November 26
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 | |
| Sources | |
| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on November 26.
Events[edit]
- 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, ten games to nine. All the games are 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 Professional Baseball League becomes the Central League and is joined by the new Pacific League, which will begin play next spring. This structure remains in place to this day.
- 1950 - The Gillette Safety Razor Co. signs a six-year deal, worth an estimated $6 million, with Major League Baseball for the television and radio rights for the World Series.
- 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. Six different players all receive between three and seven votes in a year when no rookie player clearly stood out above the rest of the field.
- 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.
- 1987 - The Pittsburgh Pirates pull off a key trade, landing Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher and Logan Easley from the New York Yankees for Rick Rhoden, Cecilio Guante and Pat Clements.
- 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 are announced, 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 six years to his contract worth an additional $100 million.
- 2013 - The MVP awards in Nippon Pro Baseball come as no surprise. Masahiro Tanaka of the Rakuten Golden Eagles is the unanimous winner of the 2013 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award after going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, the only pitcher in NPB annals to lead in wins without losing a game. Meanwhile, Wladimir Balentien of the Yakult Swallows takes home the 2013 Central League Most Valuable Player Award, the first player ever to win from a last-place team; Balentien set a new NPB home run record with 60.
- 2014:
- The 2014 NPB Most Valuable Player Awards are not as clear-cut as in 2013. Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants (12-5, with a league-best 2.33 ERA) takes the 2014 Central League Most Valuable Player Award, but 15 other players receive first-place votes. The 2014 Pacific League Award goes to Orix Buffaloes ace Chihiro Kaneko (16-5, 1.98), who led the league in wins and ERA while striking out over a batter per inning. Kaneko only gets 125 of 243 first-place votes. Pitchers also take both Rookie of the Year awards. The 2014 Central League Rookie of the Year Award winner is Daichi Osera of Hiroshima (10-8, 4.05) while the PL Rookie of the Year is Ayumu Ishikawa of Chiba Lotte (10-8, 3.43).
- The Diamondbacks sign Cuban defector OF Yasmani Tomas to a six-year deal worth $68.5 million after a bidding war involving a number of teams.
- 2018 - The notoriously young Braves, who featured two of the three youngest regulars in the majors in 2018 in Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies, add some experience in planning a run for the big prize in 2019 by signing veteran free agents Josh Donaldson and Brian McCann to one-year deals. The 35-year-old McCann is a native of Georgia who spent his first nine seasons with the Braves, making this a true homecoming.
- 2019: Hayato Sakamoto of the Yomiuri Giants becomes the first shortstop to be named Central League MVP, taking the 2019 CL MVP after leading the league in slugging and also playing Gold Glove defense. The 2019 Pacific League MVP goes to Seibu Lions catcher Tomoya Mori, who led the 2019 Pacific League in average, slugging and OPS. Rei Takahashi of the Softbank Hawks wins the 2019 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award after finishing fourth in the Pacific League in ERA and tying for fourth in wins. The 2019 Central League Rookie of the Year Award goes to Yakult Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami, who hit 36 homers and drove in 96 runs, both figures good for third in the league while setting a record for dingers by a teenager.
- 2024:
- The major 2024 Japanese awards are given out. Tomoyuki Sugano of the Yomiuri Giants has a bounceback season at age 36, going 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA, to win the 2024 Central League MVP. The 2024 PL MVP goes to the Softbank Hawks' Kensuke Kondo, who led the league in all three rate stats plus walks. The 2024 Central League Rookie of the Year Award goes to reliever Hiromasa Funabasama of the Hanshin Tigers, who had a 2.37 ERA. Natsuki Takeuchi of the Seibu Lions wins the 2024 PL Rookie of the Year after going 10-6 with a 2.17 ERA.
- Coming off a World Series win, the Dodgers still make a splash on the free agent market, signing P Blake Snell to a five-year deal worth $162 million. Snell opted out of the final year of the two-year contract he signed with the Giants last spring after a dominating second half following a terrible first couple of months in San Francisco, a move that has paid off handsomely for him.
- Also giving out major awards was the Korea Baseball Organization. 21-year-old Do-yeong Kim of the KIA Tigers wins the KBO MVP for 2024, after tying the Asian pro baseball run record of 143 while becoming the youngest 30-30 player in league history. Doosan Bears closer Taek-yeon Kim wins the KBO Rookie of the Year after saving 19 games with a 2.08 ERA.
