2000 in baseball

Events

January-March

• January 6 - Major League Baseball officials order Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker is to undergo psychological testing following derogatory remarks he made in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig says he will listen to what the doctors say before deciding what punishment?if any?will be handed down to the pitcher.
• January 11 - The baseball writers elect catcher Carlton Fisk and first baseman Tony Pérez to the Hall of Fame. Fisk is chosen in his 2nd year on the ballot, while Pérez is picked on his 9th try.
• January 31 - Braves reliever John Rocker is suspended from baseball until May 1st by Commissioner Bud Selig for his racial and ethnic remarks in an article published in Sports Illustrated last month. He's also fined an undisclosed amount and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
• February 10 - The Seattle Mariners accommodate center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr. trading him to his hometown Cincinnati in exchange for four players. Cincinnati resisted giving up infielder Pokey Reese.
• February 29 - Manager Sparky Anderson, 19th century star Bid McPhee, and Negro League player Norman "Turkey" Stearnes are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
• March 1 - Independent arbitrator Shyam Das cuts Braves pitcher John Rocker's suspension from 28 days to 14 days. Rocker, who is allowed to report to spring training with the team, also has his fine cut.
• March 29 - The Chicago Cubs open the major league season in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, by defeating the New York Mets, 5-3, in the first big league game ever played outside of America. Jon Lieber gets the victory and Mike Hampton takes the loss. Shane Andrews hits the first home run of the new millennium. Mark Grace and Mike Piazza also homer.

April-May

• April 3:
• Andrés Galarraga hit a home run in his 1st game back after missing the entire 1999 season following cancer surgery. Atlanta defeat the Colorado Rockies, 2-0.
• The Dodgers defeat the Expos, 10-4, behind Eric Karros' grand slam. Rightfielder Vladimir Guerrero hits a pair of home runs for Montreal as a new major league record for opening day is set with five players having multiple home run games.
• April 4 - Expos closer Ugueth Urbina strikes out the Dodgers in the top of the ninth inning on nine pitches tying a major league record.
• April 7 - A total of 57 home runs are hit in the 15 games played, for a new major league record. The previous mark of 55 was set in 17 games on August 13, 1999. There were 36 homers hit in the American League, smashing the previous mark for a single league.
• April 9 - The Minnesota Twins defeat the Kansas City Royals, 13-7. In the process, they become the first teams in major league history to each hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the same game. Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matt LeCroy hit consecutive homers for Minnesota in the 6th inning, followed by three in a row by Carlos Beltrán, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney of Kansas City an inning later.
• April 10 - Colorado beat Cincinnati, 7-5, despite Ken Griffey, Jr.'s 400th career home run. At age of 30, Griffey is the youngest player in ML history to reach that milestone.
• April 11:
• The Dodgers edge the Giants, 6-5, in the first game played at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco. Shortstop Kevin Elster leads the Dodger attack with three home runs.
• The Tigers sink the Mariners, 5-2, in the first game played at Comerica Park in Detroit.
• April 15 - Baltimore defeat the Twins, 6-4, as Cal Ripken gets the 3,000th hit of his illustrious career. Ripken goes 3-for-5 in becoming the 24th player to reach the milestone, and the 7th to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
• April 16 - Cleveland Indians starter Chuck Finley, who was already the only pitcher in ML to strike out four batters in one inning twice, does it for the third time as the left hander strikes out Tom Evans, Royce Clayton, Chad Curtis (who takes first on a passed ball) and Rafael Palmeiro in the third inning. Finley beats the Texas Rangers 2-1 with the help of back-to-back ninth-inning home runs from Manny Ramírez and Jim Thome.
• April 21 - Anaheim Angels down the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-6. Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon hit back-to-back home runs for Anaheim in the fourth inning, then repeat the feat in the 9th. Troy Glaus also homers in those same two innings, marking the first time in major league history that three players homer in the same inning twice in the same game. The three players with two home runs in the game ties another ML record.
• April 23 - In a New York Yankees 10-7 victory over the Blue Jays, Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada each hit home runs from both sides of the plate, marking the first time in major league history that a pair of teammates accomplish the feat in the same game.
• April 29 - The Giants finally win, beating the Expos, 2-1, for their 1st victory at Pacific Bell Park. They are the 1st team to lose six straight game to begin play in a newly constructed home park.
• April 30 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Phillies, 4-3, as Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds hit home runs. St. Louis finishes the month with 55 homers, a new record for April. It also ties the National League mark for homers in any month. Major league batters also set a record for most home runs in a month by hitting 931 in April. The total is 140 more than the number hit in 1999.
• May 10 - Rickey Henderson becomes the 21st major-leaguer to garner 10,000 at bats in his career. Henderson finishes the night with 10,002 at bats and trails only Cal Ripken, Jr., among active players.
• May 18 - Mark McGwire hit three home runs and seven RBI in a St. Louis 7-2 victory over the Phillies. The homers move McGwire past Mickey Mantle into 8th place on the all-time list with 539.
• May 19 - Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Cardinals, 13-1, as catcher Jason Kendall hits for the cycle, becoming the first Pirate ever to do so at Three Rivers Stadium.
• May 23 - Baltimore defeat Seattle, 4-2. Mariners' Rickey Henderson drew his 2,000th career walk in the 9th inning, making him the 3rd player to reach that level, behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.
• May 29 - Second baseman Randy Velarde of the Oakland Athletics turns an unassisted triple play, just the 11th in ML history, on a line drive by New York Yankees Shane Spencer. With runners on first base and second running with the pitch, Velarde tags Jorge Posada as he nears second base, then touches the bag to retire Tino Martinez. In 1995, while with the Yankees, Velarde turned an unassisted triple play against the Dodgers in spring training following the strike.

