April 1
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
| Permanent link to Today's Entry | |
| Sources | |
| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 1.
[edit] Events
- 1914 - Rube Waddell dies from tuberculosis in San Antonio, TX, at the age of 37. One of the top left handed pitchers in major league history, Waddell led the American League for six years in a row, collected four consecutive 20-win seasons from 1902-1906, including the Triple Crown in 1905 with 27 wins, 287 strikeouts and a 1.48 ERA, leading the league in all pitching categories. Waddell, who dies in a sanitarium, had seen his condition weakened by his efforts to contain a winter flood in Kentucky. He will be selected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1946.
- 1939 - Phil Niekro is born in Blaine, Belmont County, Ohio. "Knucksie" will make his major league debut in 1964 with the Milwaukee Braves. He will win 318 games over a 24-year career and will gain election to the Hall of Fame in 1997.
- 1942 - Major league owners decide not to allow furloughed players in the military to play for their clubs if based near a game site.
- 1947 - In anticipation of the signing of the first black players, Bill Veeck, a resident of Phoenix, AZ, sets up a spring training camp there for the Cleveland Indians. Arizona is chosen because of its relatively tolerant racial climate. During the season, Veeck will sign the American League's first black player, Larry Doby, who will train at the camp. The New York Giants also set up camp in Arizona, while the Brooklyn Dodgers move their training camp from Florida to Havana, Cuba.
- 1949 - The St. Louis Browns, owners of Sportsman's Park, move to evict the St. Louis Cardinals in order to gain a rent increase.
- 1954 - Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams breaks his collarbone in his first spring training practice and will be out until May 15.
- 1962 - The Detroit Tigers sign University of Detroit basketball star Dave DeBusschere. He will pitch effectively in 1962 and 1963 with the Chicago White Sox, but will gain much more notoriety as a key member of the New York Knicks' NBA championship teams of 1970 and 1973.
- 1963 - The New York Mets purchase veteran outfielder Duke Snider from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Snider, one of the most popular players in the New York City area, starred for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1957. The future Hall of Famer will hit 14 home runs for the Mets in 1963.
- 1969:
- 1969 - Mickey Mantle retires. He ends his career with 2,415 hits and 536 home runs in 18 years with the New York Yankees, numbers that would have certainly been higher if not for persistent knee injuries.
- The Seattle Pilots trade little-known minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to the Kansas City Royals for two prospects. Piniella will hit .282 with 11 home runs and 68 RBI, good enough to win American League Rookie of the Year honors.
- 1970 - An ownership group headed up by automobile dealer Bud Selig buys the Seattle Pilots for $10.8 million. Selig will move the Pilots to Milwaukee, WI and rename the team the "Brewers." The Pilots had lost $1 million during their lone season in Seattle, WA.
- 1982 - The New York Mets trade popular center fielder and teen idol Lee Mazzilli to the Texas Rangers for minor league pitchers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell. Darling will emerge as an important member of the Mets' starting rotation and a key contributor to their 1986 World Series.
- 1985 - The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated contains a fictitious article about a New York Mets pitching prospect named Sidd Finch, whose fastball has been timed at 168 miles per hour. Author George Plimpton offers bogus quotes from real-life members of the Mets, as well as several staged photos, and fools readers nationwide.
- 1987 - The Pittsburgh Pirates trade All-Star catcher Tony Peña to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for catcher Mike LaValliere, outfielder Andy Van Slyke, and pitcher Mike Dunne. Van Slyke will hit 21 home runs for the Pirates in 1987 and emerge as a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder.
- 1988 - For the first time since 1956, the Special Veterans Committee does not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, Joe Gordon, and Gil Hodges are among the candidates passed over.
- 1996 - Longtime umpire John McSherry collapses and dies from a heart attack on Opening Day at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. The 51-year-old McSherry had umpired in the National League for 26 seasons.
- 2008:
- The New York Yankees set a MLB record by winning their 11th straight home opener. Oddly, the record had been held by the 1945-1954 Pittsburgh Pirates, a club which lost 100 or more games three times in that period. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 3-2. Chien-Ming Wang allows two runs in 7 innings for the win over Roy Halladay.
- The Independent South Coast League suspends its operations after only one season of play.
