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This Day in Baseball History
March 5th

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14 Fact(s) Found
1922 Babe Ruth and the Yankees agree to a three-year contract worth $52,000 annually, breaking down to $1,000 for each of the 156 weeks of the deal, more than three times as much as teammate Home Run Baker, the second-best paid major leaguer. The 'Sultan of Swat' will prove worthy of his contract, hitting 122 home runs and earning MVP honors in the team's first World Championship season in 1923.

(Ed. Note: In November, Yankees owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert has the 'Bambino' agree to a contract addendum, limiting the slugger's outrageous off-field behavior that includes the excessive consumption of alcohol and late-night carousing. LP)
1936 Without the holdout Dean brothers, Dizzy and Daffy, available, the Cardinals lose an exhibition game to Habana at Havana's Tropical Park. Luis Tiant Sr., the dad of a future major league pitcher, is the starting pitcher for the Cuban winter league team.

Luis Tiant Sr.

1958 Duke Snider, Johnny Podres, and Don Zimmer, trying to beat a 12:30 am curfew, suffer minor injuries in an auto mishap in Vero Beach. With prior crashes involving Roy Campanella and Jim Gilliam, the car accident involves Dodger players for the third time within the last two months.
1962 Gene Freese suffers a severely fractured ankle in the team's first intrasquad game, keeping the Reds' third baseman out of action until mid-August. The 28-year-old infielder, who played an essential role in Cincinnati's National League championship last season, will never regain the form he displayed during the pennant drive.
1964 Atlanta's Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. claims to have a verbal agreement with a major league team that promises to move to the Peach State if a stadium is ready by next year. The next day, the Board of Alderman approves a $15-million stadium.
1966 Marvin Miller, an assistant to the President of United Steelworkers, is elected as the first full-time executive director of the Major League Players' Association by the player representatives. The skilled negotiator, who will lead the MLBPA from 1966 to 1982, transforms the organization into one of the country's strongest unions.
1972 Jim Fregosi, obtained by the Mets from the Angels in the off-season for future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, breaks his right thumb during a spring training workout. The All-Star infielder will suffer through an agonizing season, batting only .232 in 101 games after being touted as the team's solution to its revolving door at third base.
1973

"We may have to call off family day." - LEE McPHAIL, Yankees GM, jesting about two players swapping their wives and children.

Yankee southpaws Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich announce that they have traded families, including their wives, kids, and dogs. The teammates' swap that began last Fall will work better for Peterson, who will become married to his best friend's former wife with whom he will have four children, than for Kekich, whose relationship with Marilyn Peterson is short-lived.

1982 Gaylord Perry signs a one-year deal with Seattle, needing three wins to reach 300 career victories. The 43-year-old 'Ancient Mariner' will reach the milestone in May when he goes the distance to beat New York at the Kingdome, 7-3, en route to finishing his 22-year career next season with a 314-265 (.542) won-loss record.
1986 The Braves and Brewers swap backstops, with Atlanta acquiring Ted Simmons from Milwaukee in exchange for Rick Cerone and a pair of minor leaguers, David Clay and Flavio Alfaro. The offensively talented Simmons will spend three years with his new club before retiring after the 1988 season with a lifetime .285 batting average.
1997 The Veterans Committee selects longtime Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox, and Negro League infielder Willie Wells to the Hall of Fame. The trio joins Phil Niekro, a knuckleballer elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in January.
2002 When dismissed by the Red Sox, Joe Kerrigan becomes the fourth manager fired during spring training. The team's former pitching coach, who led the club to a 17-26 record after taking over for Jimy Williams last August, had signed a multi-year contract to be Boston's field boss with then-GM Dan Duquette but was not favored by the new ownership that took control last month.
2003 Although not agreeing to ban ephedra, a memo is sent to all major leaguers by the players' union strongly recommending players "be extremely reluctant to use any products" containing the substance. The diet supplement, available without a prescription, has been linked to Orioles' pitcher Steve Belcher's death during spring training.
2005 A new ownership group, headed by real estate tycoon Lewis N. Wolff and businessman John J. Fisher, takes control of the A's after purchasing the franchise from Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman. Oakland's four-year playoff streak, fueled by Billy Beane's "Moneyball" approach, had ended in 2004, and the former owners were anxious to sell the club they bought from the estate of Walter A. Haas, Jr. in 1995.
14 Fact(s) Found