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15 Fact(s) Found
| 1921 |
Brooklyn trades 29-year-old Rabbit Maranville to the Pirates for Billy Southworth, Fred Nicholson, Walter Barbare, and $15,000 in cash. The future Hall of Fame shortstop will spend four of his 19 major league seasons playing for the Bucs, providing excellent defense while compiling a .283 batting average.
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| 1934 | Brooklyn coach Casey Stengel signs a two-year deal to manage the Dodgers, replacing skipper Max Carey, who guided the sixth-place club to a 65-88 record last season. During the rookie manager's three-year tenure with the Brooks, the team will finish 43 games under .500, finishing no higher than fifth place. |
| 1960 |
Twenty-eight months after the Dodgers play their last game in Brooklyn, the demolition of Ebbets Field finally begins when a wrecking ball, painted with red and white stitches, begins its work on the ballpark Brooklyn called home for 44 years. Before the demolition, wheel-chair-bound Roy Campanella, the team's former All-Star catcher and three-time National League MVP, is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate in front of a crowd of 200 faithful fans.
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| 1986 | Although he lost his arbitration case, Boston third baseman Wade Boggs receives the largest amount ($1.35 million) ever awarded by this process. Last season's AL batting champ had sought $1.85 million, but arbitrator Thomas Roberts ruled in favor of the Red Sox, resulting in a drop of a half-million dollars for the infielder. |
| 1987 |
"He won friends and titles with savvy, wit and loyalty." - TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, from an obituary written by Gerald Ensley, a Democrat staff writer. Three days into spring training, Dick Howser's attempt to return after undergoing brain tumor surgery ends when the frail-looking Royals manager finds he is physically too weak to continue. Third-base coach Billy Gardner replaces the ill skipper, who will die three months later at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. |
| 1988 | Facing the loss of the 1990 All-Star game and possible postseason games, the Chicago City Council passes an ordinance, 29-19, allowing the Cubs to play 18 night games a season through the year 2002 at Wrigley Field, the last major league ballpark without lights. The legislation prohibits beer sales after 9:20 p.m. and organ music ten minutes later. |
| 1990 | Although the owners drop their arbitration and minimum salary proposals, spring training camps remain closed. Baseball's seventh work stoppage will last 32 days, delaying Opening Day for a week and extending the overall season by three days to accommodate the 162-game schedule. |
| 1997 | Ira Berkow's front-page story about Larry Doby appears in the Sunday New York Times, detailing the 22-year-old second baseman's experience of being the first black to play in the American League. The article spurs much interest in the former Newark Eagle, leading many to believe the story helped his election to the Hall of Fame the following year. |
| 2000 | Cubs manager Don Baylor names four captains, selecting first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani, and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs' first captains since Ron Santo held the position in the 1960s and early 1970s. |
| 2006 | Complaining about the lack of support from local baseball officials, Roberto Kelly resigns as manager of Panama's team in the World Baseball Classic. The Giants' spring training instructor believes some players choose not to participate in the WBC, opting to play in the Panamanian championships. |
| 2012 | Avoiding a 50-game suspension, Ryan Braun becomes the first major league player to challenge a positive test result successfully. The panel that heard the appeal voted 2-1 in favor of the 28-year-old Brewer outfielder. The test collector kept the urine sample at home and stored it in his refrigerator for two days before sending it to a Montreal laboratory for analysis. |
| 2013 | After three years of futility in New York, Jason Bay, who mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the Mets in November, clouts a two-run homer in his first at-bat of spring training in the Mariners' 8-6 exhibition victory over the Padres. In the offseason, the likable but oft-injured outfielder signed with Seattle for $1 million, a far cry from the four-year, $66-million free-agent deal he inked, leaving Boston for the Big Apple in 2009. |
| 2016 | Placed on paid leave until the completion of criminal proceedings, Jose Reyes becomes the first player disciplined under baseball's new domestic violence policy, stemming from his arrest following an argument with his wife at a Hawaiian resort in late October. The 32-year-old All-Star shortstop pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of a family member and will not report to the Rockies' spring training camp. |
| 2016 | At a news conference at Borough Hall in Queens, the Mets announce the team will host an LGBT Pride Night on August 13 at Citi Field, featuring discounted seating for the game against the Padres and a free postgame concert. A portion of the ticket proceeds purchased from Mets.com/pride for the event, expected to attract more than 5,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender fans, will benefit the LGBT Network, a non-profit organization Safe Schools Initiative working to stop bullying in Long Island and Queens. |
| 2020 | The new-look Phillie Phanatic, a redesign prompted by a copyright dispute, struts his stuff in the team's spring training home opener. The colorful changes made to the uproarious mascot's costume pay homage to the history of the franchise; with the powder-blue tail recognizing a historical color in the Phillies' story, the blue socks with a red stripe honoring the 1948 uniform famously worn by Phillies Hall of Fame outfielder Richie Ashburn, and the red shoes featuring a Liberty Bell design paying tribute to the City of Love. |
15 Fact(s) Found