BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

3/7
BIRTHDAYS
1923 Bobo Holloman pitcher (no-hitter on MLB debut 1953; St. Louis Browns), born in Thomaston, Georgia (d. 1987)


1950 J.R. Richard pitcher (MLB All Star 1980; NL ERA leader 1979; NL strikeout leader 1978, 79; Houston Astros), born in Vienna, Louisiana (d. 2021)


Joe Carter 1960 MLB outfielder (MLB All-Star 1991–94, 96; World Series 1992, 93; Silver Slugger Award 1991, 92; Toronto Blue Jays), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


1965 Jack Armstrong player, born in Englewood, New Jersey


1968 Jeff Kent infielder (NY Mets, Giants), born in Bellflower, California


1983 Taylor Tankersley player, born in Missoula, Montana

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1903 The Tigers trade second baseman Kid Gleason to the Giants for Heinie Smith, the team's part-time manager. New York immediately sends its newest infielder to the Phillies.

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1914 In the last inning of an intrasquad exhibition game of the International League's Baltimore Orioles, the recently-signed George Herman Ruth Jr. hits his first professional home run, a 400-foot shot at the Cape Fear Fairgrounds in Fayetteville. A state marker claims the moniker 'Babe' was given to the 19-year-old in this North Carolina city when his teammates teased him about being adopted by manager Jack Dunn, who became his parent to keep the St. Mary student on the club.

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1923 Kenesaw Mountain Landis turns down the American Legion's request to discontinue major league morning games on Memorial Day. Although disappointed by the decision, the organization will award the baseball commissioner its Distinguished Service Medal in 1929.

1924 In Orlando (FL), Reds' coach Jack Hendricks immediately replaces manager Pat Moran, who dies of Bright's disease during spring training. The late 48-year-old Cincinnati skipper, who also piloted the Phillies, compiled a 748-586 (.561) record, capturing two pennants and a world championship during his nine-year tenure in the dugout.

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1941 Pee Wee Reese and Ducky Medwick become the first players to don protective headgear when wearing plastic inserts inside their caps during a spring exhibition game. The Dodger teammates missed weeks of playing time after being beaned by a pitch during the 1940 season.

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1955 Ford Frick announces he favors the legalization of the spitter, claiming it is "a great pitch and one of the easiest to throw." The commissioner believes there is nothing dangerous about the banned pitch, and making it legal again would slow down baseball's increasing offensive statistics.

1956 The major league player representatives accept the owners' position on the expiring World Series and All-Star game television deal and the proposed minimum salary structure, which remains at $6,000. The players are still seeking workman's compensation coverage by all the clubs.

1979 The Hall of Fame's Special Veterans Committee selects former center fielder Hack Wilson, who compiled a .307 batting average playing mostly for the Giants and the Cubs during his 12-year major league career. The committee also chooses former National League president Warren Giles, who spent 18 years in the post, for induction in Cooperstown this summer.

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1995 The Veterans Committee selects former players Richie Ashburn, Vic Willis, Leon Day, and past president of the National League, William Hulbert, for induction into the Hall of Fame. Day, a Negro League right-hander, who played in Baltimore with the Black Sox and the Elite Giants and the Brooklyn and Newark Eagles, will be dead of a heart attack in less than a week after hearing the good news.

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2001 Bud Selig upholds the January 14th Blue Jay and White Sox trade, which sent Toronto pitchers David Wells and Matt DeWitt to the White Sox in exchange for pitchers Mike Sirotka, Kevin Beirne, and Mike Williams and outfielder Brian Simmons. Although further medical examinations will determine Mike Sirotka to be 'damaged goods' before the deal, the commissioner used a 'buyers beware' policy, stating the individual club must take responsibility for the info initially used in making the transaction.

2006 In their World Baseball Classic debut, Team USA blanks Mexico, 2-0. Home runs by Derrek Lee and Chipper Jones, along with Jake Peavy and a bevy of relievers combining to throw a four-hitter, prove to be the difference as the United States defeats their neighbors from south of the border.

2008 Danny Sandoval, with a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning off reliever Colter Bean, spoils the Braves' bid for a spring training combined no-hitter. Atlanta uses seven hurlers, beating the Indians at Winter Haven 4-1.

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2008 The Cape Cod Times reports MLB has threatened to withhold their annual grant from the Cape Cod League if six teams in the ten-team circuit continue to use nicknames of big-league without purchasing uniforms and souvenir merchandise from licensed vendors. The deadline has been extended until March 21 to give league officials more time to resolve the more expensive edict.

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On March 7 in Baseball History...

• • 1903 - In the first trade under the A.L./N.L. peace treaty, the Giants send their 1902 part-time manager Heinie Smith to Detroit for second baseman Kid Gleason, who is immediately moved to Philadelphia, where he will end a 20-year playing career.
    
