March 20

Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 20.

[edit] Events

• 1888 - Albert Spalding announces a baseball tour to Australia next winter with his Chicago team and a squad of National League All-Stars.
• 1889 - A New York sporting goods house receives an order for bats, balls, and other baseball equipment from Mr. Hiroka of Tokyo, Japan. In his letter he says that baseball "has been played there for several months" and that a baseball association would soon be organized.
• 1915 - The Boston Braves break ground on Commonwealth Avenue and begin construction of Braves Field. Owner James E. Gaffney wants a large enough park so that inside-the-park homers can be hit in three directions. The field will open on August 18th.
• 1918 - Although the major leagues optimistically keep the schedules at 154 games, the owners agree to halve the spring training time in an attempt to save money with the United States now engaged in World War I, as the St. Louis Cardinals open their camp at Hot Springs, Arkansas. In fact, the season's last month will never be played, with the World Series starting at the beginning of September.
• 1925 - In a reprise of the 1924 World Series, the New York Giants edge the Washington Senators, 2 - 1, at West Palm Beach's new Municipal Athletic Field.
• 1934 - Mildred Didrickson (also known as Babe Zaharias), the renowned all-around female athlete, pitches the 1st inning for the Philadelphia Athletics in a spring training exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. She gives up one walk but no hits. Two days later she pitches again, this time one inning for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox. Didrickson is less successful this time, giving up four hits and three runs. Bill Hallahan relieves her, as she does not have an at bat in either game. She will also play several games for the House of David this season. Didrickson is the second female to play exhibitions with a major league team. Previously, first baseman Lizzie Murphy played for an American League All-Star team on August 14, 1922.
• 1935:
  • At Fort Myers, the Philadelphia Athletics defeat the House of David, 4 - 3.
  • At St. Petersburg, the St. Louis Cardinals set a spring training record, drawing 6,467 in a match against the Boston Braves. The big draw is Babe Ruth, who hits a towering fly against Dizzy Dean, then, after Dean departs, laces two doubles into the overflowing crowd. The Cardinals win, 5 - 4.
• 1937 - The Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues acquire future Hall of Famers Josh Gibson and Judy Johnson for $2,500 in cash and a pair of journeymen players. The trade is considered the largest transaction in the history of the Negro Leagues.
• 1943 - Indian Bob Johnson, a longtime Philadelphia Athletics fan favorite, is traded to the Washington Senators in exchange for outfielder Bobby Estalella and infielder Jimmy Pofahl. Johnson has led the Athletics in RBI in each of the last seven seasons - no team has ever traded a slugger with that mark.
• 1953 - U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole right to ban radio-TV broadcasts of major league games in their own territory. The antitrust division of the Justice Department outlawed this practice in 1949. Johnson believes that it started the decline of baseball in small towns and cities throughout the country. His bill aims to restore the equity between large communities and the small areas.
• 1954 - The Chicago Cubs send shortstop Roy Smalley to the Milwaukee Braves for pitcher Dave Cole, opening up the shortstop job for Ernie Banks.
• 1955 - While the Chicago Cubs are in Arizona beating their Los Angeles farm team, 7 - 0, major league baseball is played at Chicago's Wrigley Field. In a rematch of last year's World Series, the New York Giants beat the Cleveland Indians again, 7 - 3. Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes hit home runs for New York, while Ralph Kiner's 9th-inning homer is the first score for Cleveland. A crowd of 24,434 is on hand.
• 1957 - In today's issue of The Sporting News, former Pittsburgh Pirates GM – and current Pirate batting instructor (at least while George Sisler recuperates from a recent operation), Branch Rickey, – raves about Roberto Clemente, who will be seen as Rickey's most illustrious Pirate hire. The article features a classic example of bandwagon-jumping, coming in the wake of Clemente's dramatically improved sophomore showing, as Rickey radically revises his initial, considerably more pessimistic prognosis made in January but which won't be made public until years later. Moreover, he shamelessly inflates his own role in acquiring Clemente, in effect stealing the credit from his longtime subordinate, pitching coach Clyde Sukeforth, the man who actually discovered Clemente last year while on assignment from Rickey to scout demoted Dodger hurler Joe Black. Ironically, just as Rickey has jumped on the bandwagon, Clemente, thanks to an off-season back injury which has somehow escaped the "Mahatma"'s omniscient eye, is about to embark on the worst season of his career.
