Today is the second day of the return of the This Date in Baseball History series. Like we said yesterday, everyday we will post a milestone of some sort that happened today X amount of years ago.

2005-

Albert Pujols becomes the first player to connect for 30 home runs in each of his first five big league seasons. The Cardinals first baseman has hit 190 homers during this five-year span from the start of career in 2001, equaling Eddie Mathews' total (1952-56) and with 25 fewer than Ralph Kiner (1946-1950). -Source National Pastime

Note from Ben: As a Cardinals fan, I can not tell you how lucky I feel to be able to watch Albert play everyday. He really is amazing. Ok, enough of the Cardinal loving schmooz fest.

Those of you who have been reading this blog for quite a while may remember the This Date in Baseball History series we used to do.  Well, we're happy to announce that we're bringing it back from the dead. As the title suggests, everyday we will post something remarkable that has happened on this date in baseball's long and storied history.

2007-

"In the second inning at Petco Park in front sellout crowd of 42,497 fans, Barry Bonds drives a Clay Hensley fastball over the left-field wall for his 755th home run tying Hank Aaron’s 33-year-old career home run record. The opposite-field drive [came] ironically off a pitcher who failed a steroid test as a minor leaguer in 2005." - source National Pastime

History has been on a bit of a holiday break but we wanted to get back in time to celebrate this day in 1985 when Lou Brock (generously donated to the Cardinals in exchange for Ernie Broglio) was voted into the Hall of Fame. You can check out Lou's bio on his official site.BTW, I was in the stands the night Lou broke Maury Wills' single-season stolen base record. And, unlike the memories of some more recent record-breaking events, the memory of that night remains precious and untarnished. Thanks Lou for being a true sportsman.

Baseball action predictably slows down over the holidays but there was still some news on this date in 1962. That's when Harris County, Texas  voters approved a bond issue to build Harris County Domed Stadium as a new home for the Colt 45s. The Colt45s eventually became the Astros and the stadium was renamed the Astrodome. It served as the home of the Astros from 1965-1999.

On this date in 1932 former outfielder Billy Southworth signed up to coach for the Giants. After his stint in New York, he goes on to win 1,044 games as manager of the Cardinals and the Braves. He was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee earlier this month.

On this date in 1921 the Major Leagues voted to return the World Series to a best-of-seven format. For the years 1919 to 1921 a best-of-nine format had been used. The A.L. was in favor of returning to the traditional format but the N.L. was opposed so Commissioner Landis cast the deciding vote.

In 1919, the infamous Chicago "Black" Sox lost in eight games to the Reds and in 1921 the Giants beat the Yankees also in eight games. The first World Series, in 1903 was also a best-of-nine series with the Boston Americans defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in eight games. The only other time the Series extended to eight games was in 1912, a best-of-seven contest between the Red Sox and the Giants that included a tie game. The Sox won.

"The Scooter" Phil Rizzuto was named as the radio and television announcer for the Yankees on December 18, 1956. Rizzuto spent his entire Major League career (1941-1956) as a shortstop with the Yankees. During that time he played in nine World Series and was named to five All-Star teams. He was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1950.

During his 40 years as an announcer Phil came up with some memorable calls including Roger Maris' 61st home run and this one:

Bouncer to third, they'll never get him! No, why don't I just shut up!

On this date in 1932, the Cardinals traded "Sunny Jim" Bottomly to the Reds. He returned to St. Louis a few years later as a player-manager for the Browns. Sunny Jim had a lifetime .310 average and was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1974. He and Lou Gehrig are the only players to have 150 or more career doubles, triples and home runs. He was once sued for hitting a home run that struck a fan who hadn't been paying attention to the game.

On this date in 1985 Roger Maris passed away. Most people remember Roger for hitting 61 home runs in 1961, a record which stood until the steroid era. In addition Roger was a Gold Glover, a two-time MVP, played in four All-Star Games and appeared in seven World Series.

There's little doubt that this date in baseball will long be remembered for the release of the Mitchell Report but, ironically enough, it was on this date in 1996 that Roger Clemens, who is named in the report as having used steroids, signed as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays spurning both the Red Sox and the Yankees.