BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

12/14
BIRTHDAYS
1925 Sam Jones (MLB All-Star 1955, 59; no-hitter 1955; Chicago Cubs), born in Stewartsville, Ohio (d. 1971)
Sad Sam or Toothpick Sam


1949 Bill Buckner 1st baseman (1986 World Series infamous fielding error; NL batting champ 1980), born in Vallejo, California (d. 2019)


1961 Jeff Robinson pitcher, 1987-92 (Detroit Tigers; Baltimore Orioles; and 2 other teams), born in Ventura, California, (d. 2014)


1965 Craig Biggio HOF infielder (7 × MLB All-Star; 4 × Gold Glove Award; 5 × Silver Slugger Award; Houston Astros), born in Smithtown, New York


1965 Ken Hill pitcher (Montreal Expos), born in Lynn, Massachusetts


1969 Dave Nilsson catcher (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia1972 Marcus Jensen born in Oakland, California


1974 Billy Koch pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Garden City, New York


1981 Shaun Marcum born in Kansas City, M

1985 Julio Pimentel, born in La Romana, Dominican Republic

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1948 The Senators trade pitcher Early Wynn and first baseman Mickey Vernon to the Indians for first baseman Eddie Robinson and pitchers Joe Haynes and Eddie Klieman. Wynn will be a four-time twenty-game winner during his ten years with the Tribe.

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1948 The Phillies a busy day when the team purchases Ken Trinkle from the Giants and trades pitchers Walter Dubiel and Dutch Leonard to the Cubs for first baseman Eddie Waitkus and pitcher Hank Borowy. Ruth Ann Steinhagen, a female fan obsessed with former Cub corner infielder, is distraught by the trade and will try to kill him when he returns to Chicago with his new team.

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1950 The owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees), and Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select a new commissioner as soon as possible. Three days ago, Happy Chandler's contract to serve a second term as baseball's leader was not renewed in a close vote, 9-7.

1960 The two new American League franchises, the first expansion teams in over half a century, select their rosters in a player draft. The 'new' Washington Senators choose Yankee southpaw Bobby Shantz, and the Los Angeles Angels opt for Yankee righty Eli Grba.

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1977 The Red Sox trade starter Fergie Jenkins, a future Hall-of-Famer, to the Rangers for a 23-year-old pitcher named John Poloni, who will never play in another big-league game. In his second stints the Rangers and the Cubs, the Canadian right-hander will post a 69-56 record with a 3.71 ERA during the remaining six years of his career.

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1985 Former Indian, A's Yankee, and Cardinal outfielder Roger Maris passes away in a Houston hospital after a two-year battle with lymphatic cancer. Former teammates Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, John Blanchard, Bill Skowron, Whitey Herzog, and Bob Allison will be pallbearers for the one-time single-season home run record holder.

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Pallbearers carry Roger Maris' casket down the front steps of St. Mary's Cathedral after his funeral Dec. 19, 1985, in Fargo. Pictured counterclockwise from bottom left: George Surprise, Don Gooselaw, Whitey Herzog, Clete Boyer, Mickey Mantle, Bill Skowron, Whitey Ford, Mike Shannon, Bob Allison, Julie Isaacson and Robert Wood.

1994 In the face of the labor uncertainty, the Phillies irk other owners by signing free-agent Gregg Jefferies to a lucrative four-year deal, reportedly worth $20 million. The Cardinals had refused to give the All-Star first baseman/outfielder a no-trade clause in their negotiations to keep him with the Redbirds.

1995 Free-agent Lance Johnson agrees to a two-year pact with the Mets reportedly worth more than five million dollars. 'Ol' One-Dog,' who led the American League in hits last season with 186 playing with the White Sox, will repeat the feat his first season in the Senior Circuit with 227 hits.

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2000 In the wake of the Alex Rodriguez deal, the Rangers send Royce Clayton to the White Sox for right-handed pitchers Aaron Myette and Brian Schmack. The former Texas shortstop displaced by the team's acquisition of A-Rod will bat .258 during his two-year tenure on the South Side of the Windy City.

2000 The Cardinals trade third baseman Fernando Tatis and right-hander Britt Reames to the Expos for right-handed starter Dustin Hermanson and left-hander closer Steve Kline. The Redbirds' new southpaw reliever will appear in more than half of the team's games next season, posting a 3-3 record along with nine saves in his league-leading 89 trips to the mound.

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2001 The A's, needing to fill the void of a left-handed power hitter created by Jason Giambi's departure to the Yankees, trade southpaw reliever Mark Guthrie and minor league right-hander Tyler Yates to the Mets for David Justice. A week ago, the Mets acquired the designated hitter-outfielder in a deal that sent third baseman Robin Ventura to the Yankees.

