Today In Basball History: March

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 1st:

1909: Construction begins on the future Forbes Field, the Pirates home to be.

1954: Ted Williams breaks his collarbone on the first day of Spring Training, causing him to miss the first four weeks of the season.

1967: Commissioner Eckert approves the idea of the BBWAA's to name a Cy Young Award winner from both leagues.

1969: Mickey Mantle announces his retirement.

1993: George Steinbrenner is reinstated two years after accepting a lifetime ban from being involved with the Yankees day-to-day operations. He was banned by Fay Vincent for hiring gambler Howie Spira to spy into the life of outfielder Dave Winfield.

1994: Bill White is named N.L. President.

1995: Using replacement players because of the strike, the Angels defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils 13-5 in an exhibition game. It was the first time since 1912 that replacements were used in a game.

2005: The Braves and Tim Hudson agree to a four year extension worth $47 million.

2012: The Cardinals and Yadier Molina agree to a five year deal worth $75 million.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 2nd:

1927: Babe Ruth becomes the highest paid player in the history of the game, when he agrees to a three year deal that will pay him $70,000 per season.

1966: Citing a rule that states teams cannot sign a player during their college season, Commissioner Eckert voids the contract the Braves signed to USC pitcher Tom Seaver.

1989: At a Mets photo session, Darryl Strawberry throws a punch at Keith Hernandez. The fight started over comments about salary and production and resulted in Strawberry walking out of camp.

2005: The Washington Nationals beat the Mets 5-3 in their exhibition, the first game since the team moved from Montreal.

2007: Michael Young signs a five year extension with the Rangers worth $80 million.

2012: MLB announces an additional Wild Card team in both leagues and a one game wild card playoff game.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 3rd:

1953: Citing territorial privilege because of the location of their minor league team, Lou Perini blocks the Browns attempt to move to Milwaukee. Perini, who owned the Braves, moved that team to Milwaukee from Boston soon after.

1984: Peter Uberroth is elected to replace Bowie Kuhn as commissioner.

1988: Kirk Gibson walks out of Dodgers camp for a day after a prank was played on him by teammate Jesse Orosco.

2006: South Korean pitchers Jae-Weong Seo and and Chan Ho Park combine to shut out Taiwan 2-0 in the first ever World Baseball Classic game.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 4th:

1912: Ground is broken in Brooklyn on the future Ebbets Field.

1948: Stan Musial ends his holdout, signing a deal worth $31,000 with the Cardinals.

1976: A last minute intervention by San Francisco Mayor George Moscone allows the Giants to be sold to Bob Lurie and Bud Herseth for $8 million, keeping the team in the city. The Labbats Brewery Company was going to buy the Giants and move them to Canada.

2004: Commissioner Bud Selig announces every ballpark will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on April 15th, the date in 1947 in which he made his M.L. debut.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 5th:

1922: Babe Ruth signs a three year deal worth $52,000 per season.

1936: The Cardinals lose an exhibition game in Havana, Cuba. The starting pitcher for the Cuban team was Luis Tiant, Sr., the father of the future major leaguer.

1964: Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. says he has a deal with a M.L. team to move to the city if a stadium is ready for the next year.

1966: Marvin Miller, assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers, is named the first full-time president of the Major League Players Association.

1982: Gaylor Perry, three wins shy of 300 for his career, signs a one year deal with the Mariners.

2002: Joe Kerrigan is fired as Red Sox manager. He joins the Cubs Phil Cavarretta in 1954 and the Padres Alvin Dark in 1978 as the only managers to be fired during Spring Training.

2005: A new ownership group led by Lewis Wolfe and John Fisher takes over control of the A's.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 6th:

1900: Hall of Famer Lefty Grove is born in Lonaconing, Maryland.

1923: The Cardinals announce the players will start wearing numbers on their uniforms corresponding to their place in the batting order.

1940: Hall of Famer Willie Stargell is born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma.

1948: The Dodgers trade Eddie Stanky to the Braves for Bama Rowell and $60,000.

1973: In a Spring Training game against the Pirates, the Twins Larry Hisle becomes the first Designated Hitter in M.L. history.

