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On July 26, 1962, the Mets suffered their 11th straight loss when Buffalo-native Warren Spahn hit his 31st career home run, a new national league record for a pitcher. Spahn created no such slugging memories in his age 44 year for the '65 Mets. On July 26, 1964, the Mets and Braves combined to use a record 22 pitchers in a double-header the Braves swept by a combined score of 26-17. Hank Aaron homered in both games. And on July 26, 1978, all-timer Johnny Bench cracked his 300th home run off Nino Espinosa while his teammate, Pete Rose, ran his historic hit streak to 39. But the Mets were victors, 12-3. So Rose could only smirk so much.
Birthdays
- No current or former Met was born on July 26th of any year of any decade.
- However, famous bus passenger Sandra Bullock was born July 26, 1964, and she is a celebrity caught wearing Mets gear.
Game of Note
On This Date, 2006, John Maine hurled seven shutout innings and neither did Duaner Sanchez or Aaron Heilman allow a Chicago Cub to score. But the Mets had the scoreless bug, too. In the home tenth, Carlos Delgado doubled into position, and Jose Valentine grabbed a bat with two outs. With little further ado, the 'Stache poked one through to the shallow grass, the big man charged home like the Lakeshore Limited, and orange and blue uniforms spilled from the dugout to shout, embrace, and bounce.
Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro and 135 guerrillas assaulted the Moncado Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, giving a name to the "July 26th Movement" and effectively beginning the Cuban Revolution. There is only one published box score where Castro appears, as the losing pitcher of a 5-4 intermural contest in late November, 1946. Humberto "Chico" Fernandez is the only Met (1963) to have played both pre- and post-revolutionary Cuban Ball. Fernandez was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.