March 12

Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 12.

[edit] Events

• 1921 - Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspends eight members of the Chicago White Sox for their alleged involvement in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. The group includes outfielder Joe Jackson, who batted .375 in the Series. Others banned are Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Lefty Williams. None of them will ever play in organized baseball again.
• 1934 - St. Louis Cardinals rookie pitcher Paul Dean ends his holdout. Dean will win 19 games for the Cardinals in his first major league season.
• 1946 - Negro Leagues pitching star Smokey Joe Williams dies in New York City at the age of 69. According to some sources, Williams won 41 games in 1914. Williams will win election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
• 1951 - Commissioner Happy Chandler loses his bid to remain in office. Chandler is voted down, 9-7, in a tally of owners. Chandler, who started his term as commissioner in 1945, will be succeeded by Ford Frick.
• 1973 - Hall of Fame member Frankie Frisch dies in Wilmington, Delaware, at the age of 74. Frisch batted .316 over a 19-year career. As player-manager for the St. Louis Cardinals, he led the team to the 1934 World Championship.
• 1980 - Slugging outfielder Chuck Klein and former Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Klein batted .320 over a 17-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Yawkey becomes the first Hall of Fame owner who never served as a player, manager, or general manager during his career.
• 2006:
  • In the World Baseball Classic, Alex Rodriguez hits a bases-loaded, two-out single in the 9th inning, to give the United States a victory over Japan, 4 - 3, but the victory is shrouded in controversy when an umpire's ruling denies the losers a crucial run. Japan looks to have broken open a 3 - 3 tie at the top of the 8th when Tsuyoshi Nishioka comes home on Akinori Iwamura's sacrifice fly off reliever Joe Nathan with the bases loaded. Second base umpire Brian Knight rules the run good, but U.S. manager Buck Martinez races from the dugout to appeal to home plate umpire Bob Davidson. Davidson overrules Knight and calls Nishioka out for leaving third base early, a decision that brings Japan manager Sadaharu Oh and a translator out of the dugout to argue the call. Television replays do not show that Nishioka left before outfielder Randy Winn made the catch. It is a crushing defeat for Japan, which led 3 - 0 after two innings and never trailed until Rodriguez's game-winning hit. Ichiro Suzuki puts the U.S. in an early hole with a lead-off home run off Jake Peavy to open the game. Japan adds two more runs in the 2nd. Chipper Jones answers back for the Americans with a towering home run but the U.S. cannot get level until the 6th when Derrek Lee crushes a two-run shot. In the second game, Jae Weong Seo pitches 5 1/3 strong innings, Seung Yeop Lee hits a two-run home run, and South Korea beats Mexico, 2 - 1, for its fourth straight victory in the Classic.
  • At Hiram Bithorn Stadium, 10-time Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel misses a double play opportunity and gives up an additional out on a fielder's choice, and Cuba capitalizes with a five-run 6th inning in a 7 - 2 victory over Venezuela. Frederich Cepeda hits a three-run home run and Ariel Pestano follows with a solo shot as the underdog Cubans break out after Johan Santana departs. Santana, the unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner in 2004, strikes out five in five innings and gives up two hits and one earned run. Starter Yadel Marti and reliever Pedro Luis Lazo provide a solid pitching outing, and silence the powerful Venezuelan lineup. A two-run homer by light-hitting outfielder Endy Chavez provides the only runs for the losers. In the second game, Jose Cruz, Jr. goes 3 for 5 with three RBI and four Puerto Rico pitchers combine to shut down the Dominican Republic in a 7 - 1 victory. Javier Vazquez, Jose Santiago, Kiko Calero and J.C. Romero combine to limit the Dominicans to one run and six hits. Bartolo Colón matches Vazquez in the early going, allowing one run and four hits in five innings, but Puerto Rico roughs up reliever Damaso Marte in the 6th. Vazquez allows a solo home run to Adrian Beltre - his fourth of the Classic - for the only Dominican run.
• 2008:
  • In a 15 - 3 rout by Pinar del Rio, Pedro Luis Lazo wins his 234th game in the Cuban leagues. This ties the all-time record held by Jorge Luis Valdés.
  • The South Korean national team clinches a spot in the 2008 Olympics by improving to 5-0 in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. Min-han Son throws six fine innings in a 12 - 1 win over Germany while Seung-yeop Lee drives in three runs to give him 12 RBI in the tournament so far.
  • Taiwan comes close to clinching by beating Australia, 5 - 0, as Australia is almost eliminated. Chien-Fu Yang throws a dazzling four-hit, no walk shutout.
  • In the other games played in the tournament, Canada shuts out Spain, 11 - 0 as Aaron Wideman and Alexandre Periard team on the shutout while a balanced offense carries the day, and Mexico wins 5 - 0 over South Africa behind the pitching of Francisco Campos. Campos strikes out 18 and allows just two hits in eight shutout innings. However, Mexico is eliminated from Olympic contention because of the wins by Taiwan and Canada.
• 2009 - Cuba tosses aside Mexico, 16 - 4, in the World Baseball Classic. It is the 4th straight Mexican game in which one team scores at least 14 runs. Yulieski Gourriel drives in 4 and Frederich Cepeda and Michel Enríquez each drive in three, while Yoennis Céspedes scores three. Francisco Campos takes the loss one year after his star turn in the 2008 Olympic qualifier.
• 2011 - The pitching hand of Diamondbacks left-hander Zach Duke is struck by a line drive off the bat of the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon. X-rays taken the next day will reveal two broken bones, putting Duke on the shelf until mid-May.
• 2012 - New Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is already in mid-season form. He gets ejected in the 6th inning of an otherwise placid Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox for arguing a foul ball call with umpire Tim Timmons. As Ozzie explains afterwards: "I don't mind getting ejected, man. That's my job. If I get ejected protecting my players, I can sleep at night."
• 2013:
  • With both teams having already locked up spots in the final round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Japan beats the Netherlands, 10 - 6, thanks to an eight-run 2nd inning. Shinnosuke Abe homers twice in the 2nd, taking both David Bergman and Jonatan Isenia deep. Hisayoshi Chono adds five RBI, and Hideaki Wakui escapes a jam in the 8th, striking out Randolph Oduber with two on, two out and a two-run lead.
  • In the second-round games of the 2013 World Baseball Classic played at Marlins Park, Team USA defeats Puerto Rico, 7 - 1, as Gio Gonzalez pitches five innings and David Wright drives in 5 runs. In the other game, underdog Italy gives the Dominican Republic a scare when it takes a 4 - 0 lead in the 1st inning as Edinson Volquez walks the first three batters he faces and gives up a three-run homer to Chris Colabello. The Dominicans finally take the lead with a three-run burst in the 7th, to win the game, 5 - 4.

