BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

2005 The Tigers sign 31-year-old right fielder Magglio Ordonez (.292, 9, 37) for a reported $75 million for five years. The contract for the free-agent slugger, recovering from knee surgery, includes options that could extend the All-Star's stay in Detroit for an additional two years, making the deal nearly $100 million.


2006 Alex Gonzalez, who signed with the Red Sox as a free agent yesterday, singles in the tying run and then scores the winning run when Henry Blanco's pop fly bounces off the head of Erick Aybar, giving Venezuela its first Caribbean Series championship since 1989. The ball, which the Dominican Republic Licey's Tigers' shortstop lost in the lights, is ruled a double and caps a two-run bottom of the ninth rally, resulting in a 5-4 comeback victory for the Caracas Lions.


2009 The Sports Illustrated website reports Alex Rodriguez is one of the 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. The testing, which was intended only to determine the extent of steroid use by players at the time, revealed the Ranger shortstop was using Primobolan, an anabolic substance.

 

2012 Avoiding arbitration, Elvis Andrus and the Rangers come to terms on a three-year, $14.6 million contract. The agreement gives the 23-year-old infielder an early opportunity to sign a huge deal when he reaches free agency, which works with Texas' plans to make Jurickson Profar, currently playing A ball, their starting shortstop in a couple of years.


2012 The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announces Rusty Staub's selection for induction and former big-league pitcher Rheal Cormier, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin the 2011 Pan Am Games gold-medal winning Team Canada senior squad. The former Expos outfielder, referred to as Le Grand Orange by the Montreal fans because of his red hair, was a fan favorite in the franchise's early days due to his work ethic and active role in promoting the game north of the border.

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2014 A class action suit is brought to federal court by former minor league players, who allege MLB teams violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and other state laws by not paying their farmhands minimum wage and overtime. The case filed as Senne v. the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, initially scheduled for a hearing in February of 2017, will be postponed indefinitely until U.S. district court Joseph C. Spero decides the class certification question.

2014 Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez drops his two lawsuits against MLB, ending the likelihood of a long, drawn-out legal battle over his season-long suspension for the alleged use of performance-enhancing substances. The Bronx Bombers' third baseman was one of 14 individuals suspended due to the investigation of a Florida anti-aging clinic but the only one to contest his penalty, the longest ever given for using PEDs.
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Today In 1965: Legendary pitcher Satchel Paige checks out the new Houston Astrodome!
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Baseball Birthdays February 8, 2025
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1867 -Bug Holliday Cincinnati Red Stockings

1873 -John Richter Louisville Colonels

1911 -Don Heffner I think we can teach him how to hit." – New York Yankees Manager Joe McCarthy

1918 -Cookie Cuccurullo Pittsburgh Pirates

1918 -Butch Nieman

1920 -Buddy Blattner St. Louis Cardinals

1921 -Hoot Evers outfielder (MLB All-Star 1948, 50 Detroit Tigers)


1924 -Joe Black The Dodgers won the '52 pennant with enormous help from their untouted twenty-nine-year-old rookie right-hander


1939 Harvey Branch St. Louis Cardinals

1942 -Fritz Peterson New York Yankees


1943 -Bob Oliver Pittsburgh Pirates


1976 Jim Parque pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996

1978 Christa Williams softball pitcher (Olympic gold 1996)

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This Day in Baseball History
February 8th​

1901 Rumors of the Phillies' star second baseman Napoleon Lajoie jumping to the Athletics, the Philadelphia franchise in the new American League, prove true. The National League's leading hitter, clearly in violation of the reserve clause, switches to the Junior Circuit, winning the Triple Crown, leading the league with a .426 batting average, 14 homers, and 125 RBIs.

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1942 At the Folsom Correctional facility in California, the annual game between big leaguers and the prison inmates occurs after a delay when the guards need to search for two convicts attempting an escape. The contest does not resume after escapees are apprehended, with the visiting team ahead 24-5 at the end of seven innings.

1956 In Philadelphia, former A's manager and owner Connie Mack, 93, dies of "old age and complications from his hip surgery." The 'Tall Tactician' set records for major league wins (3,731) and losses (3,948), compiling a .486 managerial mark during his 54 years as a skipper, including his three seasons with the Pirates before the turn of the century.

