November 20

Events, births and deaths that occurred on November 20.

[edit] Events

• 1884 - The National League agrees to allow overhand pitching, but rules that pitchers must keep both feet on the ground throughout their pitching motion in order to reduce the velocity of their pitches. They still must throw the ball at the height requested by the batter. In addition, teams are now required to supply a separate bench for each club at their park to limit inter-team fraternization.
• 1888 - The Joint Rules Committee reduces the number of balls for a walk from five to four, establishing the four balls/three strikes count that remains in effect to this day. It also eliminates an out on a foul tip if the catcher catches it within 10 feet of home plate.
• 1934:
  • 17-year-old pitcher Eiji Sawamura gives up one hit, a home run to Lou Gehrig, as the touring major league All-Stars win in Japan, 1 - 0. At one point, Sawamura strikes out four future Hall of Famers in a row: Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Gehrig. Also visiting Japan as part of the big league All-Stars, catcher Moe Berg shoots movie film showing the roofs of Tokyo. The film will allegedly be used as a guide by United States bombers during World War II.
  • The St. Louis Browns trade Bruce Campbell to the Cleveland Indians for Johnny Burnett, pitcher Bob Weiland, and cash considerations.
• 1950 - Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Roy Hamey resigns and is replaced by Branch Rickey.
• 1952:
  • Chicago Cubs slugger Hank Sauer is named National League Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The Cubs finished in fifth place despite Sauer's 37 home runs and 121 RBI.
  • Commissioner Ford Frick states his belief that the Pacific Coast League will eventually reach major league status.
• 1956 - The St. Louis Cardinals trade outfielder Rip Repulski and shortstop Bobby Morgan to the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Del Ennis.
• 1957:
  • Shigeo Nagashima, a slugging star at Rikkyo University, signs with the Yomiuri Giants for a record bonus of $69,000. He will go on to have one of the great careers in Nippon Pro Baseball.
  • The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics execute a 13-player trade. Among the players involved are second baseman Billy Martin, outfielder Gus Zernial and pitcher Mickey McDermott, who are headed to Detroit. The Athletics acquire pitcher Duke Maas, catcher Henry House, and outfielders Bill Tuttle and Jim Small
• 1958 - The Detroit Tigers trade infielder Billy Martin and starter Al Cicotte to the Cleveland Indians for relievers Ray Narleski and Don Mossi and shortstop Ossie Alvarez.
• 1962:
  • New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle collects his third American League MVP Award. Mantle, who hit .321 with 30 home runs, also led the AL in walks (122) and slugging percentage (.605), while helping the Yankees to a berth in the World Series against the San Francisco Giants.
  • Sale of the Cleveland Indians is completed as Bill Daley and Gabe Paul take control.
• 1967 - New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver, who posted a 16-12 record with 170 strikeouts and 2.76 ERA, is named National League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA.
• 1969 - San Francisco Giants first baseman Willie McCovey edges New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver as National League Most Valuable Player. McCovey hit .320 and led the league in home runs (45) and RBI (126), while Seaver posted a 2.21 ERA with 208 strikeouts and a league-leading 25 wins.
  • Joe Schultz is fired as manager of the Seattle Pilots.
  • In a trade of outfielders , the Cleveland Indians send Jose Cardenal to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Vada Pinson.
• 1971 - The Sporting News announces Gold Glove Award winners. Among newcomers are outfielders Amos Otis in the American League and Bobby Bonds in the National League.
• 1974 - Texas Rangers right fielder Jeff Burroughs, who batted .301 with 25 home runs and a league-leading 118 RBI, wins the American League MVP Award. Oakland teammates Joe Rudi, Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson are the runner-ups.
• 1975 - The San Francisco Giants fire manager Wes Westrum, coaxing Bill Rigney out of retirement to replace him.
• 1979 - The Atlanta Braves sign relief pitcher Al Hrabosky, a reentry free agent formerly with the Kansas City Royals, to a five-year pact worth $2.2 million.
