BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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3/15
BIRTHDAYS
1946 Bobby Bonds outfielder, 1968-81, 3x All-Star, 3x Golden Glove (San Francisco Giants, 1968-74 and 7 other teams), father of Barry Bonds, born in Riverside, California (d. 2003)


1959 Harold Baines HOF outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star; Chicago WS, Texas Rangers; Oakland A's, Baltimore Orioles) and coach (World Series 2005 Chicago WS), born in Easton Maryland


1974 Robert Fick


1979 Kevin Youkilis


1980 Freddie Bynum


1982 Rafael Pérez

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+
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1869 The Cincinnati Red Stockings become the sport's first professional team when the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) permits compensated players to participate this season. English-born Harry Wright puts together a ten-man team, all on salary through November, that posts a 57–0 record, marking the only perfect season in professional baseball history.

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1945 Former minor leaguer Bert Shepard, who had his right leg amputated after the Germans gunned down his fighter plane east of Hamburg on his 34th mission as a WW II P-38 fighter pilot, begins a successful tryout with the Senators. Although the southpaw will pitch in only one game for Washington, the retired Army Air Force pilot will hurl an impressive five and one-third innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox in August, striking out the first batter he faces and gives up just three hits.

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1960 The floundering Southern Association announces the New Orleans Pelicans, for the first time since 1901, will not be part of the Double-A circuit. After a two-year absence, the Little Rock Travelers rejoins the league, replacing the Crescent City club, playing two seasons before the loop disbands after completing the 1961 campaign.

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1971 Bernice Gera files a civil rights suit against MLB when her contract to umpire in the New York-Penn League becomes void after six days without an explanation. In an eventual landmark 5-2 decision, the New York Court of Appeals will uphold a previous court's ruling, agreeing with the 39-year-old housewife's contention that she had been discriminated against unlawfully.

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1974 In Yuma (AZ), Ron Bryant, a 24-game winner for the Giants last year, is hurt in a pool accident during spring training. The promising southpaw's record will drop to 3-15 this season, and the Redlands, California native's career will end in 1975 after a brief 0-1 stint with St. Louis.

 

1975 The Dodgers sign their once arch-nemesis Juan Marichal as a free agent. After two-regular season outings that include a loss to Cincinnati, the former San Francisco superstar and future Hall of Famer will retire in mid-April.

Roseboro and Marichal

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1977 The A's send Phil Garner, Chris Batton, and Tommy Helms to the Pirates for Tony Armas, Mitchell Page, and four pitchers, including Doc Medich and Dave Giusti. Pittsburgh's acquisition of infielder Phil Garner, the key player in the nine-player spring training swap, will move a very disappointed Bill Robinson back into a utility role after working diligently to get ready to be the team's everyday third baseman.

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1999 The Yankees name Don Zimmer as the club's interim manager while Joe Torre receives prostate cancer treatments. During his managerial stints with San Diego, Boston, Texas, and Chicago, the bench coach compiled an 885-858 (.508) record.

Torre & Zimmer

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2000 Six Red Sox pitchers combine for a perfect game in a spring training contest, beating the Blue Jays in Fort Myers, 5-0. Boston starter Pedro Martinez pitched the first three innings, Fernando De La Cruz tossed the next two frames, with Dan Smith, Rheal Cormier, Rich Garces, and Rod Beck all going one inning apiece.

 

2008 In front of 12,224 fans, a near-sellout at the new Olympic venue in Beijing, the Dodgers and the Padres played to a 3-3 tie in the first major league game ever played in mainland China. In the seventh inning, the crowd hears "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," but not knowing the lyrics, listens without singing.

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2008 Five days after unilaterally renewing his contract for the upcoming season, the Pirates sign Ian Snell (9-12, 3.76) to a three-year deal reported to be worth $8 million. The 26-year-old right-hander, eligible for salary arbitration after the 2009 season, has compiled a 24-26 record with the struggling ball club over the past three seasons.

2012 The website Baseball-Reference.com opts to leave a blank space next to 2011 on its National League MVP list instead of identifying Ryan Braun as the award's winner. The Brewers outfielder, who received a 50-game suspension scheduled to the start of the 2012 season, became the first player to successfully challenge a drug test result when an arbitration panel overturned the ruling due to the improper handling of the specimen taken last Fall.

2014 The Yankees begin a two-game spring training series against the Marlins at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama to honor Mariano Rivera's legacy, a native of the nearby fishing village of Puerto Caimito. The contests are the first to be played in the isthmus nation by major league teams since the Bronx Bombers faced the Dodgers in exhibition games in 1947.

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On March 15 in Baseball History...