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1972 The nine-man Negro Baseball Leagues Hall of Fame Committee selects Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard for enshrinement, making them the second and third Negro League players, behind Satchel Paige the year before. During his playing days, Josh Gibson, a power-hitting catcher, was called the "black Babe Ruth," and Leonard, a teammate of Gibson on the Homestead Grays, who once turned down an MLB contract believing he was too old to compete at that level, was ranked #47 on a 1999 Sporting News poll of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players

Josh Gibson Buck Leonard Satch​

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1973 The owners announce 'Early Bird' spring training, scheduled to begin next week, will not occur until they complete negotiations with the Players' Association. The 23-day lockout caused by a disagreement over salary arbitration will not affect the start of the regular season.

 

1982 The longest-playing infield foursome is broken up when the Dodgers trade Davey Lopes straight up for A's minor leaguer Lance Hudson, a middle infielder who will never appear in a major league game. The 36-year-old former LA second baseman had played with Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell since 1974.
982 The longest-playing infield foursome is broken up when the Dodgers trade Davey Lopes straight up for A's minor leaguer Lance Hudson, a middle infielder who will never appear in a major league game. The 36-year-old former LA second baseman had played with Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell since 1974.

Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell since 1974
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2006 After rejecting an earlier proposal by an 8-5 margin a few hours ago, the District of Columbia Council reverses itself and approves a revised lease for a new Washington, D.C. ballpark. At the urging of Mayor Anthony A. Williams, the council reconvenes and votes 9-4 to approve the deal after attaching legislation capping the district's total cost at a bit less than $611 million.

2006 Wayne Krivsky, a leading candidate for the job in 2004, is finally selected as the Reds' general manager. The 51-year-old former Twins executive replaces Dan O'Brien, who Bob Castellini dismissed due to the new owner's desire to choose his baseball people.

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2006 Johnny Damon , the former beloved Red Sox outfielder who signed as a free agent with the hated Yankees, takes out a full-page ad in the Boston Globe, thanking fans for their loyalty and support. As one of the most popular players in franchise history, the long-hair self-proclaimed 'idiot' incurred the wrath of the Fenway Faithful when he agreed to a $52 million, four-year deal to play in the Bronx.

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2006 After rejecting an earlier proposal by an 8-5 margin a few hours ago, the District of Columbia Council reverses itself and approves a revised lease for a new Washington, D.C. ballpark. At the urging of Mayor Anthony A. Williams, the council reconvenes and votes 9-4 to approve the deal after attaching legislation capping the district's total cost at a bit less than $611 million.

 

2008 In a long and drawn-out 5-for-1 deal, the Mariners finally land Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16) from the Orioles. In exchange for their Opening Day pitcher last season, Baltimore receives center fielder Adam Jones, veteran southpaw reliever George Sherrill, and pitching prospects Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, and Kam Mickolio from the Emerald City.

2008 The Brewers exercise Ned Yost's 2009 option after the 53-year-old skipper led Milwaukee to its first winning season since 1992, finishing second in the NL Central with an 83-79 won-loss record. The skipper will never manage a game in his extended contracted year after being dismissed with 12 games remaining this season, taking the blame for the under-achieving team's swoon in August and September.

2009 In the softball championship game of the Leadoff Classic, Kylie Reynolds of Kent State strikes out 18 Stetson batters en route to throwing a nine-inning no-hitter. The Golden Flashes' junior sets a new school record for strikeouts in her 1-0 masterpiece at Patricia Wilson Field.

2010 As a tribute to his fellow countryman, Omar Vizquel will wear the number 11 this season to honor Luis Aparicio. The White Sox will temporarily "unretire" the Hall of Famer's number for the Venezuelan shortstop, recently acquired by the team as a free agent.
Omar Vizquel had a team, but someone else had his number.

In honor of another Venezuelan shortstop, Dave Concepcion, Vizquel and his new manager, Ozzie Guillen, had each worn No. 13 throughout his career. And with Guillen unwilling to give it up when Vizquel joined the Chicago White Sox in November, it took yet another Venezuelan shortstop to resolve the situation.

Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan in the Baseball Hall of Fame, permitted the White Sox to unretire his No. 11 so Vizquel could wear it in tribute. Vizquel contacted Aparicio to see if he would be amenable, according to a White Sox spokesman, who added that the number would go back to being retired whenever Vizquel, who turns 43 in April, leaves the organization.

