TODAY IN MLB HISTORY:

May 17th

1905 - Waseda University of Tokyo defeats Los Angeles High School 5-3 in the first game of an American tour. It is the first baseball game ever played by Japanese outside Japan. Waseda starts a powerhouse tradition at Japan's Big Six universities that continues today.
1915 - George "Zip" Zabel comes out of the Cubs bullpen with two outs in the first and winds up with a 4-3 19-inning win over Brooklyn in the longest relief job ever.
1925 - Washington lefty Tom Zachary throws the pitch that Tris Speaker socks for his 3,000th hit.
1939 - The first baseball game ever televised � Princeton against Columbia at Baker Field, Columbia's home field � is seen by a handful of viewers via W2XBS in New York City. Bill Stern announces Princeton's 2-1, ten inning win. Reviewing the game the next day, the New York Times sniffs, "it is difficult to see how this sort of thing can catch the public fancy."
1941 - The city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania declare a legal holiday to honor the A's manager on Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park.
1970 - During a 7-6 Atlanta loss to Cincinnati in the second game of a doubleheader, Hank Aaron collects his 3,000th career hit and his 570th home run. Aaron, the ninth man to amass 3,000 hits, is the first to also have 500 home runs.
1973 - Angels outfielder Bobby Valentine tries to scale a wall to prevent a Dick Green home run during a 5-4 loss to the A's. He catches his spikes in the wall and breaks his leg. The injury will ruin his career.
1978 - Lee Lacy hits a pinch-hit home run as the Dodgers beat the Pirates 10-1. It is Lacy's third consecutive home run in a pinch-hitting role, setting a major league record. His previous blasts were on May 2 and May 6.
1979 - The wind is really blowing out at Wrigley as the Cubs and Phillies join in a wild ten-inning slugfest won 23-22 by the Phillies. Dave Kingman has three home runs and six RBI for the Cubs while teammate Bill Buckner has a grand slam and seven RBI. Mike Schmidt's two home runs include the game-winner in the tenth inning. The eleven home runs between the two teams ties a major league record.
1992 - Gary Carter, back with the Expos, joins Bob Boone and Carlton Fisk in the exclusive 2,000 games caught club.
1998 - David Wells pitches the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the Yankees beat the Twins 4-0. Wells, whose perfecto is the first by a Yankee since Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, also sets an A.L. record by retiring 37 batters in a row, dating back to his start May 12 against the Royals. Twins shortstop Pat Meares flies out to Paul O'Neill in right field to complete the perfect afternoon at Yankee Stadium.