[edit] Births

• 1844 - Abraham Mills, executive (d. 1929)
• 1857 - Marshall Locke, outfielder (d. 1940)
• 1860 - Walt Walker, catcher (d. 1922)
• 1862 - Bill Kienzle, outfielder (d. 1910)
• 1865 - Phil Knell, pitcher (d. 1944)
• 1865 - George Moolic, catcher (d. 1915)
• 1866 - Denny Lyons, infielder (d. 1929)
• 1870 - Billy Hulen, infielder (d. 1947)
• 1874 - Doc Curley, infielder (d. 1920)
• 1874 - Charles Weeghman, owner (d. 1938)
• 1880 - Frank Schneiberg, pitcher (d. 1948)
• 1880 - Babe Towne, catcher (d. 1938)
• 1882 - Johnny Beall, outfielder (d. 1926)
• 1884 - Pat Hynes, outfielder (d. 1907)
• 1884 - George McAvoy, pinch hitter (d. 1952)
• 1885 - Dode Criss, pitcher (d. 1955)
• 1885 - Charlie Johnson, outfielder (d. 1940)
• 1886 - Medric Boucher, catcher (d. 1974)
• 1887 - Walt Doane, pitcher (d. 1935)
• 1887 - Wally Mattick, outfielder (d. 1968)
• 1889 - Reb Russell, pitcher (d. 1973)
• 1891 - Jack Little, outfielder (d. 1961)
• 1892 - Bill James, pitcher (d. 1971)
• 1892 - George Maisel, outfielder (d. 1968)
• 1893 - Joe Engel, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1893 - Alex Gaston, catcher (d. 1979)
• 1906 - Rusty Saunders, outfielder (d. 1967)
• 1906 - Bud Tinning, pitcher (d. 1961)
• 1907 - Leroy Matlock, 7Negro League pitcher (d. 1968)
• 1908 - Bob Barr, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1908 - Harlin Pool, outfielder (d. 1963)
• 1913 - Jack Farmer, minor league pitcher and manager (d. 1950)
• 1914 - Otto Huber, infielder (d. 1989)
• 1916 - Rene Monteagudo, pitcher (d. 1973)
• 1917 - Muneyoshi Okada, NPB infielder (d. 1942)
• 1920 - Edgar Hartness, minor league infielder and manager
• 1929 - Jim Bragan, coach (d. 2001)
• 1930 - Vern Law, pitcher; All-Star
• 1931 - Chuck Oertel, outfielder (d. 2000)
• 1936 - Ray Barker, infielder
• 1938 - Durwood Merrill, umpire (d. 2003)
• 1939 - Johnny Callison, outfielder; All-Star (d. 2006)
• 1942 - Jimmy Wynn, outfielder; All-Star
• 1944 - Joe Moock, infielder
• 1945 - Don O'Riley, pitcher (d. 1997)
• 1945 - Horacio Pina, pitcher
• 1946 - Len Boyer, minor league outfielder
• 1947 - Bill Butler, pitcher
• 1947 - Greg Garrett, pitcher (d. 2003)
• 1948 - Bob Watkins, pitcher
• 1950 - Gilbert Hodges, minor league infielder
• 1952 - Greg Biagini, coach (d. 2003)
• 1954 - Larry Rothschild, pitcher, manager
• 1955 - Ruppert Jones, outfielder; All-Star
• 1956 - Cheol-Sun Bak, minor league pitcher
• 1956 - Dale Murphy, outfielder; All-Star
• 1957 - Mike Quade, coach
• 1957 - Jinsheng Zhang, Chinese national team coach
• 1960 - Roberto Espinoza, minor league pitcher
• 1962 - Darryl Strawberry, outfielder; All-Star
• 1964 - Bill Hawley, minor league pitcher
• 1965 - Mike Curtis, minor league pitcher
• 1965 - Steve Finley, outfielder; All-Star
• 1965 - Shawn Gilbert, infielder
• 1966 - Mike Ignasiak, pitcher
• 1971 - Greg Hansell, pitcher
