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5 Fact(s) Found
| 1896 |
Princeton University professor Charles E. Hinton demonstrates his invention of the first pitching machine, before the baseball team and a large crowd of undergraduates in the school's gymnasium. The mathematics instructor's creation, which resembles a rifle shooting the ball at varying speeds toward the batter, leads to his dismissal after the gunpowder-powered device injures several baseball players.
 The Baltimore Sun, December 16, 1896 |
| 1974 | Arbitrator Peter Seitz rules in favor of Catfish Hunter in the dispute between the Cy Young winner and the A's owner, Charlie Finley. The decision makes the right-hander a desirable unrestricted free agent, ushering in a new era in the owners' relationship with their players. |
| 2014 | The Cubs and Jon Lester have terms on a $155 million contract to keep the 30-year-old southpaw in Chicago for six years. The deal, which includes a record $30 million signing bonus, makes the former Red Sox and A's ace the second-highest-paid pitcher in baseball history, behind only Clayton Kershaw, who inked a $30.7 million pact with the Dodgers. |
| 2015 |
Major League Baseball's goodwill tour to Cuba, the first official MLB visit since 1999, opens with a news conference at Havana's Hotel Nacional. Players participating in the four days of children's clinics and charitable events include White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and Dodger outfielder Yasiel Puig, both defectors from the island nation to the United States to play baseball.
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| 2019 | At FunCity Turf in Burlington (IA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes batting practice after meeting with representatives from three Iowa-based teams: the Quad City River Bandits, the Clinton LumberKings, and the town's local club, the Bees. The 78-year-old Democratic presidential candidate vehemently opposes Major League Baseball's plan to eliminate 42 minor league teams nationwide after 2020, including the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Single-A affiliate of the A's in his hometown of Burlington (VT). |
5 Fact(s) Found