HOME
What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 5, 2026
The Detroit Tigers suffer a big blow as two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will miss roughly half of this season as he can undergoes arthroscopic surgery of his pitching elbow to remove loose bodies. The 29-year-old southpaw, who’s a free agent at the end of this year, is scratched from his start against the visiting Red Sox; in seven outings this year, Skubal is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA.
Skubal’s injury could minimize the Tigers’ chances of possibly dealing him at the trading deadline—and could hurt Skubal’s own prospects of signing a record-breaking free agent contract for a pitcher in the coming offseason (a target further clouded by the likelihood of a work stoppage).
Munetaka Murakami belts his 14th home run of the year to match the Yankees’ Aaron Judge at the top of the leaderboard, but also punches out his first MLB double as part of a three-hit night in the White Sox’ 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels and an ineffective Jose Soriano at Anaheim. The double ends a streak of 14 home runs without an additional extra-base hit to start a career, a major league record which smashed the old mark of 10.
John Sterling, who did play-by-play for more Yankees games (5,651) than anyone else, dies of heart failure at the age of 87.
Born in New York City, Sterling’s early broadcast career included work with many New York sports team’s including the NHL’s Islanders and NBA Nets; he also called the action for a number of teams in Baltimore and Atlanta, including the Braves in the 1980s. He came on board with the Yankees in 1989—broadcasting 5,060 consecutive games through 2019. Listeners developed a bond with Sterling and his borderline-schmaltzy catchphrases, most memorably his elongated, oscillating use of the word “the” in advance of “Yankees” whenever the team won a game.
As with most seasoned broadcasters reaching senior citizen status, Sterling tired of the traveling—the prime reason he stepped down early duing the 2024 season. He returned later that year to do a handful of games—including the entire World Series, during which the Yankees lost to the Dodgers.
Sterling suffered a heart attack earlier this year in January, which likely hastened his passing.
A day after knocking in five runs for the Braves at Colorado, catcher Jonah Heim is traded to the Athletics for cash. The former Texas All-Star was 9-for-39 with a homer and eight RBIs in limited play for Atlanta, but with Sean Murphy’s return to the Braves combined with the presence of reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin (who looks even better so far in 2026), Heim was considered expendable at the catcher spot.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-3-3-2—Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
What were the odds that the powerful Japanese import would collect an extra-base hit other than a home run, but also not strike out? Murakami had done none of the former and plenty of the latter entering the day, but that canyon narrowed as he lined a double right to the right-field corner and didn’t strike out once; of course, he also homered, his 14th to tie Aaron Judge for the MLB lead. Murakami’s productive night boosted the White Sox to a 6-0 win over the Angels at Anaheim.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-1-2-0-1-8—Payton Tolle, Boston
The young hefty lefty, who emits a Rod Beck-like vibe with a portly frame and bushy mustache, had a sharp but bizarre night in which he gave up just one hit but two unearned runs (on the same play), yet still picked up his first major league win in the Red Sox’ 5-4 decision at Detroit. (Off topic: We know it was wet at Comerica Park, but it just seemed odd that the only few visible fans at Comerica Park were standing in the aisles.)
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1904: Cy Young throws the majors’ first perfect game since 1880—and the first since the pitching mound was moved back to 60’6” from home plate—when he retires all 27 Philadelphia Athletics he faces at Boston.
1925: To prove that he is just as comfortable in the age of Babe Ruth as he was during the Deadball Era, Ty Cobb tells reporters before a game at St. Louis that he will “deliberately” go out and try to hit home runs; before the day is done, Cobb will connect on six hits—including three homers. The next day he hits two more shots over the fence—an attempt for a third is caught at the wall—and sets a major league mark by hitting five home runs over two straight games. Cobb hits just seven over the other 119 games he plays on the year, but his 12 long balls for the 1925 Tigers represent a career high.
1962: The first no-hitter ever thrown at Dodger Stadium isn’t accomplished by a Dodger or even a National Leaguer, but Bo Belinsky—a rookie hurler for the AL’s Los Angeles Angels, renting out the Dodgers’ new ballpark. Belinsky silences the Orioles, walking four and striking out nine in a 2-0 win.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Seattle pitcher Logan Gilbert (29), 2024 All-Star
Charles Nagy (59), three-time All-Star pitcher of the 1990s with Cleveland; career 129-105 record
Ron Oester (70), Cincinnati second baseman of the 1980s, with 1,118 career hits
Larry Hisle (79), two-time All-Star outfielder; twice knocked in 100+ runs
Born on this date:
Tommy Helms (1941), 1966 NL Rookie of the Year; 1,342 career hits; recipient of two Gold Gloves
Lennie Merullo (1917), 1940s shortstop; TGG interview subject
Bruno Haas (1891), very brief major league pitcher who experienced one of the worst starts ever, in 1915
Chief Bender (1884), dependable, highly-efficient Hall-of-Fame pitcher who featured for the Philadelphia A’s from 1903-14; career 212-127 record, leading league three times in win percentage; 6-4 record, 2.44 ERA in 10 World Series starts
Shameless Link of the Day
The April Comebacker—is now live! Check out the top stories, record-breaking moments and oddities of the past month—plus, our first installment of the Best and Worst hitters, pitchers and teams from each league since Opening Day! Check it out!
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
To Whom It May Concern
We are proud of what we have built at This Great Game, but we also admit it is not perfect. Occasionally, fans from all walks of life check in and point out errors, and we are grateful to these external editors. Our site is all the better because of you.
Also, we have had many folks chime in on our various lists in the Lists and Teams sections, many of them disagreeing with some of our choices. Since all lists are made to be argued, this is to be expected. If your arguments are respectful, we will respond in kind and join in a civilized debate—and we’ll often see your viewpoints, since no list should qualify as The Gospel. But if your responses contain the sort of vitriol found so often these days in social media circles, you’re going to get ignored. So please, respond respectfully, engage in polite conversation with us, and enjoy the site!