“If there is one player who I would like to see wear my uniform with the White Sox, it is Omar Vizquel,” Aparicio said Monday in a statement. “I have known Omar for a long time. Along with being an outstanding player, he is a good and decent man.”
In honor of another Venezuelan shortstop, Dave Concepcion, Vizquel and his new manager, Ozzie Guillen, had each worn No. 13 throughout his career. And with Guillen unwilling to give it up when Vizquel joined the Chicago White Sox in November, it took yet another Venezuelan shortstop to resolve the situation.

Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan in the Baseball Hall of Fame, permitted the White Sox to unretire his No. 11 so Vizquel could wear it in tribute. Vizquel contacted Aparicio to see if he would be amenable, according to a White Sox spokesman, who added that the number would go back to being retired whenever Vizquel, who turns 43 in April, leaves the organization.

Omar Vizquel had a team, but someone else had his number.
In honor of another Venezuelan shortstop, Dave Concepcion, Vizquel and his new manager, Ozzie Guillen, had each worn No. 13 throughout his career. And with Guillen unwilling to give it up when Vizquel joined the Chicago White Sox in November, it took yet another Venezuelan shortstop to resolve the situation.
Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan in the Baseball Hall of Fame, permitted the White Sox to unretire his No. 11 so Vizquel could wear it in tribute. Vizquel contacted Aparicio to see if he would be amenable, according to a White Sox spokesman, who added that the number would go back to being retired whenever Vizquel, who turns 43 in April, leaves the organization.

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“If there is one player who I would like to see wear my uniform with the White Sox, it is Omar Vizquel,” Aparicio said Monday in a statement. “I have known Omar for a long time. Along with being an outstanding player, he is a good and decent man.”

“If there is one player who I would like to see wear my uniform with the White Sox, it is Omar Vizquel,” Aparicio said Monday in a statement. “I have known Omar for a long time. Along with being an outstanding player, he is a good and decent man.”
2010 The Brewers announce the club plans to erect a seven-foot statue of former owner Bud Selig with its unveiling scheduled during a pregame ceremony at Miller Park in August. Selig, the current baseball commissioner, led a group of investors that moved the bankrupt Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee in 1970.

2011 Tony Malinosky, the oldest-living major leaguer, dies at 101 in Oxnard, California. In 1937, the Brooklyn infielder, a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, played 35 games for the team before being honored on his 100th birthday in 2009.

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Ernie Banks interviews Roberto Clemente
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Duke Snider and Elvis Presley

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“This game is all power. But they’ll never be another power man like this fellow. Just watch the ball next year. They’ll start juicing it up like a tennis ball because [Babe] Ruth has made the home run fashionable.” Ty Cobb to Grantland Rice, 1925
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2/9
BIRTHDAYS
1887 Henry Zimmerman (1912-batted .372 with 14 HRs)

Bill Veeck (1914-1986) HOF executive (owner Chicago WS, Cleveland Indians [World Series 1948], St. Louis Browns), born in Chicago, Illinois

1916 Tex Hughson

1925 Vic Wertz


1932 Tatsuro Hirooka

1937 Clete Boyer infielder, 1955-71 (New York Yankees, and 2 other teams), born in Cassville, Missouri (d. 2007)


1952 Mookie Wilson


1961 John Kruk utility (MLB All-Star 1991–1993; Philadelphia Phillies), born in Charleston, West Virginia

1967 Todd Pratt catcher (Philadelphia Phillies)

1969 Peta Edebone softball outfielder (Olympic bronze 1996)

1971 Ken Felder outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers)

1976 Vladimir Guerrero HOF right fielder/DH (9 × MLB All-Star; AL MVP 2004; 8 × Silver Slugger Award; Montreal Expos; Anaheim/LA Angels), born in Nizao, Dominican Republic

1984 Dioner Navarro player
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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+
1946 While coaching a Hardy High School (AK) basketball team, Pirates hurler Preacher Roe suffers a fractured skull due to hitting the floor during an altercation with a referee. The 29-year-old southpaw, who will report a month late to spring training suffering from headaches and dizzy spells, will post a 3-8 record, compiling a 5.14 ERA before calling quits for the season in August.

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1971 Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League star selected to the Hall of Fame. The right-hander, the oldest player in the majors to make his big league debut, became a legend during his professional career, which lasted from the 1920s until 1965, playing in several different Negro Leagues and with the Indians, Browns, and A's.

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1976 The Hall of Fame Special Committee on the Negro Leagues selects Oscar Charleston, considered by baseball historian Bill James to be the fourth-best ballplayer of all time. The outfielder made The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

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