2001: The hero of the 1960 World Series, Bill Mazeroski is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee along with former Kansas City Monarchs pitcher Hilton Smith.

2005: Suzyn Waldman makes her Yankees broadcasting debut along side John Sterling for WCBS Radio in New York, making her the first woman to be a color-commentator in M.L. history.

2006: Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett dies at age 45.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 7th:

1923: Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis denies the A.L.'s request to discontinue morning games on Memorial Day.

1955: Commissioner Frick announces support for the spitter.

1956: The players accept the owners position on the World Series TV deal and minimum salary structure.

2006: Team USA defeats Mexico 2-0 in their World Baseball Classic debut. Chipper Jones and Derrick Lee both homer in the game.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 8th:

1900: The National League decides on eight teams. The eight cities remain the same until 1953, when the Braves move from Boston to Milwaukee.

1930: Babe Ruth signs a two year deal worth $160,000 with the Yankees. Team GM Ed Barrow predicts "No one will ever be paid more".

1941: Phillies pitcher Hugh Mulcahy becomes the first M.L. player to be drafted into the Armed Forces.

1946: Bob Lemon and the Indians defeat the Giants 3-1 in Tucson, AZ. It was the first Spring Training game to be played in Arizona.

1953: Hall of Famer Jim Rice is born in Anderson, South Carolina.

1966: Mets manager Casey Stengel is elected to the Hall of Fame. Stengel was elected based on a new rule that stated any manager, umpire, or executive past the age of 65 to be elected six months after retiring.

1999: Joe DiMaggio dies at age 84.

2006: In the first round of the World Baseball Classic, a Canadian team made up of mostly minor leaguers shock Team USA in an 8-6 upset victory.

2013: The Cardinals and Allen Craig agree to a five year deal worth $31 million.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 9th:

1922: Rogers Hornsby signs a three year deal worth $18,500 a season with the Cardinals.

1979: Fearing possible legal issues, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn grants clubhouse access to female reporters.

1995: By a 28-0 vote, the M.L. owners vote to admit the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the 1998 season.

2005: Current and former M.L. players as well as MLB executives are subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Government Reform for a hearing on steroid use in baseball. Those called to testify included executives Sandy Alderson, Donald Fehr, Rob Manfred, and Kevin Towers along with players Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmerio, Curt Schilling, Jason Giambi, and Frank Thomas.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 10th:

1951: Longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover declines the offer to be baseball commissioner.

1963: In an exhibition game against the White Sox, Pete Rose makes his debut with the Reds, going 2-2 at the plate.

1992: The Pirates trade pitcher Neal Heaton to the Royals for outfielder Kirk Gibson.

1993: Sherry Davis becomes the first P.A. announcer in baseball history when she is hired by the Giants.

1995: Citing labor unrest in baseball, Michael Jordan announces he's returning to the NBA and the Chicago Bulls. In his one season in pro baseball in 1994, Jordan hit .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, and committed 11 errors in the outfield playing for the White Sox AA team in Birmingham, AL.

2005: In his debut as a position player, the Cardinals Rick Ankiel goes 1-2. Ankiel was a pitching prospect before wildness and injuries ended his career on the mound.

2006: The Indians and Jhonny Peralta agree to a five year deal worth $13 million.

2009: In the World Baseball Classic, The Netherlands upsets the Dominican Republic to advance to the next round. The Dominican team, which had MLB stars on their team like David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, and Miguel Tejada, were eliminated from the tournament.

2010: The Diamondbacks and Justin Upton agree to a six year deal worth $51.25 million.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 11th:

1933: After being fired as Cubs manager last August, Rogers Hornsby returns to the Cardinals as a player.

1988: Due to health reasons, Angels manager Gene Mauch takes a leave of absence and is replaced by Cookie Rojas.

2001: The Marlins sign outfielder Preston Wilson to a five year deal worth $32 million.

[CrimsonCowboy]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Just got my laptop back Thursday after two weeks in the repair shop

March 27th:

1967: The Giants Juan Marichal ends his 29-day holdout after becoming the third player in M.L. history to sign a deal worth $100,000.

1973: The Twins Jim Perry becomes the first player to use the '10 and 5' rule when he accepts a trade to the Tigers.

