Baseball History Today: October 19th

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay makes baseball history, capturing 1st AL title.

2008 – After enduring two seasons of 101 and 96 losses and in only his third season at the helm of the Rays, manager Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays back up their miracle season. Maddon’s Rays defeat the Boston Red Sox, 3-1, to claim Game 7 of the ALCS and provide the organization their first ever World Series berth.

You can catch that game in its entirety here.

Maybe it was all in a name change as this was Tampa Bay’s first season to be known as simply the Rays, not the Devil Rays. The Rays have not won a postseason series since, suffering three LDS losses.

2005 – The Houston Astros will advance to the franchise’s first World Series. The ‘Stros defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 in Game 6 of the NLCS, behind a three hit, seven inning effort from Roy Oswalt. This will be the final game in Busch Stadium II.

1987 – The New York Yankees name Billy Martin as their manager…for a fifth time. He replaces Lou Piniella. Martin lasts only 68 games into the ’88 season. He is replaced by Piniella for the remainder of the season.

1982 – The Oakland Athletics fire Billy Martin as their manager. It was Martin’s only stint in Oakland.

1981 – In Game 5 of the NLCS, A Rick Monday ninth-inning home run gives the Dodgers the win over the Montreal Expos and the NL pennant. The game will later become known as “Blue Monday”, as the title in the following video indicates.

1965 – NBC is awarded a MLB television deal. The deal will include televising the All-Star Game and World Series games.

Notable Birthdays:

Keith Foulke (1972)
Michael Young (1976)
Jose Bautista (1980)