BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

2002 Ozzie Smith, a 15-time All-Star shortstop, becomes the 32nd player elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Dubbed the 'Wizard of Oz' due to his remarkable defensive abilities, Osborne Earl Smith won 13 Gold Glove Awards during his 19-year career with the Padres and Cardinals.

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2003 Eddie Murray, the only switch-hitter with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, is chosen on 85 percent of the ballots cast by the BBWAA, becoming just the 38th player to be elected in his first year of eligibility. Former All-Star catcher Gary Carter, best known for his years with the Expos and Mets, is also selected on his sixth try after falling eleven votes short last year.

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2004 Don Zimmer, who recently resigned as the Yankees bench coach, is named a Senior Baseball Advisor for the Devil Rays. In addition to assisting the team in community affairs, the 50-year veteran of the game will be in uniform as a coach during Spring Training and for pregame practices at all regular-season home games and most road games.

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2005 Free-agent hurler Kevin Millwood (9-6, 4.85) signs a one-year contract with the Indians. The 30-year-old starter missed most of the last two months of the season with the Phillies due to acute tendonitis in his right elbow.

2005 After ending a 17-year Fall Classic drought, the Cardinals agree on a three-year contract extension with the Redbirds skipper Tony La Russa. This year, the 60-year-old manager piloted the team to 105 wins and has made the postseason five of his nine seasons with St. Louis.

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2008 The election of Goose Gossage to the Hall of Fame comes on his ninth year on the BBWAA's ballot when he is the only player to receive 75 percent or more of the writers' votes (85.8) needed for induction. During the right-hander's 22-year career, most notably with the Yankees, the reliever compiled a 124-107 record and saved 310 games while posting a 3.01 ERA.

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2008 Marcus Giles (.229, 4, 39), after a disappointing season with the Padres, agrees to a minor league deal with the Rockies. In 2003, Dusty Baker selected the 29-year-old second baseman to be a reserve on the All-Star squad, representing the Braves.

2009 After piloting the Angels to 100 regular-season victories last year and to its fourth AL West Division title in the past five years, Mike Scioscia agrees to a contract extension to manage the team through the 2018 season. During his nine-year tenure with the Halos, the former catcher has compiled an 803-655 record (.557) and captured the franchise's lone World Championship in 2002.

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2010 After a solid debut season in Seattle, Franklin Gutierrez (.283, 18, 70) finalizes a $20.5 million, four-year deal to stay with the Mariners. The 26-year-old Venezuelan center fielder is considered by many as one of the best defensive outfielders in the American League.

2010 Scott Podsednik comes to terms with the Royals on a $1.75 million, one-year incentive-laden free-agent contract. The 33-year-old fleet outfielder batted .304 and stole 30 bases for the White Sox last season after being released by the Rockies at the end of spring training.

2014 In his second year of eligibility, Craig Biggio misses election into the Hall of Fame by two votes on the BBWAA's ballots, tying a dubious record shared by Nellie Fox (1985) and Pie Traynor (1947) for missing enshrinement by the smallest margin (74.8%) needed to be selected. The candidacy of the former Astros' standout, who collected more than 3,000 hits in his 15-year career, has been hurt by rumors that he may have used steroids, having never failed a test, and not being implicated in the Mitchell Report or any other investigation.

2014 President Obama, a diehard White Sox Fan, calls Frank Thomas to congratulate the slugger on his first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame. The 'Big Hurt' shares the news of his conversation with the Commander-in-Chief during an afternoon press conference at U.S. Cellular Field, after tweeting his fans, "What a day!! First HOF and Second Our Wonderful President Of The United States Called Me!!!

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On January 8 in Baseball History...

• • 1953 - The Cleveland Indians bar night games with the Browns due to St. Louis owner Bill Veeck's refusal to share receipts of the game telecasts.
    
  • 1981 - The Reds finally give in and sign their first free agent - Larry Biittner. The Reds are the last of the 26 major league teams to sign a player through free agency, which began in 1976.
    
  • 1986 - Willie McCovey, collector of 521 home runs and 1,555 RBI in 22 seasons, becomes the 16th player elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Billy Williams falls four votes shy of the 319 needed for election.
    
  • 1987 - Ten free agents (Tim Raines, Lance Parrish, Bob Horner, Andre Dawson, Rich Gedman, Ron Guidry, Bob Boone, Doyle Alexander, Toby Harrah, and Gary Roenicke) fail to meet a midnight deadline and thus will not be allowed to re-sign with their former clubs until May 1 if they are not offered contracts by new teams. The general lack of interest in the players will become the focus of the Players Association's first anti-collusion suit against the owners.
    
