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Games of Note: It's 1921, and 34-year-old Ty Cobb becomes the youngest player ever to collect 3,000 career hits with a single off of Red Sox hurler Elmer Myers. Cobb would play another seven years, retiring after his age-41 season, and picked up another 1,189 hits before it was all said and done.
Jumping ahead 40 years, on this day in 1961, the Red Sox and Tigers hit into a record eight combined double plays in the nine-inning contest. While eight is a tie, the 1990 Red Sox, with the help of the Minnesota Twins, would set a new record of 10, with the Red Sox hitting into six of 10.
Transactions: The Red Sox released Mark Bellhorn on August 19, 2005, less than a year after he played a significant part in Boston's first World Championship since 1918. Bellhorn had hit .216/.328/.360 with eight homers in 335 plate appearances, a significant drop from 2004's .264/.373/.444 with 17 bombs.
One year later on August 19, the Red Sox released reliever Rudy Seanez. The 37-year-old Seanez had already been a Red Sox one other time, back in 2003, but had been cut in late July on that squad. While he was an above-average reliever for his career, with the Red Sox, Seanez owned a 5.04 ERA with a sub-two K/BB.
The Red Sox signed Quilvio Veras on August 19 of 2001, but Veras never suited up for Boston. He would finish the 2001 campaign with Pawtucket, and miss the entire 2002 season, making 2001 his last in the majors. Veras, now 41, is currently a roving coach for the Royals.
Birthdays: Gary Gaetti, who had 11 plate appearances in five games for the 2000 Red Sox, turns 54 today. While Gaetti had a solid career with 360 homers and a 97 OPS+ over 20 seasons, he had nothing left by the time he was in Boston as a 41-year-old: Gaetti went 0-11 with one RBI. You would think that this is somewhat unique, in that he had an RBI without ever logging a hit before his season ended, but there are 34 cases of at least 11 plate appearances without a single hit and at least one RBI for non-pitchers since 1901. Eugenio Velez actually went 0-for-37 (in 41 PA) in 2011, with one RBI, while with the Dodgers.
However, if we're talking about players who didn't get on base at all, via hit or walk, Gaetti's 11 plate appearances place him ninth out of 10 cases in baseball history. That's decidedly weirder.