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This Day in Baseball History
November 14th

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31 Fact(s) Found
1946 After finishing second to Yankees Joe DiMaggio (1941) and Joe Gordon (1942), Ted Williams (.342, 38, 123) wins the American League Most Valuable Player award. The Red Sox outfielder missed the last three seasons due to serving in the military during World War II.
1956 The Pirates threaten to move the franchise from Pittsburgh unless the city builds a new municipal stadium to replace the 47-year-old Forbes Field. The second division club attracted 949,878 fans, outdrawing the Phillies, Cubs, and Giants for the fifth-best total of the eight National League teams.

(Ed. Note: The Bucs will continue to play at their home ballpark for another 14 years until the team begins playing at Three Rivers Stadium in 1970.- LP)

1957 The BBWAA selects Hank Aaron as the National League's Most Valuable Player. The Milwaukee Braves outfielder, with 239 points from the writers, narrowly edges out Stan Musial and his Cardinal former teammate, Giants infielder Red Schoendienst, who collect 230 and 221, respectively.
1961 John Fetzer, a passionate fan of the game, becomes the Tigers' lone owner when he buys out Fred Knorr's estate. The media mogul will build a solid franchise in Detroit and play a pivotal role in obtaining network television contracts before selling the team to pizza entrepreneur Tom Monaghan in 1983.
1973 The BBWAA unanimously selects Reggie Jackson (.293, 32, 117) as the American League's MVP. The 27-year-old right fielder of the World Champion A's, who captured all of the writers' 24 first-place votes, easily outdistances Oriole right-hander Jim Palmer (22-9, 2.40) and Royals outfielder Amos Otis (.300, 26, 93), the runners-ups for the honor.
1973 Orioles right-hander Jim Palmer, runner-up for the AL MVP honors, is named the American League's Cy Young Award winner. The 28-year-old future Hall of Famer compiled a 22-9 and an ERA of 2.40 for the first-place Birds this season.
1979 After the maximum of thirteen teams selects him in the first round of the free-agent draft, David Goltz signs a six-year, three-million-dollar contract with the Dodgers. The former Twins' pitcher (14-13, 4.16) will post a 9-19 record during his 2+ seasons with the club.
1980 After obtaining him in the free-agent re-entry draft yesterday, the Braves sign Claudell Washington to a five-year deal worth $3.5 million, making the five-tool player one of the highest paid players in baseball. Atlanta also selected Stan Bahnsen, Gaylord Perry, Dave Roberts, Don Sutton, and Dave Winfield in this ill-fated process through which teams selected free agents with which they sought to negotiate with.
1985 Thirty-nine-year-old Rollie Fingers is released by the Brewers, ending his 17-year Hall of Fame career. The future Hall of Famer (1992) retires as the all-time major league leader in saves with 341, winning the American League MVP and Cy Young awards four seasons ago.
1986 Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon buy the World Champion Mets from the Doubleday Publishing Company for $80.75 million. In 1980, the book company purchased the franchise for a then-record $21.1 million.
1988 The Angels announce Doug Rader will replace Cookie Rojas, their fired rookie manager who was stunned when the improved fourth-place team (75-79) released him with eight games left in the regular season. The Halos' new skipper compiled a 155-200 (.437) record while piloting the Rangers from 1982 to 1985.
1996 In the closest vote for the award since 1960, Ranger outfielder Juan Gonzalez (.314, 47, 144) wins the American League MVP. 'Juan Gone,' who will also cop the honor in 1998, edges out Alex Rodriguez by just three points, getting one more first-place vote than the Mariner shortstop.

