February 23
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 23.
Events[edit]
- 1888 - James "Pud" Galvin signs with Pittsburgh for $3,000, including $1,000 in advance. The club offered him $3,500 with no advance money, but Galvin needs the $1,000 to tide him over the winter.
- 1918 - Barney Dreyfuss of the Rules Committee launches a campaign to ban the spitter. He will succeed next year.
- 1934 - Replacing skipper Max Carey, Brooklyn coach Casey Stengel signs a two-year deal to manage the Dodgers.
- 1940 - The A's waive Lynn Nelson to Detroit. Nelson was the A's top winner in 1939 with ten victories, but he'll go 1-1 with Detroit before bowing out.
- 1954 - The Cards purchase Vic Raschi from the Yankees for $85,000.
- 1960 - Demolition of Ebbets Field begins. Lucy Monroe sings the National Anthem, and Roy Campanella is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate.
- 1964:
- The San Francisco Giants acquire P Masanori Murakami, 3B Tatsuhiko Tanaka, and C Hiroshi Takahashi on a player development deal with the Nankai Hawks, who own rights to all three. They are the first Japanese natives ever to play for American teams. All three are assigned to the Magic Valley Cowboys (Pioneer League). Although none of the three are considered top prospects, Murakami will confound everyone by reaching the major leagues by September after an outstanding season in the minors.
- Charlie Finley gives in to American League pressure and signs a four-year lease with the municipal government to keep the A's in Kansas City. Finley wanted two years. His exasperated AL colleagues vote 9-1 that the city's offer is reasonable. Finley will move the team out of KC as soon as the lease expires after the 1967 season.
- 1974 - The California Angels send veteran Vada Pinson to Kansas City for minor leaguer Barry Raziano and cash. Pinson will call it quits at the end of the 1975 season, having rung up 2,757 hits, one of the highest totals ever for an eligible player not in the Hall of Fame.
- 1976 - Major League owners announce that spring training will not open until a new labor contract is agreed upon, thus decreeing a lockout.
- 1979 - The Philadelphia Phillies trade five players to the Chicago Cubs for 2B Manny Trillo, OF Greg Gross, and C Dave Rader. Chicago gets C Barry Foote, OF Jerry Martin, 2B Ted Sizemore, and two minor leaguers, Henry Mack and P Derek Botelho.
- 1986 - Although he loses his arbitration case, Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs receives the largest amount ($1.35 million) ever awarded by this process.
- 1987 - After three days of spring training, Billy Gardner replaces Dick Howser as Kansas City Royals manager. The frail-looking Howser had tried to come back from brain tumor surgery but will pass away within a few months.
- 1988 - A committee of Chicago aldermen vote 7-2 to allow the Cubs to install lights and play up to 18 night games a year at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had feared losing the 1990 All-Star Game, as well as future postseason and World Series games, if lights were not installed.
- 1990 - Despite the owners dropping their arbitration and minimum salary proposals, spring training camps remain closed.
- 1995 - Former National League MVP Kevin Mitchell signs with the Daiei Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League.
- 1996 - The Rules Committee announces that the strike zone will be larger, dropping it from the top of the knees to the hollow below the knees. The change comes out of a series of recommendations to help speed up play.
- 1998 - A series of killer tornadoes sweeps through Florida, narrowly missing the Houston Astros clubhouse, and the homes of several players, in Kissimmee. A campground behind Osceola County Stadium, the Astros' training base, is destroyed, and seven people are killed by one of the twisters.
- 2000:
- The San Diego Padres obtain OF Al Martin from the Pirates for OF John Vander Wal, and pitchers Jim Sak and Geraldo Padua. San Diego also signs pitcher Matt Clement to a four-year agreement.
- Chicago Cubs manager Don Baylor names four captains - first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs' first captains since the 1960s and early 1970s when Ron Santo held the position.
- 2001 - In what is believed to be a first test of its kind, umpire Mike Everitt meets with the Milwaukee Brewers to test out baseball's new strike zone.
- 2006 - Complaining about the lack of support from local baseball officials, Roberto Kelly resigns as manager of Panama's team in the World Baseball Classic. The Giants spring training instructor believes some players were held back from participating in the WBC so they would play in the Panamanian championships.
