| Date / Box |
Event Description / The Technology Era Baseball First |
| 04-14-2010 |
Jorge Cantu surpassed the hit and RBI mark of George "Highpockets" Kelly, who opened the first eight games of the 1921 season with the New York Giants with a hit and an RBI — making Cantu the first player in Major League history to collect at least one hit and one RBI in his team's first nine games (streak reached ten, see his 2010 game logs) and ALSO becoming the first in history to open a season with an RBI in his team's first nine games (see Most Games With an RBI Consecutively for records). |
| 05-09-2010 |
The 19th perfect game in Major League history was tossed by Oakland Athletics hurler Dallas Braden against the Tampa Bay Rays - the first perfect game thrown against a team with the best record in the Major Leagues. |
| 05-09-2010 |
Dallas Braden was the first pitcher in Major League history whose first career complete game was also a perfect game. |
| 05-27-2010 |
With their sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets became the first team in Major League history to hold a defending League Champion scoreless over a three-game series. |
| 06-09-2010 |
Carlos Lee became the first player in Major League history with three career extra-inning grand slams (#1 06-08-2001 | #2 06-28-2007) after hitting a 10th-inning grand slam on this date (which gave the Astros a 6-2 win). |
| 07-06-2010 |
The Colorado Rockies, in defeating the St Louis Cardinals 12-9, became the first National League team in history to score 9 or more runs in the last inning of a walk-off win - the first ever took place during the 1901 season. |
| 08-11-2010 |
When D-Back outfielder Stephen Drew hit the fourth consecutive home run in the 4th inning vs. Milwaukee, he and brother J.D. Drew (who was part of such an inning twice) became the first brothers in Major League history to be a part of a four-consecutive home run inning. |
| 09-07-2010 |
The All-Time Saves Leader (for about five years), Trevor Hoffman, became the first player in Major League history to reach the 600 saves plateau. |
| 10-06-2010 |
With one amazing Division Series game, Roy Halliday of the Philadelphia Phillies became the first National League hurler to pitch a no-hitter in post-season play and the first pitcher in Major League history to pitch a no-hitter in the same year's regular season and post-season. |
| 03-31-2011 |
Grounding into Double Plays (GIDP) might be considered a "new" stat (officially recorded since 1933 in the National League and 1940 in the American League), but Albert Pujols made statistical history with it when he became the first player in history to ever ground into three double players in an Opening Day game. |
| 03-31-2011 |
Ramon Hernandez, Cincinnati Reds catcher, became the first player in Major League history to hit an Opening Day walk-off home run after coming to the plate with his team trailing by more than one run. |
| 04-03-2011 |
Texas Rangers' second baseman Ian Kinsler became the first player in Major League history to home run in his first official at-bat in each of his team's first three games of a season. (NOTE:HRs in his 1st AB on 4/1 and 4/2...walked in 1st on 4/3 before homering in the 3rd). |
| 04-03-2011 |
The Rangers' Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz became the first pair of teammates in Major League history to hit home runs in their first three games of the season. |
| 04-03-2011 |
The Rangers' Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz and Yankees' Mark Teixeira became the first trio in American League history to each hit home runs in their first three games of the season. (NOTE: To open the 2002 season, Gary Sheffield (Braves) Lance Berkman (Astros) and Derrek Lee (Marlins) became the first trio in Major League / National League history to hit home runs in their first 3 games.) |
| 04-04-2011 |
Texas Rangers' outfielder Nelson Cruz became the first player in American League history (Willie Mays was the first in Major League History, see 1971. In 1998 Mark McGwire tied the National League mark set by Mays.) to home run in each of his team's first four games of a season. |
| 04-14-2011 |
Seasoned veteren Johnny Damon hit a walk-off home run with the Tampa Bay Rays making him the first player in Major League history to hit a walk-off home run with five different teams - the other four: 04-10-2000 (Royals), 04-26-2002 (Red Sox), 05-17-2009 (Yankees) and 05-01-2010 (Tigers). |
| 04-15-2011 |
Colby Lewis, starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers, was granted three days' paternity leave under new rules established by Major League Baseball making him the first Major League baseball player to be granted paternity leave. |
| 05-03-2011 |
