Wikipedia:
2007 in baseball
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This article documents a current sports-related event. Information may change as the event progresses. |
The following are the baseball events of the year 2007 throughout the world.
Calendar
October
- 20 - Taiwan Series begins.
- 24 - The 103rd edition of the World Series begins.
November
- 1 - Scheduled date of potential Game 7 of the World Series
- 5 - Baseball World Cup, to be held in
Taichung and Taipei, Taiwan - 8-11 - Konami Cup Asia Series 2007 in Tokyo, Japan
- 20 - Day to file reserve lists for all minor league levels and major leagues
- Nov. 26-Dec. 1 - Asian Baseball Championships, which will double as the region's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, to be held in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
December
- 1 - Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to ranked free agents in order to be eligible for compensation
- 3-6 - Winter meetings, Nashville, Tennessee
- 6 - Major League Rule 5 Draft
- 7 - Player deadline to accept salary arbitration
- 12 - Last date to tender contracts
Champions
Major League Baseball
- Regular Season Champions
| League | Eastern Division Champion | Central Division Champion | Western Division Champion | Wild Card Qualifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Cleveland Indians | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | New York Yankees |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Chicago Cubs | Arizona Diamondbacks | Colorado Rockies |
- World Series Champion - TBD
- Postseason - October 2 to TBD
| Division Series TV: TBS/TNT |
League Championship Series TV: TBS (NLCS); FOX (ALCS) |
World Series TV: Fox |
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| 1 | Boston Red Sox | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | LA Angels of Anaheim | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston Red Sox | 3 | |||||||||||
| American League | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Cleveland Indians | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Cleveland Indians | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | New York Yankees | 1 | |||||||||||
| - | TBD | - | |||||||||||
| 4 | Colorado Rockies | - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Arizona D-backs | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Chicago Cubs | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 0 | |||||||||||
| National League | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Colorado Rockies | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Philadelphia Phillies | 0 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Colorado Rockies | 3 | |||||||||||
Click on any series score to link to that series' page.
Higher seed had home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.
The American League champion has home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the AL victory in the
All-Star Game.
- Postseason MVPs
- World Series MVP - TBD
- ALCS MVP - TBD
- NLCS MVP - Matt Holliday
- All-Star Game, July 10 at AT&T Park - American League, 5-4; Ichiro Suzuki, MVP
Other champions
- Amateur
- International
- Caribbean Series: Águilas Cibaeñas (D.R.)
- Claxton Shield (Australia): Victoria Aces
- Cuban National Series: Santiago de Cuba
- Dominican Winter League: Águilas Cibaeñas
- European Baseball Championship: Netherlands
- European Cup - Corendon Kinheim (Netherlands) [1]
- Holland Series: Corendon Kinheim
- Italian Serie A1 - Grosetto
- Japan Series: Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
- Mexican League: Sultanes de Monterrey
- Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo
- Pan-Am Games: Cuba
- Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League: Gigantes de Carolina
- Venezuelan Professional Baseball League: Tigres de Aragua
1 - The appearance by the Huskies of Rouen, France in the final marks the first time since 1976 that a team from outside the professional leagues of the Netherlands or Italy has finished in the top two.
Awards and honors
- Baseball Hall of Fame honors
- Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn are elected by the BBWAA in their first year of eligibility.
- Rick Hummel, columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who covered the St. Louis Cardinals for three decades, received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award.
- Denny Matthews, broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals since the team's 1969 formation, received the Ford C. Frick Award.
Major League Baseball final standings
†Denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league. The Rockies defeated the Padres in a one-game playoff for the NL wild card. |
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The 90 wins by the Diamondbacks and Rockies were the fewest to lead the NL since 1959, with the exception of the strike-shortened seasons of 1981, 1994 and 1995. No NL team won or lost 95 games for the first time since 1983.
Events
January-March
- January 9 - As the result of questions regarding his involvement in the ongoing steroids investigations, Mark McGwire falls well short in his first effort to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, meanwhile, are elected easily.
- January 11 - The New York Daily News reports that Barry Bonds had tested positive for amphetamines at some point during the 2006 season and that Bonds had initially cited a supplement he had received from San Francisco Giants teammate Mark Sweeney as a possible reason for the positive test. Testing rules established in 2006 had required that first positive tests must remain confidential.
