MARCH 14 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** Kirby Puckett (1960-2006) HOF centerfielder (10 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1987, 91; ALCS MVP 1991; 6 × Gold Glove Award; Minnesota Twins) 1965 Kevin Brown pitcher (Florida Marlins) 1981 Bobby Jenks ***************************************
This Day in Baseball History March 14th 1954 Hank Aaron, filling in for Bobby Thomson, who broke his ankle yesterday, starts his first game wearing a Braves uniform. The 20-year-old from Mobile (AL) makes such an impression the club offers him a major league contract after he collects three hits, including a home run, in the spring training game against the Red Sox. 1961 The Mets lure former Yankee general manager George Weiss out of retirement to become the club's first president, reportedly offering the four-time The Sporting News Executive of the Year a five-year deal at $100,000 annually. During the 67-year-old New Haven native's five years in the post, the expansion team will compile a record of 260–547 (.322), finishing last four times. 1993 The Reds announce the prohibition of team president Marge Schott's Saint Bernard from accessing the Riverfront Stadium field for the season. The mandate to ban Schottzie 02 comes from the MLB's Executive Council, which has received numerous complaints from the players about dogs running on the field. 1995 The players' union makes it clear if the owners use replacement players during regular-season games and the results count, the strike will continue. The NLRB also announces the charging of MLB owners with two counts of unfair labor practices. 2003 Cablevision, maintaining its "long-standing philosophy," of allowing customers to choose to receive paid programming, agrees to a one-year interim deal to offer YES Network to New York Yankees fans for a fee, ending a bitter and costly yearlong feud. The arrangement makes YES a premium channel instead of a basic cable channel, dropping the new network's previous mandate to make every subscriber pay for it regardless of the viewer's choice. 2003 Baseball suspends Montreal outfielder Vladimir Guerrero for three regular-season games and Marlin starter Brad Penny for five after igniting an exhibition game bench-clearing brawl earlier in the week. After being hit in the chest, the Expo All-Star, with a bat in his left hand, swings his right fist around Florida catcher Matt Treanor, trying to restrain him, missing the starting pitcher, who retaliated with a punch that also missed its mark. 2003 "Must be in the front row!"- BOB UECKER, a quip from beer commercials that have become a famous cry in ballparks nationwide. Bob Uecker, the Brewers' TV/radio play-by-play announcer, is chosen for induction into the broadcasters' wing of the Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient. The 68-year-old former backup catcher, a member of Milwaukee's broadcast crew since 1971, is best known for the humor he has brought to the game through his starring role in the cult movie Major League and the Miller Lite beer commercials.
2003 Dependent on passing a physical, free agent Kenny Lofton agrees to a one-year pact to play with the Pirates this season. The 35-year-old leadoff man would likely start in center, moving Brian Giles to left with left fielder Reggie Sanders going to right field. 2006 Avoiding a trial scheduled to begin on Opening Day, Major League Baseball settles a lawsuit with an Atlanta-based company claiming it owned the trademark rights to Washington Nationals. MLB sued Bygone Sports LLC, asking the court to declare that the trademark for the name Nationals does not belong to the company because its sole purpose in filing the September 2002 trademark application was to capitalize on the renaming of the team that recently shifted from Montreal to Washington. 2006 Terry Francona agrees to a two-year contract extension keeping the skipper at the helm through 2008. The Red Sox manager replaced Grady Little in December 2003 and promptly brought Boston to its first World Championship in 86 years. 2006 Washington, D.C. officials unveil the design for the Nationals' new home, scheduled to be opened in 2008. The glass-and-steel 41,000-seat ballpark will feature pale stone chosen to complement the nation's capital's familiar skyline. 2008 The Padres' new left-hander starter, Randy Wolf, struggles in a 6-2 spring training exhibition loss to the Brewers in Peoria, Arizona. The pitcher's brother, Jim, isn't much help as the home plate umpire, an occurrence not allowed during a regular-season game and marking the only time it has ever happened, when the San Diego hurler gives up three runs in four innings. *******************************************
If you take away Nolan Ryan MLB record of 215 games with at least 10 strikeouts, he would still have 3.167 strikeouts
March 13, 1954 - During an exhibition game against the Yankees, recently acquired Brave Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle in three places, sidelining him until July 14. The '51 NL playoff hero will be replaced in the #Braves lineup by a promising prospect named Hank Aaron.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Helen Callaghan, who starred in the AAGPBL for five seasons, was born #OTD in 1923.