The Minnesota Twins' hurler Francisco Liriano became the first pitcher in Major League history to throw a no-hit, no-run game against an opposing starting pitcher (the White Sox' Edwin Jackson whose no-no was with the Arizona Diamondbacks) who had thrown a no-hitter the season before. |
| 08-18-2011 |
Mike Jacobs, a six-year Major Leaguer who was playing for the Rockies' Triple-A team, received a 50-game suspension from Major League Baseball on Thursday after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance human growth hormone. He was the first player to be suspended for HGH use since MLB started testing for it in the Minor Leagues last summer. See Baseball Steroid Suspensions for a complete list. |
| 08-25-2011 |
The 2011 New York Yankees were the first team in Major League history to ever hit three grand slams during the same game. The whole team gets credit for this record (men do have to be on base), but those who went deep were: Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson. |
| 09-28-2011 |
Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays) became the first American League player in Major League history to hit a walk-off home run (vs the New York Yankees) in his team's final regular season game to clinch a post-season playoff berth. |
| 10-11-2011 |
Tied 3-3 with the Detroit Tigers in the bottom of the eleventh inning, Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz hit the first walk-off grand slam in post-season history. |
| 10-16-2011 |
In leading off the home team half of the first inning with a home run off Cardinals' pitcher Edwin Jackson, the Brewers' Corey Hart became the first player in Major League history to hit a leadoff homer against the same pitcher in both the regular-season (August 3, 2011, also at Miller Park) and postseason in the same year since postseason divisional play began. |
| 10-20-2011 |
St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Jaime Garcia and Fernando Salas both appeared in Game 2 of the 2011 World Series and became not only the first Mexican-born teammates to play in the same World Series, but also the same World Series game. |
| 10-20-2011 |
Appearing in Games 1 and 2 of the 2011 World Series, the Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig became the first player in World Series history to drive in his team's go-ahead runs in both games as a pinch-hitter. |
| 10-22-2011 |
With singles in the 4th and 5th innings and home runs in the 6th and 7th innings of Game 3 of the 2011 World Series, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols became the first player in World Series history to have hits in 4 consecutive innings. With his home run in the 9th inning, Pujols became the first National League player to hit 3 home runs in a World Series game. |
| 10-27-2011 |
In Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals (versus the Texas Rangers) became the first team in World Series history to both score in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings and to also come back to win having been down twice two runs behind in the 9th and later innings. |
| 10-28-2011 |
David Freese became the first player in World Series history to have a game-tying RBI in the 9th inning and then the game-winning RBI in extra innings. |
| 10-28-2011 |
With his victories versus the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the 2011 NL Divisional Series and Game 7 of the 2011 World Series versus the Texas Rangers, the St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter became the first pitcher to ever win two "winner-take-all" games in the same postseason. |
| 10-31-2011 |
In announcing his retirement from baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa became the first manager in Major League history to retire after having guided his team to a World Series Championship. He is also the only manager in Major League history to have managed two players, Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols, who have each hit over 400 home runs (McGwire 497 homers, the highest total in Major League history, and Pujols 447) while they played for one manager. |
| 11-14-2011 |
In being named 2011 National League Rookie of the Year, the Atlanta Braves hurler Craig Kimbrel became the first pitcher in the history of the award to have won all 32 first place votes. |
| 11-21-2011 |
In being named the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player, Justin Verlander became the first American League pitcher to have also won the Rookie of the Year Award (2006) and the Cy Young Award (2011). |
| 04-15-2012 |
Second baseman Omar Infante hit a second-inning home run making Miami Marlins history. It was the first home run by a Miami Marlins player at Marlins Park setting off the 75-foot home run sculpture beyond the left-field fence for the first time. |
| 04-24-2012 |
The New York Mets, versus the Miami Marlins, became the first team in Major League history to have four straight batters draw walks from four different pitchers. |
