BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

6/16
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1933 Ken Johnson, American baseball pitcher (only pitcher to lose a complete game 9-inning no-hitter 1964), born in West Palm Beach, Florida (d. 2015)

1948 Ron LeFlore (Detroit Tigers), born in Detroit, Michigan

1962 Wally Joyner player

1971 Chris Gomez infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Los Angeles, California

1977 Kerry Wood (Chicago Cubs), born in Irving, Texas

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1884 Due to inflammation in his right index finger, Larry Corcoran of the White Stockings (Cubs) pitches left-handed and right-handed in a game against the Bisons. The natural right-hander hurls ambidextrously for four innings, alternating throwing arms, before moving to shortstop in Chicago's 20-9 loss at Buffalo's Olympic Park.

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1893 At the Southeast Diamond of the Polo Grounds in New York, the Gothams, a team that eventually will be known as the Giants, offers free admission to escorted and unescorted women, making the promotion the first 'Ladies' Day' in baseball history. The female fans see their hometown favorites beat the Cleveland Spiders, 5-2.
1909 "I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things. In fact, I did not know that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I knew several other college men had done, except that they did not use their own names ..." - JIM THORPE, explaining in a letter to AAU Secretary James Edward Sullivan his decision to play professional baseball.
Jim Thorpe makes his professional baseball debut, with a 4-2 win pitching for Rocky Mount (NC) of the Eastern Carolina League, a team he will play in 1909 and 1910, reportedly making as little as two dollars a per game. Although it was commonly known college players regularly spent summers playing for pro teams using aliases, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) withdraws his amateur status retroactively, causing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to forfeit his Olympic gold medals, declaring him a professional. Note: The IOC Executive Committee reinstated Jim Thorpe's 1912 Summer Olympics gold medals in 1983, listing him as a co-gold medalist.

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1916 At Braves Field, right-hander Tom Hughes no-hits the Pirates, 2-0. 'Salida Tom' will finish the season with a 16-3 record, the best win-loss percentage in the National League, for the third-place Boston club.
1928 Bill Regan becomes the first player in Red Sox history to homer twice in an inning when he hits two round-trippers, including an inside-the-park homer, in the eight-run fourth frame of the team's 10-5 victory over Chicago at Comiskey Park. The feat will not be accomplished again by a BoSox player until 1990, when Ellis Burks homers twice in the fourth frame of the team's 12-4 rout of the Tribe at Cleveland Stadium.
1931 At Sportsman Park, Chuck Klein's first-inning round-tripper off Burleigh Grimes gives the Phillies a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the ninth. In the final frame, Philadelphia's right-hander Ray Benge, who tosses a complete-game five-hitter, yields back-to-back one-out homers to George Watkins and Frankie Frisch, giving St. Louis a 2-1 walk-off victory.
1933 Last year's National League batting champ, Lefty O'Doul, and pitcher Watty Clark, a 20-game winner last season, are traded by the Dodgers to the Giants for first baseman Sam Leslie. Brooklyn's newest infielder will bat .311 during his three seasons with the team before returning to New York in 1936.
1938 Future Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx is walked six consecutive times in the Red Sox' 12-8 victory over the Browns. The Boston first baseman will lead the American League this season with 119 bases on balls.

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1941 Johnny Vander Meer, best known for throwing consecutive no-hitters, becomes the first hurler to start a game by throwing four straight bases on balls before retiring a single batter. The Reds' starter will not make it out of the first inning of the Crosley Field contest, an eventual 6-0 loss to New York.
1952 At the Polo Grounds, Bobby Thomson erases a three-run ninth-inning deficit with a walk-off grand slam, giving the Giants a come-from-behind 8-7 victory over the Cardinals. The third baseman's decisive blow comes with one out off Willard Schmidt.

