BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1907 John McGraw saves the day when he prevents a runaway team of horses from injuring two West Coast women. The fiery Giants manager's heroic deed of stopping the wayward steeds occurs in the City of Angels.

1928 Giants owner Charles Stoneham, displeased with Rogers Hornsby's abrasive style and gambling habits, trades his second baseman to the Braves for backstop prospect Shanty Hogan and journeyman fly chaser Jimmy Welsh. During Rajah's one-year stay in Boston, his third team in three seasons, the future Hall of Fame infielder will lead the major leagues in hitting with a .387 batting average along with an astounding .498 on-base-percentage while playing and managing the seventh-place club.

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1934 The late Bill Veeck Sr., a former sportswriter who won three pennants (1918, 1929, and 1932) during his reign in Chicago's front office, is replaced by William Walker as the Cubs' president. The 56-year-old baseball executive, whose son will become a Hall of Fame major league owner, died of leukemia during the World Series last season.

1945 The BBWAA does not elect a new member for the Hall of Fame this year. Frank Chance (72.5), Rube Waddell (62.3), and Ed Walsh (55.5), all of whom will be inducted by the Veterans' committee in 1946, get the most votes but fall short of the necessary three-fourths of the ballots to be selected.

1950 George Susce is relieved of his duties by Cleveland general manager Hank Greenberg when the bullpen coach's son declines an offer to sign with the Tribe, deciding instead to play for less money with Louisville, a farm team of the Red Sox. George Jr., who will make his major league debut against the Yankees in 1955, compiles a 22-17 record in 117 games during his five seasons with Boston and Detroit.

1950 The Phillies officially abandon using the nickname of Blue Jays, a moniker that never caught the fancy of the Philadelphia fandom. The unpopular choice, selected in a 1944 contest from 634 entries received from over 5,000 letters from every state, included the Bell Ringers, Keystones, Minutemen, and Valley Forgers, appeared as a logo on a sleeve patch for the following two seasons.

1957 Commissioner Ford Frick allows Bing Crosby, part of an eleven-man syndicate that made a successful bid to buy the Tigers, to keep his token stock in the Detroit club although he is part owner of the Pirates. The famous crooner, who became one of the Bucs' owners in 1946, presently has a 16% share of the Steel City club.
Amazon Frick: Baseball's Third Commissioner

 

1983 "The Yankee pin stripes belong to New York like Central Park, like the Statue of Liberty, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, like the Metropolitan Opera, like the Stock Exchange, like the lights of Broadway, etc." - RICHARD S. LANE, ruling against the Yankees' bid to play their first home games in Denver. Acting Justice Richard S. Lane of State Supreme Court in Manhattan bars the Yankees from playing their season's opening series against the Tigers at Denver's Mile High Stadium. George Steinbrenner sought to move the three games, fearing the renovations to the Bronx ballpark would not be completed on time, but the judge dismisses the rescheduling the games to Colorado, citing the owner ignored the obvious solution of playing the contests at Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets located seven miles away, or at Detroit's Tiger Stadium.

1991 In one of the worst trades ever made in baseball history, the Orioles send pitchers Curt Schilling and Pete Harnish along with outfielder Steve Finley to the Astros for first baseman Glenn Davis. Davis, who averaged 27 home runs in six seasons playing in the Astrodome, will hit only 24 dingers in three injury-filled years as Schilling becomes one of the most dominant hurlers in the game, and Harnish and Finley develop into solid major league performers.

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2001 To authenticate autographed and game-used merchandise sold by its licensees, Major League Baseball hires Arthur Andersen, an accounting company, to assure the authenticity of approximately 40,000 items this season. The memorabilia will have a tamper-proof hologram and an ID number with a company official observing the physical removal of the object taken from the player or event.

2001 As part of its 100th Anniversary festivities, the Indians present three-time All-Star Jim Thome with his very own bobblehead doll. The first baseman is one of seven current Cleveland players who will be part of the bobblehead doll promotional giveaways to celebrate the club's centennial this season.