June-July

• June 1 - Japanese righthander Tomokazu Ohka, a top prospect with the Pawtucket Red Sox, becomes the first pitcher in nearly 50 years to throw a nine-inning perfect game in the International League. Ohka retired all 27 batters he faced in a 2-0 triumph over the Charlotte Knights. The 24-year-old Ohka needs just 76 pitches to toss the first nine-inning perfect game in the IL since Dick Marlowe did it for Buffalo in 1952.
• June 2:
• With the Tigers visiting Wrigley Field for the first time since the 1945 World Series, Cubs' reliever Rick Aguilera pitches a perfect ninth inning for his 300th save in a 2-0 Chicago victory.
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays first baseman Fred McGriff becomes the 31st player to reach 400 career home runs when he goes deep against Glendon Rusch with a two-run drive in a 5-3 loss to the Mets at Shea Stadium.
• 2000 - The Montreal Expos announce they will wear Maurice Richard's uniform number nine on their jerseys for the rest of the season to honor the Montreal Canadians great who died last week. It is believed to be the first time a major league team has honored an athlete from another sport in this way.
• June 21 - Oakland defeat the Orioles, 10-3, as Eric Chavez becomes the first Athletics player to hit for the cycle at home since the team moved to Oakland in 1968.
• June 26 - The Diamondbacks defeat the Astros, 6-1. Arizona rookie first baseman Alex Cabrera hits a pinch-hitter two-run home run in his first major league at bat.
• July 1 - On Canada's 133rd birthday, Marlins? Ryan Dempster and Expos? Mike Johnson hook up in a rare matchup of Canadian starters. Dempster comes out on top as Florida defeat Montreal 6?5. Johnson hails from Edmonton, Alberta, while Dempster is a native of Sechelt, British Columbia. Theirs is the first matchup of Canadian-born starters since September 1999 when Dempster took on Éric Gagné of the Dodgers.
• July 5 - Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez becomes the first Diamondback to hit for the cycle, helping his team to trip the Astros, 12-9. It is the first time the feat is accomplished in new Enron Field, and Gonzalez is just the 9th player to both hit for the cycle and have a 30-or-more-game hitting streak.
• July 6:
• St. Louis rookie catcher Keith McDonald hit a home run in his second at bat, becoming only the second player in major league history to hit home runs in each of his first two big league at bats. Bob Nieman, in 1951, is the other.
• Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser announces his retirement.
• The American Sportscasters Association names Dodgers legend Vin Scully as the No. 1 sportscaster of the 20th century. Howard Cosell finishes second, followed by Mel Allen and Red Barber.
• July 8 - In a New York match, The Yankees whip the Mets by identical 4-2 scores in both ends of an unusual day-night doubleheader. With the first game played at Shea Stadium and the nightcap at Yankee Stadium, it is the first time since 1903 that two teams played two games in different stadiums on the same day. Dwight Gooden wins the first game with a six inning effort in his first start since returning to the Yankees. Roger Clemens wins the night cap and precipitate a near brawl when he drills Mike Piazza in the helmet with an inside fastball. Piazza suffers a concussion.
• July 11 - The American League wins its fourth consecutive All-Star Game, beating the National League, 6-3. Derek Jeter of the Yankees and Chipper Jones of the Braves each go 3-for-3 in the contest. Jeter takes MVP honors, while James Baldwin of the White Sox is the winning pitcher.
• July 15 - A 1909 Honus Wagner baseball club is auctioned for a record $1.1 million on eBay. Other high priced items in the auction include a baseball autographed by the entire 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" team, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, as well as the umpires who worked the final game of the 1919 World Series sells for $93,666, including a 15 percent buyer's premium. A ball signed by the 1919 Reds goes for $11,208, while a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth sells for $76,020. A contract from Shoeless Joe Jackson's sale of his Chicago pool hall to teammate Lefty Williams, sells for $36,098. The contract, dated October 6, 1921, is for just $1.
• July 20 - In a Houston 6-2 win over Cincinnati, Reds pinch-hitter Mike Bell strikes out in his major league debut, making history becoming part of the first third-generation family to play for the same major league team. His grandfather, Gus Bell, and father, Buddy Bell, also played for the Reds.

