February 9

From BR Bullpen

Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 9.

[edit] Events

• 1883 - The New York Grammar School League is formed. Only "regular attendees" will be permitted to play in the 14-team league.
• 1884 - The grounds of the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds are flooded under 20 feet of water from the Ohio River. It will cost $3,000 to rebuild the fallen pavilions and fences and restore the field.
• 1886 - The Kansas City Cowboys are admitted to the National League on a one-year trial basis.
• 1887 - The Kansas City Cowboys go out of business with the sale of their players to the league for $6,000. The club's spot in the league has already been taken by Pittsburgh.
• 1889 - All-America beats Chicago 10 - 6 in the shadow of the Pyramids outside Cairo, and Cap Anson feels compelled to apologize to the Sphinx for his team's poor play.
• 1895 - New York Giants owner Andrew Freedman institutes reserved grandstand seats to attract businessmen.
• 1901 - Giants and Pirates outfielder Tom O'Brien, 28, dies in Phoenix, AZ. A popular player with the Giants, O'Brien played for Pirates in 1900, then accompanied the Giants and Superbas last fall on a trip to Cuba for a series of exhibition games. On the boat trip over, he was told that if he drank enough sea water he'd be sick, but would then be cured of any sea sickness. Both O'Brien and Kid Gleason became violently ill following the prescription, but O'Brien was so affected that all his internal organs were damaged, and he never recovered.
• 1914:
  • The world tourists arrive in Rome where they stage a demonstration of the game. After a private audience with the Pope, they travel to Paris. They will be rained out in Paris and end the tour in England on February 26, playing before King George V.
  • Veteran umpire Hank O'Day, who managed the 1912 Reds, signs to skipper the Cubs.
• 1916:
  • The National League celebrates its 40th anniversary with a Waldorf-Astoria banquet. The NL's first president, Morgan G. Bulkeley, is present. The chief speaker is former president William Howard Taft.
  • The National League votes down a proposal by the Giants, Braves, and Cubs to increase club player limit from 21 to 22. (The Reds want a decrease to 20.)
• 1920:
  • The Joint Rules Committee bans all foreign substances or other alterations to the ball by pitchers, including saliva, resin, talcum powder, paraffin, and the shine and emery ball. A pitcher caught cheating will be suspended for 10 days. The American League allows each club to name just two pitchers who will be allowed to use the pitch for one more season. The National League allows each club to name all its spitball pitchers. No pitchers other than those designated will be permitted to use the banned pitch, and none at all after this season (however, the designated pitchers will eventually be allowed to use the pitch for the rest of their careers). Other rules changes: the adoption of writer Fred Lieb's proposal that a game-winning home run with men on base be counted as a home run even if the batter's run is not needed to win the game. Also, the intentional walk is banned, and everything that happens in a protested game will go in the records.
  • The Cards announce the first trade of the winter meetings. They acquire 1B Jack Fournier from the minor league Los Angeles Angels for four players, all acquired earlier. LA gets 1B Art Griggs, C Grover Hartley, P Claude Thomas, and IF Ike McAuley.
• 1922 - Judge Kenesaw Landis cracks down on phony player deals. He fines the Cards and Tigers $150 each, and three minor league clubs a total of $1,400 for violating waiver rules. In March, he will assess the Giants $1,764 for the improper transfer of a player.
• 1924 - Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith names 2B Bucky Harris, last year's team captain, as the new Nationals' manager. Harris had annoyed Griffith by playing pro basketball over the winter, in violation of his contract, but the owner still tabs him the job. Harris, 28, team captain, is at spring training when he receives the offer by letter.
• 1927 - The Giants send versatile George Kelly, along with cash, to the Reds for truculent holdout OF Edd Roush. The Giants sent Roush to the Reds in 1916.
• 1933 - Brooklyn Dodgers pitching ace Dazzy Vance is traded to the Cardinals with infielder Gordon Slade for Ownie Carroll and Jake Flowers.
• 1943 - The National League is looking for a buyer for the Philadelphia Phillies, whose owner, Gerry Nugent, has fallen in arrears on rent and bank loans. The league pays $10 a share for 4,685 out of 5,000 outstanding shares in the club.
