September 9 - Koufax is perfect - This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

Vintage Baseball Reflections

• September 9, 1953 - Mickey Mantle's 2-run home run off Chicago's Billy Pierce caps a 7-run 5th inning, as New York wins 9 - 3 at Yankee Stadium. Returning to Center Field after the 5th, Mantle is photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum. Manager Casey Stengel will publicly rebuke the Mick, who will apologize for the indiscretion. However, Mantle does get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum Company. Mantle was a Madison Avenue darling. He was so beloved that he was able to simultaneously endorse cigarettes and aids to quit smoking,
• September 9, 1931 – With the country in the grip of the Great Depression, New York’s Major League teams; the Yankees, Giants, and Robins agree to a series of benefit games for the unemployed. Sixty thousand fans, paying regular prices, raise $59,000 in the first matchup, as Babe Ruth homers and the Yankees beat the Giants 7 - 2.
• September 9, 1939 - Jimmie Foxx is operated on for appendicitis, and will be out for the season. His 35 home runs will still win the title.
• September 9, 1960 - Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams hits career homer 511 tying him with Mel Ott for third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx.
• Chicago Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed one hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 9, 1965. Unfortunately for him, opposing starter Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game - setting a record for least amount of hits by two teams in nine innings. The game's lone run was scored by the Dodgers in the fifth on a walk, sacrifice bunt, stolen base, and error.