BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

2000 At a Coors Field press conference, the Rockies announce the signing of free-agent starting pitcher Mike Hampton to the richest contract in baseball history, a $121 million, eight-year deal. The southpaw compiles a 21-28 record during his two-year tenure with Colorado before going to the Braves in 2003.

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2003 Kazuo Matsui, a Japanese seven-time All-Star shortstop, agrees to a three-year $20.1-million deal with the Mets. Twenty-eight-year-old 'Little' Matsui hit .305 with 33 home runs while driving in 84 runs last season with the Seibu Lions.

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2007 Milton Bradley reaches a preliminary agreement with the Rangers on a $5+ million, one-year contract. The former free-agent Padres outfielder will be a designated hitter when not chasing fly balls.

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2008 Tony Kubek, the 1957 American League Rookie of the Year, becomes the first analyst to receive the Ford C. Frick Award, an honor reserved for broadcasters by the Hall of Fame. Known for his outstanding work on the NBC Game of the Week telecasts, the former Yankee and Blue Jay broadcaster has not watched a single baseball game on television since he signed off the air in 1994.

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2009 Andy Pettitte (14-8, 4.16) agrees to an $11.75 million, one-year deal to return to the Yankees next season. The 37-year-old southpaw played a vital role in helping the team capture its 27th World Championship, going 4-0 in his five postseason starts, including victories in the clincher in all three postseason rounds against the Twins, Angels, and Phillies.

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2009 The Astros trade minor league prospects right-hander Robert Bono, infielder Luis Bryan, and a player to be named later to the Marlins in exchange for Matt Lindstrom, who recorded 15 of 17 save opportunities last season. Houston hopes the 29-year-old right-handed hard-throwing reliever, with his 100-mph fastball, can help fill the role of a late-inning stopper in their bullpen.

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2009 In budget mode, the Rangers deal starting pitcher Kevin Millwood (13-10, 3.67), who signed a five-year, $60 million contract in 2005, to the Orioles for reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later (Ben Snyder). Then, to restock their rotation, Texas reaches a preliminary agreement for less money with free-agent Rich Harden, who posted a 9-9 record with the Cubs last season.

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2010 The Cubs sign former Tampa Bay slugger free agent Carlos Pena to a $10 million, one-year deal after he turned down several multi-year offers from other clubs. The client of agent Scott Boras is optimistic about having a big season in Chicago, leading to a long-term contract for similar money made by fellow first basemen Ryan Howard ($125 million/5 years) and Mark Teixeira ($180 million/8 years).

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2013 The Mets sign Curtis Granderson to a four-year, $60 million contract, the team's richest free-agent deal since Sandy Alderson became the GM in 2010. The 32-year-old outfielder, who hit 84 homers in two seasons for the Yankees before being limited to 61 games last year due to injuries, is expected to provide some much-needed power for the team ranked 25th in the long ball in 2013.

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2013 At the start of the annual Winter Meetings, Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark announces the induction of managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Tony LaRussa into Cooperstown next summer. The trio of skippers, who have accumulated 7,558 regular-season wins, 17 pennants, and eight World Series titles, was elected unanimously by the 16-member Expansion Era Committee.

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2013 After signing a ceremonial one-day contract to be a Blue Jay, the big league team that drafted him out of high school in the first round of the 1995 amateur draft, Roy Halladay announces his retirement, ending a 16-year career that included the last four seasons with the Phillies. During his dozen years in Toronto, the six-time American League All-Star right-hander compiled a 148-76 record and a 3.43 ERA.

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2015 Major League Baseball issues a recommendation for all its 30 teams to install netting to protect their fans sitting in front of the most exposed field-level seats. The suggested protective shield, which would extend from one dugout to the other, will be implemented by most clubs before opening day, with the Mets, Pirates, and Twins already in compliance, having netting down the first and third base foul lines.