- 2010:
- Major League Baseball announces that it will begin testing minor leaguers for human growth hormone this season. The illegal performance-enhancing substance has long been considered undetectable by conventional doping tests, but its presence has recently been isolated through a blood test, which will be used for this purpose.
- The Atlanta Braves sign 18-year-old Dominican shortstop Edward Salcedo to a contract. Considered as one of the top talents available on the international market, the youngster receives a signing bonus of $1.6 million. Although expected to begin his professional career with the Class-A Rome Braves, he will be assigned to the Rookie-level DSL Braves instead. Salcedo first signed with the Cleveland Indians in 2007, but the contract was voided when it was discovered that he was underage. He will fail to develop as a star, however.
- 2011 - The first injury reports come out of spring training, with the Cardinals getting the worst news. Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, runner-up for the Cy Young Award last season, has a "significant injury" to his pitching elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season. Also out indefinitely is Dodgers P Vicente Padilla who will undergo surgery on his forearm tomorrow. Finally, Brewers starting C Jonathan Lucroy fractures the little finger of his throwing hand during drills and will be out from four to six weeks.
- 2012:
- Ryan Braun becomes the first major league player to successfully appeal a positive PED test when arbitrator Shyam Das rules in his favor with regard to a positive test performed during the 2011 postseason. The test showed a testosterone level so high as to be almost unimaginable without outside interference. The three-man pannel chaired by Das rules that the fact that proper protocol was not followed in collecting and storing the sample prior to testing, makes it impossible to be certain that it has not been subject to tampering at some point. Braun had proclaimed his innocence all along, and now no longer faces a 50-game suspension.
- The group featuring former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre announces it is bowing out of the bidding for the team because current owner Frank McCourt will not include the parking lots outside Dodger Stadium in the package. McCourt built his now-threatened fortune by operating parking lots in large cities. Torre's group states that by keeping control of this key resource, McCourt will make it impossible for the winning bidders to manage the team's assets effectively. The group, which was among the favorites to emerge as the new owners at the end of the court-supervised process, leaves the door open to a re-engagement if the terms of the sale are changed to include the disputed lots.
- 2013:
- Their line-up already depleted by off-season trades, the Marlins lose another key player when C Jeff Mathis is struck by a foul tip off the bat of St. Louis' Matt Holliday at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL. Mathis suffers a broken right collarbone, putting him on the shelf for six to ten weeks, while the Fish have no other catcher in camp with any major league experience to speak of.
- The famous "bloody sock" worn by P Curt Schilling in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series is sold at auction for $92,613. Schilling had loaned the item to the Hall of Fame, but had used it as collateral against a loan to set up his video game company, 38 Studios, which went bankrupt last year. Schilling defaulted on payments, prompting the bank to sell it in order to recover some of its loss.
- 2015 - The Red Sox outbid a number of other team to sign Cuban defector Yoan Moncada to a contract that includes a $31.5 million signing bonus. The Red Sox will need to pay a penalty almost equal to that amount for exceeding their bonus cap for international signees, which had $1.8 million remaining, but seemingly do not care as they see the young infielder as a future All-Star. For now though, the 19-year-old will be headed to the minor leagues for at couple of seasons before getting a chance to justify his lavish contract.
- 2016 - For the second time in a week, the Orioles are said to have signed a top-rank free agent who has fallen through the cracks because of draft choice compensation tied to his signature. After inking Yovani Gallardo to a three-year deal, the O's are said to be bringing CF Dexter Fowler on board with an offer of $35 million over three years. However, two days later, Fowler will announce that he has in fact rejected the offer and instead accepted a one-year deal worth $13 million to return to the Cubs.
- 2018 - The first Cactus League and Grapefruit League games of spring training are played today with Major League Baseball paying tribute to the victims of the horrific school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL as all players wear special caps. Proceeds from the sale of this autographed memorabilia will go to a fund dedicated to the victims. Some teams also go further by inviting students and school personnel to meet players and perform various roles at the games as a show of solidarity.
