December 9

Events, births and deaths that occurred on December 9.

[edit] Events

• 1880 - The National League reelects William Hulbert as president.
• 1882 - James H. Dudley, manager of a top black club in Richmond, VA, initiates discussion concerning the formation of a black league with teams from New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Richmond. On February 10, 1883, Pittsburgh manager W.C. Lee expresses interest in the plan, but nothing comes of it.
• 1902 - The American League announces purchase of grounds for a stadium in New York, and the next day the National League declares its readiness to make peace.
• 1913 - John K. Tener, one-time pitcher and congressman, now governor of Pennsylvania, is elected National League president for four years. John Heydler is elected secretary.
• 1923 - Traveling to Chicago for the Major League meetings, Wild Bill Donovan, New Haven manager, is killed in a train wreck. Donovan was a pitcher for Detroit and manager for the Yankees and Phils. New Haven president George Weiss had swapped berths with Donovan and escapes with a minor injury. Phils owner William F. Baker is also on the train, but he is unhurt.
• 1925:
  • The American League extends Ban Johnson's contract to 1935 and gives him a raise to $40,000.
  • Nap Lajoie is named commissioner of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League.
  • Cards player-manager Rogers Hornsby is named the MVP in the National League, gathering 73 out of a possible 80 votes. Hornsby was runner-up in 1924 to Dazzy Vance. Other strong contenders are Kiki Cuyler, the Pirates' top hitter at .357; the Giants' George Kelly; Pirates' SS Glenn Wright; Brooklyn's Vance; and Dave Bancroft, who hit .319 and topped NL shortstops in fielding average while managing the 5th-place Braves.
• 1930:
  • At its annual meeting, the American League reelects E.S. Barnard to a 5-year term as president. Barnard will pass away next March at the Mayo clinic.
  • Rube Foster, one of the most prominent figures in black baseball history, dies. The founder of the Negro National League, he excelled as a player, manager, and executive.
• 1931 - Baseball owners, fearful of the effects of the Depression, vote to cut squads from 25 players to 23. Both leagues will stop awarding MVP trophies. The National League continues to prohibit uniform numbers. The NL loans the Phillies $35,000 and loans Judge Emil Fuchs, owner of the Braves, $20,000 secured by his stock. Fuchs' finances are such that he won't even pay the interest from 1935 to 1937, and will file for bankruptcy in 1938, three years after retiring from the Braves.
• 1935 - The Giants get 2B Burgess Whitehead from the Cardinals for Roy Parmelee, Phil Weintraub, and cash.
• 1936:
  • The Red Sox trade Bill Werber to Philadelphia for Pinky Higgins.
  • The American League okays seven night baseball games for St. Louis. The National League adopts a new design for home plate. It will have beveled edges, the first change in 50 years. The AL adopts a rule stating that no batter can be batting champion unless he has 400 or more at bats.
• 1939 - Wally Moses is traded by the Philadelphia A's to Detroit for Benny McCoy and George Coffman. The deal is later voided by Judge Landis, who declares McCoy a free agent because of a Tigers cover-up. He gets a $10,000 bonus to sign with the A's.
• 1940 - The Reds trade 3B Lew Riggs to Brooklyn for 2B Pep Young.
• 1941 - Although having a 3-C draft deferment due to being the sole support of his family, Bob Feller, last year's American League-leading pitcher with 27 victories for the Indians, becomes the first major leaguer to enlist after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 23-year old navy recruit has already won 107 major league games.
• 1947 - The Indians pick up Johnny Berardino from the Browns for Catfish Metkovich and $50,000. Because of a broken finger, Metkovich will be returned to Cleveland, and the Indians will add another $15,000 to complete the deal. At the end of 1952, Berardino will drop baseball as well as the 2nd "r" in his name, and start a successful acting career in Hollywood.
• 1953 - The leagues meet and raise the minimum salary to $6,000. They also adopt a resolution to set up a committee to weigh ending the pension fund in November of 1955. Hank Greenberg and John Galbreath are on the committee. Broadcast revenues from World Series and All-Star games are in dispute.
• 1955 - The Dodgers send P Russ Meyer to the Cubs for P Don Elston and cash. Meyer has the best record in history against the Cubs, at one point going 22-1 against them.
  • The Phils purchase veteran Frankie Baumholtz from the Cubs. Frankie will play in 76 games next year without an extra-base hit, a National League record that will not be topped. Red Sox Mike McNally, in 1916, played in 87 games without an long hit, a record Luis Gomez will break with 89 games in 1975.
• 1965:
  • OF Frank Robinson is traded from Cincinnati to the Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and OF Dick Simpson. The Reds' Bill DeWitt defends the trade by labeling Robinson "an old 30," a concept that Robinson will quickly prove wrong.
