OTDIB – May 19th – Frank Howard is finally stopped

Phil Gurnee ♦ May 19, 2017 ♦ 2 Comments

On this date in baseball:

May 19th, 1968 – Hondo finally goes homerless after hitting ten in six games.

At Tiger stadium, Earl Wilson stops Senator Frank Howard’s home run streak. The ‘Capital Punisher’ had established the major league mark by hitting ten home runs in the previous six games.

Hondo would go onto hit 44 home runs and lead the major leagues for the first of two times.

May 19th, 1984 – Eric Davis makes debut wearing a numberless jersey

Joining the club in St. Louis, Eric Davis makes his major league debut, grounding out to short as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning of the Reds’ 9-1 loss to the Redbirds. The 22 year-old rookie is forced to wear a numberless jersey when Cincinnati forgets to pack an extra road uniform.

I’ve said before, that Eric Davis was the most athletic major league baseball player I ever saw, and that includes Bo Jackson. Not the best, just the most athletic.