February 15
From BR Bullpen
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| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 15.
[edit] Events
- 1889 - The Indianapolis Hoosiers, who have been without a manager since October, finally comes to terms with vet Frank Bancroft to manage in 1889.
- 1896 - The Louisville infield is being rebuilt with base lines of blue clay. In addition, blue semicircles will radiate out from 1B and 3B, joining at 2B to form, along with the bottom half of the diamond, a heart.
- 1900 - Unable to get backers in Philadelphia, John McGraw withdraws Baltimore from the American League, ending prospects for the league as a rival to the National League. Two weeks later McGraw will sign to manage Baltimore (NL).
- 1905 - Accused of throwing games, St. Louis Cardinals righthander Jack Taylor is acquitted by the National League Board of Directors in New York, but he is found guilty of bad conduct and fined $300.
- 1910 - Both major leagues adopt resolutions banning syndicate baseball, which allowed owners to have financial interests in more than one team. The National League votes for a 154-game schedule to open on April 12th, which the American League has already adopted. Other rules: umpires must announce all team changes to spectators; batting orders must be delivered to the umpire at home plate before the game; a batter is out if he crosses the plate from one batter's box to the other while the pitcher is in position to pitch; a base runner is out if he passes another runner before the latter has been put out.
- 1916 - The New York Yankees buy Frank "Home Run" Baker from the Philadelphia Athletics for $37,500. He sat out the 1915 season in a salary dispute with Connie Mack.
- 1916 - With the emergence of Joe Judge at 1B, the Washington Senators sell Chick Gandil to Cleveland for $7,500.
- 1931 - The New York Yankees' training site in St. Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager.
- 1940 - The Detroit Tigers roster lists Hank Greenberg as an OF. The willingness of the team's leading power hitter to switch, at a contract boost, from 1B allows manager Del Baker to find a position for Rudy York. Also on the list are Dick Bartell, picked up from the Chicago Cubs for Billy Rogell and Pinky Higgins, who had been shopped around. The four, along with Barney McCosky and Charlie Gehringer, produce the stuff that will move the Tigers from fifth to first, although its .588 mark will be as low as that of any pennant-winner yet.
- 1945 - Billy Southworth Jr., the son of Cards manager Billy Southworth, is killed when his B29 crashes into the water off Flushing, New York. The 27-year-old was a veteran of 25 missions in Europe, and was the first player in organized baseball to enlist in WW2. The young Southworth was a well regarded outfielder with the Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) in 1940.
- 1946 - Detroit's Hank Greenberg signs for $60,000 and then marries New York department store heiress Carol Gimbel three days later.
- 1956 - The Pirates and the Kansas City A's cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham, AL, because of a local ordinance barring black players from playing against white players.
- 1957 - A Boston newspaper claims that Ted Williams never paid his $5,000 fine for spitting at the crowd. It refers to him mockingly as the "Splendid Spitter."
- 1960 - Cienfuegos completes a 6 - 0 sweep to give Cuba the Caribbean Series championship for the 5th straight year. Camilo Pascual wins 2, including the Series clincher against Puerto Rico.
- 1980 - The San Diego Padres trade 41-year-old pitcher Gaylord Perry and a pair of minor leaguers (Tucker Ashford and Joe Carroll. to the Texas Rangers for 1B Willie Montanez.
- 1990 - ML owners refuse to open the spring training camps without a new Basic Agreement with the Players' Association, beginning a lockout that will last 32 days and postpone the start of the regular season by one week.
- 1994 - Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a college game. Appearing for Southern California College of Cosa Mesa, she 5-hits Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, 12-1.
- 1999 - The Cincinnati Reds announce that they are dropping their long-standing policy of no facial hair for players. The change is the result of a talk between owner Marge Schott and newly-acquired OF Greg Vaughn.
- 2000 - The Boston Red Sox sign outfielder Carl Everett to a three-year contract.
- 2000 - The Oakland Athletics obtain OF Jeremy Giambi from the Kansas City Royals for P Brett Laxton. Giambi joins his brother, Jason Giambi, in Oakland, becoming the 6th brother combo to play for the team. The move is widely hailed as a brilliant one by statistically-minded fans.
- 2001 - The Yanks sign Henry Rodriguez, to a one year contract. The agreement was reached a month ago and H-Rod is already listed in the team's spring training program.
- 2001 - The Padres sign free agent P Bob Jones to a one-year contract for $625,000. Jones left the Mets after 7+ seasons, declining a Mets offer of salary arbitration that would have netted him, at worst, $2 or $3 million. Last year Jones, 11 - 4, made $5.25M. Jones will lose 19 games in 2001.
- 2002 - San Diego Padres OF Mike Darr is killed in an early morning accident when his car rolls over in Phoenix near the team's spring training camp. Surviving is pitcher Ben Howard, who was sitting in the back seat wearing a seatbelt.
- 2003 - After the Chunichi Dragons released him for an undisclosed payment, the Red Sox acquire Kevin Millar (.306, 16, 57) from the Marlins. The 31-year-old first baseman-outfielder, who had originally agreed to a two-year, $6.2 million deal to play in Japan, had a change of heart after at first rejecting Boston's waiver claim for him made in January.
- 2006 - Former Los Angeles Dodgers starter Jeff Weaver (14-11, 4.22) agrees to a one-year contract with the other name with Los Angeles in its name. The deal for the last major player left on the free agent market, is worth $8,325,000, and the 29-year old right-hander can earn an additional $600,000 in performance bonuses for innings pitched and game starts with the Angels.
