August 13, 2007: The Most Consecutive Errorless Games By a 2nd Baseman

August 13, 2007: The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Chad Gaudin outpitched Chad Durbin. Mark Ellis hit a home run. Shannon Stewart went 4-for-5. Mike Piazza, in what turned out to be his last few weeks as a major league player, went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for the A's.

Plácido Polanco, the Tigers' 2nd baseman, went 0-for-3, and was hit by a pitch. He had no putouts in the field, although he did have an assist, and did not make an error. That made it his 144th consecutive game at 2nd base without an error, setting a new major league record.

He broke the record of Luis Castillo, who played in 143 straight games, all with the Minnesota Twins, from May 30, 2006 to June 5, 2007, his streak ending while Polanco's was in progress. Polanco extended the record to 147 before making an error on August 24.

Ironically, Castillo may now be best remembered for an error he made, on the last play of a 2009 game, costing the New York Mets a game against the New York Yankees.

Born on October 10, 1975 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, Polanco helped the Tigers win the 2006 American League Pennant, and was named Most Valuable Player of the ALCS, but was also a part of their 2009 collapse AL Central Division collapse. A 2-time All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove, he batted .297 for his career, collecting 2,142 hits.

On July 9, 2008, Polanco received his U.S. citizenship along with 99 other people in a ceremony at Comerica Park, before the Tigers' game with the Cleveland Indians. He wore his Tigers uniform for the ceremony.

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August 13, 2007 was a Monday. These 7 other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. Nevertheless, it was a sad day at the old Bronx ballyard: Phil Rizzuto, the Yankees' Hall of Fame shortstop from 1941 to 1956, a broadcaster for them from 1957 to 1996, and one of the most beloved figures in team history, died that day at the age of 89. The team wore black armbands and small black Number 10s on their left sleeves for the rest of the season.

The Orioles scored a tying run in the top of the 9th, but with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, Melky Cabrera was hit with a pitch, Jason Giambi singled him over to 3rd base, and, appropriately, the man who succeeded Rizzuto as the Pinstripes' greatest shortstop, Derek Jeter, forced the winning run home by grounding to 2nd baseman Brian Roberts, who couldn't make a play at any base. Bobby Abreu and Wilson Betemit had hit home runs for the Yankees.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Tim Wakefield pitched 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, and Jonathan Papelbon finished the 2-hit shutout. David Ortiz went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the opener, 3-1. The San Francisco Giants won the nightcap, 10-3. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 in the 1st game, and did not play in the 2nd game. Six days earlier, he had hit his 756th home run to pass Hank Aaron for 1st on the all-time list. He finished the season with 762, and then, once the Giants could no longer get any more home run milestones out of him, they released him. He was 65 hits short of 3,000, a milestone the Giants seemed not to care about. Bonds never played again.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. Richie Sexson hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4.