Die-hard baseball fans love not just the game of baseball but also the history of the game. All die-hard baseball fans are going to love what happened this week as some of the things that happened will be remembered for a long time. Another fact that will make this week memorable is that two historic things happened in one day.
Bash party
On May 2, lots of baseballs went missing as there were tons of HR's on Wednesday. Mookie Betts hit three HR's (all solo) against the Royals and also hit a single as well to finish the game, going four for four. This was his fourth career three HR game which made him the player with the most three home run games in Red Sox history.
He passed former Red Sox player Ted Williams who has three career games with three home runs. His fourth three HR game also made him the first player in MLB history with four three HR games before turning 26 years old, as Betts is only 25.
Wednesday saw another player hit three home runs as Indians DH Edwin Encarnacion went deep three times against the Rangers. He collected six RBIs on the night as well. Yankees newcomer Giancarlo Stanton hit two HR's against former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel on Wednesday as well. Stanton also hit a double and finished the game three for four.
From the batter's box to the GM's box
Before the season started, the Mariners brought in Ichiro Suzuki since their everyday LF Ben Gamel got injured.
The signing of Suzuki brought lots of joy in Seattle as he is a fan favorite there since he started his MLB career in Seattle. On May 3, the Mariners announced that Ichiro would no longer suit up for the Mariners in the 2018 season, and that he would become a special adviser to Mariners GM Jerry DiPoto instead.
The news of this brought tons of speculation that Ichiro's playing days were over but Ichiro has not announced his retirement yet and both he and the Mariners' front office said that he could come back to play next season.
With the Mariners set to open the 2019 season in Japan (which is where Ichiro is from), Jerry DiPoto said there is a "strong likelihood" that Ichiro would play next season in Japan where Ichiro is considered a baseball legend. With the 2018 season coming to an end for Ichiro, he appeared in 15 games and got nine hits.
For the books
Friday night was such an historic night for the game of baseball. Friday, May 4 saw Albert Pujols record hit number 3000 of his career, making him number 32 on the list of players to reach 3000 hits in their career. Pujols received a standing ovation from the crowd at Safeco Field where the Mariners play and his teammates came out to celebrate this historic milestone. He is currently in his eighteenth season in the big leagues and has a career slash line of .304/.385/.560.
Pujols' historic achievement is not the only reason why May 4 and this week will be an historic one. Friday, May 4 also saw the Dodgers use a combination of pitchers to throw a no-hitter. Another thing that makes this special is that they accomplished this in Mexico, as the Dodgers and Padres played in Mexico as part of an international project.
Rookie Walker Buehler got the start and went six innings -- striking out eight and only giving up three walks. Tony Cingrani pitched the seventh, walking two and striking out one, Yimi Garcia pitched the eighth inning and whiffed two, while Adam Liberatore pitched the ninth and whiffed two as well. The Dodgers ended up winning the game four to nothing.
Other things that happened in the league this week
- MLB announced that the Mariners and Athletics would open their 2019 season in Tokyo, Japan, and that the Yankees and Red Sox would play games in London, England sometime during the 2019 season as part of a project to promote baseball internationally.
- Mets DFA'd Harvey.
- Dodgers' Kershaw and Mets' deGrom placed on DL.
