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March 30
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
| Permanent link to Today's Entry | |
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| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 30.
[edit] Events
- 1944 - Branch Rickey suggests the pooling of surplus players if major league 4F players are drafted for military service. Nothing comes of the suggestion.
- 1948 - Murry Dickson of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the first pitcher to throw a nine-inning no-hitter in spring training history. Prior to Dickson, two no-hitters had taken place in the spring, but both were shared by more than one pitcher.
- 1955 - The New York Yankees sell pitcher Ewell Blackwell to the Kansas City Athletics. Blackwell, who was injured in 1954, will pitch in only two games for the Athletics this season before retiring.
- 1966 - Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers end their dual holdout. Both pitchers had stayed away from camp for 32 days, threatening retirement in an effort to acquire pay raises. Koufax signs for $120,000; Drysdale settles for $105,000.
- 1972 - Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, completes his canvass of players on the strike issue. 663 vote in favor of a strike, ten vote against, and two players abstain.
- 1973 - Miguel Suárez becomes the first native Mexican to collect ten straight hits in Mexican League competition.
- 1978 - The Boston Red Sox acquire pitcher Dennis Eckersley and catcher Fred Kendall from the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Rick Wise and Mike Paxton, catcher Bo Diaz and infielder Ted Cox. Eckersley will win 20 games this year.
- 1979 - Major League Baseball umpires meet in Chicago, IL and vote 50-2 to reject new offers from the American and National leagues. They will be on strike when the season starts in a few days.
- 1988 - Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspends Cincinnati Reds outfielder Eddie Milner for the season. Milner, who tested positive for use of cocaine, will return to action later in the year, appearing in 23 games for the Reds.
- 1992 - The Chicago Cubs make one of their best trades ever, acquiring outfielder Sammy Sosa and pitcher Ken Patterson from the Chicago White Sox for outfielder George Bell. While Bell's career will last only two more seasons, Sosa will become an All-Star and capture national attention by hitting 66 home runs in 1998. Later with the Cubs, in 2003, Sosa will hit his 500th career home run.
- 1993 - Peanuts character Charlie Brown hits a game-winning home run - his first round tripper in 43 years. Almost ten percent of the nearly 18,000 Peanuts strips created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz focus on baseball.
- 2000
- At the Tokyo Dome, the New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs in 11 innings, 5 - 1, on Benny Agbayani's pinch-hit grand slam. Rey Ordóñez commits an error in the game, ending his major league record streak of 101 consecutive errorless games at shortstop. With a swipe of second base, Rickey Henderson joins Ted Williams as the only major league players to steal a base in four different decades.
- The Colorado Rockies sign American League stolen base champ Brian Hunter to a contract.
- 2001:
- Pitcher Dwight Gooden announces his retirement. A four-time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner, Gooden posted a 194-112 record with a 3.51 ERA and 2293 strikeouts over a 16-season career.
- The New York Mets' #3 prospect, Brian Cole, aged 22, is killed when the SUV he is driving home to Mississippi from spring training flips over. Cole, who stole 69 bases the previous year, was voted the organization's player of the year in 2000.
- 2006 - Jeff Kent of the Los Angeles Dodgers signs a contract extension for 2007 with an option for 2008, and Grady Sizemore signs a six-year, $23.45 million contract with the Cleveland Indians.
- 2008 - Nationals Park opens for action with the host Nationals beating the Braves, 3 - 2. Odalis Perez pitches a solid game and Jon Rauch gets the historic first win after blowing a save. Nick Johnson drives in a run with a double in his first at-bat in over 18 months. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Ryan Zimmerman hits a walk-off home run off Peter Moylan.