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2004 The District of Columbia Council's decision requiring private financing for at least fifty percent of the Nationals' new ballpark construction costs may jeopardize the team's tenure in Washington, DC. The 7-6 vote in favor of this new proviso breaks the agreement major league baseball negotiated with the city to land the former Montreal Expos franchise in the nation's capital.

2005 The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control informs Major League Baseball of its decision to withhold the required permit for Cuba to play on U.S. soil during the 16-team World Baseball Classic tournament. In response to a congressional request, the Bush administration is concerned that revenue from the WBC will wind up in the Cuban government's coffers, contrary to the current embargo against Castro's country.

2007 The Diamondbacks enjoy a busy day, acquiring All-Star hurler Dan Haren (15-9, 3.07) and right-hander Connor Robertson from the A's in exchange for Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, and Carlos Gonzalez. Arizona deals Jose Valverde, the major league saves leader, to the Astros to get reliever Chad Qualls, second baseman/outfielder Chris Burke, and righty Juan Gutierrez in a separate transaction.

2007 To bolster their bullpen, the Rangers sign Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori to a two-year, $3 million contract, including a team option for 2010. In his 13 seasons in Japan, Kaz compiled a 34-42 won-lost record and 72 saves while posting a 3.72 ERA in 377 games.

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2007 The Cardinals agree in principle to a deal that sends 37-year-old Jim Edmonds and approximately $1 million to the Padres in exchange for minor league prospect David Freese. After talks earlier in the day broke off with Mike Cameron, a free agent who played centerfield for the San Diego last season, the team accelerated their search to find a replacement.

2007 David Eckstein (.309, 3, 31) and the Blue Jays finalized a one-year, $4.5 million deal, which brings the short-statured shortstop north of the border. The 32-year-old All-Star infielder's leadership and attitude played an important role on his previous two teams, the Angels and Cardinals, in winning the World Series in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

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2007 The Rangers invite Edgardo Alfonzo, a career .284 hitter, to spring training. The 34-year-old former All-Star infielder, who played with the Mets, Giants, Angels, and Blue Jays, spent last season in the independent Atlantic League playing with the Long Island Ducks.

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2007 To fill the void created by Delmon Young's trade to the Twins, the Rays sign Cliff Floyd (.284, 9, 45) to a $3 million, one-year deal to play right field in Tampa Bay. The veteran 35-year-old left-handed fly chaser has been a productive hitter during his 15-year major league career but has had difficulty staying off the disabled list.

2007 The Twins sign another former Astros infielder, acquiring Mike Lamb ($6.6 million, two-years) after getting Adam Everett yesterday ($2.8 million, one-year) in the free-agent market. Lamb will provide much-needed offense at third base, and Everett, although a light-hitter, is a slick-fielding shortstop who will add to the club defensively.

2007 The Royals trade hurler Billy Buckner to the Diamondbacks for switch-hitter Alberto Callaspo. Kansas City's new player is an infielder, who appeared in 56 games for the NL West champs, mostly in a pinch-hitting role, and Arizona receives a pitcher who compiled a 1-2 record with a 5.29 ERA in 34 innings of work last season.

 

2009 Randy Wolf and the Brewers finalize their $29.75 million, three-year deal. The 33-year-old southpaw signed a $5 million, one-year free-agent contract with the Dodgers last season, posting an 11-7 record with a 3.23 ERA with L.A. after the Astros pulled a $27 million, three-year offer off the table due to the nosedive in the economy.

2010 After being dealt in the off-season last December, Cliff Lee returns to the Phillies, joining National League Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, the key person in the deal that sent him to Seattle as part of a four-team, nine-player trade. The 32-year-old free-agent right-hander, who will be joining unquestionably the best starting rotation in baseball, agrees to a deal that guarantees him $120 million over the next five seasons, spurning the Yankees' offer of $30 million more.

2011 The Red Sox, hoping to fill the void after losing closer Jonathan Papelbon to free agency, obtained Mark Melancon, who had 20 saves during his first full major league season, from the Astros in exchange for infielder Jed Lowrie and right-hander Kyle Weiland. Boston signs free-agent utility infielder Nick Punto to a two-year contract as a replacement for Lowrie in a separate transaction.

2011 The Orioles announce the signing of Japanese left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada to a two-year, $8.15 million deal that includes a $5 million option for 2014. Baltimore hasn't determined the role of the 30-year-old Japanese hurler on the team but is counting on the hard-throwing southpaw to be a major upgrade to the O's woeful pitching staff.