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2002 The Yankees sign White Sox free-agent southpaw David Wells to a two-year, $7-million contract to rejoin the team after trading him in 1999 to the Blue Jays, along with Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush, for Roger Clemens. The 38-year-old left-hander known as Boomer, who missed most of the second half of last season due to back surgery, posted a 34-14 record, including a perfect game in 1998, during his first two-year tenure with the team.

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2002 "In light of this disclosure and your apparent unwillingness to reveal other financial information that you assert supports your decision to eliminate two baseball teams, I regret that I must call on you to resign as commissioner of major league baseball." - JOHN CONYERS, JR., U.S. Representative (D-MI), citing a conflict of interest.
Representative John Conyers Jr., the House Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said he would back off asking Bud Selig to resign if the commissioner dropped his threat to eliminate teams this season. In a two-page letter to the Michigan lawmaker, Selig was unequivocal in his response, stating that the suggestions were wholly unacceptable.

 

2006 Bruce Sutter, joining Hoyt Wilhelm (1985), Rollie Fingers (1992), and Dennis Eckersley (2004), becomes the fourth relief pitcher to be voted into the Hall of Fame and the first hurler elected without a career major league start. The split-fingered fastball, which will eventually lead to career-ending injuries, helped establish the right-hander, best remembered for his seasons with the Cubs and Cardinals, as one of the game's dominant closers.

Sutter


Wilhelm


Eckersley


Fingers

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2008 The Astros and Darin Erstad (.248, 4, 32) agree to a one-year deal valued at $1 million, including incentives. The 33-year-old free-agent outfielder, a lifetime .284 hitter, saw limited duty with the White Sox last season after spending 11 superb seasons with the Angels.

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Today in Baseball History
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Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On January 10 in Baseball History...

• • 1945 - Baseball writers fail to elect a new Hall of Famer. Frank Chance, Rube Waddell, and Ed Walsh come closest, but none gets the required three-fourths of the vote.
  • 1957 - Commissioner Ford Frick rules that singer Bing Crosby can keep his small stock holding in the Detroit Tigers, even though he owns part of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • 1983 - New York Supreme Court Justice Richard Lane issues a preliminary injunction barring the Yankees from playing their season-opening series against the Tigers in Denver. The club had sought to move the games because it feared off-season renovations to Yankee Stadium would not be completed for the series April 11-13.
  • 1984 - Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, and Don Drysdale are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.
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Baseball Birthdays on January 10...

• • 1835 - Wright, Harry
  • 1859 - Dolan, Tom
  • 1863 - Pettee, Pat
  • 1870 - Houseman, John
  • 1873 - Stahl, Chick
  • 1873 - O'Neill, Jack
  • 1876 - Puhl, John
  • 1879 - MacGamwell, Ed
  • 1879 - McNichol, Ed
  • 1887 - Russell, Harvey
  • 1888 - Pratt, Del
  • 1888 - Pearce, George
  • 1888 - Ohl, Joe
  • 1890 - Watson, Milt
  • 1893 - Herrmann, Marty
  • 1894 - Gingras, Joe
  • 1898 - Stauffer, Ed
  • 1908 - Swift, Bill
  • 1910 - Peacock, Johnny
  • 1918 - Lillard, Bill "In 1940 I played 80 games for the Philadelphia A's. Somehow I got stigmatism in my left eye and was sent to Fort Worth club in the Texas League where I had a good year and was sold to Minneapolis of the American Association." - Bill Lillard (Autobiography
  • 1922 - Chambers, Cliff
  • 1926 - Strickland, George
  • 1928 - Dittmer, Jack "Dittmer was a good, bear-down ballplayer I don't know how many people realize it, but he also was quite a prankster. I'll never forget an incident that happened one night in St Louis. While 'The Star-Spangled Banner' was being played, the stadium lights were turned out. Dittmer than gave Manager Charlie Grimm a hotfoot by setting fire to his shoelaces. Grimm let out a yell, saying, 'Dittmer!' when he felt the fuse. He knew right away it was Jack who did it." - Teammate Ernie Johnson in The Des Moines Sunday Register
  • 1935 - Bowsfield, Ted
  • 1937 - O'Toole, Jim "I'd look them in the eye and say, 'I don't know what your son will be, but I am going to make it to the Big leagues. ' I had the determination." - Jim O'Toole on Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Site (2012, Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Directory
  • 1938 - McCovey, Willie "This is the question I posed to Willie McCovey: You're the manager of the other team in a tie game with two outs and nobody on in the ninth. The batter is Willie McCovey, now... before I could finish, Willie broke in, 'I'd walk him.' Then he laughed. It's really no laughing matter to the San Francisco Giants' slugging first baseman, however. Because a lot of other managers would do the same thing." - Markus, Robert. Sportswriter. Baseball Digest: Willie McCovey - Baseball's Most Feared Batter. June 1971. Page 32.
  • 1940 - Skaugstad, Dave
  • 1943 - Campbell, Jim
  • 1944 - Dobson, Chuck
  • 1946 - Korince, George
  • 1946 - Geishert, Vern
  • 1948 - Hardy, Larry
  • 1951 - Martz, Gary
  • 1956 - Rohn, Dan
  • 1958 - Keedy, Pat
  • 1959 - Dotson, Richard
  • 1960 - Torve, Kelvin
  • 1960 - Brower, Bob
  • 1962 - Diaz, Mario
  • 1962 - Lindeman, Jim
  • 1967 - Baez, Kevin
  • 1973 - Rath, Gary
  • 1976 - Kennedy, Adam
  • 1977 - Bauer, Rick