• 1984:
  • Four days after his 20th birthday, New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden becomes the youngest player ever to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Gooden posted a 17-9 record with a 2.60 ERA and a major league-leading 276 strikeouts. Bryce Harper will be even younger when he wins the award in 2012.
  • Seattle Mariners first baseman Alvin Davis, who hit .284 with 27 home runs and 116 RBI, wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Teammate pitcher Mark Langston and Minnesota Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett are the runner-ups.
• 1985:
  • New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly, who hit .324 with 35 home runs and 145 RBI, easily wins the American League Most Valuable Player Award over Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett (.335, 30, 103).
  • The Pittsburgh Pirates name Jim Leyland their manager, replacing Chuck Tanner. Leyland will lead the Pirates to the playoffs in 1990 and 1991.
• 1987 - Don Zimmer is hired by long-time friend Jim Frey to manage the Chicago Cubs. Zimmer will compile a 265-258 record during his three-plus-year tenure with the Cubs, including a division title in 1989.
• 1989 - Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Robin Yount edges Ruben Sierra of the Rangers to win his second American League MVP Award. Yount, who won the award as a shortstop in 1982, becomes only the third player to win MVP awards at two different positions, joining Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial.
• 1990:
  • Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson edges Cecil Fielder of the Tigers for the American League MVP Award. Henderson hit .325 with 28 home runs and a major league-best 65 stolen bases.
  • Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens is suspended for the first five games of next season and is fined $10,000 due to his unruly behavior toward the umpires in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.
• 1995 - The New York Yankees trade minor league pitcher Mike DeJean and a player to be named to the Colorado Rockies for catcher Joe Girardi. Girardi will solidify the catching for New York, while DeJean will set a major league mark for most appearances without a loss. DeJean will post a 7-0 record through 1998, while making 88 appearances, breaking a little-known mark set by Phil Paine from 1951 to 1958.
• 1997:
  • Free agent first baseman Andres Galarraga signs a three-year $24.8 million contract with the Atlanta Braves, ending a five-year stint with the Colorado Rockies that helped put Colorado on the baseball map. Galarraga batted .316 with 172 home runs and 579 RBI with the Rockies, including a National League batting crown in 1993, consecutive RBI titles in 1996 and 1997, and a home run title in 1997.
  • Jeff Conine, another player who exploded after expansion in 1992, is dealt to the Kansas City Royals by the cost-cutting Florida Marlins.
• 1998 - The New York Mets send catcher Jorge Fabregas to the Florida Marlins in exchange for relief pitcher Oscar Henriquez.
• 2000 - Free agent infielder Jose Vizcaino is signed by the Houston Astros.
• 2001 - Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki becomes only the second player in major league history to win the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. Suzuki joins Boston Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn, who achieved this double distinction in 1975.
• 2007:
  • Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins wins the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player Award. Rollins is the first major league player with at least 200 hits, 30 homers, 15 triples and 25 stolen bases in a season and also won the Gold Glove Award. Rollins is the second straight Philadelphia Phillies player to be named MVP, following Ryan Howard in 2006. Rollins edges Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies in the closest vote in 16 years.
  • Nippon Pro Baseball announces the MVPs for 2007. Yu Darvish, a 21-year-old pitcher for the Nippon Ham Fighters, wins the honors in the Pacific League. Only Eiji Sawamura (in 1937) and Kazuhisa Inao (in 1957) had been named MVP at a younger age. Michihiro Ogasawara, the 2006 Pacific League MVP, wins in his first year in the Central League after batting .313/.363/.539 with 31 homers for the Yomiuri Giants.
• 2010 - The Los Angeles Dodgers announce the signing of two amateur players from Japan, high school P Kazuya Takano and college P Kazuki Nishijima. The Dodgers have been pioneers in signing Japanese players, starting with Hideo Nomo in 1995, and recently re-signed P Hiroki Kuroda.