Births[edit]
- 1855 - Jacob 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 (d. 1905)
- 1868 - Billy Stage, umpire (d. 1946)
- 1869 - William Ritter, catcher (d. 1928)
- 1871 - Fred Tenney, infielder, manager (d. 1952)
- 1872 - Eugene McGreevy, umpire (d. 1934)
- 1873 - Gussie Gannon, pitcher (d. 1966)
- 1876 - Max Rosner, semipro owner (d. 1953)
- 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)
- 1900 - Archie Cole, pitcher (d. 1952)
- 1905 - Bob Johnson, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1982)
- 1907 - Gowell Claset, pitcher (d. 1981)
- 1908 - Oran Frazier, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1908 - Lefty Gomez, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1989)
- 1910 - Ray White, minor league pitcher and manager (d. 1995)
- 1911 - Howard Easterling, infielder; All-Star (d. 1993)
- 1913 - Garton Del Savio, infielder (d. 2006)
- 1914 - Herbert Buster, infielder (d. 1976)
- 1914 - Ed Weiland, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1915 - Deedum Krynzel, minor league player {d. 1993)
- 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 - Yasuhiro Fukami, NPB outfielder (d. 1972)
- 1919 - Danny Reynolds, infielder (d. 2007)
- 1920 - Jodie Beeler, infielder (d. 2002)
- 1920 - James Martin, college coach (d. 2017)
- 1920 - Bud Sheely, catcher (d. 1985)
- 1921 - Mickey McGowan, pitcher (d. 2003)
- 1922 - Joe Muir, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1922 - Ben Wade, pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1923 - Nat Allbright, announcer (d. 2011)
- 1924 - Charley Feeney, writer (d. 2014)
- 1927 - Pete Taylor, pitcher (d. 2003)
- 1932 - Raymond Hyde, minor league pitcher (d. 2015)
- 1933 - Minnie Rojas, pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1934 - Ron Shirley, minor league pitcher (d. 2010)
- 1935 - Larry Babich, college coach (d. 2018)
- 1937 - Bob Lee, pitcher; All-Star (d. 2020)
- 1941 - Jeff Torborg, catcher, manager
- 1942 - Susumu Sato, NPB pitcher
- 1947 - Larry Gura, pitcher; All-Star
- 1947 - Richie Hebner, infielder
- 1950 - Jorge Orta, infielder; All-Star
- 1952 - Earl Bass, minor league pitcher (d. 2018)
- 1953 - Hsin-Fa Chuang, Taiwan national team pitcher
- 1954 - Richard Bass, minor league outfielder
- 1955 - Jay Howell, pitcher; All-Star
- 1955 - Mike Mendoza, pitcher
- 1955 - Roy Moretti, minor league pitcher (d. 2015)
- 1955 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr., Cuban league infielder (d. 2021)
- 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
- 1961 - Moon-sik Min, KBO pitcher
- 1962 - Chuck Finley, pitcher; All-Star
- 1962 - Masashi Yokota, NPB outfielder
- 1966 - James Wray, minor league pitcher
- 1968 - Hector Wagner, pitcher (d. 2017)
- 1969 - Tommy Adams, minor league outfielder
- 1969 - Yoshikazu Doi, Japanese national team pitcher
- 1969 - Sam Militello, pitcher
- 1971 - Jacques Levy, New Caledonia national team pitcher
- 1973 - Andre King, minor league outfielder
- 1973 - Jon Valenti, minor league infielder-pitcher
- 1974 - Seung-nam Jeon, KBO pitcher
- 1975 - Daryl Cronk, college coach (d. 2021)
- 1975 - Matty Gahan, minor league pitcher
- 1975 - Chun-Yi Wu, CPBL pitcher
- 1975 - Farouk Messagier, French Division I infielder
- 1976 - Takuya Ishiguro, Japanese national team 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; All-Star
- 1985 - Jhonny Nunez, pitcher
- 1986 - Osman Marval, minor league catcher
- 1987 - Bas Nooij, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1988 - Ninoska Amaro, Puerto Rican women's national team player
- 1988 - Emmanuel Ávila, minor league infielder
- 1988 - Josh Smoker, pitcher
- 1988 - Matt Tracy, pitcher
- 1988 - Hector Velazquez, pitcher
- 1989 - Balbino Fuenmayor, minor league infielder
- 1990 - Elmer Reyes, minor league infielder
- 1991 - Yu-Hsien Chu, CPBL outfielder
- 1991 - Francisco Gracesqui, minor league pitcher
- 1991 - Lindsay Horwitz, USA women's national team pitcher
- 1991 - Corey Knebel, pitcher; All-Star
- 1991 - Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, infielder
- 1991 - Kyle Waldrop, outfielder
- 1994 - Felipe Mizukosi, Brazilian national team infielder
- 1995 - Ryan Walker, pitcher
- 1996 - Adrix Paradizo, Puerto Rican women's national team infielder
- 1996 - Cal Raleigh, catcher
- 1998 - Carlos Narváez, catcher
- 1999 - Connor Van Scoyoc, minor league pitcher
- 2000 - Edward Yi Chen Chuang, Singaporean national team pitcher
- 2000 - Chih-Cheng Chiu, CPBL outfielder
Deaths[edit]
- 1907 - Eddie Burke, outfielder (b. 1866)
- 1928 - Denny Clare, infielder (b. 1853)
- 1928 - Butts Wagner, infielder (b. 1871)
- 1933 - Eggie Dallard, infielder/outfielder (b. 1899)
- 1937 - Andy Bednar, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 1952 - Warren Gill, infielder (b. 1878)
- 1954 - Bill Doak, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1962 - Al Carson, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1969 - Vaughn Blanchard, USA national team infielder (b. 1889)
- 1969 - Emil Kush, pitcher (b. 1916)
- 1972 - George Jackson, outfielder (b. 1882)
- 1972 - Wendell Smith, writer (b. 1914)
- 1973 - Tom Kane, infielder (b. 1906)
- 1975 - Laymon Yokely, pitcher (b. 1906)
- 1982 - Hub Walker, outfielder (b. 1906)
- 1985 - Monk Sherlock, infielder (b. 1904)
- 1986 - Randolph Prim, pitcher (b. 1896)
- 1989 - Lew Fonseca, infielder, manager (b. 1899)
- 2001 - Ted Davenport, college coach (b. 1928)
- 2004 - Tom Haller, catcher; All-Star (b. 1937)
- 2006 - Takeshi Yamashita, NPB catcher (b. 1931)
- 2007 - William Parlier, minor league outfielder (b. 1944)
- 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)
- 2016 - Bill Endicott, outfielder (b. 1918)
- 2021 - Mel Nelson, pitcher (b. 1936)
- 2023 - Yoshiyuki Sakakibara, NPB infielder (b. 1949)
We're Social...for Statheads
Every Sports Reference Social Media Account
Site Last Updated:
Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter
Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE
Your All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database
Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more.