- 2010:
- Pat Venditte, the first ambidextrous pitcher in organized baseball since Greg Harris retired in 1995, gets to show his stuff in an exhibition game for the Yankees against the Braves. The 24-year-old ends the 5th inning by retiring Yunel Escobar on two pitches from the right side; he then moves from one arm to the other as he works his way through the Braves' batting order in the 6th. When switch-hitter Brooks Conrad steps to the plate, home plate umpire Mike Reilly reminds Venditte of rule 8.01 that states that he must commit to one arm, in order to avoid the fiasco of his professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees in 2008, when he and switch-hitter Ralph Henriquez Jr. changed sides repeatedly in a cat-and-mouse game. Venditte choses to face Conrad right-handed, and retires him on a ground ball to end his turn on the mound, Venditte will start the year with the Class-A Tampa Yankees, where he was 2-0, 2.21 in 21 games last year.
- Because of back spasms, heralded Cuban signee Aroldis Chapman will not start the year in the Cincinnati Reds' starting rotation. However, the 22-year-old impressed everyone in spring training with his velocity and command and is expected to make his major league debut sooner rather than later.
- Dontrelle Willis' comeback is on the right track, as he is advised by Tigers manager Jim Leyland that he has made the team as the fifth starter. The Tigers also trade P Nate Robertson to Florida for left-handed pitching prospect Jay Voss.
- The Cubs round out their roster by releasing veteran 1B Kevin Millar and sending OF Micah Hoffpauir and Sam Fuld and C Chris Robinson to the minor leagues. When the dust settles, Chad Tracy has secured a spot on the Cubbies' bench.
- 2011 - Two persons are selected by Major League Baseball from among 10,000 applicants to live the ultimate fan dream this season. 37-year-old Mike O'Hara, a New York Yankees fan from Los Angeles, CA, and 25-year-old ex-actor Ryan Wagner of Baltimore, MD will spend the season in the "MLB Fan Cave" watching every single one of the 2430 regular-season games and every postseason contest in a room equiped with multiple television screens at 4th and Broadway in New York City. They will blog about the experience for mlb.com and various social networking web sites and be featured on MLB TV. Their lair will be visible from the street through 14-foot windows, and they will be joined from time to time by visitors, including a large number of major league ballplayers, for parties, interviews and special events.
- 2012:
- On Opening Day in Nippon Pro Baseball, the pitching dominance of 2011 looks to be ready to repeat. Masanori Ishikawa tossed 8 1/3 hitless innings for the Yakult Swallows in a 4-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants; Hayato Sakamoto breaks up the no-no bid in the 9th. Meanwhile, Chunichi Dragons star Kazuki Yoshimi goes 7 perfect innings in a 4-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.
- The Braves sign veteran starter Livan Hernandez, a few hours after he was released by the Astros.
[edit] Births
- 1854 - Stanley Robison, manager (d. 1911)
- 1857 - Tom Burns, infielder, manager (d. 1902)
- 1858 - Dennis Casey, outfielder (d. 1909)
- 1860 - Frank Pearce, pitcher (d. 1926)
- 1864 - Frank Brill, pitcher (d. 1944)
- 1866 - George Van Haltren, outfielder, manager (d. 1945)
- 1874 - Ed Gremminger, infielder (d. 1942)
- 1878 - Nig Fuller, catcher (d. 1937)
- 1879 - Dutch Meier, outfielder (d. 1948)
- 1886 - Chief Johnson, pitcher (d. 1922)
- 1897 - Ed Sicking, infielder (d. 1978)
- 1899 - Hal Rhyne, infielder (d. 1971)
- 1904 - Ripper Collins, infielder; All-Star (d. 1970)
- 1908 - Toshiharu Inokawa, NPB catcher and manager (d. 1976)
- 1919 - Bud Sketchley, outfielder (d. 1979)
- 1920 - Irene Ruhnke, AAGPBL utility player (d. 1999)
