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January 26
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 January 26.
[edit] Events
- 1895 - Baseball officials discuss the possibility of reinstating the old pitcher's distance. They are dismayed by the explosion of offense, which resulted in "long drawn out and uninteresting contests. Besides the brainy pitcher of former days would be given another chance to display his ability in the science of the game."
- 1919 - The St. Louis Cardinals name team president Branch Rickey as manager, replacing Jack Hendricks. Under Rickey's leadership, the last-place Cardinals will improve only slightly in the standings, finishing seventh this season.
- 1930 - Pitcher Carl Mays signs a contract with Portland of the Pacific Coast League, thus foregoing his major league career. In 1920, a Mays fastball had struck Ray Chapman in the head. The impact of the blow killed the Cleveland Indians' shortstop.
- 1931:
- The Boston Braves release veteran pitcher Johnny Cooney. He had held out in 1930, insisting he could bat well enough to stay. After several years in the minors, Cooney will return to the National League as a Braves outfielder and be runner-up to batting champ Pete Reiser in 1940.
- The International League accepts the open draft imposed by the major leagues. Until this time, the top minor leagues could control their players and refuse to sell them.
- Another Oakland Oaks star, Buzz Arlett, long coveted by Major League teams and long withheld by Oakland, is sold to the Philadelphia Phillies.
- 1932 - Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley dies at the age of 70 in Phoenix, Arizona. Wrigley had owned the team since 1919. Wrigley's son Philip inherits controlling interest in both the Cubs and the minor league Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, but will leave most of the daily operations to Cubs president William Veeck.
- 1951 - The Baseball Writers Association of America vote sluggers Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx into the Hall of Fame. Ott hit .304 with 511 home runs and 1860 RBI; he managed the New York Giants from 1942 to 1948. Foxx was a .325 hitter with 534 home runs and 1922 RBI.
- 1952 - Because of poor attendance, the Canadian-American League suspends operations for this season. This is one of seven minor leagues that will not operate this year, dropping the total from 50 to 43. The Korean War military obligation is the primary reason stated.
- 1960 - Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Jensen announces his retirement, only months after enjoying one of his best seasons hitting 28 home runs, 112 RBI, and a .277 batting average. Jensen's fear of flying plays a part in his decision to leave the game. In 1961, Jensen will return to the Red Sox before retiring once again.
- 1961 - The Cincinnati Reds send Joe Nuxhall to the Kansas City Athletics for pitchers John Tsitouris and John Briggs. Nuxhall first pitched for the Reds in 1944, when he was 15 years old.
- 1962 - New York Yankees outfielders Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts with Columbia Pictures to appear in Safe at Home!, a movie that is to be shot during spring training. The movie will star Maris and Mantle as themselves and feature cameos by Whitey Ford and Ralph Houk.
- 1963 - Major League Baseball's Rules Committee increases the size of the strike zone. The zone will stretch from the top of the batter's shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The committee hopes the return to the 1950s strike zone will result in a decrease in runs scored. The results will exceed the committee's expectations, and after the "Year of the Pitcher" in 1968, the strike zone will be tweaked again to give the hitters a break.
- 1983 - The Chicago White Sox trade pitchers Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar to their cross-town rivals Cubs for pitchers Dick Tidrow and Randy Martz, and infielders Pat Tabler and Scott Fletcher.
- 1989 - The tougher balk rules initiated last season are rescinded and are replaced by the pre-1988 rules.
- 1990 - The Boston Red Sox hire Elaine Weddington as their assistant general manager making her the highest-ranking black female executive in Major League Baseball.
- 1994 - The Houston Astros sign free agent first baseman Sid Bream.
- 1995 - Major League Baseball players and owners are told by President Clinton to resume bargaining and reach an agreement to resolve the strike by February 6th.
- 2001:
- The June 8-10 (Arlington) and June 15-17 (Houston) interleague games between the Astros and Rangers will be known as the Lone Star Series. It will be first time the two Texan teams have ever played one another during the regular season.
- Free agent infielder Luis Alicea is signed by the Kansas City Royals.
- 2002 - The Seattle Mariners trade third baseman David Bell to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for infielder Desi Relaford. Bell became expendable when Seattle acquired Jeff Cirillo from the Colorado Rockies earlier in the off-season.