1973: Two days before his 29th birthday, Denny McLain is released by the Braves, effectively ending his career.

1981: Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk is declared a free agent.

1989: Pete Rose's gambling is exposed in a Sports Illustrated article.

1992: The Brewers trade Gary Sheffield to the Padres for Ricky Bones along with minor leaguers Jose Valentin and Matt Mieske.

2002: Jose Canseco is released by the Expos.

2012: Frank McCourt agrees to sell the Dodgers to a group that included Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and former MLB executive Stan Kasten for $2 billion. It is the richest sale of a professional sports team.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 29th:

1935: The Cardinals release future Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance.

1954: The Cubs fire manager Phil Cavarretta after he tells reporters that his team has little chance to finish in the first division. He becomes the first ever manager to be fired during Spring Training.

1973: At the suggestion of owner Charlie Finley, orange colored balls are used during the A's 11-5 exhibition loss to the Indians. The idea is dropped after Indians outfielder George Hendrick, who homered three times in the game, said he had difficulty picking up the ball due to the lack of red seams on a white sphere.

2001: Todd Helton signs a nine year deal worth $141.5 million with the Rockies.

2002: The Red Sox add Rickey Henderson to their Opening Day roster.

2002: MLB announces that every team will hold a moment of silence at 9:11 of their first night game in observance of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

2008: In celebration of the team's 50th anniversary of their move to Los Angeles, the Dodgers play the Red Sox in an exhibition at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 115,300 fans are in attendance, the most ever for a baseball game.

2013: The Tigers and Justin Verlander agree to a seven year deal worth $180 million.

2013: The Giants and catcher Buster Posey agree to an eight year deal worth $159 million.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 30th:

1966: Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale end their holdout from Dodgers camp by agreeing to deals of $130,000 and $105,000 respectively.

1978: The Red Sox acquire Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall from the Indians for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox and Bo Diaz.

1984: The Yankees trade third baseman Graig Nettles to the Padres for pitcher Dennis Rasmussen and prospect Darin Cloniger.

1992: The White Sox trade Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson to the Cubs for George Bell.

1993: In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown hits a game winning home run. It was his first homer in 43 years.

2001: After a 16 year career pitching for the Mets, Yankees, Indians, Astros, and Devil Rays, Dwight Gooden announces his retirement.

2006: Resulting from a book detailing the alleged use of PEDs by Barry Bonds, Commissioner Bud Selig appoints former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to lead an investigation into steroid use in baseball.

2012: At age 49, Jamie Moyer makes the Rockies 25 man roster. He is the oldest starting pitcher to make a big league roster.

[CrimsonCowboy]

March 31st:

1948: The Dodgers defeat the Montreal Royals 5-4 in their first exhibition game in Vero Beach, FL, which would be their Spring Training home for 61 years.

1958: Larry Doby returns to the Indians when he is dealt there along with Don Ferrarese by the Orioles in exchange for Gene Woodling, Dick Williams, and Bud Daley.

1961: The Professional Baseball Rules Committee rejects the proposal for a designated hitter introduced by the Pacific Coast League.

1968: The expansion team in Seattle announces their nickname will be the Pilots.

1993: Bill White announces his resignation as National League President.

1994: The White Sox assign recently retired NBA legend Michael Jordan to AA Birmingham Barons of the Southern League.

1995: The Rockies defeat the Yankees in an exhibition 4-1 in front of 47,536 fans in the first game at Coors Field. The strikes forces the teams to use replacement players.

1996: In the first game to open a season in March, the Mariners beat the White Sox 3-2 in 12 innings.

1998: The Mets defeat the Phillies 1-0 in 14 innings, marking the longest scoreless opening game in N.L. history.

1998: The Devil Rays lose to the Tigers 6-2 in their first M.L. game.

1998: The Brewers lose to the Braves in Atlanta 2-1 in their first game since switching to the N.L.

2007: Played at AutoZone Park in Memphis, the Cardinals defeat the Indians 5-1 in the first Civil Rights Game.

2009: Despite having $14 million left on his deal, the Tigers release Gary Sheffield.

2013: The Astros defeat the Rangers 8-3 in their first game as an American League team.