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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1/11
BIRTHDAYS
1876 Elmer Flick HOF outfielder (AL batting champion 1905; NL RBI leader 1900; 2 × AL stolen base leader; Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Bronchos/Naps), born in Bedford, Ohio (d. 1971)


1890 Max Carey Hall of Fame outfielder (World Series 1925; 10 × NL stolen base leader; Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Robins) and manager (Brooklyn Dodgers), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1976)


1912 Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe, American baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers), born in Waco, Texas (d. 1961)


1962 Donn Pall pitcher, 1988-98 (Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins, and 3 other teams), born in Evergreen Park, Illinois


1968 Ben Rivera pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies)


1972 Rey Ordonez infielder (NY Mets), born in Havana, Cuba


1974 Warren Morri infielder (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Alexandria, Louisiana

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1915 Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Colonel Tillinghast L. Huston buy the Yankees from Frank Farrell and Bill Devery for $460,000. After being dissuaded by the press, the brewery owner refrains from naming the team the Knickerbockers to promote his beer business.

1949 Although Milwaukee doesn't have a major league franchise, the site's selection for the city's new County Stadium is the Story Stone Quarry, chosen over the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds because of its proximity to downtown. Construction will begin in October of next year to attract a big league team, which will happen in 1953 when the Braves leave Boston to play in Brew Town.

1960 The Phillies send fan-favorite Richie Ashburn, the National League's top hitter in 1958, to the Cubs in exchange for infielders Alvin Dark and Jim Woods along with right-hander John Buzhardt. 'Whitey,' a future Hall of Famer, will play center field and hit .291 batting leadoff for Chicago this season.

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1968 Ewing Kauffman becomes the owner of the new American League franchise in Kansas City, eventually known as the Royals. The pharmaceutical magnate, encouraged by his wife Muriel, becomes an instrumental force in bringing a quality major league baseball experience to the Heart of America after Charlie Finley's stormy departure to Oakland with the unpopular A's team.

 

1971 Twenty-seven-year-old Tiger pitcher John Hiller drives himself to the hospital after suffering a heart attack while relaxing at home. After missing the entire season this year, the Canadian native will make a remarkable comeback with the team in 1973, establishing a new American League record with 38 saves en route to becoming Detroit's all-time leader in saves with 125, before retiring at the end of the 1980 season.

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1973 The designated hitter rule will be used on a trial basis for three years in the American League when their owners vote 8-4 in favor of its implementation. The concept permitting a team to select a player to bat in place of the pitcher will be put in place in some measure by most collegiate and professional circuits, with the National League and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League being the notable exceptions.

1973 At the owners' meeting in Chicago, Bowie Kuhn, in addition to introducing the designated hitter and pinch-runner concepts, shares with the press his idea of interleague play as a means for the American League to bridge the gap with its more popular NL rivals. The commissioner's limited plan, if accepted, would only affect cities with multiple teams within one geographic area.

