On the 5th of May, three noteworthy events occurred in baseball history.

  • On this day in 1904, Cy Young Threw the First Perfect Game in Modern MLB History.
  • On this day in 1978, Pete Rose recorded his 3,000th career Hit.
  • On this day in 2004, Mike Pizza passed Carlton Fisk as the new all-time HR leader among Catchers.

Cy Young’s Perfect Game:

Cy Young, who was 37, pitched for the Boston Americans and faced the Philadelphia Athletics. In that game, he struck out eight of the twenty-seven batters he faced; the defense behind him took care of most of the work. The game started and finished in just 83 minutes. 

While there were two perfect games before Cy Youngs in 1880, it’s noteworthy that when those games were thrown, the rules were different. Before 1893, it took eight balls to walk a batter, and the distance from the mound to home plate was only 45 feet. The Perfect Game was also part of a then-record 45-inning scoreless streak by Cy Young.

Pete Rose records 3,000th Hit:

On this day in 1978, Rose was leading off for the Reds against the Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos. He entered the game at 2,998 Hits. He recorded Hit No. 2,999 in the 3rd inning, a Single with one out, and a runner on second. Then in the 5th, he singled to Left Field for Hit No. 3,000, becoming the 13th player to reach that feat.

Mike Piazza All-Time HR Leader among Catchers:

On this day in 2005, the Mets hosted the Giants at Shea Stadium. About a week prior, he had hit his 351st career Home Run tying him with Cartlon Fiosk with the most from a Catcher. It was the bottom of the first inning with two outs, and Jerome Williams was on the mound for the Giants. With a 3-1 count, Piazza swung and hit the ball over the right field fence, and while Piazza ran around the bases, the theme from The Natural played. Piazza would go on to play until 2007, ending his career with 427 career Home Runs, which is still the most by any Catcher in baseball history.

References:

  1. History.com Editors. Cy Young pitches first perfect game in MLB history via History.com Published August 27, 2021: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/perfect-games-mlb-history-cy-young
  2. West Jenna. This Day in Sports History: Pete Rose Reaches His 3,000th Hit via SI Published May 5th, 2020: https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/05/05/pete-rose-3000-hit-reds-this-day-in-sports-history
  3. Brown Jr, Thomas J. May 5, 2004: Mike Piazza hits 352nd home run, setting career mark by a catcher via SABR: https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-5-2004-mike-piazza-hits-352nd-home-run-setting-career-mark-by-a-catcher/