November 21

Events, births and deaths that occurred on November 21.

[edit] Events

• 1887 - In the American Association, the St. Louis Browns announce a trade that ships Bill Gleason and Curt Welch to the Philadelphia Athletics in exchange for Fred Mann, Chippy McGarr, and Jocko Milligan, plus $3,000. This is the first of a number of trades or sales, mostly to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
• 1888 - The Cleveland Spiders are formally admitted to the National League, creating a vacancy in the American Association. Cleveland will replace the Detroit Wolverines.
• 1889 - The National League issues its reply to the Players League manifesto. Claiming that the League saved baseball in 1876 and that under the reserve rules players' salaries have "more than trebled," the NL denounces the Brotherhood movement as "the efforts of certain overpaid players to again control [baseball] for their own aggrandizement... to its ultimate dishonor and disintegration."
• 1893 - Ban Johnson is named president, secretary, and treasurer of the recently reorganized Western League. Under Johnson's leadership the league will prosper and eventually become the American League.
• 1900:
  • Given a 10-year contract to control the Baltimore franchise, John McGraw says he intends to be there a long time, and wants to lease grounds in Baltimore where he can stay. He'll be a manager for 32 more years, but not in Baltimore.
  • National League president Nick Young wishes success to the new American League, but says he does not consider it a major league.
  • In New York, national guardsmen are playing an active schedule of indoor baseball at the New York Armory. The games between regiment teams are widely covered in the press.
• 1911 - After a sixth place finish (76-76), Hal Chase resigns as New York Highlanders manager and is replaced by Harry Wolverton. Chase will remain a player with the team until he is traded during the 1913 season.
• 1928 - The St. Louis Cardinals sign Billy Southworth as their new manager, replacing Bill McKechnie who goes down to Triple-A Rochester.
• 1933 - Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Chuck Klein, who won the Triple Crown after hitting .368 with 28 home runs and 120 RBI, is sold to the Cubs for $125,000 and veterans Mark Koenig and Harvey Hendrick, and rookie Ted Kleinhans. Hendrick will play one year with the Phillies, while Koenig and Hendrick quickly go to the Reds. Klein, who also led the National League in hits (223), doubles (44), extra-base hits (79), total bases (365), slugging percentage (.602), on base percentage (.368) and OPS (1.025), and finished second in runs (102) and fourth in steals (15), is the only player in major league history to be traded after a Triple Crown season. Klein will have two-plus seasons at Wrigley Field before returning to Philadelphia in 1936.
• 1934:
  • The Yankees purchase Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League. The son of Italian immigrants will be one of three DiMaggio brothers to play in the major leagues. Dom and Vince are the others.
  • In a pitchers transaction, the St. Louis Cardinals send 16-game winner Tex Carleton to the Chicago Cubs for Bud Tinning and Dick Ward, and cash considerations. Carleton will win 11 in Chicago while Tinning and Ward will help little.
• 1949 - Bill Veeck sells the Cleveland Indians for $2.2 million to a local syndicate headed by Ellis Ryan. Hank Greenberg will be general manager.
• 1952 - Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Joe Black, who posted a 15-4 record with 85 strikeouts and a 2.15 ERA, is voted National League Rookie of the Year, receiving 19 of 24 first place votes. Hoyt Wilhelm, Dick Groat and Eddie Mathews also garner first-place votes.
• 1955 - In an obvious power struggle for control, the principal founding father of Little League, Carl Stotz, sues the organization for breach of contract. The suit will be settled out of court.
• 1956 - Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe wins the National League MVP; in a few days, he will become the first-ever Cy Young Award winner.
• 1959 - In the first inter-league trade, the Chicago Cubs send 1B Jim Marshall and P Dave Hillman to the Boston Red Sox for 1B Dick Gernert.
• 1960 - Bob Scheffing signs to manage the Detroit Tigers after the job is turned down by Casey Stengel.
• 1962 - The Pittsburgh Pirates trade 1B Dick Stuart and P Jack Lamabe to the Boston Red Sox for P Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni.
• 1967 - Cleveland sends 1B Fred Whitfield and P George Culver to Cincinnati for OF Tommy Harper.