• 1946 - Pirate southpaw Preacher Roe suffers a brain concussion in an altercation with a referee in a high school basketball game in Arkansas.
• 1949 - A federal appeals court orders the $300,000 suit against baseball by Mexican League jumper Danny Gardella back to a lower court for trial.
• 1950 - The Chicago White Sox purchase C Phil Masi from the Pirates. He will finish his career with three strong years in Chicago.
• 1951 - The St. Louis Browns sign Satchel Paige, 45. He has been out of Major League Baseball since last pitching for the Cleveland Indians in 1949.
• 1959 - Frank D. Lawrence, owner of the Portsmouth, VA, club, files a $250,000 suit against Commissioner Ford Frick and Major League Baseball for breach of contract, alleging that broadcasts of major league games effectively forced him out of business.
• 1961 - Willie Mays signs for $85,000, currently the biggest contract in Major League Baseball.
• 1971 - Former Negro Leagues P Satchel Paige is nominated for the Hall of Fame. On June 10 the Hall's new Special Committee on the Negro Leagues will formally select Paige for induction.
• 1972 - California Angels IF Chico Ruiz, age 33, is killed in an auto crash in San Diego.
• 1976 - Oscar Charleston is selected for the Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues.
• 1980 - The late Yankee catcher Thurman Munson is inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame of Kent State University.
• 1981 - At the age of thirty-seven, Joe Morgan inks a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants
• 1982 - The Reds trade P Paul Moskau to the Baltimore Orioles for IF Wayne Krenchicki.
• 1984 - The Los Angeles Dodgers waive 2-time National League All-Star Dusty Baker, who had vetoed a trade to Oakland during the winter meetings.
• 1988 - The A's sign a one-year deal with free agent DH Don Baylor.
• 1994 - The Philadelphia Phillies trade P Terry Mulholland and a player to be named later to the New York Yankees in exchange for P Bobby Munoz, 2B Kevin Jordan and minor league P Ryan Karp.
• 1994 - The Ted Williams Retrospective Museum and Library opens in Hernando, FL.
• 1995 - Darryl Strawberry pleads guilty to income tax evasion and will spend three months in prison, in addition to paying back taxes, interest, and penalties.
• 2000 - The Reds send four players - pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron and two minor leaguers to the Mariners and agree to a contract extension to obtain Seattle's superstar Ken Griffey Jr. Junior's nine-year $116.5 million contract is the richest package in history, but in the current market is considered quite a bargain.
• 2001 - After 13 months of negotiations, Derek Jeter and the Yankees finalize a $189 million, 10-year contract. The deal makes the All-Star shortstop second only to Alex Rodriguez ($252 million/10 years) as highest-paid player in the history of the sport.
• 2005 - The Cubs trade reliever Kyle Farnsworth (4-5, 4.73) and a player to be named to the Tigers in exchange for pitcher Roberto Novoa (1-1, 5.09) and minor leaguers Scott Moore and Bo Flowers. Farnsworth's inconsistency out of the bullpen last season made him very unpopular with the Wrigley Field fans.
• 2006:
  • Free agent C Bengie Molina who hit .295 with 15 homers and 69 RBI for the Angels last year, comes to terms on a $5 million, one-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays with a $7.5 million mutual option for 2007 and a $500,000 buyout clause. Along with starter A.J. Burnett and closer B.J. Ryan, third baseman Troy Glaus and first baseman Lyle Overbay, the 31-year-old Gold Glove catcher becomes the latest blue chip player to join Toronto during the off-season.
  • Deliberating for a little more than four hours, a jury rules the Angels did not breach a contract with the city of Anaheim when the ball club changed its name. Thirteen months ago, the team known as the Anaheim Angels became the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim", prompting the city where it plays to file a law suit claiming the change in name amounted to at least $100 million in lost revenue.
• 2008 - Mark Kelly, a former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand, throws a one-hit shutout of the New South Wales Patriots in game two of the Claxton Shield finals to give the Western Australia Heelers the title. Kelly allows only a Gavin Fingleson single in shutting down a lineup which includes former California League batting champion Brendan Kingman. Mitch Graham's solo homer off Pitcher of the Year Tim Cox is the only run of the contest. Kelly is named MVP of the 2008 Shield.