• 2011:
  • The Softbank Hawks win Game 7 of the 2011 Japan Series. Toshiya Sugiuchi blanks the Chunichi Dragons on 3 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings. Relievers Brian Falkenborg, Masahiko Morifuku and Tadashi Settsu work the last two innings of a 3 - 0 shutout. Chunichi had the worst average (.155), fewest hits (34), fewest total bases (48) and fewest runs (9) in a 7-game Japan Series, while their catcher Motonobu Tanishige set a record for futility by going 0 for 23. Tanishige was 0 for 40 overall in the postseason. Hiroki Kokubo, at age 40, becomes the oldest Japan Series MVP, succeeding his manager Koji Akiyama, who was 37 when he won in 1999.
  • The Phillies acquire utility player Ty Wigginton from the Rockies for future considerations. The move gives Philly some insurance with 1B Ryan Howard recovering from a torn achilles tendon and 3B Placido Polanco also facing off-season surgery.
• 2012:
  • Yusuke Nomura is named [[2012 Central League Rookie of the Year Award|2012 Central League Rookie of the Year after a 9-11, 1.98 season for the woeful Hiroshima Carp; he finished tied for second in the Central League in ERA. The 2012 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award goes to reliever Naoya Masuda of the Chiba Lotte Marines, who had 41 holds and a 1.67 ERA in 72 games. Masuda edges out Shota Takeda, 116 points to 80, while Nomura is a clear-cut pick in the CL.
  • The Blue Jays bring back John Gibbons for a second stint as the club's manager, a position he had last occupied in 2008.
  • The Mariners part ways with Chone Figgins with one year remaining on his four-year contract, swallowing a hit of $8 million. The third baseman had been a major disappointment since signing as a free agent before the 2010 season, hitting only .227 in 304 games with Seattle over three years. The Mariners also trade OF Trayvon Robinson to Baltimore for IF Robert Andino.
  • The Yankees re-sign P Hiroki Kuroda for one year for $15 million, giving him a big raise after he won 16 games for the club last season.

[edit] Births

• 1854 - George Mundinger, catcher (d. 1910)
• 1858 - Laurie Reis, pitcher (d. 1921)
• 1858 - Joe Sommer, outfielder (d. 1938)
• 1862 - Dan Casey, pitcher (d. 1943)
• 1866 - Kenesaw Landis Hall of Famer (d. 1944)
• 1869 - Clark Griffith, pitcher, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1955)
• 1873 - Tom Fleming, outfielder (d. 1957)
• 1878 - Martin Glendon, pitcher (d. 1950)
• 1880 - George McBride, infielder, manager (d. 1973)
• 1881 - Swat McCabe, outfielder (d. 1944)
• 1882 - Andy Coakley, pitcher (d. 1963)
• 1883 - Ben Egan, catcher (d. 1968)
• 1883 - Harry Welchonce, outfielder (d. 1977)
• 1887 - John Scheneberg, pitcher (d. 1950)
• 1888 - Ray Powell, outfielder (d. 1962)
• 1889 - Eddie Edmonson, infielder/outfielder (d. 1971)
• 1891 - Leon Cadore, pitcher (d. 1958)
• 1892 - Harry O'Neill, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1893 - Tom Pyle, minor league outfielder and manager (d. 1985)
• 1894 - Rube Ehrhardt, pitcher (d. 1980)
• 1896 - Larry Duff, pitcher (d. 1969)
• 1897 - Larry Benton, pitcher (d. 1953)
• 1898 - Tim McNamara, pitcher (d. 1994)
• 1902 - Augie Prudhomme, pitcher (d. 1992)
• 1906 - Joe Ogrodowski, pitcher (d. 1959)
• 1915 - Jack Aragon, pinch runner (d. 1988)
• 1917 - Jess Dobernic, pitcher (d. 1998)