Births[edit]
- 1865 - Roscoe Coughlin, pitcher (d. 1951)
- 1865 - Barney Dreyfuss, owner (d. 1932)
- 1868 - Lew Camp, infielder (d. 1948)
- 1874 - Billy Lauder, infielder (d. 1933)
- 1877 - Rudy Hulswitt, infielder (d. 1950)
- 1877 - Grant Thatcher, pitcher (d. 1936)
- 1887 - Lou Lowdermilk, pitcher (d. 1975)
- 1888 - Paul Cobb, minor league outfielder (d. 1964)
- 1890 - John Black, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1890 - Lee Gooch, outfielder (d. 1966)
- 1893 - Jim O'Neill, infielder (d. 1976)
- 1894 - Jose Rodriguez, infielder (d. 1953)
- 1895 - Gus Sandberg, catcher (d. 1930)
- 1900 - Hank Doty, minor league infielder and manager (d. 1979)
- 1903 - Roy Johnson, outfielder (d. 1973)
- 1905 - Les Barnhart, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1908 - Bob Boken, infielder (d. 1988)
- 1908 - Ray Brown, pitcher/outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Fame (d. 1965)
- 1913 - Arthur Murphy, minor league pitcher (d. ????)
- 1914 - Lynn Myers, infielder (d. 2000)
- 1914 - Pedro Pagés, outfielder (d. ????)
- 1914 - Art Reichle, college coach (d. 2000)
- 1914 - Mike Tresh, catcher; All-Star (d. 1966)
- 1916 - Eddie Kearse, catcher (d. 1968)
- 1917 - Sam Jethroe, outfielder (d. 2001)
- 1917 - Bob Latshaw, minor league infielder and manager (d. 2001)
- 1917 - Cyril Pfeifer, minor league player and manager (d. 1988)
- 1918 - Jim Carlin, outfielder (d. 2003)
- 1918 - Hillis Layne, infielder (d. 2010)
- 1920 - Tsuguhiro Hattori, NPB player (d. 1991)
- 1920 - Lluis Pou, author
- 1924 - Phil Haugstad, pitcher (d. 1998)
- 1925 - Lyle Palmer, minor league outfielder (d. 2018)
- 1925 - Len Tran, minor league infielder
- 1929 - Elston Howard, catcher; All-Star (d. 1980)
- 1930 - Beatrice Kemmerer, AAGPBL catcher-infielder (d. 2013)
- 1932 - Jim Bolger, outfielder (d. 2020)
- 1933 - Joan Jaykoski, AAGPBL outfielder-pitcher (d. 2011)
- 1941 - Ron Hunt, infielder; All-Star
- 1941 - Gordy Lund, infielder (d. 2024)
- 1941 - Kunimitsu Yanoura, NPB infielder
- 1944 - Don Shaw, pitcher
- 1945 - Dave Slickenmeyer, umpire
- 1945 - Howard Starkman, executive
- 1946 - Ken Boswell, infielder
- 1951 - Larry Foster, minor league outfielder
- 1952 - Miguel Pozueta, Spanish baseball executive
- 1953 - Fred Kuhaulua, pitcher (d. 2021)
- 1955 - Akio Saito, NPB pitcher
- 1957 - Jim Anderson, infielder
- 1957 - Ricky Burdette, minor league pitcher
- 1958 - Juan Agosto, pitcher
- 1958 - Desidero DeLeon, minor league pitcher
- 1958 - John Shelby, outfielder
- 1959 - Eddie Vargas, infielder
- 1960 - Bob Nilsson, Australian national team pitcher
- 1961 - John Morris, outfielder
- 1961 - Pedro Palma, Cuban league pitcher
- 1961 - Mike Smith, pitcher
- 1962 - Chris Cannizzaro Jr., minor league infielder
- 1962 - Pedro Chávez, scout
- 1962 - Dan Smith, minor league pitcher
- 1963 - Bobby Bonilla, infielder; All-Star
- 1963 - Pedro Chávez, minor league infielder
- 1966 - Jeffrey Calderone, minor league pitcher
- 1966 - Steve Hodges, minor league pitcher (d. 2019)
- 1967 - Randy Curran, Serie A1 outfielder
- 1968 - Marvin Zelaya, Nicaraguan national team pitcher
- 1969 - Frank Charles, catcher
- 1969 - Kazuhiko Miyakawa, NPB infielder
- 1970 - Roberto Machorro, minor league catcher
- 1971 - Jose Viera, minor league infielder
- 1972 - Rondell White, outfielder; All-Star
- 1973 - Jason Boyd, pitcher
- 1975 - Dave Maurer, pitcher
- 1975 - Scott Nichols, minor league pitcher
- 1976 - Orelvis Avila, Cuban league pitcher
- 1976 - Scott Elarton, pitcher
- 1976 - Greg Morrison, minor league infielder
