Games of Note: It's Red Sox versus Yankees on August 9, 1949, and Dom Dimaggio's 34-game hitting streak is on the line. Dom's brother, Joe, is well-known for his major-league record hit-streak of 56 games, and he ends up being the reason that Dom's ends at 34 contests.
Boston's Dimaggio began the game 0-for-4, with Yankee hurler Vic Raschi setting him down each time up despite this being a game where he was knocked around for six runs on 10 hits. In Dimaggio's final at-bat, he hits a sinking liner to Joe, who catches the ball at his shoe tops, ending the streak at 34. Oddly enough, this 34-game hit streak began in the game following another hit-less effort against Vic Raschi and the Yankees, and it ended there, too.
Dimaggio put together a .352/.430/.503 line in those 34 games, going deep three times while smacking 11 doubles. He rarely hit for that kind of power in his career, as he owned a career Isolated Power of .121, but apparently the Dimaggios were capable of long bouts of focused excellence.
Transactions: This is a quiet day historically for Red Sox transactions. The busiest was August 9 of 2005, when Boston traded for Mike Remlinger and cash, sending minor-league pitcher Olivio Astacio in exchange for that package. Astacio never appeared in the majors, and was out of baseball at age 22 in 2007, but the Cubs didn't mind, as Mike Remlinger was awful for Boston. He threw 6-2/3 innings with a 14.85 ERA and as many walks as strikeouts.
This wasn't the only move the Sox made, as they also signed free agent Ricky Bottalico. It was less damaging than the Remlinger acquisition, as Bottalico only pitched in Pawtucket, tossing 8-1/3 innings there to finish out his career.
Birthdays: It's Matt Young's 54th birthday. Young was drafted by the Red Sox in 1978 in the second round, but didn't sign, and instead ended up with the Mariners the next year. He would eventually make it to Boston, though, as the Sox signed him before the 1991 season.
Young threw just 159 innings with the Sox between 1991 and 1992, posting an 87 ERA+. Besides his inability to throw the ball accurately to first base, Young is also known for throwing an eight-inning no-hitter that he lost, and subsequently did not receive credit for -- the Hall of Fame rejected the game ball when Young sent it to them, saying it wasn't a pure no-hitter like your normal nine-inning variety. It's not Young's fault his team was losing on the road, cutting him out from tossing the ninth -- he had a no-hitter going. Well, okay, he does own a share of the fault, as he also walked seven batters and, along with his catcher, failed to stop six stolen base attempts.
The Red Sox would cut Young before the 1993 season, and the lefty would pitch for the Indians in the majors and the Blue Jays in the minors before calling it a career.