• 1968 - Cincinnati trades SS Leo Cardenas to the Twins for P Jim Merritt.
• 1970 - The Sporting News announces Gold Glove Award selections. Chicago White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio wins the ninth and final honor of his career, while New York Mets outfielder Tommie Agee becomes the first position player to win it in each league. Aparicio has now won a gold glove in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, while Agee also won the honor with the White Sox during his 1966 Rookie of Year season.
• 1972 - Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk is the first-ever unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year. Fisk hit 22 home runs and led the AL East Division with a .293 batting average. Pitcher Jon Matlack of the New York Mets is named the National League winner.
• 1973 - Pete Rose wins the National League MVP Award in a controversial vote, edging out Willie Stargell. Rose led the NL with 230 hits and won his third batting crown with a .338 mark. Stargell led the league with 44 home runs, 119 runs batted in, and a .646 slugging percentage while batting .299.
• 1977 - Baltimore Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray is named American League Rookie of the Year. Murray garners 12 1/2 points to beat out runner-up Mitchell Page of the Oakland Athletics, who polled 9 1/2 votes. Murray will go on to a Hall of Fame career, while Page will never come close to matching his rookie numbers.
• 1978 - Bob Horner of the Braves edges Ozzie Smith of San Diego to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Horner batted .266 with 23 home runs in just 323 at-bats after starting the season at Arizona State University before being the first overall pick of the June draft.
• 1980 - After having led the Yankees to 103 wins last season, manager Dick Howser resigns and is replaced by Gene Michael. Howser is tired of interference by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.
• 1983:
  • New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry breaks the Los Angeles Dodgers' four-year stronghold on the National League Rookie of the Year Award when he becomes the first non-Dodger to win the honor since Bob Horner in 1978. Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Sax had been the previous winners.
  • The Seattle Mariners trade reliever Bill Caudill and a player to be named later (minor leaguer Darrel Akerfelds) to the Oakland Athletics for catcher Bob Kearney and reliever Dave Beard.
• 1989 - Kevin Mitchell of the Giants, who led the major leagues with 47 home runs and 125 RBI, is named National League Most Valuable Player.
• 1990 - Free agent signings today include P Mike Boddicker with the Kansas City Royals, P Danny Jackson with the Chicago Cubs, and P Tom Browning, re-signed by the Cincinnati Reds.
• 1991:
  • Atlanta Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton, who hit .319 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI, wins the National League MVP Award. Pendleton surprisingly out-distances runner-up Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Barry Bonds (.292, 25, 116).
  • Jody Treadwell of the Adelaide Giants throws the first one-pitcher no-hitter in Australian Baseball League history, beating the Sydney Wave.
• 1993 - The Giants sign free agent P Mark Portugal to a three-year contract.
• 1995 - The Marlins sign free agent OF Devon White to a three-year contract worth $9.9 million.
• 1997 - The Royals acquire 1B Jeff Conine from the Marlins in exchange for P Blaine Mull.
• 2000:
  • Citing statistics to a U.S. Senate panel, Commissioner Bud Selig states it is time for "sweeping changes" in the game's economic make-up, raising the possibility of a work stoppage after the current contract expires on October 31, 2001.
  • The New York Yankees sign free agent catcher Joe Oliver to a contract.
• 2002:
  • In an effort to appeal more to women and families, Major League Baseball will provide sponsorship support along with giving softball players a presence at big league events. MLB announces a partnership with five-year-old Women's Pro Softball League recently renamed National Pro Fastpitch.
  • In the earliest-scheduled season opener in major league history, the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners will start the season in Tokyo, Japan, on March 25, 2003. The two-game series will feature recent American League Rookies of the Year Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).
  • The Montreal Expos may play approximately twenty-five percent of their home games (22 of 81) in San Juan, Puerto Rico next season. Away "home games" are not unprecedented as the Brooklyn Dodgers played seven games in Newark, NJ in 1956 and 1957, and the Chicago White Sox, filling a void when the Braves left, played nine games in Milwaukee, WI in 1968 and another 11 in 1969.
