November 26

Events, births and deaths that occurred on November 26.

[edit] Events

• 1891 - A series for the championship of the Pacific Coast begins between the champions of the California League (the San Jose Dukes) and the Pacific Northwest League pennant winners (the Portland Webfeet). San Jose wins the opener, 8 - 6. The series will last until January 10, 1892, with San Jose winning, 10 games to 9. All the games are in played in San Jose, CA.
• 1909 - The Philadelphia Phillies are sold for $350,000 to a group headed by sportswriter Horace Fogel. Because of his dual roles, Fogel will become the only executive barred from a league meeting.
• 1912 - John T. Brush dies while en route to California by train for his health. His son-in-law, Harry Hempstead, will succeed him as president of the New York Giants.
• 1935 - The National League takes over the bankrupt last-place Boston Braves franchise after several failed attempts to buy the club. The league takes over only temporarily, until matters can be straightened out.
• 1948 - National League president Ford Frick steps in and pays $350 for funeral services, including the cost of a coffin, for the unclaimed body of Hack Wilson. The former slugger, who had died probably of alcohol abuse a few days earlier in a Baltimore hospital, is identified only as a white male.
• 1949 - The Japanese Central League is joined by the Pacific League.
• 1950 - The Gillette Safety Razor Co. signs a six-year deal, worth an estimated $6 million, with Major League Baseball for the TV-radio rights for the World Series.
• 1957 - Yoshio (Kaiser) Tanaka, an American citizen of Japanese descent, is named manager of the Hanshin Tigers. He is the first American to manage a Japanese major league team.
• 1958 - The American League MVP is Boston Red Sox slugger Jackie Jensen, winning over Yankees pitcher Bob Turley and Indians outfielder Rocky Colavito.
• 1960 - The relocated American League team in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul chooses the nickname "Twins" to represent its franchise. The Twins recently moved from Washington, DC, where they were known as the "Senators."
• 1961 - The Professional Baseball Rules Committee votes 8-1 against legalizing the spitball. Only National League supervisor of umpires Cal Hubbard votes in favor.
• 1962:
  • American League batting champ Pete Runnels (.326) is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Houston Colt .45s for outfielder Roman Mejias. After that, the Texas native will only hit .252 in Houston next season and will retire in May of 1964.
  • The Dodgers trade pitcher Stan Williams (14-12, 4.46 ERA) to the Yankees for first baseman Bill Skowron (.270, 23 HR, 80 RBI). Skowron will homer against his former teammates in Game 2 of the 1963 World Series.
• 1963 - Second baseman Pete Rose is a landslide winner of National League Rookie of the Year honors, taking 17 of 20 votes. Rose becomes the second Cincinnati Reds player to win the award, after Frank Robinson.
• 1965 - Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jim Lefebvre is voted National League Rookie of the Year.
• 1974 - Catfish Hunter meets with Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley in the American Arbitration Association office in New York City for a hearing to determine the validity of Hunter's breach-of-contract claim. Hunter contends that Finley failed to pay $50,000, half of Hunter's salary, to a life insurance fund. The case will go to arbitration.
• 1975 - Boston Red Sox center fielder Fred Lynn becomes the first rookie ever to be named American League Most Valuable Player. Lynn, who batted .331 with 21 home runs, 105 RBI, and league-leading figures in runs (103), doubles (47), and slugging percentage (.566), helped Boston to the American League East title. He also won Rookie of the Year honors.
