March 18

Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 18.

[edit] Events

• 1886 - The New York State League admits clubs from Buffalo, Toronto and Hamilton. The inclusion of the Canadian teams causes the league to change its name to the International League.
• 1938 - In a trade of first basemen, the Washington Senators send slick-fielding Joe Kuhel to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for easy-going hitter Zeke Bonura.
• 1942 - Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training in Pasadena, California. Sox manager Jimmie Dykes allows the two to work out but later dismisses them. Robinson will have to wait five years before making his major league debut.
• 1943 - Due to wartime travel restrictions, spring training camps begin opening in northern locations. Some of the locales include Bear Mountain, New York (Brooklyn Dodgers), French Lick Springs, Indiana (Cubs and White Sox), Asbury Park, New Jersey (Yankees), Medford, Massachusetts (Boston Red Sox) and Wallingford, Connecticut (Boston Braves).
• 1953 - The Milwaukee Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903, when the Baltimore Orioles became the New York Highlanders. The Braves have been in Boston, MA for 77 years. In a related move, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers move to Toledo, Ohio, where they become the latest incarnation of the Toledo Mud Hens.
• 1957 - In what is believed to be the largest offer for a player to date, Cleveland Indians general manager Hank Greenberg reject a million-dollar offer for left-handed pitcher Herb Score from Boston Red Sox GM Joe Cronin. Greenberg refuses, saying that Cleveland is interested in building for the future, not in selling its premier ballplayers. Score won 20 games in 1956 and led the American League with 263 strikeouts. Unfortunately, six weeks later, Score will be struck in the eye by a batted ball by Gil McDougald and will win only 19 more games over the rest of his career.
• 1958 - In a move to change their image, the Los Angeles Dodgers announce that Emmett Kelly, their resident clown, will not perform this season.
• 1970 - The Cleveland Indians and Seattle Pilots play an exhibition game with the experimental X-5 ball, which is reported to be five per cent livelier than a regulation ball. The Pilots beat the Indians, 19 - 14. One week later, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders the livelier ball to be discontinued.
• 1974 - At Pompano Beach training camp, country singer Charley Pride plays for the Texas Rangers against pitcher Jim Palmer and the Baltimore Orioles. A former Negro League player, Pride grounds out and singles in two at-bats, as the Orioles coast, 14 - 2.
• 1981 - All-Star catcher Carlton Fisk leaves the Boston Red Sox to sign a free agent contract with the Chicago White Sox. The five-year pact will pay Fisk $2.9 million.
• 1984 - Charlie Lau, renowned batting instructor, dies in Key Colony Beach, FL, at age 50 after a long bout with cancer. Lau, whose major league career batting average was .255, earned his fame as the Kansas City Royals batting coach from 1971 to 1978, where his star pupil was George Brett. Lau also served as a batting coach for the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox and wrote a book called "The Art of Hitting .300".
• 1985 - Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Fame members Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by former commissioner Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos. Ueberroth's ruling will allow both men to pursue employment with major league teams.
• 1990 - Major league players and owners reach a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the 32-day lockout of spring training camps. Highlights of the deal include increasing the clubs' contributions to the players' pension fund, raising the major league minimum salary to $100,000, and a compromise on salary arbitration that leaves 17 percent of players with between two and three years of major league experience eligible.
• 1991 - California Angels pitcher Jim Abbott, born without a right hand, lashes a 400-foot triple in an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pitcher Rick Reuschel surrenders the three-bagger.
• 1994 - The Atlanta Braves release All-Star outfielder Ron Gant, who broke his leg in a motorcycle accident over the winter. Gant will sign as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds on June 21st.
• 2000 - After acquiring reliever Jesse Orosco from the Orioles in a December trade, the Mets send the veteran left-hander to the Cardinals in exchange for utility player Joe McEwing.
• 2006:
  • In the semifinals of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, Cuba advances to the finals with a 3 - 1 victory over the Dominican Republic at PETCO Park. Facing a batting order of major league sluggers that could rival the USA, starter Yadel Marti gives Cuba 4 1/3 shutout innings before turning to reliever Pedro Luis Lazo, who has helped pitch Cuba to two Olympic gold medals. Both pitchers combine to hold the Dominicans to a single run on eight hits. The only team without a major league player to make it to the final four, Cuba's amateurs have demonstrated throughout the tournament that the small Communist nation continues to produce some of the world's top baseball talent.
  • In the next game, Japan pounds South Korea when it matters most. Byung-Hyun Kim gives up another big home run, a two-run shot by pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome in the 7th inning that breaks a scoreless tie and sends Japan to a 6 - 0 victory. After falling short in their first two meetings, Japan gains a measure of revenge over their bitter Asian rivals and claims a place in the WBC final against Cuba on March 20th.
• 2008:
  • Pedro Luis Lazo works a complete game for a 6 - 1 victory, the 235th of his career in the Cuban leagues. This breaks the record, held for 13 years by Jorge L. Valdés. Valdés gives Lazo a hug after his win as over 8,000 fans cheer Lazo's accomplishment.
  • Alfredo Despaigne connects for his 58th extra-base hit of the 2007-2008 campaign, setting a new Cuban Serie Nacional record.
• 2009:
  • Cuba fails to make the finals of a major global baseball competition for the first time since the 1951 Amateur World Series and gets their first-ever finish outside the top four. Japan eliminates them, 5 - 0, in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Hisashi Iwakuma and Toshiya Sugiuchi combine on a 5-hit shutout. Norichika Aoki goes 4 for 5 with a run and 2 RBI to lead the Japanese offense. It is Japan's third straight World Baseball Classic win over Cuba.
  • Venezuela tops the USA, 10 - 6, in the other World Baseball Classic contest today. Miguel Cabrera gets 3 hits and Max Ramirez 3 RBI, while Mark DeRosa goes 3 for 5 with 3 RBI in a losing cause. Adam Dunn, playing out of position at first base, makes two errors.
  • Aaron Boone announces that he will need surgery on a heart valve, possibly ending his major league career. The problem is due to an aortic condition Boone had known about for over a decade.
  • The Chicago Cubs announce that they will retire number 31 on May 3rd in honor of Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux.
• 2010 - The Marlins and Mets announce that they will play a three-game series in San Juan, Puerto Rico June 28-30, marking Major League Baseball's return to Hiram Bithorn Stadium for the first time since the Montreal Expos used it as a part-time home in 2003 and 2004. The series was originally to be played in Miami, FL and is part of an effort by the Marlins to expand their Caribbean fan base.
• 2011:
  • The Mets release veteran 2B Luis Castillo. While Castillo is coming off a poor season in which he hit only .235 with no homers and 17 RBI, the move is surprising as he is owed over $6 million and there is no obvious candidate to replace him as the starter. On March 20th, the Phillies, worried over Chase Utley's persisting knee problems, will offer Castillo a minor league contract, but he will fail to make the team, ending his career.
  • Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki is giving 100 million yen, equivalent to $1.25 million, towards the relief effort for the earthquake and tsunami which devastated northeastern Japan a week ago.
• 2012 - The Nationals assign top prospect Bryce Harper to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs, where he will likely be the youngest player in the International League and will learn to play centerfield in anticipation of a call-up to Washington expected before the end of the summer. Indeed, the call-up will come on April 29th, and Harper will never look back, earning Rookie of the Year honors in the National League.
• 2013:
  • The Dominican Republic will face Puerto Rico in tomorrow's championship game in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, after it defeats the Netherlands, 4 - 1. The Dominicans score all their runs in the 5th against Diegomar Markwell as three members of the Blue Jays - OF Moises Sierra, 1B Edwin Encarnacion and SS Jose Reyes - drive in runs to erase an early 1 - 0 deficit. Edinson Volquez allows one run on two hits in five innings to pick up the win while Fernando Rodney records his 6th save of the tournament.
  • The Padres get some bad news as an exam reveals that their best player last season, 3B Chase Headley, broke his thumb while sliding into second base a day earlier. He will be out a month and will miss the start of the season.