- February 4 - The Israel Baseball League announces the official teams of the inaugural season: Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Modi'in Miracle, Netanya Tigers, Petach Tikva Pioneers, Ra'anana Express, Tel Aviv Lightning. Dropped from the league were the Haifa Stingrays and Jerusalem Lions.
- March 31 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 in the inaugural Civil Rights Game, held at AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tennessee.
April
- April 2:
- Bruce Froemming works behind home plate for the opener between the Athletics and Mariners, tying Bill Klem's major league record of 37 seasons as an umpire.
- The Tribune Company, after agreeing to a buyout of $8.2 billion by real estate magnate Sam Zell, announces that the Chicago Cubs will be subsequently sold following the 2007 season.
- April 10--12 - The Cleveland Indians, displaced by a freak spring snowstorm, play a series against the Los Angeles Angels in Milwaukee.
- April 15 - To celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first major league game, dozens of players wear his league-wide retired number, 42. The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of six teams whose entire roster wears number 42 for their games.
- April 18 - Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitches a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers, becoming the team's first pitcher since Wilson Alvarez in 1991, and the 16th in franchise history, to throw a no-hitter [1].
- April 22 - Chase Wright of the New York Yankees gives up four consecutive home runs in the third inning against the Boston Red Sox, joining Paul Foytack to become only the second player to accomplish this dubious feat. Manny Ramírez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek hit the home runs. J.D. Drew was involved in both of these feats.
- April 23 -
Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees hits two home runs, his 13th and 14th of the season, in a 10-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, surpassing the American League record and tying the Major League record for most home runs hit in the month of April.
- April 29:
- Manny Ramírez becomes the fifth player to hit at least 50 career home runs against the New York Yankees, in a 7-4 Red Sox victory.
- Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies performs the 13th unassisted triple play in MLB history, catching a Chipper Jones line drive, tagging second base to force Kelly Johnson out off the bag, then tagging out Edgar Renteria in the 7th inning of an 11-inning 9-7 Rockies victory over the Atlanta Braves.
- The Sunday night game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs is postponed due to the death of Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock early that morning.
May
- May 6 - Roger Clemens announces to the crowd at Yankee Stadium that he has signed a contract to play for the New York Yankees for the remainder of the season.
- May 13:
- Fred Lewis of the San Francisco Giants hits for the cycle at Coors Field in a 15-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. He led the game off with a double in the 1st, then hit a three-run home run—the first of his career—in the 4th, an RBI triple in the 5th, and capped the cycle off with a single in the 7th.
- Miguel Tejada plays in his 1,118th consecutive game, passing Billy Williams for 5th place all time. However, the Boston Red Sox come back from a 5-0 deficit in the ninth inning en route to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
- May 21 - In the Hall of Fame Game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, the Baltimore Orioles defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-7 with five home runs, including two by minor league catcher Brian Bock.
June
- June 4 - Mark Ellis hits for the cycle at McAfee Coliseum as his Oakland Athletics defeat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 in 11 innings. He hit a triple in the 2nd inning, a solo home run in the 4th and a double in the 6th. Although a fielder's choice in the 8th with the A's holding the lead seemingly ended his run for the cycle, a rally by the Red Sox in the 9th pushed extra innings, allowing Ellis to get the single he needed in the 10th inning.
- June 6 - In the San Diego Padres' 5-2 win over the Dodgers, closer Trevor Hoffman becomes the first pitcher to record 500 career saves.
- June 7:
- Curt Schilling carries a no-hitter into the bottom of the 9th with two outs before surrendering a single to Shannon Stewart as the Red Sox defeat the A's 1-0. Schilling becomes the first pitcher to give up a no-hitter with two out in the 9th since Mike Mussina blew a perfect game in 2001.
- Joe Torre of the New York Yankees becomes the tenth manager to win 2,000 major league games.
- June 12 - Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers pitches a 4-0 no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. It is the third no-hitter in regular interleague play, the first at Comerica Park, and the first for the Tigers since 1984.
