BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

Alejandro Oms, outfielder mostly for the Cuban Stars East, was born #OTD in 1896. An All-Star in 1935, he batted .300 six times, including a career-high .377 in 1935. He was a career .329 hitter in 7 official major league seasons.

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Tony Gwynn signs some autographs during San Diego #Padres spring training camp! (1997)
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Baseball Hall of Fame spitball pitcher Gaylord Perry won 314 games in his 22-year major league career!
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MARCH 15 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1946 ~ 2003 Bobby Bonds Outfielder, 1968-81, 3x All-Star, 3x Golden Glove (San Francisco Giants, 1968-74 and 7 other teams)


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)


1974 Robert Fick


1979 Kevin Youkilis


1980 Freddie Bynum Orioles, D Backs ...


1982 Rafael Pérez


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Today in Baseball History
March 15th​

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 5⅓ innings of one-run ball against the Red Sox in August, striking out the first batter he faces and giving 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 starts, lasting six innings and giving up nine runs, the former Giants' superstar and future Hall of Famer will retire in mid-April.

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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.

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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, and 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.

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2012 Baseball-Reference.com leaves 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 for 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.
Baseball-Reference.com now lists Ryan Braun as the National League's MVP for 2011. -LP)

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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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Babe Ruth & Ted Williams talk about hitting before a Boston Red Sox spring training game! (March 1948)
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Every rookie is a potential Babe Ruth or Satchel Paige." ~ Bill Veeck
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Jackie Robinson outside Ebbets Field after his #MLB debut April 15th, 1947.
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In 1985 Bret Saberhagen was 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA and 10 Compete Games, capturing the AL Cy Young And then he turned 22
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MARCH 16 BASEBALL BIRTHDAYS
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1858 Bud Fowler HOF executive (earliest known African-American player in organized pro baseball


1865 Patsy Donovan outfielder (Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Washington Sens, Brooklyn Superbas, Boston RS)


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


1976 Abraham Núñez


1981 Curtis Granderson


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This Day in Baseball History
March 16th​

1907 Ty Cobb quarrels with Bungy Cummings, a black groundskeeper who made a friendly gesture toward the Tiger outfielder. When the groundskeeper's wife intercedes, the 'Georgia Peach' reportedly chokes her, and according to Charlie Schmidt, he allegedly stopped the assault by knocking out his teammate.

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1908 Pirates legend Honus Wagner comes out of retirement when Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss makes him the highest-paid player in the league, offering him $10,000 yearly. The 34-year-old shortstop earns his salary, leading the National League in batting average, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, and stolen bases, completing the campaign that historian Bill James cites as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history.
The salary incentive keeps the Flying Dutchman on the field until the middle of the 1917 season.

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1932 Due to the economic depression gripping the nation, Babe Ruth signs a deal for $75,000, a five-thousand pay cut from last season, and 25 percent of the Yankees exhibition games' net receipts. Legend has it the Bambino signed a blank contract, with the amount filled in later by Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert.
In 2019, the printed document sold at an auction for nearly $300,000.

 

1953 At the owners' meeting in Tampa (FL), the American League rejects Bill Veeck's request to shift the Browns to Baltimore, voting 6-2 to keep the failing franchise in St. Louis. The lack of support from his fellow owners, except for Charles Comiskey of the White Sox, is an effort to oust the independent-minded maverick from the Junior Circuit.

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1961 The state of New York approves a bond issue for constructing a 55,000-seat stadium on the 1939-40 World's Fair site in the Flushing Meadow area of Queens. The Mets' future home will be named Shea Stadium, honoring attorney William Shea, who brought the National League back to New York.

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1994 Former major league starter Eric Show dies of an accidental drug overdose in his room at the Rancho L'Abri, a private rehab center in San Diego (CA). The 37-year-old right-hander finished his 11-year career with Oakland, pitching the first ten years with the Padres, where he established the franchise record for most career wins (100) when he left the team as a free agent in 1990.

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2001 Slammin' Sammy Sosa signs a four-year contract extension keeping the Cub right fielder in the Windy City until 2006. The prolific home run hitter has averaged nearly sixty home runs (179 HRs/3 years) during the last three seasons.

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2006 At Angel Stadium in front of 38,284 enthusiastic fans, Oliver Perez and seven relievers combined to lead Mexico to a stunning defeat of Roger Clemens and the United States, 2-1. The second-round loss eliminates Team USA from the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

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2006 Roy Halladay (12-4, 2.41) agrees to a $40 million, three-year contract extension, which could keep the 'Doc' with the Blue Jays through the 2010 season. The 2003 American League Cy Young winner's season was cut short after getting drilled by a line drive hit by Ranger Kevin Mench, resulting in a broken leg.

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2006 At the 5:00 p.m. EST airing of the show Daily News Live!, the Mets begin transmitting Sportsnet New York, which will become better known as SNY. The club modeled the team-owned network after similar regional cable television ventures by the Red Sox (NESN, 1984) and the Yankees (YES, 2002).

 

2010 The Red Sox announce that 19-year-old prospect Ryan Westmoreland has undergone a five-hour surgical procedure to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain. After leaving spring training earlier this month, the highly touted minor league outfielder received the diagnosis at Mass General.

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2010 Former L.A. outfielder Willie Davis, the team leader in hits, extra-base hits, and runs, is fondly remembered by his family and friends, including many teammates, at a memorial service in Dodger Stadium. The 69-year-old, known as 3 Dog, was found dead in his home last week.

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2015 The Grapefruit League game between the Phillies and Twins marks the first time two current Hall of Fame players have managed against each other. Minnesota manager Paul Molitor, enshrined in 2004, opposes Philadelphia skipper Ryne Sandberg, an inductee a season later.

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2019 The Fix, a two-act opera inspired by the Black Sox scandal, premieres at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul (MN). The dramatic work composed by Joel Puckett portrays the century-old events surrounding the White Sox fix of the 1919 World Series against the Reds.

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