MARCH 15 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS ************************************** 1946 Bobby Bonds Outfielder, 1968-81, 3x All-Star, 3x Golden Glove (San Francisco Giants, 1968-74 and 7 other teams) 1959 Harold Baines HOF outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star; Chicago WS, Texas Rangers; Oakland A's, Baltimore Orioles) and coach (World Series 2005 Chicago WS) 1974 Robert Fick 1979 Kevin Youkilis 1980 Freddie Bynum 1982 Rafael Pérez ***************************************
Today in Baseball History March 15th1845-09-23 The first baseball team, the NY Knickerbockers, organizes and adopts a rulebook 1846-06-19 First officially recognised baseball game (played by Cartwright Rules) - NY Nines 23 defeat Knickerbockers 1 at Hoboken, New Jersey 1848-09-18 Baseball rules 1st baseman can tag base for out instead of runner 1851-06-03 1st baseball uniforms worn when the NY Knickerbockers wear a uniform of straw hats, white shirts and blue long trousers 1857-03-07 Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs 1858-07-20 Fee 1st charged to see a baseball game (50 cents) (NY beats Bkln 22-18) 1860-02-22 Organized baseball played in San Francisco for 1st time between the Eagles and the Red Rovers 1862-10-14 Baseballer James Creighton ruptures bladder hitting HR, dies 10/18 1862-05-15 First baseball enclosure opens at Union Grounds, Brooklyn 1866-07-23 Cincinnati Baseball club (Red Stockings) forms
1869 The Cincinnati Red Stockings become the sport's first professional team when the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) permits compensated players to participate this season. English-born Harry Wright puts together a ten-man team, all on salary through November, that posts a 57–0 record, marking the only perfect season in professional baseball history. 1871-10-30 Philadelphia Athletics beat Chicago for 1st National Association baseball pennant 1874-03-02 National Association of Professional Baseball Players officially adopts the batter's box; decide any player betting on his own team will be expelled; any player betting on any other team to forfeit his pay 1890-09-01 Brooklyn Bridegrooms win 3 MLB games in one day‚ feasting on the Pittsburgh Alleghenys 10 - 9‚ 3 - 2‚ and 8 - 4 1890-08-06 Future Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young makes MLB debut, throws a 3-hitter for the Cleveland Spiders in 8-1 win over Chicago Colts at League Park in Cleveland.; Young's first career error led Chicago's only run 1912 Legendary pitcher Cy Young retires from baseball with 511-315 win-loss record 1945 Former minor leaguer Bert Shepard, who had his right leg amputated after the Germans gunned down his fighter plane east of Hamburg on his 34th mission as a WW II P-38 fighter pilot, begins a successful tryout with the Senators. Although the southpaw will pitch in only one game for Washington, the retired Army Air Force pilot will hurl an impressive 5⅓ innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox in August, striking out the first batter he faces and giving up just three hits. Amazon The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age 1960 The floundering Southern Association announces the New Orleans Pelicans, for the first time since 1901, will not be part of the Double-A circuit. After a two-year absence, the Little Rock Travelers rejoins the league, replacing the Crescent City club, playing two seasons before the loop disbands after completing the 1961 campaign. Little Rock Travelers 1971 Bernice Gera files a civil rights suit against MLB when her contract to umpire in the New York-Penn League becomes void after six days without an explanation. In an eventual landmark 5-2 decision, the New York Court of Appeals will uphold a previous court's ruling, agreeing with the 39-year-old housewife's contention that she had been discriminated against unlawfully. 1974 In Yuma (AZ), Ron Bryant, a 24-game winner for the Giants last year, is hurt in a pool accident during spring training. The promising southpaw's record will drop to 3-15 this season, and the Redlands, California native's career will end in 1975 after a brief 0-1 stint with St. Louis.
2012 Baseball-Reference.com leaves a blank space next to 2011 on its National League MVP list instead of identifying Ryan Braun as the award's winner. The Brewers outfielder, who received a 50-game suspension scheduled for the start of the 2012 season, became the first player to successfully challenge a drug test result when an arbitration panel overturned the ruling due to the improper handling of the specimen taken last Fall. (Ed. Note: Baseball-Reference.com now lists Ryan Braun as the National League's MVP for 2011. -LP) 2014 The Yankees begin a two-game spring training series against the Marlins at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama to honor Mariano Rivera's legacy, a native of the nearby fishing village of Puerto Caimito. The contests are the first to be played in the isthmus nation by major league teams since the Bronx Bombers faced the Dodgers in exhibition games in 1947. ***********************************************
3/16 BIRTHDAYS 1858 Bud Fowler HOF executive (earliest known African-American player in organized pro baseball), born in Fort Plain, New York (d. 1913) 1865 Patsy Donovan outfielder (Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Washington Sens, Brooklyn Superbas, Boston RS), born in Queenstown, Ireland (d. 1953) 1906 Lloyd Waner Hall of Fame center fielder (MLB All Star 1938; batting average over .300 x 10; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Harrah, Oklahoma (d. 1982) 1976 Abraham Núñez 1981 Curtis Granderson 1983 Brandon League *************************************
FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+ 1907 Ty Cobb quarrels with Bungy Cummings, a black groundskeeper who made a friendly gesture toward the Tiger outfielder. When the groundskeeper's wife intercedes, the 'Georgia Peach' reportedly chokes her, and according to Charlie Schmidt, he allegedly stopped the assault by knocking out his teammate. There is speculation this often-told story may not be entirely accurate due to the lack of witnesses corroborating the attack other than Schmidt, who had other disagreements with Cobb during the past year. Hilltop Park, the site of the game during which Cobb attacked a fan 1908 Pirates legend Honus Wagner comes out of retirement when Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss makes him the highest-paid player in the league, offering him $10,000 yearly. The 34-year-old shortstop earns his salary, leading the National League in batting average, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, and stolen bases, completing the campaign that historian Bill James cites as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. The salary incentive keeps the Flying Dutchman on the field until the middle of the 1917 season. 1932 Due to the economic depression gripping the nation, Babe Ruth signs a deal for $75,000, a five-thousand pay cut from last season, and 25 percent of the Yankees exhibition games' net receipts. Legend has it the Bambino signed a blank contract, with the amount filled in later by Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert. In 2019, the printed document sold at an auction for nearly $300,000.