• 2005 - Catcher Kenji Johjima and the Seattle Mariners agree to a $16.5 million, three-year contract. Johjima, who was both a seven-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan, became a free agent after hitting .309 with 24 home runs and 57 RBI during a season cut short by two injuries. He is projected to become the first Japanese player to catch full-time in the major leagues. Infielder Lenn Sakata, a Japanese-American born in Honolulu, HI, served as third-string catcher for the 1983 World Champion Baltimore Orioles.
• 2008:
  • Japan's baseball writers announce the major award winners for 2008. Alex Ramirez of the Yomiuri Giants is named Central League MVP after leading the loop in RBI and finishing second in home runs and slugging; he is the first foreigner to win in 7 years, since fellow Venezuelan Roberto Petagine. Hisashi Iwakuma becomes the first member of the Rakuten Golden Eagles to be named Pacific League MVP, after a 21-4 season; he is the third MVP from a 5th-place team in league history. No one had won 21 games in the CL or PL since 1985. Former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand Tetsuya Yamaguchi is named Rookie of the Year in the CL.
  • For the first time in its 27-year history, the Korea Baseball Organization has a trade rejected. The Woori Heroes had sent ace hurler Won-sam Jang to the Samsung Lions for Sung-hun Park and $2.1 million. The other six teams appealed, as Woori had agreed not to trade players for cash during its first five years in the league.
• 2009 - Pedro Luis Lazo strikes out the 2,361st batter of his career, passing former teammate Faustino Corrales for second all-time on the Cuban leader board.
• 2011:
  • Police in the Dutch city of Rotterdam are called this morning to the home of Mariners OF Greg Halman and find the 24-year-old dying of a stab wound. They are unable to revive him, but arrest his younger brother Jason Halman who is considered the main suspect in the murder.
  • The Tigers' Justin Verlander adds the American League Most Valuable Player Award to the Cy Young Award he won a week ago after a dominating season in which he led Detroit to the AL Central title. He is the first pitcher to win the award in the AL since reliever Dennis Eckersley in 1992, and the first starting pitcher to do so since Roger Clemens in 1986­. He secures 13 of 28 first-place votes to finish ahead of Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury, Toronto's Jose Bautista and New York's Curtis Granderson in a bunched-up vote.
  • The Pirates sign free agent IF Clint Barmes to a two-year deal, the Orioles ink IF Matt Antonelli and the Rangers add former Twins closer Joe Nathan for two years with an option for a third. That moves means that Neftali Feliz, the Rangers' closer for the last two seasons, will move to the starting rotation in 2012.
• 2012:
  • Catcher Shinnosuke Abe of the Yomiuri Giants continues to clean up the hardware; after taking his 7th Best Nine and sharing the Matsutaro Shoriki Award, he wins the 2012 Central League Most Valuable Player Award in a landslide. Abe had led the Central League in average and RBI in 2012. The 2012 Pacific League MVP is also a runaway, going to Mitsuo Yoshikawa of the Nippon Ham Fighters, the ERA leader.
  • The Red Sox sign free agent OF Jonny Gomes to a two-year deal worth $10 million.

