Yestrday, I told the tale of a 1930 game in which the Cubs staged the greatest comeback in their history, rallying from a 14-0 deficit before losing, 14-12.
In that game, the Cubs hit 6 home runs.
MLB s milestone players: 10,000th-19,000th By JohnW53 on Apr 17, 2021, 6:58am CDT +
20,000th player since the the first game played in the National Association, the first true league.
Through Thursday, the count stood at
19,944.
This is the second of 2 posts looking at the players who were the 1,000th, 2,000th, etc., to appear in a big league game.
This post covers the 10,000th through 19,000th.
....
Andy Kosco, pinch hitter, age 23, for Minnesota Twins, American League
Kosco became No. 10,000 exactly 94 years, 3 months and 9 days after the first 18 players squared off on May 4, 1871.
That is 34,434 days.
He pinch hit for pitcher Garry Roggenburk with 1 out and nobody on in the eighth inning at Cleveland, with the Twins behind, 3-1.
December 30, 2020
Of the thousands of pitchers who have reached the majors, fewer than a hundred mastered the knuckleball that maddeningly erratic, spin-free butterfly well enough to rely upon it as their primary pitch. None of them succeeded to the extent that Phil Niekro did. “Knucksie” learned the pitch from his father, a coal miner and semiprofessional hurler, at the age of eight, and while he didn’t establish himself as a big league starter for another 20 years, he carved out a 24-year-career in the majors, winning 318 games, striking out 3,342 batters, starting more games than all but four pitchers, and earning a spot in the Hall of Fame.