[edit] Births
- 1849 - John McMullin, outfielder (d. 1881)
- 1856 - Ed Kennedy, outfielder (d. 1905)
- 1857 - Dan Cronin, infielder/outfielder (d. 1885)
- 1858 - Fred Mann, outfielder (d. 1916)
- 1858 - John Russ, pitcher/outfielder (d. 1912)
- 1860 - Wes Curry, pitcher (d. 1933)
- 1876 - Bill Friel, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1883 - Ed Reichle, minor league player and manager (d. ????)
- 1884 - Hugo Bezdek, manager (d. 1952)
- 1890 - George Young, pinch hitter (d. 1950)
- 1892 - Claude Cooper, outfielder (d. 1974)
- 1894 - Hal Reilly, outfielder (d. 1957)
- 1904 - Jack Cummings, catcher (d. 1962)
- 1911 - Bob Brown, pitcher (d. 1990)
- 1912 - Jake Wade, pitcher
- 1913 - Buster Bray, outfielder (d. 1982)
- 1914 - George Bradley, outfielder (d. 1982)
- 1914 - Moe Franklin, infielder (d. 1978)
- 1915 - Skeeter Ebnet, minor league infielder (d. 1938)
- 1915 - Jeff Heath, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1975)
- 1916 - George Staller, outfielder (d. 1992)
- 1917 - Chet Ross, outfielder (d. 1989)
- 1921 - Red Murff, pitcher
- 1922 - Vern Hoscheit, coach; minor league manager (d. 2007)
- 1926 - Jake Thies, pitcher
- 1929 - Bo Schembechler, executive (d. 2006)
- 1931 - Giulio Glorioso, Serie A1 pitcher
- 1934 - Rod Kanehl, infielder (d. 2004)
- 1934 - Jerry Nelson, minor league pitcher
- 1935 - Tom Qualters, pitcher
- 1936 - Ron Perranoski, pitcher
- 1936 - Ted Sadowski, pitcher (d. 1993)
- 1939 - Phil Niekro, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1941 - Dick Kenworthy, infielder
- 1942 - Jake Jaeckel, pitcher
- 1943 - Mike Degerick, pitcher
- 1944 - Rusty Staub, outfielder; All-Star
- 1948 - Willie Montanez, infielder; All-Star
- 1952 - Mike Bacsik, pitcher
- 1953 - Larry Murray, outfielder
- 1956 - Mark Esser, pitcher
- 1957 - Manny Castillo, infielder
- 1958 - Mike Kinnunen, pitcher
- 1962 - Rich Amaral, outfielder
- 1968 - Masumi Kuwata, pitcher
- 1969 - Koichi Sekikawa, NPB catcher/outfielder
- 1969 - Frank Castillo, pitcher
- 1970 - Matt Herges, pitcher
- 1971 - Jose Martinez, infielder
- 1984 - Sheng-Wei Wang, CPBL infielder
- 1985 - Dan Murphy, outfielder
- 1989 - Chris Withrow, minor league pitcher
[edit] Deaths
- 1914 - Rube Waddell, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1876)
- 1922 - Leech Maskrey, outfielder (b. 1854)
- 1922 - Harry Smith, catcher (b. 1890)
- 1926 - Al Martin, infielder/outfielder (b. 1847)
- 1928 - Marr Phillips, infielder (b. 1857)
- 1934 - Barney Gilligan, catcher (b. 1856)
- 1943 - Pat Deasley, catcher (b. 1857)
- 1946 - George Strief, infielder (b. 1856)
- 1947 - Mike Lynch, outfielder (b. 1875)
- 1948 - Heinie Jantzen, outfielder (b. 1890)
- 1964 - Casey Hageman, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1965 - Ernie Walker, outfielder (b. 1890)
- 1966 - John Sullivan, outfielder (b. 1890)
- 1968 - Tom Cantwell, pitcher (b. 1888)
- 1975 - Pete Bigler, pinch runner (b. 1892)
- 1983 - Calvin Chapman, infielder (b. 1910)
- 1991 - Frankie Gustine, infielder; All-Star (b. 1920)
- 1996 - John McSherry, umpire (b. 1944)
- 1999 - Red Flaherty, umpire (b. 1917)
- 2001 - Jo-Jo Moore, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1908)
- 2006 - Bill Pierro, pitcher (b. 1926)
- 2007 - Herb Carneal, announcer (b. 1923)
- 2007 - Lou Limmer, infielder (b. 1925)