• 2009 - 12-time All-Star and 3-time MVP Alex Rodriguez publicly admits to using steroids from 2001 to 2003, while a member of the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez apologizes for his past errors; he had not commented on the issue since Sports Illustrated had broken a story about a positive 2003 test two days earlier.
• 2010:
  • P Scott Schoeneweis signs a contract with the Brewers after pitching for Arizona last season. It was a year marked by tragedy, with the sudden death of his wife Gabrielle from a drug overdose on May 20, leaving Schoeneweis in lone care of four children aged 16 or younger.
  • The Twins sign OF Jacque Jones, who played for Minnesota from 1999 to 2005. He is attempting a comeback after spending last season with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League. The Twins also lose OF Jason Pridie, who is claimed on waivers by the Mets.
  • The Orioles sign veteran left-handed pitchers Mark Hendrickson and Will Ohman, and designate Armando Gabino for assignment. Both lefties will compete for spots in the bullpen.
• 2011 - In the first salary arbitration decision of the off-season, Pittsburgh P Ross Ohlendorf is a winner, being awarded a salary of $ 2.025 million in spite of an ugly 1-11 record in 2010.
• 2013 - The Canberra Cavalry win their first Australian Baseball League title, topping the Perth Heat 7-6 to sweep the best-of-3 finals. 1B Aaron Sloan goes 5 for 8 with a homer in the championship series to be named MVP. In this game, Perth pitching star Warwick Saupold gives up 9 hits and 6 runs in only 3 innings, while Ryan Stovall drives in 3 for Canberra and Michael Wells hits the deciding home run in the 7th off Jack Frawley to break a 6-6 tie.

[edit] Births

• 1852 - Lyman Drake, outfielder (d. 1932)
• 1863 - Charley Bassett, infielder (d. 1942)
• 1864 - Harry Pulliam, NL president (d. 1909)
• 1867 - Sumner Bowman, pitcher (d. 1954)
• 1870 - Hi Ladd, outfielder (d. 1948)
• 1887 - Heinie Zimmerman, infielder (d. 1969)
• 1895 - Wally Hood, outfielder (d. 1965)
• 1897 - Adrian Lynch, pitcher (d. 1934)
• 1898 - Chink Taylor, outfielder (d. 1980)
• 1899 - Specs Toporcer, infielder (d. 1989)
• 1902 - Don Hankins, pitcher (d. 1963)
• 1902 - Julie Wera, infielder (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Roy Mahaffey, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1908 - Buzz Boyle, outfielder (d. 1978)
• 1912 - Dutch Dietz, pitcher (d. 1972)
• 1913 - Tony Robello, infielder (d. 1994)
• 1914 - Bill Veeck, owner; Hall of Famer (d. 1986)
• 1915 - Harvey Green, pitcher (d. 1970)
• 1916 - Tex Hughson, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1993)
• 1916 - Freddy Schmidt, pitcher (d. 2012)
• 1917 - Moon Mullen, infielder
• 1918 - Jodie Phipps, minor league pitcher and manager (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Andrés Tanaka, minor league outfielder and manager
• 1925 - Vic Wertz, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1983)
• 1928 - Larry Claflin writer (d. 1981)
• 1928 - Erv Palica, pitcher (d. 1982)
• 1932 - Tatsuro Hirooka, NPB infielder and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
• 1934 - Ted Wills, pitcher
• 1937 - Clete Boyer, infielder (d. 2007)
• 1942 - Hal Gilson, pitcher
• 1943 - Kosuke Matsuoka, NPB infielder
• 1944 - Jim Campanis, catcher
• 1944 - Randy Schwartz, infielder
• 1945 - Jim Nash, pitcher
• 1949 - John Andrews, pitcher
• 1949 - Nin-Fung Mak, Hong Kong national team manager
