BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

OTD in 2015 Minnie Minoso, died. He played in the Negro Leagues for the NY Cubans & became a @MLB star w/the @whitesox. This photo was taken in 2013 before the @Padres “Salute to the Negro Leagues,” hosted by @DaveWinfieldHOF. Minnie was inducted into the HOF in 2022!

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Pete Rose and Steve Garvey 6855 Hits
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They found a baseball on Mars…I have no doubt that it belongs to 2001 Sammy Sosa
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Today In 1969: "I can’t play anymore. I don’t hit the ball when I need to, I can’t steal when I need to. I can’t score from second when I need to.” ~ New York #Yankees legend Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball during a press conference in Florida!

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Johnny Bench at spring training at Al Lopez Field with Tampa Stadium in background

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Hank Wyse, born #OTD, won 22 games in 1945 to help the CUBS capture the pennant. Known as “Hooks” for his knee-buckling curveball, Wyse's promising career (52 wins in 1944-6) was cut short by arm miseries

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MARCH 3 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1860 John Montgomery Ward HOF pitcher (perfect game 1880; NL ERA leader 1878; NL strikeout leader & NL wins leader 1879; Providence Grays), born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (d. 1925)


1872 Willie Keeler Hall of Fame outfielder (highest career AB-per-strikeout ratio in MLB history; NL batting champion 1897, 98 Baltimore Orioles), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1923)


1949 Jesse Jefferson


1960 Neal Heaton Miami Hurricane Hurler

1965 A J Sager, pitcher (Detroit Tigers),

1978 Matt Diaz Braves OF

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This Day in Baseball History
March 3rd​

1953 Braves owner Lou Perini, citing territorial privilege due to their minor league club's location, blocks the Browns' attempt to move to Milwaukee from St. Louis. Fifteen days later, he will move his major league club from Boston to the Midwestern city.

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1959 The winning entry in the Giants' Name-the-Park contest is Candlestick Park, reflecting the shape of the rocks in the area known as Candlestick Point. Initially called Bay View Stadium, the ballpark will be the first stadium built entirely of reinforced concrete.

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1967 The American League permits the White Sox to use a partially designated hitter in spring training. With the home club's permission, each team will use a designated pinch-hitter twice in the same game.

1969 The Washington Post reports the Global League has failed to reach an agreement with any television network. The lack of a TV deal appears to have derailed the reality of the proposed third major league.

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1984 Peter Ueberroth is elected baseball's sixth commissioner, replacing Bowie Kuhn as the major league's top executive. The former L.A. Olympic president will take office on October 1 and will receive compensation of $450,000, an amount that is nearly double his predecessor's salary.

1987 Danny Kaye, who helped lead an investment group that bought the Mariners in 1976, dies of heart failure. The 74-year-old entertainer was a lifelong fan of the Dodgers, recording a hit tune entitled The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song, which detailed a fictitious encounter with the rivals Giants during the actual 1962 pennant race.

1988 Upset by a practical joke played by teammate Jesse Orosco, Dodger slugger Kirk Gibson walks out of camp for a day. The southpaw reliever had put eyeblack on Gibson's cap.
“Basically, I don’t want to be a part of their fun and comedy act,” said Gibson, who reportedly was fined for leaving Thursday’s game. “I’m not a radical guy. I go by the rules. This other bull is foreign to me. I like to have a good time, but a good time to me is winning.”

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Orosco said he was sorry about the prank. He said he discovered that it is unwise to pull practical jokes on Gibson, who admits that he has no sense of humor when the joke is on him.

“Let’s just say I won’t be doing it again,” Orosco said. “That’s because I don’t want to read my name in the obituaries.

 

1997 In a controversial deal, the Yankees sign a ten-year contract with Adidas. The licensing agreement with the popular sportswear company puts team owner George Steinbrenner at odds with the baseball establishment.

2006 Jae-Weong Seo and Chan Ho Park combine to blank Taiwan in the inaugural World Baseball Classic opening game, 2-0. The first game of the 16-nation tournament, featuring the duel between the two South Korean hurlers, is played before a disappointing crowd of only 5,193 fans at Tokyo Dome.

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2008 Noah Lowry throws 24 pitches before a batter takes a swing in the Giants' 6-4 Cactus League exhibition loss to Texas. The 28-year-old right-hander, who issues nine bases-on-balls to the first 12 Rangers he faces, goes through the entire line up once without recording an official at-bat, thanks to a combination of walks and sacrifice flies.

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2012 The Padres sign Cameron Maybin to a five-year contract extension. The new undisclosed deal for the 24-year-old outfielder is reportedly worth $25 million for five years, with another $7 million possible during an option year in 2017.

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2015 Major League Baseball introduces its new pace of play initiatives, designed to make the games shorter in duration, during five exhibition contests played in Arizona and Florida. The new rules planned to be slowly introduced before the implementation of penalties include having batters keep one foot in the batter's box after taking a pitch and using a clock to make innings start more punctually.

2016 Experts announce they have verified the legitimacy of seven identical Ty Cobb cards from the printing period of 1909 to 1911, bringing the total number known to exist to 22. The treasure, which features a picture of the 'Georgia Peach' on the front, with the words 'Ty Cobb – King of the Smoking Tobacco World' on the back, was found in a paper bag mixed in with trash by relatives, who were cleaning the dilapidated house that belonged to their great-grandfather.

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Baseball legend Roberto Clemente is ready for another day of Pittsburgh #Pirates spring training! (1962)
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Today In 1954: The Mick Is On The Mend! ~ “A weeks’ time made a difference in New York’s Mickey Mantle. Last week Mantle was on crutches. Today he smashed a 400 foot drive. Mantle is recovering from his second knee operation.“
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Today In 1931: "The Mighty Bambino Meets The New Manager" ~ Babe Ruth & Joe McCarthy pose together at New York #Yankees spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Florida
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Monte Irvin
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“ They never kept score, they never chose sides, they never even really stopped playing the game. It just went on forever. Every day they picked up where they left off the day before. It was like an endless dream game."

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