March 10
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 10.
[edit] Events
- 1857 - The National Association of Base Ball Players is formed at a meeting in New York City. Twenty two teams are represented, and William Van Cott of the Gothams is elected president.
- 1904 - New York Giants players leave Mobile, AL ahead of the law after a local judge issues a warrant for their arrest for beating a local umpire unconscious during an exhibition game. The players were goaded by manager John McGraw
- 1930 - Babe Ruth signs a two-year contract with the New York Yankees worth $160,000.
- 1951 - FBI director J. Edgar Hoover announces that he has turned down an offer to become Commissioner of baseball. The governor of California, Earl Warren, had previously rejected an offer to become baseball's leader.
- 1963 - A little known minor league infielder named Pete Rose plays in his first spring training game. The 22-year-old Rose, who goes 2-for-2 in his debut against the Chicago White Sox, will make the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day roster. As the team's starting second baseman, Rose will win the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
- 1982 - Shortstop Travis Jackson and former baseball commissioner Happy Chandler are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Jackson played 15 years for the New York Giants, batting .291 for his career. Chandler served as baseball's leader for six years and oversaw the end of MLB color line in 1947, when Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- 1983 - The Special Veterans Committee announces the election of Walter Alston and George Kell to the Hall of Fame. Alston managed the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles to four World Series championships, while always working under one-year contracts. Kell, a standout third baseman primary for the Detroit Tigers, batted over .300 nine times, was a 10-time All-Star, and topped American League third basemen in fielding percentage seven times during a 15-season career.
- 1992 - The Pittsburgh Pirates trade pitcher Neal Heaton to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for veteran outfielder Kirk Gibson.
- 1993 - Sherry Davis becomes the first woman major league public address announcer when she is hired by the San Francisco Giants to work at Candlestick Park.
- 1995 - Michael Jordan announces that he is leaving the Chicago White Sox organization and will return to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. Jordan had struggled in his one season of minor league baseball.
- 2004 - When asked by Senator John McCain to renegotiate the MLB contract in regard to the use of controlled substances, Donald Fehr refuses to comply. Although the union boss condemns the use of steroids, he believes the players oppose random drug testing as a violation of privacy, an argument countered by the Arizona Republican as unacceptable and promised congressional action if the status quo.
- 2005 - Singling off pitcher Brad Thompson in a St. Louis Cardinals intersquad game, former pitching prospect Rick Ankiel goes 1-for-2 in his debut as a position player. Historic wildness and injuries ended the 25-year old once very promising career.
- 2006 - Four games were played today in the inaugural World Baseball Classic:
- Pool B
- At Scottsdale Stadium, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Roger Clemens led the United States in a 17 - 0 rout of South Africa to advance to the second round of the WBC. Griffey went 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBI in a game shortened to five innings because of the tournament's mercy rule. Clemens allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking none with 58 pitches, seven shy of the limit allowed in the first round. Derrek Lee drove in four runs with his second homer of the Classic and a double. The U.S. squad finished in a three-way tie with Mexico and Canada at 2-1, with Mexico finishing first and the Americans second based on the tiebreaker, which is runs allowed in games involving the three tied teams. The United States opens the second round against Japan on March 12 at Angel Stadium, and Mexico plays South Korea in the second game there.
- Pool C
- Shairon Martis pitched the first no-hitter in World Baseball Classic history, leading the Netherlands over Panama,10 - 0, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The was stopped after seven innings because of the tournament's mercy rule. Martis ended the game with his 65th pitch - the limit for starting pitchers in the first round - when Cesar Quintero hit into a double-play grounder. Martis walked one (Olmedo Saenz with two outs in the first inning) and struck out none. The only other runner he allowed was Adolfo Rivera, who reached on fielding error by third baseman Ivanon Coffie leading off the seventh. Martis, a right-hander who turns 19 on March 30, signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent in 2004. He was 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA in five starts and six relief appearances in 2005 with the Giants' Arizona Rookie League team.
