BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

​

 

2/17
BIRTHDAYS

1893 Wally Pipp first baseman (World Series 1923; AL HR leader 1916, 17; NY Yankees), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1965)​

1908 Red Barber broadcaster (Cincinnati Reds 1934–38, Brooklyn Dodgers 1939–53, NY Yankees 1954–66), born in Columbus, Mississippi (d. 1992)


1976 Scott Williamson


1979 Josh Willingham outfielder, 2004-14 (Florida MArlins, and 4 other teams), born in Florence, Alabama

***********​

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1900 Instead of unpaid alimony, Mary H. Vanderbeck takes possession of the American League franchise in Detroit. Her ex-husband George Vanderbeck, who decided to build Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, the Tigers' home the next 104 seasons, will later regain control of the team.

1916 During their annual meeting held at the Hotel Wolcott in New York, the American League owners endorse a new major league draft concept proposed initially by Dodger president Charles Ebbets. The approved plan gives second-division clubs the first pick of the available minor leaguers each season.

1937 The Yankees purchase Red Sox first baseman Babe Dahlgren, who will end Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak. During his four-year tenure with the Bronx Bombers, the California native compiles a .248 batting average before being bought by the Braves before the 1941 season.

1943 Without notifying the Yankees, 28-year-old Joe DiMaggio waives his draft deferment and enlists in the U.S. Army Air Force, not playing for the team again until 1946. Although the Bronx Bomber outfielder asked for no special treatment, he will spend most of his time out of harm's way by playing baseball in California and Hawaii.

​

1954 President Dwight Eisenhower sends a letter labeled "personal and confidential" to Honus Wagner, wishing the former Pirates' shortstop a happy 80th birthday. The Hall of Fame infielder was Ike's boyhood hero growing up in Abilene (KS).

​

1964 White Sox shortstop Luke Appling, although he received only two Baseball Hall of Fame votes when he first appeared on the ballot in 1953, is elected to the Hall of Fame by BBWAA, named on 189 of the 201 ballots cast (94%) to defeat Red Ruffing a run-off election. This selection method, used intermittently from 1947 to 1967, occurred when the writers did not select anyone on their initial ballot and then listed the top 20-30 players on a second ballot, with only the top vote-getter chosen for induction.

​

 

1976 Future National League Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott pitches a perfect game for Pepperdine against California Lutheran University. The Mets select right-hander, who will throw a no-hitter for the Astros, in the second round in the June draft.

​

1987 Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly wins his $1.975 million arbitration case. The award breaks the record for the most substantial sum ever given to a player, established just four days ago by Jack Morris.

1990 Herb Raybourn, the Yankee director of Latin American operations, signs amateur free-agent Mariano Rivera, an athletic 20-year-old who has an effortless pitching motion but a less than average fastball, to a modest $3,000 contract. The future all-time major league saves leader has no formal training as a pitcher, having hurled for the first time two weeks before being scouted at the team's tryout camp in Panama City.

​

1995 Unwilling to be part of an inferior product placed on the field and as a show of support for his players, Tigers skipper Sparky Anderson is suspended without pay when he refuses to manage replacement players in spring training during the work stoppage. The popular pilot will resume his duties when the strike ends but will 'retire,' believed by some not to be voluntary, at the end of the season.

​

2003 Avoiding arbitration, the Braves and 36 year-old righty Greg Maddux (16-6, 2.62) agree to the largest one-year contract in major league history. The $14.75 million deal for the four-time Cy Young Award winner eclipses the $12 million given to David Cone by the Yankees in 2000.

​

2003 After his body temperature soars to 108 degrees, Orioles pitching prospect Steve Belcher dies of multi-organ failure following a spring training workout in Fort Lauderdale. The use of ephedrine, the dietary supplement linked to heatstroke and heart attacks, may have led to the 23-year-old expectant father's death.

 

2006 White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen issues an apology for his comments published in Sports Illustrated that criticized Alex Rodriguez's indecision concerning which country the Yankee All-Star would represent in the World Baseball Classic. At first, A-Rod, born in the United States, revealed he would play for the Dominican Republic due to his parents' heritage, deciding not to participate before choosing Team USA.