- June 16 - The Cubs and Padres each collect only two hits as Russell Branyan's home run in the ninth inning gives San Diego a 1-0 win. The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano takes a no-hitter into the eighth, while Padres starter Chris Young allows no hits before being ejected in the fourth following a brawl.
- June 18 - In the longest game in College World Series history (5 hours 40 minutes), UC Irvine eliminates Cal State Fullerton with a 5-4 win in 13 innings.
- June 20 - Sammy Sosa becomes the fifth major leaguer to hit 600 home runs when he connects against Jason Marquis in the Texas Rangers' 7-3 win over the Cubs. It is his first home run against his former club, giving him at least one against every major league team.
- June 24 - Modi'in Miracle win the first ever regular-season game in the Israel Baseball League, beating the Petach Tikva Pioneers, 9-1, at Yarkon Sports Complex in Petach Tikva.
- June 28:
- Frank Thomas becomes the 21st player in major league history to record 500 home runs with a first-inning homer off the Minnesota Twins' Carlos Silva at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
- Craig Biggio becomes the 27th player in major league history to record 3,000 hits with a seventh-inning single – his third hit of the game – against the Colorado Rockies at Minute Maid Park. He is the 14th player to record 3,000 hits with his initial team, and in September ends his career with 3,060 hits.
- June 29
- Aubrey Huff of the Baltimore Orioles hits for the cycle at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in a 9-7 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Huff becomes the third Orioles player to do so, joining Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, Jr., and the first Oriole to hit for the cycle at home in Baltimore. In addition, the triple is his 1000th hit and the double is his 200th double.
- Barry Bonds hits his 750th home run off of Livan Hernandez in the 8th inning at AT&T Park as his San Francisco Giants lose 6-4 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before his historic at-bat, he is hugged in right field by a drunken fan in the top of the 8th, and he assists the fan off the field without incident.
July
- July 2 - Roger Clemens becomes the eighth major league pitcher to win 350 games, in the Yankees' 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.
- July 9 - Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels wins the 2007 Home Run Derby in San Francisco. Despite the highly publicized presence of McCovey Cove beyond the right field fence, not a single home run touches the water.
- July 10 - The American League beats the National League 5-4 in the 2007 MLB All-Star Game in San Francisco; Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners is named MVP after hitting the first-ever inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history.
- July 15 - The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-2, making the Phillies the first team in professional sports history to lose 10,000 games.
- July 20 - Cuba defeats the United States 3-1 to win its 10th consecutive gold medal at the Pan-Am Games.
- July 22 - Mike Coolbaugh of the Texas League Tulsa Drillers is killed when he is struck in the head by a line drive foul ball while coaching first base.
August
- August 4:
Alex Rodriguez becomes the 22nd player to hit 500 career home runs in the Yankees' 16-8 victory over the Royals, and at age 32 becomes the youngest player to reach the milestone.- Barry Bonds ties Hank Aaron's record of 755 career home runs with a second-inning shot off San Diego's Clay Hensley.
- August 5 - Tom Glavine becomes the 23rd pitcher, and just the fifth lefthander, to earn 300 career wins as the New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-3 at Wrigley Field.
- August 7 - Barry Bonds surpasses Hank Aaron's record of 755 career home runs with a fifth-inning shot off Washington's Mike Bacsik.
- August 8- Miguel Tejada records his 1,000th run batted in.
- August 9:
- Roger Clemens is suspended for the fourth time in his career for hitting Toronto's Alex Rios with a pitch after both teams were warned.
- Rick Ankiel, formerly a pitcher with infamous control problems, returns to the major leagues as an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting a 3-run home run in his fourth at-bat.
- August 14- Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox is ejected by umpire Ted Barrett at the end of the fifth-inning after arguing a called third strike against Chipper Jones at Turner Field. The ejection is Cox' 132nd of his career, breaking a record he had shared with John McGraw.
- August 17- Brandon Webb tosses his third straight shutout to achieve 42 innings of scoreless baseball.
- August 19 - Johan Santana picks up his 13th win of the year behind a career-best 17 strikeouts in eight innings, helping the Twins wrap up their three-game series at home with the Rangers. Sammy Sosa notches the only two Rangers hits.
- August 20 - Bobby Jenks' tied record of 41 consecutive retired batters comes to an end when Joey Gathright of the Kansas City Royals hits a single to lead off the top of the ninth inning of a game between the Royals and White Sox.