- 2006 - According to Adam Katz, Sammy Sosa's agent, the 37-year old slugger probably will retire 11 round trippers shy of becoming the fifth major leaguer to hit 600 home runs. Earlier, the Dominican outfielder rejected a non-guaranteed contract from the Nationals that included performance bonuses.
[edit] Births
- 1860 - Cub Stricker, infielder, manager (d. 1937)
- 1862 - Joe Weber, outfielder (d. 1921)
- 1866 - Billy Hamilton, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1940)
- 1867 - Charlie Reilly, infielder (d. 1937)
- 1869 - Bill Fagan, pitcher (d. 1930)
- 1869 - Charlie Irwin, infielder (d. 1925)
- 1876 - Carlton Molesworth, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1886 - Ed Kusel, pitcher (d. 1948)
- 1888 - Frank Betcher, infielder (d. 1981)
- 1892 - Al Braithwood, pitcher (d. 1960)
- 1895 - Jimmy Ring, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1897 - Art Johnson, pitcher (d. 1982)
- 1897 - Chuck Wolfe, pitcher (d. 1957)
- 1898 - Bobby LaMotte, infielder (d. 1970)
- 1900 - George Earnshaw, pitcher (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Larry Goetz, umpire (d. 1962)
- 1904 - Oscar Estrada, pitcher (d. 1978)
- 1905 - Hal Lee, outfielder (d. 1989)
- 1906 - Bob Cremins, pitcher (d. 2004)
- 1909 - Dee Miles, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1918 - Lorenzo Ponza, inventor (d. 2004)
- 1919 - Ducky Detweiler, infielder
- 1926 - Bubba Harris, pitcher
- 1927 - Buddy Hicks, infielder
- 1932 - Footer Johnson, pinch hitter
- 1938 - Chuck Estrada, pitcher; All-Star
- 1942 - Bill Henry, pitcher
- 1943 - Don Arlich, pitcher
- 1943 - Joe Moeller, pitcher
- 1945 - Ross Moschitto, outfielder
- 1948 - Ron Cey, infielder; All-Star
- 1950 - Rick Auerbach, infielder
- 1950 - Larry Yount, pitcher
- 1951 - Tommy Cruz, outfielder
- 1952 - Leonel Carrión, coach
- 1952 - Bill VanBommell, minor league pitcher
- 1954 - Larry Payne, minor league pitcher
- 1955 - Lew Olsen, minor league pitcher
- 1956 - Ray Cosey, pinch hitter
- 1959 - Joe Hesketh, pitcher
- 1961 - Mark Davidson, outfielder
- 1962 - Rolando Roomes, outfielder
- 1963 - Barry Jones, pitcher
- 1966 - Melido Perez, pitcher
- 1968 - Luis Mercedes, outfielder
- 1969 - Brian Williams, pitcher
- 1971 - Terry Jones, outfielder
- 1974 - Ugueth Urbina, pitcher; All-Star
- 1974 - Sean Smith, minor league player
- 1975 - Rafael Medina, pitcher
- 1977 - Alex Gonzalez, infielder; All-Star
- 1977 - Matt Randel, NPB pitcher
- 1978 - Steve Fitch, minor league player
- 1979 - Luis Ugueto, infielder
- 1980 - Don Kelly, infielder
- 1981 - Luis Bolivar, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Russell Martin, catcher; All-Star
- 1984 - Mitchell Boggs, pitcher
- 1986 - Fautino De Los Santos, minor league pitcher
- 1988 - Caleb Clay, minor league pitcher
[edit] Deaths
- 1898 - Harry Stees, minor league player (b. ????)
- 1903 - Phil Reccius, infielder (b. 1862)
- 1910 - Bug Holliday, outfielder (b. 1867)
- 1922 - Pete Childs, infielder (b. 1871)
- 1925 - Duke Farrell, catcher (b. 1866)
- 1931 - Billy Kinloch, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1936 - Bill Grahame, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1940 - Chick Fulmer, infielder (b. 1851)
- 1940 - Ray Morgan, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1943 - John Deering, pitcher (b. 1879)
- 1945 - Steve Behel, outfielder (b. 1860)
- 1945 - Billy Southworth Jr., minor league outfielder (b. 1917)
- 1946 - George Starnagle, catcher (b. 1873)
- 1954 - Duke Gillespie, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1955 - Lynn Nelson, pitcher (b. 1905)
- 1955 - Tom Tennant, pinch hitter (b. 1882)
- 1959 - Bruce Caldwell, outfielder (b. 1906)
- 1959 - Lefty Houtz, outfielder (b. 1875)
- 1961 - Joe Bean, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1963 - Bump Hadley, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1963 - Harlin Pool, outfielder (b. 1908)
- 1964 - Fred Trautman, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1972 - Pep Goodwin, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1977 - Diomedes Olivo, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 1981 - Cotton Pippen, pitcher (b. 1911)
- 1991 - Julio Gonzalez, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 1994 - Ray Blemker, pitcher (b. 1937)
- 2000 - Bob Ramazzotti, infielder (b. 1917)
- 2002 - Mike Darr, outfielder (b. 1976)
- 2004 - Raúl Mendoza Mancilla, writer; Salon de la Fama (b. 1926)
- 2004 - Lawrence Ritter, author (b. 1922)
- 2006 - Bob Rich, minor league executive (b. 1913)
- 2007 - Terry Enyart, pitcher (b. 1950)
- 2007 - Buddy Hancken, catcher (b. 1914)