• 1958 - The Philadelphia Phillies acquire veteran first baseman Joe Collins from the New York Yankees. Opting not to report to the Phillies spring training camp, Collins decides to retire, thereby canceling the deal.
• 1961 - The New York Yankees of the American League announce the team will oppose any plan that would enable the new National League expansion franchise in New York, NY to use Yankee Stadium. This decision leaves the old Polo Grounds as the only viable option for the NL's new team, the New York Mets.
• 1973:
  • Roberto Clemente becomes the first Hispanic American to gain election to the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association of America announces the results of a special ballot, with Clemente receiving 393 of 424 votes. Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve. In light of his tragic death, the Hall's Board of Directors waived the five-year waiting period that is normally required before a player is eligible for election. A 12-time All-Star, Clemente batted .317 and won a dozen Gold Gloves over an 18-year career, and batted .362 in World Series play. Named National League MVP in 1966, he was voted the outstanding player in the 1971 World Series, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games.
  • In an exhibition game played in Puerto Rico, Willie Mays substitutes for New York Mets manager Yogi Berra and leads his team to a 8 - 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• 1976 - Leo Durocher, hired to manage the Taiyo Whales of the Japanese Central League, is sick with hepatitis and asks for a five-week delay in reporting. Durocher receives a telegram from the Taiyo Whales stating: "Since the championship starts in twenty days, it's better if you stay home and take care of yourself for the remainder of the season."
• 1984 - Hall of Fame pitcher Stan Coveleski dies in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 94. Coveleski pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators and New York Yankees over a 14-season career, winning 215 games, which included five 20-win seasons.
• 1989 - Commissioner Peter Ueberroth announces that he has begun an investigation into the behavior of Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose. Ueberroth doesn't identify the allegations against Rose, but the Reds' skipper will eventually be banished for his alleged involvement with gambling.
• 1995 - The Baltimore Orioles cancel the remainder of their spring training games because of the team's refusal to use replacement players.
• 2000 - The new World Umpires Association agrees to consolidate all umpires as part of an interim agreement with the commissioner's office. The umpires will merge into a single unit reporting directly to Major League Baseball this season, after being employed by either the National League or the American League since the latter's creation in 1901.
• 2002:
  • The commissioner's office announces that Major League Baseball will continue the practice that began after the September 11 attacks of singing God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch in each team's first homestand. In addition, a Flag of the United States patch will be worn on the jackets of all 30 major league teams this season and special logos will be used on Opening Day, Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of July, with Canadian versions designed for the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos.
  • The Milwaukee Brewers trade catcher Henry Blanco to the Atlanta Braves for catcher Paul Bako and pitcher Jose Cabrera.
• 2004 - Jesús Ríos strikes out his 2,381st batter in Mexican League play to break Ramón Arano‎'s record.
• 2006:
  • Scoring four runs in the 1st inning with only one ball hit out of the infield and four more in the 9th without an extra-base hit, Japan defeats Cuba, 10 - 6, to win the first World Baseball Classic. A sellout crowd of 42,696 packs PETCO Park for the finale to the 2 1/2-week tournament that fulfilled the expectations of its organizers. Starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who defeated Cuba in the 2004 Olympics, earns his third victory and is named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Cuba's Ormari Romero also comes in 2-0, but retires only one of four batters before being yanked in favor of Vicyohandri Odelin in the 1st inning.
  • The Boston Red Sox trade pitcher Bronson Arroyo to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for outfielder Wily Mo Peña. Boston also announces that outfielder Juan Gonzalez has agreed to a minor league contract.
  • Two-time All-Star pitcher Al Leiter announces his retirement after a 19-season major league career.
  • At spring training, 86-year-old Red Sox special instructor Johnny Pesky is injured when a foul ball breaks a bone in his left ankle as he watches a college game.
• 2007 - Ivanon Coffie becomes the first Dutch citizen to play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, edging out Rob Cordemans. The new Macoto Cobras infielder gets three hits in a fine debut before being sidelined by an injury. He will last about half the season before the constant turnover of foreign players in the CPBL ends his time there; he will return to the Netherlands to resume his career.