• 1979 - Third baseman John Castino, who batted .285 for the Twins, and shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who hit .287 for the Blue Jays, tie for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, each receiving seven of the 28 votes. The deadlock will precipitate a change in the voting system, effective in 1980.
• 1980:
  • Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt, who hit .286 with career highs of 48 home runs and 121 RBI, is a unanimous choice as National League Most Valuable Player.
  • Outfielder Ron LeFlore, who hit .257 with 97 stolen bases for the Montreal Expos last season, signs as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.
• 1996 - Less than three weeks after major league owners voted 18-12 against ratification of baseball's new collective bargaining agreement, owners vote again and this time approve it by a vote of 26-4. The landmark agreement brings interleague play to the regular season for the first time, as well as revenue sharing among owners and a payroll tax on players.
• 1997 - The Toronto Blue Jays sign free agent reliever Randy Myers to a three-year contract.
• 1999 - Arbitrator Alan Symonette rejects the owners' attempt to dismiss the umpires' grievance, giving the 22 umps booted as a result of last season's disastrous mass resignation strategy a chance to get their jobs back. Symonette will hear the grievance beginning December 13th.
• 2002:
  • Prior to playing two regular-season games against the Oakland Athletics to open the major league season in Japan, the Seattle Mariners announce that they will face the Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants in exhibition contests on March 22nd and 23rd.
• 2003 - Hoping to add punch to their lineup, the Oakland Athletics trade catcher Ramón Hernandez and disgruntled outfielder Terrence Long to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Mark Kotsay.
• 2004 - Receiving 21 of the 28 first-place votes, Vladimir Guerrero (.337, 39 HR, 126 RBI) wins the American League MVP Award. The 28-year old former Expos outfielder signed as a free agent with the Angels, after the Mets refused to guarantee his salary based on advice from their medical staff.
• 2007 - The Lotte Giants hire Jerry Royster as their manager. Royster, a former major league and longtime minor league manager and major league player, is the first foreigner ever hired to manage a team in the Korea Baseball Organization. Another Lotte-owned team, the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Pro Baseball, had their best run ever thanks to an American manager, Bobby Valentine.
• 2009:
  • New York Yankees Public Address announcer Bob Sheppard officially retires at the age of 99. Known as the "Voice of God," Sheppard had been the Yankees PA announcer from 1951 to 2007 before his deteriorating health forced him to step down. He briefly returned in 2008 to announce the Yankees lineup for the final game at the old Yankee Stadium.
  • The Toronto Blue Jays sign free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez to a contract. Gonzalez started the last season with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to the Boston Red Sox where he took over for Nick Green.
• 2010 - The Dodgers sign free agent pitcher Jon Garland to a one-year deal. Garland pitched briefly for the Dodgers in 2009 before going 14-12 for the Padres last season.
• 2011 - The Blue Jays purchase infielder Luis Valbuena from Cleveland.
• 2012:
  • Postseason shares as annnounced, and the members of the World Champions Giants receive a record $377,022.64 each for their role in winning the title. Even discredited OF Melky Cabrera, suspended after a positive test for PEDs and kicked off the team before its run to the title, gets a full share because of a rule in the collective bargaining agreement. Members of the Detroit Tigers receive $284,274.50 each, the second-highest total for a runner-up.
  • Evan Longoria signs a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Rays that will make him a member of the team until 2023, adding 6 years to his contract worth an additional $100 million.