1973 After the American League approves the new rule with a vote of 8-4, and the National League vetoes the idea, all 24 owners support the Junior Circuit's three-year experiment to use a designated hitter. Although the DH was his idea, A's owner Charlie Finley votes against the concept because of the lack of enthusiasm for his other brainchild of implementing a designated runner.

1977 The Dodgers swap first baseman/outfielder Bill Buckner and shortstop Ivan DeJesus to the Cubs for Rick Monday in a trade that benefits both teams. In subsequent transactions with the Phillies and Red Sox, respectively, after their many productive seasons in Chicago, the team deals the players for Ryne Sandberg (1982) and Dennis Eckersley (1984), each future Hall of Famers.

Buckner~ DeJesus

Monday

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1983 Taking over for Clyde King, Billy Martin will make his third appearance as the Yankees manager. The third time will prove not to be a charm when the fiery skipper is moved to the front office, being replaced in the dugout by Yogi Berra before the 1985 season.

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2000 The BBWAA elects former Red Sox and White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk and the 'Big Red Machine's first baseman Tony Perez to the Hall of Fame. 'Pudge' is selected in his second year of eligibility, and the Reds infielder from Ciego De Avila, Cuba makes it on his ninth try.

Fisk, Perez & Sparky

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2001 David Cone agrees to a one-year contract with the Red Sox. The former Cy Young Award winner could make between $4 million and $5 million with Boston, compared to the $500,000 guaranteed offer made by the Yankees, if he makes the roster and pitches regularly during the season.

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2002 The Orioles, after a one-year experiment, plan to return Camden Yards to its original dimensions. The team, which hit only 58 homers at home, 44 less than in the previous season, said the fences are returning to their initial distances because the new configuration "adversely affected the viewing angle of the batter's eye."

2005 The Diamondbacks trade recently acquired catcher Dioner Navarro and hurlers William Juarez, Danny Muegge, and Beltran Perez to the Dodgers for 32-year-old outfielder Shawn Green (.266, 28, 86). To rebound from last season's 51-111 record, Arizona has also signed free-agent third baseman Troy Glaus and starting pitcher Russ Ortiz during the offseason.

 

2006 The Devil Rays sign their first Japanese player when 31-year-old right-handed relief pitcher Shinji Mori agrees to a $1.4 million, two-year contract to play in Tampa Bay. The former Seibu Lion reliever was 44-44 with 50 saves and a 3.39 ERA, playing in 431 games during his tenure in Japan's Pacific League.

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2008 Jacobs Field, the home of the Indians since 1994, will now be called Progressive Field. The Tribe signs a 16-year naming rights agreement with the Cleveland-based insurance company calling for an average annual payment of $3.6 million until 2023.

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2008 The Reds hire Walt Jocketty as a special adviser to the chief executive Bob Castellini. The former Cardinals GM, who spent 13 seasons in the St. Louis front office, left after the Redbirds slumped to a third-place finish (78-84), one year removed from winning a World Championship.

2010 Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998, apologizes for his decade-long on-and-off use of performance-enhancing substances that started before the 1990 season. The former St. Louis and Oakland slugger had been in a self-imposed exile since repeatedly telling a congressional committee in 2005, "I'm not here to talk about the past," a remark which seriously hurt his popularity and irrevocably damaged his reputation.

Mark McGwire during an interview with Bob Costas on MLB Network
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2010 Former pitching great Greg Maddux, who started his major league career with the Cubs in 1986, returns to the team as an assistant to general manager Jim Hendry. A sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, the 355-game winner's duties will include assisting the major league and minor league coaching staffs at spring training, evaluating talent, and developing minor league players.

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2010 Ryne Sandberg, with aspirations of being the Cubs manager someday, agrees to be the skipper of the team's Triple-A Iowa farm club, replacing Bobby Dickerson, who left for a position with Baltimore. The 50-year-old Hall of Fame infielder has been managing in the Chicago farm system for the past three seasons, two with the Single-A Peoria Chiefs and one year with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies.

