BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

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3/16
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
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 baseball player

1983 Brandon League baseball player

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

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. There is speculation this often-told story may not be entirely accurate due to the lack of witnesses corroborating the attack other than Schmidt, who had other disagreements with Cobb during the past year.)

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1908 Pirates legend Honus Wagner announces the upcoming season will be his last as a major league player. The 34 year-old Pittsburgh shortstop will lead the National League in batting average, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, and stolen bases during his final campaign

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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.

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1953 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 site of the 1939-40 World's Fair in the Queens Flushing Meadow area. The Mets' future home will be named Shea Stadium to honor William Shea, an attorney who was instrumental in bringing 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 located 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).