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17 Fact(s) Found
| 1900 | The National League decides to downsize to eight teams for the upcoming season by eliminating the circuit's franchises in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington. The remaining eight cities will stay the same for over half a century until the Braves leave Boston and move to Milwaukee in 1953. |
| 1913 | John Powers, the founder of last year's failed mid-western Columbian League, organizes the Federal League in Indianapolis. The upstart league will operate independently with franchises in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, avoiding agreement with the National Commission. |
| 1923 |
Commissioner Landis allows pitcher Rube Benton to return to the major leagues despite the left-hander admitting to having prior knowledge of the 1919 World Series fix. The 32-year-old southpaw, who spent 6+ seasons with the Giants before sitting out the 1922 campaign, returns to the Reds for three years, compiling a 30-29 record during his second tour with the team.
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| 1930 | Babe Ruth inks a two-year deal for $160,000 with the Yankees, keeping him the highest-paid player of all time. The team's general manager, Ed Barrow, predicted at the time that "No one will ever be paid more." |
| 1941 |
Phillies right-hander Hugh Mulcahy becomes the first major league player drafted into the Armed Forces, joining the 101st Artillery at Cape Cod's Camp Edwards. The 27-year-old, known as 'Losing Pitcher,' lost 22 games last season and 20 in 1938 to lead the National League in defeats both years.
 Hugh Mulcahy 1940 Bowman Play Ball Card |
| 1946 | Tucson's Hi Corbett Field hosts Arizona's first spring training game. The Indians, behind the pitching of Bob Lemon, beat the Giants, 3-1, in the inaugural Cactus League contest. |
| 1947 | In front of 5,000 fans at Havana's new Gran Estadio de La Habana, the Yankees lose to the Dodgers in extra innings, 1-0, with Snuffy Stirnweiss's tenth-inning single accounting for the Bronx Bombers' only hit. Pete Reiser's long double on a 3-2 pitch off Spec Shea scores Carl Furillo, giving Brooklyn the walk-off victory in Cuba. |
| 1966 | In a pregame ceremony before an intrasquad contest in St. Petersburg in a pregame ceremony, the Mets announce the election of their former manager Casey Stengel to the Hall of Fame. The 75-year-old 'Old Perfessor' benefitted from a new rule by the Baseball Writers Committee on Veterans that makes any manager, umpire, or executive 65 or older eligible for induction six months after retiring, bypassing the traditional five-year wait rule for players. |
| 1985 | Dave Stieb agrees to a $25 million, 11-year deal with the Blue Jays, the richest in baseball history. Although considered lucrative at the time, Toronto, in recognition of his years of service to the team, will voluntarily increase the value of the last three seasons of the contract, considering that some players will make several times the money annually than their right-hander. |
| 2001 | In a press release, the Orioles announce that Albert Belle "is disabled and unable to perform as a Major League baseball player," due to a degenerative right hip. The Orioles will place the 34-year-old outfielder on the 60-day disabled list, thus beginning the process that conforms to the procedure set forth by Major League Baseball in the case of a disabling and permanent injury to a player. |
| 2006 |
A Canadian team comprised mostly of minor leaguers stuns the baseball world by beating a highly-favored Team USA in the first round of the WBC, 8-6. Thanks to Adam Stern's inside-the-park homer, four RBIs, and a pair of sensational catches, along with southpaw Adam Loewen, who keeps the American all-stars scoreless for 3.2 innings, the Canadians post their most significant victory in its national history of baseball.
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| 2008 | In hopes of a more lucrative deal in the future, Ryan Zimmerman inks a new one-year contract to play infield with the Nationals. After the third baseman homers and drives in four runs during a 12-10 split-squad victory over the Astros, he agrees to a $465,000 deal, slightly improving his present salary. |
| 2011 | The MLB names Kim Ng their Senior Vice-President of baseball operations, making her the highest-ranking woman in the major leagues. The Dodger Assistant General Manager, a post she held since 2001, will report to Joe Torre, who managed in LA during the last three years of her tenure. |
| 2013 | Allen Craig (.307, 22, 92) and the Cardinals agree to a five-year, $31 million contract extension valued at $43 million over six seasons. The 28-year-old first baseman played a vital role in the 2011 St. Louis World Championship, contributing three go-ahead RBIs, including a clutch eighth-inning line drive in Game 6 that sparked the start of an unforgettable rally for the Redbirds. |
| 2016 |
A meeting today (3/08) at 3:08 p.m. at Clemens Field, with a .308 gate and a 308 right-field foul pole, a .309 suite, and a monument depicting a .309 batting average, will help solve a mystery surrounding a not-so-well-known resident, former National League first baseman Jake Beckley. The purpose of the gathering is to decide which number to use in commemorating the Hall of Fame infielder's batting average, .308 as listed by Baseball-Reference.com and many other resources, or the .309, engraved on his plaque at Cooperstown.
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| 2017 |
"When Moses Fleetwood Walker walked onto a field in Toledo, he did more than play a game. He was more than just an athlete. He did more than throw, catch, or hit. That day and every day he played, he started a conversation." - CRAIG BROWN, an adjunct professor at Kent State University. By a vote of 93-1, the Ohio House passes Bill 59, setting aside October 7 each year in honor of Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first-openly African American to play under contract in the major leagues. In 1884, the bare-handed backstop caught for the American Association's Toledo Blue Stockings until a rib injury and the team's excessive payroll led to his release late in the season. |
| 2019 | The independent Atlantic League, as part of its new three-year partnership with Major League Baseball, will experiment with new rules by implementing a TrackMan radar system to help umpires call balls and strikes, increasing the distance between the pitching rubber and home plate by two feet, and mandating that two infielders are on each side of the second-base bag when a pitch is released. Other changes in the eight-team circuit include a three-batter minimum for pitchers, increasing the size of bases by three inches, and eliminating mound visits other than for pitching changes or injuries. |
17 Fact(s) Found