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This Day in Baseball History
March 11th

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16 Fact(s) Found
1901 John McGraw, manager of the new American League's Orioles, signs Charlie Grant, trying to pass off the black infielder as a Cherokee Indian named Tokohoma. The skipper's scheme to secretly integrate the major leagues unravels in Chicago when White Sox president Charles Comiskey objects to Baltimore's new player after recognizing the team's second baseman's true identity.

1933 A significant earthquake during an exhibition game in L.A. sends the Cubs and Giants scurrying to second base until the tremors stop. The seismic event, which takes place along the 46-mile-long Newport-Inglewood Fault, is estimated at a magnitude of 6.3.
1933 Rogers Hornsby returns to the Cardinals as a player after being fired as the Cubs' manager last August. After a six-year absence, the 'Rajah's' return to the Redbirds will be short-lived when he is claimed on waivers in July by the crosstown AL's Browns, who make him the skipper of the last-place club, replacing the recently-resigned Bill Killefer.
1953 Braves' owner Lou Perini proposes a ban on any major league franchise shift to an existing minor league city until October 1st. Boston, who owns the Milwaukee minor league franchise, had invoked its territorial privilege last week to block the Browns' attempt to shift their franchise to Milwaukee.
1953 The Dodgers defeat the A's, 4-2, in the first game played in Holman Stadium, their Grapefruit League ballpark at the team's spring training complex in Vero Beach, better known as Dodgertown. Fifty-five years later, Carl Erskine, the game's starting pitcher, will return to play the national anthem on his harmonica as an 81-year-old at the club's last game at the storied facility.
1957 Representative Emanuel Celler, chair of a congressional committee investigating baseball, calls Commissioner Ford Frick a czar. The New York congressman takes exception when the baseball boss cautions the major league owners about commenting on the Supreme Court's recent decision concerning pro football coming under antitrust rules.
1958 American League president Will Harridge informs the circuit's umpires that wearing a helmet is mandatory for batters this season, reinforcing the mandate passed by the owners' 7-1 vote at their December meeting in Colorado Springs. The Red Sox dissent, knowing their slugger Ted Williams adamantly opposes wearing headgear, asserting the protective equipment will interfere with their hitters' timing.
1961 At Palm Springs, former president Dwight Eisenhower is a no-show at the Angels' first-ever exhibition game, an 8-3 victory over the Cubs. Ike had been scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch but decided to go fishing instead.
1973

"I didn't think I'd have to tell them everytime I cross the street. He made his point and he was right. I made a mistake. I should have told him." - WILLIE MAYS, commenting on his fine for leaving the Mets during spring training.

Mets manager Yogi Berra fines Willie Mays $500 for leaving the club without permission and missing the Saturday's workout. The aging superstar left the team for two days during spring training without notice and flew to California to be with his wife.

1988 California Angels manager Gene Mauch, citing health issues, takes a leave of absence and is replaced by Cookie Rojas. The Halos' skipper will officially announce his retirement in two weeks, leaving the game with a managerial record of 1,902 wins and 2,037 losses during his 26-year tenure in the dugout with the Phillies, Expos, Twins, and California.
2001 Preston Wilson, the franchise's first 30-30 player, signs a $32 million five-year contract with Florida. The 26-year-old Marlin center fielder, the stepson and nephew of former major leaguer Mookie Wilson, was obtained from the Mets in the Mike Piazza deal in 1998.
2002 The Boston replaces Joe Kerrigan, the once-popular skipper fired last week, with Grady Little, who will manage the team for two years, compiling a 188-136 (.580) record and making one appearance in the postseason as the AL wild card. The Red Sox do not renew their new manager's contract when he becomes the target of fans' angst for not replacing Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS, a contest the team loses in the eleventh on Aaron Boone's walk-off home run.
2004 The first contest played at Petco Park, the Padres' new home, establishes the record for the best-attended game in college baseball history when 40,106 fans watch Tony Gwynn's San Diego State Aztecs beat the University of Hawaii, 4-0. The previous mark of 27,673 was established in 2002 when state rivals LSU and Tulane met in New Orleans's Superdome.
2006 First baseman Nick Johnson (.289, 15, 74) and the Nationals agree to a $16.5 million, three-year contract extension. The 27-year-old first baseman, who signed a $3.2 million, one-year deal in January to avoid arbitration, has often been injured since making his big league debut with the Yankees five years ago.
2010 Todd Helton and the Rockies agree to a $9.9 million contract extension that takes the first baseman through the 2013 season. The 38-year-old fan favorite, who has played his entire career in Colorado, hit .325 with 15 home runs, driving in 86 runs last season after undergoing back surgery at the end of the 2008 season.
2018 Taking a significant pay cut, unsigned free-agent Mike Moustakas signs a one-year contract to stay with the Royals, the team he set a franchise record for home runs (38) last season. The 28-year-old All-Star third baseman agrees to 6.5 million, having turned down a qualifying offer of $17.4 million at the start of the off-season.
16 Fact(s) Found