• 1949 - John Young, infielder
• 1951 - Eddie Solomon, pitcher (d. 1986)
• 1955 - Jerry Keller, minor league infielder
• 1955 - John Urrea, pitcher
• 1956 - Mark Naehring, minor league infielder
• 1956 - Mookie Wilson, outfielder
• 1957 - Pat Underwood, pitcher
• 1958 - Pete O'Brien, infielder
• 1959 - Reinaldo Costa, Cuban league pitcher
• 1961 - Roberto Cabalisti, Italian Baseball League pitcher
• 1961 - John Kruk, infielder; All-Star
• 1961 - Mitch Seoane, minor league infielder and manager
• 1964 - Ed Whited, infielder
• 1965 - Doug Linton, pitcher
• 1967 - Todd Pratt, catcher
• 1968 - Robert Eenhoorn, infielder
• 1968 - Brad Holman, pitcher
• 1968 - Koji Noda, NPB pitcher
• 1969 - Alberto Hernández, Cuban National League catcher
• 1970 - Greg Beals, college coach
• 1970 - John Burke, pitcher
• 1970 - Roman Talda, Extraliga infielder
• 1970 - Hugh Walker, minor league outfielder
• 1971 - Ken Felder, minor league outfielder
• 1973 - Yoshitomo Tani, NPB outfielder
• 1975 - Mark Farris, minor league infielder
• 1975 - Vladimir Guerrero, outfielder; All-Star
• 1977 - Napoleon Calzado, outfielder
• 1977 - Monte Lee, college coach
• 1977 - Geraldo Padua, minor league pitcher
• 1977 - Yufeng Zhang, China Baseball League infielder
• 1979 - Akinori Iwamura, infielder
• 1979 - Mike Tonis, catcher
• 1980 - Jae-woo Lee, KBO pitcher
• 1983 - Brian Sewell, First Division pitcher
• 1984 - Eric Eymann, minor league infielder
• 1984 - Dioner Navarro, catcher; All-Star
• 1985 - Jae-won Oh, KBO infielder
• 1986 - Josh Judy, pitcher
• 1987 - Maxim Ayzatulin, Russian national team infielder
• 1988 - Kyeong Kang, minor league outfielder
• 1989 - Peter Avvento, Italian Baseball League pitcher
• 1989 - Chris Mezger, minor league pitcher
• 1990 - Randall Delgado, pitcher
• 1990 - Henry Rodriguez, infielder
• 1991 - Erickdavis Marquez, minor league pitcher
• 1991 - Levi Michael, minor league infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1913 - Joe Stewart, pitcher (b. 1879)
• 1914 - Buster Brown, pitcher (b. 1881)
• 1915 - Red Waller, pitcher (b. 1883)
• 1916 - John Bickerton, manager (b. 1848)
• 1928 - Bill Farmer, catcher (b. 1864)
• 1936 - Trick McSorley, infielder (b. 1852)
• 1938 - Charlie Daniels, pitcher (b. 1861)
• 1958 - Cowboy Jones, pitcher (b. 1874)
• 1962 - Bernie Duffy, pitcher (b. 1893)
• 1963 - Ray Starr, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1906)
• 1967 - Billy Burke, pitcher (b. 1889)
• 1968 - Lou Bruce, outfielder (b. 1877)
• 1972 - Chico Ruiz, infielder (b. 1938)
• 1976 - Ziggy Hasbrook, infielder (b. 1893)
• 1977 - Roy Hansen, pitcher (b. 1898)
• 1977 - Ollie Klee, outfielder (b. 1900)
• 1981 - Henry McHenry, Negro League pitcher (b. 1910)
• 1983 - Jackie Hayes, infielder (b. 1906)
• 1987 - Larry French, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1907)
• 1993 - Pete Quesada, owner (b. 1904)
• 1994 - Ray Lamanno, catcher; All-Star (b. 1919)
• 1994 - Joe Mowry, outfielder (b. 1908)
• 1994 - Sam Parrilla, outfielder (b. 1943)
• 1998 - Bill Froats, pitcher (b. 1930)
• 2002 - Tsuneo Ikeda, writer; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1911)
• 2003 - Billy Parker, infielder (b. 1942)
• 2006 - Motoshi Fujita, NPB pitcher and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1931)
• 2007 - Hank Bauer, outfielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1922)
• 2010 - Efraín Ibarra, minor league umpire; Salon de la Fama (b. 1940)