[edit] Births

• 1851 - Bobby Mathews, pitcher (d. 1898)
• 1854 - Charlie Bennett, catcher (d. 1927)
• 1855 - John Valentine, pitcher (d. 1903)
• 1865 - Park Swartzel, pitcher (d. 1940)
• 1865 - Henry Youngman, infielder (d. 1836)
• 1869 - Alex Beam, pitcher (d. 1938)
• 1869 - Billy Clingman, infielder (d. 1958)
• 1880 - Simmy Murch, infielder (d. 1939)
• 1885 - Gus Hetling, infielder (d. 1962)
• 1886 - Clem Clemens, catcher (d. 1967)
• 1893 - Ziggy Hasbrook, infielder (d. 1976)
• 1894 - Bill Morrisette, pitcher (d. 1966)
• 1897 - Andy High, infielder (d. 1981)
• 1898 - Walter Zink, pitcher (d. 1964)
• 1899 - Charlie Gibson, catcher (d. 1990)
• 1899 - Augie Swentor, pinch hitter (d. 1969)
• 1901 - Johnson Fry, pitcher (d. 1959)
• 1905 - Freddie Lindstrom, infielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1981)
• 1905 - Les Mallon, infielder (d. 1991)
• 1908 - Paul Richards, catcher, manager (d. 1986)
• 1914 - Pinky Jorgensen, outfielder (d. 1996)
• 1914 - George Scharein, infielder (d. 1981)
• 1920 - Stan Musial, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 2013)
• 1921 - Janet Perkin, AAGPBL player (d. 2012)
• 1924 - Warren Hacker, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1930 - Dick Phillips, Negro League pitcher (d. 2006)
• 1932 - Bill Valentine, umpire
• 1935 - Dick Bertell, catcher (d. 1999)
• 1937 - Tony Balsamo, pitcher
• 1940 - Tommy McCraw, infielder
• 1943 - Daryl Patterson, pitcher
• 1947 - Steve Webber, minor league coach
• 1952 - Bill Almon, infielder
• 1953 - Beauford Sanders, college coach
• 1954 - Alan Hargesheimer, pitcher
• 1954 - Gary Wilson, pitcher
• 1955 - Rick Peters, outfielder
• 1956 - Steve Flores, scout
• 1958 - Mike Mason, pitcher
• 1959 - Jeff Barkley, pitcher
• 1959 - Scott Terry, pitcher
• 1960 - Mark Eichhorn, pitcher
• 1961 - Daron Schoenrock, college coach
• 1962 - Charlie Culberson, minor league outfielder
• 1962 - Dick Schofield, infielder
• 1967 - Darron Cox, catcher
• 1967 - Tripp Cromer, infielder
• 1969 - Ken Griffey, outfielder; All-Star
• 1971 - John Roper, pitcher
• 1973 - Todd Erdos, pitcher
• 1973 - Dan Murray, pitcher
• 1974 - Jason Baker, minor league pitcher
• 1974 - Mike Huelsmann, minor league player
• 1975 - Brian Meadows, pitcher
• 1979 - Quintin Berry, outfielder
• 1980 - Hank Blalock, infielder; All-Star
• 1981 - Enrique Cruz, infielder
• 1982 - Takashi Fujita, Japanese national team pitcher
• 1983 - Michael Rider, minor league pitcher
• 1987 - Rafael Vera, minor league player
• 1991 - Donna Williams, US women's national team pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1898 - Bill Hague, infielder (b. 1852)
• 1926 - John Shaffer, pitcher (b. 1864)
• 1934 - Fred Glade, pitcher (b. 1876)
• 1937 - Al Pratt, pitcher, manager (b. 1848)
• 1938 - Polly Wolfe, outfielder (b. 1888)
• 1947 - Slow Joe Doyle, pitcher (b. 1881)
• 1952 - Fred McMullin, infielder (b. 1891)
• 1954 - Uel Eubanks, pitcher (b. 1903)
• 1957 - Bugs Morris, pitcher (b. 1892)
• 1958 - Mel Ott, outfielder, manager; All-Star, Hall of Famer (b. 1909)
• 1959 - Armando Cabañas, Negro League infielder (b. 1878)
• 1962 - Whitey Hilcher, pitcher (b. 1909)
• 1963 - Ed Hock, outfielder (b. 1899)
• 1966 - Hack Miller, catcher (b. 1913)
• 1971 - Norm Branch, pitcher (b. 1915)
• 1974 - Leon Pettit, pitcher (b. 1902)
• 1977 - Ron Willis, pitcher (b. 1943)
• 1982 - Buck Marrow, pitcher (b. 1909)
• 1982 - Frank McCormick, infielder; All-Star (b. 1911)
• 1987 - Dusty Cooke, outfielder, manager (b. 1907)
• 1988 - Carl Hubbell, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer (b. 1903)
• 1991 - Bryan Stephens, pitcher (b. 1920)
• 1992 - Alvin Gipson, Negro League pitcher (b. 1913)
• 1996 - Earl Cook, pitcher (b. 1908)
• 2010 - David Gold, minor league catcher (b. 1928)
• 2010 - Steve Kuczek, pinch hitter (b. 1924)
• 2010 - Lloyd Lowe, minor league infielder (b. 1925)
• 2011 - Greg Halman, outfielder (b. 1987)