BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

3/11
BIRTHDAYS
1870 Herm McFarland outfielder (first grand slam in AL history), born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 1935)


1930 Bobby Winkles, College Baseball Hall of Fame coach (Arizona State University) and manager (California Angels, Oakland A's), born in Tuckerman, Arkansas (d. 2020)


1945 Dock Ellis


1948 César Gerónimo

1974 Bobby Abreu outfielder, 1996-2014, 2X All-Star (Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and four other teams), born in Turmero, Aragua, Venezuela


1980 Dan Uggla


1982 Brian Anderson

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1901 John McGraw, manager of the new American League's Orioles, signs Charlie Grant, trying to pass off the black infielder as a Cherokee Indian named Tokohoma. The skipper's scheme to secretly integrate the major leagues unravels in Chicago when White Sox president Charles Comiskey objects to Baltimore's new player after recognizing the team's second baseman's true identity.

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1933 A significant earthquake during an exhibition game in L.A. sends the Cubs and Giants scurrying to second base until the tremors stop. The seismic event, which takes place along the 46-mile-long Newport-Inglewood Fault, is estimated at a magnitude of 6.3.

1933 Rogers Hornsby returns to the Cardinals as a player after being fired as the Cubs' manager last August. The 'Rajah's' return to the Redbirds, after a six-year absence, will be short-lived when he is claimed on waivers in July by the crosstown AL's Browns, who make him the skipper of the last-place club, replacing the recently-resigned Bill Killefer.

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1953 Braves' owner Lou Perini proposes a ban on any major league franchise shift to an existing minor league city until October 1st. Boston, who owns the Milwaukee minor league franchise, had invoked its territorial privilege last week to block the Browns' attempt to shift their franchise to Milwaukee.

1953 The Dodgers defeat the A's, 4-2, in the first game played in Holman Stadium, their Grapefruit League ballpark at the team's spring training complex in Vero Beach, better known as Dodgertown. Fifty-five years later, Carl Erskine, the game's starting pitcher, will return to play the national anthem on his harmonica as an 81-year-old at the club's last game at the storied facility.

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1957 Representative Emanuel Celler, chair of a congressional committee investigating baseball, calls Commissioner Ford Frick a czar. The New York congressman takes exception when the baseball boss cautions the major league owners about commenting on the Supreme Court's recent decision concerning pro football coming under antitrust rules.

1958 American League president Will Harridge informs the circuit's umpires that wearing a helmet is mandatory for batters this season, reinforcing the mandate passed by the owners' 7-1 vote at their December meeting in Colorado Springs. The Red Sox dissent, knowing their slugger Ted Williams adamantly opposes wearing headgear, asserting the protective equipment will interfere with their hitters' timing.

1961 At Palm Springs, former president Dwight Eisenhower is a no-show at the Angels' first-ever exhibition game, an 8-3 victory over the Cubs. Ike had been scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch but decided to go fishing instead.

1988 California Angels manager Gene Mauch, citing health issues, takes a leave of absence and is replaced by Cookie Rojas. The Halos' skipper will officially announce his retirement in two weeks, leaving the game with a managerial record of 1,902 wins and 2,037 losses during his 26-year tenure in the dugout with the Phillies, Expos, Twins, and California.

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2001 Preston Wilson, the franchise's first 30-30 player, signs a $32 million five-year contract with Florida. The 26-year-old Marlin center fielder, the stepson and nephew of former major leaguer Mookie Wilson, was obtained from the Mets in the Mike Piazza deal in 1998.


2002 The Boston replaces Joe Kerrigan, the once-popular skipper fired last week, with Grady Little, who will manage the team for two years, compiling a 188-136 (.580) record and making one appearance in the postseason as the AL wild card. The Red Sox do not renew their new manager's contract when he becomes the target of fans' angst for not replacing Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS, a contest the team loses in the eleventh on Aaron Boone's walk-off home run.

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2004 The first contest played at Petco Park, the Padres' new home, establishes the record for the best-attended game in college baseball history when 40,106 fans watch Tony Gwynn's San Diego State Aztecs beat the University of Hawaii, 4-0. The previous mark of 27,673 was established in 2002 when state rivals LSU and Tulane met in New Orleans's Superdome.

