June 30, 1994: The Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Larry Walker and Juan Bell hit home runs for the Expos, while Barry Bonds hit the 232nd home run of his career for the Giants.
In the top of the 3rd inning, the Expos scored 3 runs. This included a play on which Cliff Floyd singled to center field, and the ball was mishandled by the Giants' Darren Lewis, allowing Juan Bell to score and Floyd to reach 2nd base.
It was the 1st error that Lewis had ever made in the major leagues, in a career that began on August 21, 1990, across San Francisco Bay with the Oakland Athletics -- effectively, his hometown team, as he was from Berkeley, California. By June 17, 1993, he was with the Giants, and played his 243rd consecutive errorless game, the longest stretch ever by an outfielder to begin a career.
On July 16, 1993, against the New York Mets, he broke Don Demeter's all-time record by playing his 267th consecutive game without an error. Demeter played in the major leagues from 1956 to 1967, including playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1959 World Series winners.
This error against the Expos ended his streak at 392 major league games, encompassing 938 chances. This remains a record for all center fielders, although not for all outfielders: Nick Markakis, then a right fielder for the Atlanta Braves, broke that part of his record in 2015.
In spite of this error, Lewis was awarded the one and only Gold Glove of his career in 1994. H reached the postseason with the Cincinnati Reds in 1995, and with the Boston Red Sox in 1998 and 1999. (The A's won the Pennant in 1990, his rookie year, but he was not placed on the postseason roster.) He retired in 2002, with a .250 batting average. He only hit 27 home runs in his career, but he stole 247 bases, suggesting that his speed was a big reason for his excellent defense. In 13 seasons, he made just 16 errors.
He later went into coaching. His manager with the Giants, Dusty Baker, thought highly enough of Lewis to name his son Darren Baker. And yet, despite managing 5 different teams for over 20 years, Baker has never hired Lewis for any of his coaching staffs.
(UPDATE: Darren Baker, famously saved by J.T. Snow from a dangerous play as a 3-year-old Giants batboy in the 2002 World Series, made his major league debut in 2024, with the Washington Nationals.)
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June 30, 1994 was a Thursday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at Fenway Park. Terry Mulholland and Jose Hesketh were the starting pitchers, but neither was involved in the decision. The Sox scored 3 runs off Bob Wickman in the bottom of the 8th, allowing Chris Howard to be the winning pitcher despite having faced only 1 batter. Mo Vaughn hit a home run for the Sox. Randy Velarde hit one for the Yanks. Don Mattingly did not play.
* The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres, 3-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Bret Saberhagen outpitched Joey Hamilton. Rico Brogna hit a home run for the Mets. The only Padre run scored on a home run by Derek Bell. Tony Gwynn, uncharacteristically, went 0-for-4.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 8-3 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Kent Mercker outpitched Charlie Hough.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Kenny Lofton and Albert Belle hit home runs for the Tribe. Cal Ripken went 3-for-4 with a solo homer for the O's.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Delino DeShields hit a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the 9th to win it.
* And the California Angels, the Detroit Tigers, the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners were not scheduled.
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