Reggie Jackson plows through fans who are storming the field of Yankee Stadium after the New York #Yankees won the 1977 World Series!
Baseball Birthdays February 13, 2024 ********************************* 1883 Hal Chase 1st Base Reds New York Highlanders,White Sox 1927 Jim Brideweser Infield Yankees, Tigers 1944 Sal Bando infield A's Brewers 1921 Pete Castiglione Infield Pirates 1958 Frank Williams Giants, Reds,Tigers ****************************************
This Day in Baseball History February 13th1914 The Cubs exchange second basemen with the Braves, sending future Hall of Famer Johnny Evers to Boston for Bill Sweeney. Boston gets the better of the deal when their new middle infielder plays a pivotal role in the club's World Championship this season, garnering the Chalmers Award as the league's Most Valuable Player. Evers & Tinker 1920 A group of eight midwestern team owners meets at the Kansas City YMCA to organize the Negro National League, which will become one of the most successful ventures of its kind. Rube Foster, the owner/manager of the American Giants, will become president of the new circuit, leading to accusations of favoritism, which appear especially true when Chicago's schedule plays a disproportionate number of games at home. Rube Foster 1935 Former major league journeyman Gus Dugas, a French-Canadian obtained by the Montreal Royals from Albany of the International League in November, signs his contract while visiting relatives in his native province of Quebec. The French language contract is the first in the history of professional baseball.
1953 In honor of their longtime owner and manager, the A's rename their Philadelphia ballpark from Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium. During his 50-year tenure as Athletics skipper, the 'Tall Tactician' guided the team to nine American League pennants and appeared in eight World Series, winning five of the Fall Classics. 1964 At the age of twenty-two, Cubs' second baseman Ken Hubbs dies when the red and white Cessna 172 plane he is piloting crashes one quarter-mile south of Bird Island in Utah Lake during a winter storm. The 1962 National League Rookie of the Year took flying lessons for the past two off-seasons to overcome his fear of flying, obtaining his license last month. 1968 The Dodgers trade infielders Ron Hunt and Nate Oliver to the Giants for backstop Tom Haller. The 30-year-old All-Star catcher will compile a respectable .276 batting average during his four years behind the plate for LA. Hunt Haller 1970 A day after his 27th birthday, Paul Edmondson and his girlfriend are killed in an automobile accident in San Barbara (CA) when his automobile skids on a rain-slicked U.S. Route 101 and crashes into oncoming traffic. The White Sox had hoped their sophomore right-hander would become the fourth starter in the team's rotation after compiling a misleading 1-6 record last season, which included a complete game two-hitter beating California 9–1 in his major league debut last June.
1986 Ron Hassey, whom the White Sox acquired two months ago from the Yankees, is traded back to the Bronx Bombers, along with three minor-leaguers for Neil Allen, Scott Bradley, and a minor leaguer. In December, the Bronx Bombers sent the 32-year-old catcher to the Windy City, along with Joe Cowley, who will toss a no-hitter in September, for Britt Burns and two minor leaguers. Hassey Crowley 1987 Jack Morris receives the highest salary ever given to a pitcher by arbitration when the Tigers must pay the hurler $1.85 million for his services next season. The 31-year-old right-hander will not disappoint, posting an 18-11 record and an ERA of 3.38 for the AL East Division champions. 1995 A Japanese Uniform Players Contract loophole enables the Dodgers to sign 26-year-old right-hander Hideo Nomo as a free agent, giving the five-time Japanese All-Star a $2 million signing bonus. In May, the 'Tornado Boy' will become the first Japanese-born Major Leaguer to appear in a major league game since Masanori Murakami pitched for the Giants in 1965. 2002 The Red Sox sign 43-year-old Rickey Henderson, who will bat .223 in 72 games for Boston this season, to a minor-league contract. Last year with the Padres, the future Hall of Famer got his 3000th career hit while breaking the major league records for walks and runs.
2003 The Mets sign 40-year-old David Cone, who compiled an 80-48 record with the team from 1987-1992, to a minor league contract. The veteran right-hander is coming out of retirement, hoping to win the fifth spot in the rotation. 2005 Avoiding an arbitration hearing, Ben Sheets (12-14, 2.70) and the Brewers agree to a one-year contract valued at $5.5 million. The All-Star right-hander, who made $2.5 million last season, established a team record last May, striking out 18 batters in a game. 2005 After 19 years at shortstop for the Reds, Barry Larkin announces his retirement as an active player to become a special assistant to Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, who served as Cincinnati's GM from 1992 to 2001. The 40-year-old former Gold Glove infielder spent his entire career in his hometown. 2006 Avoiding an arbitration hearing, Adam Dunn (.247, 40, 101) and the Reds agree to an $18.5 million two-year deal, which gives the team a 2008 option for $13 million with a buyout for $500,000. The 26-year-old outfielder/first baseman, who led the big leagues for the second consecutive season in strikeouts, had asked for $8.95 million, with the club countering with $7.1 million. 2008 Takashi Saito (2-1, 1.40), who signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers two years ago after playing 14 seasons in the Japanese Central League with the Yokohama Bay Stars, agrees to a $2 million, one-year contract to stay with Los Angeles. The 37-year-old All-Star closer had 39 saves in 43 chances last season.
2008 In a much anticipated congressional hearing, Roger Clemens and his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, testify for four and a half hours concerning the allegations of the Rocket's use of performance-enhancing drugs. Republicans appear to believe the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, while Democrats seem to favor his chief accuser's account of events. 2009 To avoid arbitration for the remainder of his career, Ryan Howard agrees to a three-year, $54 million deal with Philadelphia. The Phillies slugger, who led the major leagues in home runs (48) and RBI (146), was unable to reach a contract settlement in less than friendly negotiations with the team and was awarded $10 million by arbitrators during the 2008 off-season tying the highest sum ever given to a player in the process. 2012 Yoenis Cespedes and the A's have reached a reported four-year, $36 million deal, pending the results of a physical examination. The Cuban defector, slotted to play center field, moving Coco Crisp to left, hit .458 with a double, three triples, two home runs, and five RBIs in the six games he played in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. ******************************************** 165,180
Brooklyn #Dodgers legends Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges & Jackie Robinson try to build a snowman at Ebbets Field!
As a rookie, Henry Aaron almost signed with the Giants, but he went to the Braves when they offered $50 more a month! He could have been teammates with Willie Mays
Baseball Birthdays February 14, 2024 ********************************* 1897 Earl Smith Giants 1908 Oscar Judd Red Sox 1931 Joe Caffie Indians 1943 Darrell Osteen Reds 1949 Larry Fritz Phils 1952 Will McEnaney Reds 1956 Dave Dravecky Padres 1970 Kelly Stinnett Mets ****************************************
This Day in Baseball History February 14th1887 For a record price of $10,000, the Cubs, then known as the White Stockings, sell current National League batting champ and future Hall of Famer Mike King Kelly to the Beaneaters. The popular box office draw, who will earn his nickname King while playing in Boston, will continue to be productive, hitting .311 for three years during his first tenure with the team. 1928 The American Legion baseball program, on the brink of bankruptcy, receives a pledge of $50,000 from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the MLB Advisory Council to continue developing a national championship program for teenagers. With the much-needed funding, Legion Baseball will continue in 1928, and the following season, teams from every state and the District of Columbia will participate in the youth tournament. 1934 Southpaw-swinging Sam Rice, who spent the first 19 seasons with the Senators, ends his career after playing one year with the Indians. The 44-year-old future Hall of Famer (1963) collected 2,987 career hits during his two decades in the major leagues. 1945 After his retirement as the president of the Braves, Bob Quinn's son, John, succeeds him as the team's general manager. The former owner of the Red Sox and Braves, whose grandson will also become a major league GM, will serve as president of the Baseball Hall of Fame from 1948 to 1951, resigning from the position after suffering two strokes.
1957 "Anything that tends to break down the bulwarks of segregation must be forcibly met by this general assembly. We have a situation in Georgia which has come about because of a national situation. I am referring to the Negroes in organized baseball in this state. It is unfortunate that some few people would participate in the destruction of our institutions for a few dollars." - GEORGIA STATE SENATOR LEON BUTTS, commenting on his bill that prohibits blacks from playing baseball with whites. Ten years after the integration of major league baseball, the Georgia Senate unanimously approves Leon Butts' bill barring that prohibits blacks from playing baseball with whites except at religious gatherings. The Lumpkin legislator's measures, which carry fines up to $1000 and imprisonment for 60 days to a year for committing the misdemeanor, will directly impact the minor league spring training centers of the Braves and Cardinals whose farmhands workout, respectively, in Waycross and Albany.