• 2008 - Alexei Bell hits his 31st home run of the season, setting a new Cuban league record. Orestes Kindelán had hit 30 in the 1986 Selective Series. Bell already had set the record for homers in a Cuban Serie Nacional. The Santiago de Cuba outfielder is slugging .720 with 108 RBI and 24 steals in an impressive campaign.
• 2010:
  • The Japanese Pacific League begins its 2010 season. Chihiro Kaneko of the Kintetsu Buffaloes outpitches Hisashi Iwakuma of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, 1 - 0, in a stellar duel. Hideaki Wakui fans 13 in a win for the Seibu Lions. The Softbank Hawks strike out 13 times against the Nippon Ham Fighters' Yu Darvish but pound Darvish for five runs in a win.
  • The 2010 CPBL season also begins. Jim Magrane makes his Taiwanese debut by tossing 7 shutout innings for the Brother Elephants to outduel Wei-Lun Pan of the Uni-President Lions, 1 - 0.
• 2011:
  • The Padres claim sidearming reliever Pat Neshek on waivers from the Twins. It's a bit of a gamble as Neshek's last effective season was in 2007; he has since been slowed down by a string of injuries.
  • White Sox P Jake Peavy is diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis and his return to action is uncertain. Peavy has been very effective when he has been able to pitch since the Sox acquired him in a trade with the Padres in 2009, but he has spent most of his time in Chicago on the disabled list.
• 2012 - Having lost two catchers to injuries since the start of spring training, the Royals obtain Humberto Quintero from Houston, alongside OF Jason Bourgeois, in return for P Kevin Chapman and a player to be named later.

[edit] Births

• 1821 - Bill Cammeyer, manager (d. 1898)
• 1853 - Bill Stearns, pitcher (d. 1898)
• 1864 - Dan Mahoney, catcher (d. 1904)
• 1864 - Pete McShannic, infielder (d. 1946)
• 1865 - Mike Griffin, outfielder, manager (d. 1908)
• 1867 - Emil Geiss, infielder (d. 1911)
• 1868 - Frank Rudderham, umpire (d. 1953)
• 1869 - John Buckley, pitcher (d. 1942)
• 1875 - Paddy Greene, infielder (d. 1934)
• 1877 - Barney McFadden, pitcher (d. 1924)
• 1879 - Rube Vinson, outfielder (d. 1951)
• 1880 - Bob Connery, scout (d. 1967)
• 1882 - Harry Armbruster, outfielder (d. 1953)
• 1882 - Tom Stankard, infielder (d. 1958)
• 1883 - Pep Clark, infielder (d. 1965)
• 1885 - Hosea Siner, infielder (d. 1948)
• 1887 - Walter Schmidt, catcher (d. 1973)
• 1888 - Les Backman, pitcher (d. 1975)
• 1890 - Mellie Wolfgang, pitcher (d. 1947)
• 1891 - Joe Boehling, pitcher (d. 1941)
• 1893 - Johnny Butler, infielder (d. 1967)
• 1894 - Bill Stellbauer, outfielder (d. 1974)
• 1900 - Al Shealy, pitcher (d. 1967)
• 1907 - Vern Kennedy, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1993)
• 1907 - Minoru Yamashita, NPB outfielder, manager and umpire; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 1995)
• 1910 - William Maughn, scout (b. 1966)
• 1911 - Charlie Moss, catcher (d. 1991)
• 1912 - Clyde Shoun, pitcher (d. 1968)
• 1915 - Stan Spence, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1983)
• 1916 - Mario Hernández Maytorena, minor league executive; Salon de la Fama
• 1920 - Kazuo Higasa, NPB outfielder (d. 2007)
• 1920 - Vickie Panos, AAGPBL outfielder (d. ????)
