[Big Six]

August 31, 1937

August was a month of milestones across major league baseball, and the most significant of them all occurred on the month's final day.

Baltimore Orioles righthander Mike Crawford missed the first two weeks of August with a blister on his the middle finger of his salary hand. When he returned to the mound on August 16, he did so with style, shutting out the Cleveland Indians on two hits.

Five days later, he lost, 4-0, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he righted himself on August 26. Iron Mike threw another shutout, victimizing the Cincinnati Reds this time. The victory was his 12th of the season, and the 299th of his career, and it lowered his MLB-best ERA to 2.12.

Today, a capacity crowd filled New York's Polo Grounds to see the Orioles take on the Giants. Of course, many in the crowd wanted to see a victory by the home team. Perhaps as many, however, wanted to see the 6'1", 232-pound Bloomington, Indiana native make history. The Giants, after all, lead the National League Northern division by a comfortable seven-game margin.

The pitching matchup could not have been much more intriguing. The Giants' starter, Bob Feller, was a year and a half old when Crawford made his major league debut in 1920. Crawford, on the other hand, was born in 1896.

The Orioles scored in the fourth inning, but Crawford allowed the Giants to tally twice in the sixth. Baltimore immediately responded with a run in the top of the seventh, and the 2-2 score held up through nine innings.

"There was no way I was coming out of the game," said Crawford. "I hadn't thrown that many pitches, and I still felt strong."

On the Orioles bench, veterans Rick Mar and Dave McBride, who like Crawford has been with the Orioles since 1920, rallied their teammates around him. "Let's score right now and win this game for Mike," they said. The Orioles did just that, stringing together two walks, two singles, and a sacrifice fly to produce two runs against ace Giants reliever Hugh Casey. Crawford then retired the Giants in order in the bottom of the tenth to secure his historic victory.

Crawford is the first pitcher in major league history to record 300 victories. His career record stands at 300-192, and his lifetime ERA of 2.84 is also the best of all time. He has more shutouts (52) and a higher VORP (1187.2) than any pitcher in history.

Crawford's feat partly overshadowed two other landmark performances. On August 1, Portland's Chuck Klein became the fourth player in big league history to hit 400 career home runs. He connected off Kansas City's Paul Derringer in the fourth inning of the Beavers' 7-4 win over the Athletics at Portland's Vaughn Street Stadium.

Klein hit #400 at age 32, making him the second-youngest player to achieve this feat (Lou Gehrig was ten months younger). Klein's .363 lifetime average is currently the best in history, and he already ranks among the all-time best in several other offensive categories as well.

Many experts believe Boston's Satchel Paige has the best chance to join Crawford in the exclusive 300-win fraternity. Satchel took a big step in that direction on August 14, when he edged the Brooklyn Dodgers, 7-6, to earn the 200th victory of his big league career.

Satch is believed to be 31 years old, making him just a little younger than Crawford was when he won #200. Then again, it's rumored that Satch might actually be considerably older than his reported age. With Satch, you never know.