- At Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico routed Cuba, 12 - 2, in a game that was strictly for pride, with both teams having secured spots in the second round. Bernie Williams, named the best player in Pool C, hit a two-run home run in the second inning, Carlos Beltran belted a towering three-run homer in the third, and Alex Cintrón added a two-runs shot in the fourth. Cuba walked eight hitters, allowed 10 hits and let the game wrap up early. The mercy rule went into effect and play was called after seven innings. It's just the second time Cuba has lost a game by the mercy rule. The other was against Taiwan in 1983.
- Pool D
- At Cracker Jack Stadium, rookie pitcher Francisco Liriano led the Dominican Republic to a 6-4 victory over Australia to finish undefeated in the first round. The Dominicans will open the second round against Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium and Cuba plays Venezuela in the other game there.
- Pool B
- 2008:
- In the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, Team Canada beats Taiwan in an exciting 10-inning game. Down 4-2 in the 6th, Taiwan rallies on a 3-run jack from Kuo-Hui Lo. Canada almost ties it in the 8th but Jimmy Van Ostrand is thrown out at home; when catcher Chun-Chang Yeh throws the ball at Van Ostrand, a scene develops and police intervention is required to continue the game. In the 9th, Canada is one out from elimination when Stubby Clapp dives into first to get an infield hit and Mike Saunders singles him in. Matt Rogelstad opens the 10th with a single and scores on a double by Van Ostrand to give Canada the 6-5 lead. Taiwan gets two on in the bottom of the 10th but fails to score.
- Mexico tops Australia, 7-4, hurting the Aussies' chances of repeating their 2004 Olympic success. This game also involved controversy when Mexican manager Jose Tolentino is ejected for arguing that Adam Blackley balked during a pick-off move in the 5th.
- South Korea remains unbeaten with a 14-5 win over Spain. Young-min Ko drives in four and Joo-chan Kim goes 4 for 4.
- Germany wins it second game, beating South Africa, 4-3. The Lutz brothers star as Sascha Lutz scores Germany's first run while recent Cincinnati Reds signee Donald Lutz scores one run and drives in the winner.
- 2009:
- Three years after one of the most famous games in Dutch national team history (the Shairon Martis no-hitter in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, the Netherlands strike again. They beat the All-Star-laden [[Dominican Republic for the second game in a row, eliminating the Dominicans from the tournament. Tom Stuifbergen, Alexander Smit, Rob Cordemans, Dennis Neuman, Diegomar Markwell and Leon Boyd combine for 10 scoreless innings but are matched by Ubaldo Jimenez, Pedro Martinez, Tony Pena, Rafael Perez and Damaso Marte. In the top of the 11th, a 2-out error by Dutch veteran Eugene Kingsale lets a run in. The club rallies against Carlos Marmol, with a leadoff PH double by Sidney de Jong, a RBI single by Kingsale, a throwing error on a Marmol pick-off attempt and a Willy Aybar error to win the game.
- In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Venezuela locks up a spot in round two by knocking off Italy 10-1. Endy Chávez and Miguel Cabrera each get three hits. It is a close affair until the 5th, when four Venezuelans go deep - Cabrera, Ramón Hernández, Bobby Abreu and José López.
- Cuba beats Australia 5-4, on a pinch-hit 2-run homer from Yosvani Peraza off of Rich Thompson, clinching a slot in round two.