  • 1923 - The New England American Legion appeals to Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to discontinue morning games on Memorial Day. The request is turned down.
    
  • 1924 - Reds manager Pat Moran dies of Bright's Disease and is replaced within minutes by coach Jack Hendricks. Moran had become ill on March 1 on a train to spring training in Orlando, Florida, but did not see a physician for three days. By then, his liver and kidneys had all but ceased to function.
    
  • 1979 - The Special Veterans Committee selects Warren Giles and slugger Hack Wilson for the Hall of Fame. Wilson was a .307 lifetime hitter in a troubled 12-year career, but he had one of the greatest seasons of all time for the Cubs in 1930 with 56 home runs, 190 RBIs, a .356 batting average, and a .723 slugging percentage. Giles was N.L. president from 1951 to 1969.

Baseball Birthdays on March 7...

• • 1879 - Clark, Ginger
  • 1881 - Sellers, Rube
  • 1881 - Scanlan, Doc
  • 1881 - Fallon, Charlie
  • 1884 - Willett, Ed
  • 1888 - Griner, Dan
  • 1890 - Danforth, Dave
  • 1891 - Wisterzil, Tex
  • 1894 - Gleich, Frank
  • 1894 - Jacobson, Merwin
  • 1901 - Loftus, Dick
  • 1910 - Archer, Fred
  • 1910 - McFarland, Howie
  • 1914 - Gallagher, Joe
  • 1915 - Campbell, Soup
  • 1915 - Reninger, Jim
  • 1919 - Walsh, Junior
  • 1921 - Fusselman, Les
  • 1925 - Holloman, Bobo "Some people would call him (Bobo Holloman) a screwball I guess, but I'm mighty happy that he pestered me into giving him his chance to start that game (the no-hitter he threw on May 6, 1953). He proved to me that he's just about as good as he thinks he is." - Marion, Marty. St. Louis Browns Managers (1952-1953). St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • 1929 - Wilson, Red
  • 1930 - Acker, Tom "The pitching has been most disappointing to date, but with Tom Acker, a fireballing right hander who Schulz had at Tulsa last summer, due to join the club in Atlanta, a big improvement is expected." - Staff Writer Raymond Johnson in The Tennessean (04/18/1955, Acker Should Bolster Disappointing Mound Staff,
  • 1931 - Rand, Dick
  • 1933 - Bouchee, Ed
  • 1936 - Cisco, Galen
  • 1941 - Clark, Glen
  • 1947 - Howarth, Jim
  • 1950 - Richard, J.R. "I see where (J.R.) Richard claims he still throws ninety miles an hour. Maybe he does, providing he's throwing out of a car going sixty." - Bill 'Spaceman' Lee
  • 1951 - Burroughs, Jeff "Three years ago Ted Williams banished Jeff Burroughs to the minors, telling the blonde slugger to heat his bat and cool his head. Burroughs, then 20, had a temper that exceeded his batting average. During his tantrums he often tossed bats and helmets and kicked water coolers. When Williams sent Burroughs to Denver of the American Association, the youngster was batting .185, with just one home run and a mess of strikeouts. He finished the season in the minors batting .303 and hitting 24 homers. And it was no secret he didn't care for Williams, the Hall of Famer who then managed the Texas Rangers. But Burroughs learned and now he praises Williams for helping him become the American League's Most Valuable Player for 1974. 'We had our differences,' Burroughs said of his former manager who convinced Bob Short to sign the youngster as the team's No. 1 draft choice in 1969. 'But I have to say that Ted Williams taught me to think at the plate a little more — that hitting isn't just walking up there and taking three swipes.'" - The Valley Morning News. UPI
  • 1953 - Stein, Randy
  • 1954 - Armstrong, Mike
  • 1954 - Nyman, Nyls
  • 1958 - Hall, Albert
  • 1960 - Carter, Joe
  • 1962 - Cano, Jose
  • 1962 - Gonzalez, German
  • 1963 - Miller, Keith
  • 1964 - Edwards, Wayne
  • 1965 - Armstrong, Jack
  • 1966 - Gozzo, Mauro
  • 1968 - Boucher, Denis
  • 1968 - Kent, Jeff

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.​

 

3/8
BIRTHDAYS
1922 Carl Furillo, Brooklyn Dodger (NL Batting Champ 1953)


1930 Bob Grim, pitcher (d. 1996)


1934 Marv Breeding (d. 2006)


(1939-2019) Jim Bouton l Pitcher, author and broadcaster (NY Yankees, MLB All Star 1968, "Ball Four"), born in Newark, New Jersey


1942 Dick Allen (7 × MLB All-Star; NL Rookie of the Year 1964, Philadelphia Phillies; AL MVP 1972, Chicago White Sox), born in Wampum, Pennsylvania (d. 2020) [1]


