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Sports history is something you’ll see a lot on this blog, and today, courtesy of a website called www.nationalpastime.com , I decided to chronicle this date, September 15th, in baseball history, since there were some unique and odd occurrences.

In 1938, Lloyd and Paul Waner become the third set of brothers to hit a home run in the same game. Known as “Little Poison” and “Big Poison”, the Waner brothers are the first pair to do it with back-to-back homers.

In 1946, the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field is postponed in the 6th inning because the field is engulfed by a swarm of gnats. (Maybe Joba Chamberlain should have gotten a little more sympathy in that 2007 playoff game in Cleveland).

In 1950, Cardinals’ starting pitcher Cloyd Boyer hurts his arm while warming up and is replaced by Red Munger. Munger beats the Dodgers 6-2 and is a credited with a complete game, but not for a game started.

In 1952, the Pittsburgh Pirates become the first team to wear batting helmets with a temple protector. The helmets are worn both at the plate and in the field.

In 1969, Steve Carlton sets a major league record by striking out 19 New York Mets while pitching for the Cardinals, but the Mets win the game 4-3.

In 1971, a young relief pitcher for the Houston Astros, Larry Yount,  hurts his arm on his very first warmup pitch, and never gets another chance to pitch in the majors. So the career of the older brother of Robin Yount, who had one of the longest careers ever in the majors, amounts to one warmup pitch.

In 1978, the Dodgers win a home game against Atlanta, 5-0, and become the first major league team to draw three million fans.

In 1979, Bob Watson of the Red Sox hits for a “natural” cycle (single, double, triple, HR in that order) and becomes the first player in the modern era to hit for the cycle in both leagues, having done it with Houston in 1977.

In 1990, Bobby Thigpen, who was an outfielder in college, records his 50th save as the closer for the Chicago White Sox.

In 1996, the Baltimore Orioles rout Detroit 16-6 and break the 1961 New York Yankees’ record for most team home runs in a single season.

In 2000, Rickey Henderson passes both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron to move into 2nd place on the all-time list for total runs scored, trailing only Ty Cobb.

In 2002, the Twins clinch the AL Central crown, their first playoff appearance since 1991. Prior to the season, MLB had discussed contraction, and the Twins were the team being considered to be disbanded.

In 2004, with the bases loaded, the Marlins’ Mike Lowell tags out Expos catcher Brian Schneider at 3rd base,  making Schneider the victim of the “old hidden ball trick”.

It’s amazing to see how many things happen in baseball on a daily basis over the years, and this site documents them all. I was selective in which ones I included in this post, ignoring any accomplishments by Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmiero, for obvious reasons.

Baseball’s pennant races are headed down the stretch, and most of the excitement is being generated in the National League, where there basically are 5 teams battling for 3 playoff spots. In the American League, unless you believe the Chicago White Sox can pull off a miracle and catch the Twins, the only thing left undecided is which AL East team will win the division and which will wind up as the wild card between the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. In the NL, kudos have to go to the Cincinnati Reds, who overcame being swept by division rival St. Louis earlier in the season and being written off as pretenders, to rebounding and leaving the Cardinals in the dust. Dusty Baker did a great job of righting the ship and the Reds are the only sure thing right now in the NL, with a 7 game lead over the Cards in the NL Central. In the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies appear to be peaking at the right time of the year. They are starting to get their injured players back and recently moved past the Atlanta Braves into the NL East lead. They are the most experienced and playoff-tested team in the league and should be able to secure a playoff spot, whether they remain in first place or grab a wild card spot. The race in the West looks like it’s going down to the wire, with 3 teams, the Padres, Giants and Rockies, all still alive. San Diego, which had a comfortable lead but went into a slump recently that brought them back to the pack, did themselves a huge favor by defeating the Rockies last night, cooling off a Colorado team that had won 10 straight games and seems to be in the midst of their annual September surge, where they come out of nowhere and play their way back into the race. Based on momentum alone, the Rockies should be considered the team that will eventually win the division, and if you look at each team’s remaining schedules the Giants may have a slight edge. But I still see the Padres holding on to win it and I also feel that the wild card will come out of this division, and that it will be the Rockies, with Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton, along with young phenom pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, leading the way.