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1953 With a 3-1 triumph in the Bronx ballpark, the Browns halt the Yankees' winning streak at 18. St. Louis, behind the solid pitching of right-handed starter Duane Pillette and 46-year-old Satchel Paige, snaps their 14-game losing streak and hands Whitey Ford his first loss in eight decisions.
1956 Charlie Grimm, after the Braves lose the 12th game of their last 17 contests, resigns as the team's manager, being immediately replaced by coach Fred Haney. The 56-year-old skipper, who is offered a personnel position within the organization, leaves the dugout with a 24-22 record, only 3.5 games behind the league-leading Pirates.
1957 Dixie Howell, in three and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief, limits Washington to four hits, earning his second victory of the season. The 37 year-old Kentuckian's hitting proves to be the difference when his home runs in the fifth and sixth innings propel the White Sox to an 8-6 victory at Comiskey Park.

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1961 In his major league debut, 18-year-old Lew Krausse Jr., signed as an amateur free agent for $125,000 by A's owner Charlie Finley, throws a three-hit shutout and collects two hits in Kansas City's 4-0 victory over L.A. at Municipal Stadium. In 1932, the redheaded fireballer's dad blanked the Red Sox in his final major league appearance, giving the father-son duo back-to-back shutouts twenty-nine years apart.

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1962 With the Tribe trailing the Bronx Bombers, 9-8, Jerry Kindall hits a walk-off two-run homer, giving the Indians a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Left-fielder Yogi Berra, watching the second baseman's homer go over his head to beat his Yankees 10-9 in the bottom of the ninth, probably experiences a "deja vu all over again" memory of Bill Mazeroski's Game 7 home run in 1960, which ended with the identical score.
1963 In the bottom of the third of a 4-3 loss to the Giants at Candlestick Park, Jim Campbell becomes only the second catcher in National League history, the first since 1946, to be credited with three assists in one inning. The 25-year-old Colt .45's backstop nails Gaylord Perry trying to advance to third on a fielder's choice, guns down Chuck Hiller in an attempt to steal second, and ends the frame by throwing out Willie McCovey, who doubled and then tried to take an extra base on a relay to home plate.

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1964 In a 7-1 victory over the Astros, Cardinal third baseman Ken Boyer hits for the cycle. In the same game, Lou Brock, recently obtained from the Cubs for Ernie Broglio, makes his debut in a St. Louis uniform with two hits, including a triple, and the fleet outfielder also steals a base.

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1969 In an effort to return major league baseball to Milwaukee, the Chicago White Sox play a home game at County Stadium, where only 13,133 fans show up to see the 'home' team beat the Pilots, 8-3. Ironically, the visitors will leave Seattle next season to move to the 'Cream City,' with the one year-old American League franchise becoming known as the Brewers.
1969 In the bottom of the first inning at Metropolitan Stadium, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew complete a double steal, swiping second and third base, respectively. On the next pitch thrown by Angels' starter Tom Murphy, the pair repeats the feat, as Carew steals home for the sixth time this season, tying the American League record.

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1971 Recently traded from the Senators, Mike Epstein homers in his first two at-bats, giving him four consecutive homers over two games, to help the A's defeat his former team, 5-0. Oakland scores all of their runs on solo homers.
1976 Mark Fidrych tosses his sixth consecutive complete game, beating Kansas City, 4-3. The 211year-old Detroit rookie has finished every game he has started since his May 15th debut in the Tigers rotation.

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1978 Reds' right-hander Tom Seaver no-hits the Cardinals at Riverfront Stadium, 4-0. The gem is Tom Terrific's first no-no after taking a hitless game into the ninth inning three times during the first 12 years of his career.

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1984 Mario Soto's second suspension of the season results from firing a baseball at a group of opposing players after he punched Claudell Washington, who Lanny Harris was restraining at home plate when the batter tried to charge the mound. The Reds suspends the fiery right-hander for three games due to this incident with Washington, who had been the target of his brushback pitches, getting five games off for pushing the home plate ump.
1987 In the sixth inning of a 6-5 Baltimore loss to New York at Yankee Stadium, Cal Ripken collects his 1,000th career hit when he singles to center field off Rich Bordi. The shortstop is the youngest player in Orioles history to reach the milestone.

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1989 San Pedro de Macoris native Sammy Sosa, signed by Texas scout Omar Minaya as an athletic but malnourished and frail 16-year-old, becomes the youngest Dominican to play in the majors. The Rangers' leadoff batter, a twenty-year, seven-month-old rookie, goes 2-for-4 with a double in Texas's 8-3 loss to the Yankees.