1953 Don Werner catcher, 1975-82 (Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers), and minor/major league coach, born in Appleton, Wisconsin


1953 Jim Rice Hall of Fame left fielder (AL MVP 1978; 8 x MLB All Star; AL HR leader 1977, 78, 83; Boston Red Sox), born in Anderson, South Carolina


1957 Bob Stoddard


1958 Nick Capra
1964 Lance McCullers
1967 Joel Johnston
1968 Jim Dougherty
1973 Justin Thompson
1974 Mike Moriarty
1976 Juan Encarnacion
1983 Mark Worrell

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1900 The National League decides to downsize to eight teams for the upcoming season by eliminating the circuit's franchises in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington. The remaining eight cities will stay the same for more than half a century until the Braves leave Boston, moving to Milwaukee in 1953.

1913 John Powers, the founder of last year's failed mid-western Columbian League, organizes the Federal League in Indianapolis. The upstart league will operate independently with franchises in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, avoiding agreement with the National Commission.

1923 Commissioner Landis allows pitcher Rube Benton to return to the major leagues despite the left-hander admitting to having prior knowledge of the 1919 World Series fix. The 32-year-old southpaw, who spent 6+ seasons with the Giants before sitting out the 1922 campaign, returns to the Reds for three years, compiling a 30-29 record during his second tour with the team.

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1930 Babe Ruth inks a two-year deal for $160,000 with the Yankees, keeping him the highest-paid player of all time. The team's general manager Ed Barrow predicts at the time that "No one will ever be paid more."

1941 'Losing Pitcher' Hugh Mulcahy of the Phillies becomes the first major league player drafted into the Armed Forces. The newest member of the 101st Artillery at Cape Cod's Camp Edwards had lost 22 games last season and 20 in 1938 to lead the National League in defeats both years.

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1946 Tucson's Hi Corbett Field hosts the first spring training game played in Arizona. The Indians, behind the pitching of Bob Lemon, beat the Giants, 3-1, in the inaugural Cactus League contest.

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1947 In front of 5,000 fans at Havana's new Gran Estadio de La Habana, the Yankees lose to the Dodgers in extra innings, 1-0, with Snuffy Stirnweiss's tenth-inning single accounting for the Bronx Bombers' only hit. Pete Reiser's long double on a 3-2 pitch off Spec Shea scores Carl Furillo, giving Brooklyn the walk-off victory in Cuba.

Pete & Carl​

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1966 Before an intrasquad contest in St. Petersburg in a pregame ceremony, the Mets announce the election of their former manager Casey Stengel to the Hall of Fame. The 75-year-old 'Old Perfessor' benefitted from a new rule by the Baseball Writers Committee on Veterans that makes any manager, umpire, or executive 65 or older eligible for induction six months after retiring, bypassing the traditional five-year wait rule for players.

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2001 In a press release, the Orioles announce Albert Belle "has been found to be disabled and unable to perform as a Major League baseball player," due to a degenerative right hip. The Orioles will place the 34-year-old outfielder on the 60-day disabled list, thus beginning the process which conforms to the procedure set forth by Major League Baseball in the case of a disabling and permanent injury to a player.

2006 A Canadian team made up mostly of minor leaguers stuns the baseball world by beating a highly-favored Team USA in the first round of the WBC, 8-6. Thanks to Adam Stern's inside-the-park homer, four RBIs, and a pair of sensational catches, with southpaw Adam Loewen, who keeps the American all-stars scoreless for 3.2 innings, helping the Canadians post their most significant victory in its national history of baseball.

2008 In hopes of a more lucrative deal in the future, Ryan Zimmerman inks a new one-year contract to play infield with the Nationals. After the third baseman homers and drives in four runs during a 12-10 split-squad victory over the Astros, he agrees to a $465,000 deal, slightly improving his present salary.

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2011 The MLB names Kim Ng as their Senior Vice-President of baseball operations, making her the highest-ranking woman in the major leagues. The Dodger Assistant General Manager, a post she held since 2001, will report to Joe Torre, who had managed in LA during the last three years of her tenure.

 

2013 Allen Craig (.307, 22, 92) and the Cardinals agree to a five-year, $31 million contract extension valued at $43 million over six seasons. The 28-year-old first baseman played a vital role in the 2011 St. Louis World Championship, contributing three go-ahead RBIs, including a clutch eighth-inning line drive in Game 6 that sparked the start of an unforgettable Redbirds' rally.

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2016 A meeting today (3/08) at 3:08 p.m at Clemens Field, with a .308 gate and a 308 right-field foul pole, a .309 suite, and a monument depicting a .309 batting average, will help solve a mystery surrounding a not so well-known resident, former National League first baseman Jake Beckley. The purpose of the gathering is to decide which number to use in commemorating the Hall of Fame infielder's batting average, .308 as listed by Baseball Reference.com and many other resources or the .309, engraved on his plaque at Cooperstown.

