February 19
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 19.
[edit] Events
- 1889 - A tour of baseball players led by John Ward stages its first game in Europe, playing in Naples, Italy.
- 1892 - Dan Brouthers, batting champion of the American Association while with the Boston Reds in 1891, signs a contract to play with the Brooklyn Grooms. It will be his 5th team in five years.
- 1935 - Lou Gehrig signs a contract with the New York Yankees for $30,000, $7,000 less than he asked for, but still making him the highest-paid player. The 32-year old first baseman will hit .329 and 30 home runs driving in 119 runs for the second-place Yankees.
- 1937 - The New York Giants open their spring training camp in Havana, Cuba.
- 1942 - Hal Trosky, whose season ended last August when he injured his finger, and suffering from migraine headaches that cannot be treated, retires as first baseman of the Indians. Trosky will come back to play for the White Sox in 1944 and 1946, but the Hall of Fame-type brilliance he showed in the 30's is gone.
- 1946 - Giants OF Danny Gardella becomes the first major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League, the first shot in the series of events that will dominate baseball even more than the return of all the war veterans. His attempt to return to Major League Baseball a few years later will initiate a major court battle.
- 1953 - Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet after flying a combat mission in Korea. The plane was hit by enemy fire.
- 1957 - The Kansas City Athletics ship pitchers Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, and Jack McMahan, and infielders Clete Boyer, Curt Roberts and Wayne Belardi to the Yankees. In return they receive pitchers Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman and Jack Urban, OF Irv Noren, plus infielders Billy Hunter and Milt Graff. Roberts didn't go to New York City till May 4, while Boyer went a month later. Hunter and Urban don't switch until April 5. The veteran Shantz and Boyer will be valuable pickups for New York, with Shantz leading the American League in ERA this year, and Boyer a tough defensive 3B for eight years in pinstripes. The A's will eventually admit that when they signed Boyer for a $40,000 bonus in 1955, it was on behalf of the Yankees, with the understanding that they'd later ship him to NY.
- 1970 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the suspension of Detroit Tigers ace Denny McLain, effective April 1st, for McLain's alleged involvement in a bookmaking operation. The suspension will last three months.
- 1977 - The Oakland A's sell P Paul Lindblad to the Texas Rangers for $400,000, calling into question Bowie Kuhn's policy on player sales. Kuhn had previously voided an Oakland sale of players (on June 18, 1976) as "not being in the best interest of baseball," but had not specified the amount allowable in a player sale.
- 1983 - Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration case with the Dodgers and becomes the first player to win a $1 million salary through that process. The Dodgers had offered Valenzuela $750,000 for the 1983 season.
- 1987 - After signing a contract as a free agent with the A's less than a month ago, Vida Blue unexpectedly retires from baseball.
- 1988 - The San Diego Padres sign veteran SS Dickie Thon, released by Houston last month.
- 1995 - The Toronto Blue Jays assign manager Cito Gaston and his coaching staff to work with minor league players so that they will not have to deal with replacement players.
- 1998 - Shortly after beating Jorge Fabregas in an arbitration case, Arizona owner Jerry Colangelo stuns the catcher - and fellow owners - by signing him to a 2-year, $2.9 million contract, which includes a significant raise over the arbitration salary in the first year.
- 2002 - The 37-year-old Jose Canseco signs a minor league contract with the lame duck Montreal Expos. The 17-year veteran, who was the 1985 American League Rookie of the Year and its 1986 MVP, is 38 homers shy of the coveted 500 mark.
[edit] Births
- 1853 - George Miller, catcher (d. 1929)
- 1855 - John Morrill, infielder, manager (d. 1932)
- 1864 - Henry Cote, catcher (d. 1940)
- 1868 - Sal Campfield, pitcher (d. 1952)
- 1876 - Joe Marshall, outfielder (d. 1931)
- 1883 - Harry Curtis, catcher (d. 1951)
- 1889 - Walt Herrell, pitcher (d. 1949)
- 1890 - Larry Chappell, outfielder (d. 1918)
- 1891 - Weldon Wyckoff, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1892 - Scott Lucas, minor league infielder/outfielder (d. 1968)
- 1894 - Ernie Cox, pitcher (d. 1974)
- 1898 - Uke Clanton, infielder (d. 1960)
- 1900 - John Kane, infielder (d. 1956)
- 1900 - Oscar Roettger, infielder (d. 1986)
- 1908 - Yoshio Takahashi, NPB player (d. 1976)
- 1912 - Dick Siebert, infielder; All-Star (d. 1978)
- 1914 - Stan Sperry, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1914 - Iso Utsumi, NPB infielder
- 1917 - Chuck Aleno, infielder (d. 2003)
- 1917 - Tom Earley, pitcher (d. 1988)
- 1917 - Hub Kittle, coach (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Russ Sullivan, outfielder
- 1928 - Joe Macko, coach
- 1932 - Don Taussig, outfielder
- 1935 - Dave Niehaus, broadcaster; Hall of Famer
- 1935 - Roy Nixon, minor league infielder
- 1935 - Russ Nixon, catcher, manager
- 1938 - Bob Sadowski, pitcher
- 1939 - Jackie Moore, catcher, manager
- 1939 - Jim Weaver, pitcher
- 1940 - Bill Kelso, pitcher
- 1943 - Jim Cosman, pitcher
- 1943 - Gail Hopkins, infielder
- 1944 - Chris Zachary, pitcher (d. 2003)
- 1951 - Walt Jocketty, general manager
- 1952 - Dave Cheadle, pitcher
- 1957 - Dave Stewart, pitcher; All-Star
- 1959 - Keith Atherton, pitcher
- 1959 - Tim Burke, pitcher; All-Star
- 1962 - Alvaro Espinoza, infielder
- 1965 - Wayne Rosenthal, pitcher
- 1967 - Dana Brown, scout
- 1967 - Keith Kessinger, infielder
- 1971 - Miguel Batista, pitcher
- 1973 - Mike Martin Jr., minor league catcher
- 1974 - Juan Diaz, infielder/designated hitter
- 1979 - Jiangang Lu, Chinese national team pitcher
- 1982 - Chris Stewart, catcher
- 1983 - Danny Figueroa, minor league outfielder
- 1983 - Paco Figueroa, minor league infielder
[edit] Deaths
- 1888 - Live Oak Taylor, outfielder (b. 1851)
- 1915 - George Moolic, catcher (b. 1865)
- 1927 - Katsy Keifer, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1947 - Hooks Warner, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1948 - Bob Groom, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1956 - Ray Demmitt, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1957 - Red Munson, catcher (b. 1883)
- 1961 - Art Loudell, pitcher (b. 1882)
- 1961 - Epp Sell, pitcher (b. 1897)
- 1961 - Red Smith, infielder (b. 1900)
- 1966 - Harry Geisel, umpire (b. ????)
- 1969 - Doc White, pitcher (b. 1879)
- 1972 - Fuller Thompson, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1974 - Frank Miller, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1975 - Herschel Bobo, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1897)
- 1977 - Mike Gonzalez, catcher, manager (b. 1890)
- 1978 - Ben Mallonee, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1978 - Phil Paine, pitcher (b. 1930)
- 1981 - Sam Barnes, infielder (b. 1899)
- 1983 - Frank Colman, outfielder (b. 1918)
- 1984 - Bill Shores, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1996 - Charles Finley, owner (b. 1918)
- 1998 - Leo Righetti, minor league infielder (b. 1925)
- 2008 - Bob Howsam, general manager (b. 1918)