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2006 First baseman Nick Johnson (.289, 15, 74) and the Nationals agree to a $16.5 million, three-year contract extension. The 27-year-old first baseman, who signed a $3.2 million, one-year deal in January to avoid arbitration, has often been injured since making his big league debut with the Yankees five years ago.

2010 Todd Helton and the Rockies agree to a $9.9 million, two-year contract extension that takes the first baseman through the 2013 season. The 38-year-old fan favorite, who has played his entire career in Colorado, hit .325 with 15 home runs, driving in 86 runs last season after undergoing back surgery at the end of the 2008 season.

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

• • 1901 - The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Baltimore manager John McGraw has signed a Cherokee Indian named Tokohoma. It is really black second baseman Charlie Grant, who McGraw is trying to pass off as an Indian, but the ruse does not work.
  • 1953 - Lou Perini, the owner of the Braves, proposes a ban on the move of any major-league franchise to that of a minor-league city until October 1.
  • 1958 - Starting this season, A.L. batters will be required to wear batting helmets.
  • 1974 - With Hank Aaron needing only one home run to tie Babe Ruth's career record (714), Atlanta plans to save the event for a home audience by benching him on the road. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn plans otherwise, ordering the Braves to start Aaron in at least two of the team's three season-opening games in Cincinnati.
  • 1981 - Johnny Mize and Rube Foster are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Mize hit .312 with 359 home runs in 15 major-league seasons for the Cardinals and Giants, while Foster was a star Negro League pitcher, manager, and Negro League organizer in the first quarter of the 20th century.
  • 1988 - Angels manager Gene Mauch, 62, takes a leave of absence for health reasons and is replaced by Cookie Rojas. Mauch will announce his retirement on March 27.

Baseball Birthdays on March 11...

• • 1854 - Lawlor, Mike
  • 1859 - O'Neil, Ed
  • 1869 - Colliflower, Harry
  • 1870 - McFarland, Herm
  • 1874 - Frank, Fred
  • 1874 - Swaim, Cy
  • 1877 - Gibson, Norwood
  • 1878 - Pounds, Bill
  • 1879 - Stewart, Joe
  • 1885 - Dunn, Joe
  • 1886 - Link, Fred
  • 1900 - Pence, Rusty
  • 1903 - Ruble, Art
  • 1903 - Ross, Buster
  • 1905 - Mellana, Joe
  • 1906 - Lawrence, Bill
  • 1911 - Bucher, Jim
  • 1918 - Fernandes, Ed
  • 1933 - Spring, Jack
  • 1945 - Ellis, Dock "The Pirates were clinging to their 1-0 lead. Dock (Ellis) was staring at the scoreboard when he realized he'd pitched hitless ball for seven innings. He smacked (Dave) Cash on the arm. 'Hey, look,' said Dock, pointing at the scoreboard. 'I've got a no-no going!' Cash gave him a blank look. 'A no-no?' asked Cash. He'd never heard the term before. But Cash wanted to keep the pitcher loose and happy, so he smiled and said nothing." - High Times Magazine. August 1987. Page 32
  • 1948 - Geronimo, Cesar "My dream as a boy always had been to play alongside Mickey Mantle. The Yankees as a team were my heroes, but at this minute (1976 World Series), I would not want to trade uniforms." - Cesar Geronimo
  • 1955 - Landreth, Larry
  • 1958 - Ray, Larry
  • 1959 - Bradley, Phil
  • 1959 - Hensley, Chuck
  • 1961 - Oelkers, Bryan
  • 1966 - Reed, Steve
  • 1967 - Hosey, Dwayne
  • 1968 - Finnvold, Gar
  • 1970 - Castellano, Pedro
  • 1971 - Lee, Sang-Hoon
  • 1971 - Henderson, Rod
  • 1972 - Torres, Salomon
  • 1974 - Abreu, Bobby "That's my dream (winning a batting title). I pride myself on average, not home runs. I'm never going to try to hit home runs because that's just not me." - Bobby Abreu in Baseball Digest (June 2002)

