June 3, 1932: Lou Gehrig becomes the 3rd player, and the 1st in the American League, to hit 4 home runs in a game. The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 20-13 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Yes, that's a baseball score, not football, although Gehrig did play football at Columbia University in the 1922 and '23 seasons.
In the 1st inning, Gehrig hit a 2-run homer off George Earnshaw. Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane came back with a 2-run shot of his own. Gehrig led off the 4th with a home run. The A's scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 4th, taking an 8-6 lead. But in the top of the 5th, Earnshaw gave up home runs to Earle Combs, Babe Ruth, and Gehrig, Hall-of-Famers all.
Gehrig led off the 7th with his 4th homer of the game, off Roy Mahaffey. In the top of the 9th, he just missed a 5th homer, with what may have been his longest drive of the game, to straightaway center field, which was then 447 feet. Years later, with the ballpark renamed Connie Mack Stadium for the A's owner-manager, it was reduced to 410. It's still a sacrifice fly that brings a run in.
Hall-of-Famer Tony Lazzeri homers in the inning. Another Hall-of-Famer, Jimmie Foxx, hits one in the bottom of the 9th, but it's far from enough.
Gehrig finishes 4-for-6, with 6 RBIs. To this day, no other Yankee, not even Ruth, has hit 4 home runs in a game. Yankees who've done 3: Ruth, 1926 in the World Series, 1928 in the World Series, and 1930; Lazzeri, 1927 and 1936; Gehrig, 1927, 1930, and 1932 with 4; Ben Chapman, 1932; Joe DiMaggio, 1937, 1948 and 1950; Bill Dickey, 1939; Charlie Keller, 1940; Johnny Mize, 1950; Mickey Mantle, 1955; Tom Tresh, 1965; Bobby Murcer, 1970 and 1973; Cliff Johnson, 1977; Reggie Jackson, 1977 in the World Series; Mike Stanley, 1995; Paul O'Neill, 1995; Darryl Strawberry, 1996; Tino Martinez, 1997; Tony Clark, 2004; Alex Rodriguez, 2005, 2010 and 2015; Mark Teixeira, 2010; Curtis Granderson, 2012; Aaron Hicks, 2018; Gary Sánchez, 2019; Kyle Higashioka, 2020; and Anthony Rizzo, 2022.
The Yankees went on to dethrone the 3-time defending Champion A's as Pennant winners, and win the World Series.
But for baseball fans, Gehrig's big day is not the biggest story of the day: John McGraw retired as manager of the New York Giants, after 30 years, including 10 Pennants and 3 World Series wins. He was tired (59 years old), and also sick: He died less than 2 years later. He and Mack became the 1st 2 managers elected to the Hall of Fame.
At this point, the Pennant total was Giants 12, Yankees 6; the World Series total, Giants 3, Yankees 3. Maybe Ruth was bigger than McGraw by now, to the disgust of McGraw, the king of "scientific baseball"; but Gehrig was not bigger than McGraw, and wouldn't be until July 4, 1939 -- at which point, he, too, would be dying.
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June 3, 1932 was a Friday. These other games were played that day:
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 6-5 at Ebbets Field.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Tony Piet won it with an inside-the-park home run, leading off the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field in Detroit, 3-1 and 10-7. The ballpark would be renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.
* The St. Louis Browns beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Goose Goslin led off the top of the 10th with a home run.
* The Cincinnati Reds were supposed to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, but it was rained out. It was made up on September 20, and the Cardinals won, 3-1.
* The Boston Red Sox were supposed to play the Washington Senators at Fenway Park in Boston, but it was rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 21. The Senators swept, 1-0 and 3-2.
* McGraw's New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies were scheduled to play at the Polo Grounds, but were rained out. Since both teams ended up well out of the race, the game was never made up.
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