On this date
July 8
1941 – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Up to that point Arky Vaughn of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the NL hero with two home runs, the first player to do so in All-Star play. Joe and Dom DiMaggio both played for the AL, marking the first time that brothers appeared in the same All-Star game.
1977 – A benches-clearing brawl erupts when Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bruce Kison hits Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt with a pitch during a game at Three Rivers Stadium. Schmidt suffers a dislocated finger during the brawl and Pittsbrugh first baseman Willie Stargell a pinched nerve in his left elbow, which limits him to eight games for the rest of the season.
1991 – Carl Barger resigns as president of the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a similar position with the expansion Florida Marlins.
1995 – The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Larry Murphy to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Dmitri Moronov and Toronto’s second-round draft choice.
July 9
1964 – Tom Davies submits his resignation as Trinity High School’s basketball coach to become an assistant at Bloomsburg State College.
1967 – Willie Stargell leads off the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run off Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney that gives the Pirates a 2-1 win. Stargell’s homer clears the right-field roof at Forbes Field. It’s only the 11th ball hit over the stands since they were erected in 1925.
1976 – Houston’s Larry Dierker pitches a no-hitter as the Astros beat Montreal, 6-0. Dierker strikes out eight and walks four.
1978 – Jane Blalock shoots a final round of even-par 72 and wins the $75,000 Wheeling LPGA Golf Classic by seven strokes over runner-up Kathy Martin.