- 1978 - Luke Prokopec, pitcher
- 1979 - Chris Aguila, outfielder
- 1980 - Eric Rodland, minor league infielder
- 1980 - Kao-Chuan Yeh, CPBL catcher
- 1981 - Baoliang Bai, Chinese national team pitcher
- 1981 - José A. García, Cuban league pitcher
- 1981 - Bryan Johnson, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Ian Bladergroen, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Edgar Gonzalez, pitcher
- 1984 - Matthew Long, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Sergio Pedroza, minor league outfielder
- 1984 - Pablo Troncoso, Chilean national team pitcher
- 1985 - Austin Creps, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Lázaro Blanco, Cuban league pitcher
- 1986 - Jeff Tezak, minor league infielder
- 1987 - Ryan Ilario, Netherlands Antilles national team infielder
- 1988 - Yong Min Lee, New Zealand national team pitcher
- 1988 - Yu-Hsiang Lin, Taiwanese national team pitcher
- 1989 - Wilin Rosario, catcher
- 1989 - Sundrendy Windster, minor league outfielder
- 1990 - Jaff Decker, outfielder
- 1991 - Martin Abad, minor league pitcher
- 1992 - Corey Adamson, minor league outfielder
- 1993 - Anthony Seise Jr., minor league pitcher
- 1994 - Joe McCarthy, outfielder
- 1994 - Reece Tanguay, college coach
- 1999 - Bence Takács, Hungarian national team pitcher-infielder
- 1999 - Winke Verdick, Dutch women's national team outfielder
- 1999 - Pao-Ti Yeh, CPBL outfielder
- 2001 - Joseph King, minor league pitcher
- 2003 - Min-sung Park, South Korean women's national team pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1898 - Dick Cramer, outfielder (b. 1855)
- 1900 - Nate Berkenstock, outfielder (b. 1832)
- 1914 - Nat Jewett, catcher (b. 1842)
- 1922 - Pickles Dillhoefer, catcher (b. 1894)
- 1922 - C.I. Taylor, outfielder, manager (b. 1875)
- 1926 - Hi Church, outfielder (b. 1863)
- 1928 - Jack Ridgway, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1931 - Ben Wade, umpire (b. 1857)
- 1941 - Lou Kolls, umpire (b. 1892)
- 1947 - George Brickley, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1955 - Bill Tozer, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1956 - Pete Loos, pitcher (b. 1878)
- 1961 - Davey Crockett, infielder (b. 1875)
- 1965 - Shiro Tsuda, NPB player and umpire (b. 1908)
- 1967 - Chaney White, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1968 - Hank Schreiber, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1969 - Bubbles Hargrave, catcher (b. 1892)
- 1969 - Bill Swift, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 1978 - Vic Harris, outfielder, manager (b. 1905)
- 1981 - Myrl Brown, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1987 - Tommy O'Rourke, USA national team player (b. 1917)
- 1988 - Pete Donohue, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1993 - Joe Hutcheson, outfielder (b. 1905)
- 1996 - Gordon Goldsberry, infielder (b. 1927)
- 1998 - Ray Stoviak, outfielder (b. 1915)
- 1999 - Muscle Shoals, minor league player (b. 1916)
- 2009 - Joe Tepsic, outfielder (b. 1923)
- 2011 - Frank Knoll, minor league outfielder (b. 1923)
- 2015 - Jim King, outfielder (b. 1932)
- 2015 - Ray Novak, minor league player (b. 1931)
- 2016 - Eddie Einhorn, owner (b. 1936)
- 2016 - Bill Fanizzi, minor league outfielder (b. 1963)
- 2017 - Jose Luis Felomina, scout (b. ~1967)
- 2018 - Dom Anile, college coach (b. 1937)
- 2019 - Norman Wielansky, minor league pitcher (b. 1931)
- 2020 - Ramon Conde, infielder (b. 1934)
- 2021 - Tom Mulcahy, minor league pitcher; scout (b. 1931)
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