2012 Kevin Youkilis, best known for being a member of the Red Sox World Championship teams in 2004 and 2007, signs a one-year, $12 million deal with the Yankees, once considered the 'Evil Empire' by his former club. The 33-year-old infielder, who was traded to Chicago's south side by Boston in June, will help fill the void at third base while Alex Rodriguez recuperates from hip surgery.

2013 After inking Curtis Granderson to a four-year, $60 million contract earlier in the week, the Mets sign Bartolo Colon to a two-year, $20 million free-agent pact. The 40-year-old All-Star right-handed starter, slated to replace the innings the team will need as Matt Harvey recovers from Tommy John surgery, compiled an 18-6 record along with a 2.65 ERA in 30 starts for the A's last season.

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2013 Warren Cromartie, a former outfielder and first baseman with the Expos in the 1970s and '80s, shares a $400,000 feasibility study which reveals that the return of major league baseball to Montreal would be viable if a team plays its home games in a government-financed downtown stadium with an owner with deep pockets. The report suggests that MLB's national television deal and revenue-sharing scheme, which has changed radically since the franchise moved to Washington in 2004, would ensure a competitive $75-million payroll before a single ticket is sold, with the government subsidy repaid within eight years.

2014 "Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of the circumstances that led to his permanent eligibility in 1989. Absent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him of Rule 21, and thus to the integrity of our sport. I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose's application for reinstatement."- COMMISSIONER MANFRED, stating his case for the denial of Pete Rose's reinstatement.
In one of his first major actions since becoming commissioner, Rob Manfred denies Pete Rose's application for reinstatement to baseball, citing a reversal of the lifetime ban would risk the sport's integrity. The four-page decision concludes the career hits leader had continued to gamble legally on horse racing and professional sports, including baseball, disregarding all the circumstances which led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989.

2020 The Cleveland club of the American League has decided to drop Indians as their name, according to team owner Paul Dolan, who announced the change comes after discussions with fans, business leaders, players, social activists, and researchers. Unlike the Washington NFL football team, formerly known as the Redskins, the baseball franchise will not adopt an interim moniker awaiting the new team's identity.
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45,967

 

Today in Baseball History
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On December 14 in Baseball History...

• • 1911 - Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss proposes that each team in the World Series be required to turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided among the other teams. Until now, ten percent of the gross went to the National Commission, 60 percent to the players, and the rest to the two pennant-winning clubs.
  • 1938 - The major leagues agree on a standard ball but disagree on increasing rosters from 23 to 25 players. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis will eventually decide on 25. The NL grants Cincinnati its season opener a day before the rest of the league in recognition of baseball's 100th anniversary and of the 1869 Red Stockings being the first professional team. The AL permits Cleveland and Philadelphia to play night games. Finally, Will Harridge is elected to a ten-year-term as AL president.
  • 1950 - The baseball owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees), and Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select a new commissioner as rapidly as possible.
  • 1977 - The Red Sox trade pitcher Fergie Jenkins to the Rangers for pitcher John Poloni and cash. Jenkins averages 15 wins a year for the next three seasons.

Baseball Birthdays on December 14...

• • 1861 - Wylie, Ren
  • 1863 - Gruber, Henry
  • 1870 - Van Buren, Deacon
  • 1873 - Anderson, John
  • 1879 - Calhoun, Jack
  • 1882 - Edwards, Ralph
  • 1886 - Uhler, Maury
  • 1889 - Tyler, Lefty
  • 1890 - Tincup, Ben
  • 1891 - Tedrow, Al
  • 1892 - Kallio, Rudy
  • 1894 - Edwards, Jim Joe
  • 1894 - Baumgartner, Stan
  • 1896 - Hargreaves, Charlie
  • 1897 - Archdeacon, Maurice
  • 1897 - Simon, Syl
  • 1899 - Lawrence, Bob
  • 1900 - Wilke, Harry
  • 1901 - Bell, Les
  • 1903 - Moore, Jim
  • 1905 - Weiland, Bob
  • 1908 - Lyons, Terry
  • 1909 - Walkup, Jim
  • 1913 - Smith, Eddie
  • 1914 - Peters, Rusty
  • 1915 - Erickson, Paul
  • 1921 - Adams, Bobby
  • 1923 - LaPalme, Paul
  • 1925 - Jones, Sam
  • 1929 - Linhart, Carl
  • 1929 - Whisenant, Pete
  • 1933 - Schoonmaker, Jerry
  • 1938 - Hunt, Ken
  • 1942 - Roland, Jim
  • 1943 - May, Jerry
  • 1945 - Goossen, Greg
  • 1948 - Garcia, Ralph
  • 1949 - Buckner, Bill
  • 1961 - Robinson, Jeff
  • 1964 - Lyden, Mitch
  • 1965 - Biggio, Craig
  • 1965 - Hill, Ken
  • 1969 - Hatteberg, Scott
  • 1969 - Nilsson, Dave
  • 1971 - Ludwick, Eric
  • 1972 - Jensen, Marcus
  • 1974 - Koch, Billy
  • 1975 - Lopez, Rodrigo
  • 1977 - Wright, Danny

