<< Yesterday

This Day in Baseball History
January 20th

Tomorrow>>
19 Fact(s) Found
1871 Ivers Whitney Adams incorporates the Boston Red Stockings with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, who had founded and managed the Cincinnati Red Stockings, America's first professional baseball team. The franchise will compile a 225-60 (.789) record and win four pennants during its five-year existence in the National Association.
1882 Kentucky lawmakers revise a ruling that inadvertently banned playing baseball in the commonwealth. The poorly written legislation would have prevented the Louisville Eclipse from playing their inaugural season in the American Association.
1906 Henry Mathewson signs with the Giants, but the right-hander's performance will not remind anyone of his more talented older brother, Christy, when the right-hander, in his only start, walks 14 batters to establish a National League record. The 19-year-old will appear in only three major league games over the next two seasons, compiling a 0-1 record and two saves while posting an ERA of 4.91 during his 11 innings of work in the major leagues.
1947 Negro League standout Josh Gibson, sometimes referred to as the 'black Babe Ruth,' suffers a stroke at a movie theater, dying a few hours later at his mother's house at 35. The future Hall of Fame catcher will be put to rest in an unmarked grave for nearly three decades in Pittsburgh's historic Allegheny Cemetery until the placement of a small plaque in 1975, thanks to the efforts of fellow HOFer Willie Stargell and members of the community.
1966 Ted Williams, who compiled a .344 career batting average playing with the Red Sox for 19 seasons, receives 282 votes out of 302 ballots (93.4%) cast by the writers of the BBWAA for induction into the Hall of Fame. The 'Splendid Splinter' becomes the first American League position player selected in his first year of eligibility.
1984 Mets fans are shocked as the franchise loses future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver for the second time. The White Sox draft the unprotected 'Tom Terrific,' who rejoined the team last season after being traded away to Cincinnati in 1977, as compensation for losing Dennis Lamp, a Type A free agent, to the Blue Jays.
1997 Former outfielder Curt Flood, who played most notably with the Cardinals, dies of throat cancer at 59. After being traded to the Phillies in 1969, the baseball pioneer refused to play for Philadelphia and challenged the owners' reserve clause, taking the matter as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, where he lost the case but laid the groundwork that would lead to free agency in professional sports.
2001 George W. Bush becomes the 43rd President of the United States. The former Texas Ranger owner, who had a scant 1.8 percent share of the team at the beginning of the venture, and his partners bought the Texas franchise from Eddie Chiles in 1989 for $86 million.
2006 With the encouragement of President George W. Bush, a former major league owner, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control approves baseball's second application to allow Cuba to play in the World Baseball Classic games in the United States. With the issues of potential espionage by Cuban spies accompanying the team and money going to the Castro government resolved, the Olympic champs will be one of the 16 teams to compete in the WBC.
2006 At the introductory news conference, Bob Castellini, the new Reds' owner, makes it clear that he plans to be a hands-on CEO on his first day on the job. Promising the fans a championship, the Cincinnati produce proprietor intends to work out at the Great American Ball Park daily until he understands how a baseball front office operates.
2006

"I think it's the No. 1 accomplishment because you can only become an American citizen once, but you can be a World Series champion a few times." - OZZIE GUILLEN, White Sox skipper, comparing gaining United States citizenship with winning the Fall Classic.

Ozzie Guillen, the first foreign-born manager to win a World Series, spends his 42nd birthday becoming an American citizen. During the ceremony, others sworn in as citizens of the United States include the White Sox skipper's wife, Ibis, and their 19-year-old son, Oney, a student at Chicago's North Park University.

2006 🇻🇳 Danny Graves, the only major leaguer born in Vietnam, travels to Quang Tri province just south of the DMZ to dedicate the country's first baseball field. Removing seventeen explosive devices between home base and the outfield, using money donated from Major League Baseball and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, helps transform the former soccer field into a diamond for the Le Loi High School.
2009 Jonathan Papelbon, avoiding arbitration, agrees to a one-year contract with the Red Sox. The 28-year-old All-Star closer has compiled a career 1.84 ERA, the second-best in big league history among pitchers with at least 200.0 innings, trailing only Meriden, Connecticut's Ed Walsh mark of 1.82.
2009 The Dodgers, avoiding arbitration, sign Russell Martin to a one-year deal. The 25-year-old catcher, a two-time All-Star, will make $3.9 million after making $500,000 last season.
2009 Adam LaRoche signs a $7.05 million, one-year contract with the payroll-poor Pirates. The 25-year-old first baseman's deal, which avoids the need for arbitration, will likely be the second richest in Pittsburgh this season, slightly less than shortstop Jack Wilson's $7.25 million.
2009 Avoiding arbitration, Ryan Madson and the Phillies reach a preliminary agreement on a $12 million, three-year contract. The right-handed reliever, who posted a 3.05 ERA in 76 games out of the bullpen last year, finished the season as the setup man for closer Brad Lidge, who was perfect in 48 save opportunities.
2009 The Mariners obtain David Aardsma from the Red Sox in exchange for minor league southpaw Fabian Williamson. Seattle plans to use the 27-year-old right-hander, a first-round draft pick in 2003, out of the bullpen.
2012 The Nationals, avoiding salary arbitration, sign Mike Morse to a reported two-year contract extension. The 29-year-old outfielder/infielder, who had been asking for $5 million, led the team in batting (.303 average), home runs (31), and runs batted in (95) last season.
2014 The Tigers and Justin Upton agree on a reported six-year, $132.75 million deal. The addition of the 28-year-old three-time All-Star outfielder and the free-agent signing of right-hander Jordan Zimmermann in late November make Detroit the second franchise to spend $100 million or more on two free agents in a single offseason.
19 Fact(s) Found