This day in sports: Baltimore Orioles' Jim Palmer throws no-hitter
Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles, who had been on the disabled list with arm and back injuries for most of the previous two seasons, threw a no-hitter on this date in 1969 when he shut out the Oakland Athletics 8-0 in Baltimore.
The 23-year-old right-hander, who was one of the Orioles pitchers who led Baltimore to a sweep of the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series, struck out eight and walked six, including three Oakland batters in the ninth inning. But with the bases loaded, Palmer got Larry Haney to ground into a force play to end the game.
The win improved Palmer’s record to 11-2 and it was the first no-hitter pitched in the American League in more than a year.
“I felt a lot of pressure in the ninth,” said Palmer. “I was being pretty careful in the last inning. If I lost the no-hitter, I didn’t want it to be on a bad pitch.”
More memorable games and outstanding sports performances on Aug. 13, through the years:
1919 — Upset lived up to his name when he beat Man o' War by a head in the Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack in New York. The defeat was the two-year-old chestnut colt’s only loss in 21 career starts. Man o’ War broke from the gate slowly which allowed Upset to gain a three- to fourth-length lead, and he ran sluggishly until he rallied and nearly caught Upset at the wire.
1933 — In the first major golf tournament played in Wisconsin, Gene Sarazen won the PGA Championship when he defeated Willie Goggin 5 and 4 in the final round at Blue Mound Country Club in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa. The victory was Sarazen’s third PGA Championship title and the sixth of his seven major tournament wins.
1979 — Speedy Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals lined a shot back to Chicago Cubs pitcher Dennis Lamp who deflected the ball over to the third base line, that allowed Brock to reach first base for his 3,000th hit. Brock, known mostly for his base-stealing skill, was the 14th player to reach the 3,000 milestone and he retired at the end of the season with 3,023 hits.
1995 — Steve Elkington of Australia shot a 64 in the final round at Riviera Country Club, then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole (No. 18) to beat Colin Montgomerie of Scotland for the PGA Championship. Elkington's 64 on the par-71 Pacific Palisades course was the lowest final round score by a PGA Championship winner. He and Montgomerie, who shot a 65, finished 72 holes of regulation tied at 17-under 267.
1997 — Wilson Kipketer, who was born in Kenya and competed for Denmark, toppled Britain’s Sebastian Coe's 16-year-old record in the 800-meter run when he won the race in a time of one minute, 41.24 seconds at a meet in Zurich. Eleven days later on Aug. 24 in Cologne, Germany, Kipketer lowered the mark to 1:41.11, a record he would hold for nearly 13 years until it was broken by David Rudisha of Kenya by 0.02 of a second.
2005 — Hasim Rahman outpointed Monte Barrett at the United Center in Chicago to win the World Boxing Council “interim” heavyweight championship by unanimous decision. Later in the year, the WBC elevated Rahman to full champion status when Vitali Klitschko retired after a series of scheduled fights against challenger Rahman had to be postponed because Klitschko reportedly suffered injuries during training.
2005 — Mariano Rivera’s consecutive streak of 31 saves ended when the New York Yankees reliever gave up a two-run single to Kevin Mench of the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning that blew a 5-3 lead at Yankee Stadium. New York won the game in the 11th inning when Bernie Williams hit a two-run home run for a 7-5 victory.
2008 — Kristin Armstrong of Boise, Idaho, won the women's time trial at the Summer Games in Beijing, a victory that made her the second American women's cyclist to become an Olympic champion. Armstrong completed the 15-mile course in thirty-four minutes, 51.72 seconds and she joined Connie Carpenter-Phinney, who won a cycling gold medal for the U.S. at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
2017 — Justin Thomas won his first major tournament when he shot a three-under-par 68 to take the PGA Championship by two shots at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. Thomas, who fired a 72-hole total of eight-under par 272, finished ahead of runners-up Francesco Molinari of Italy and Patrick Reed. The tournament began with Jordan Spieth's chance for a career Grand Slam, but Spieth could only celebrate the moment on the final hole with Thomas, his close friend since they were 14-year-olds growing up in Texas.
SOURCES: The Times, Associated Press