August

• August 4 - The Blue Jays obtain outfielder Dave Martinez from the Rangers. Martinez becomes the 9th major leaguer to play for four teams in a season. He began the year with Tampa Bay and also played with the Cubs, in addition to Texas and Toronto. The last to do so was Dave Kingman (1977). Before him, according to historian Scott Flatow, the four-in-one players were Frank Huelsman (1904), Willis Hudlin (1940), Paul Lehner (1951), Ted Gray, (1955), Wes Covington (1961) and Mike Kilkenny (1972).
• August 19:
• The Yankees beat the Angels, 9-1, hitting a major league record-tying three sacrifice flies in the 3rd inning.
• In a Astros 10-8 victory over Milwaukee, Jeff Bagwell hits two home runs and five RBI. Bagwell becomes the first Houston player to reach 300 homers in his career.
• August 21 - Potomac's Exis Snead breaks Lenny Dykstra's Carolina League record of 105 stolen bases by swiping his 106th. Snead has a batting average of .242 and a .338 on base percentage. It's the 10th time in the last 20 years that a minor-leaguer has stolen 100 or more bases in a season. According to Howe Sports data, the eight players who stole 100 or more bases in the minors were:
• Vince Coleman (Macon, South Atlantic, 1983?145)
• Donell Nixon (Bakersfield, California, 1983?144)
• Jeff Stone (Spartanburg, South Atlantic, 1983?123)
• Alan Wiggins (Lodi, California, 1980?120)
• Marcus Lawton (Columbia, South Atlantic, 1985?111)
• Exis Snead (Potomac, Carolina, 2000?106)
• Lenny Dykstra (Lynchburg, Carolina, 1983?105)
• Donell Nixon (Chattanooga, Southern, 1984?102)
• Vince Coleman (Louisville, American Association, 1983? 101)
• Albert Hall (Durham, Carolina, 1980?100)
• August 22 - The Dodgers defeat the Expos, 14-6, as Eric Karros becomes the first Dodger player to hit two home runs in a single inning (6th).
• August 27 - The Anaheim Angels edge the Cleveland Indians, 10-9, as outfielder Tim Salmon hits his 30th home run of the year in the 5th inning. Anaheim become the first team in American League history to have four players (Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Garret Anderson, Salmon) reach the 30-homer mark in a single season. The Toronto Blue Jays are close with two hitters over 30 and two at 28. It's been done seven times in the National League.

