2009 in Baseball - Events - October

October

• October 1:
  • Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners collected his 220 hit of season to set a new Major League mark. It is the fifth time in nine seasons in the majors that Suzuki has reached 220 hits, supplanting the old record of four 220-hit seasons shared by Hall of Famers Jesse Burkett and Rogers Hornsby. Earlier this season, Suzuki surpassed another Hall of Famer when he collected his ninth consecutive 200-hit season (September 13), breaking the long standing major-league record of eight straight 200-hit seasons set by Wee Willie Keeler from 1894 to 1901.
  • Orlando Cabrera hit his first career grand slam to lead the Twins to a 8–3 win over Detroit. Cabrera, who had never hit a home run in 135 previous at-bats with the bases loaded, became the only active major leaguer who has had at least 100 bases-loaded at-bats without a grand slam to his credit.
  • Tony La Russa passed John McGraw for second-most games managed in baseball with his 4,770th game managed (2,552–2,214–4). La Russa gets three more games (October 4) to extend his managed games to 4,773 (2,552–2,217–4) by the end of the 2009 season.
• October 2:
  • B. J. Upton not only hit for the cycle in the Rays' 13–4 victory over the Yankees, but he did it by the end of the fifth inning. It was the quickest cycle since Mike Lansing of the Rockies accumulated all four hits within the first four innings against the Diamondbacks on June 18, 2000. The Rays scored nine runs in the first three innings to deny CC Sabathia his first 20-win season. Sabathia was the first pitcher in nearly 30 years to allow as many as nine runs in a game while needing one more victory for the first 20-win season of his career. The last pitcher to do so was Rick Langford of the Athletics in 1980.
  • Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals also failed to earn his 20th victory when the Brewers rallied for six runs in the seventh inning of their eventual 12–6 win. 2009 will be only the second season in major-league history without a 20-game winner (see 2006), excluding seasons that were shortened by work stoppages.
• October 3:
  • In the early morning hours, following an 0–4 performance in a 8–0 loss to the Chicago White Sox the previous night, Miguel Cabrera is picked up by Birmingham, Michigan police after a 911 call from his wife, Rosangel. The couple began fighting when Miguel came home intoxicated talking on the phone, and woke up their child. When police arrive at his suburban Detroit home at 5:00 AM, Cabrera blows a 0.26 on the breathalyzer administered on the scene, which is three times Michigan's legal limit for driving. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski picks him up at the station at roughly 7:30 AM. That evening, Cabrera goes 0–4 and strands six runners in the Tigers' 5–1 loss to the ChiSox.
  • The San Diego Padres announce that executive vice president/general manager Kevin Towers will not return for the 2010 season. In a similar movement, the Toronto Blue Jays dismissed general manager J. P. Ricciardi after eight seasons.
  • Ryan Howard is in select company after hitting his 45th home run of the season in Philadelphia's loss to Florida. The 29-year old Howard is only the second player to do that before his 30th birthday, being the other Harmon Killebrew (1961 to 1964, at 28). Beside this, as Howard nears the end of his fifth full season he has a career total of 640 runs batted in, moving past for the third-highest RBI total after five seasons in Major League history over Lou Gehrig (639, 1926–'30) and Ted Williams (638, 1939–'42, 1946). The leader and runner-up are Joe DiMaggio (691, 1936–'40) and Hal Trosky (663, 1934–'38).
• October 4:
  • Alex Rodriguez belted a three-run homer and a grand slam in New York's 10-run 6th inning, leading the Yankees to a 10–2 victory over the Rays in the regular-season finale. Rodriguez' 30th home run of the season made him the first AL player to have 7 RBIs in a single inning. The only other Major Leaguers to have 7 or more RBIs in an inning since are Fernando Tatís, who hit two grand slams as a member of the Cardinals to collect 8 RBIs against the Dodgers in the third inning on [[1999 in baseball#April–June|April 23, 1999, and Ed Cartwright, who hit a 3-run homer and a grand slam in the 3rd inning on September 23, 1890 for 7 RBIs. Rodriguez also reached the 30 HR/100 RBI plateau for the 12th consecutive season.
  • Albert Pujols broke Bill Buckner's 1985 major-league record for assists by a first baseman, with his 185th.
  • The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins each win their 162nd games, leading to a one-game tiebreaker at the Metrodome to decide the American League Central champion. It is the third consecutive season – the longest such streak in MLB history – the regular season goes beyond 162 games, and requires a division tiebreaker to finalize the postseason field. The Twins become the first club ever to play such a tiebreaker in consecutive years, having lost the AL Central tiebreaker against the Chicago White Sox in 2008. The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres for the 2007 National League Wild Card to start this three-year extension.
  • Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks strikes out three times, setting a new season record of 223 strikeouts in a season.
• October 5 – The Milwaukee Brewers and Trevor Hoffman agree to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2011.
• October 6:
  • Kansas City Royals first baseman Billy Butler was named winner of the AL Player of the Month Award for September. Butler batted .363 in the month with 10 doubles, six home runs and 26 RBI. He also recorded his fourth 3-double game of the season on September 9 against the Detroit Tigers to set a Major League record and had a pair of 2-homer games against the Los Angeles Angels (September 7) and Minnesota Twins (September 25). His 26 RBI in the month led the AL and were tied for second in baseball. Butler and Zack Greinke (April) are the first Royals duo to win the award in the same season since 2000, when Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon took home the honor.
  • Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee was named winner of the NL Player of the Month Award for September, after led the Majors with a .386 average (32-for-83) with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, a .795 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage.
  • The final regular season game in the Metrodome may have been the best. The one game division playoff between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers goes extra innings, 4–4. Both teams score a run in the tenth before an Alexi Casilla single in the twelfth inning scores Carlos Gómez from second to give the Twins the 6–5 victory. They become the first team in Major League history to win the division after trailing by three games with four to play. They are also the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs in the final year of their stadium.

• October 7:
  • The Philadelphia Phillies opened defense of their World Series title with a convincing victory over the Colorado Rockies, 5–1, in Game 1 of the NLDS behind a dominant Cliff Lee in his postseason debut. Lee hurled a complete game and got support from Raúl Ibañez, Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard RBI extra-base hits. Rockies starter Ubaldo Jiménez matched Lee with four scoreless innings before surrendering two runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth.
  • The New York Yankees won their first playoff game at new Yankee Stadium, as CC Sabathia held down the Minnesota Twins, 7–2, in Game 1 of the ALDS. Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui homered, and Alex Rodriguez contributed with two RBIs. Minnesota scored first, but rookie left-hander Brian Duensing gave it all back and the Twins could not recover.
  • Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals, 5–3, in Game 1 of the NLDS. After St. Louis scored a run off Randy Wolf in the first inning, Matt Kemp blasted a two-run homer in the bottom half of the frame, and Los Angeles did not trail again. Carpenter allowed four runs in an uneven five-inning performance. Rafael Furcal went 3-for-4, as the Dodgers' bullpen gave up a run in 5⅓ superb innings. The Dodgers (16) and Cardinals (14) combined to strand 30 runners on base, setting a record for a nine-inning postseason game.
• October 8:
  • The Colorado Rockies evened the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies winning the second game, 5–4, at Citizens Bank Park. Aaron Cook combined with five relievers for the victory, while the attack was led by Yorvit Torrealba (2-for-3, two-run homer) and Carlos González (3-for-5, run). Cole Hamels was the losing pitcher.
  • Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of a crucial error by Matt Holiday with two outs, bases empty in the bottom of the ninth inning, to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 3–2. Ronnie Belliard and Mark Loretta came through with RBI singles off closer Ryan Franklin, giving the Dodgers a 2–0 lead in the NLDS. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright, who lasted eight innings, allowed one run on three hits and struckout seven in a lost cause.
  • The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS opener, 5–0, behind a strong start by John Lackey, who allowed four hits in 7⅓ innings of work. Torii Hunter got the game-breaking hit, a three-run homer off Jon Lester in the bottom of the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie, and reliever Darren Oliver pitched 1⅔ innings of no-hit ball.
• October 9:
  • The New York Yankees stormed past the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of their division series, tying it in the ninth inning on a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez and winning in the 11th, 4–3, on a blast down the left-field line by Mark Teixeira.
  • The Los Angeles Angels manufactured a three-run seventh inning to move one win away from the ALCS and leave the Boston Red Sox on the precipice. Jered Weaver pitched brilliantly in his second career postseason start, outdueling Josh Beckett in the 4–1 triumph.
• October 10 – Los Angeles Dodgers disposed of the host St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the NLDS, 5–1, and advancing to the league championship. For Joe Torre, it was his sixth postseason series sweep as a Major League manager. Torre has had four sweeps with the Yankees (1998 ALDS vs. Texas and World Series vs. San Diego, and 1999 ALDS vs. Texas and World Series vs. Atlanta) and one previous sweep with the Dodgers (2008 NLDS vs. Cubs). The only other manager in Major League history to lead his teams to at least six postseason series sweeps is the manager Torre defeated in this year's NLDS, Tony La Russa, who has seven sweeps on his resume.