 

1991 After getting off to a slow start, the Twins take over sole possession of first place when they beat the Indians, 4-2, for their 15th consecutive victory. The winning streak lifts the club from fifth place to the top spot in the standings, a lead the team will never relinquish.
1991 Otis Nixon establishes a National League record and ties the 1912 major league mark set by the A's Eddie Collins by swiping six bases in one game. Crime doesn't pay when the Braves outfielder's thievery cannot overcome a 7-6 loss to Montreal at Olympic Stadium.

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1991 Against the Reds, Phillies' right-hander Andy Ashby strikes out the side on only nine pitches to become the 12th pitcher in National League history to use the minimum amount of pitches needed to record three strikeouts in one inning. The Philadelphia rookie becomes the first in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

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1992 During a pregame ceremony at Anaheim Stadium, the Angels become the first of three teams to retire Nolan Ryan's number. The hard-throwing right-hander, who compiled a 138-121 record in 291 games with California, will also have his digits retired by the Astros and Rangers in 1996.

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1993 The Cubs celebrate the 100th anniversary of Cracker Jack with a party at Wrigley Field that includes distributing the candy-coated popcorn and peanut treat introduced at the Chicago World Fair in 1893, free of charge to all of the fans attending the game against Florida. Sailor Jack, the company's mascot, throws out the ceremonial first pitch.
1993 In his first major league at-bat, Marlins catcher Mitch Lyden hits a home run off Jose Bautista in the team's 6-4 loss to Chicago at Wrigley Field. The second-inning homer will be the only round-tripper in the brief career of the rookie backstop, who will play in just six games, collecting three hits in ten plate appearances.
1996 At the age of 83, Hall of Fame broadcaster Mel Allen, best known for his years doing play-by-play for the Yankees, dies of heart failure. His "How about that" signature line will become familiar to another generation of fans through the syndicated TV show, This Week in Baseball, which he hosted from the program's inception in 1977.

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1997 At Yankee Stadium, the Mets beat their crosstown rivals, 6-0, in the first-ever regular-season game between the two teams. Dave Mlicki throws a complete-game shutout, blanking the Bronx Bombers on nine hits.
1997 In the first regular-season meeting between the two major league teams in Ohio, the Reds' rookie right-hander Brett Tomko tosses 7.1 shutout innings in Cincinnati's 4-1 win over the Indians at Cleveland's Jacobs Field. The victory will prove costly for Cincy when Barry Larkin ruptures his heel running out a double, putting their All-Star shortstop on the shelf for six weeks.
1998 The Phillies score seven runs in the bottom of the ninth in an incredible 8-7 come-from-behind win over the stunned Pirates. Mike Lieberthal's two-out, three-run blast off Rich Loiselle is the final blow that sinks the Bucs.

 

2001 In a game that features thousands of swarming moths, the Red Sox beat the Braves and the bugs in extra innings at Turner Field, 9-5. Although the swarm has little bearing on the game's outcome, the insects bothered some players, including Dave Martinez, who claimed to have one sucked into his mouth.
2001 John Olerud hits for the cycle, becoming the twenty-first player to accomplish the feat more than once, and only the second, along with Bob Watson, to do it in both leagues. Among all of the players who have managed to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game, the Mariners' first baseman has the fewest career three-baggers, with just a dozen during his 13-year major league stint.

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2003 Dontrelle Willis throws a complete-game one-hit shutout in the Marlins' 1-0 win over the Mets at Pro Player Stadium. The D-Train's victory, which improves his record to 6-1, marks the start of the baseball world taking notice of the high-kicking southpaw phenom, who goes on to win the Rookie of the Year.