• 1971 - Raul Mondesi, outfielder; All-Star
• 1972 - George Arias, infielder
• 1972 - Ray Choi, minor league outfielder
• 1972 - Lino Connell, minor league infielder
• 1973 - David Lee, pitcher
• 1974 - Craig Dingman, pitcher
• 1974 - Koichi Isobe, NPB outfielder
• 1974 - Sergio Mena, Nicaraguan national team catcher
• 1975 - Kan-Lin Huang, CPBL outfielder
• 1975 - Kevin Pickford, pitcher
• 1976 - Bryan Hebson, pitcher
• 1979 - Felix Escalona, infielder
• 1979 - Hei-chun Lee, NPB pitcher
• 1979 - Dave Williams, pitcher
• 1981 - Josip Brozinic, Croatian national team infielder
• 1981 - Carlos Muniz, pitcher
• 1981 - Edilse Silva, Cuban league outfielder
• 1982 - Brook Coatsworth, Great Britain national team pitcher
• 1982 - Hayato Doue, NPB catcher
• 1982 - Zach Miner, pitcher
• 1982 - Mike Spidale, minor league outfielder
• 1984 - Jose Arredondo, pitcher
• 1984 - Eulogio De La Cruz, pitcher
• 1985 - Anderson Gomes, minor league outfielder
• 1985 - P.J. Walters, pitcher
• 1988 - Nicklas Melin, Hoofdklasse pitcher
• 1988 - Ethan Paquette, minor league infielder
• 1989 - Kim McMillan, Women's Baseball World Cup infielder
• 1990 - Ji-hwan Oh, KBO infielder
• 1990 - Marlon Sucre, minor league outfielder
• 1991 - Jorge Bishop, minor league infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1907 - Pat Hynes, outfielder (b. 1884)
• 1908 - Fred Ketchum, outfielder (b. 1875)
• 1911 - Simon Nicholls, infielder (b. 1882)
• 1930 - Jack Powell, pitcher (b. 1891)
• 1942 - Owen Conway, infielder (b. 1890)
• 1945 - Sam Mertes, outfielder (b. 1872)
• 1954 - Bob Quinn, executive (b. 1870)
• 1957 - Dick Niehaus, pitcher (b. 1892)
• 1962 - Fred Beck, infielder (b. 1886)
• 1972 - Dutch Levsen, pitcher (b. 1898)
• 1973 - Jesse Altenburg, outfielder (b. 1893)
• 1973 - Frankie Frisch, infielder, manager; All-Star, Hall of Famer (b. 1898)
• 1974 - Medric Boucher, catcher (b. 1886)
• 1975 - Dick Lanahan, pitcher (b. 1911)
• 1976 - Shunichi Amachi, NPB manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1903)
• 1978 - Ferrell Anderson, catcher (b. 1918)
• 1978 - Alex McCarthy, infielder (b. 1889)
• 1978 - Gene Moore, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1909)
• 1982 - Bill Andrus, infielder (b. 1907)
• 1983 - Bob Hall, pitcher (b. 1923)
• 1986 - Fred Hancock, infielder (b. 1920)
• 1994 - Gordy Coleman, infielder (b. 1934)
• 2001 - Bill Reeder, pitcher (b. 1922)
• 2002 - Steve Gromek, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1920)
• 2005 - Vincent Plumbo, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1923)
• 2006 - William Metzig, infielder (b. 1918)
• 2007 - Norm Larker, infielder; All-Star (b. 1930)
• 2009 - Ken Anderson, minor league player (b. 1940)
• 2011 - Tom Capezzuto, writer (b. 1953)
• 2011 - Mitchell Page, outfielder (b. 1959)
• 2013 - John Whited, college coach (b. 1938)