  • While giving a speech in Columbia, MO, Branch Rickey collapses and dies a few days short of his 84th birthday. Player, manager, an extraordinary judge of baseball talent, and a shrewd trader, he became perhaps the game's most influential executive.
• 1974 - Bobby Tolan, traded by Cincinnati for P Clay Kirby on November 9, 1973, finally signs a 1974 contract with the Padres, leading to a withdrawal of the grievance initiated by the Players' Association on his behalf.
• 1975 - The colorful Bill Veeck returns. A group headed by him buys 80 percent of the White Sox from John Allyn.
• 1976 - The Rangers trade Jeff Burroughs to the Braves for five players and an estimated $250,000.
• 1977:
  • The A's and Reds announce a deal that will send P Vida Blue to Cincinnati for minor league OF Dave Revering and $1.75 million cash. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn will invalidate the deal on January 30th, contending that too much money is involved and there would be a competitive imbalance created. He later sets a limit of $400,000 as the maximum that can be exchanged between teams. The A's will later acquire Revering in another deal and trade Blue to the Giants for seven players on March 15, 1978.
  • The Brewers trade pitchers Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers to the Tigers for OF Ben Oglivie.
  • The Mariners trade outfielder Dave Collins to the Reds for pitcher Shane Rawley.
• 1980 - The Cubs trade reliever Bruce Sutter, the 1979 National League Cy Young Award winner, to the Cardinals for 3B Ken Reitz, OF-1B Leon Durham, and a player to be named.
  • Giants manager Dave Bristol is fired.
  • The Pirates trade P Bert Blyleven and C Manny Sanguillen to the Indians for P Bob Owchinko, P Victor Cruz, C Gary Alexander, and minor league P Rafael Vasquez.
• 1981:
  • The Dodgers trade 1979 Rookie of the Year Rick Sutcliffe, unhappy with his exile to the Dodger bullpen, and infielder Jack Perconte, to the Indians for OF Jorge Orta. Orta will hit just .217 for the Dodgers next season, while Sutcliffe will lead the American League in ERA.
  • One day after announcing that manager Bob Lemon will return next season, the Yankees announce that former manager Gene Michael, whom Lemon replaced on September 6th, will return as manager for the 1983 season. They won't wait that long, as Lemon will give way to Michael after only 14 games.
  • The Giants trade OF Larry Herndon to the Tigers for pitcher Dan Schatzeder and minor leaguer Mike Chris.
• 1982:
  • In what will turn out to be a pair of unwise deals, the Yankees sign free agent OF Steve Kemp to a 5-year contract, and trade OF Dave Collins, pitcher Mike Morgan, and minor leaguer Fred McGriff to the Blue Jays for P Dale Murray and minor leaguer Tom Dodd.
  • The Phillies trade 2B Manny Trillo, OF George Vukovich, SS Julio Franco, catcher Jerry Willard, and pitcher Jay Baller to the Indians for 24-year-old OF Von Hayes. Hayes hit .250 with 14 home runs and 32 stolen bases for Cleveland last season and is considered a potential star.
• 1988 - The Yankees sign a twelve-year television contract with the Madison Square Garden Network.
• 1991:
  • The Expos trade P Barry Jones to the Phillies in exchange for C Darrin Fletcher and cash.
  • The Royals sign free agent 1B Wally Joyner to a 1-year, $4.2 million contract.
• 1992:
  • Marge Schott appears at the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Louisville and apologizes for insensitive remarks.
  • Florida Marlins president Carl Barger dies from a heart attack at age 62. Despite the pall cast over the gathering by the death, the players' agents scoop up $228 million dollars worth of contracts in the five days of the winter meetings. Because of the auction-like atmosphere, the owners will terminate the meetings for the next six years.
  • The Braves sign free agent Cy Young Award and Gold Glove winner Greg Maddux to a 5-year contract, and then trade pitchers Charlie Leibrandt and Pat Gomez to the Rangers in exchange for 3B Jose Oliva. Leibrandt (15-7) saw his star fall in Atlanta when he gave up 11th-inning extra base hits in the 1992 World Series and the 1991 NLCS. Maddux, who turned down a $28.5 million contract extension in mid-season with the Cubs, signs for $28 million, $6 million less than the Yankees offered.
  • In other free agent signings, the Red Sox put OF Andre Dawson under contract for two years, the Giants sign OF Dave Martinez, the Cubs sign P Randy Myers, who had lost his closer role with San Diego for a month after giving up a game-tying home run to Dawson on June 2nd, to a 3-year contract, and the Dodgers sign free agent P Todd Worrell to a 3-year contract.
