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This Day in Baseball History
March 14th

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12 Fact(s) Found
1954 Hank Aaron, filling in for Bobby Thomson, who broke his ankle yesterday, starts his first game wearing a Braves uniform. The 20-year-old from Mobile (AL) makes such an impression the club offers him a major league contract after he collects three hits, including a home run, in the spring training game against the Red Sox.
1961 The Mets lure former Yankee general manager George Weiss out of retirement to become the club's first president, reportedly offering the four-time The Sporting News Executive of the Year a five-year deal at $100,000 annually. During the 67-year-old New Haven native's five years in the post, the expansion team will compile a record of 260–547 (.322), finishing last four times.
1993 The Reds announce the prohibition of team president Marge Schott's Saint Bernard from accessing the Riverfront Stadium field for the season. The mandate to ban Schottzie 02 comes from the MLB Executive Council, which has received numerous complaints from the players about dogs running on the field.
1995 The players' union makes it clear that if the owners use replacement players during regular-season games and the results count, the strike will continue. The NLRB also announced that the board is considering charging MLB owners with two counts of unfair labor practices.
2003 Cablevision, maintaining its "long-standing philosophy," of allowing customers to choose to receive paid programming, agrees to a one-year interim deal to offer YES Network to New York Yankees fans for a fee, ending a bitter and costly yearlong feud. The arrangement makes YES a premium channel instead of a basic cable channel, dropping the new network's previous mandate to make every subscriber pay for it regardless of the viewer's choice.
2003 Baseball suspends Montreal outfielder Vladimir Guerrero for three regular-season games and Marlin starter Brad Penny for five after igniting an exhibition game bench-clearing brawl earlier in the week. After being hit in the chest, the Expo All-Star, with a bat in his left hand, swings his right fist around Florida catcher Matt Treanor, trying to restrain him, missing the starting pitcher, who retaliated with a punch that also missed its mark.
2003

"Must be in the front row!"- BOB UECKER, a quip from beer commercials that have become a famous cry in ballparks nationwide.

Bob Uecker, the Brewers' TV/radio play-by-play announcer, is chosen for induction into the broadcasters' wing of the Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient. The 68-year-old former backup catcher, a member of Milwaukee's broadcast crew since 1971, is best known for the humor he has brought to the game through his starring role in the cult movie Major League and the Miller Lite beer commercials.

2003 Dependent on passing a physical, free agent Kenny Lofton agrees to a one-year pact to play with the Pirates this season. The 35-year-old leadoff man would likely start in center, moving Brian Giles to left with left fielder Reggie Sanders going to right field.
2006 Avoiding a trial scheduled to begin on Opening Day, Major League Baseball settles a lawsuit with an Atlanta-based company claiming it owned the trademark rights to Washington Nationals. MLB sued Bygone Sports LLC, asking the court to declare that the trademark for the name Nationals does not belong to the company because its sole purpose in filing the September 2002 trademark application was to capitalize on the renaming of the team that recently shifted from Montreal to Washington.
2006 Terry Francona agrees to a two-year contract extension, keeping the skipper at the helm through 2008. The Red Sox manager replaced Grady Little in December 2003 and promptly brought Boston to its first World Championship in 86 years.
2006 Washington, D.C. officials unveil the design for the Nationals' new home, scheduled to be opened in 2008. The glass-and-steel 41,000-seat ballpark will feature pale stone chosen to complement the nation's capital's familiar skyline.

2008 The Padres' new left-hander starter, Randy Wolf, struggles in a 6-2 spring training exhibition loss to the Brewers in Peoria, Arizona. The pitcher's brother, Jim, is little help as the home plate umpire, an occurrence not allowed during a regular-season game and marking the only time it has ever happened when the San Diego hurler gives up three runs in four innings.
12 Fact(s) Found