September 6, 1976: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 2-0 at San Diego Stadium. (It was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium in 1981, and Qualcomm Stadium in 1997.) Don Sutton outpitches Randy Jones, to go 18-9 on the season, in which he will finish 21-10.
Jones had been 16-3 at the All-Star Break, started and won the All-Star Game for the National League, and by July 28, was 18-4. Sports Illustrated put him on their cover, calling him a "THREAT TO WIN 30." But he went 4-10 the rest of the way, including this game, and finished 22-14. He still won the Cy Young Award, an honor that eluded Sutton, who did nonetheless go on to join the 300 Wins and 3,000 Strikeouts Club.
But for the Dodgers, the win seems unimportant in light of the injury suffered by their catcher, Steve Yeager. And he wasn't even behind the plate at the time. In the top of the 7th inning, he was on deck when Bill Russell broke his bat on a groundout to 3rd base. The jagged edge of the bat flew back to the on-deck circle, and hit Yeager in the throat. He was rushed to the hospital, and underwent emergency surgery.
Not only does he recover, but he uses the experience to bring an innovation in baseball's protective equipment -- even though he wasn't playing his position at the time of the injury. Knowing that catchers could take foul tips in the throat, he urged Dodger trainer Bill Buhler to help him work on a device that hangs from the catcher's mask to protect the throat. It was soon worn by most catchers throughout the Majors and other leagues, and was common equipment until catcher's masks began to be replaced by the kind of masks worn by hockey goaltenders in the 2000s.
Yeager came out of Dayton, Ohio, at around the same time as Philadelphia Phillies slugger Mike Schmidt, although they went to different schools. Both debuted in the major leagues in 1972, in Yeager's case with the Dodgers. He was their starting catcher on their 1974 NL Pennant winners. Lou Brock, who set the still-standing NL stolen base record with 118 that season, called him the best-throwing catcher in the League.
After his injury, he returned to action on September 25, and started the Dodgers' last 7 games of the season. He helped them win the Pennant again in 1977 and 1978, and the World Series in 1981, when he shared the Series' Most Valuable Player award with teammates Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero.
He remained with the Dodgers on their Playoff teams of 1983 and 1985, and finished his career with the Seattle Mariners in 1986. In 1988, for the film Major League, he played Duke Temple, the 3rd base coach for the Cleveland Indians, and served as a technical advisor for the film Major League, for star Tom Berenger, who was playing catcher Jake Taylor. From 1999 to 2018, he coached in the Dodgers' organization.
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September 6, 1976 was a Monday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. Doyle Alexander was the winning pitcher. Graig Nettles hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jerry Koosman went the distance for the win, while Steve Stone didn't get out of the 2nd inning. Dave Kingman went 2-for-4. For the Cubs, Rick Monday went 3-for-5. Both of them had a home run and 3 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at Jarry Park in Montreal. The St. Louis Cardinals won the opener, 3-1. The aforementioned Lou Brock went 1-for-4. The Montreal Expos won the nightcap, 3-2. Brock only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 and 5-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 1-for-5 with an RBI, and sat out the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Mike Schmidt went 2-for-6 with 2 walks.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 9-8 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Joe Morgan went 2-for-3 with a home run, 2 walks and 4 RBIs. Pete Rose went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench went 1-for-5.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Reggie Jackson, in his only season with the O's, went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 1st game. The Cleveland Indians won the 2nd game. Both games ended 3-2. Neither Indians player-manager Frank Robinson nor Brewers designated hitter Hank Aaron, each in their last full month as an active player, got into either game.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 2-for-4.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-5.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Vida Blue and Frank Tanana started. Phil Garner singled Claudell Washington home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Rollie Fingers ended up as the winning pitcher.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
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