1997 After annually alternating the schedule of the League Championship Series between the divisions, with a 2-3 format in the best-of-five series (1969-1984) and a 2-3-2 format in the best-of-seven matchups (1985-1997), the MLB announces LCS home-field advantage will now go to the team with the best record. The divisional winner, not necessarily the team with the most wins during the season, gets the benefit of playing at home in the series against the wild-card winner.
2000 Diamondback southpaw Randy Johnson wins the NL Cy Young Award for the third time in his career, copping the prestigious pitching prize for the second consecutive season. The 37-year-old 'Big Unit' struck out a league-leading 347 batters while posting a 19-7 record along with an ERA of 2.64 for the third-place team
2001 Seattle skipper Lou Piniella is named the American League Manager of the Year for the second time. Sweet Lou, the only person to appear on every ballot, guided the Mariners to a historic 116 victories, tying the 1906 Cubs as the winningest team in major league history.
2001 The BBWAA selects Larry Bowa (86-76, .531) as National League's Manager of the Year, making him the first Phillies skipper to receive the award. In his first year at the helm, Philadelphia improved by 21 games, finishing the season two games behind the first-place Atlanta.
2006 With the fewest victories as a starter, Brandon Webb (16-8, 3.10) wins the NL Cy Young Award, garnering 15 of the possible 32 BBWAA's first-place votes. The Diamondback right-hander beats out Padres closer Trevor Hoffman and Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter with Reds hurler Aaron Harang, who led the league in victories and strikeouts, not receiving one vote from the writers.
2007 The Baseball Writers' Association of America select Bob Melvin as the National League Manager of the Year. The Diamondbacks skipper, who led the club to a league-best 90 victories, also was chosen by his fellow managers for the same honor in The Sporting News poll.
2007 In his fifth season at the helm, Eric Wedge becomes the first Indian skipper to be selected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America as the American League Manager of the Year. The 39-year-old skipper led the Tribe to the AL Central title, compiling a 96-66 record during the regular season before losing Game 7 to Boston in the ALCS.
2007 Major League Baseball announces the World Champion Red Sox will take on the A's in the 2008 season opener on March 25 at the Tokyo Dome. The Opening Day game will mark the third time the regular major league season has started in Japan.
2007 Reports start to surface that the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez are close to a multi-year deal worth as much as $290 million only a few hours after their third baseman confirms he has spoken directly with the Steinbrenner family. The move is seen, in part, as an attempt to soften the harsh criticism incurred when A-Rod, through his agent Scott Boras, announced his decision to opt out of his contract with the team during Game 4 of the World Series.
2010 A Santa Barbara father-son sports collectors team pays $575,912 for the bat Kirk Gibson used to hit his dramatic World Series Game 1 home run in 1988. The winning bid was the second-highest sale price ever for a baseball bat, topped only by the $1.265 million paid in 2004 for a Babe Ruth signed bat used by the 'Bambino' to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium.

2011 Mike Matheny is named to succeed Tony La Russa, who retired as the Cardinals manager a few days after leading the Redbirds to a world championship. The 41-year-old former minor league instructor served as a special assistant to general manager John Mozeliak and has no previous managerial experience.
2011 Craig Kimbrel unanimously wins the National League Rookie of the Year award. The Braves' right-handed closer, who struck out 127 batters in 77 innings, set a major league record for saves by a rookie with 46.
2011 Former Red Sox reliever Jonathan Papelbon agrees to a four-year, $50 million free-agent deal to finish games for the Phillies. The contract is the richest ever signed by a closer, surpassing B.J. Ryan's five-year, $47 million pact with the Blue Jays in 2005.
2012 In one of the closest races to determine the American League Cy Young Award winner, Rays' southpaw David Price (20-5, 2.56) outpoints last year's recipient Tigers ace Justin Verlander (17-8, 2.64) by a slim margin of four points. The difference is the one first-place vote given to the Tampa Bay left-hander's teammate, closer Fernando Rodney.
2013 Miguel Cabrera (.344, 44, 137) is named the AL Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. The Detroit third baseman, who received 23 of 30 first-place votes to finish ahead of Mike Trout and Chris Davis, joins Hal Newhouse (1944-45) and Hank Greenberg (1935, 1940), winning the prestigious award twice playing for the Tigers.
2013 The National College Baseball Hall of Fame announces naming its new facility in Lubbock (TX) after George H.W. Bush, the first baseman and captain for the Yale baseball team. The 41st president of the United States participated in the College World Series with the Bulldogs in 1947 and '48, the collegiate national championship's inaugural years.
2013 After leading the Pirates to their first postseason appearance since 1992, Andrew McCutchen (.317, 21, 84) is named the National League's Most Valuable Player. The Pittsburgh outfielder garners 28 of the writers' 30 first-place votes, easily outdistancing runners-up Diamondback first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina for the MVP honor.
2014 The Tigers come to terms on a $68 million, four-year deal with 35-year-old Victor Martinez, the team's designated hitter who finished second behind Mike Trout in the AL MVP balloting this year. The Detroit DH helped the team capture its fourth straight American League Central title, hitting .335 with 32 home runs while driving 103 runs.
2019 Mike Trout becomes the eleventh three-time MVP in baseball history and the first since Alex Rodriguez copped his third award in 2007. The 28-year-old Angels outfielder, who has finished second in the voting four times, narrowly wins the American League honor, garnering 355 points from the writers, twenty more than runner-up Astro third baseman Alex Bregman.
31 Fact(s) Found