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This Day in Baseball History
November 25th

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17 Fact(s) Found
1930 The Sporting News selects Giants' first baseman Bill Terry (.401, 14, 117) as the NL's Most Valuable Player, and Senator shortstop Joe Cronin (.346, 13, 126) receives the American League honor. The Associated Press also names Joe Cronin as its unofficial AL MVP, with the BBWAA choosing Hack Wilson, who gets a $1000 bonus from the Cubs for receiving the award, as its Senior Circuit honor.

(Ed. Note: The BBWAA begins casting official ballots for the league's MVPs next season.- LP)

1941 The Indians name Lou Boudreau, with only three years of major league experience, the team's new manager, replacing Roger Peckinpaugh, who moves up to the front office. The 24-year-old shortstop is the youngest skipper of this century but is a year older than Jim McCormick, a right-handed pitcher who managed the Cleveland Blues in 1879 at the age of 23.
1944 At Chicago's St. Luke's Hospital, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's only commissioner, dies surrounded by family five days after his 78th birthday. After the former federal judge served in the national pastime's top post for 24 years, the owners renewed his contract on November 17 for another seven-year term.

(Ed. Note: Two weeks after his death, a special committee will vote Landis into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, making him, along with Lou Gehrig, the second person to have the five-year waiting period waived. - LP)

1949 The BBWAA selects Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams (.343, 43, 159), the American League MVP. The 'Splendid Splinter,' who barely lost the Triple Crown when his batting average was .0002 below that of Tiger third baseman George Kell, wins the award with an overwhelming margin, easily outpointing runners-up Phil Rizzuto and Joe Black of the Yankees.
1958 The BBWAA selects Ernie Banks as the National League's Most Valuable Player, the first of two consecutive MVP awards the Cub shortstop will win. The 27-year-old former Negro League standout, who batted .314 and hit 47 home runs, easily outdistanced Giant outfielder Willie Mays for the honor.
1970 Thurman Munson (.302, 6, 53) is named American League Rookie of the Year. The 23-year-old Yankee backstop, who threw out 52% of would-be base stealers, received twenty-three of the twenty-four first-place ballot votes cast, with Indian outfielder Roy Foster named on the other.
1980 Gene Michael becomes the 25th Yankees' manager, replacing Dick Howser, who led New York to a first-place finish in the American League East after compiling a 103-59 record. The tall, thin skipper called 'Stick' will be fired in September but rehired by the Bronx Bombers' Boss, George Steinbrenner, at the end of April of the following season, only to be dismissed again in August.
1981 Brewer hurler Rollie Fingers becomes the first relief pitcher to win the American League MVP Award. The 34-year-old right-hander, also this season's Cy Young Award recipient, narrowly beats former A's teammate Rickey Henderson by 11 points.
1986 Jose Canseco (.240, 33, 117) wins the American League's Rookie of the Year Award, narrowly outpointing Angels' first baseman Wally Joyner, 110-98. The 22-year-old Cuban-American is the first Oakland A's player selected for the freshman honor, becoming the first to accomplish the feat for the franchise since right-hander Harry Byrd (15-15, 3.31) copped the award in 1952 when the team played in Philadelphia.

1991 The Expos trade first baseman Andres Galarraga to the Cardinals for starter Ken Hill, who will compile a 41-21 record and a 3.04 ERA during his three seasons with Montreal. In his only year in St. Louis, the Big Cat struggles offensively, batting .243 with a .282 OBP, and will sign with the Rockies as a free agent when the campaign ends.
1998 The Angels make Mo Vaughn the highest-paid player in baseball when they sign the former Red Sox slugger to a six-year, $80-million free-agent contract that includes an option for a seventh year. The deal, with an average annual value of $13.33 million, surpasses the yearly salaries of Mets catcher Mike Piazza and Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams. 
2002 The Red Sox hire the youngest general manager in major league history. Twenty-eight-year-old Theo Epstein, a lifetime Red Sox fan who grew up about a mile from Fenway Park, becomes the team's eleventh GM since the club established the position in 1933.
2003 The Cubs trade first baseman Hee Seop Choi (.210, 10, 32) and a minor league player to be named later (Mike Nannini) to the World Champion Marlins in exchange for Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee (.271, 31, 92).
2004 After spending $67 million to acquire its former president's shares of the Mariners, the Nintendo U.S. subsidiary now owns more than 50 percent of the Northwest franchise. Due to Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle is a favorite U.S. major league team in the Land of the Rising Sun.
2005 The Phillies trade Jim Thome (.207, 7, 30) to the World Champion White Sox for center fielder Aaron Rowand (.270, 13, 69) and a pair of southpaw pitching prospects, Daniel Haigwood and Gio Gonzalez. The 35-year-old injury-ridden first baseman completed three seasons of his six-year $85 million deal with Philadelphia, helping the franchise establish creditability when the team moved to a new ballpark in 2004.
2008 Chase Utley, expecting four to six months to recover, undergoes arthroscopic hip surgery at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. Despite battling the injury for much of the year, the All-Star Phillies' second baseman played a pivotal role in the team's World Championship this season.
2008 The Marlins will endure a one-year delay in building their 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium, now set to open in 2012. Club president David Samson cites recent litigation slowed down the start of construction, and now it would not be cost-effective to keep to the original timeline.
17 Fact(s) Found