[edit] Births

• 1855 - Joe Doyle, infielder (d. 1941)
• 1866 - Jim Canavan, infielder (d. 1949)
• 1866 - Hugh Duffy, outfielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1954)
• 1866 - Mike Slattery, outfielder (d. 1904)
• 1866 - Art Twineham, catcher
• 1871 - Fred Tenney, infielder, manager (d. 1952)
• 1873 - Gussie Gannon, pitcher (d. 1966)
• 1878 - Bill Malarkey, pitcher (d. 1956)
• 1883 - Frank Lobert, infielder (d. 1932)
• 1889 - Hanson Horsey, pitcher (d. 1949)
• 1895 - George Tomer, pinch hitter (d. 1984)
• 1897 - Bill Warwick, catcher (d. 1984)
• 1898 - John Kerr, infielder (d. 1993)
• 1900 - John Churry, catcher (d. 1970)
• 1905 - Bob Johnson, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1982)
• 1907 - Gowell Claset, pitcher (d. 1981)
• 1908 - Lefty Gomez, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1989)
• 1910 - Ray White, minor league pitcher and manager (d. 1995)
• 1911 - Howard Easterling, Negro League infielder (d. 1993)
• 1913 - Garton Del Savio, infielder (d. 2006)
• 1914 - Ed Weiland, pitcher (d. 1971)
• 1915 - Deedum Krynzel, minor league player
• 1916 - Bob Elliott, infielder, manager; All-Star (d. 1966)
• 1916 - Eddie Miller, infielder; All-Star (d. 1997)
• 1916 - Walt Ripley, pitcher (d. 1990)
• 1917 - Pat Cooper, pitcher/infielder (d. 1993)
• 1917 - Mike Kosman, pinch runner (d. 2002)
• 1919 - Danny Reynolds, infielder (d. 2007)
• 1920 - Bud Sheely, catcher (d. 1985)
• 1921 - Jodie Beeler, infielder (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Mickey McGowan, pitcher (d. 2003)
• 1922 - Joe Muir, pitcher (d. 1980)
• 1922 - Ben Wade, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1927 - Pete Taylor, pitcher (d. 2003)
• 1933 - Minnie Rojas, pitcher (d. 2002)
• 1937 - Bob Lee, pitcher; All-Star
• 1941 - Jeff Torborg, catcher, manager
• 1947 - Larry Gura, pitcher; All-Star
• 1947 - Richie Hebner, infielder
• 1950 - Jorge Orta, infielder; All-Star
• 1954 - Richard Bass, minor league outfielder
• 1955 - Jay Howell, pitcher; All-Star
• 1955 - Mike Mendoza, pitcher
• 1955 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr., Cuban league infielder
• 1956 - Ron Meridith, pitcher
• 1956 - Bob Walk, pitcher; All-Star
• 1959 - Mitch Coplon, minor league pitcher (d. 2008)
• 1959 - Mike Moore, pitcher; All-Star
• 1960 - Harold Reynolds, infielder; All-Star
• 1960 - Masafumi Yamamori, NPB outfielder
• 1962 - Chuck Finley, pitcher; All-Star
• 1968 - Hector Wagner, pitcher
• 1969 - Yoshikazu Doi, Japanese national team pitcher
• 1969 - Sam Militello, pitcher
• 1974 - Seung-nam Jeon, KBO pitcher
• 1975 - Daryl Cronk, college coach
• 1975 - Matty Gahan, minor league pitcher
• 1975 - Chun-Yi Wu, CPBL pitcher
• 1976 - Brian Schneider, catcher
• 1977 - John Parrish, pitcher
• 1978 - Kei-Wa Chan, Hong Kong national team outfielder
• 1978 - Mark Turnbow, minor league player
• 1979 - Jeff Fulchino, pitcher
• 1979 - Nick Renault, minor league pitcher
• 1980 - Kelvin Marianucci, Serie A1 outfielder
• 1981 - Takahiro Aoki, NPB pitcher
• 1983 - Matt Garza, pitcher
• 1984 - Adam Miller, minor league pitcher
• 1984 - Mark Thompson, minor league player
• 1985 - James Adkins, minor league pitcher
• 1985 - Corey Brown, outfielder
• 1985 - Matt Carpenter, infielder
• 1985 - Jhonny Nunez, pitcher
• 1987 - Bas Nooij, Hoofdklasse catcher
• 1988 - Ninoska Amaro, Puerto Rican womens' national team player
• 1988 - Josh Smoker, minor league player
• 1990 - Elmer Reyes, minor league infielder
• 1991 - Lindsay Horwitz, USA womens' national team pitcher

[edit] Deaths

• 1907 - Eddie Burke, outfielder (b. 1866)
• 1928 - Denny Clare, infielder (b. 1853)
• 1928 - Butts Wagner, infielder (b. 1871)
• 1937 - Andy Bednar, pitcher (b. 1908)
• 1939 - Frank Harris, infielder (b. 1858)
• 1952 - Warren Gill, infielder (b. 1878)
• 1954 - Bill Doak, pitcher (b. 1891)
• 1962 - Al Carson, pitcher (b. 1882)
• 1969 - Emil Kush, pitcher (b. 1916)
• 1972 - George Jackson, outfielder (b. 1882)
• 1973 - Tom Kane, infielder (b. 1906)
• 1982 - Hub Walker, outfielder (b. 1906)
• 1985 - Monk Sherlock, infielder (b. 1904)
• 1989 - Lew Fonseca, infielder, manager (b. 1899)
• 2004 - Tom Haller, catcher; All-Star (b. 1937)
• 2008 - Curtis Englebright, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1928)
• 2009 - Rudy Briner, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1917)
• 2009 - Hubie LeBlanc, college coach (b. 1936)
• 2012 - Mike Kume, pitcher (b. 1926)