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12/15
BIRTHDAYS
1860 Abner Powell utility, team owner and executive New Orleans Pelicans (first to use infield tarpaulin after rain), born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania (d. 1953)


1920 Eddie Robinson first baseman (MLB All Star 1949, 51–53; Washington Sens, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia A's) and executive (GM Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves), born in Paris, Texas (d. 2021)


1944 Stan Bahnsen pitcher (AL Rookie of the Year 1968, NY Yankees), born in Council Bluffs, Iowa
1946 Art Howe infielder (Houston Astros) and manager (Houston Astros, Oakland A's, NY Mets), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


1967 Mo Vaughn first baseman (MLB All-Star 1995, 96, 98; AL MVP 1995; Boston Red Sox), born in Norwalk, Connecticut

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1896 The first pitching machine, created by Princeton professor Charles E. Hinton, is demonstrated in the university's gymnasium. The mathematics instructor's device resembles a rifle that shoots the ball toward the batter.

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1900 The Giants trade Amos Rusie, a veteran pitcher who hasn't played since 1898 but won 20+ games each season during his eight years with the team, to the Reds for Christy Mathewson 'Matty,' a future Hall of Famer, will post a 373-188 record and becomes a legend during his 17-year tenure in New York.

Amos & Matty

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1910 During a five-hour session at the Hotel Breslin in New York, National League president Tom Lynch informs the owners that umpires will be required to take a 'severe' eye test before the start of the season. As a result of the decree, any arbitrator with defective eyesight will no longer work.

1912 The Cubs trade Joe Tinker along with Harry Chapman and Grover Lowdermilk to the Reds for Red Corriden, Bert Humphries, Pete Knisely, Mike Mitchell, and Art Phelan. The former Chicago shortstop, immortalized in 1910 by Franklin Pierce Adams' baseball poem "Tinker to Evers to Chance," will serve as the player-manager for Cincinnati next season.

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1920 Brooklyn trades Rube Marquard to the Reds for Dutch Ruether. The Robin's southpaw fell in displeasure with the team after being arrested in a Cleveland hotel lobby before Game 4 for scalping World Series tickets worth $52.80 for $400 to a city police detective.

Rube & Uncle Robbie
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1948 The Dodgers trade the much-heralded but injury-prone Pete Reiser to the Braves for outfielder Myron McCormick. 'Pistol Pete' will play in only 137 games in his two years in Boston.

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1896 The first pitching machine, created by Princeton professor Charles E. Hinton, is demonstrated in the university's gymnasium. The mathematics instructor's device resembles a rifle that shoots the ball toward the batter.

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1959 Frank Lane replaces Hank Greenberg as the Indians' general manager. 'Trader Lane,' who has made 60 separate deals since December 2, 1957, lives up to his well-deserved nickname when, just before Opening Day, he sends the Tribe's very popular Rocky Colavito to Detroit for batting AL champ Harvey Kuenn.

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1960 The lowly Reds obtain two players in separate deals, who will play critical roles in the club's National League pennant next season, sending shortstop Roy McMillan to the Braves for Juan Pizarro and Joey Jay, a 21-game winner for his new team. Cincinnati will package Pizarro and Cal McLish to obtain White Sox third baseman Gene Freese, who will hit 26 home runs and drive in 87 runs for the NL champs.

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1967 The Mets obtain Tommie Agee, the 1966 Rookie of the Year, and utility infielder Al Weis from the White Sox in exchange for Buddy Booker, Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, and Billy Wynne. New York's newest additions will both play a pivotal role in the team's 1969 World Championship season.

Agee & Weiss
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1974 Arbitrator Peter Seitz rules in favor of Cy Young winner Catfish Hunter in a dispute with A's owner Charlie Finley. The decision makes the right-hander a desirable unrestricted free agent, ushering in a new era in the owners' relationship with their players.

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1980 Dave Winfield (.276, 20, 87) becomes the highest-paid professional athlete when he agrees to a ten-year free-agent deal with the Yankees worth a record $16 million. Reggie Jackson (.300, 41, 111), who heartily endorsed the signing when asked his opinion by owner George Steinbrenner, will not be offered an extended contract when he becomes a 34-year-old free agent at the end of the season because of his age.

1981 The Yankees and Ron Guidry agree to a four-year, $3.6 million deal keeping the free agent in New York. During the span of the contract, 'Gator' will average nearly 17 wins a season.