This Date in Baseball

July 11

1914 — Babe Ruth made his major league debut for the Boston Red Sox and received credit for a 4-3 victory over Cleveland. He was removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh, and Duffy Lewis’ single led to the winning run.

1944 — Phil Cavaretta set an All-Star game record by reaching base safely five straight times — triple, single, three walks — to lead the NL to a 7-1 victory over the AL at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

1950 — The All-Star game returned to Comiskey Park, the site of the first game, and was won by the NL 4-3 on Red Schoendienst’s 14th-inning home run off Ted Gray. It was the first extra-inning All-Star game, the first time the NL won at an AL park and the first All-Star game shown on network television.

1961 — Despite a record seven errors and pitcher Stu Miller getting blown off the Candlestick Park mound by a gale wind, the NL edged the AL 5-4 in the first of two All-Star games played that year.

1967 — Tony Perez’s home run off Catfish Hunter in the 15th inning gave the NL a 2-1 win in the longest game in All-Star history. The game was played in California’s Anaheim Stadium.

1973 — Jim Northrup of Detroit hit two grand slams, batting in the leadoff spot, to lead the Tigers to a 14-3 romp over the Texas Rangers. Northrup became the sixth major leaguer to hit two bases-loaded home runs in a game.

1978 — Steve Garvey keyed the NL’s 7-3 All-Star victory at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium with a game-tying, two-run single and a triple that sparked a four-run eighth inning.

1985 — Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros became the first pitcher in major league history to reach the 4,000-strikeout mark when he fanned New York’s Danny Heep leading off the sixth inning. The Astros beat the Mets 4-3 in 12 innings on Bill Doran’s fifth hit of the game.

1995 — Jeff Conine’s solo shot in the eighth inning gave the NL a 3-2 victory in the All-Star game. Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza also homered for the NL.

2000 — Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored as the AL defeated the NL 6-3 in the All-Star game. Jeter became the first Yankee to win the All-Star game MVP.

2006 — With the American League down to its final strike, Michael Young hit a two-run triple off Trevor Hoffman for a 3-2 victory that kept the Americans unbeaten in Major League Baseball’s All-Star game for the past decade. The NL took a 2-1 lead into the ninth behind David Wright’s homer and some daring, old-style baserunning.

2009 — Nick Johnson, Josh Willingham and Dunn homered in consecutive at-bats and the Nationals set season highs for hits and runs in a 13-2 win at Houston.