• 1917 - Felix Mackiewicz, outfielder (d. 1993)
• 1917 - Mike Schemer, infielder (d. 1983)
• 1919 - Rugger Ardizoia, pitcher
• 1921 - Neill Sheridan, pinch hitter
• 1929 - Lou Berberet, catcher (d. 2004)
• 1930 - Don Leppert, infielder
• 1936 - Jay Ritchie, pitcher
• 1938 - Herman Starrette, pitcher
• 1940 - Jeffrey Loria, owner
• 1941 - Luis Peñalver, minor league pitcher
• 1941 - Billy Scripture, minor league player and manager
• 1945 - Jay Johnstone, outfielder
• 1945 - Rick Monday, outfielder; All-Star
• 1945 - John Sanders, pinch runner
• 1948 - Hirotoshi Watanabe, NPB pitcher
• 1949 - Ron Cash, infielder (d. 2009)
• 1949 - Raymond Tew, South African national team manager
• 1951 - Jackson Todd, pitcher
• 1952 - Hank Sauer Jr., minor league outfielder
• 1953 - Duane Theiss, pitcher
• 1953 - Ted Barnicle, minor league pitcher
• 1967 - Alex Arias, infielder
• 1967 - Fred Dabney, coach
• 1968 - Chuck Ricci, pitcher
• 1968 - Steve Schrenk, pitcher
• 1969 - Chi-wang Park, South Korean national team coach
• 1970 - Paul Gorman, minor league infielder
• 1971 - Kevin Lomon, pitcher
• 1971 - Gabe White, pitcher
• 1973 - Brandon Kolb, pitcher
• 1975 - Scott Barnsby, scout
• 1975 - J.D. Drew, outfielder; All-Star
• 1975 - Feng-An Tsai, CPBL infielder
• 1978 - Bill White, pitcher
• 1979 - Justin Blood, college coach
• 1979 - Claudell Clark, college coach
• 1979 - Lino Urdaneta, pitcher
• 1981 - Sam Fuld, outfielder
• 1981 - Danny Gonzalez, minor league infielder
• 1983 - Yusuke Ueda, Japanese national team catcher
• 1984 - Rafaël Jozefa, Hoofdklasse infielder
• 1984 - Jo-Jo Reyes, pitcher
• 1985 - Chuckie Fick, pitcher
• 1985 - Greg Holland, pitcher
• 1985 - Romain Legras, Division Elite outfielder
• 1987 - Jeff Locke, pitcher
• 1988 - Cody Allen, pitcher
• 1990 - JaDamion Williams, minor league outfielder
• 1992 - Sanne van Gool, Dutch womens' national team outfielder
• 1992 - Chan-kyu Lim, KBO pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1895 - Dick Hunt, outfielder (b. 1847)
• 1904 - Dell Darling, catcher (b. 1861)
• 1910 - Jack O'Brien, catcher (b. 1860)
• 1925 - John Coleman, pitcher (b. 1873)
• 1928 - Pete Lohman, catcher (b. 1864)
• 1929 - Babe Doty, pitcher (b. 1867)
• 1929 - Jim Powell, infielder (b. 1859)
• 1941 - Ralph Conger, college coach (b. 1900)
• 1945 - Roy Corgan, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1893)
• 1951 - Fred Burchell, pitcher (b. 1879)
• 1951 - Joe Rogalski, pitcher (b. 1912)
• 1953 - Billy Maharg, infielder/outfielder (b. 1881)
• 1954 - Hod Fenner, pitcher (b. 1897)
• 1956 - Bub Kuhn, pitcher (b. 1899)
• 1958 - Bill Lathrop, pitcher (b. 1891)
• 1959 - Roy Thomas, outfielder (b. 1874)
• 1960 - Frank Brower, outfielder (b. 1893)
• 1963 - Marty Hopkins, infielder (b. 1907)
• 1968 - George Maisel, outfielder (b. 1892)
• 1968 - Fresco Thompson, infielder (b. 1902)
• 1969 - Paddy Baumann, infielder (b. 1885)
• 1972 - Oliver Grosselin, college coach (b. 1910)
• 1976 - Les Hennessey, infielder (b. 1893)
• 1982 - Bob Short, owner (b. 1917)
• 1984 - Leon Williams, pitcher (b. 1905)
• 1989 - Dolan Nichols, pitcher (b. 1930)
• 1996 - Bill Sayles, pitcher (b. 1917)
• 1997 - Dick Littlefield, pitcher (b. 1926)
• 1998 - Dick Sisler, infielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1920)
• 2010 - Danny McDevitt, pitcher (b. 1932)
• 2011 - Larry Munson, announcer (b. 1922)