused. "Sensational fielding and pure luck saved him several times." The Red Sox would win the World Series the next day! There 3rd title since the series started in 1903. (More on Game 4 here).

In 1916, Shore had another great year, going 16-10 for the 91-win Red Sox. The Boston Globe even called him out with a May 16 headline, Ernie Shore hits his stride!
The Red Sox would make their second straight World Series Appearance. Ruth was really the one hitting his stride, though he won 23-12. But it was Shore who started games 1 & 5 for the Red Sox,

Game 1, Sportswriter Hugh Fullerton called the game "one of the wildest, weirdest exhibitions of baseball ever staged." As the Red Sox nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory up 6-1 in the 9th, they won 6-5. His next start was a closeout game, Game 5. "The long Carolinian, once passed up by the Giants, came back with bells on and pitched a great World Series game," Frederick G. Lieb wrote in the New York Sun. "He subdued the Dodgers with three scattered hits, one of them an infield scratch. He had Brooklyn hypnotized. It's only run drifted in on a passed ball." Brooklyn outfielder Zach Wheat wrote, "Shore has the best fastball I ever saw. If we faced him regularly, I believe I could fathom it, but in a short series, he had us guessing." The Red Sox won 4-1.

Since the Red Sox picked him up in 1914, Ernie was a solid 52-33 and a key contributor in two World Series titles.

In 1917, he made his one appearance, which he has been known for the past 109 years. Ruth took the mound at Fenway Park for the first game of a Boston-Washington doubleheader on June 23, 1917. Umpire Brick Owens called the first three pitches to leadoff batter Ray Morgan all balls. After heated jawing, Ruth blew up on Owens' ball four call and charged with fists flying. Shore loyally maintained decades later that Ruth hadn't actually struck Owens, but the Bambino admitted in his autobiography, "I really socked him—right on the jaw… They'd put you in jail today for hitting an umpire." Teammates had to drag the ejected hurler off the diamond.

Shore, having just 5 pitches to warm up, was hoping to get out of the first with minimal damage. He did, when Morgan got thrown out for stealing on the first pitch, and five pitches later, he was in the dugout. No runs, no hits, no walks.

Player Manager Jack Barry decided to keep Shore in the game. He retired the next 23 batters in a row. The estimate is that he threw just 75 pitches that day. Will Harridge, the secretary of the American League, acknowledged Shore's feat as a no-hitter. And for many years, the game was listed in the record books as a perfect game. The debate over whether it should be considered a perfect game continued until Fay Vincent, commissioner of the major leagues, headed a 1991 committee on statistical accuracy that clarified the definitions of a no-hitter and a perfect game. The committee determined that Shore did not pitch a perfect game and credited the performance as a combined no-hitter. It was the first combined no-hitter in MLB history. Shore's nine innings of no-hit ball in a combined no-hitter is still an MLB record, with it being matched only by Francisco Cordova (who started his game) on July 12, 1997.

Shore had an effective 1917 but hurt his arm in September. He enlisted in the Navy in 1917 and missed all of 1918, along with other notables such as Herb Pennock. Shore was commissioned as an ensign in December 1918, becoming the only major league player who enlisted in the Navy during World War I to receive an officer's commission. As the war had ended, Shore was discharged from the Navy in January 1919.

By this time, the Red Sox had become a farm team for the Yankees, and Shore was another player traded to them. His trade was the first of the blockbuster deals that would dismantle the heart of the Red Sox team and reassemble it in New York. Shore, however, never recovered from the arm injury. And by the end of 1920, his professional career was over. "The passing of Ernie Shore, the Carolinian collegian, to the minors shows how quickly a man's usefulness in baseball may wane," wrote the New York Telegram.

Ernie became a sheriff of Forsyth County, North Carolina, and the namesake of Ernie Shore Field (later renamed). He passed away in 1980, not knowing Fay Vincent would eventually rule his gem a combined no-hitter.

Ruth & Shore:
Shore and his former Baltimore teammates roomed together on the road, but man-child Ruth was a poor match for the mild-mannered Southerner. A story circulated for years that Shore had asked for a new roomie after the Babe had used his toothbrush without asking and then said innocently, "That's all right, Ernie, I'm not particular." (Ruth actually used his shaving brush, Shore said, but it made a better story the other way.) The Babe was soon paired with the next in a long succession of roommates. It's reported they also roomed together for a while with the Yankees. The two had an intertwined road together for several years and a spot in baseball history that will always be remembered.

**I used many quotes from the SABR article linked below**

Todays highlights and Historic Days!

Born: March 24, 1893, in Manchester, OH George Sisler never played on a pennant winner and he wasn't a slugger, but in spite of that he earned a reputation as the best first baseman in the first 30 years of the 20th century. The greatest player in St. Louis Browns' history, he twice batted over .400, and his 257 hits in 1920 remain a modern major league record. That same year, the lefty-swinging Sisler hit in 41 consecutive games, an American League record that stood until surpassed by Joe DiMaggio. Sisler, who attended the University of Michigan, where he played for Branch Rickey, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

March 24, 1933 -- Babe Ruth, another victim of the Great Depression, takes a pay cut of $23,000 from his previous salary of $75,000. The 38 year old had slowed down a bit only hitting 33 homeruns, with a 1.026 OPS and 176 OPS+. Ruth also lead the league in walks with 114 for the last time.

March 24, 1947 - In a meeting at the Sarasota Terrace Hotel, in Florida, former Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher admits to Commissioner Happy Chandler that he sometimes bets on card games with the team's pitcher, Kirby Higbe.

Born: March 24, 1956 in Lockney, TX . . . "If I ain't startin', I ain't departin.' " That was the defiant quote from Cardinals shortstop Garry Templeton when he was informed he was a reserve on the National League All-Star team in 1978. His hubris was tolerated as long as he was putting up big numbers in St. Louis, but in 1981, Whitey Herzog shipped the controversial shortstop to the Padres for Ozzie Smith. Smith went on to become a legend in St. Louis, while Templeton spent ten solid seasons in a Padre uniform, but never realized his early potential.

March 24, 1973, the Cleveland Indians trade former All-Star catcher Ray Fosse to the Oakland A’s for outfielder George Hendrick and catcher Dave Duncan. Fosse was once considered an untouchable before a serious injury suffered during a 1970 All-Star Game collision with Pete Rose.

March 24, 1982 --- Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela ends his holdout and reports to the Dodgers spring training camp in Vero Beach, Florida. In 1981, Valenzuela captured the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards after winning 13 games with a 2.48 ERA and 180 strikeouts during the strike-shortened season. After earning just $42,500 in his rookie season, Valenzuela had asked for a raise to $1 million this year. The Dodgers unilaterally renewed his contract for a reported $350,000 instead.

March 24, 1984 --The Detroit Tigers acquire relief pitcher Willie Hernandez and first baseman Dave Bergman from the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher John Wockenfuss and outfielder Glenn Wilson. Hernandez will win the American League MVP and Cy Young awards after saving 32 games with an 1.92 ERA and 140.1 innings in 80 pitching appearances. His brilliant pitching during the postseason will help Detroit to the World Championship.

TRIVIA

TRIVIA: Who was the batter that walked and who was the home plate umpire?

IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!

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 ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA

YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: Who hit the first homerun in a west coast game?

Answer: In the 5th inning with the NEW SF Giants up 6-0, Orlanda Cepeda launched the second official HR on the left coast off Don Bessent, Daryl Spencer took Dandy Don Drysdale deep in the 4th

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