• 1920 - Twila Shively, AAGPBL outfielder (d. 1999)
• 1921 - Bill Peterman, catcher (d. 1999)
• 1925 - Al Widmar, pitcher (d. 2005)
• 1926 - Frosty Kennedy, minor league star (d. 1998)
• 1927 - Earlene Risinger, AAGPBL pitcher (d. 2008)
• 1927 - Jim Willis, pitcher
• 1928 - Jake Crawford, outfielder (d. 2008)
• 1931 - Hank Izquierdo, catcher
• 1933 - George Altman, outfielder; All-Star
• 1936 - Jim Golden, pitcher
• 1937 - Kenny Kuhn, infielder (d. 2010)
• 1941 - Pat Corrales, catcher, manager
• 1943 - Steve Dillon, pitcher
• 1944 - Steve Blateric, pitcher
• 1944 - Bob Taylor, outfielder
• 1948 - Chuck Seelbach, pitcher
• 1951 - Terry McDermott, infielder
• 1952 - Rick Langford, pitcher
• 1952 - Greg Terlecky, pitcher
• 1953 - Junior Roman, scout
• 1954 - Steve McCatty, pitcher
• 1954 - Paul Mirabella, pitcher
• 1958 - Si-jin Kim, KBO pitcher and manager
• 1959 - Donn Koch, minor league catcher
• 1960 - Mike Young, outfielder
• 1962 - Taigen Kaku, NPB pitcher
• 1963 - Rick Parker, outfielder
• 1963 - Dana Williams, designated hitter
• 1965 - Chris Hoiles, catcher
• 1966 - Dino Ebel, coach
• 1966 - Blas Minor, pitcher
• 1966 - Jeff Shireman, minor league infielder and manager
• 1966 - Anthony Toney, minor league outfielder
• 1970 - Will Brunson, pitcher
• 1971 - Manny Alexander, infielder
• 1972 - Shawn Alazaus, minor league pitcher
• 1972 - Jason McDonald, outfielder
• 1977 - Joe Fontenot, pitcher
• 1978 - Mike Bynum, pitcher
• 1978 - Peter Elfving, Elitserien catcher
• 1979 - Shinnosuke Abe, NPB catcher
• 1979 - Wilfredo Rodriguez, pitcher
• 1980 - Hidenori Tanoue, NPB catcher
• 1985 - Kyle McCulloch, minor league pitcher
• 1985 - Jonny Venters, pitcher; All-Star
• 1986 - Victor Lopez, Division Honor infielder
• 1987 - Jakub Toufar, minor league pitcher
• 1990 - Brad Hand, pitcher
• 1990 - Fernando Laurel, Philippines national team infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1914 - George Schultz, minor league pitcher (b. ????)
• 1933 - Dan Burke, outfielder (b. 1868)
• 1934 - Herm Doscher, infielder (b. 1852)
• 1935 - Bill Holbert, catcher, manager (b. 1855)
• 1938 - Bob Fothergill, outfielder (b. 1897)
• 1943 - Heinie Wagner, infielder, manager (b. 1880)
• 1947 - Mike Mowrey, infielder (b. 1884)
• 1951 - Roscoe Coughlin, pitcher (b. 1868)
• 1952 - Harry Bay, outfielder (b. 1878)
• 1953 - John Brackenridge, pitcher (b. 1880)
• 1955 - Clyde Wren, minor league outfielder and manager (b. ????)
• 1956 - Ed Smith, pitcher (b. 1879)
• 1957 - Ezra Midkiff, infielder (b. 1882)
• 1958 - Gene Dale, pitcher (b. 1889)
• 1962 - John Black, infielder (b. 1890)
• 1966 - Johnny Morrison, pitcher (b. 1895)
• 1967 - S.C. Thompson, researcher (b. ????)
• 1968 - Clyde Shoun, pitcher (b. 1912)
• 1969 - Jim Clark, outfielder (b. 1887)
• 1970 - Jack Flater, pitcher (b. 1880)
• 1981 - Gee Walker, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1908)
• 1984 - Stan Coveleski, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1889)
• 1994 - Lewis Grizzard, writer (b. 1946)
• 1996 - Randy Donisthorpe, minor league pitcher (b. 1972)
• 1996 - Jim Pendleton, outfielder (b. 1924)
• 1999 - Paul Toth, pitcher (b. 1935)
• 2001 - Luis Alvarado, infielder (b. 1949)
• 2012 - Mel Parnell, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1922)