• 1993 - Southpaw Randy Johnson (19-8, 3.24, 308 strikeouts) re-signs with the Mariners for $20.25 million over three years.
• 1994:
  • The Orioles sign free agent C Matt Nokes.
  • The Rangers trade Jose Canseco (.282, 31, 90) to the Red Sox for outfielder Otis Nixon and infielder Luis Ortiz.
• 1996 - The Rockies sign free agent C Kirt Manwaring to a 2-year contract, the Blue Jays sign C Benito Santiago to a 2-year contract and the Marlins sign P Alex Fernandez to a 5-year deal.
• 1997 - Free agent signings today include IF Jack Howell with the Astros, P Orel Hershiser with the Giants, P Tom Candiotti with the Athletics, OF Luis Gonzalez with the Tigers, SS Jeff Blauser with the Cubs, 3B Wade Boggs with the Devil Rays and P Dennis Eckersley who returns to Boston, after picthing there from 1978 to 1984.
• 1998 - The Red Sox sign free agent P Mark Portugal and the Devil Rays sign OF Jose Canseco.
• 1999 - The Orioles sign free agent DH Harold Baines to a contract.
• 2000 - At a Coors Field press conference, the Rockies announce the signing of free agent starting pitcher Mike Hampton to an eight-year, $123.8 million contract. The southpaw will compile a 21-28 during his two-year tenure with Colorado before being unloaded on the Braves before the 2003 season.
• 2003 - Kazuo Matsui, a Japanese seven-time All-Star shortstop, agrees to a three-year $20.1-million deal with the Mets. Twenty-eight year-old "Little" Matsui hit .305 with 33 home runs while driving in 84 runs last season with the Seibu Lions.
• 2007 - Milton Bradley tentatively agrees on a $5 million, one-year deal with the Texas Rangers. The troubled outfielder had ended his 2007 season on a rough note when he was injured when coach Bobby Meacham tackled him to avoid a confrontation with an umpire.
• 2008 - The Baltimore Orioles free up a spot for top prospect Matt Wieters by trading Ramon Hernandez to the Cincinnati Reds. Baltimore acquires Ryan Freel, Justin Turner and Brandon Waring in the deal.
• 2009:
  • The Milwaukee Brewers go shopping for pitchers today, as they announce the signing of free agent starter Randy Wolf to a three-year deal worth $30 million and reliever LaTroy Hawkins to a two-year, $7.5 million deal.
  • The Rangers send starting pitcher Kevin Millwood to the Orioles for reliever Chris Ray in a move designed to give Texas additional financial flexibility to pursue free agent starter Rich Harden.
• 2010:
  • The Twins trade SS J.J. Hardy and IF Brendan Harris to the Orioles for P Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey. The Twins are shedding salary in preparation for signing Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, whose rights they acquired via the posting system earlier this off-season.
  • The Mariners sign free agent C Miguel Olivo.
  • The 2010 Rule V draft is held on the last day of the Winter Meetings. SS Josh Rodriguez, selected by Pittsburgh from Cleveland is the top pick, but pitchers dominate the proceedings, representing 16 of the 19 picks. No player with major league experience is taken.
• 2011:
  • The Athletics trade P Trevor Cahill to Arizona, along with reliever Craig Breslow, in return for top pitching prospect Jarrod Parker, OF Collin Cowgill and P Ryan Cook.
  • The Nationals send P Collin Balester to Detroit for P Ryan Perry.
• 2012:
  • The Texas Rangers trade away their all-time leader in hits, runs, doubles and triples, Michael Young, a 7-time All-Star who had become a utility infielder. He goes to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitchers Josh Lindblom and Lisalverto Bonilla.
  • The Rays trade their ace, James Shields, along with fellow P Wade Davis, to the Royals for OF Wil Myers, last year's Minor League Player of the Year, and Ps Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery and 3B Patrick Leonard.
  • The Dodgers sign Korean pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu to a six-year contract for $36 million.