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2005 After a pitch goes between his legs, Richmond Braves flycatcher Esix Snead charges the mound and pummels the Syracuse SkyChiefs hurler, David Bush. The action incites an International League brawl, which results in fines and suspensions given to 40 players, a coach, and a manager, including a ten-day hiatus for Snead.
2006 For the first time in 35 years, the Yankees play a regular-season game in the nation's capital, beating the Nationals in an interleague contest at RFK Stadium, 7-5. The Bronx Bombers' previous game in Washington on Sept. 30, 1971, in the same ballpark, ended with New York awarded with a 9-0 victory when the Senators fans, with their team ahead by two runs in the season finale, refused to leave the field as a protest to losing a franchise for the second time since 1961.
2008 Seattle, the team with the worst record in the major leagues (24-45), fires Bill Bavasi as their general manager in his fifth season at the helm. Two weeks ago, in a move he came to regret, the embattled GM locked the clubhouse doors and mandated the Mariners players to sit together and be publicly held accountable for their slow start.
2010 Jamie Moyer's first outing at the new Yankee Stadium is a successful one when he limits New York to only three hits in eight innings of work in the 6-3 Phillies' victory. The Bronx Bombers' new ballyard is the 48th venue the 47 year-old southpaw has pitched in during his career, surpassing Rudy Seanez's record for the most appearances in different major league ballparks.

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2010 Michael Young's two-run single in the eighth inning contributes to the Rangers' 6-3 victory over Florida and establishes a club record for hits. The 33 year-old third baseman surpasses Ivan Rodriguez's club record with his 1,748th hit, reaching the mark in 91 fewer games than Pudge.

 

2010 Michael Young's two-run single in the eighth inning contributes to the Rangers' 6-3 victory over Florida and establishes a club record for hits. The 33 year-old third baseman surpasses Ivan Rodriguez's club record with his 1,748th hit, reaching the mark in 91 fewer games than Pudge.
2014 "Major League Baseball today mourns the tragic loss of Tony Gwynn, the greatest Padre ever and one of the most accomplished hitters that our game has ever known, whose all-around excellence on the field was surpassed by his exuberant personality and genial disposition in life." - COMMISSIONER BUD SELIG, on the passing of Tony Gwynn.

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2015 The Orioles blast a franchise-record eight home runs in their 19-3 rout of the Phillies at Camden Yards. Manny Machado (2), Jimmy Paredes, Chris Parmelee (2), David Lough, Chris Davis, and Ryan Flaherty all go deep for the Birds.
2019 Trailing by three runs in the ninth, the Padres rally to eventually beat the Rockies at Coors Field, 14-13. The contest ends the highest-scoring four-game series in history with the teams combining for 92 runs, surpassing the record of 88 players crossing the plate, set by the Phillies and Dodgers in May 1929.
2021 With the Diamondbacks' twenty-third straight away loss, a 10-3 defeat in San Francisco, the team surpasses the mark for most consecutive road losses, previously shared by the 1943 Philadelphia A's and 1963 Mets. Arizona, who will extend the streak to 24, last won as the visitors on April 25 when Madison Bumgarner threw an unofficial seven-inning no-hitter in Atlanta.
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14,868

 

Today in Baseball History
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On June 16 in Baseball History...

• • 1909 - Jim Thorpe makes his baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (Eastern Carolina League) with a 4-2 win over Raleigh. It is the professional play in this year that will cause him to lose his medals won in the 1912 Olympics.
  • 1938 - Jimmie Foxx is walked a record six consecutive times by Browns pitchers as the Red Sox win 12-8.
  • 1945 - Dave Ferriss loses to the Yankees 3-2 after starting his career with eight victories � four of them shutouts � for the Red Sox.
  • 1978 - In the twelfth major-league season of a career speckled with near-misses, Cincinnati's Tom Seaver finally hurls a no-hitter. The Cardinals are the 4-0 victims as Seaver strikes out three.
  • 1989 - Rick Wolff, 37, writing an article on minor-league baseball for Sports Illustrated, finishes a three-day stint playing second base for the South Bend White Sox (Midwest League). He replaces Cesar Bernhardt and goes 4-for-7 against the Burlington Braves. Wolff will finish the year with the highest average of any Chicago White Sox farmhand.
  • 1993 - Ken Griffey, Jr., slugs his 100th career home run in Seattle's 6-1 victory over Kansas City to become the fourth-youngest to hit the century mark. Only Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews and Tony Conigliaro did it faster than the 23-year-old Griffey.
  • 1995 - Marlins outfielder Andre Dawson hits his 400th N.L. home run and 429th of his career in a 2-1 win over the Phillies.

Baseball Birthdays on June 16...

• • 1853 - Knight, Lon
  • 1857 - Phillips, Marr
  • 1867 - O'Brien, Pete
  • 1874 - Blake, Harry
  • 1874 - Washburn, Libe
  • 1881 - Egan, Wish
  • 1882 - Keefe, Bobby
  • 1883 - Waller, Red
  • 1883 - Mattern, Al
  • 1886 - Speer, Kid
  • 1887 - Rowan, Jack
  • 1888 - Kirke, Jay
  • 1889 - Capron, Ralph
  • 1889 - Noyes, Win
  • 1889 - Dale, Gene
  • 1890 - Mollwitz, Fritz
  • 1892 - Farrell, Jack
  • 1894 - Glenn, Bob
  • 1913 - Scalzi, Skeeter
  • 1913 - Coscarart, Pete
  • 1914 - Wittig, Johnnie
  • 1916 - Rullo, Joe
  • 1920 - Malone, Eddie
  • 1922 - Surkont, Max
  • 1923 - Clark, Allie
  • 1924 - Johnson, Ernie
  • 1926 - Miller, Bob
  • 1933 - Johnson, Ken
  • 1934 - Herrera, Pancho
  • 1946 - Ragland, Tom
  • 1947 - Decker, Joe
  • 1948 - LeFlore, Ron
  • 1949 - Rauch, Bob
  • 1951 - Wall, Stan
  • 1957 - Barojas, Salome
  • 1962 - Schiraldi, Calvin
  • 1962 - Joyner, Wally
  • 1967 - Ericks, John
  • 1969 - Young, Kevin
  • 1971 - Hernandez, Fernando
  • 1971 - Gomez, Chris
  • 1975 - Nieves, Jose

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Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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6/17
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1861 Pete Browning player, born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1905)

1948 Dave Concepción all star shortstop (Cincinnati Reds), born in Ocumare de la Costa, Venezuela

1965 Mike Magnante pitcher (KC Royals), born in Glendale, California

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1915 Cubs right-handed reliever George Washington Zabel, called into the game with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, throws 18 and 1/3 innings of the Cubs' 4-3 victory over the Robins at Chicago's West Side Park. 'Zip,' establishing the major league record for the longest relief stint in one game, beats Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who tosses a 19-inning complete game.

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1930 Phillies right fielder Chuck Klein, who collects 53 hits in 110 at-bats for a .482 batting average during the streak, sets a modern-day franchise record when he hits safely in 26 consecutive games. The 25-year-old Hoosier Hammer repeats the feat later in the season, matching the accomplishment with a hit in every contest from July 12th to the first game on August 3rd.

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1941 In the Yankees' 8-7 loss to Chicago, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is extended to 30 straight games when his seventh-inning grounder takes a bad hop off Luke Appling's shoulder. The Yankee Clipper's fortunate hit also breaks the team's record for hits of 29 consecutive games, previously shared by Roger Peckinpaugh (1919) and Earle Combs (1931).

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1942 During the second game of a twin bill in Boston, Paul Waner, standing on first base, gestures to the official scorer, Jerry Moore of the Boston Globe, not to credit him with a hit on the ground ball in the hole that was knocked down by Reds shortstop Eddie Joost. Big Poison doesn't want a questionable roller to be his historic 3000th hit, which the Braves right-fielder will collect with a clean single after tomorrow's off day.

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1943 Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin hits a three-run pinch homer in both games of a doubleheader, becoming the first major leaguer to come off the bench to go deep in each end of a twin bill. Boston defeats Philadelphia in the opener 5-4 but drops the nightcap at Fenway Park, 8-7.

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1944 Although he will continue to play in the minor leagues until 1955, Ed Levy appears in the 40th and final game of his three-year tenure in the major leagues. The Irish Catholic first baseman, born as Edward Clarence Whitner in 1911, is asked to start using his stepfather's surname by Yankee team president Ed Barrow to help the club attract more Jewish fans to the Bronx ballpark.

