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This Day in Baseball History
February 7th

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13 Fact(s) Found
1898 Chris Von der Ahe is taken into custody to face charges in Pittsburgh after being kidnapped by detective Nicholas Bendel in a St. Louis hotel. The Brown Stockings (AA) owner faces jail time in Pennsylvania if he doesn't pay the $2,500 awarded to right-hander Mark E. Baldwin, who brought suit against the baseball magnate for malicious prosecution after being acquitted in a dispute between the National League and the American Association.
1942 Reds general manager Warren Giles announces the team has traded veteran catcher Ernie Lombardi to the Braves for two players to be named later. The 33-year-old future Hall of Famer will hit .330 during his one season with his new team, capturing the batting crown, a feat that a catcher will not repeat until 2006 when Twins' backstop Joe Mauer leads the American League with a .347 batting average.
1949 Yankee outfielder Joe DiMaggio becomes the first American Leaguer to make $100,000 in one season. In 1947, the Pirates paid the recently-waived Hank Greenberg six figures, making the former Junior Circuit superstar the first major leaguer to reach the plateau, albeit for his skills with Detroit.
1979 Jesse Orosco becomes 'the player to be named later' in the Mets' trade of Jerry Koosman to the Twins. The left-handed reliever will spend 24 seasons in the major leagues, setting the record for appearances with 1,252.

1983 The Mariners select Reds minor leaguer Danny Tartabull as compensation for the loss of Floyd Bannister to the White Sox. The outfielder will hit .270 and receive consideration for the Rookie of the Year Award in 1986 but will be traded away in the off-season with Rick Luecken to the Royals for Scott Bankhead, Mike Kingery, and Steve Shields.
1987 For only the second time since Major League Baseball implemented the rule, a player takes less pay due to salary arbitration when Orel Hershiser signs for $800,000, taking a twenty percent pay cut. After winning the Cy Young Award and leading the team to a World Series championship next year, the Dodger right-hander will become the highest-paid player in the major leagues.
2005 The Tigers sign 31-year-old right fielder Magglio Ordonez (.292, 9, 37) for a reported $75 million for five years. The contract for the free-agent slugger, recovering from knee surgery, includes options that could extend the All-Star's stay in Detroit for an additional two years, making the deal nearly $100 million.
2006 Alex Gonzalez, who signed with the Red Sox as a free agent yesterday, singles in the tying run and then scores the winning run when Henry Blanco's pop fly bounces off the head of Erick Aybar, giving Venezuela its first Caribbean Series championship since 1989. The ball, which the Dominican Republic Licey's Tigers' shortstop lost in the lights, is ruled a double and caps a two-run bottom of the ninth rally, resulting in a 5-4 comeback victory for the Caracas Lions.
2009 The Sports Illustrated website reports Alex Rodriguez is one of the 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. The testing, which was intended only to determine the extent of steroid use by players at the time, revealed the Ranger shortstop was using Primobolan, an anabolic substance.
2012 Avoiding arbitration, Elvis Andrus and the Rangers come to terms on a three-year, $14.6 million contract. The agreement gives the 23-year-old infielder an early opportunity to sign a huge deal when he reaches free agency, which works with Texas' plans to make Jurickson Profar, currently playing A ball, their starting shortstop in a few years.
2012 The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announces Rusty Staub's selection for induction and former big-league pitcher Rheal Cormier, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin the 2011 Pan Am Games gold-medal winning Team Canada senior squad. The former Expos outfielder, referred to as Le Grand Orange by the Montreal fans because of his red hair, was a fan favorite in the franchise's early days due to his work ethic and active role in promoting the game north of the border.

2014 A class action suit is brought to federal court by former minor league players, who allege MLB teams violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and other state laws by not paying their farmhands minimum wage and overtime. The case will be postponed indefinitely, filed as Senne v. the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, initially scheduled for a hearing in February of 2017 until U.S. District Court Joseph C. Spero decides on the class certification question.
2014 Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez drops his two lawsuits against MLB, ending the likelihood of a long, drawn-out legal battle over his season-long suspension for the alleged use of performance-enhancing substances. The Bronx Bombers' third baseman was one of 14 individuals suspended due to the investigation of a Florida anti-aging clinic but the only one to contest his penalty, the longest ever given for using PEDs.
13 Fact(s) Found