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2010 Reds general manager Walt Jocketty announces the struggling organization has signed starting pitcher Aroldis Chapman to a $30.25 million, six-year contract. Cincinnati was the winning bidder for the services of the 21-year-old southpaw fireballer from Cuba, who defected from his country last July while playing in the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

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2013 Wearing a Cubs jersey and a backward blue baseball cap, Clark, the Cubs' new mascot, makes his debut at Chicago's Advocate Illinois Masonic's Pediatric Developmental Center. Clark the Cub, named after the street located behind Wrigley Field's home plate, is being touted as the great-grandson of the franchise's first mascot, Joa, a live bear used as a good luck charm in 1916, nine years after the franchise officially adopted Cubs as the team's name.

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2014 Upon hearing Alex Rodriguez's doping suspension appeal, Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz reduces baseball's highest-paid player's expulsion from 211 games to the 162 games scheduled in the 2014 regular s\eason and any resulting postseason contests. The ruling, which keeps the suspension the longest in baseball history for using performance-enhancing substances, may mark the end of the 38-year-old Yankee third baseman's career.
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51,263

 

Today in Baseball History
Home | Contact | Baseball Almanac | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Advertise | Support​

Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On January 11 in Baseball History...

• • 1915 - Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Colonel Tillinghast L�Hommedieu Huston purchase the New York Yankees for $460,000.
    
  • 1971 - Tigers pitcher John Hiller suffers a heart attack at age 27. He will miss the 1971 season before making a remarkable comeback.
    
  • 1977 - The Cubs trade outfielder Rick Monday and pitcher Mike Garman to the Dodgers for first baseman Bill Buckner, shortstop Ivan DeJesus, and Minor League pitcher Jeff Albert. The trade solidifies the Cubs infield for the next five years, but the Dodgers will win three pennants in that span.
    
  • 1983 - For the third time in eight years, George Steinbrenner hires Billy Martin as Yankee manager. Martin replaces Clyde King, who will move to the front office.

Baseball Birthdays on January 11...

• • 1862 - Pinkney, George
  • 1867 - Niles, Bill
  • 1868 - King, Silver
  • 1876 - Flick, Elmer "Elmer Flick: Yes, I remember him well from my early years as an American League catcher with St. Louis and New York. Flick, then playing for Cleveland was an outstanding hitter. We couldn't get him out. He was a flash on the bases, an adroit right fielder and one of the finest gentlemen then in the game." - Branch Rickey in the St. Petersburg Times
  • 1879 - McIntire, Harry
  • 1884 - Watson, Art
  • 1888 - Roberts, Skipper
  • 1890 - Keliher, Mickey
  • 1890 - Carey, Max "Stealing bases is the art of picking up little things - things like a spitball pitcher who never threw to first if he was going to throw a spitter to the plate." - Max Carey
  • 1895 - Driscoll, Paddy
  • 1898 - Lansing, Gene
  • 1899 - Crowder, Alvin
  • 1900 - Taber, Lefty
  • 1901 - McNamara, George
  • 1910 - Rowe, Schoolboy
  • 1911 - Hughes, Roy
  • 1915 - Mele, Dutch
  • 1918 - Andres, Ernie
  • 1918 - Gardella, Al
  • 1919 - Rochelli, Lou
  • 1921 - Kvasnak, Al
  • 1922 - Berry, Neil
  • 1922 - Fanovich, Frank
  • 1928 - Babe, Loren
  • 1928 - Powis, Carl
  • 1929 - Mossi, Don "Don Mossi was the complete, five-tool ugly player. He could run ugly, hit ugly, throw ugly, field ugly, and ugly for power. He was ugly to all fields. He could ugly behind the runner as well as anybody, and you talk about pressure... man, you never saw a player who was uglier in the clutch." - Baseball Historian Bill James in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
  • 1937 - Curtis, Jack
  • 1940 - Fischer, Hank
  • 1942 - Napoleon, Danny
  • 1944 - Baker, Frank
  • 1944 - McAndrew, Jim
  • 1948 - Henninger, Rick
  • 1948 - Redmon, Glenn
  • 1955 - Norman, Dan
  • 1959 - McClendon, Lloyd
  • 1962 - Pall, Donn
  • 1967 - Riesgo, Nikco
  • 1968 - Rivera, Ben
  • 1971 - Delgado, Alex
  • 1972 - Allensworth, Jermaine
  • 1974 - Morris, Warren

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.​