2019 The Nationals and Stephen Strasburg agree to terms on a record-breaking seven-year contract worth $245 million, keeping the free agent with Washington until 2026. The reigning World Series MVP deal marks the richest ever signed by a pitcher, topping southpaw David Price's $217 million signing in 2015 with the Red Sox.

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1/10/25
Baseball BIRTHDAYS
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1873 Jack O'Neill


1920 Max Patkin baseball player and clown


1938 Willie McCovey Hall of Fame 1st baseman (6 x MLB All Star; NL MVP 1969; NL home run leader 1963, 68, 69; SF Giants)


1962 Jim Lindeman, outfielder, 1996-84 (St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and 3 other teams)


1976 Adam Kennedy MLB second baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels)


1980 Matt Roney,


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Today in Baseball History
January 10th​

1928 Giants owner Charles Stoneham, displeased with Rogers Hornsby's abrasive style and gambling habits, trades his second baseman to the Braves for backstop prospect Shanty Hogan and journeyman fly chaser Jimmy Welsh. During Rajah's one-year stay in Boston, his third team in three seasons, the future Hall of Fame infielder will lead the major leagues in hitting with a .387 batting average and an astounding .498 on-base-percentage while playing and managing the seventh-place club.

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1934 The late Bill Veeck Sr., a former sportswriter who won three pennants (1918, 1929, and 1932) during his reign in Chicago's front office, is replaced by William Walker as the Cubs' president. The 56-year-old baseball executive, whose son will become a Hall of Fame major league owner, died of leukemia during the World Series last season.


1945 The BBWAA does not elect a new member for the Hall of Fame this year. Frank Chance (72.5), Rube Waddell (62.3), and Ed Walsh (55.5) get the most votes, falling short of the necessary three-fourths of the ballots to be selected, become inductees when chosen by the Veterans' Committee in 1946.

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1950 George Susce is relieved of his duties by Indians' general manager Hank Greenberg when the bullpen coach's son declines an offer to sign with the Tribe, deciding instead to play for less money with Louisville, a farm team of the Red Sox. George Jr., who will make his major league debut against the Yankees in 1955, compiles a 22-17 record in 117 games during his five seasons with Boston and Detroit.

1950 The Phillies officially abandon the nickname Blue Jays, a moniker that never caught the fancy of the Philadelphia fandom. The unpopular choice, which appeared as a logo as a sleeve patch for two seasons, was selected in a 1944 contest from 634 entries received from over 5,000 letters from every state that included a variety of suggestions, including the Bell Ringers, Keystones, Minutemen, and Valley Forgers.

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1957 Commissioner Ford Frick allows Bing Crosby, part of an eleven-man syndicate that made a successful bid to buy the Tigers, to keep his token stock in the Detroit club, although he is part owner of the Pirates. The famous crooner, who became one of the Bucs' owners in 1946, has a 16% share of the Steel City team.

 

1977 "Superb athlete, coach, author and businessman, Joe DiMaggio stands tall among the ranks of genuine American heroes. Known and revered around the world as the 'Yankee Clipper,' he contributed many years of style and splendid ability to the sport which has come to be known as our national pastime. His character and grace both on and off the playing field have been a continuing source of inspiration to Americans of all ages." - PRESIDENT GERALD FORD, , commenting on Joe DiMaggio's impact on American life as he awards the New York superstar the Presidential Medal of Freedom

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President Gerald Ford bestows Joe DiMaggio, represented at the ceremony by his brother Dominick, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award given to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the nation. The 62-year-old becomes the first athlete to receive the prestigious honor.

In 1945, President Truman recognized former big league catcher Moe Berg for his exceptionally meritorious service of high value as a spy in World War II.

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1983 "The Yankee pin stripes belong to New York like Central Park, like the Statue of Liberty, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, like the Metropolitan Opera, like the Stock Exchange, like the lights of Broadway, etc." - RICHARD S. LANE, ruling against the Yankees' bid to play their first home games in Denver.
George Steinbrenner sought to move the three games, fearing the renovations to the Bronx ballpark would not be completed on time, but the judge dismisses the rescheduling of the games to Colorado, citing the owner ignored the obvious solution of playing the contests at Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets located seven miles away, or at Detroit's Tiger Stadium.