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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3/12
BIRTHDAYS
1942 Jimmy Wynn outfielder (MLB All Star 1967, 74, 75; Houston Astros, LA Dodgers), born in Hamilton, Ohio (d. 2020)


1956 Dale Murphy slugger (NL MVP 1982–83; Silver Slugger Award 1982–85; Gold Glove Award 1982–86; 7 x MLB All-Star; NL HR leader 1984, 85; NL; Atlanta Braves), born in Portland, Oregon


1962 Darryl Strawberry MLB right fielder (8-time All Star), born in Los Angeles, California


1965 Shawn Gilbert (New York Mets), born in Camden, New Jersey

1965 Steve Finley outfielder (San Diego Padres), born in Union City Tennessee


1966 Alecia Stephenson, ss (Olympics 1996), born in Vancouver, British Columbia


1969 Karen Snelgrove, softball pitcher (Olympics 1996), born in London, Ontario


1971 Greg Hansell, pitcher (Minnesota Twins), born in Bellflower, California

1971 Raul Mondesi, MLB outfielder (LA Dodgers), born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic

1979 David Williams, American MLB baseball pitcher, 2001-07 (Pittsburgh Pirates, and 2 other teams), born in Anchorage, Alaska

1982 Zach Miner, American baseball player

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1903 After the club ceases operations in the Charm City, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase the original American League team in Baltimore, receiving approval from 15 of 16 major league owners to move the team to New York to play as the Highlanders. Giants owner John T. Brush cast the dissenting vote, believing the new club, known as the Yankees starting in 1913, will compete for fans in the Big Apple.

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1971 The Cubs catcher Randy Hundley suffers a badly sprained knee and will play only nine games this season. In 1968, the venerable backstop caught 160 games for Chicago, starting 156 of those contests, playing every inning in 146 games.

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1980 The BBWAA elects National League outfielder Chuck Klein, who compiled a .320 batting average during his 17-year career, and former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey to the Hall of Fame. Yawkey becomes the first person selected who was not a player, manager, or general manager.

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1982 Ballantine Books publishes the first of seven annual Bill James Abstracts, bringing the author into the national spotlight for his statistical insight into the game. The sabermetrician's initial self-published efforts, written on the night shift as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery, introduce baseball fans to new ways of measuring a player's ability with stats such as such Runs Created.

 

1991 Jim Palmer's attempted comeback at 45 ends when the newly elected Hall of Famer tears his hamstring warming up before an exhibition appearance against Boston. The Orioles right-hander, who hadn't thrown a major league pitch in seven seasons, keeps his 268-152 and 2.86 ERA intact, which he accomplished during a 19-year career on the mound.

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2001 Richard Hidalgo signs the third-richest contract in Astro history with a four-year $32-million deal with the club. The outfielder's pact is less than teammates Jeff Bagwell's $85 million (5 years) and Craig Biggio's $33 million (4 years).

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2003 The second exhibition season bench-clearing brawl this week occurs when a raging Mike Piazza charges the mound after being hit by a pitch thrown by Guillermo Mota, who makes it to the dugout without being caught. The incident may be a follow-up to a similar event last spring when a shoving match between the two players resulted when the Mets' All-Star catcher waited for Mota and grabbed the Dodger reliever's jersey as he was coming off the field in the eighth inning of the game.

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2006 Over 15,000 Twins fans attend a memorial service at the Metrodome to pay their final respects to Kirby Puckett, who died unexpectedly, at 45, after suffering a stroke last week. During the emotional ceremony, former teammates and fellow Hall of Famer Cal Ripken lighten the mood by sharing humorous anecdotes about the beloved Minnesota outfielder with the crowd.

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2008 The benches clear in a rare spring training brawl when Shelley Duncan slides into second base, with his spikes aimed at Rays infielder Akinori Iwamura after being thrown out by a wide margin. The incident was precipitated by Tampa Bay's aggressive play four days ago, which resulted in a home-plate collision that injured Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli.

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2010 In the opener of a scheduled three-game exhibition series in Taiwan, the Dodgers are defeated by an All-Star squad from the Chinese Professional League (CPBL) at Taipei's Tienmu Baseball Stadium, 5-3. The road trip is the team's second journey to the Chinese island, having finished with one win and two losses during a trio of spring training games in 1993.