- 2005 - The New York Mets, who failed to sign free agent Carlos Delgado who was snatched up by the Marlins yesterday, quickly fill the void at first base by trading three prospects to the Boston Red Sox for Gold Glove Award winner Doug Mientkiewicz. The Red Sox, who acquired Mientkiewicz from Minnesota to solidify their defense, will use heavy-hitting, light-fielding Kevin Millar at first.
- 2006:
- Fidel Castro confirms that his country will play in the 2006 World Baseball Classic in Cuba's first official reaction to the U.S. government's decision allowing the communist country to participate.
- Two-time American League MVP Frank Thomas agrees a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics, and first baseman Ben Broussard avoids salary arbitration by signing a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians.
- 2010 - Three veteran free agents sign deals with new teams today. P Ben Sheets, who missed all of last season recovering from elbow surgery, signs with the Athletics where he will be the leader of their young starting rotation; the Twins sign DH Jim Thome for one year; and the Padres add P Jon Garland for a year as well.
- 2011:
- The Tigres de Aragua cut Azoategui's lead in the Venezuelan League finals to 2 games to 1 with an 8 - 4 win. Wilson Ramos gets the key hit, a tie-breaking three-run homer in the 7th inning; Ramos goes 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI in the game.
- Desperate for pitching, the Yankees sign veteran Bartolo Colon, who did not pitch in the majors last year, to a minor league contract. He will be given a chance to make the team out of spring training after playing well in the Dominican League this winter, and will prove a godsend when Phil Hughes goes down with an injury early in the season.
- 2012 - The Red Sox sign OF Cody Ross to a one-year contract and designate P Scott Atchison for assignment, while the Nationals sign former Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge, also for one year.
- 2013:
- The Yaquis de Obregón win their third straight Mexican Pacific League championship with a 16 - 3 drubbing of Mexicali to complete a sweep of the finals. Obregón has now won nine straight playoff games. It gives its opponents no chance, scoring five times in the 1st and again in the 3rd. Jesse Gutierrez scores three times and drives in four.
- Caguas is crowned Puerto Rican League champion with a 13 - 3 win over Mayagüez, the 16th title in team history. The issue is in little doubt after Caguas scores 6 times in the 1st against Aaron Miller.
- Magallanes knots up the Venezuelan League finals at two games apiece with a 6 - 5 wins over Lara. Hector Gimenez and Eliezer Alfonzo both homer for the winners.
[edit] Births
- 1844 - Tom Pratt, infielder (d. 1908)
- 1853 - Billy Barnie, catcher, manager (d. 1900)
- 1854 - Francis Richter, writer (d. 1926)
- 1859 - Bob Casey, infielder (d. 1936)
- 1870 - Scott Hardesty, infielder (d. 1944)
- 1874 - Kaiser Wilhelm, pitcher, manager (d. 1936)
- 1877 - Eli Cates, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1877 - Ben Koehler, outfielder (d. 1961)
- 1877 - Dave Wills, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1884 - Arthur Berndt, college coach (d. ~1951)
- 1884 - Tubby Spencer, catcher (d. 1945)
- 1885 - Art LaVigne, catcher (d. 1950)
- 1886 - Hick Cady, catcher (d. 1946)
- 1900 - Lefty Jamerson, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1902 - Johnny Frederick, outfielder (d. 1977)
- 1904 - George Blaeholder, pitcher (d. 1947)
- 1906 - Charlie Gelbert, infielder (d. 1967)
- 1915 - Rip Russell, infielder (d. 1976)
- 1920 - Dick Mauney, pitcher (d. 1970)
- 1921 - Nobukazu Iwamoto, NPB pitcher and umpire (d. 2000)
- 1924 - Bud Younger, minor league pitcher, college coach (d. 2008)
- 1927 - Bob Nieman, outfielder (d. 1985)
