July 30th, 1874 1st baseball teams to play outside US, Boston-Philadelphia in British Isles.

THE EUROPEAN TRIP OF THE BOSTONS AND ATHLETICS

The Athletics and Bostons will sail for England Thursday, and all the arrangement have been completed. They will sail on the steamship Ohio, of the American Steamship line, and expect to arrive at Liverpool in time to play their first game, July 30. The day before their departure they will play in Philadelphia, and there is no doubt but the contest will be close. We learn from a Philadelphia paper that President Grant has been invited to attend, also Governor [John F. ] Hartranft and Mayor [William S.] Stokely, and other city and State officials, the officers of the steamship company, and the officers of the steamship Ohio.

The party will be comprised as follows:

From the Athletic Club – James M. Ferguson, Esq., president of the club; Mrs. James M. Ferguson, Jr., Master C. Collins, Master J. Ferguson, Jr., Mrs. M. A. Dougherty, David F. Houston, Charles R. Cragin, Esq., George Taylor, William Milligan, James Houston, A. F. Gerhard, J. R. Rockhill, W. T. Gaine, J. Spering, F. C. Waterman, J. A. H. Carr, H. Gunmere, James Cambell, D. F. Lynch, John Haley, and William Schilling. Player Members of the Club – J. D. McBride, W. D. Fisler, J. P. Sensenderfer, A. J. Reach, M. H. McGeary, A. C. Anson, J. E. Clapp, E. E. Sutton, J. F. McMullen, Joseph Batting, T. Murnan, A. W. Gedney.

From the Boston Club  — C. H. Portert, Esq., T. E. Long, H. S. Kempton, J. O. Egerton, L. K. Brigham, J. Wright, E. D. Dougherty, C. M. Bromwich, H. R. Terry, Jos. Wainwright, E. A. Pope, George Will, J. H. Farrington, D. L. Howell, J. H. Kane, H. G. Gibbs. Playing Members of the Club – George Wright, George W. Hall, T. L. Beals, S. G. Spalding, C. A. McVey, A. J. Leonard, R. C. Barnes, H. Wright, S. Wright, James O’Rourke, Harry Schafer, and James Wright.

1874 Boston Herald coverage of the Red Stockings tour

This week is Family week in Iowa, giving coaches and families a break before Fall sports kick-off.

Through the Iowa High School Athletics website, “Family Week” is a week in the unified activity federation calendar that prohibits any coach or teacher/student contact and any unified activity federation event from occurring. This restricted period started yesterday and will be going through this upcoming Sunday, August 4th.

This is a unique period and needed period for everyone across the board. With four seasons in the state of Iowa, downtime can be limited for coaches, parents, and athletes in every school district. With this taking effect back in 2021, this allowed families to get the opportunity to get some needed downtime before the fall sports season gets going.

41-year-old Honus Wagner becomes the oldest player in the history of the modern era to hit a grand slam

On July 29, 1915, At Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates 41-year-old Honus Wagner becomes the oldest player in the history of the modern era to hit a grand slam when he connects off Robins hurler Jeff Pfeffer for a grand slam in the eighth inning. Wagner’s home run, an inside-the-park shot, helps Pittsburgh to an 8-2 victory over Brooklyn. Wagner’s record will stand until 1985, when 42-year-old Tony Perez belts a grand slam.

41-year-old Honus Wagner becomes the oldest player in the history of the modern era to hit a grand slam

Today in 1982, Steve Garvey Reaches Consecutive Games Milestone

As far as the Dodgers history book goes, very few players are mentioned more than legendary first baseman Steve Garvey.

Breaking into the big leagues as a 20-year-old, 5-foot-9 third baseman in 1970, not many fans would-have predicted that Garvey would become one of the most respected ironmen that the MLB has ever seen.

One of Garvey’s most celebrated achievements came on June 7, 1982, when he became only the fifth player in major league history to play in 1,000 consecutive games, joining Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Billy Williams, and Joe Sewell as the only MLB players to accomplish such a feat.

Ironically, the 1982 season was his final campaign in Los Angeles, as he signed a free agent deal with division rival San Diego later that winter. His consecutive games streak stretched into the 1983 season in a Padres uniform, when he appeared in 1,207 consecutive contests before the streak finally ended after he broke his thumb in a collision at home plate against the Braves.

The 1207 consecutive games is still a National League record to this day. The injury was a heartbreaking moment for Garvey, as some pundits felt he had a legitimate chance to make a run at Gehrig’s record of 2130.

Remember, this was almost two decades before Cal Ripken Jr. ultimately broke Gehrig’s record, setting his own mark of a whopping 2632 consecutive games back in 1998.

Among Garvey’s awards are the 1974 NL MVP, the 1974 All-Star Game MVP, the 1978 All-Star Game MVP, the 1978 NLCS MVP, recipient of the 1981 Roberto Clemente Award, the 1984 NLCS MVP, and recipient of the 1984 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

Garvey earned four career Gold Gloves and was named to ten total NL All-Star squads.

He appeared in five World Series—1974, 1977, 1978 and 1981 with the Dodgers, 1984 with the Padres—with his 1981 endeavor against the Yankees becoming the Dodgers’ first World Championship since 1965.

Aside from his 1974 regular-season MVP campaign, Garvey’s two best seasons arguably came in 1977 and 1978. In 1977, he hit .297/.335/.498 with 25 doubles, 33 long balls and 115 RBI. In 1978, he slashed .316/.353/.499 with 36 doubles, 21 homers, and 113 RBI, alongside 10 stolen bases.

Few fans realize that despite his respectable power numbers, he was one of the team’s most effective contact hitters, as he never struck out more than 90 times in a single season. Playing 162 games and collecting 648 AB in 1979, he punched out just 59 times.

He ranks third in team history with 333 doubles, fifth with 1968 hits, fifth with 992 RBI and sixth with 3004 total bases.

During the 1984 season, Garvey set the record as the only first baseman in baseball history to commit no errors while playing 150 or more games. He handled 1,319 total chances (1,232 putouts and 87 assists) flawlessly in 159 games for the Padres.

He was inducted into the Dodgers team hall of fame, Legends of Dodgers Baseball, as part of the inaugural class in 2018.

Today in 1982, Steve Garvey Reaches Consecutive Games Milestone

By Todd Kimm, Radio Iowa

Former Iowa guard Caitlin Clark has been named 2023-24 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.

Clark is the first Hawkeye to win the award in back-to-back years. She is also only the third repeat winner in Big Ten Conference history, joining Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor (1988, 1989, 1990) and Indiana’s Lilly King (2017, 2018).

She is also the third Hawkeye student-athlete to win the award, joining Kristy Gleason (field hockey, 1994) and Megan Gustafson (women’s basketball, 2019). She is also ninth women’s basketball student-athlete to win the award, joining Gustafson, Purdue’s Joy Holmes (1991), MaChelle Joseph (1992), Stephanie White (1999) and Katie Douglas (2001), Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2004), Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport (2007), and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016).

It is the ninth time a Hawkeye (men’s or women’s student-athlete) has earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award, and the fourth time in the past six seasons. Iowa’s past winners include wrestlers Ed Banach (1983), Barry Davis (1985) and Brent Metcalf (2008), football player Chuck Long (1986), men’s basketball player Luka Garza (2021), Gleason, and Gustafson.