BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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2/22
BIRTHDAYS
1839 Octavius Catto (Institute for Colored Youth, 1859-71), civil rights activist, and baseball player (Philadelphia Pythians, 1865-71), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1871)


1874 Bill Klem, American Baseball HOF umpire (record 18 x World Series), born in Rochester, New York (d. 1951)


1911 Bill Baker, American baseball player (d. 2006)

1934 Sparky Anderson (1934-2010) American Baseball HOF manager (World Series 1975, 76 Cincinnati Reds; WS 1984 & 2 x AL Manager of the Year, Detroit Tigers), born in Bridgewater, South Dakota



1939 Steve Barber, American MLB pitcher (Baltimore Orioles, NY Yankees), born in Takoma Park, Maryland (d. 2007)

1971 Lisa Fernandez, American softball pitcher (Olympic gold 1996), born in Lakewood, Californ

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1880 George Wright signs a contract with the Boston Red Caps, which he states allows him not to travel with the team on western road trips, participating in games only played in New England and Troy. The arrangement will allow the Hall of Fame shortstop to devote more time to his sporting goods business.

1889 Italy's King Humbert is among the fans who witness the Chicagos beat the All-Americans, 3-2, outside Rome at the Villa Borghese. Originally billed as the Spalding's Australian Baseball Tour, the trip expands to include contests in Europe, much to the surprise of the captive players aboard ship en route to the Land Down Under.
Amazon Ambassadors in Pinstripes: The Spalding World Baseball Tour and the Birth of the American Empire


1936 As thousands cheer on both sides of the river, 48-year-old Senator legend Walter Johnson throws a silver dollar to the far side of the Rappahannock, believed to be a 386-foot toss. The Washington, D.C. Sesquicentennial celebration, which includes commemorating the 204th anniversary of George Washington's birth, stages the event to duplicate the alleged feat that the young Virginian accomplished when he threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River.

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1938 After college, Texas Christian football All-American Sammy Baugh signs a contract with the Cardinals. 'Slingin' Sammy,' who will experience little playing time as a backup to starting shortstop Marty Marion, will leave the minor leagues to play for in the National Football League, where he will become a Hall of Fame quarterback with the Redskins.

 

1966 The Mets trade Wayne Graham, Bobby Klaus, and Jimmie Schaffer to the Phillies for first baseman Dick Stuart, who will join the Dodgers after being released by his new team in June. During his brief tenure with the Amazins,' Dr. Strangelove plays in 31 games, hitting .231 while committing six errors.

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2005 Jerry Coleman is the recipient of the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award. The 80-year-old San Diego play-by-play broadcaster, the MVP of the 1950 World Series, has spent 41 years calling games for the Yankees, Angels, and Padres.

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2005 Tom Umberg, a California state assemblyman, introduces legislation that would require pro franchises to use disclaimers if they do not play the majority of home games in the location used in their name. With his 'Truth in Sports Advertising Act,' the Anaheim Democrat is attempting to prevent the local team from changing its name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Halos' third moniker since the franchise's inception in 1961.

2006 The Dodgers announce the team has extended the contract of Vin Scully through 2008. The Hall of Fame broadcaster, considered by many to be the best announcer in baseball history, is beginning his 57th year in the Dodger organization, believed to be the longest tenure of any on-air individual in sports history.

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2008 The Mets, who had not gone to arbitration with a player in 16 years, come out on the short end of the hearing when southpaw Oliver Perez (15-10, 3.56) gets a favorable decision in his case from arbitrators Steven Wolf, Robert Bailey, and Elizabeth Neumeier. The southpaw is awarded $6.5 million for this year, rather than the club's offer of $4,725,000.

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2008 After losing his request for $12.5 million, Francisco Rodriguez (2.81, 40 saves) receives a $10 million award, tying Alfonso Soriano (Nationals) and Ryan Howard (Phillies) for the most money ever given in a salary arbitration case. The 26-year-old Angels closer leads the majors in saves during the last three seasons with a total of 132.

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2010 Johnny Damon and the Tigers agree to an $8 million, one-year deal. The 36-year-old southpaw-swinging outfielder, who hit .282 with 24 homers for the World Champion Yankees last season, will bat leadoff for Detroit, misses going to the postseason after the team loses a one-game tiebreaker to Minnesota.

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2017 "I think it's a mistake to stick our head in the sand and ignore the fact that our game has changed, and continues to change". - MLB COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED, commenting on the new intentional walk rule. In an effort to speed up the game, MLB announces the approval of implementing an intentional walk with a signal from the dugout, rather than the need of throwing four pitches out of the strike zone. Although the new rule will eliminate about only a minute of play, some believe the new approach rids the sport of an antiquated way of issuing a deliberate base-on-balls.