2007 In a poll conducted by his hometown newspaper, more than half of the respondents thought Carl Pavano would not bounce back with the Yankees this year. The reader poll, posted on myrecordjournal.com, revealed 54.5% believe the Yankee pitcher would not overcome his slow start with the team, while 45.5% stated he would have a comeback season.

2009 The Marlins announced a contract extension for manager Fredi Gonzalez through the 2011 season. The South Florida native, who became just the third skipper in franchise history to compile a winning campaign, guiding the club to an 84-77 record, was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year last season.

​

2011 Jose Bautista and the Blue Jays agree on a $64-million, five-year contract extension. Last season's major league leader with 54 home runs, the 30-year-old third baseman/outfielder set a record for the most significant increase in round-trippers for a single season in baseball history, hitting 41 more homers than his total of 13 in 2009.

​

2021 After playing 143 major league games, Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres agree to a $340 million, 14-year extension. The 22-year-old shortstop's deal, which includes a full no-trade clause, ranks as the third-richest contract in baseball history, trailing only the money made by Angels' Mike Trout and Mookie Betts of the Dodgers.

​

***********
57,628

 

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

Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On February 17 in Baseball History...

• • 1943 - Joe DiMaggio, drawing $43,500 from the Yankees, trades in his salary for the $50 a month of an army enlisted man. DiMaggio, in his customary quiet style, gives no notice to the club.
    
  • 1964 - Former White Sox shortstop Luke Appling is voted into the Hall of Fame in the runoff election. Appling won two batting titles and played 2,422 games in twenty years with the White Sox.
    
  • 1965 - Commissioner Ford Frick suspends U.S. - Japan baseball relations until the dispute over Japanese San Francisco pitcher Masanori Murakami's contract with the Giants is resolved.
    
  • 1987 - Don Mattingly wins a $1.975 million salary in his arbitration case against the Yankees, eclipsing the record $1.85 million sum by Jack Morris just four days earlier.
    

Baseball Birthdays on February 17...

• • 1861 - Wiedman, Stump
  • 1861 - Miller, Joe
  • 1871 - Bowen, Cy
  • 1885 - Evans, Steve
  • 1890 - Bisland, Rivington
  • 1892 - Leibold, Nemo
  • 1892 - Brainerd, Fred
  • 1893 - Pipp, Wally
  • 1893 - Onslow, Eddie
  • 1895 - Carlson, Leon
  • 1896 - Emmer, Frank
  • 1897 - Boone, Ike
  • 1901 - Phillips, Eddie
  • 1905 - Brandt, Ed
  • 1907 - Collier, Orlin
  • 1912 - Ogrodowski, Bruce
  • 1915 - Dedeaux, Rod
  • 1921 - Lade, Doyle
  • 1922 - Chandler, Ed
  • 1923 - Sommers, Bill
  • 1926 - Crimian, Jack
  • 1930 - Craig, Roger "He (Roger Craig) pitched all that time with a team (1963 New York Mets) like that behind him? Well, he sure as hell deserves a lot more than a raise. He ought to bargain for a piece of the ballpark." - Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa (1963)
  • 1934 - Kirkland, Willie
  • 1935 - Douglas, Whammy
  • 1941 - Wissman, Dave
  • 1944 - Bosman, Dick
  • 1951 - Cosgrove, Mike
  • 1951 - Roberts, Dave
  • 1953 - Easterly, Jamie
  • 1953 - Umbarger, Jim "A left-hander with a good mix of pitchers, he (Jim Umbarger) reached the major leagues fairly quickly several years ago, but hurt his arm, got sick, fell out of the league, and has been trying to pitch his way back up ever since. He hopes that the Orioles just might need another left-hander in their bullpen - less a hope than a dream, given that the Orioles have the strongest pitching staff in baseball." - by Dan Barry in Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game (Harper Collins Publishers, 04/12/2011
  • 1954 - Macha, Mike
  • 1958 - Hart, Mike
  • 1958 - Wiggins, Alan
  • 1964 - Campbell, Mike
  • 1965 - Bowie, Jim
  • 1967 - Maclin, Lonnie
  • 1971 - Patterson, Danny
  • 1976 - Ransom, Cody
  • 1976 - Williamson, Scott

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.​

 

​

 

​

 

2/18
BIRTHDAYS
1915 Joe Gordon HOF 2nd baseman (World Series 1938, 39, 41, 43 NY Yankees; 1948 Cleveland Indians; AL MVP 1942; 9 x MLB All Star), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1978)


