BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1976 Before the return of natural grass is in place for Opening Day, approximately a thousand people show up at Comiskey Park to get a piece of the 18,000 square feet of artificial turf covering the infield that Bill Veeck made available to the fans. The new White Sox owner, sensing a lack of public interest during the work stoppage, decided to stage the promotion to spark interest in the upcoming season, reminding fans, "when you go to the ballpark, you are entitled to the smell of freshly cut grass."

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1987 Free agent Andre Dawson signs a blank contract to join the Cubs. The former player for the Expos will win the National League MVP, making him a bargain at $500,000, the amount Chicago decided to pay the All-Star outfielder.

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2001 The dedication of two sculptures, located 60 feet, six inches apart, depicting Johnny Podres pitching to Roy Campanella during the seventh game of the 1955 World Series, takes place on the south lawn of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The life-sized bronze statues, designed by figurative sculptor Stanley Bleifeld, were donated by an ardent Dodger fan Sheldon Fireman.

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2001 Bill Mazeroski, the 1960 World Series hero who compiled a .260 batting average during his 17 seasons with the Pirates, is elected into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. The group, who met in closed sessions and cast multiple classified ballots, also selected six-time All-Star right-hander Hilton Smith, a pitching standout with the Kansas City Monarchs, often overshadowed by his teammate Satchel Paige.

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2005 Suzyn Waldman, making her debut with John Sterling on WCBS-AM (880), the Yankees radio flagship, becomes the first woman in big-league history to be a full-time color commentator. The former radio-talk host on WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in the country, was the first female to broadcast on a nationally telecast baseball game and the first local TV (Yankees) major league play-by-play announcer.

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2020 Twenty-eight-year-old outfielder Chris Yelich signs the most extended and richest deal in Brewers' history, agreeing to a seven-year, $187.25 million contract extension. The agreement most likely keeps the 2018 National League Most Valuable Player, who won the National League's batting title last two seasons in Milwaukee for the remainder of his career.

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MARCH 7 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1923 Bobo Holloman pitcher (no-hitter on MLB debut 1953; St. Louis Browns)


1950 J.R. Richard pitcher (MLB All Star 1980; NL ERA leader 1979; NL strikeout leader 1978, 79; Houston Astros)


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


1965 Jack Armstrong pitcher


1968 Jeff Kent, MLB infielder (NY Mets, Giants)

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This Day in Baseball History
March 7th​

1857 The National Convention of Baseball Players, consisting of 16 different amateur organizations from Manhattan's Lower East Side, adopt uniform rules that continue to impact the modern game significantly. The group agrees contests will be played consistently with nine players on a side for nine innings with bases 90 feet apart.

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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.

Kid ~~ Smith

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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 awards 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 with Baltimore's Black Sox and 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.

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2008 Danny Sandoval spoils the Braves' bid for a spring training combined no-hitter with a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning off reliever Colter Bean. 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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JR Richard

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Hank Greenberg towers over his Detroit #Tigers teammates at spring training camp in Florida

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Sparky Anderson 1963
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MARCH 8 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1922 Carl Furillo outfielder (NL Batting Champ 1953; MLB All-Star 1952, 53; World Series 1955, 59; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), born in Stony Creek Mills, Pennsylvania (d. 1989)


1930 Bob Grim pitcher


1934 Marv Breeding


1939 Jim Bouton Pitcher, 1962-70 and 1978 (New York Yankees and 3 other teams; All-Star, 1969), author ("Ball Four"), and broadcaster


1942 Dick Allen infielder (7 × MLB All-Star; NL Rookie of the Year 1964, Philadelphia Phillies; AL MVP 1972, Chicago White Sox)

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