- 1921 - Dick Fowler, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1926 - Dick Koecher, pitcher
- 1926 - George Kress, minor league outfielder (d. 2011)
- 1934 - Jorge Fitch, minor league infielder
- 1938 - Dave Baldwin, pitcher
- 1942 - Conrad Cardinal, pitcher
- 1945 - Dick Woodson, pitcher
- 1949 - Terry Cox, pitcher
- 1950 - Grady Little, manager
- 1950 - Steve McFarland, minor league manager
- 1953 - Mike Miley, infielder (d. 1977)
- 1956 - Jack Lazorko, pitcher
- 1964 - Steve Rousey, college coach
- 1965 - Juan Damborenea, Spanish national team pitcher
- 1966 - Terry Bross, pitcher
- 1969 - Chris Gardner, pitcher
- 1969 - Roman Rodriguez, minor league catcher
- 1972 - Jay Alexander, college coach
- 1972 - Juan Ballara, minor league catcher and manager
- 1972 - Wilson Heredia, pitcher
- 1972 - John Salamon, minor league pitcher (d. 2009)
- 1973 - Jason Dickson, pitcher; All-Star
- 1977 - Kevin Eberwein, minor league infielder
- 1977 - Jeriome Robertson, pitcher (d. 2010)
- 1977 - Chris Rojas, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Josh Bard, catcher
- 1979 - Mike Johnston, pitcher
- 1980 - Caleb Brock, minor league catcher
- 1981 - Takahito Kudoh, NPB outfielder
- 1982 - Leslie Anderson, minor league infielder
- 1982 - Bret Underwood, college coach
- 1983 - Davis Romero, pitcher
- 1984 - Patrick Carlson, French national team pitcher
- 1984 - Carlos Martinez, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Skyler Stromsmoe, minor league infielder
- 1985 - Carlos Arrieche, minor league infielder
- 1985 - Dan Runzler, pitcher
- 1986 - Barry Enright, pitcher
- 1986 - Nariaki Kawasaki, Japanese national team outfielder
- 1987 - Mike Broadway, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Sue Douthwright, Womens Baseball World Cup infielder
- 1987 - Shairon Martis, pitcher
- 1989 - Chris Sale, pitcher; All-Star
- 1992 - Daniel Devonshire, minor league designated hitter
- 1993 - Brennan Nijhof, Hoofdklasse player
[edit] Deaths
- 1888 - Frank Bahret, outfielder (b. 1858)
- 1895 - Henry Easterday, infielder (b. 1864)
- 1908 - Charlie Sweasy, infielder, manager (b. 1847)
- 1921 - Frank Bancroft, manager (b. 1846)
- 1929 - Phil Redding, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1936 - John Kull, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1938 - Dasher Troy, infielder (b. 1856)
- 1940 - Roy Crabb, pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1940 - George McQuillan, pitcher (b. 1885)
- 1943 - Tex McDonald, outfielder (b. 1891)
- 1948 - Charlie Krause, infielder (b. 1873)
- 1949 - Bill Bernhard, pitcher (b. 1871)
- 1952 - John Gallagher, infielder (b. 1892)
- 1952 - Deacon Phillippe, pitcher (b. 1872)
- 1953 - Alva Bradley, owner (b. 1884)
- 1953 - Mickey Shader, scout (b. 1891)
- 1960 - Joe Connolly, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1962 - Charlie French, infielder (b. 1883)
- 1962 - Mutt Williams, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1967 - Ivan Howard, infielder (b. 1882)
- 1968 - Bernie Hungling, catcher (b. 1896)
- 1972 - Davy Jones, outfielder (b. 1880)
- 1974 - Goose Curry, Negro League outfielder and manager (b. 1905)
- 1977 - Barney Olsen, outfielder (b. 1919)
- 1978 - Billy Cox, infielder (b. 1919)
- 1983 - Joe Cicero, outfielder (b. 1910)
- 1983 - Ike Danning, catcher (b. 1905)
- 1983 - Jack Roche, catcher (b. 1890)
- 1986 - Ryuji Suzuki, NPB executive; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1896)
- 1988 - Jesús Díaz, minor league outfielder (b. 1925)
- 1991 - Sid Schacht, pitcher (b. 1918)
- 1997 - Bill Smith, pitcher (b. 1934)
- 1999 - Fermín Laffita, Cuban league outfielder (b. 1946)
- 2009 - Herman Franks, catcher, manager (b. 1914)
- 2012 - Janet Perkin, AAGPBL player (b. 1921)
- 2013 - Bob Turley, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1930)
