October 4, 2003: Pudge vs. Snow

October 4, 2003: Game 4 of the National League Division Series is played at Pro Player (now Hard Rock) Stadium in the Miami suburbs. The Florida Marlins led the San Francisco Giants 5-1 after 4 innings. The Giants scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th, to tie the game. In the bottom of the 8th, rookie Miguel Cabrera, who would go on to have one of the greatest careers of any player in his generation, singled home to 2 runs to give the Marlins a 7-5 lead.

Marlins manager Jack McKeon brought closer Ugueth Urbina on to pitch the 9th. But he allowed a leadoff double to Neifi Perez, and an RBI single to J.T. Snow. He struck Pedro Felix out, and got Benito Santiago to fly to right. He needed just 1 more out. But he hit Ray Durham with a pitch to load the bases.

The batter was Jeffrey Hammonds, who singled to left. Jeff Conine, a member of the Marlins' 1997 World Champions who had been traded away and reacquired, and was so popular in South Florida that he was known as "Mr. Marlin," fielded the hit and threw home.

Iván Rodríguez, like previous catching legend Carlton Fisk known as "Pudge," had starred for the Texas Rangers, and had built a reputation as the best catcher in baseball -- possibly having built it on steroid use -- took the throw. Snow crashed into him, thinking he could dislodge the ball, like Pete Rose did with Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game.

It didn't work: Rodríguez held onto the ball, and Snow was out. The Marlins won, 7-6, and advanced to the NL Championship Series. It was the 1st time a postseason series had ever ended with the potential tying run thrown out at home plate.

This was the last postseason game for Barry Bonds, who went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI sacrifice fly. For his career, in 48 games of postseason play, Bonds had a .245 batting average, 9 home runs and 24 RBIs. But despite playing on good teams in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, he never appeared on a World Series winner. Like Rodríguez, he was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs. Unlike Rodríguez, there was a positive test. Rodríguez is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bonds is not.

In 2010, the MLB Network ranked this game 19th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- a scope limited to 1975 onward, due to the availability of surviving videotape.

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October 4, 2003 was a Saturday. On the same day, for the 1st time in 95 years, the Chicago Cubs win a postseason series. They beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 at Turner Field, and win their NLDS in 5 games.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, on Trot Nixon's walkoff homer in the 11th inning at Fenway Park in Boston. This forces a 5th game in their ALCS.

And the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. Roger Clemens outpitched Kyle Lohse, Hideki Matsui hit a home run, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 with a walk.

The Yankees would beat the Red Sox for their Pennant, the Marlins would beat the Cubs for theirs, and then the Marlins would beat the Yankees to win the World Series.

And it was a college football weekend. Two nights earlier, Number 2 Miami had beaten West Virginia, 22-20 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Miami went on to win the Big East Conference title. On Saturday, these notable games were played:

* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 53-7 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

* Number 3 Ohio State had the week off. They went on to beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 4 Virginia Tech beat Rutgers, 48-22 at the new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tech collapsed, losing 5 of their last 6 games, including the Insight Bowl.

* Number 5 Florida State had the week off. They went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost to Miami during the regular season, and lost to them again in the Orange Bowl game.

* Number 6 Louisiana State had the week off. The following week, they were upset by Florida. But that would be their only loss of the season. They had already beaten Georgia, and would beat them again in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game. LSU then went on to beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Tennessee lost to Auburn, 28-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

* Number 8 Arkansas had they week off. They dropped their next 3 games to fall out of contention, although they did win the Independence Bowl.

* Number 9 Michigan were upset by Number 23 Iowa, 30-27 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. This would be Michigan's only loss within the Big Ten Conference, and they won the title. 

* Number 10 Southern California beat Arizona State, 37-17 at Sun Devil Stadium (now named Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. USC went on to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 13 Texas beat Number 16 Kansas State, 24-20 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Texas lost to arch-rival Oklahoma the next week, knocking them out of contention for the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game, and they ended up losing the Holiday Bowl. However, Kansas State rebounded, and upset Oklahoma in the Conference Championship Game.

* Number 24 Florida were upset by Mississippi, 20-17 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. "Ole Miss" went to the Cotton Bowl, where they beat Oklahoma State. Florida ended up tying for the SEC Eastern Division title with Georgia and Tennessee. Georgia had the higher ranking, so, despite having beaten Georgia, Florida didn't go to the SEC title game. They stayed in-State, going to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, and lost to Iowa.

* Among the service academies, Army lost to Number 20 Texas Christian (TCU) at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas; and Navy beat Air Force, 28-25 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Wisconsin beat Penn State, 30-23 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* And Notre Dame had the week off. They went 5-7, and did not go to a bowl game.

June 17, 2009: Iván Rodríguez Breaks the Record for Games Caught

June 17, 2009: The Texas Rangers beat their cross-State, then-Interleague rivals, the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. David Murphy singled Ian Kinsler home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

For the Rangers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Nelson Cruz hit home runs. For the Astros, Hunter Pence went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs, and Carlos Lee also homered.

Iván Rodríguez, a Rangers legend, played for the Astros in this game, going 1-for-5. It was his 2,227th game at the position of catcher, setting a new major league record. He surpassed the total of 2,226 set from 1969 to 1993 by Carlton Fisk. Like Fisk, Rodríguez was nicknamed "Pudge." Unlike Fisk, however -- he was a Boston Red Sock, but not of the 21st Century -- Rodríguez has long been suspected of steroid use.

Fisk actually played longer, 13 seasons to 11, with the Chicago White Sox, who released him the day after his 2,226th game as a catcher. By 1 game, he surpassed the old record, set from 1972 to 1990 by Bob Boone.

Rodríguez reached the postseason with the Rangers in 1996, '98 and '99; in 2003 with the Florida Marlins, winning the World Series; and 2006 with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League Pennant. He was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1999. He finished his career with 2,844 hits, including 311 home runs, 14 All-Star Game berths, 13 Gold Gloves, and 2,427 games as a catcher. Fisk and Boone remain 2nd and 3rd on the all-time list.

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June 17, 2009 was a Wednesday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Nationals, 3-2 at the new Yankee Stadium. John Lannan outpitched Chien-Ming Wang. Adam Dunn hit a home run. For the Yankees, Robinson Canó and Johnny Damon hit home runs. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walk. Derek Jeter did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Nick Markakis went 4-for-4. Aubrey Huff went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Matt Wieters went 1-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. For the Mets, Gary Sheffield went 2-for-4, including a solo shot for his 507th career home run. He would hit just 2 more.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Florida Marlins, 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Ortiz went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Scott Richmond struck 11 batters out in 8 innings, outpitching Jamie Moyer. Rod Barajas, Aaron Hill, and, of course, former Phillie Scott Rolen hit home runs for the Jays. Jayson Werth homered for the Phils, but Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each went 0-for-4, and Ryan Howard went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-8 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. J.J. Hardy hit a sacrifice fly to score Prince Fielder with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Albert Pujols went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at Petco Park in San Diego. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

Football was out of season. The NBA Finals ended 3 days earlier, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic in Game 5. The Stanley Cup Finals ended 2 days before that, when the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7.