This Day in Braves History: Phil Niekro pitches final game

Braves Franchise History

1920 - The Braves eliminate the Giants with a 3-2 win at the Polo Grounds in the second game of a doubleheader thanks to a ninth inning home run by Tony Boeckel.

1921 - Braves catcher Ray Powell hits three triples to tie the major league record on an 8-5 win over Brooklyn.

1930 - Wally Berger sets a National League record for rookies with his 38th home run of the season in a 7-1 win over Brooklyn.

1952 - Eddie Mathews homers three times as Boston snaps a 10-game losing streak with an 11-3 win over Brooklyn. Virgil Jester is the winner and it is his last in the majors and the last win for the Boston Braves franchise.

1982 - Phil Niekro throws a two-hit shutout in a 7-0 Braves’ win over the Giants. The victory pushes the Braves back into a first place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West.

1987 - Phil Niekro allows five runs in three innings of a 15-6 loss to the Giants in his final major league appearance. Niekro was released earlier in the season by Toronto and agreed to pitch one last game with Atlanta.

2009 - Atlanta scores three runs in the 10th to beat Washington 6-3. The Braves have won six straight overall and 10 straight on the road. They pull to within 2.5 games of the Rockies for the Wild Card in the NL.

MLB History

1909 - The Pirates set a National League record with their 16th win in a row before losing to the Giants, 8-7 in the second game of a doubleheader.

1914 - Napoleon Lajoie records his 3,000th career hit with a double against the Yankees. Lajoie is the second modern major league player to reach the milestone.

1919 - Babe Ruth hits his 29th home run of the season in Washington and becomes the first player to homer in every park in the league in one season.

1973 - Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 in 11 innings of a 5-4 Angels’ win over the Twins. Ryan sets a new major league record with 383 strikeouts.

1996 - Barry Bonds steals his 40th base of the season to become the second player ever to join the 40/40 club.

1999 - The Tigers defeat the Royals 8-2 in the last game played at Tiger Stadium. Robert Fick hits a grand slam in the eighth inning while Luis Polonia and Karim Garcia also go deep.

Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.