• October 11:
  • The Los Angeles Angels came up with a three-run comeback in the ninth inning off Jonathan Papelbon, to clinch the ALDS with a 7–6 victory against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Vladimir Guerrero brought home the tying and winning runs with a single and the Angels swept aside the Red Sox in stunning fashion.
  • The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins, 4–1, to complete a three-game sweep of their ALDS and record their first victory in a postseason series since 2004, thanks to Andy Pettitte, who pitched a gem, and home runs from Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. It was the final baseball game inside the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
• October 12 – The Philadelphia Phillies are headed back to the NLCS after eliminating the Colorado Rockies from the playoffs with a three-run, ninth-inning rally, in Game 4 of the NLDS. The defending World Series Champions blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning before pulling out a 5–4 victory at Coors Field. The Phillies-Rockies series was the only one in the first round not to end in a three-game sweep. The 13 combined games during the opening round equaled the fewest (in 2007) since the three-round postseason format was introduced in 1995.
• October 14 – For the third time of his career, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera earned the MLB Delivery Man of the Year Award, sponsored by DHL. Rivera went 3–3 with a 1.76 ERA in 66 ⅓ innings of work and converted 44 of his 46 save opportunities (95.7%), permitting 48 hits and 12 walks with 72 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .197 batting average.
• October 15 – Carlos Ruiz and Raúl Ibáñez hit three-run homers, Cole Hamels won his fourth Game 1 of the postseason. and closer Brad Lidge finished off the Philadelphia Phillies' 8–6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS opener at Dodger Stadium.
• October 16:
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 2–1, in Game 2 of the NLCS. Ryan Howard hit a solo homer in the fourth inning to put the Phillies ahead, but an eighth-inning bullpen collapse combined with a crucial error by Chase Utley and a bases-loaded, walk-RBI to Andre Ethier marked the difference. Phillies' Pedro Martínez and Dodgers' Vicente Padilla found themselves in a pitching duel during seven-plus innings, but they were not a factor in the decision. Hong-Chih Kuo was the winning pitcher and Chan Ho Park the loser, while Jonathan Broxton earned the save. The series is tied 1–1.
  • CC Sabathia held the Los Angeles Angels to four hits and a run in eight strong innings, in a 4–1 victory that gave the New York Yankees a 1–0 lead in the ALCS. Hideki Matsui (2), Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter each drove in runs, and Mariano Rivera got the save. Three Angels errors tied a franchise postseason record and led to two Yankees runs, which served as a support for Sabathia, who did not need all that much help to prevail in his duel against John Lackey.
• October 17 – Alex Rodriguez hit a tying home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to negate a Chone Figgins go-ahead RBI-single, and the New York Yankees scored the winning run on a 13th inning error by Maicer Izturis to edge the Los Angeles Angels, 4–3, for a 2–0 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS.
• October 18 – Ryan Howard played a key role in a four-run first inning and Cliff Lee dominated Los Angeles Dodgers over eight innings, giving the Philadelphia Phillies an 11–0 win and a 2–1 NLCS lead. With his first-inning two-run triple off Hiroki Kuroda, Howard became the first player in Major League history to record an RBI in seven consecutive playoff games in the same year. Lee allowed just three hits and struck out 10 in eight scoreless innings to improve to 2–0 with a 0.74 ERA in three starts this postseason. Howard is within one game shy of matching legendary Lou Gehrig, who holds the all-time record with an RBI in eight consecutive postseason games that spanned from 1928 through 1932.
• October 19:
  • For the second straight game, the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees played into tense extra innings, until Jeff Mathis drove home Howie Kendrick in the 11th inning, and the Angels survived a second straight ALCS thriller, beating New York 5–4 to trim the Yankees' series lead to 2–1. Ervin Santana earned the win, while Kendrick homered and tripled before singling with two outs in the 11th off Alfredo Aceves, who took the lost.
  • Jimmy Rollins lined a two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning off Jonathan Broxton and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5–4, for a 3–1 lead in the NLCS. Brad Lidge got two outs in the ninth to earn the win, while Ryan Howard hit a two-run home run to extend his Major League record to eight consecutive playoffs games with an RBI within the same year.