| 04-30-2012 |
The New York Mets, versus the Houston Astros, became the first team in Major League history to have seven consecutive batters face seven different pitchers. |
| 05-02-2012 |
Atlanta Braves slugger Chipper Jones (versus the Philadelphia Phillies) and the Colorado Rockies slugger Jason Giambi (versus the Los Angeles Dodgers) became both the first over 40 year-old players and 400 plus career homerun hitters to hit walk-off home runs on the same day. |
| 05-03-2012 |
Homer Bailey of the Cincinati Reds and Ryan Dempster of the Chicago Cubs became the first starting pitchers to face each other on their shared birthday. |
| 05-10-2012 |
The Baltimore Orioles are the first team in American League history to hit three consecutive home runs (Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis) from the start of a game. |
| 06-01-2012 |
The Los Angeles Dodgers set a new record and became the first team to have five sons of former major leaguers — Tony Gwynn, Scott Van Slyke, Ivan De Jesus, Dee Gordon and Jerry Hairston Jr. — all in the starting lineup. |
| 06-13-2012 |
The Giants' ace Matt Cain became the first pitcher in Major League history to score a run during a perfect game (his own versus the Houston Astros). |
| 06-13-2012 |
Umpire Ted Barrett became the first umpire in Major League history to call balls and strikes for two perfect games. |
| 06-15-2012 |
Carlos Beltran stole second base in the second inning and became the first switch-hitter in Major League history to reach 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases over the course of a big league career. |
| 06-30-2012 |
San Diego Padres rookie Yasmani Grandal is the first player in Major League history to have his first two career hits count as home runs from opposite sides of the plate in the same game. |
| 07-10-2012 |
The Brewers' Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player, became the first reigning MVP to get a hit, a double in the first inning, in an All-Star Game againest the other league's reigning MVP, the Tiger's Justin Verlander. |
| 07-10-2012 |
Prince Fielder, in appearing in his first All-Star Game as a Detroit Tiger, joined father Cecil (3 appearances) as the first father-son tandem to each play in an All-Star Game for the same American League franchise. |
| 07-27-2012 |
With the Cardinals' Matt Holliday (1st inning), Yadier Molina (2nd inning), Lance Berkman (3rd inning), Matt Carpenter (4th inning) and Allen Craig (5th inning) going deep, the Cubs' Travis Wood became the first pitcher in Major League history to serve up a homerun in each of a game's first 5 innings. |
| 08-03-2012 |
When the Arizona Diamondbacks RF Justin Upton and Tampa Bay Rays CF B.J. Upton went deep on this date, they became the first pair of brothers in Major League history to each hit their 100th career home runs on the same day and in the same season. |
| 08-13-2012 |
Toronto pitcher Steve Delabar is the first Blue Jays pitcher in team history to strike out four batters in the same inning AND the first pitcher in Major League history to strike out four batters in an extra inning (10th). |
| 08-15-2012 |
The Mariners' ace Felix "King" Hernandez, born in Venezuela, became the first American League pitcher born outside the United States to throw a perfect game (Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez, born in Nicaragua, was the first in Major League history / Expos v. Dodgers 07-28-1991). |
| 08-15-2012 |
Safeco Field is the first park in Major League history to have two perfect games thrown on their field during the same season: Felix Hernandez, on this date, and Philip Humber on April 21, 2012. |
| 08-15-2012 |
The Tampa Bay Rays (and manager Joe Maddon), in only their 15th season in the majors, became the first franchise in Major League history to be on the losing end of three regular-season perfect games (Mark Buehrle on 07-23-2009 and Dallas Braden on 05-09-2010). |
| 08-18-2012 |
Hitting his 400th career home run versus the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox 1B Adam Dunn joined Paul Konerko (April 24 versus the Oakland Athletics) in becoming the first two teammates in Major League history to reach the 400 home run plateau during the same season. |
| 09-07-2012 |
With Alex Rodriguez hitting his 300th home run as a Bronx Bomber (v. the Baltimore Orioles), the New York Yankees became the first franchise in Major League history to have six players (Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra are the other five) each hit 300 or more home runs for the team. |
| 09-30-2012 |
The Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder hit his 30th home run of the season making him and his father Cecil Fielder, the first father-son duo to hit 30 home runs for the same American League franchise. |