[edit] Births
- 1852 - Charles Fisher, infielder (d. 1917)
- 1862 - Dad Lytle, infielder/outfielder (d. 1950)
- 1867 - Mike Shea, pitcher (d. 1927)
- 1868 - Ted Conovar, pitcher (d. 1910)
- 1868 - Lew Whistler, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1869 - Frank Bird, catcher (d. 1958)
- 1870 - Herb Goodall, pitcher (d. 1938)
- 1871 - John Kelty, outfielder (d. 1929)
- 1877 - John Godwin, infielder (d. 1956)
- 1877 - Jack Lundbom, pitcher (d. 1949)
- 1880 - Judge Nagle, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1882 - Ed Cermak, outfielder (d. 1911)
- 1883 - Glenn Liebhardt, pitcher (d. 1956)
- 1889 - Jack Mercer, pitcher (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Pete Fahrer, pitcher (d. 1967)
- 1892 - Emil Huhn, infielder (d. 1925)
- 1893 - Jim Curry, infielder (d. 1938)
- 1894 - Fred Johnson, pitcher (d. 1973)
- 1894 - Jack Wieneke, pitcher (d. 1933)
- 1895 - Jake Propst, pinch hitter (d. 1967)
- 1897 - Russ Ennis, catcher (d. 1949)
- 1898 - Frank Loftus, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1906 - Art Herring, pitcher (d. 1995)
- 1921 - James Atkins, pitcher (d. 2009)
- 1921 - Johnny Blatnik, outfielder (d. 2004)
- 1921 - George Elder, outfielder
- 1924 - John Perkovich, pitcher (d. 2000)
- 1925 - Lou Limmer, infielder (d. 2007)
- 1929 - Bud Thomas, infielder
- 1932 - Paul Martin, pitcher
- 1934 - Ken Mackenzie, pitcher
- 1939 - Bill Heath, catcher
- 1940 - Mitsuhiro Adachi, NPB pitcher
- 1942 - Tom Hilgendorf, pitcher
- 1944 - Johnny Briggs, outfielder
- 1944 - Joe Campbell, outfielder
- 1947 - Darcy Fast, pitcher
- 1948 - Wayne Twitchell, pitcher; All-Star
- 1950 - Greg Pavlick, coach
- 1957 - Yoshitaka Katori, NPB pitcher
- 1958 - Steve Howe, pitcher; All-Star
- 1961 - Mike Birkbeck, pitcher
- 1962 - Gerardo Sánchez, minor league outfielder and manager
- 1963 - John Cangelosi, outfielder
- 1965 - Bruce Dostal, minor league outfielder
- 1966 - Mike Timlin, pitcher
- 1967 - Alberto D'Auria, Olympic infielder
- 1971 - Bobby Hughes, catcher
- 1971 - Shad Williams, pitcher
- 1972 - Rob Stanifer, pitcher
- 1977 - Ben Davis, catcher
- 1977 - Tike Redman, outfielder
- 1977 - Mario Valenzuela, minor league outfielder
- 1980 - Justin Hancock, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Donnie Murphy, infielder
- 1983 - Dominic Ramos, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Steven Shell, pitcher
- 1984 - Aaron Bates, minor league infielder
- 1986 - Jonathan Holt, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Dayan Viciedo, minor league infielder
[edit] Deaths
- 1897 - Wes Blogg, catcher (b. 1855)
- 1911 - Guy McFadden, infielder (b. 1872)
- 1918 - Jim McCormick, pitcher, manager (b. 1856)
- 1920 - Charlie Briggs, outfielder (b. 1861)
- 1936 - Jack Holland, minor league player and manager (b. 1874)
- 1941 - Doc Hazleton, infielder (b. 1876)
- 1944 - Dan Howley, catcher, manager (b. 1885)
- 1947 - Tom Gatto, minor league pitcher (b. 1923)
- 1948 - Stub Brown, pitcher (b. 1870)
- 1954 - George Textor, catcher (b. 1888)
- 1955 - Rick Adams, pitcher (b. 1878)
- 1956 - Solly Hofman, outfielder (b. 1882)
- 1957 - Erskine Mayer, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1958 - Earl Williams, catcher (b. 1903)
- 1960 - Jim Holmes, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1964 - Warren Shanabrook, infielder (b. 1880)
- 1967 - Billy Orr, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1969 - Max Rosenfeld, outfielder (b. 1902)
- 1971 - Bill James, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1972 - George Cunningham, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1981 - Bob Elson, announcer (b. 1904)
- 1983 - Connie Desmond, announcer (b. ????)
- 1984 - Bill McGhee, infielder (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Bob Nieman, outfielder (b. 1927)
- 1994 - Jim Brenneman, pitcher (b. 1941)
- 1994 - Jim Honochick, umpire (b. 1917)
- 1998 - Ed Walczak, infielder (b. 1918)
- 2005 - Kent Hadley, infielder (b. 1934)
- 2007 - Art Lopatka, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 2007 - Bobby Sturgeon, infielder (b. 1919)
- 2007 - Bill van Buren, Negro League player (b. 1935)
- 2009 - Joe Pactwa (b. 1948)
- 2009 - David Hrdlicka, scout (b. 1951)