- August 22 - In the first game of a doubleheader, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 30-3, setting a new record for runs scored by a single team in a game in the modern (post-1900) era, and the American League all-time record. The Rangers' 30 runs were the most in a game since the Chicago Colts beat the Louisville Colonels 36-7 on June 29, 1897. With a 9-7 victory in the second game, the Rangers also set the record for most runs scored by a single team in a doubleheader, with 39.
- August 31 - Scott Baker of the Minnesota Twins takes a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals, but walks the first batter and eventually settles for a 5-0 one-hitter (surrendering a single to Mike Sweeney).
September
- September 1 - In his second major league start, Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz pitches a 10–0 no-hitter over the Orioles at Fenway Park, becoming the third pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first or second career start since 1900. Bobo Holloman (1st, 1953) and Wilson Alvarez (2nd, 1991) are the others.
- September 3
- Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners records his 200th hit of the season, a home run off the Yankees' Roger Clemens. It is the seventh consecutive season he has reached this mark, tying him with Wade Boggs for the modern major league record.
- Mets pitcher Pedro Martínez records his 3000th career strikeout in his first appearance in nearly a year. Aaron Harang, the opposing pitcher for the Reds, is the victim as the Mets win 10-4 in Cincinnati.
- September 6 - Rick Ankiel's stunning season is mired by controversy when the New York Daily News reports that he purchased 12 month's worth of HGH from a Florida pharmacy from January to December 2004. A few days later, Jay Gibbons of the Orioles is reported to also have received HGH from the same pharmacy. Ankiel did not deny using HGH prior to MLB's official banning of the substance in 2005, stating he used it during that time under the care of a licensed physician.
- September 7 - Curtis Granderson of the Tigers hits his 20th home run of the season, becoming the sixth player in major league history, and the first since 1979, to join the 20-20-20 Club, indicating 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 home runs in the same season. He ends the season with 38 doubles, 23 triples, and 23 home runs.
- September 8 - The 50th and 51st home runs of the season by
Alex Rodriguez are his 48th and 49th as a third baseman. The first breaks his own AL record for the position, while the second breaks the major league record for the position which had stood since 1980 (Mike Schmidt, tied by Adrian Beltre in 2004). Rodriguez's 50th home run also makes him the first player in major league history to collect 50 home runs, 130 runs scored, 130 RBI and 20 stolen bases in a single season (the previous closest player was Larry Walker in 1997, who fell one home run short with 49 HR, 143 runs, 130 RBI and 33 steals).
- September 9:
- The Milwaukee Brewers open the game with consecutive home runs from Rickie Weeks, J. J. Hardy and Ryan Braun to defeat the Reds 11–5 at Great American Ball Park. Weeks, Hardy and Braun connect off Phil Dumatrait, as the Brewers become only the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs, joining San Diego's Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk (April 13, 1987 vs. the San Francisco Giants) and (Atlanta's Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield (at Cincinnati on May 28, 2003).
- At Comerica Park, Curtis Granderson collects his 20th stolen base during the first inning of a 14-7 Seattle victory over Detroit. Granderson joins Willie Mays (1957) [26-20-35-38, respectively below] and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte (1911) [30-21-21-23, respectively below] as the only players in major league history with 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases during a regular season--ending his season with 38 doubles, 23 triples, 23 home runs, and 26 stolen bases.
- September 16:
- Jim Thome of the White Sox, playing in his 2,000th game, becomes the 23rd player in major league history to reach the 500 home run milestone when he hits a walk-off home run off Dustin Moseley of the Angels to win the game 9-7, making 2007 the first season in history in which three players have hit their 500th homer in the same season.
- David Wright of the Mets hits his 30th home run of the season to go with 31 stolen bases, becoming only the fifth player in major league history to become a member of the 30-30 club before the age of 25, in a 10-6 loss to the Phillies.
- Todd Jones of the Tigers becomes the 21st pitcher in major league history to record 300 saves.
- Todd Helton hits his 300th career home run.
- September 17 - Frank Thomas of the Blue Jays hits three home runs in a 6-1 win over the Red Sox, tying him for 18th all-time with