This Day In Sox History...September 18

[Lip Man 1]

September 18, 1940 - A game originally played on June 20 with the Sox beating New York 1-0 in 11 innings, was ordered replayed by the commissioner’s office after the Yankees protested an out call on a fly ball in the second inning.  A Sox win was literally taken away.

In the original game, umpire John Quinn ruled that Sox left fielder Julius “Moose” Solters hung on to a foul ball off the bat of Bill Dickey long enough for it to be considered an out. New York’s protest was upheld by A.L. president Will Harridge on July 2 and declared the contest a no decision.

The Sox found themselves in the middle of a pennant race and losing 9-8 in the eighth inning of the replayed game, which was the second game of a double header, when umpire Harry Geisel ordered the game ended, claiming it was too dark to finish. The decision meant a split for the two teams on the day after the Sox took the first game 6-3.

 

September 18, 1971 – Sox outfielder Carlos May pulled off one of the rarest baseball feats of all when he got an inside-the-park grand-slam against the Angels Tom Murphy.

May, a left-handed hitter, sliced a drive down the left field line at Comiskey Park in the first inning. California’s Ken Berry, the former Sox outfielder, slammed his head diving for the ball which rolled into the corner. By the time center fielder Mickey Rivers came over and threw it back home, Pat Kelly, Jay Johnstone and Bill Melton had crossed the plate ahead of May.  The Sox behind pitcher Tom Bradley won the game 5-1.

Inside-the-park grand-slams are even rarer than no-hitters. As of July 2022 there have been 225 inside-the-park grand-slam home runs dating back to 1881 in Major League Baseball. For comparison, there have been 304 no-hitters pitched in MLB games since 1876.