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This Day in Baseball History
March 1st

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16 Fact(s) Found
1903 The rules committee sets the height of the pitcher mound (box) to a maximum of fifteen inches.
1909 The Pirates begin construction of a new stadium near Schenley Park near the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The state-of-the-art stadium was named Forbes Field in honor of a pre-Revolutionary British general.
1949 In an effort to get a rental increase from their Sportsman's Park's tenants, the Browns move to evict the Cardinals. The Redbirds accuse the owners of breaking the lease, and as the season approaches it is uncertain where the National League team will play its home games.
1954 On the first day of spring training, Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams breaks his collarbone. The Boston superstar will miss the first four weeks of the season.
1961 Six weeks after leaving the Oval Office, former President Dwight Eisenhower jokes with the Angel players prior to an intra-squad game. Ike will sit in the dugout with the newly established expansion team during its five-inning scrimmage.
1967 Commissioner General William Eckert approves the BBWAA's plan to select a Cy Young Award recipient from both the National League and American League. The honor, which was initiated in 1956, had been given to just one pitcher in the major leagues each season, a position strongly supported by former commissioner Ford Frick.
1969 Citing "I can't hit when I need to", Mickey Mantle announces his retirement thus ending his fabled Hall of Fame career. The oft-injured Yankee slugger ranks third, behind Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, on the All-time home run list with 536 round-trippers, and finishes his 18-year stay in the majors with a .298 batting average.
1987 Charlie Kerfeld and the Astros finally agree on a one-year deal worth $110,037.37 and 37 boxes of orange Jello. The Houston reliever, who wears number 37, insisted he earn more than teammate right-hander Jim DeShaies' $110,000 salary and wanted the gelatin for future pranks.
1993 Two and half years after accepting a life-long ban from being involved in the day-to-day operation with the team, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner is reinstated. 'The Boss' had been exiled from baseball by commissioner Fay Vincent in 1990 for hiring Howie Spira, a known gambler, to snoop into the life of star outfielder, Dave Winfield.
1994 Former banker Leonard Coleman is elected National League president replacing Bill White. He had been executive director for Major League Baseball market development.
1995 In an evening exhibition contest played in Tempe, the Angels, using replacement players, beat the Arizona State University Sun Devils squad, 13-5. It is the first time since 1912, that replacement players have been used in a major league game, and only time the team has worn big league uniforms.
2005 Deciding not to file as a free agent at the end of the season, Tim Hudson (12-6, 3.53) agrees to a four-year, $47-million, contract extension with his new team, the Braves. The 29-year-old right-hander, who was acquired in a trade with Oakland in the off-season, grew up near Atlanta and rooted for the local team as a youngster.
2005 Construction for an additional 1,790 bleacher seats at Wrigley Field will begin at the end of the season and will be completed in time for Opening Day 2006. A deal is reached for the expansion when the Cubs agree to pay the city $3.1 million prior to the start of work and by contributing funds for a local school park and a $400,000 traffic signal system near the ballpark.
2009 Insisting there was no wrongdoing on his part, Jim Bowden resigns as the general manager of the Nationals. The Washington GM is part of a federal probe investigating scouts and executives for accepting kickbacks from baseball bonuses intended for players signed in Latin America.
2012 After spending 15 seasons with Boston, Jason Varitek, ninth on the all-time list with 1,546 games played in a Red Sox uniform, announces his retirement, leaving only Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19), and Jim Rice (16) with longer tenures with the team without playing for another franchise. The venerable catcher, who served as the BoSox captain for past seven seasons, is the only major leaguer to have played in the Little League World Series, the College World Series, the World Series, the Olympics, and the World Baseball Classic.
2012 Yadier Molina signs a five-year extension with the Cardinals worth $75 million, an agreement that will keep the gold glove catcher with the world champions through 2017. This new contract, which takes effect next season, includes a mutual $15 million option that could add an another year to the deal.
16 Fact(s) Found