December 19
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on December 19.
[edit] Events
- 1914 - Washington manager Clark Griffith meets with Walter Johnson in KC and convinces the star to re-sign for $12,500, considerably less than his recent contract with the Chifeds, with the assurance that Griffith would convince the Washington management to spring for a bigger contract later. Washington will later sign Johnson to $16,000 a year for five years. Griffith gets $6,000 from Charles Comiskey to allow Johnson to repay his Chifed signing bonus.
- 1928 - Senators' player-manager Bucky Harris is traded to the Tigers for infielder Jack Warner. The future Hall of Famer will replace George Moriarity (68-86, 6th place) as the Motor City skipper.
- 1934 - The Yankees send five players to San Francisco as part of the payment for Joe DiMaggio. He will play another season in the Pacific Coast League and will report at the end of 1935.
- 1936 - The Braves purchase Eddie Mayo from the Giants.
- 1957 - In a continuing family squabble, Charlie Comiskey, Jr. denies his sister's, Mrs. Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, allegation that he used the "rule or ruin" tactic to gain control of the club.
- 1974 - The race to sign Catfish Hunter begins in the law offices of Cherry, Cherry & Flythe in Ahoskie, North Carolina. Yankee and Red Sox representatives are the first arrivals.
- 1976 - A single-engine plane crashes into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium injuring the pilot and three others. Minutes prior to the mishap the plane had buzzed the stadium during the final moments of the Steelers play-off victory over the Colts.
- 1983 - The Pirates sign free-agent OF Amos Otis, a 5-time AL All-Star, to a one-year contract.
- 1983 - The Tigers sign free-agent slugger Darrell Evans, who hit .277 with 30 home runs for the Giants in 1983.
- 1983 - Cy Young Award winner Vida Blue is sentenced to 90 days in prison, and recently convicted and suspended 1B Willie Aikens is traded by Kansas City to Toronto for DH Jorge Orta.
- 1985 - The Expos trade P Bill Gullickson and C Sal Butera to the Reds for pitchers Jay Tibbs, Andy McGaffigan, and John Stuper, and C Dann Bilardello.
- 1986 - After finding no other clubs interested in signing him, free-agent pitcher and 20-game winner Jack Morris agrees to salary arbitration with the Tigers while at the same time accusing the ML owners of collusion against free agents. Morris had offered to sign a one-year contract, with salary to be determined by an arbitrator, with either the Yankees, Angels, Twins, or Phillies, but was turned down by all 4.
- 1986 - Michael Sergio, a Mets fan who parachuted into Shea Stadium during game six of the World Series, is sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined $500.
- 1991 - Former minor league umpire Pam Postema files a sex discrimination suit against the National and American leagues, the Triple-A Alliance, and the Baseball Office for Umpire Development.
- 1991 - The Blue Jays sign free-agent veteran DH/outfielder Dave Winfield. The former Angel hit .286 and 28 home runs last season.
- 1991 - The Blue Jays sign free agent OF Dave Winfield to a 1-year contract.
- 1991 - The Orioles sign Rick Sutcliffe as a free agent. The former 1984 Cy Young Award winner was 6-5 with a 4.10 era with the Cubs last season.
- 1991 - Yankees P Steve Howe is arrested in Montana on a charge of possession of cocaine. Howe has been suspended from baseball five times for drug and alcohol problems.
- 2001 - Free agent Moises Alou (.331, 27, 108) signs a $27 million, three-year deal with the Cubs. The former Astro All-Star presence in the Chicago line-up, along with Fred McGriff and Sammy Sosa, will give the team a fearsome 3-4-5 threesome.
- 2001 - The Cubs sign free agent OF Moises Alou to a 3-year contract. They also trade OF Michael Tucker to the Royals in exchange for a player to be named.
- 2001 - Several hours before a midnight deadline, Barry Bonds accepts the Giant's offer of salary arbitration. San Francisco's decision to go to arbitration avoids a bidding war for their franchise player, and this season's National League MVP's award will be likely worth at least $20 million for one year of service.
- 2002 - The Yankees sign Japanese OF Hideki Matsui to a 3-year contract.
- 2003 - Kevin Millwood agrees to the Phillies' surprise offer of salary arbitration. As the ace of the staff, the all-star hurler will anchor an outstanding rotation which includes Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla, Eric Milton and Brett Myers.
- 2003 - Agreeing to a $6 million, two-year contract with Angels, Jose Guillen. (311, 31,86 ) will become the team's right fielder next season. The deal will give Tim Salmon the opportunity to become Anaheim's designated hitter full-time.
- 2003 - Gary Deporter, the managing partner of the late broadcaster Harry Caray's area restaurants, submits the winning bid of $106,600 to obtain the foul ball that Steve Bartman deflected costing the Cubs a costly out during Game 6 of the NLCS. The plan is to have the ball destroyed as an act of exorcism during a worldwide toast to Harry on his birthday, February 26.
[edit] Births
- 1864 - Mike Drissel, catcher (d. 1913)
- 1874 - Welcome Gaston, pitcher (d. 1944)
- 1875 - Burley Byers, infielder (d. 1933)
- 1875 - Kid O'Hara, outfielder (d. 1954)
- 1879 - Mike Welday, outfielder (d. 1942)
- 1882 - Paul Krichell, catcher (d. 1957)
- 1886 - Doc McMahon, pitcher (d. 1929)
- 1887 - Art Butler, infielder (d. 1984)
- 1891 - Pep Goodwin, infielder (d. 1972)
- 1892 - Fred Thomas, infielder (d. 1986)
- 1893 - Paul Strand, outfielder (d. 1974)
- 1894 - Ford Frick Hall of Famer (d. 1978)
- 1897 - Mike Herrera, infielder (d. 1978)
- 1898 - Lou Koupal, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1900 - Wally Gilbert, infielder (d. 1958)
- 1900 - Tex Jeanes, outfielder (d. 1973)
- 1906 - Tom Sullivan, catcher (d. 1944)
- 1915 - Mickey Witek, infielder (d. 1990)
- 1915 - Eddie Yount, outfielder (d. 1973)
- 1917 - Ray Poat, pitcher (d. 1990)
- 1918 - Bill DeKoning, catcher (d. 1979)
- 1918 - Tommy O'Brien, outfielder (d. 1978)
- 1923 - Vern Freiburger, infielder (d. 1990)
- 1924 - Rex Barney, pitcher (d. 1997)
- 1933 - Gordie Windhorn, outfielder
- 1934 - Al Kaline, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1935 - Tony Taylor, infielder; All-Star
- 1936 - Jack Kubiszyn, infielder
- 1943 - Walt Williams, outfielder
- 1944 - Rob Gardner, pitcher
- 1945 - Art Kusnyer, catcher
- 1945 - Geoff Zahn, pitcher
- 1955 - Kevin Stanfield, pitcher
- 1956 - Stan Cliburn, catcher
- 1956 - Stew Cliburn, pitcher
- 1956 - Tom Lawless, infielder
- 1962 - Clay Parker, pitcher
- 1962 - Bill Wegman, pitcher
- 1964 - Mike Fetters, pitcher
- 1965 - Chito Martinez, outfielder
- 1966 - Joe Slusarski, pitcher
- 1967 - Doug Johns, pitcher
- 1968 - James Mouton, outfielder
- 1969 - Tony Tijerina, minor league catcher and manager
- 1970 - Tom Wilson, catcher
- 1972 - Jerry Taylor, minor league player
- 1973 - Jose Silva, pitcher
- 1975 - Russell Branyan, infielder
- 1976 - Jason Kershner, pitcher
- 1978 - Andy Bent, minor league player
- 1978 - Vinnie Chulk, pitcher
- 1978 - Marshall McDougall, infielder
- 1978 - Mark Woodyard, pitcher
- 1979 - Chip Ambres, outfielder
- 1979 - Rafael Soriano, pitcher
- 1981 - Paul Lubrano, minor league player
- 1982 - Jay Johnson, minor league outfielder
[edit] Deaths
- 1901 - Jim Gifford, manager (b. 1845)
- 1908 - Reddy Foster, pinch hitter (b. 1864)
- 1916 - Doug Allison, catcher, manager (b. 1845)
- 1916 - John McGuinness, infielder (b. 1857)
- 1934 - Charlie Atherton, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1938 - Art Griggs, infielder (b. 1884)
- 1943 - Bill Bergen, catcher (b. 1878)
- 1949 - Robert Gibson, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1950 - Wingo Anderson, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1951 - Bob Lindemann, outfielder (b. 1881)
- 1954 - Big Jeff Pfeffer, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1955 - Moxie Divis, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1965 - John Knight, infielder (b. 1885)
- 1967 - Walter Tappan, infielder (b. 1890)
- 1970 - Nap Rucker, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1970 - Charlie Wilson, infielder (b. 1905)
- 1979 - Bud Sketchley, outfielder (b. 1919)
- 1983 - Zip Collins, outfielder (b. 1892)
- 1984 - Bill Warwick, catcher (b. 1897)
- 1986 - Al Stokes, catcher (b. 1900)
- 1998 - Joe Mack, infielder (b. 1912)
- 2000 - Lou Polli, pitcher (b. 1901)
- 2000 - Lou Thuman, pitcher (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Claude Crocker, pitcher (b. 1924)
- 2002 - Bob Rinker, catcher (b. 1921)
- 2003 - Carmen Mauro, outfielder (b. 1926)