  • 1991 - For the first time since 1984, three players are inducted into the Hall of Fame: two 300-game winners, Gaylord Perry and Fergie Jenkins, and a member of the 3,000-hit club, Rod Carew. Ironically, none of the three players ever appeared in a World Series.
    
  • 1995 - Mike Schmidt, who hit 548 home runs and won three MVP Awards in 18 years with the Phillies, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
    
  • 1996 - For the first time in 25 years, no one garners 75 percent of the votes needed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Phil Niekro comes closest with 68 percent.

Baseball Birthdays on January 8...

• • 1862 - Donahue, Jim
  • 1864 - Gilbert, John
  • 1872 - Fisher, Chauncey
  • 1883 - Ingersoll, Bob
  • 1885 - Bartley, Bill
  • 1886 - Lanford, Sam
  • 1891 - Weiser, Bud
  • 1894 - Ewoldt, Art
  • 1901 - Benes, Joe
  • 1909 - Reiss, Al
  • 1915 - Cooper, Walker "When Big Coop was on your club, you didn't have to worry about squabbles with anybody else, because he was in all of them. He was the brawling type of fellow who comes to play, didn't ask for any quarter, and certainly didn't give any." - Teammate Musial, Stan. The Cardinals Encyclopedia.
  • 1916 - Just, Joe
  • 1919 - White, Don
  • 1920 - Kuczynski, Bert
  • 1921 - Tobin, Johnny
  • 1921 - Conyers, Herb
  • 1921 - Rickert, Marv "I suppose that an outfielder's most embarrassing experience is when he runs in to make a shoestring catch and misses it. You either get it or you don't. If you do, you look good. If you don't, you look terrible. And you generally have to chase the ball to the fence." - Rickert, Marv. Braves' Outfielder Owns a 1-Horse Ranch. Ashby, Ted. Boston Globe Staff Writer. 10 May 1949.
  • 1922 - LaPointe, Ralph
  • 1923 - Flanigan, Ray
  • 1926 - Lajeskie, Dick
  • 1927 - Busby, Jim
  • 1933 - Tasby, Willie
  • 1934 - Freese, Gene
  • 1935 - Bertoia, Reno
  • 1936 - Cottier, Chuck
  • 1936 - DeMerit, John
  • 1937 - Dillard, Don
  • 1940 - Kelley, Dick
  • 1945 - Hernaiz, Jesus
  • 1949 - Howard, Wilbur
  • 1953 - Sutter, Bruce "It's not good or bad, but closers have changed thing. I don't think you are going to win a World Series without one. Where would the Yankees be without Mariano Rivera? Pitching two innings and coming back the next day, that's the stuff we did all season. Saves are not easy, but I think they are easier now. I warmed up in the seventh and maybe pitched. Then in the eighth and maybe pitched. Lee Smith, Goose Gossage and I got a lot of seven-out saves." - Sutter, Bruce. Sports Section Antonen, Mel. USA Today Staff Writer
  • 1959 - Romero, Ramon
  • 1959 - Gerber, Craig
  • 1960 - Ready, Randy
  • 1960 - Solano, Julio
  • 1963 - Turner, Shane
  • 1967 - Nosek, Randy
  • 1967 - Maysey, Matt
  • 1968 - Johnson, Brian
  • 1968 - Carey, Paul
  • 1969 - Boehringer, Brian
  • 1971 - Giambi, Jason
  • 1973 - Cameron, Mike
  • 1975 - Gonzalez, Jeremi
  • 1976 - Pavano, Carl

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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BIRTHDAYS
1935 Richard "Dick" Enberg, American sportscaster (NBC, CBS, ESPN), born in Mt Clemens, Michigan (d. 2017)

1936 Ralph Terry pitcher (MLB All Star 1962, 62²; World Series 1961, 62 [MVP]; NY Yankees, KC Athletics, Cleveland Indians, NY Mets), born in Big Cabin, Oklahoma (d. 2022)


1959 Otis Nixon outfielder (Atlanta, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers), born in Evergreen, North Carolina


1964 Stan Javier outfielder (Oak A's, SF Giants), born in San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic


1969 Domingo Jean pitcher (Houston Astros), born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic


1972 Jay Powell pitcher (Florida Marlins), born in Meridian, Mississippi


1973 Aaron Holbert infielder (St Louis Cardinals), born in Torrance, California

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1903 Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase Baltimore's defunct American League franchise for $18,000, planning to relocate the club to New York. The Manhattan team, who will play at Hilltop Park located in the northern part of the island borough, will first be known as the Highlanders before officially renamed the Yankees in 1913.