2021 Kevin Mather resigns as the president of the Mariners when the February 5 Zoom video of a meeting with a Rotary Club goes viral. With the team since 1996 and named president in 2014, the former club official questioned if Hisashi Iwakuma needed an interpreter, commented on the poor English spoken by top prospect Julio Rodriguez, and shared the organization's decision to manipulate service time by not calling up prospects.

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58,797

 

Today in Baseball History
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On February 22 in Baseball History...

• • 1934 - George Lee Anderson is born in Bridgewater, South Dakota. He will earn the nickname Sparky, play 152 games for the Phillies in 1959, and never play another major league game. He will, however, win 2,194 games and capture world championships in both the N.L. and A.L. as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers.
    
  • 1957 - Walter O'Malley says the Dodgers may play 10 exhibition games in California in 1958.
    
  • 1980 - Billy Martin signs to manage the Athletics after another stormy partial season managing the Yankees.

Baseball Birthdays on February 22...

• • 1864 - McGinnis, Jumbo
  • 1865 - Silch, Ed
  • 1868 - Davies, George
  • 1868 - Camp, Lew
  • 1870 - Tebeau, Pussy
  • 1874 - McFadden, Barney
  • 1878 - Moran, Charlie
  • 1884 - Radebaugh, Roy
  • 1884 - Ball, Jim
  • 1891 - Mitchell, Clarence
  • 1892 - Waldbauer, Doc
  • 1894 - Hall, Bill
  • 1894 - Grubbs, Tom
  • 1895 - Graham, Roy
  • 1895 - DeFate, Tony
  • 1895 - Monroe, Ed
  • 1900 - Spencer, Roy
  • 1901 - Jessee, Dan
  • 1907 - Hopkins, Marty
  • 1907 - Dugan, Dan
  • 1909 - Bramhall, Art
  • 1911 - Baker, Bill
  • 1918 - Sullivan, Jackie
  • 1919 - Lucadello, Johnny
  • 1920 - Drews, Karl
  • 1922 - Genovese, George
  • 1922 - Zak, Frankie
  • 1925 - Wilson, Bob
  • 1929 - Peete, Charlie
  • 1929 - Duren, Ryne "(Ryne Duren) quickly became the most feared reliever in the league. 'Blind Ryne,' who had uncorrected vision of 20/70 and 20/200, would frighten hitters when he entered the game, squinting toward home through bottle-thick glasses. He enhanced the effect by intentionally throwing his first warm-up pitch back to the screen. Initially, it may not have always been planned; while in the minors his control was so erratic that he once hit the on-deck batter." - Author George D. Wolf on BaseballLibrary.com
  • 1930 - Luttrell, Lyle
  • 1931 - Nichols, Chet
  • 1934 - Anderson, Sparky
    "He (Sparky Anderson) really believes he made a winning team out of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, George Foster and Davey Concepcion by teaching them the virtues of shiny shoes and clean upper lips." - Bill James in Sport Magazine (1982)
  • 1939 - Barber, Steve
  • 1948 - Christensen, Bruce
  • 1948 - Griffin, Tom
  • 1948 - Rogodzinski, Mike
  • 1956 - Lefebvre, Joe
  • 1963 - Wakamatsu, Don
  • 1965 - Yelding, Eric
  • 1968 - Sasaki, Kazuhiro
  • 1972 - Halama, John
  • 1973 - Johnson, Russ
  • 1973 - Heiserman, Rick

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

2/23
BIRTHDAYS
1865 Barney Dreyfuss HOF executive (owner Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-32; World Series 1909, 25), born in Freiburg, Germany (d. 1932)

1908 Ray Brown HOF pitcher (NgL World Series 1943, 44; Triple Crown 1938; Homestead Grays), born in Alger, Ohio (d. 1965)


1914 Mike Tresh catcher (MLB All Star 1945; Chicago White Sox), born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania (d. 1966)


1929 Elston Howard catcher (12 × MLB All-Star; 6 × World Series; AL MVP 1963; first African-American NY Yankee), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1980)


1963 Bobby Bonilla outfielder (NY Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Marlins), born in NYC, New York


1976 Scott Elarton born in Lamar, Colorado

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1921 Brooklyn trade 29-year-old Rabbit Maranville to the Pirates for Billy Southworth, Fred Nicholson, Walter Barbare, and $15,000 in cash. The future Hall of Fame shortstop will spend four of his 19 major league seasons playing for the Bucs, providing excellent defense while compiling a .283 batting average.

