BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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1/27
BIRTHDAYS
1968 Eric Wedge catcher (Boston Red Sox)


1968 Rusty Meacham pitcher (KC Royals, Seattle Mariners), born in Stuart, Florida


1969 Phil Plantier outfielder (San Diego Padres, Red Sox, A's), born in Manchester, New Hampshire


1978 Pete Laforest


1983 Gavin Floyd


1983 Mike Zagurski

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1933 Joe Judge, who compiled a .299 lifetime BA in his 18 seasons with the Senators, is released by the team and will sign with the Dodgers. The veteran first baseman will hit just .214 in 42 games with Brooklyn before getting rereleased and moving back to the American League with Boston, where he'll retire next season.

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1937 Cincinnati experiences the worst flood in its history when the Mill Creek overflows its banks, resulting in the Crosley Field's lower grandstand submerged under 21 feet of water. As a publicity stunt, Reds pitcher Lee Grissom and the team's traveling secretary, John McDonald, are photographed as they entered the ballpark over the left-field fence and rowed to the area of the pitcher's mound.

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1943 The Reds trade pitcher Paul Derringer to the Cubs for cash. The 36-year-old right-hander, known as Oom Paul due to his 6-foot-3 height and 205+ pound frame, will post a 33-38 (.465) record with an ERA of 3.71 during his three-year tenure with Chicago, but in his final season, the right-hander goes 16-11, helping the team clinch the National League pennant.

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1944 Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, and Joe Maney, known as the 'Three Steam Shovels' due to their ties to the construction industry, gain control of the Boston Braves. The new ownership will immediately relieve Casey Stengel of his duties as manager of the second-division place club, who finished in sixth place with a record of 67-85.

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1949 Fred Saigh is found guilty of income tax evasion and is sentenced to a fifteen-month jail term but will serve only five months at the federal prison in Terre Haute before being given parole for good behavior. Anheuser-Busch president Gussie Busch, citing that civic pride was more important than financial gain, persuades the embattled Cardinal owner to sell the team for less ($3.5 million) rather than entering into a lucrative deal with a consortium that plans to move the team to Houston.

 

1982 The Cubs trade Ivan DeJesus to the Phillies in exchange for Larry Bowa and a promising youngster named Ryne Sandberg. Dallas Green, the team's new GM, had seen the potential of the future Hall of Fame second baseman while managing in Philadelphia.

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1997 After stints with the Rangers and Red Sox, Jose Canseco returns to his first major league team when Boston trades the slugger to the A's for pitcher John Wasdin and cash. The 32-year-old DH/outfielder will bat .235 and hit 23 home runs for Oakland, and Boston's new right-hander will post a 4-6 record with a 4.40 ERA.

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1999 Former Mets infielder Carlos Baerga signs a one-year free-agent contract with the Cardinals. The second baseman, who did not meet the fans' expectations in New York, will be released by the Cardinals during spring training and sign with the Reds, who will release him at the beginning of June.

2005 After failing to sign free-agent first baseman Carlos Delgado, the Mets quickly fill the void at first base by trading minor league prospect Ian Bladergroen and a player to be named (or cash) to Boston for Gold Glover Doug Mientkiewicz. The Red Sox, who acquired the 30-year-old infielder from the Twins at the non-waiver trade deadline to solidify their defense, plan to use heavy-hitting, light fielding Kevin Millar at first.

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2005 Lance Berkman (.316, 30, 106), the team's 2004 team MVP, and the Astros avoid arbitration when they agree on a one-year, $10.5 million deal. The 28-year-old All-Star outfielder suffered a serious off-season knee injury (anterior cruciate ligament tear) playing flag football.

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2006 The Cubs and Mark Prior (11-7, 3.67) agree on a one-year $3.65 million contract, making his salary $900,000 more than the right-hander would have earned under the $3.3 million contract offer he voided in November. The fireballer's previous contract gave him the right to terminate the deal once he became eligible for salary arbitration.

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2006 The multi-player deal between Boston and Cleveland becomes a reality when Commissioner Bud Selig gives his needed approval of any transaction worth at least $1 million. Eight players are exchanged, with Indians outfielder Coco Crisp, reliever David Riske, and backstop Josh Bard going to the Red Sox for recently acquired third base prospect Andy Marte, catcher Kelly Shoppach, and a player to be named later (minor league right-hander Randy Newsom).

2006 Nobuhiko Matsunaka agrees to a seven-year contract, making the deal the longest ever signed by a Japanese professional baseball player. The 32-year-old Softbank Hawks slugger will earn an estimated 500 million yen a year plus additional incentives based on performance.

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2006 Featuring a more traditional look, the Royals unveiled their new 2006 uniforms with the two home uniforms featuring the word "Royals" in script with the two road uniforms also using longhand to spell out Kansas City. The new outfit will return to the crown logo on the left sleeve, replacing the circular logo used during the past few seasons.

2009 Ubaldo Jimenez agrees to a four-year guaranteed deal worth $10 million, which could be increased to $22 million if the Rockies exercise their options for 2013 and 2014. In his first full season, the 25-year-old Dominican right-hander led the pitching staff with 172 strikeouts while posting a 12-12 record with an ERA of 3.99.

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2009 "But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he never had and did not now. Gods do not answer letters." - JOHN UPDIKE, author of Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, published in the New Yorker.
John Updike, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and life-long Red Sox fan, dies of lung cancer at 76. The Massachusetts native penned Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, ending the famous 1960 essay with "Gods do not answer letters," explaining why the 41-year-old superstar did not acknowledge the fans after homering in his final major league game.