1984 The writers elect three players into the Hall of Fame: Luis Aparicio, Don Drysdale, and Harmon Killebrew, who will become the first Minnesota Twin enshrined in Cooperstown. Nellie Fox, who will fall short of election 15 times, barely misses this year, garnering 74.7% of the necessary 75%, two votes shy needed for enshrinement.
1997, the Veterans’ Committee posthumously recognizes the the former scrappy second baseman. - LP)

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1991 In one of the worst trades ever made in baseball history, the Orioles send pitchers Curt Schilling, Pete Harnish, and outfielder Steve Finley to the Astros for first baseman Glenn Davis. Davis, who averaged 27 home runs in six seasons playing in the Astrodome, will hit only 24 dingers in three injury-filled years as Schilling becomes one of the most dominant hurlers in the game, and Harnish and Finley develop into solid major league performers.

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2001 Major League Baseball hires Arthur Andersen, an accounting company, to authenticate autographed and game-used merchandise sold by its licensees to assure the authenticity of approximately 40,000 items this season. The memorabilia will have a tamper-proof hologram and an ID number with a company official observing the physical removal of the object from the player or event.

2001 As part of its 100th Anniversary festivities, the Indians present three-time All-Star Jim Thome with his very own bobblehead doll. The first baseman is one of seven current Cleveland players who will be part of the bobblehead doll promotional giveaways to celebrate the club's centennial this season.

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2002 The Yankees sign White Sox free-agent southpaw David Wells to a two-year, $7-million contract to rejoin the team after trading him in 1999 to the Blue Jays, along with Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush, for Roger Clemens. The 38-year-old left-hander known as Boomer, who missed most of the second half of last season due to back surgery, posted a 34-14 record, including a perfect game in 1998, during his first two-year tenure with the team.

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2002 "In light of this disclosure and your apparent unwillingness to reveal other financial information that you assert supports your decision to eliminate two baseball teams, I regret that I must call on you to resign as commissioner of major league baseball." - JOHN CONYERS, JR., U.S. Representative (D-MI), citing a conflict of interest. Representative John Conyers Jr., the House Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said he would back off asking Bud Selig to resign if the commissioner dropped his threat to eliminate teams this season. In a two-page letter to the Michigan lawmaker, Selig was unequivocal in his response, stating that the suggestions were wholly unacceptable

 

2006 Bruce Sutter, joining Hoyt Wilhelm (1985), Rollie Fingers (1992), and Dennis Eckersley (2004), becomes the fourth relief pitcher voted into the Hall of Fame and the first hurler elected without a career major league start. The split-fingered fastball, which eventually led to career-ending injuries, helped establish the right-hander, best remembered for his seasons with the Cubs and Cardinals, as one of the game's dominant closers.

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2008 The Astros and Darin Erstad (.248, 4, 32) agree to a one-year deal valued at $1 million, including incentives. The 33-year-old free-agent outfielder, a lifetime .284 hitter, saw limited duty with the White Sox last season after spending 11 superb seasons with the Angels.

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2023 After tentatively coming to terms on $320+ million, 13-year deals with both the Giants and Mets, Carlos Correa reportedly has reached an agreement with his former team, the Twins, worth $33,333,333 annually for six seasons with incentives to increase his salary to $245 million over seven years. Minnesota's deal with the 28-year-old shortstop depends on the results of a physical where the findings of such an examination derailed his signing with San Francisco and New York.

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Johnny Washington, first baseman mostly for the Baltimore Elite Giants and Pittsburgh Crawfords, was born #OTD in 1916. A 3-time All-Star, he led the league in triples twice, batted .300 five times, and have a career average of .314.
@nlbmprez
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