[edit] Births

• 1854 - Oscar Walker, outfielder (d. 1889)
• 1861 - Mort Scanlan, infielder (d. 1928)
• 1863 - Bob Clark, catcher (d. 1919)
• 1870 - Chappie Snodgrass, outfielder (d. 1951)
• 1874 - Joe Bean, infielder (d. 1961)
• 1874 - Nixey Callahan, outfielder, manager (d. 1934)
• 1882 - Joseph Myers, pitcher (d. 1956)
• 1888 - Cecil Coombs, outfielder (d. 1975)
• 1888 - Eddie Higgins, pitcher (d. 1959)
• 1888 - Wiley Taylor, pitcher (d. 1954)
• 1890 - Tommy Mee, infielder (d. 1981)
• 1893 - Russ Wrightstone, infielder (d. 1969)
• 1901 - Johnny Cooney, outfielder, manager (d. 1986)
• 1902 - Squire Potter, pitcher (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Shigeo Mori, NPB manager, Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 1977)
• 1911 - Al Benton, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1968)
• 1912 - John Lyles, Negro League infielder (d. 1991)
• 1913 - Archie Allen, minor league outfielder, college coach (d. 2006)
• 1916 - Hi Bithorn, pitcher (d. 1951)
• 1916 - Elbie Fletcher, infielder; All-Star (d. 1994)
• 1916 - Eddie Lake, infielder (d. 1995)
• 1916 - Art Lilly, scout (d. 1993)
• 1917 - Ace Williams, pitcher (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Bob Broeg, writer (d. 2005)
• 1918 - Yasuya Hondo, NPB player and manager
• 1918 - Dick Mulligan, pitcher (d. 1992)
• 1919 - Mickey Rutner, infielder (d. 2007)
• 1919 - Hal White, pitcher (d. 2001)
• 1922 - Noboru Noguchi, NPB infielder
• 1924 - Garvin Hamner, infielder (d. 2003)
• 1925 - Fred Hatfield, infielder (d. 1998)
• 1926 - Dick Littlefield, pitcher (d. 1997)
• 1927 - George Plimpton, writer (d. 2003)
• 1928 - Chi-Chi Olivo, pitcher (d. 1977)
• 1932 - Lee Tate, infielder
• 1938 - Charley Pride, Negro League pitcher
• 1940 - Tony Martinez, infielder (d. 1991)
• 1941 - Pat Jarvis, pitcher
• 1946 - Van Kelly, infielder
• 1953 - Randy Miller, pitcher
• 1955 - Dwayne Murphy, outfielder
• 1956 - Brooks Carey, minor league pitcher
• 1957 - Rickey Keeton, pitcher
• 1957 - Al Olmsted, pitcher
• 1960 - Bill Richardson, minor league manager
• 1960 - Matt Winters, outfielder
• 1962 - Brian Fisher, pitcher
• 1963 - Alex Smith, minor league infielder
• 1963 - Joseph Xavier, minor league infielder
• 1965 - Geronimo Berroa, outfielder
• 1965 - Wayne Dotson, minor league pitcher
• 1967 - Ken Edenfield, pitcher
• 1976 - Corky Miller, catcher
• 1976 - Tomokazu Ohka, pitcher
• 1976 - Johanny Peña, Dominican national team pitcher
• 1976 - Scott Podsednik, outfielder; All-Star
• 1977 - Fernando Rodney, pitcher; All-Star
• 1977 - Terrmel Sledge, outfielder
• 1978 - Kasey Olenberger, minor league pitcher
• 1979 - Caonabo Cosme, minor league infielder
• 1979 - Casey Smith, minor league infielder
• 1981 - Darren Clarke, pitcher
• 1981 - Anthony Granato, minor league infielder
• 1981 - Tiago Magalhães, minor league outfielder
• 1982 - Chad Cordero, pitcher; All-Star
• 1982 - Carlos Guevara, pitcher
• 1983 - Andy Sonnanstine, pitcher
• 1983 - Craig Tatum, catcher
• 1984 - Moisés Hernández, minor league pitcher
• 1985 - Brett Murray, Division Elite player
• 1986 - Nils Hartkopf, Bundesliga pitcher-infielder
• 1987 - Ross Gusky, minor league pitcher
• 1988 - Ah-seop Son, KBO outfielder
• 1989 - David Freitas, minor league catcher
• 1989 - Randolph Oduber, minor league outfielder
• 1991 - Leury Garcia, infielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1892 - Phil Tomney, infielder (b. 1863)
• 1905 - Dick Higham, outfielder, manager (b. 1851)
• 1910 - Alan Storke, infielder (b. 1884)
• 1922 - Herbert Jackson, pitcher (b. 1883)
• 1938 - Hobe Ferris, infielder (b. 1874)
• 1938 - Milo Netzel, infielder (b. 1886)
• 1939 - Ralph Miller, infielder (b. 1896)
• 1944 - Frank Motz, infielder (b. 1868)
• 1948 - Fritz Von Kolnitz, infielder (b. 1893)
• 1949 - Rudy Sommers, pitcher (b. 1887)
• 1955 - Morrie Aderholt, outfielder (b. 1915)
• 1955 - Ty Helfrich, infielder (b. 1890)
• 1960 - Dixie Howell, pitcher (b. 1920)
• 1962 - Elmer Bliss, pitcher/outfielder (b. 1875)
• 1965 - Jack Quinlan, announcer (b. 1927)
• 1966 - Frank Bennett, pitcher (b. 1904)
• 1968 - Heinie Meine, pitcher (b. 1896)
• 1969 - Jack Bradley, catcher (b. 1893)
• 1970 - John Misse, infielder (b. 1885)
• 1970 - Frosty Thomas, pitcher (b. 1881)
• 1971 - Tony Welzer, pitcher (b. 1899)
• 1972 - Frank Bushey, pitcher (b. 1906)
• 1975 - Whitey Ock, catcher (b. 1912)
• 1976 - Paul Maloy, pitcher (b. 1892)
• 1979 - Percy Jones, pitcher (b. 1899)
• 1981 - Alfred Pinkston, minor league outfielder; Salon de la Fama (b. 1917)
• 1982 - Carlos Alberto Gonzalez, minor league umpire; Salon de la Fama (b. 1904)
• 1984 - Charlie Lau, catcher (b. 1933)
• 1986 - Bernard Malamud, author (b. 1914)
• 1993 - Buck Jordan, infielder (b. 1907)
• 2002 - Ray Knoblauch, minor league pitcher (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Gene Bearden, pitcher (b. 1920)
• 2006 - Betty Jane Cornett, AAGPBL infielder (b. 1932)
• 2011 - Charlie Metro, outfielder, manager (b. 1918)
• 2012 - Furman Bisher, author (b. 1918)
• 2012 - Bob McConnell, researcher (b. 1925)
• 2012 - Don Saner, minor league infielder (b. 1933)
• 2013 - Earl Hersh, infielder (b. 1932)