• • 1945 - With wartime travel restrictions still in effect, the Dodgers open spring training at Bear Mountain, New York with 15 players in camp. Seven teams � the Browns, Tigers, Reds, Indians, Cubs, Pirates and White Sox � are training in Indiana, the most of any state. The Red Sox are at Tufts College while the Braves are prepping at the Choate School in Connecticut.
    
  • 1945 - Bert Shepard, a one-legged veteran of the war, tries out as a pitcher for the Senators (and subsequently appears in a league game). The symbol of wartime baseball, outfielder Pete Gray of the Browns, will field and bat with only one arm.
    
  • 1975 - The Dodgers sign free-agent pitcher Juan Marichal. After two poor outings, Marichal will retire on April 17, leaving a career record of 243-142, 52 shutouts, and a 2.89 ERA.
    
  • 1977 - The Pirates trade outfielders Tony Armas and Mitchell Page, and four pitchers, including Rick Langford, to the A's for second baseman Phil Garner, infielder Tommy Helms, and pitcher Chris Batton.
    
  • 1978 - The A's trade Vida Blue to the Giants for seven players and an estimated $390,000 in cash.

Baseball Birthdays on March 15...

• • 1856 - McDermott, Sandy
  • 1860 - Latham, Arlie
  • 1861 - Wise, Bill
  • 1868 - Coughlin, Roscoe
  • 1870 - Casey, Doc
  • 1872 - Flynn, Mike
  • 1873 - Miller, Ralph
  • 1876 - Hallman, Bill
  • 1879 - Disch, George
  • 1885 - Peters, Rube
  • 1889 - Mullen, Charlie
  • 1890 - Mollenkamp, Fred
  • 1898 - Ryan, Rosy "Curve pitching is very popular on this club. Perhaps I ought to say it's too common. Most pitchers, I believe, don't like to throw many curves because they are hard on the arm. McGraw, however, is a great believer in curve pitching and that he says goes. I once saw Rosy Ryan get into a game, pitch 57 curve balls and only 17 fast balls. Thats a pretty tough proportion." - Barnes, Virgil. Baseball Magazine. September 1927. Page 45.
  • 1899 - Kime, Hal
  • 1902 - Bennett, Fred
  • 1907 - Fette, Lou
  • 1915 - Lang, Don
  • 1917 - Bowles, Charlie
  • 1919 - Wietelmann, Whitey
  • 1919 - Noble, Ray
  • 1928 - King, Nellie
  • 1933 - Scott, Dick
  • 1938 - Locker, Bob
  • 1944 - Watkins, Dave
  • 1944 - Granger, Wayne
  • 1946 - Bonds, Bobby
  • 1949 - Kern, Jim"I don't know why he's not in the Hall of Fame because Bobby (Bonds) could do a lot of things. If you're looking at numbers, he had 30-30 (homers-stolen bases) many times. He had speed, he had power, he could throw and he knew how to play right field. I feel he should be in the Hall of Fame right along with us." - Mays, Willie. Mays says Bobby Bonds Hall-worthy. Johnson, Chuck. USA Today Staff Writer. 24 August 2003.
  • 1952 - Stroughter, Steve
  • 1955 - Hatcher, Mickey "I think Mickey (Hatcher) exemplifies what this team (the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers) is all about. I got hurt and the team accepted I would be out. And Mickey stepped in and filled my role and I filled his. We had a team approach, and that kept us together." - Kirk Gibson in Good Utility Players Can Always Find Work in Majors (Baseball Digest : August 1998)
  • 1957 - Martinez, Alfredo
  • 1959 - Baines, Harold "He's (Harold Baines) a first-class guy. He just goes about his business. He doesn't say much but when he does, it means a lot." - St. Louis Cardinals Coach Ron Hassey (Baseball Digest. Harold Baines: He Lets His Bat Do the Talking. 1996 September. Page 31)
  • 1960 - Pagliarulo, Mike
  • 1967 - Rose, Bobby
  • 1968 - Batiste, Kim
  • 1974 - Fick, Robert
  • 1975 - Perkins, Dan
  • 1975 - Nunez, Vladimir

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Billy Pierce​

 

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1961
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3/16
BIRTHDAYS
1858 Bud Fowler HOF executive (earliest known African-American player in organized pro baseball), born in Fort Plain, New York (d. 1913)


1865 Patsy Donovan outfielder (Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Washington Sens, Brooklyn Superbas, Boston RS), born in Queenstown, Ireland (d. 1953)


1906 Lloyd Waner Hall of Fame center fielder (MLB All Star 1938; batting average over .300 x 10; Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Harrah, Oklahoma (d. 1982)


1976 Abraham Núñez


1981 Curtis Granderson


1983 Brandon League

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