August 30 - Stengel begins and ends on the same day - This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

Vintage Baseball Reflections

On August 30, 2006, Boston right-hander Curt Schilling fans Oakland slugger Nick Swisher with his trademark splitter to record the 3,000th strikeout of his career. Schilling becomes the 14th pitcher to reach the milestone. Schilling ranks 2nd all time with 4.38 strikeouts for every walk allowed. Third on the all time list is 2004 team mate Pedro Martinez with a 4.15 ratio. After recording the strikeout Schilling said, "Earlier in my career, the two guys I wanted to emulate were Clemens and Maddux. I wanted Clemens' power with Maddux's control. I never quite got to either one of them, but I felt like I was kind of a mishmash of the two in some cases."

August 30, 1978, Sadaharu Oh of the Tokyo Giants hits the 800th home run of his career. Oh, the world’s all-time home run king, had previously broken Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs. He went on to hit 868 for his career. Aaron, six years Oh's senior, out-homered him in home run hitting contests held in 1974 and 1984.

August 30, 1965, one of the game’s most legendary figures, New York Mets manager Casey Stengel, announces his retirement. Doctors had advised Stengel to step down after suffering a broken hip in a bathroom fall on July 25. Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame the next year.

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel made his big league debut as an outfielder with John McGraw’s New York Giants in 1912. His greatest moment as a player came in the 1923 World Series with the Giants. With two outs in the ninth inning, Stengel won Game 1 with an inside-the-park home run. After his playing career he managed the Dodgers, Braves and in 1949 took over the Yankees, His record of 1149 wins versus 696 losses with the Yankees over the next 12 seasons was among the greatest in managerial history, and included 10 American League pennants and seven World Series victories. He finished his career with Mets and in 1962 posted the single worst record in baseball history as the amazing mets went 40 - 120. The year following his retirement, Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.