2015 Will Ferrell, hoping to raise awareness of organizations trying to cure cancer, plays nine positions while appearing for ten teams in five Cactus League exhibition games. The comedian's effort in Arizona, detailed in an upcoming HBO documentary, is severely criticized by former NFL coach and broadcasting legend John Madden, who calls the stunt disrespectful and insulting to the game of baseball.

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62,295

 

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 12 in Baseball History...

• • 1894 - Pittsburgh issues free season tickets for ladies, good for Tuesday and Friday games.
  • 1901 - Ground is broken for Boston's first American League ballpark, the Huntington Avenue Grounds.
  • 1903 - The New York Highlanders (later the Yankees) are officially approved as members of the American League.
  • 1951 - Commissioner Happy Chandler loses his fight to stay in office by a 9-7 vote.
  • 1980 - Slugger Chuck Klein and former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Yawkey is the first club owner selected who never served as a player, manager, or general manager.

Baseball Birthdays on March 12...

• • 1857 - Locke, Marshall
  • 1860 - Walker, Walt
  • 1865 - Knell, Phil
  • 1865 - Moolic, George
  • 1866 - Lyons, Denny
  • 1870 - Hulen, Billy
  • 1874 - Curley, Doc
  • 1880 - Towne, Babe
  • 1882 - Schneiberg, Frank
  • 1882 - Beall, Johnny
  • 1884 - Hynes, Pat
  • 1884 - McAvoy, George
  • 1885 - Criss, Dode
  • 1885 - Johnson, Charlie
  • 1886 - Boucher, Medric
  • 1887 - Doane, Walt
  • 1887 - Mattick, Wally
  • 1891 - Little, Jack
  • 1892 - Maisel, George
  • 1892 - James, Bill
  • 1893 - Engel, Joe
  • 1893 - Gaston, Alex
  • 1906 - Tinning, Bud
  • 1906 - Saunders, Rusty
  • 1908 - Barr, Bob
  • 1908 - Pool, Harlin
  • 1914 - Huber, Otto
  • 1916 - Monteagudo, Rene
  • 1930 - Law, Vern"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, and the lesson afterwards." - Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Vern Law (David Nathan, The McFarland Baseball Quotations Dictionary,
  • 1931 - Oertel, Chuck
  • 1936 - Barker, Ray
  • 1939 - Callison, Johnny
  • 1942 - Wynn, Jimmy "It was a great sign of respect. Anytime you get your number retired, it's almost like going into the Hall of Fame. To have my number up there with the best players ever to play in Houston is number one in my life." - Jimmy Wynn (AP Wire, June 25, 2005
  • 1944 - Moock, Joe
  • 1945 - Pina, Horacio
  • 1945 - O'Riley, Don
  • 1947 - Butler, Bill
  • 1948 - Garrett, Greg
  • 1948 - Watkins, Bob
  • 1954 - Rothschild, Larry
  • 1955 - Jones, Ruppert
  • 1956 - Murphy, Dale "Nolan Ryan said: 'I can't imagine Joe DiMaggio was a better all-around player than Dale Murphy.' Hank Aaron added: 'Dale is probably the best all-around player in either league, probably the most valuable commodity in baseball right now.' It continued after his '83 excellence, too. 'He's the best I've ever seen, and I've seen Willie Mays,' said Chicago Cus pitching coach Billy Connors. 'I've seen Murphy win games every way there is, a base hit in the ninth, a home run, a great catch, beating the throw to first on a double play. I've never seen anything like him before in my life.'" - Author Jack Wilkinson in Game of My Life Atlanta Braves: Memorable Stories of Braves Baseball
  • 1962 - Strawberry, Darryl
  • 1965 - Gilbert, Shawn
  • 1965 - Finley, Steve
  • 1966 - Ignasiak, Mike
  • 1971 - Hansell, Greg
  • 1971 - Mondesi, Raul
  • 1972 - Arias, George
  • 1973 - Lee, David
  • 1974 - Dingman, Craig
  • 1979 - Williams, Dave

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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