September

• September 1 - For the second time in the season, pitcher Ryan Rupe of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays gave up a grand slam home run to A's outfielder Jermaine Dye. The other slam was on April 26.
• September 3 - Kenny Lofton of the Cleveland Indians tied a major league record by scoring in his 18th straight game in the first inning of Indians' 12-11, 13-inning victory over the Orioles. Red Rolfe set the record in 1939 for the New York Yankees.
• September 4 - At Fenway Park, Carl Everett of the Boston Red Sox became only the sixth major-league switch-hitter to drive in 100 runs in both leagues when he knocked in his 100th RBI of the year. Boston win over the Seattle Mariners, 5-1. Everett drove in 108 runs for the Houston Astros in 1999. The other five 100-100 switch-hitters were Ted Simmons, Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla and J.T. Snow. Before the game, the Red Sox honor Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. Fisk, who played his first nine seasons with Boston, joins Bobby Doerr (1), Joe Cronin (4), Carl Yastrzemski (8) and Ted Williams (9) in having his number (27) be retired at Fenway.
• September 6:
• Scott Sheldon of the Texas Rangers became just the third player in ML history to play all nine positions in one game when he did it in a 13-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Sheldon joined Bert Campaneris (September 8, 1965) and César Tovar (September 22, 1968) as true utility players.
• After reaching an agreement with Morgan, Lewis and Bockis LLP, Major League Baseball can now use the URL http://www.mlb.com. The law firm registered the mbl.com in 1994 and refused to release the domain name making it necessary for the sport to use http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com.
• September 10 - Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the 12th pitcher to reach the 3,000 strikeout plateau, fanning a season-high 14 in seven innings as the Diamondbacks lost to the Florida Marlins, 4?3, in 12 innings. Johnson's 3,000 strikeout victim was Mike Lowell, who fanned to end the 4th inning. In the first inning, Johnson also recorded his 300th strikeout for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall. Nolan Ryan is the only other pitcher to accomplish the feat, and is the only pitcher who has reached 300 strikeouts more times with six (1972-74, 1976-77 and 1989).
• September 12 - The Diamondbacks edge the Dodgers, 5-4, despite Dave Hansen's major league record-breaking seventh pinch-hit home run of the season. Hansen's blast, off Curt Schilling, breaks the mark set in 1932 by Brooklyn's Johnny Frederick.
• September 15 - Rickey Henderson scores his first two at bats to pace the Seattlle Mariners to a 10?2 win over Baltimore. Henderson moves into second place on the all-time list of runs (2,175), one ahead of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.
• September 16 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7?6, despite Sammy Sosa's 50th home run of the season. Sosa becomes the second player to hit 50 or more in three consecutive years, joining Mark McGwire.
• September 19 - In the Cincinnati Reds 7?3 loss to the Giants, Ken Griffey, Jr. pinch-hits his 400th home run. He is the first major leaguer to reach the mark as a pinch-hitter.
• September 22 - José Lima of the Houston Astros set an National League single-season record by allowing his 47th home run in the Astros' 12-5 loss to Cincinnati. The major league record for home runs allowed in a season is 50, set by Minnesota's Bert Blyleven in 1986.
• September 27 - In a Oakland 9-7 victory over the Angels, Anaheim's Darin Erstad hits a home run in the 2nd inning for his 99th RBI of the year from the leadoff spot to set a new record. Nomar Garciaparra drove home 98 in 1997 for the previous mark.

October-December

• October 8 - Bobby Jones of the Mets one-hits the Giants in Game Four of the National League Division Series to advance the Mets to the NLCS. It has been widely regarded as one of the best pitched games in franchise history.
• October 26 - The Yankees defeat the Mets, 4-2, to win their 26th World Series, 4-games-to-1. Luis Sojo hits a single in the top of the 9th inning and drives home the winning run for his team. Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter homer for the Yankees, and Jeter is named the Series MVP.
• November 18 - The Mariners sign Japanese star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to a three-year contract.
• December 11 - The Rangers sign free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez to a record $252 million, 10-year contract. It is the richest contract in the history of professional sports.