1927 Luis Arroyo


1929 Lou Gorman baseball executive (general manager Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox), born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 2011)


1938 Manny Mota (LA Dodgers), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic


1939 Dal Maxvill


1950 Bruce Kison pitcher (World Series 1971, 79), born in Bradenton, Florida (d. 2018)


1964 Kevin Tapani pitcher (Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins), born in Des Moines, Iowa


1967 Matt Turner pitcher (Florida Marlins), born in Lexington, Kentucky (d. 2019)

1970 Tyler Green pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies), born in Springfield, Ohio

1974 Jamey Carroll born in Evansville, Indiana

1981 Alex Rios born in Coffee County, Alabama

***********​

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1943 New York entrepreneur William D. Cox purchases the bankrupt Phillies from the National League. In November, the 33-year-old new owner will be banned from baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis when he admits to making some "sentimental" bets on his team during the season.

1944 After getting permission from his parents and high school principal, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall, a Hamilton, Ohio native, signs a contract with the Reds a day after playing in a high school basketball game. The not-so-old "Ol' Left-hander" will become the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, tossing 2/3 of an inning for Cincinnati in June, 49 days before his sixteenth birthday.

​

1954 In their first significant trade since moving from St. Louis, the Orioles, formerly known as the Browns, exchange outfielders with the Senators, sending Roy Sievers to Washington for Gil Conan. Sievers will spend five solid seasons in the nation's capital, making the All-Star squad twice, and Conan, playing less than two seasons in Baltimore, compiles a .266 batting average with three home runs, appearing in 155 games.

​

1960 Walter O'Malley buys the land just north of downtown Los Angeles as a new ballpark site for his transplanted Brooklyn club. The Dodger owner paid a reported $494,000 for the property at Chavez Ravine, believed to be worth $92,000 at the time.

1967 During a nationally televised celebrity charity softball game at Dodger Stadium, hard-throwing Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive big leaguers, a group that includes five future Hall of Famers. The 39-year-old right-hander's victims include Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, and Maury Wills.

​

 

1998 Long-time baseball announcer Harry Caray dies at the age of 84 after suffering a heart attack four days earlier while having Valentine's Day dinner with his wife, Dutchie. The colorful "Mayor of Rush Street" started his career in 1945 with the Cardinals and doing play-by-play for the A's, White Sox, and the Cubs during his 52 years in the broadcast booth.

​

1999 The Blue Jays trade Roger Clemens to the Yankees for Graeme Lloyd, Homer Bush, and David Wells, the author of a perfect game in May. In his first tenure with the Bronx Bombers, the' Rocket' will post a 77-36 (.681) record, compiling an ERA of 3.99 during five seasons with New York.

​

2005 The Venezuelan authorities, during a daring eight-hour police raid, free Ugueth Urbina's mother, Maura Villarreal, who spent five months of captivity surrounded by explosives to keep her from escaping from her imprisonment in a mountain camp. The kidnappers had demanded $6 million ransom from the Tigers' relief pitcher for his mom's release.

2009 After considering playing for Atlanta, a location closer to his family, Ken Griffey Jr. agrees to a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. The 39-year-old outfielder joins a list of superstars, Babe Ruth (Boston), Willie Mays (New York), and Hank Aaron (Milwaukee), to choose the city where they played with their first team as the place to end their major league career.

​

 

2009 The demolishment of the last remaining piece of Shea Stadium, the ramp to section 5, occurs at 11:25 a.m., marking the end of the New York venue where the Mets played for 44 years. The old ballpark's footprint will become a parking lot for the team's new home, the $800-million Citi Field, opening in April.

​

2011 The Orioles officially announce the signing of Vladimir Guerrero after the 36-year-old passed his physical. The team's new everyday designated hitter, who batted .300 with 29 homers and 115 RBIs with the American League Champion Rangers last season, agrees to a one-year, $8 million deal to play in Baltimore.

​

2011 Garrett Wittels goes 0-for-4 against Southeastern Louisiana, leaving the Florida International University junior two games short of Robin Ventura's Division 1 record of hitting in 58 consecutive games, established by the former major leaguer in 1987. The overall NCAA mark is 60 straight games, set by Damian Costantino, playing for Division III Salve Regina from 2001-03.