 

1956 Joe Adcock's ninth-inning home run off Brooklyn right-hander Ed Roebuck, his second round-tripper of the game, proves to be the game-winner in the Braves' 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The first baseman's blast to left field, which clears an 83-foot wall at the 350-foot mark, becomes the only homer to land on the roof at Ebbets Field. Joe Adcock hits his third round-tripper of the day when he goes deep off Don Newcombe in the team’s 3-1 victory in the nightcap. The Milwaukee slugger will finish with 13 career home runs at Ebbets Field, the most of any visiting player.)

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1956 Fred Haney, named yesterday to replace Charlie Grimm, wins two games in his managerial debut with the Braves when the team sweeps a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 5-4 and 3-1, starting a streak of 11 consecutive victories. The club's former coach will compile a 341-231 (.596) record, guiding Milwaukee to two pennants and a world championship during his four seasons at the helm.

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1958 Tiger third baseman Ozzie Virgil, who became the first black to play for the team eleven days ago, collects four singles and a double in his first home game at Briggs Stadium. The 26-year-old Dominican's 5-for-5 performance at the plate helps Detroit beat the Senators, 9-2.

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1960 Ted Williams becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit 500 career home runs when he goes deep off the Tribe's moundsman Wayne Hawkins. 'Teddy Ballgame's' two-run blast proves to be the difference when the Red Sox beat the Indians at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, 3-1.

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1962 In a play indicative of the struggling Mets, first baseman Marv Throneberry's apparent first-inning triple becomes an out on an appeal play for missing second base in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds. According to legend, when New York manager Casey Stengel questions the call, he is told by an umpire, "Don't bother arguing, Casey, he missed first base, too."

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1962 Gene Woodling, purchased from the Senators for a reported $45,000, substantially more than $20,000 waiver fee, becomes the first major leaguer to play for the Yankees and the Mets. In his National League debut, the 39-year-old outfielder goes 2-for-4, scoring two runs for the new expansion team in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs at the Polo Grounds.
1962 In the second inning of Game 1 of a twin bill against the Yankees, the bottom of the Indians' lineup, Jerry Kindall, Bubba Phillips, and Jim Mahoney hit consecutive home runs, helping Dick Donovan improve his record to 10-2. The Tribe also takes the nightcap to complete a four-game sweep of the World Champs, much to the delight of the largest home crowd in eight seasons.

 

1970 At Candlestick Park, Willie Mays (615) and Ernie Banks (504) both homer in the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Giants. It is the first time in baseball history two players with 500 career home runs have gone deep in the same game.

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1971 Don Kessinger goes 6-for-6, stroking five singles and a double. The Cubs' leadoff hitter's perfect performance at the plate contributes to the team's 7-6 ten-inning victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

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1974 After completing the first 1000 games in franchise history with a winning percentage of .332, the Mets compile a 517-482-1 record in their next thousand contests. During the span, including Tom Seaver winning 12% of the team's victories, New York wins two National League pennants and a World championship.
1976 At Shea Stadium, Dave Kingman hits a walk-off homer to give the Mets a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. Sky King's game-ending blast comes off Charlie Hough in the 14th inning.

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1978 The crowd at Yankee Stadium initiates a new baseball tradition when they begin to rhythmically clap each time there are two strikes on the batter, inspired by Ron Guidry's 18-strikeout performance, establishing a new American League mark for southpaws. The left-hander's performance in the 4-0 victory over the Angels will lead the team's television announcer, Phil Rizzuto, to coin a new nickname, referring to the Lafayette native as 'Louisiana Lightning.'

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1980 At Cleveland Stadium, the Indians temporarily closed a 10,500 bleachers seats due to rowdy fans, who pelted Milwaukee's outfielders Gorman Thomas and Sixto Lezcano with various objects during yesterday's 5-3 loss to the Brew Crew. The Tribe will reopen the section at the end of the month, putting tighter security and limiting the sale of beer.
1987 Dick Howser, former manager of the Royals and Yankees, loses his courageous battle against cancer, succumbing to a brain tumor. After three surgeries to remove the disease, the 51-year-old frail-looking skipper had tried to make a comeback with Kansas City but had to resign after one day of spring training workouts, becoming physically too weak to perform his duties.

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