  • Three Phillies members made history during their 5–4 victory against the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS. There have been 1,251 postseason games in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only three players ever ended a game with a walk-off extra-base hit by a team that was one out away from losing, (1) Jimmy Rollins with his two-run double in the ninth inning off Jonathan Broxton in this game, (2) LA Dodgers' Kirk Gibson with his memorable home run off Oakland Athletics' closer Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, and (3) Brooklyn Dodgers' Cookie Lavagetto with his two-run double off Bill Bevens in Game 4 (and final) of the 1947 World Series, when Yankees pitcher Bevens got within one out of the first no-hitter game in World Series history, and then lost it all. Beside this, Ryan Howard joined Lou Gehrig as the only players who have recorded an RBI in eight consecutive playoff games, a mark that Gehrig set 77 years ago, and also matched Mike Schmidt's career-club, playoff-record with his sixth career postseason home run. In addition to Rollins and Howard, Chase Utley surpassed the legendary Gehrig when he reached base safely in his 24th consecutive postseason games. Former Orioles' first baseman Boog Powell holds the Major League record by reaching safely in 25 consecutive postseason games that spanned from 1966 to 1971.
• October 20:
  • Alex Rodriguez homered in his third straight game and CC Sabathia pitched five-hit ball on three days' rest, and the New York Yankees took a 10–1 victory over the Los Angeles Angeles in Game 4 of the ALCS, moving just one win away from going to their 40th World Series. Rodriguez drove in a run for the eighth consecutive postseason game, tying a record that had been set by Lou Gehrig 77 years ago and Ryan Howard tied it less than 24 hours earlier.
  • Kenji Johjima opted out of the final two seasons with the Seattle Mariners, allowing him to sign with a Japanese team. Johjima's contract gave him the right to end it by November 15 for the purpose of finishing his career in Japan. He gave up salaries of $7.7 million next year and $8.1 million in 2011. Johjima hit .268 in his four seasons with Seattle, with 48 homers and 198 RBIs in 462 games. He holds the AL record for hits by a rookie catcher with 147 in 2006. His 18 homers in this season tied the Mariners' record for most by a catcher.
• October 21 – Jayson Werth homered twice, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz also connected and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10–4, in Game 5 of the NLCS to win their second straight NL pennant. Ryan Howard was named Series MVP. Chase Utley tied a record set by Boog Powell when he reached base safely in his 25th consecutive postseason games. The Dodgers lost in the NLCS to the Phillies for the second straight season.
• October 22 – Kendrys Morales drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the seventh inning, and the Los Angeles Angels responded to the New York Yankees' six-run comeback moments earlier for a 7–6 win that trimmed the Yankees ALCS lead to 3–2.
• October 25 – The New York Yankees won their 40th American League pennant (first in six years) beating the Los Angeles Angels, 5–2, in Game 6 of the ALCS. Andy Pettitte earned his 16th postseason victory, breaking a tie with John Smoltz for most wins in the postseason. CC Sabathia was selected MVP of the series.
• October 26 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced the re-hiring of Tony La Russa as manager for 2010, and the surprise hiring of Mark McGwire as hitting coach replacing Hal McRae.
• October 28 – The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Yankees, 6–1, in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Phillies' pitcher Cliff Lee gave up an unearned run on six hits, while striking out 10 without walking a batter in a complete game effort. Chase Utley led the Philadelphia attack with two solo home runs off left-handed CC Sabathia, the losing pitcher. It is the first time a left-handed batter has hit two homers off a lefty pitcher since Babe Ruth, when he did it against Bill Sherdel of the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the 1928 World Series. With a walk in the first inning, Utley also set a Major League Baseball record by reaching base safely in his 26th consecutive postseason game, breaking the 25-game mark of Boog Powell from 1966 to 1971.
• October 29 – The New York Yankees evened the World Series at a game apiece with a 3–1 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies. In the biggest start of his career, A. J. Burnett threw seven solid innings to get his first postseason win, holding the Phillies to only one run and four hits, while Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui provided the offensive support with solo home runs off Pedro Martínez, the losing pitcher. Mariano Rivera threw two scoreless innings in relief and earned the save.
• October 30 – The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8–5, at Citizens Bank Park, to take a 2–1 advantage in the World Series. Alex Rodriguez belted the first video-reviewed home run in World Series history to support another winning Andy Pettitte effort, while Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui added solo shots. Cole Hamels was the losing pitcher. Pettitte, who overcame two homers from Jayson Werth, earned his Major League-leading 17th postseason-win. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruíz hit a late homer in a lost cause.