Events edit
- 1894 - St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe, unable to hire either Harry Wright or Phil Powers as manager, announces that he will manage the club himself.
- 1922 - New York Yankees star Babe Ruth becomes the highest paid player in history when he signs a three-year contract that will pay him over $50,000 per season.
- 1941 - Brooklyn Dodgers president Larry MacPhail issues instructions that all Dodgers players must live in Brooklyn.
- 1966 - United Steelworkers union official Marvin Miller is named the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
- 1973 - New York Yankees pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson announce that they have traded wives, children, and family dogs.
- 1982 - Gaylord Perry signs a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.
- 1986 - The Atlanta Braves trade Rick Cerone and a pair of minor leaguers to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Simmons.
- 1996 - The Veterans Committee elects Earl Weaver, Jim Bunning, Ned Hanlon, and Bill Foster to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Although Nellie Fox receives the necessary 75% of the Committee's votes, the rules allow just one modern player elected, and Bunning has more votes.
- 2009 - The 2009 World Baseball Classic begins.
Births edit
- 1855 - John Richmond, infielder (d. 1898)
- 1860 - Sam Thompson, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1922)
- 1882 - Rabbit Robinson, infielder (d. 1915)
- 1889 - Jeff Tesreau, pitcher (d. 1946)
- 1891 - Walt Alexander, catcher (d. 1978)
- 1896 - Bernie Hungling, catcher (d. 1968)
- 1897 - Virgil Barnes, pitcher (d. 1958)
- 1897 - Lu Blue, infielder (d. 1958)
- 1903 - Chick Autry, catcher (d. 1950)
- 1912 - Jim Gleeson, outfielder (d. 1996)
- 1915 - Harry Shuman, pitcher (d. 1996)
- 1919 - Don Savage, infielder (d. 1961)
- 1921 - Elmer Valo, outfielder (d. 1998)
- 1924 - Ramón García, pitcher (d. 2001)
- 1930 - Del Crandall, catcher, manager; All-Star
- 1941 - Phil Roof, catcher
- 1946 - Les Rohr, pitcher
- 1947 - Kent Tekulve, pitcher; All-Star
- 1950 - Doug Bird, pitcher
- 1952 - Mike Squires, infielder
- 1957 - Jerry Ujdur, pitcher
- 1959 - Andy Rincon, pitcher
- 1961 - Steve Ontiveros, pitcher; All-Star
- 1966 - Kevin Brown, pitcher
- 1971 - Chad Fonville, infielder
- 1971 - Jeffrey Hammonds, outfielder; All-Star
- 1971 - Brian Hunter, outfielder
- 1971 - Brian Lesher, outfielder
- 1971 - José Mercedes, pitcher
- 1973 - Felipe Crespo, infielder/outfielder
- 1973 - Ryan Franklin, pitcher
- 1976 - Doug Clark, pinch hitter
- 1976 - Paul Konerko, infielder; All-Star
- 1977 - Mike MacDougal, pitcher; All-Star
- 1978 - Mike Hessman, infielder
- 1979 - Érik Bédard, pitcher
- 1981 - Francisley Bueno, pitcher
Deaths edit
- 1897 - Dave Foutz, infielder, manager (b. 1856)
- 1901 - Alexander Skinner, outfielder (b. 1856)
- 1915 - Jim Donnelly, infielder (b. 1865)
- 1919 - Bill Yawkey, owner (b. 1875)
- 1920 - Alex Farmer, catcher (b. 1877)
- 1950 - Effie Norton, pitcher (b. 1873)
- 1956 - Joe Berger, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1956 - Bruce Ogrodowski, catcher (b. 1912)
- 1965 - Pepper Martin, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1904)
- 1965 - Tadashi Wakabayashi, NPB pitcher and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1908)
- 1980 - Les Fleming, infielder (b. 1915)
- 1995 - Roy Hughes, infielder (b. 1911)
- 2002 - Clay Smith, pitcher (b. 1914)