This Week in Minor League Baseball History

June 24, 1950: Willie Mays made his organized baseball debut with Trenton (N.J.), the New York Giants’ farm team in the Interstate League. He went hitless but beat out two infield hits the next day. His first home run, a grand slam, came June 28.

* June 24, 1972: Bernice Gera, 41, professional baseball’s first woman umpire, resigned after working seven innings of a New York-Penn League doubleheader between Geneva (N.Y.) and Auburn (N.Y.). Gera had fought for six years to crash the gender barrier among umpiring professionals.

* June 25, 1951: Roy Price, veteran left-hander with Houma of the Evangeline League, struck out 23 batters in nine innings in an 8-1 victory over Lafayette. On June 17, Price struck out 23 Hammond (La.) batters in 14 innings.

* June 26, 1996: High winds during a thunderstorm split a light pole at Holman Stadium, home of the Florida State League’s Vero Beach Dodgers, 40 minutes before the gates were scheduled to open. The pole ended up in the third-base stands. No one was injured and the game was postponed.

* June 27, 1987: When Bend (Ore.), managed by Mel Roberts, and Boise (Idaho), managed by ex-Dodger Derrel Thomas, met in a Northwest League game, it marked the first time in the history of organized ball in the United States that two black managers had faced each other.

* June 27, 1936: Ted Williams made his professional debut with San Diego of the Pacific Coast League. He appeared in the second inning as a pinch-hitter, striking out on three pitches from Sacramento’s Henry Pippen.

* June 28, 1962: Denny McLain, in his first professional start, pitched a no-hitter, striking out 17, as Harlan defeated Salem (Va.), 3-0, in an Appalachian League game.

* June 29, 1989: Mal Fichman, manager for Boise, was thrown out of a game after an argument with the umpires. He went to the clubhouse, where he dressed in the Hawks’ mascot suit and then returned to the field. He led the fans in cheers and continued to direct his team. Northwest League President Jack Cain fined Fichman and suspended him for one game.

--From The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball