December 25
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 December 25.
[edit] Events
- 1856 - Pitcher James Francis (Pud) Galvin, a future Hall of Fame member, is born in St. Louis, Missouri. Galvin will win 364 games in a 15-year career, including two 46-win seasons.
- 1862 - A crowd of 40,000 watches two teams of imprisoned Union Army soldiers play baseball at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Civil War historians are debating the actual size of the crowd.
- 1888 - At the Centennial Exposition, the Downtowners beat the Uptowners in the first indoor baseball game ever played, 6-1, before a crowd of 2,000.
- 1922 - On their tour of the Far East, the Herb Hunter All-Americans, with Casey Stengel and Waite Hoyt among its members, beats a team of U.S. servicemen, 12-5, in Manila. In other games, the All-Americans are the first team of major leaguers to play a Chinese team, in Shanghai, and also play a Korean all-star team in Seoul, whipping them, 21 - 3. The American all-star also lost a game in Japan when Zensuke Shimada hit an out-of-the-park home run against Hoyt and the Mita Club defeated the All-Americans, 9-3. It was the first loss by a team of touring U.S professionals in Japan.
- 1927 - Nellie Fox, who led the American League in hits four times, won three Gold Gloves, played in 12 All-Star Games, and was American League MVP for the 1959 Chicago White Sox, is born in St. Thomas, Pennsylvania. It will not be until 1997, 23 years after his death, that he will finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
- 1940 - South Side Park, the first home of the Chicago White Sox, burns down.
- 1958 - Rickey Henderson is born in Chicago, Illinois. Henderson will break into the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics in 1979, and will go on to become one of the greatest leadoff men history.
- 1957 - With the backing of United States Representatives Kenneth Keating and Emanuel Celler, the minor league executives urge that MLB compensate them for this infringement on their territorial rights.
- 1989 - Billy Martin, an All-Star infielder and former manager of the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics, dies in a car accident in [[Johnson City, NY], at the age of 61. Martin, a five-time Yankees manager under owner George Steinbrenner, was rumored to be a candidate to replace current Yankees skipper Lou Piniella. During a 18-year managerial career, Martin posted a 1253-1013 record, led his teams to five AL Championship titles and guided the Yankees to the 1977 and 1978 World Championships. He will be buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester, NY, in a plot near Babe Ruth. Steinbrenner, who fired Martin four times (he resigned the fifth time) purchases the plot.
- 2001 - Hideki Matsui sign a one-year, $4.7 million contract to play for the Yomiuri Giants, becoming the highest-paid player in Nippon Pro Baseball history. The outfielder's salary surpasses the $4 million mark the Orix Blue Wave gave Ichiro Suzuki for the 2000 season.
[edit] Births
- 1842 - Nat Jewett, catcher (d. 1914)
- 1856 - Pud Galvin, pitcher, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1902)
- 1864 - Vince Dailey, outfielder (d. 1919)
- 1864 - Joe Quinn, infielder, manager (d. 1940)
- 1865 - George Mappes, infielder (d. 1934)
- 1866 - George Haddock, pitcher (d. 1926)
- 1869 - Alex Jones, pitcher (d. 1941)
- 1871 - Mike Hickey, infielder (d. 1918)
- 1872 - Ted Lewis, pitcher (d. 1936)
- 1874 - Barry McCormick, infielder (d. 1956)
- 1876 - Jim Jones, outfielder (d. 1953)
- 1879 - Dick Braggins, pitcher (d. 1963)
- 1881 - Jim Doyle, infielder (d. 1912)
- 1881 - Joe McCarthy, catcher (d. 1937)
- 1884 - Ed Henderson, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1886 - Morrie Rath, infielder (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Bull Wagner, pitcher (d. 1967)
- 1892 - Walter Holke, infielder (d. 1954)
- 1892 - Karl Kolseth, infielder (d. 1956)
- 1893 - Marty Becker, outfielder (d. 1957)
- 1895 - Frank Ellerbe, infielder (d. 1988)
- 1896 - Herb Hunter, infielder (d. 1970)
- 1897 - Allen Elliott, infielder (d. 1979)
- 1898 - Gene Robertson, infielder (d. 1981)
- 1899 - Tom Gulley, outfielder (d. 1966)
- 1899 - Earl Kunz, pitcher (d. 1963)
- 1901 - Buster Chatham, infielder (d. 1975)
- 1904 - Bill Akers, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1904 - Red Barnes, outfielder (d. 1959)
- 1904 - Lloyd Brown, pitcher (d. 1974)
- 1908 - Ben Chapman, outfielder, manager; All-Star (d. 1993)
- 1908 - Alta Cohen, outfielder (d. 2003)
- 1908 - Jo-Jo Moore, outfielder; All-Star (d. 2001)
- 1912 - Greek George, catcher (d. 1999)
- 1912 - Quincy Trouppe, catcher (d. 1993)
- 1922 - Neal Watlington, catcher
- 1925 - Ned Garver, pitcher; All-Star
- 1926 - Dick Manville, pitcher
- 1927 - Nellie Fox, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1975)
- 1928 - Frank Baldwin, catcher (d. 2004)
- 1928 - Mike Blyzka, pitcher (d. 2004)
- 1934 - Charlie Beamon, pitcher
- 1935 - Al Jackson, pitcher
- 1938 - Jack Hamilton, pitcher
- 1939 - Chris Krug, catcher
- 1943 - Dennis Musgraves, pitcher
- 1946 - Gene Lamont, catcher, manager
- 1950 - Manny Trillo, infielder; All-Star
- 1951 - Luis Quintana, pitcher (d. 2009)
- 1952 - Julio Gonzalez, infielder
- 1953 - Rick Anderson, pitcher (d. 1989)
- 1954 - Jeff Little, pitcher
- 1956 - Wallace Johnson, infielder
- 1956 - Charlie Lea, pitcher; All-Star
- 1958 - Gerry Davis, outfielder
- 1958 - Rickey Henderson, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1960 - Ty Gainey, outfielder
- 1960 - Tom O'Malley, infielder
- 1961 - Rich Renteria, infielder
- 1962 - Marty Pevey, catcher
- 1962 - Bruce Walton, pitcher
- 1963 - Armando Moreno, minor league player
- 1968 - Scott Bullett, outfielder
- 1969 - Pork Chop Pough, minor league player
- 1970 - Steve Montgomery, pitcher
- 1972 - Erik Hiljus, pitcher
- 1973 - Tarrik Brock, outfielder
- 1975 - Hideki Okajima, pitcher; All-Star
- 1981 - Willy Taveras, outfielder
- 1982 - Ruben Gotay, infielder
- 1986 - Waldis Joaquin, pitcher
- 1987 - Jesus Brito, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1894 - Tom Cahill, infielder (b. 1868)
- 1910 - John Deasley, infielder (b. 1861)
- 1916 - Bill Moriarty, infielder (b. 1883)
- 1918 - Bob Blakiston, outfielder (b. 1855)
- 1922 - Wes Fisler, infielder (b. 1844)
- 1924 - Doc Gessler, outfielder, manager (b. 1880)
- 1925 - Harry Kirsch, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1930 - Ed Clements, infielder (b. 1867)
- 1941 - George Bell, pitcher (b. 1874)
- 1942 - Whitey Alperman, infielder (b. 1879)
- 1952 - Ed Coughlin, pitcher/outfielder (b. 1861)
- 1953 - Patsy Donovan, outfielder, manager (b. 1865)
- 1961 - Frank Foutz, infielder (b. 1877)
- 1961 - Don Savage, infielder (b. 1919)
- 1970 - Red Juelich, infielder (b. 1916)
- 1975 - Como Cotelle, minor league outfielder (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Bill Skiff, catcher (b. 1895)
- 1983 - Babe Young, infielder (b. 1915)
- 1989 - Billy Martin, infielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1928)
- 1994 - Tony Robello, infielder (b. 1913)
- 1997 - Ed Donnelly, pitcher (b. 1934)
- 2001 - Ramon Garcia, pitcher (b. 1924)
- 2006 - Nick Adzick, minor league catcher (b. 1927)
- 2007 - Jim Beauchamp, infielder (b. 1939)
