On Sept. 5, 1955, Don Newcombe hit his seventh home run of the season to set a National League record for a pitcher, breaking the previous mark shared by Hal Schumacher (New York Giants, 1934) and Jim Tobin (Boston Braves, 1942).
Additionally, Brooklyn’s 11-4 win over the Phillies at Ebbets Field marked the second of three seasons that Newcombe recorded 20 or more victories for the team in a season.
Newcombe finished the year batting .359/.395/.632 with seven home runs, nine doubles, one triple, 18 runs scored and 23 RBI. He also added one stolen base.
On the mound, Newcombe went 20-5 in 31 starts, throwing 233.2 innings with a 3.20 ERA while striking out 143 batters.
Newcombe’s performance earned him his fourth, and final, All-Star Game selection of his career, which was shortened by two years of military service from 1952-1953.
The Dodgers went on to win their first and only World Series championship in Brooklyn during the 1955 season, defeating the New York Yankees, although Newcombe did not have much success in his lone start.
The right-hander went 5.2 innings while giving up six runs to take the loss. He also went 0-for-3 at the plate.
Dodgers and Angels rained out
Also on September 5, but 13 years later in 1978, the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels were scheduled to play at home on the same day, which was a rare occurrence at the time. But each team had their game rained out, which made it an even more rare situation.
The next time both clubs dealt with a rainout in home games on the same day took place nearly two decades later near the end of the 1986 season.
The Dodgers were scheduled to play the San Francisco Giants that day after taking the series opener with a 5-4 victory on September 4. They played their next game on September 6 with the Dodgers winning again, 9-2.
The two teams played two more games during the season on September 11 and 12, with the Dodgers taking both games, 7-2 and 8-0.
L.A. finished the season with a 95-67 record for first place in the National League West before defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Championship Series.
They ended up losing the World Series to the Yankees in six games.
During the 2023 season, the Dodgers and Angels had home games rescheduled to doubleheaders to avoid a likely rainout caused by Hurricane Hilary.
Barry Bonds breaks Pedro Guerrero’s record
On September 5, 1998, Barry Bonds set a new NL record after reaching base in 15 consecutive plate appearances for the Giants. He had five singles, two doubles, two home runs and six walks over the stretch.
It broke the previous record of reaching base safely in 14 consecutive plate appearances, set by Pedro Guerrero during the 1983 season.
Guerrero was an All-Star in 1983 and finished the season hitting .298/.363/.531 with 32 home runs, 103 RBI and 87 runs scored.
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