1952 The Marines announce their plan to recall Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams, who missed three years in the majors due to serving in WW II, back to active duty. The fighter pilot, who will fly 39 missions over Korea and survive a crash-landing after being shot down by the enemy, will play briefly at the start of the season but will not return to the Boston lineup full-time until late in the 1953 season.

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1960 In the first episode of Home Run Derby ever aired, Mickey Mantle overcomes an 8-2 deficit to beat Giants superstar Willie Mays, 9-8, when he goes deep in the bottom of the ninth at LA's Wrigley Field. The 'Say Hey Kid,' who had hit four homers before the Yankee slugger stepped up to the plate, agrees to double their $500 side bet when he is ahead by five runs in the seventh, enabling his opponent to walk away with both the winning and losing share of the contest.

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1961 Ending two months of negotiations, the Twins of the American League agree on a $500,000 indemnity payment to the American Association for entering the minor league's territory in Minnesota. The settlement paves the way for the team, formerly known as the Senators, to move from Washington, D.C., and play their home games in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

 

1982 While being driven to the airport by his brother Billy, Tony Conigliaro suffers a massive heart attack, resulting in irreversible brain damage that will leave the 36-year-old unresponsive until he dies in 1990. The former Red Sox outfielder, whose career was shortened in 1967 when a Jack Hamilton's pitch smashed into his left cheekbone, dislocating his jaw and damaging the left eye's retina, had been in Boston to interview for a broadcasting job with the team.

1984 Pascual Perez is arrested in his native Dominican Republic for the possession of cocaine and will remain in jail, missing the start of the season. The Braves' 26-year-old All-Star right-hander maintains his innocence, claiming an unknown woman gave him the package.

1989 Reds catcher Johnny Bench and Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, foes in the classic 1975 World Series, are elected to the Hall of Fame. The perennial All-Star backstop is named on 96.4% of the BBWAA ballots, making Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron the only players to receive a higher percentage of the writers' votes.

Red Schoendienst, Al Barlick, Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench at the 1989 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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1990 The BBWAA elects Jim Palmer (three-time AL Cy Young Winner) and Joe Morgan (two-time NL MVP) to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The Orioles' right-hander compiled a 268-152 (.638) record, spending his 19-year career in Baltimore, and the diminutive second baseman finished his 22-year tenure in the big leagues batting .271, playing with five different teams, including the Big Red Machine.

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1990 "No one on either side of the table is pleased by the prospect, but the issue of deadlines is part and parcel of labor negotiations." - CHARLES O'CONNOR, the owners' chief labor negotiator, addressing the possibility of spring training lockout. The owners announce a spring training lockout of major league players, beginning on February 15th unless there is a new collective bargaining agreement. The 32-day work stoppage will occur as scheduled, lasting, settled when the owners agree to: Raise their annual pension fund contribution to $55 million.
Reach an agreement for salary arbitration for 17 percent of the players with two or three years of experience. Approves an increase of the minimum salary to $100,000.

 

2001 The Expos agree to a one-year, approximately $2 million contract with French-language Reseau des Sports and TSN to telecast 55 games (46 on RDS, 12 on TSN, and three on both). The pact ends the year-long local television blackout, which resulted in the departure of respected play-by-play announcer Dave Van Horne and the loss of Labatt Brewery's sponsorship, which cited the lack of local TV rights as a factor in ending its 15-year relationship with the club.

2001 The Indians, to fill the void created by Manny Ramirez's departure to Boston, sign Juan Gonzalez to a one-year, $10-million deal. After hitting .289 with only 67 RBIs in a disappointing injury-plagued season, the two-time American League MVP leaves the Tigers after turning down a $143 million, eight-year contract extension to stay in Detroit last year.

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2002 When he signs a $27 million deal to remain with the Astros, Billy Wagner, who has saved 146 games since breaking in with the team in 1995, becomes one of baseball's highest-paid relievers. The 30-year-old will get $8 million in each of the next three seasons with a $9 million club option for 2005 with a $3 million buyout.

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2002 Postseason spark plug Craig Counsell (.275, 4, 38) signs a three-year, $7.25 million deal with the Diamondbacks. The NLCS MVP, who the Dodgers cut in 2000, played the infield in 141 games for the World Series champion Diamondbacks last season.

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2005 Carlos Beltran (.267, 38, 104) becomes the tenth $100-million player in major league history when the 27-year-old native of Puerto Rico agrees to a seven-year deal for $119 million with the Mets. The five-tool outfielder, who had his market value increase with his postseason performance with the Astros, goes to New York after Houston refuses to include a no-trade clause in their very generous offer to keep him on the club.

