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Games of Note: Ted Williams has a huge day on August 10 in 1960, smacking a pair of homers as well as a double in a game the Red Sox won over the Indians, 6-1. The first Williams homer, the 512th of his career, puts him into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time homer list. It took Ott 22 years to get there, but Williams 19, and even that's a bit misleading due to the partial seasons on his record due to time in the Korean conflict.
Following the contest, Williams says that he's going to retire following the 1960 season. Although 41 years old, Williams is hitting .313/.460/.682. He might have been ready in his head to finish his career, but his body wasn't close to finished.
On August 10, 1999, Tim Wakefield struck out four hitters in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals. The outing wasn't as dominant as that makes it sound like, as he blew a save and gave up three runs in 1-2/3 innings. It's a lot nicer to look at his six strikeouts, though.
Hey, remember when Tim Wakefield was a closer?
Transactions: August 10 might be the quietest transaction day for the Red Sox, at least in the time we've been bothering to look. In 2000, the Red Sox released Sean Berry, who had played in all of one game and recorded four plate appearances. The 34-year-old also played 16 games with Pawtucket, and another 13 with Buffalo, but that last game with Boston in the majors was his final in the majors.
Berry was a big part of Dan Duquette's old early 90s Expos clubs, but Duke didn't give Berry his last chance when he was in charge of the Sox. The Blue Jays picked up Berry for 2001, but he never made it to the majors, spending the whole season in High-A before calling it a career.
Birthdays: One-time Red Sox Brandon Lyon turns 33 today. Lyon threw 59 innings with Boston, but the thing he might be best known for in Boston is as part of the Thanksgiving Curt Schilling trade that helped to set up the 2004 World Series win.