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1934 Brooklyn coach Casey Stengel signs a two-year deal to manage the Dodgers, replacing skipper Max Carey, who guided the sixth-place club to a 65-88 record last season. During the rookie manager's three-year tenure with the Brooks, the team will finish 43 games under .500, finishing no higher than fifth place.

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1960 Twenty-eight months after the Dodgers play their last game in Brooklyn, the demolition of Ebbets Field finally begins when a wrecking ball, painted with red and white stitches, begins its work on the ballpark Brooklyn called home for 44 years. Before the demolition, wheel-chair-bound Roy Campanella, the team's former All-Star catcher and three-time National League MVP, is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate in front of a crowd of 200 faithful fans.

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1986 Although he loses his arbitration case, Boston third baseman Wade Boggs receives the largest amount ($1.35 million) ever awarded by this process. Last season's AL batting champ had sought $1.85 million, but arbitrator Thomas Roberts rules in favor of the Red Sox, resulting in a drop of a half-million dollars for the infielder.

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1987 Three days into spring training, Dick Howser's attempted comeback after undergoing brain tumor surgery comes to an end when the frail-looking Royals manager finds he is physically too weak to continue. Third-base coach Billy Gardner replaces the ill skipper, who will die three months later at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City.

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1988 Facing the loss of the 1990 All-Star game and possible postseason games, the Chicago City Council passes an ordinance, 29-19, allowing the Cubs to play 18 night games a season through the year 2002 at Wrigley Field, the last major league ballpark to be illuminated. The legislation prohibits beer sales after 9:20 p.m. and organ music ten minutes later.

 

1990 Although the owners drop their arbitration and minimum salary proposals, spring training camps remain closed. Baseball's seventh work stoppage will last 32 days, resulting in the delay of Opening Day for a week and the overall season extended by three days to accommodate the 162-game schedule.

1997 Ira Berkow's front-page story about Larry Doby appears in the Sunday New York Times, detailing the 22-year-old second baseman's experience about being the first black to play in the American League. The article spurs much interest about the former Newark Eagle, leading many to believe the story helped his election to the Hall of Fame the following year. Larry Doby jumped right from Newark to the Indians. Everything was new, and the introverted Doby knew nobody on the team — or in the league; the American Leaguer never crossed paths with the National Leaguer Robinson at ballparks. Veeck had two rules for his new addition: No arguing with umpires, not even turning around when a bad call was made at the plate. Also, “no dissertations with opposing players.” He told Doby that “either of those might start a race riot.”

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2000 Cubs manager Don Baylor names four captains, selecting first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani, and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs' first captains since the 1960s and early 1970s when Ron Santo held the position.

2006 Complaining about the lack of support from local baseball officials, Roberto Kelly resigns as manager of Panama's team in the World Baseball Classic. The Giants spring training instructor believes some players choose not to participate in the WBC, opting to play in the Panamanian championships.

2012 Avoiding a 50-game suspension, Ryan Braun becomes the first major league player to challenge a positive test result successfully. The panel that heard the appeal voted 2-1 in favor of the 28-year-old Brewer outfielder because the test collector kept the urine sample at home and stored it in his refrigerator for two days before sending the specimen to a Montreal laboratory for analysis.

2013 After three years of futility in New York, Jason Bay, who mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the Mets in November, clouts a two-run homer in his first at-bat of spring training in the Mariners' 8-6 exhibition victory over the Padres. In the off season, the likable but oft-injured outfielder signed with Seattle for $1 million, a far cry from the four-year, $66-million free-agent deal he inked, leaving Boston for the Big Apple in 2009.

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2016 Jose Reyes becomes the first player disciplined under baseball's new domestic violence policy when he is placed on paid leave until the completion of criminal proceedings, stemming from his arrest following an argument with his wife at a Hawaiian resort in late October. The 32-year-old All-Star shortstop, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of a family member, will not report to the Rockies' spring training camp.

2016 At a news conference at Borough Hall in Queens, the Mets announce the team will host an LGBT Pride Night on August 13 at Citi Field, featuring discounted seating for the game against the Padres and a free postgame concert. A portion of the ticket proceeds purchased from Mets.com/pride for the event, expected to attract more than 5,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender fans, will benefit the LGBT Network, a non-profit organization Safe Schools Initiative working to stop bullying in Long Island and Queens.