[edit] Births

• 1859 - Lou Meyers, catcher (d. 1920)
• 1860 - Al Hubbard, catcher/infielder (d. 1930)
• 1871 - Joe Kelley, outfielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1943)
• 1872 - Jim Johnstone, umpire (d. 1927)
• 1872 - Cy Seymour, outfielder (d. 1919)
• 1877 - Bert Blue, catcher (d. 1929)
• 1884 - Enos Kirkpatrick, infielder (d. 1964)
• 1887 - Tommy Atkins, pitcher (d. 1956)
• 1888 - Curly Brown, pitcher (d. 1968)
• 1889 - Sam Dodge, pitcher (d. 1966)
• 1889 - Ed Fitzpatrick, infielder (d. 1965)
• 1889 - Fin Wilson, pitcher (d. 1959)
• 1905 - Adam Comorosky, outfielder (d. 1951)
• 1909 - Bob Kline, pitcher (d. 1987)
• 1910 - Steve Larkin, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1914 - Hank Camelli, catcher (d. 1996)
• 1917 - George Woodend, pitcher (d. 1980)
• 1918 - Clarence Beers, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Chuck Kress, infielder
• 1924 - Jerry Fahr, pitcher (d. 2010)
• 1928 - Joe DeMaestri, infielder; All-Star
• 1928 - Billy Klaus, infielder (d. 2006)
• 1930 - Bob Hazle, outfielder (d. 1992)
• 1939 - Dave Parham, minor league player (d. 2012)
• 1941 - Darold Knowles, pitcher; All-Star
• 1943 - Jim Merritt, pitcher; All-Star
• 1944 - Del Unser, outfielder
• 1946 - Rick Bladt, outfielder
• 1947 - Jerry Cram, pitcher
• 1948 - Doc Medich, pitcher
• 1952 - Bruce Boisclair, outfielder
• 1954 - Terry Craft, umpire
• 1956 - Eric Wilkins, pitcher
• 1957 - Steve Christmas, catcher
• 1957 - Angel Díaz, Cuban league pitcher
• 1957 - Ed Romero, infielder
• 1960 - Juan Samuel, infielder; All-Star
• 1961 - Bruce Tanner, pitcher
• 1963 - Tom Magrann, catcher
• 1965 - Joe Ausanio, pitcher
• 1966 - Eiji Hamanaka, NPB pitcher
• 1967 - Scott Wiegandt, college coach
• 1969 - Mike Fyhrie, pitcher
• 1969 - Ramon Garcia, pitcher
• 1969 - Michel Laplante, minor league pitcher and manager
• 1969 - Kyle Washington, minor league outfielder
• 1970 - Tony Tarasco, outfielder
• 1970 - Noe Najera, minor league player
• 1971 - Todd Van Poppel, pitcher
• 1973 - Tony Batista, infielder; All-Star
• 1973 - Chris Truby, infielder
• 1976 - Chris Booker, pitcher
• 1978 - Jeff Duncan, outfielder
• 1979 - Cory Harris, minor league outfielder
• 1979 - Eric Stults, pitcher
• 1980 - Tim Leveque, minor league coach
• 1980 - Fred Lewis, outfielder
• 1982 - Rene Cortez, minor league pitcher
• 1982 - Damon Lessler, minor league infielder
• 1986 - Wenbin Pan, Chinese national team infielder
• 1987 - Mat Latos, pitcher
• 1987 - Pedro Villarreal, pitcher
• 1987 - Adam Wilk, pitcher
• 1989 - Sammy De Los Santos, minor league pitcher
• 1989 - Alec Rosales, Philippines national team outfielder
• 1990 - Bruce Rondon, pitcher
• 1991 - Luis Yander La O. Camacho, Serie Nacional infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1884 - Peter Morris, shortstop (b. 1854)
• 1918 - Walt Dickson, pitcher (b. 1878)
• 1920 - George Browne, outfielder (b. 1876)
• 1921 - Charlie Morton, infielder, manager (b. 1854)
• 1923 - Bill Donovan, pitcher, manager (b. 1876)
• 1930 - Rube Foster, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1879)
• 1930 - Dave Rowe, outfielder, manager (b. 1854)
• 1941 - Ed Mars, pitcher (b. 1867)
• 1944 - Swat McCabe, outfielder (b. 1881)
• 1950 - Mickey Corcoran, infielder (b. 1882)
• 1954 - Bill McGowan, umpire; Hall of Famer (b. 1896)
• 1955 - Curt Walker, outfielder (b. 1896)
• 1958 - Rube Vickers, pitcher (b. 1878)
• 1959 - Ferd Eunick, infielder (b. 1892)
• 1965 - Branch Rickey, catcher, manager; Hall of Famer (b. 1881)
• 1965 - Dutch Sterrett, outfielder (b. 1889)
• 1975 - Jeff Heath, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1915)
• 1976 - Wes Ferrell, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1908)
• 1977 - Hiroshi Nakao, NPB pitcher; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1919)
• 1978 - Dick Siebert, infielder; All-Star (b. 1912)
• 1980 - Ted Olson, pitcher (b. 1912)
• 1982 - Jimmy Adair, infielder (b. 1907)
• 1992 - Jeff Jones, scout (b. ????)
• 1999 - Whitey Kurowski, infielder; All-Star (b. 1918)
• 2002 - Johnny Lazor, outfielder (b. 1912)