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2010 Joining Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, and former teammate Roberto Clemente, former Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski will have a statue of himself, designed by Pittsburgh sculptor Susan Wagner, placed outside of PNC Park. The 12-foot statue depicts the Hall of Famer rounding second base with his batting helmet raised high in his right hand after hitting the homer that beat the Yankees in the 1960 Fall Classic, commemorating the only Game 7 World Series walk-off round-tripper in the history of the game.

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2012 Ron Washington garners the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's C.I. Taylor Award, being honored with the one organization's Legacy Awards as the top skipper in the American League. The Rangers' skipper led the team to a franchise-best 96 victories and their second consecutive AL pennant last season.

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2015 Five Marlins executives travel to Japan to officially ink Ichiro Suzuki to a one-year deal worth approximately $2 million. Florida expects the 41-year-old outfielder to play a pinch-hitting role for the team when not filling in for injured outfielders.

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2020 The Reds ink Nick Castellanos to a $64 million, four-year deal, matching the richest free-agent contract in franchise history. The 28-year-old former Tiger and Cub slugger joins infielder Mike Moustakas, who signed a similar agreement in December with the club that has not had a winning record in six seasons.
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Today in Baseball History
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On January 27 in Baseball History...

• • 1944 - Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, and Joseph Maney buy control of the Boston Braves and oust Casey Stengel as manager.
    
  • 1956 - The New York Giants football team switches its home games to Yankee Stadium, leading to speculation that the baseball team will soon vacate the Polo Grounds as well.
    
  • 1963 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee votes in Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick, and John Clarkson.
    
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  • 1966 - Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W. Roller rules that the Braves must stay in Milwaukee or else the National League must promise Wisconsin an expansion team for the 1966 season.
    
  • 1982 - Philadelphia sends veteran shortstop Larry Bowa and minor league infielder Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs in exchange for shortstop Ivan DeJesus. Bowa and DeJesus will have a few more productive seasons in the major leagues, but the 22-year-old Sandberg will become one of the best-hitting second baseman of all time. In 1984, he will lead the Cubs to their first appearance in the postseason since 1945.

Baseball Birthdays on January 27...

• • 1855 - Hatfield, Gil
  • 1859 - Emslie, Bob
  • 1865 - George, Bill
  • 1865 - Watson, Mother
  • 1866 - Duffee, Charlie
  • 1871 - Inks, Bert
  • 1876 - Clymer, Otis
  • 1877 - Burke, John
  • 1882 - Jones, Elijah
  • 1883 - McDonald, John
  • 1888 - Wickland, Al
  • 1891 - Tesch, Al
  • 1894 - Weiss, Joe
  • 1896 - Gaston, Milt
  • 1899 - Falk, Bibb
  • 1899 - Barrett, Bob
  • 1901 - Heimach, Fred
  • 1902 - Tucker, Ollie
  • 1903 - Williams, Earl
  • 1903 - Reinholz, Art
  • 1910 - Matuzak, Harry
  • 1913 - Hofferth, Stew
  • 1913 - Speer, Floyd
  • 1915 - Etchison, Buck
  • 1920 - Shokes, Eddie
  • 1926 - Borkowski, Bob
  • 1929 - Kline, Bobby
  • 1935 - Demeter, Steve "(Steve) Dementer made his pro debut in the 1950s, but his big league career lasted two years - 15 games and 23 at-bats. The Detroit Tigers traded him to the Cleveland Indians for first baseman Norm Cash in 1960. Cash became a four-time American League all-star, but Dementer has a glove in the Baseball Hall of Fame and a plaque at Durham Athletic Park from his days with the Bulls." - Staff Writer Chuck Carree on Star News Online (08/10/2006
  • 1941 - Willhite, Nick
  • 1943 - Adams, Doug
  • 1947 - Plodinec, Tim
  • 1947 - Lowenstein, John
  • 1951 - Overy, Mike "The selection of (Mike) Overy instead of some seasoned reliever accustomed to pressure situations, prompted the second guessers to haul manager Norm Sherry over the coals. Sherry, to his credit, did not second guess himself. 'That's what he's here for,' Sherry said. 'That's what he's been doing all year in the minors. It was the ideal situation for him (making his debut, in relief, in the ninth inning, with a lead). I'm a firm believer in getting people in the game,' Sherry went on, defending his choice of pitchers. 'I don't believe in letting a guy sit around waiting for a special situation.' Maybe Mike Overy is thankful...maybe he isn't. But at least he knows he has a manager who believes." - Merry, Don. Staff Writer. Independent Press-Telegram: Brewers rudely baptize Angel rookie.
  • 1959 - Bargar, Greg
  • 1965 - Richards, Rusty
  • 1968 - Wedge, Eric
  • 1968 - Meacham, Rusty Rusty Meacham was born on Saturday, January 27, 1968, in Stuart, Florida. Meacham was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 29, 1991, with the Detroit Tigers.
  • 1969 - Plantier, Phil
  • 1970 - Hollins, Jessie
  • 1971 - Huckaby, Ken
  • 1972 - Martinez, Greg
  • 1975 - Conti, Jason
  • 1980 - Berroa, Angel "We wouldn't be where we are without (Angel) Berroa. He's the M.V.P. of our team." - Kansas City Royals Manager Tony Pena (AP Wire, 'No Angel, no playoffs,' September 28, 2003)

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