March 12
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
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.
- 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 - Four games were played today in the opener of Round Two in the inaugural World Baseball Classic:
- Pool One:
- At Angel Stadium, Alex Rodriguez hit a bases-loaded, two-out single in the ninth inning, to give the United States a victory over Japan, 4 - 3, but the victory was shrouded in controversy when an umpire's ruling denied the losers a crucial run. Japan looked to have broken open a 3 - 3 tie at the top of the eighth when Tsuyoshi Nishioka came home on Akinori Iwamura's sacrifice fly off U.S. reliever Joe Nathan with the bases loaded. Second base umpire Brian Knight ruled the run good but U.S. manager Buck Martinez raced from the dugout to appeal to home plate umpire Bob Davidson. Davidson overruled Knight and called Nishioka out for leaving third base early, a decision that brought Japan manager Sadaharu Oh and a translator out of the dugout to argue the call. It didn't appear Nishioka left before Winn made the catch on the television replay. It was a crushing defeat for Japan who had led 3 - 0 after two innings and never trailed until Rodriguez's game-winning hit. Ichiro Suzuki put the U.S. in an early hole with a lead off home run off Jake Peavy to open the game. Japan added two more runs in the second. Chipper Jones answered back for the Americans with a towering home run but the U.S. could not get level until the sixth when Derrek Lee crushed a two-run shot. In the second game, Jae Weong Seo pitched 5 1/3 strong innings, Seung Yeop Lee hit a two-run home run, and South Korea beat Mexico, 2 - 1, for its fourth straight victory in the Classic.
- Pool Two:
- At Hiram Bithorn Stadium, 10-time Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel missed a double play opportunity and gave up an additional out on a fielder's choice, and Cuba capitalized with a five-run sixth inning in a 7 - 2 victory over Venezuela. Frederich Cepeda hit a three-run home run and Ariel Pestano followed with a solo shot as the underdog Cubans broke out after Johan Santana departed. Santana, the unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner in 2004, struck out five in five innings and gave up two hits and one earned run. Starter Yadel Marti and reliever Pedro Luis Lazo provided a solid pitching outing, and silencing the powerful Venezuelan lineup. A two-run homer by light-hitting outfielder Endy Chavez provided the only runs for the losers. In the second game, Jose Cruz, Jr. went 3-for-5 with three RBI and four Puerto Rico pitchers combined to shut down the Dominican Republic in a 7-1 victory. Javier Vazquez, Jose Santiago, Kiko Calero and J.C. Romero combined to limit the Dominicans to one run and six hits. Bartolo Colón matched Vazquez in the early going, allowing one run and four hits in five innings, but Puerto Rico roughed up reliever Damaso Marte in the sixth. Vazquez allowed a solo home run to Adrian Beltre (his fourth of the Classic) for the only Dominican run.
- Pool One:
- 2008:
- In a 15-3 rout by Pinar del Rio, Pedro Luis Lazo won his 234rd game in the Cuban leagues. This tied 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 4-hit, 0-walk shutout.
- Canada also is just one win away from clinching an Olympic berth, as they shut out Spain, 11-0. Aaron Wideman and Alexandre Periard team on the shutout while a balanced offense carries the day.
- 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. Mexico is eliminated from Olympic contention thanks to the wins by Taiwan and Canada.
[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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 1947 - Bill Butler, pitcher
- 1947 - Greg Garrett, pitcher (d. 2003)
- 1948 - Bob Watkins, pitcher
- 1952 - Greg Biagini, coach (d. 2003)
- 1954 - Larry Rothschild, pitcher, manager
- 1955 - Ruppert Jones, outfielder; All-Star
- 1956 - Dale Murphy, outfielder; All-Star
- 1956 - Cheol-Sun Bak, minor league pitcher
- 1957 - Mike Quade, coach
- 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 - Lino Connell, minor league infielder
- 1973 - David Lee, pitcher
- 1974 - Craig Dingman, pitcher
- 1974 - Koichi Isobe, NPB outfielder
- 1975 - Kevin Pickford, pitcher
- 1976 - Bryan Hebson, pitcher
- 1979 - Felix Escalona, infielder
- 1979 - Dave Williams, pitcher
- 1981 - Carlos Muniz, pitcher
- 1982 - Zach Miner, pitcher
- 1984 - Eulogio De La Cruz, pitcher
- 1985 - Anderson Gomes, minor league outfielder
- 1988 - Nicklas Melin, Hoofdklasse pitcher
- 1989 - Kim McMillan, Women's Baseball World Cup 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)
- 2006 - William Metzig, infielder (b. 1918)
- 2007 - Norm Larker, infielder; All-Star (b. 1930)