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2017 "When Moses Fleetwood Walker walked onto a field in Toledo, he did more than play a game. He was more than just an athlete. He did more than throw, catch, or hit. That day and every day he played, he started a conversation." - CRAIG BROWN, an adjunct professor at Kent State University.
By a vote of 93-1, the Ohio House passes Bill 59, setting aside October 7 each year in honor of Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first-openly African American to play under contract in the major leagues. In 1884, the bare-handed backstop caught for the American Association's Toledo Blue Stockings until a rib injury and the team's excessive payroll led to his release late in the season.

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Today in Baseball History
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Search archives: Historical Events Baseball Birthdays Baseball Deaths
On March 8 in Baseball History...

• • 1900 - In New York, the N.L. meets, voting to shrink to eight teams. They pay the Baltimore owners $30,000 for their franchise, with Charles Ebbets and Ned Hanlon reserving the right to sell the players. Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington receive $10,000 each, with Louisville owner Barney Dreyfuss sending most of his players to his Pittsburgh team. The circuit will remain the same until the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee in 1953.
    
  • 1913 - The Federal League is organized as a six-team outlaw circuit and elects John T. Powers president. It will play 120 games at a level equivalent to the lower minor leagues, but will enhance its status considerably in 1914 to challenge the major leagues.
    
  • 1923 - Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis allows former Giants left-handed pitcher Rube Benton to return to the N.L.. Benton had admitted prior knowledge of the 1919 World Series fix, but he remained in baseball, winning 22 for St. Paul (American Association). N.L. President John Heydler disagrees with Landis, calling Benton undesirable, but does not stop the Reds from signing him. Benton, 35, will be 14-10 for the second-place Reds.
    
  • 1930 - Babe Ruth signs a two-year contract for $160,000 with New York. At $80,000 per year, he is the highest paid player of all time as of 1930.
    
  • 1966 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee waives election rules and inducts Casey Stengel, recently retired manager of the Mets.
    
  • 1985 - Dave Stieb, the ace of the Toronto staff for the past five seasons, signs an 11-year contract that could be worth up to $25 million with deferred payments and incentives. He would pitch only another six full seasons.

Baseball Birthdays on March 8...

• • 1857 - Annis, Bill
  • 1869 - Hughey, Jim
  • 1875 - Brush, Bob
  • 1879 - Clarke, Josh
  • 1882 - Lord, Harry
  • 1891 - O'Mara, Ollie
  • 1893 - Francis, Ray
  • 1895 - Bentley, Jack
  • 1896 - Clarke, Lefty
  • 1898 - Bedgood, Phil
  • 1909 - Fox, Pete
  • 1912 - Mueller, Ray
  • 1917 - Salkeld, Bill
  • 1922 - Furillo, Carl "Carrots might be good for my eyes, but they won't straighten out the curveball." - Furillo, Carl. Southpaws and Sunday Punches: And Other Sporting Expressions. Ammer, Christine. Author. Plume Publishing.
  • 1922 - Gionfriddo, Al
  • 1924 - Atwell, Toby
  • 1926 - Teed, Dick
  • 1930 - Grim, Bob
  • 1934 - Hunter, Willard
  • 1934 - Breeding, Marv
  • 1937 - Small, Jim
  • 1939 - Bouton, Jim "Amphetamines improved my performance about five percent. Unfortunately, in my particular case that wasn't enough." - Bouton, Jim. Season of Ghosts: The '86 Mets and the Red Sox. Burman, Howard. McFarland & Company. 18 December 2012. Page 20.
  • 1942 - Allen, Dick "Now I know why they boo Richie all the time. When he hits a home run, there's no souvenir." - Willie Stargell (after Allen's home run cleared the left-center field roof of Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium) in Baseball Digest
  • 1942 - Gerberman, George
  • 1948 - Staton, Joe
  • 1949 - Jimenez, Juan
  • 1953 - Rice, Jim "He (Jim Rice) has the right attitude, but I suspect he's not going to get as much opportunity. He had six-hundred seventy-seven (677) times at-bat last year. That's amazing. They'll pitch to him a little differently this time." - Ted Williams
  • 1953 - Werner, Don
  • 1954 - Remmerswaal, Win
  • 1955 - Nastu, Philip
  • 1957 - Stoddard, Bob
  • 1957 - Butcher, John
  • 1958 - Capra, Nick
  • 1960 - Hagen, Kevin
  • 1961 - Salas, Mark
  • 1964 - McCullers, Lance
  • 1967 - Johnston, Joel
  • 1968 - Dougherty, Jim
  • 1973 - Thompson, Justin
  • 1973 - Lukasiewicz, Mark
  • 1975 - Pena, Jesus
  • 1976 - Encarnacion, Juan
  • 1976 - Freel, Ryan

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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