| 10-06-2012 |
In Game 1 of the National League Division Series, due to an injury, the Reds' Johnny Cueto, versus the Giants, became the first starting pitcher in postseason history to face only one batter. |
| 10-06-2012 |
The 2012 Cincinnati Reds' Dusty Baker became the first National League manager in postseason history to manage against a team he previously led in postseason play, the 2002 San Francisco Giants. |
| 10-10-2012 |
In Game 3 of the American League Division Series, the Yankees' outfielder Raul Ibanez, after tying the game in the 9th inning with a home run coming off the bench and a 12th inning walk-off home run, became the first player in postseason history to hit two home runs without having started the game. |
| 10-10-2012 |
Raul Ibanez is the first player in Major League history to hit two score-tying or go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning or later in one postseason game. |
| 10-12-2012 |
The 2012 St. Louis Cardinals became the first team in Major League history to come back from a five or more run deficit to win a "winner take all" postseason game. In addition, with winning the one game Wildcard Playoff game (v. the Braves) and Game 5 of the NLDS (versus the Nationals) this season, the Cardinals, going back to the 2011 postseason, became the first National League team to win six "winner take all" postseason games. |
| 10-14-2012 |
For the first time in National League history, the two previous World Series Champions (the San Francisco Giants in 2010 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011) meet in postseason play. |
| 10-24-2012 |
Justin Verlander became the first pitcher in American League history to take the loss in the same season's All-Star Game and the World Series' opening game. (Mort Cooper was the first in the National League / Major League history, the year was 1942.) |
| 10-24-2012 |
Pablo Sandoval tied the World Series record for home runs in a game and became the first player in Major League history to homer in each of first three at-bats in a World Series game AND the first to hit 3 home runs in Game 1 of any World Series. |
| 10-27-2012 |
Miguel Cabrera (AL) and Buster Posey (NL) each won their respective league's 2012 Hank Aaron Award which recognizes the most outstanding offensive performer in each league. This is the first time in the award's history the winners are meeting in the World Series. |
| 10-28-2012 |
Pablo Sandoval became the first Venezuelan-born World Series Most Valuable Player Award winner in Major League history. |
| 11-14-2012 |
Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price became the first overall #1 pick in Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft (2007) to win the Cy Young Award. |
| 11-14-2012 |
R.A. Dickey became the first knuckleball pitcher (whose primary pitch was a knuckleball) to win the Cy Young Award. |
| 11-15-2012 |
Miguel Cabrera became the first Venezuelan-born Most Valuable Player Award winner in Major League history. |
| 01-19-2013 |
This was the first day in Major League history a pair of Hall of Famers passed away on the same day. In the morning, Hall of Fame Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver passed away at age 82. In the evening, Hall of Fame St. Louis Cardinals legend Stan Musial passed away at age 92. Prior to this date, the shortest time span between the deaths of two Hall of Famers was three days when Heinie Manush passed on May 12, 1971, followed by Goose Goslin's death on May 15th. |
| 02-18-2013 |
Salary arbitration began in 1974. When Darren O'Day completed his $5.8 million, two-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles on this date, the 133rd and final player to settle without a hearing among the 133 who filed for arbitration, it marked the first time in baseball history not one player who filed went to an actual hearing. |
| 04-01-2013 |
For the first time in Major League history, an Opening Day game (Cincinnati Reds versus Anaheim Angeles) features an interleague match-up. |
| 04-01-2013 |
Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw, versus the San Francisco Giants, became the first National League pitcher to toss a shutout and and hit a home run in an Opening Day game (first in AL / Major League history click here / see 1953). |
| 05-05-2013 |
St. Louis Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia and Milwaukee Brewers RHP Marco Estrada became the first Mexican-born starting pitchers in Major League history to face one another on Cinco de Mayo. |
| xx-xx-2013 |
Future expansion - know a first in baseball history? Share it with us today... |
| Date / Box |
Event Description / The Technology Era Baseball First |
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Famous Firsts in the Technology Era
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