2020 The new-look Phillie Phanatic, a redesign prompted by a copyright dispute, struts his stuff in the team's spring training home opener. The colorful changes made to the uproarious mascot's costume pays homage to the history of the franchise; with powder-blue tail recognizing a historical color in the Phillies' story, the blue socks with a red stripe honoring the 1948 uniform famously worn by Phillies Hall of Fame outfielder Richie Ashburn, and the red shoes featuring a Liberty Bell design paying tribute to the City of Love.

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Today in Baseball History
Home | Contact | Baseball Almanac | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Advertise | Support​

Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On February 23 in Baseball History...

• • 1934 - Casey Stengel, who had been a Dodgers coach, signs a two-year contract to manage Brooklyn. He replaces Max Carey.
    
  • 1960 - Demolition of Ebbets Field begins. Lucy Monroe sings the National Anthem, and Roy Campanella is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate.
    
  • 1964 - Charlie Finley gives in to A.L. pressure and signs a four-year lease with the municipal government to keep the A's in Kansas City. Finley wanted two years. His exasperated A.L. colleagues voted 9-1 that KC's offer was reasonable.
    
  • 1976 - Major league owners announce that spring training will not open until a new labor contract is agreed upon.
    
  • 1986 - Despite losing his arbitration case, Boston's Wade Boggs receives the largest salary ever awarded through that process to date: $1.35 million.
    
  • 1987 - Just three days after training camp opens, an extremely frail Dick Howser abandons his attempt to come back from a brain tumor and gives up his position as Royals manager. Billy Gardner is named his successor.
    
  • 1988 - A committee of Chicago aldermen vote 7-2 to allow the Cubs to install lights and play up to 18 night games a year at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had feared losing the 1990 All-Star Game, as well as future playoff and World Series games, if lights were not installed.

Baseball Birthdays on February 23...

• • 1874 - Lauder, Billy
  • 1877 - Thatcher, Grant
  • 1877 - Hulswitt, Rudy
  • 1887 - Lowdermilk, Lou
  • 1890 - Gooch, Lee
  • 1890 - Black, John
  • 1893 - O'Neill, Jim
  • 1894 - Rodriguez, Jose
  • 1896 - Sanberg, Gus
  • 1903 - Johnson, Roy "A four-time .300 hitter, he (Roy Johnson) became a genuine team leader. Johnson, Smead Jolley and Earl Averill formed one of the all-time great minor league outfields with the Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals." - Ed Walton on BaseballLibrary.com
  • 1905 - Barnhart, Les
  • 1908 - Boken, Bob
  • 1914 - Tresh, Mike
  • 1914 - Myers, Lynn
  • 1916 - Kearse, Eddie
  • 1918 - Layne, Hillis
  • 1918 - Carlin, Jim
  • 1924 - Haugstad, Phil
  • 1929 - Howard, Elston "The first African American player to don a New York Yankees uniform, Elston Howard traveled a long and arduous road while working his way up the Yankee farm system. Although Howard first joined the Yankee organization in 1950, he had to overcome many obstacles, including a considerable amount of racial prejudice, before he finally found himself wearing pinstripes at the major-league level. Yet, through it all, Howard carried himself with the same class and dignity on which he built his reputation." - Robert W. Cohen in The 50 Greatest Players in New York Yankees History (Scarecrow Press, 06/16/2012
  • 1932 - Bolger, Jim
  • 1941 - Lund, Gordy
  • 1941 - Hunt, Ron "I worked and practiced in full uniform in a mirror to make sure it was perfect. I'd stand right on top of the plate. An inside pitch had to be right on the corner, or it would hit me. The umpires never called me for getting hit on purpose." - Ron Hunt in Baseball Digest (July 2000, Al Doyle, 'Where Are They Now?: Former Player Ron Hunt Recalls His Big League Career)
  • 1944 - Shaw, Don
  • 1946 - Boswell, Ken
  • 1953 - Kuhaulua, Fred
  • 1957 - Anderson, Jim
  • 1958 - Agosto, Juan
  • 1958 - Shelby, John
  • 1959 - Vargas, Eddie
  • 1961 - Smith, Mike
  • 1961 - Morris, John
  • 1963 - Bonilla, Bobby "He's (Bobby Bonilla) a total player and he's only going to get better. I said last year that I thought he'd eventually be one of the best in the National League. It's happened faster than I expected. He's more aggressive at the plate now than before. He's still a big lovable guy, but he's also a tough son-of-a-bitch when he's got a bat in his hands." - Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Jim Leyland in Baseball Digest
  • 1969 - Charles, Frank
  • 1972 - White, Rondell
  • 1973 - Boyd, Jason
  • 1975 - Maurer, David
  • 1976 - Elarton, Scott
  • 1978 - Prokopec, Luke

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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