Aug 14, 2020 3 min read

ON THIS DATE

Aug. 15

1976 – Jane Blalock wins the first extra hole and defeats Pat Bradley in a playoff for the $7,000 first prize in the Wheeling LPGA Classic at Oglebay Park’s Speidel Golf Course.

1978 – After 18 seasons, the Washington Generals semi-pro football team ceases operations. The team started in the 1960s as the Washington Mustangs, later becoming the Merchants and still later, the Generals. The teams folded citing a lack of money and no home field.

1985 – Monongahela scores five runs in the sixth inning and defeats defending champion Puerto Rico 7-3 in the Pony League World Series. Jeff Skorvan pitches a complete game and hits a two-run double during Monongahela’s big inning.

1987 – Run the Table, with driver John Campbell, makes an outside move in the home stretch and passes Jaguar Spur to win The Adios before 7,278 at The Meadows.

Aug. 16

1920 – Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head with a pitch by the New York Yankees’ Carl Mays. Chapman suffers a fractured skull and dies the next day. It’s the only field fatality in major league history.

1947 – Ralph Kiner hits three consecutive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beats the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field.

1954 – The first Sports Illustrated magazine is issued with a 25-cent price tag. The scene on the cover was a game at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. Eddie Mathews of Braves was pitching with Wes Westrum catching and Augie Donatelli umpiring.

1954 – Stan Daley, former head coach at Lock Haven, is hired as head basketball and assistant football coach at Washington & Jefferson College. Daley replaces Adam Sanders as basketball coach.

1963 – The United States Trotting Association issues the first speed rating for The Meadows and declares it the fastest five-eighths of a mile track in harness racing.

1974 – Canonsburg’s Tom Dettore gets his first major-league win, tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in the Chicago Cubs’ 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field.

1975 – Pittsburgh pitcher Dock Ellis is suspended indefinitely without pay for what the Pirates termed “insubordination.” Ellis refused to warm up in the bullpen twice during a series against Cincinnati and during a team meeting lashed out against manager Danny Murtaugh.

1981 – Landslide, with driver Eddie Lohmeyer, sweeps both heats to win the $155,000 Adios at The Meadows.

1982 – Mark Lee, a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Portland, quits in the middle of a game against Vancouver. After striking out Vancouver’s Bob Skube, Lee calls manager Tom Trebelhorn to the mound, then walks down the right-field line, throws the baseball back to the infield, then his cap and finally removes his jersey, heaving it high into the air.

1985 – Tim Morgan strikes out 14 and allows only a leadoff double in the seventh inning as Washington defeats Oak Park-River Forest, Ill., 1-0, in the Pony League World Series. Washington scores its run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Dan Adams.