August 8 - Ernie Banks is inducted into the Hall of Fame

This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

Cooperstown Calls:

• 1977, popular Chicago Cubs' slugger Ernie Banks is inducted into the Hall of Fame, helping to draw a then-record 27 Hall of Famers to Cooperstown for the event. Martin Dihigo, Pop Lloyd, Al Lopez, Amos Rusie, and Joe Sewell are also inducted.

Milestones:

• 1988, lights are used for the first time in the history of Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies play 3 1/2 before being rained out.
• 1998 - Behind Rafael Palmeiro's 35th home run‚ the Orioles defeat the Twins‚ 6 - 3‚ despite 5 hits by Minnesota DH Paul Molitor. Molitor also swipes his 500th base. He's the 6th player with 500 steals and 3000 hits.
• 1997 Randy Johnson becomes the first pitcher to strike out 19 batters in a game twice in one season when he fans 19 Chicago White Sox in a 5 - 0 victory.

Oddities:

• 1976, the Chicago White Sox become the first team in major league history to wear short pants in a game. The White Sox debut their Bermuda shorts - the brainchild of owner Bill Veeck - in the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals. It will be the only regular season game in which the White Sox wear shorts.
• 1903, tragedy strikes the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia when a walkway at the top of the stands suddenly collapses, killing 12 fans in attendance and injuring 282 others. The incident, which occurs when fans rush to the walkway to witness a street brawl, mars a doubleheader between the hometown Phillies and the Boston Braves. The second game is canceled and Philadelphia's remaining home games are played at the American League's Columbia Park.
• 2004 - The Red Sox defeat the Tigers‚ 11 - 9‚ despite 7 Detroit home runs. Tim Wakefield records the win for Boston despite tying a major league record by allowing 6 of the homers. Wakefield is the 6th modern pitcher to yield 6 round-trippers‚ but the first since Philadelphia's George Caster did so 64 years ago against the Red Sox. The last pitcher to give up 6 homers and still win the game was Brooklyn's Hollis Thurston in 1932.
• Births: 1913 - Cecil Travis, lost nearly four years lost to World War II, and frozen feet suffered in the Battle of the Bulge, may have cost Cecil Travis a chance at the Hall of Fame. Despite that interruption, his career record still shines. A hard-hitting infielder, Ted Williams later compared Cecil's swing to John Olerud's. In 1941, Travis finished third to Joe DiMaggio and Williams in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, batting .359 with 218 hits. His lifetime .314 average is one of the highest ever recorded by a shortstop