On This Day in Phillies History: August 5th
By Nikki Dson
The date August 5 is rich in history for both the Phillies and baseball as a whole
As far back as 99 years ago, the day August 5th brings quite a few interesting moments and milestones in Philadelphia Phillies history; not only for the franchise but some of them, even, milestones for baseball as a whole. Here is a historical look-back on this day:
First radio broadcast of an MLB game
We’ll start it off with the year 1921 — it brought us the first radio broadcast of an MLB game which took place on KDKA in Pittsburgh. The voice behind the broadcast was Harold Arlin, as he made his debut as the very first play-by-play baseball broadcaster. This paved the way for many other broadcasters, including Red Barber, Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola, Bob Uecker, Harry Caray, Mel Allen, Russ Hodges, Charley Steiner, Bob Prince, Bob Elson, Phil Rizzuto, Gary Cohen, and of course the Phillies’ very own Harry Kalas. The list goes on. Arlin’s first play-by-play broadcasted game was between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies, which the Pirates went on to win 8-5.
Williams hits 3rd cycle in franchise history
Ninety-three years ago, in 1927, another milestone occurred that involved the Pittsburgh Pirates. Cy Williams, Phillies outfielder, hit for the cycle with a triple in the first inning, a double in the second inning, a home run in the seventh inning and a single in the ninth inning. Williams had six RBI in the Phillies’ 9-7 win against the Pirates. With only seven players total in franchise history hitting for the cycle so far, it has happened eight times with Hall of Famer Chuck Klein having achieved this feat twice. Williams’ 1927 cycle was the third in Phillies history and the first since 1894. David Bell (2004) is the most recent.
Rose sets a National League record
Fast forward to 1979, 41 years ago, the Phillies’ Pete Rose hit his 2,427th career single, a National League record. Honus Wagner previously held this record and it does still stand to this day, with Rose’s 3,215 total career singles.
The Philadelphia Phillies ballclub joined the National League in 1883. The rest they say, though, is history.