You love baseball. Tim Kurkjian loves baseball. So while we await its return, every day we'll provide you with a story or two tied to this date in baseball history.
ON THIS DATE IN 2000, six grand slams were hit, a record for one day. So today, we will celebrate the grand slam.
In 1987, Don Mattingly hit six grand slams, a record for a season, since tied by Travis Hafner. They were the only six slams of Mattingly's career.
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The Red Sox hold the record for consecutive years with at least one grand slam: 63 years, 1954-2016.
Pete Rose hit one grand slam in his career. It came off Dallas Green, who would later be his manager with the Phillies.
Mike Stanley hit 187 homers, but had as many grand slams (8) as Willie Mays, who hit 660 homers.
Pitcher Madison Bumgarner has two career grand slams, one more than Derek Jeter. Pitcher Tony Cloninger, in 1966, hit two slams in one game.
In 2011, the Mets continued a streak of 299 games without a grand slam (allowing 18 in that time), then hit a grand slam in back-to-back games.
In 2011, the Brewers became the first team to allow a grand slam to a pitcher (Jake Westbrook) and get a grand slam from a pitcher (Shaun Marcum) in the same season.
Robin Ventura hit 294 homers, 18 of which were grand slams. In 1999, he became the first player to hit a grand slam in both games of a doubleheader. In 1995, he hit two grand slams in one game.
I covered the game in Baltimore in 1986 when the Orioles hit two grand slams ... and lost.
In 2013, John Mayberry Jr. became the first player to hit two home runs in extra innings, the second being a walk-off grand slam.
Jim Palmer pitched 3,948 innings and never allowed a grand slam. In 1999, Chan Ho Park allowed two in one inning, to the same hitter, Fernando Tatis, the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning.
Gary Peters (2,080 innings pitched) and Joaquin Andujar (2,153) never gave up a grand slam, but they hit one.
Glenn Davis holds the major league record for most career home runs (190) without a grand slam, but the Braves' Freddie Freeman has an active streak going. He has 227 homers without a grand slam in his career. "I hit one in spring training, but that doesn't count,'' Freeman said, smiling. "Everyone on the team knows about it. When I finally hit one, I'm sure I'm going to get a beer shower.''
Other baseball notes for May 21
In 1941, Bobby Cox was born. He is one of the best managers ever. No one outfoxed him. And he wore metal spikes his entire career. No other manager does that.
In 1970, Yankees pitcher Mel Stottlemyre walked 11 in a 2-0 shutout of the Senators. Steve Hamilton got the final two outs of the game. It tied a record (done three other times) for the most walks in a shutout.
In 2005, the Giants unveiled a statue of Juan Marichal. He is one of the most underrated pitchers of all time: He led all pitchers in the 1960s in shutouts, complete games and victories. Marichal's high leg kick was legendary. "His foot is in your face, and that's bad,'' Hank Aaron once described it. In the famous 16-inning, 1-0 duel in 1963, Marichal and Warren Spahn went the distance. Spahn was 42 years old. Marichal told his manager, "I'm not coming out of this game until he does."