​

***********
57,799

 

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

Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On March 18 in Baseball History...

• • 1942 - Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training at Pasadena. Manager Jimmy Dykes allows the two to work out but later dismisses them.
  • 1953 - The Milwaukee Braves become the first franchise shift in baseball since 1903, when Baltimore moved to New York. The Braves have been in Boston for 77 years. Milwaukee assumes Pittsburgh's place in the Western Division for scheduling purposes and night games. The minor-league Milwaukee Brewers move to Toledo.
  • 1958 - In a move to change their image, the Dodgers announce that clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958.
  • 1984 - White Sox coach Charlie Lau, renowned hitting instructor, dies at age 50 after a long bout with cancer. Lau, whose major league average was .255, earned his fame as the Royals batting coach from 1971-78, where his star pupil was George Brett.
  • 1985 - Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos.
  • 1990 - Players and owners reach a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the 32-day lockout of spring training camps. Highlights of the deal include increasing the clubs' contributions to the players' pension fund, raising the minimum major league salary to $100,000, and a compromise on salary arbitration that leaves 17 percent of players with between two and three years of major league experience eligible.

Baseball Birthdays on March 18...

• • 1854 - Walker, Oscar
  • 1861 - Scanlan, Mort
  • 1863 - Clark, Bob
  • 1870 - Snodgrass, Chappie
  • 1874 - Callahan, Nixey
  • 1874 - Bean, Joe
  • 1882 - Myers, Joseph
  • 1888 - Higgins, Eddie
  • 1888 - Taylor, Wiley
  • 1888 - Coombs, Cecil
  • 1890 - Mee, Tommy
  • 1893 - Wrightstone, Russ
  • 1901 - Cooney, Johnny
  • 1902 - Potter, Squire
  • 1911 - Benton, Al "When big Alton Benton was struggling along with the Athletics several years ago no one suspected that he would some day pitch half an All-Star Game. But when Joe McCarthy of the Yankees chose to stifle the National League All-Stars the other twight at the Polo Grounds, he picked his own Spud Chandler and finished with Al Benton. It was a fine compliment for the large and right-handed Oklahoma farm boy. Birdie Tebbets, the highly intelligent Detroit catcher, calls Benton the best pitcher in the American League." - Grayson, Harry. The Dunkirk Evening Observer: Big Al Benton Takes Place Among Stars as Late Arrival. 16 July 1942. Page Fifteen.
  • 1916 - Fletcher, Elbie
  • 1916 - Bithorn, Hi
  • 1916 - Lake, Eddie "Lake decided he'd rather play in the minor leagues than have another season like that. Karen Bush writes, 'When the spring of 1942 came around, he flatly refused to report to the Cardinals, making the rather unusual request that he be reassigned to the minors. In fact, he said, he would go back to work in a steel mill not far from his mother's home in Oakland, if baseball didn't send him to Sacramento.' Branch Rickey reported, 'He wants to go to a Double-A club for $150 a month less than he's been getting from the Cardinals. Never knew of a case like it.' We might keep in mind that this unfolded within a relatively few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged America into war, and playing closer to home might have additional appeal as well. Lake said he wanted to play baseball and hadn't started even one game in 1941. 'That's all there is to it.'" - Baseball Historian Bill Nowlin (SABR Baseball Biography, Eddie Lake, Source
  • 1917 - Williams, Ace
  • 1918 - Mulligan, Dick
  • 1919 - White, Hal
  • 1920 - Rutner, Mickey
  • 1924 - Hamner, Garvin
  • 1925 - Hatfield, Fred
  • 1926 - Littlefield, Dick
  • 1928 - Olivo, Chi-Chi
  • 1932 - Tate, Lee
  • 1940 - Martinez, Tony
  • 1941 - Jarvis, Pat
  • 1946 - Kelly, Van
  • 1953 - Miller, Randy
  • 1955 - Murphy, Dwayne
  • 1957 - Keeton, Rickey
  • 1957 - Olmsted, Al
  • 1960 - Winters, Matt
  • 1962 - Fisher, Brian
  • 1965 - Berroa, Geronimo
  • 1967 - Edenfield, Ken
  • 1973 - Chavez, Raul
  • 1976 - Ohka, Tomo
  • 1976 - Miller, Corky
  • 1976 - Podsednik, Scott

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.​