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2006 The Red Sox sign 37-year-old Giants' free-agent J.T. Snow to a one-year, $2 million contract. The six-time Gold Glove winner acquired to share playing time at first base with Kevin Youkilis will be released by Boston in June, after appearing in only 38 games for his new team.

2008 The Mayo Smith Society names Magglio Ordonez as the winner of its annual King Tiger Award for his contributions on and off the field. The international organization for Detroit fans revived the honor in 2004, a tradition started and maintained by various fan clubs from 1961 to 1980.

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2012 The Baseball Writers' Association of America elects former Reds infielder Barry Larkin as its only player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in July. The Cincinnati shortstop, who received 86.4 percent of the scribes' votes, will be joined by Ron Santo, selected posthumously last month by the Golden Era committee.

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2020 Former Walmart Inc. chief executive David Glass, who owned the Royals for 19 years before selling the franchise last season to Cleveland Indians vice-chairman John Sherman, dies of complications from pneumonia at the age of 84. Although Kansas City won two AL pennants and a World Series during his ownership, the fans disliked him due to his bottom-line management style, similar to his role as the CEO of the largest retailer in the United States.
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Today in Baseball History
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Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
Baseball Birthdays on January 9...

• • 1860 - Olin, Frank
  • 1868 - Payne, Harley
  • 1872 - Cross, Lem
  • 1876 - Wolfe, Barney
  • 1882 - Bliss, Jack
  • 1887 - Hoch, Harry
  • 1888 - Carmichael, Chet
  • 1892 - Lee, Billy
  • 1894 - Townsend, Ira
  • 1895 - French, Ray
  • 1897 - Keefe, Dave
  • 1899 - Conroy, Bill
  • 1900 - Barnes, Frank
  • 1911 - Tyack, Jim
  • 1916 - Stanceu, Charley
  • 1917 - Echols, Johnny
  • 1918 - Anderson, Ferrell
  • 1919 - Sproull, Charlie
  • 1924 - Hall, John
  • 1931 - Dietzel, Roy
  • 1935 - Duliba, Bob
  • 1936 - Navarro, Julio
  • 1936 - Terry, Ralph "On the morning of the seventh game, Terry told a writer: 'After that Mazeroski home run in 1960, the fact that this team is letting me pitch the seventh game is like a tonic to me.' It was two years later and Terry had won more games than any other American League pitcher in the 1962 campaign, and still he needed a vote of confidence to erase the image of Bill Mazeroski, and to wipe out the stigma of being a loser. They said of Ralph Terry after the 1960 Series, after the seventh-game, sudden-death home run, he had not been dismayed, he'd been destroyed." - Littlefield, Bill. Author. Fall Classics: The Best Writing About the World Series' First 100 Years.
  • 1939 - Grilli, Guido
  • 1944 - Thoenen, Dick
  • 1952 - Hopkins, Don
  • 1952 - Wallis, Joe
  • 1953 - DeJesus, Ivan "He (Ivan DeJesus) does almost everything better. He makes the double-plays better, he runs better, he's a better hitter. I don't think there's a better shortstop." - Chicago Cubs Manager Herman Franks in Baseball Digest (December 1978)
  • 1953 - Mankowski, Phil
  • 1955 - Rockett, Pat
  • 1958 - Bordley, Bill
  • 1959 - Nixon, Otis "They can't steal 6 bases in a week - I give them one week to steal 6 bases - any guy out there right now. Not one game... A week. It's not bragging, but that's how dominant Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman, Deion Sanders, Kenny Lofton were, that's what we thrived on. We had some guys who could just flat out run. I could have stolen 8 in one game if I could have gotten on that many times. I give guys now a whole week to get a shot." - Nixon, Otis. Talking Chop Magazine. Interview With Former Braves Outfielder Otis Nixon. 24 December 2010. Page 11.
  • 1964 - Javier, Stan
  • 1968 - Kramer, Tom
  • 1969 - Jean, Domingo
  • 1970 - Mathews, T.J.
  • 1972 - Powell, Jay
  • 1973 - Holbert, Aaron
  • 1975 - Cloude, Ken
  • 1978 - Fossum, Casey

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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1/10
BIRTHDAYS
1920 Max Patkin baseball player & clown, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)


(1938-2018) Willie McCovey Hall of Fame 1st baseman (6 x MLB All Star; NL MVP 1969; NL home run leader 1963, 68, 69; SF Giants), born in Mobile, Alabama


1962 Jim Lindeman outfielder, 1996-84 (St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and 3 other teams), born in Evanston, Illinois


1976 Adam Kennedy second baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels), born in Riverside, California


1980 Matt Roney player, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma