A then-record 5,693 home runs were hit during the regular season in 2000 (the record was broken in 2017, when 6,105 home runs were hit).[1] Ten teams hit at least 200 home runs each,[2] while for the first time since 1989 and only the fifth since 1949 no pitcher pitched a no-hitter.[a] Also, no team reached 100 in either the win or loss column.
The separate American and National League offices were dissolved; with this, Major League Baseball became a single unified organization. As a result, the separate umpiring crews for each league were also dissolved; all umpiring crews now worked throughout the league.
ESPN and Fox then signed new five-year and six-year deals, respectively, while NBC declined to renew in a cost-cutting move.
Events
January–March
January 6 – Major league officials order Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker is to undergo psychological testing following derogatory remarks he made in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine.[64] Commissioner Bud Selig says he will listen to what the doctors say before deciding what punishment—if any—will be handed down to the pitcher.[65]
January 11 – The baseball writers elect catcher Carlton Fisk and first baseman Tony Pérez to the Hall of Fame. Fisk is chosen in his 2nd year on the ballot, while Pérez is picked on his 9th try.[66]
January 31 – Braves reliever John Rocker is suspended from baseball until May 1 by Commissioner Bud Selig for his racial and ethnic remarks in an article published in Sports Illustrated the previous month. He was also fined $20,000 and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.[67]
March 1 – Independent arbitrator Shyam Das cuts Braves pitcher John Rocker's suspension from 28 days to 14 days. Rocker, who is allowed to report to spring training with the team, also has his fine cut.[71]
April 3 – Andrés Galarraga hits a home run in his first game back after missing the entire 1999 season following cancer surgery. Atlanta defeat the Colorado Rockies 2–0.[74]
April 4 – Expos closer Ugueth Urbina strikes out the Dodgers in the top of the ninth inning on nine pitches, tying a major league record.[76]
April 7 – A total of 57 home runs are hit in the 15 games played, for a new major league record. The previous mark of 55 was set in 17 games on August 13, 1999. There were 36 homers hit in the AL, eclipsing the previous mark for a single league.[77]
April 10 – Colorado beats Cincinnati 7–5, despite Ken Griffey Jr.'s 400th career home run. Aged 30, Griffey is the youngest player in major league history to reach that milestone.[82]
April 15 – The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Twins 6–4, as Cal Ripken Jr. gets the 3,000th hit of his career. Ripken goes 3-for-5 in becoming the 24th player to reach the milestone, and the 7th to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.[86]
April 21 – The Anaheim Angels down the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9–6. Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon hit back-to-back home runs for Anaheim in the fourth inning, then do so again in the ninth. Troy Glaus also homers in both the fourth and the ninth. This the first time in major league history that three players homer in the same inning on two occasions in the same game. The Angels' three players with two home runs each in one game ties a major league record.[89]
April 23 – In the New York Yankees' 10–7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays,[90] Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada each hit home runs from both sides of the plate, marking the first time in major league history that a pair of teammates accomplish the feat in the same game.[91]
May 10 – Rickey Henderson becomes the 21st major league player to amass 10,000 career at-bats. Henderson finishes the night with 10,002 at-bats and trails only Cal Ripken Jr. among active players.[96]
June 1 – Japanese right-hander Tomokazu Ohka, a pitcher with the Pawtucket Red Sox, becomes the first pitcher in nearly 50 years to throw a nine-inning perfect game in the International League. Ohka retired all 27 batters he faced in a 2–0 triumph over the Charlotte Knights.[105] The 24-year-old Ohka needs just 76 pitches[106] to toss the first nine-inning perfect game in the IL since Dick Marlowe did it for Buffalo in 1952.[107]
June 2 – The Montréal Expos announce they will wear Maurice Richard's uniform number 9 on their jerseys for the rest of the season to honor the Montreal Canadiens great who died the previous week. It is believed to be the first time a major league team has honored an athlete from another sport in this way.[116][117]
June 16 – Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch voluntarily leaves the field after six innings of the Yankees' 12–3 loss to the Chicago White Sox, after making three throwing errors. He leaves Yankee Stadium in his street clothes while the game is still in progress.[118]
June 21 – Oakland defeats the Orioles 10–3, as Eric Chavez becomes the first Athletics player to hit for the cycle at home since the team moved to Oakland in 1968.[119][120][121]
June 26 – The Diamondbacks defeat the Astros 6–1.[122] Arizona rookie first baseman Alex Cabrera hits a two-run pinch-hit home run in his first major league at bat.[123]
June 30 – Trailing 8–1 to the Atlanta Braves, the New York Mets score 10 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, capped off by Mike Piazza's 3-run home run off reliever Terry Mulholland. There had been 4 walks in the inning, and 9 of the 10 runs scored were with 2 outs in the inning.[124]
July 5 – Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez becomes the first Arizona Diamondback to hit for the cycle,[130] helping his team to defeat the Astros 12–9.[131] It is the first time the feat is accomplished in new Enron Field,[132] and Gonzalez is just the 9th player in baseball history to both hit for the cycle and have a 30+ game hitting streak in a career.[133]
July 6 – St. Louis rookie catcher Keith McDonald hits a home run in his second at bat, becoming only the second player in major league history to hit home runs in each of his first two big league at bats.[134]Bob Nieman, in 1951, is the other.[135]
July 6 – The American Sportscasters Association names Dodgers legend Vin Scully as the No. 1 sportscaster of the 20th century. Howard Cosell finishes second, followed by Mel Allen and Red Barber.[137]
July 8 – In a New York matchup, the Yankees defeat the Mets by identical 4–2 scores in both ends of an unusual day-night doubleheader. With the first game played at Shea Stadium and the nightcap at Yankee Stadium, it is the first time since 1903 that two teams played two games in different stadiums on the same day. Dwight Gooden wins the first game with a six inning effort in his first start since returning to the Yankees. Roger Clemens wins the nightcap.[138] During the second game, Clemens hit Mike Piazza in the helmet with an inside fastball, causing Piazza to suffer a concussion.[139]
July 15 – A 1909 Honus Wagnerbaseball card is auctioned for a record $1.1 million on eBay.[141] Other high-priced items in the auction include a baseball autographed by the entire 1919 "Chicago Black Sox" team, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, which sold for $93,666.[142] Also, a baseball autographed by the 1919 Cincinnati Reds sells for $11,208,[143] and a Babe Ruth signed baseball is auctioned for $76,020.[144] A contract from Shoeless Joe Jackson's sale of his Chicago pool hall to teammate Lefty Williams sells for $36,098.[145] The contract, dated October 6, 1921,[146] is for just $1.[147]
July 20 – In Houston's 6–2 win over Cincinnati, Reds pinch-hitter Mike Bell strikes out in his major league debut, making history by becoming part of the first third-generation family to play for the same major league team. His grandfather Gus Bell and father Buddy Bell also played for the Reds.[148][149][150]
August
August 4 – The Blue Jays obtain outfielder Dave Martinez from the Rangers. Martinez becomes the 9th major leaguer to play for four teams in a season. He began the year with Tampa Bay and also played with the Cubs, in addition to Texas and Toronto. The last to do so was Dave Kingman (1977). Before him, according to historian Scott Flatow, the four-in-one players were Frank Huelsman (1904), Willis Hudlin (1940), Paul Lehner (1951), Ted Gray (1955), Wes Covington (1961) and Mike Kilkenny (1972).
August 8 – Trailing 3–2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees hit back-to-back home runs on back-to-back pitches from Oakland closer Jason Isringhausen. Bernie Williams jumped on the first pitch and sent it over the right field fence to tie the game, then David Justice sent the very next offering from Isringhausen over the center field wall to give the Yankees the win.
August 19 – The Yankees beat the Angels 9–1, hitting a major league record-tying three sacrifice flies in the 3rd inning.
August 19 – In the Houston Astros' 10–8 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, Jeff Bagwell has two home runs and five RBI. Bagwell becomes the first Houston player to reach 300 homers in his career.
August 21 – Potomac's Esix Snead breaks Lenny Dykstra's Carolina League record of 105 stolen bases by swiping his 106th. Snead has a batting average of .242 and a .338 on-base percentage. It's the 10th time in the last 20 years that a minor-leaguer has stolen 100 or more bases in a season. According to Howe Sports data, the eight players who stole 100 or more bases in the minors were:
August 22 – The Dodgers defeat the Expos 14–6, as Eric Karros becomes the first Dodger player to hit two home runs in a single inning (6th).
August 27 – The Anaheim Angels edge the Cleveland Indians 10–9, as outfielder Tim Salmon hits his 30th home run of the year in the 5th inning. Anaheim become the first team in AL history to have four players (Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Garret Anderson, Salmon) reach the 30-homer mark in a single season. The Toronto Blue Jays are close with two hitters over 30 and two at 28. It's been done seven times in the NL.
September 6 – Scott Sheldon of the Texas Rangers becomes just the third player in major league history to play all nine positions in one game when he does it in a 13–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Sheldon joins Bert Campaneris (September 8, 1965) and César Tovar (September 22, 1968) as true utility players.
September 10 – Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks becomes the 12th pitcher to reach the 3,000-strikeout plateau, fanning a season-high 14 in seven innings as the Diamondbacks lose to the Florida Marlins 4–3 in 12 innings. Johnson's 3,000 strikeout victim is Mike Lowell, who fans to end the 4th inning. In the first inning, Johnson also records his 300th strikeout for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall. Nolan Ryan is the only other pitcher to accomplish the feat, and is the only pitcher who has reached 300 strikeouts more times with six (1972–74, 1976–77 and 1989).
September 12 – The Diamondbacks edge the Dodgers 5–4, despite Dave Hansen's major league record-breaking seventh pinch-hit home run of the season. Hansen's blast, off Curt Schilling, breaks the mark set in 1932 by Brooklyn's Johnny Frederick.
September 22 – José Lima of the Houston Astros sets an NL single-season record by allowing his 47th home run in the Astros' 12–5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The major league record for home runs allowed in a season is 50, set by the Minnesota Twins' Bert Blyleven in 1986.
September 26 – Longtime broadcast partner NBC declines to renew its rights. NBC had televised baseball since 1947, with the exception of 1990–93, and had been the exclusive home of the World Series for 26years.
September 27 – In an Oakland 9–7 victory over the Angels, Anaheim's Darin Erstad hits a home run in the 2nd inning for his 99th RBI of the year from the leadoff spot to set a new record. Nomar Garciaparra drove home 98 in 1997 for the previous mark.
SEASON NOTE – This was the first time in MLB history in 100 years that no team finished with a winning percentage either below .400 or above .600. It is also the first time, in a full 162-game season, that no team achieved 100 wins or 99 losses.
November 18 – The Mariners sign Japanese star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to a three-year contract.
December 11 – The Rangers sign free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez to a record $252 million, 10-year contract. It is the richest contract in the history of professional sports.
Deaths
January 4 – John Milner, 50, first baseman and left fielder for the Mets and Pirates who hit 20 home runs twice, had 10 career grand slams
January 16 – By Saam, 85, broadcaster for the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies from 1938 to 1975
March 7 – Jack Sanford, 70, All-Star pitcher who was the 1957 NL Rookie of the Year; was 24–7 for 1962 Giants
June 2 – Ellis Clary, 83, infielder for the Senators and Browns; later a scout for 32 years
June 5 – Don Liddle, 75, pitcher for the New York Giants during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series when teammate Willie Mays made his famous over-the-shoulder catch
June 21 – Bud Stewart, 84, outfielder who was the AL runner-up in triples with the 1948 Senators
June 23 – Bob Tillman, 63, catcher for the Red Sox and Braves who caught two no-hitters and had three home runs in a 1969 game
September 3 – Clyde Sukeforth, 98, catcher for the Reds and Dodgers who later scouted Jackie Robinson, and also signed Don Newcombe and Roberto Clemente; served as acting manager for Robinson's Dodgers debut April 15, 1947, which broke MLB's color barrier
September 17 – Chico Salmon, 59, infielder for the Indians and Orioles who had a crucial pinch hit in the 1970 World Series
September 23 – Aurelio Rodríguez, 52, third baseman, primarily for the Tigers, who won a Gold Glove and retired with the sixth most games at his position
October 22 – Hank Wyse. 82, All-Star pitcher who helped the Cubs to clinch the 1945 National League title after going 22–10 with a 2.68 ERA and the last Cubs pitcher to appear in a Series game
October 28 – Andújar Cedeño, 31, shortstop for the Astros and Padres who hit for the cycle in a 1992 game
November 25 – Hugh Alexander, 83, outfielder who played seven games for 1937 Indians; became a scout for 61 years after losing his left hand in an accident
December 10 – Willard Nixon, 72, pitcher who won 69 games for the Red Sox
December 19 – Lou Polli, 99, Italian relief pitcher for the 1932 Browns and 1944 Giants
Apparel
The Oakland Athletics changed to black spikes, ending a longtime tradition of being the only team in the majors with white cleats. This was the first season since 1962 the Athletics did not wear white shoes.
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