- 1928 - Ray Knoblauch, minor league pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1928 - Gene Richardson, Negro League pitcher (d. 1997)
- 1935 - Bob Uecker, catcher
- 1943 - Cesar Gutierrez, infielder (d. 2005)
- 1943 - Hank McGraw, minor league catcher
- 1950 - Mike Pazik, pitcher
- 1952 - Morris Nettles, outfielder
- 1953 - Tom Bruno, pitcher
- 1955 - Blake Doyle, minor league infielder
- 1955 - Brian Doyle, infielder
- 1955 - Joe Pettini, infielder
- 1958 - Mike Patterson, outfielder
- 1960 - Jim Sherman, college coach
- 1962 - Rick Schu, infielder
- 1963 - Kevin Blankenship, pitcher
- 1963 - Jose Segura, pitcher
- 1965 - Lou Frazier, outfielder
- 1965 - Dale Plummer, college coach
- 1966 - Kazushige Nagashima, NPB infielder
- 1967 - Jeff Branson, infielder
- 1967 - Tim Pugh, pitcher
- 1968 - Rouglas Odor, minor league infielder and manager
- 1970 - Dan Carlson, pitcher
- 1970 - Jon Mueller, college coach
- 1971 - Pete Janicki, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Esteban German, infielder
- 1978 - Steve Green, pitcher
- 1978 - Andres Torres, outfielder
- 1979 - Kenny Kelly, outfielder
- 1980 - Brandon Medders, pitcher
- 1980 - Antonio Perez, infielder
- 1981 - Il-mok Cha, KBO catcher
- 1981 - Juan Lara, pitcher
- 1981 - Josh Sharpless, pitcher
- 1983 - Dominik Hartinger, Bundesliga pitcher
- 1983 - Ryan Rowland-Smith, pitcher
- 1984 - Satoshi Nagaoka, Japanese national team pitcher
- 1984 - Paul Phillips, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Ryan Rogowski, minor league outfielder
- 1987 - Hector Noesi, pitcher
- 1987 - Jemile Weeks, infielder
- 1988 - Josh Prince, outfielder
- 1989 - Johermyn Chavez, minor league outfielder
- 1990 - Chan-heon Jeong, KBO pitcher
- 1990 - Marlin Mejía, Nicaraguan national team pitcher
[edit] Deaths
- 1893 - Abner Doubleday, mythical inventor (b. 1819)
- 1889 - Tom Gillen, catcher (b. 1862)
- 1906 - Fred Underwood, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1917 - Jim McGuire, infielder (b. 1875)
- 1949 - Hugh Bradley, infielder (b. 1885)
- 1950 - Chick Autry, catcher (b. 1903)
- 1950 - Tom Bannon, outfielder (b. 1869)
- 1951 - Bill Barrett, outfielder (b. 1900)
- 1955 - Austin Walsh, outfielder (b. 1891)
- 1956 - Dave Howard, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1961 - George Hogriever, outfielder (b. 1869)
- 1962 - Steve O'Neill, catcher, manager (b. 1891)
- 1965 - Bingo DeMoss, Negro League infielder and manager (b. 1889)
- 1967 - Jud Daley, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1968 - John Kobs, college coach (b. 1898)
- 1968 - Eddie Phillips, catcher (b. 1901)
- 1970 - Jim Haislip, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1973 - Pat Hardgrove, pinch hitter (b. 1895)
- 1975 - Astyanax Douglass, catcher (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Nemo Gaines, pitcher (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Andy Harrington, pinch hitter (b. 1903)
- 1980 - Frank Rosso, pitcher (b. 1921)
- 1981 - Ray Oyler, infielder (b. 1938)
- 1983 - Chet Laabs, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1912)
- 1983 - Del Rice, catcher, manager; All-Star (b. 1922)
- 1984 - Hoss Walker, Negro League infielder and manager (b. 1912)
- 1993 - Art Lilly, scout (b. 1916)
- 1995 - Dick Tettelbach, outfielder (b. 1929)
- 1999 - Larry Loughlin, pitcher (b. 1941)
- 2000 - Frankie Pack, pinch hitter (b. 1928)
- 2000 - Bill Strickland, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 2002 - Ray Yochim, pitcher (b. 1922)
- 2007 - Horace Turbeville, college coach (b. 1935)
- 2009 - Jorge Calvo, minor league outfielder and manager (b. 1938)
- 2009 - Yukio Imaizumi, NPB catcher (b. 1938)
- 2009 - Roy Johnson, outfielder (b. 1959)
- 2010 - Ken Walters, outfielder (b. 1933)
- 2012 - Bud Byerly, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 2012 - George Spears, minor league infielder and manager (b. ????)
- 2013 - Jersey van Doornspeek, Hoofdklasse outfielder (b. 1947)
