February 24
From BR Bullpen
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| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 24.
[edit] Events
- 1886 - Kansas City hires 30-year-old Dave Rowe to manage the Cowboys.
- 1896 - The National League adopts changes in the National Agreement. The minor leagues are divided into six classifications based on population, and new draft fees are instituted.
- 1896 - The NL forbids players from deliberately soiling baseballs, declares that "a ball cutting the corners of the home plate, and being requisite height, must be called a strike," and empowers umpires to eject players.
- 1917 - Smoky Joe Wood, his arm dead at 26, is sold by the Boston Red Sox to Cleveland for $15,000. He will become an OF after one last, losing start on the mound, and will play five more years.
- 1926 - Southpaw Eddie Plank, winner of 327 games in 17 years, dies at 51 in his native Gettysburg, PA.
- 1943 - The Texas League announces it will quit for the duration of the war. The St. Louis Cardinals, with 260 farm players in the service, will reduce farm clubs from 22 to 6. Only nine minor leagues will start the 1943 season. Advertisements for players appear in The Sporting News.
- 1948 - The Chicago White Sox trade Ed Lopat to the New York Yankees for Aaron Robinson, Bill Wight and Fred Bradley. Lopat will star for seven seasons in pinstripes, winning 21 in 1951 and going 16 - 4 in 1953. Robinson's main value to the Sox will come at the end of the season when he's swapped for another lefty pitcher, Billy Pierce.
- 1966 - University of Southern California pitcher Tom Seaver is signed by the Braves. The deal will later be voided, and the USC stand-out will be selected by the New York Mets in a special draft.
- 1977 - The Oakland A's trade Ron Fairly to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor leaguer Mike Weathers and cash. The Macon, Georgia native, who played with the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 1974, becomes the first major leaguer to appear with both Canadian teams.
- 1986 - San Diego Padres manager Dick Williams resigns and will be replaced by Steve Boros.
- 1990 - Former Boston Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro dies of pneumonia and kidney failure at the age of 45. Conigliaro was the youngest AL player ever to reach 100 career home runs and then was nearly blinded by a 1967 beaning.
- 2000 - The National Labor Relations Board certifies the results of the November election that kicked out the Major League Umpires Association and replaced it with the newly-formed World Umpires Association. About 50 of the 71 major league umpires have joined the new union. The decision ends Richie Phillips' 21-year reign as union chief.
- 2003 - In the wake of Steve Bechler's death, Commissioner Bud Selig decides to ban the use of ephedra in the minor leagues. Players on the current 40-man major league rosters, which would have included the 23-year old Oriole pitcher who died on February 23, are not prohibited to use the because as union members they are already covered by the drug-testing rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, which bans only drugs of abuse and certain illegal steroids.
[edit] Births
- 1873 - Joe Dolan, infielder (d. 1938)
- 1874 - Con Lucid, pitcher (d. 1931)
- 1874 - Honus Wagner, infielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1955)
- 1875 - Monte Beville, catcher (d. 1955)
- 1877 - Champ Osteen, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1881 - Bill Lindsay, infielder (d. 1963)
- 1882 - Bugs Raymond, pitcher (d. 1912)
- 1892 - Wilbur Cooper, pitcher (d. 1973)
- 1896 - Bill Bagwell, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1898 - John Henry Russell, Negro League infielder (d. 1972)
- 1899 - Pinky Pittinger, infielder (d. 1977)
- 1905 - Lynn Nelson, pitcher (d. 1955)
- 1907 - Earl Grace, catcher (d. 1980)
- 1907 - Bob Seeds, outfielder (d. 1993)
- 1909 - Steamboat Struss, pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1910 - Fred Sington, outfielder (d. 1998)
- 1911 - Nig Lipscomb, infielder (d. 1978)
- 1911 - Johnny Oulliber, outfielder (d. 1980)
- 1919 - Del Wilber, catcher, manager (d. 2002)
- 1928 - Bubba Phillips, infielder (d. 1993)
- 1938 - Jim Rantz, minor league player and manager
- 1945 - Gary Moore, outfielder
- 1951 - Frank Ortenzio, infielder
- 1953 - Frank Riccelli, pitcher
- 1953 - Mike Sember, infielder
- 1954 - Dave Edwards, outfielder
- 1956 - Eddie Murray, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer
- 1959 - Bryan Kelly, pitcher
- 1960 - Nick Esasky, infielder
- 1963 - Matias Carrillo, outfielder
- 1966 - Rene Arocha, pitcher
- 1966 - Darrin Reichle, minor league pitcher
- 1966 - Rod Brewer, infielder
- 1969 - Mike Crosby, minor league catcher
- 1972 - Randy Donisthorpe, minor league pitcher (d. 1996)
- 1973 - Stubby Clapp, infielder/outfielder
- 1974 - Mike Lowell, infielder; All-Star
- 1976 - Randy Keisler, pitcher
- 1977 - Bronson Arroyo, pitcher; All-Star
- 1978 - Steve Torrealba, catcher
- 1978 - Dewayne Wise, outfielder
- 1979 - Dennis Tankersley, pitcher
- 1979 - Brian Esposito, catcher
- 1980 - Rick Elder, minor league outfielder
- 1981 - Rob Bowen, catcher
- 1981 - Paul McAnulty, outfielder
- 1982 - Nick Blackburn, pitcher
- 1982 - J.D. Durbin, pitcher
- 1982 - Gustavo Molina, catcher
- 1984 - Casey Smith, minor league infielder
- 1988 - Dwayne Kemp, minor league infielder
- 1988 - Jae-won Lee, KBO catcher
- 1988 - Chris Parmelee, minor league outfielder
[edit] Deaths
- 1881 - Molly Moore, infielder
- 1915 - Marc Hall, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1915 - Adonis Terry, pitcher (b. 1864)
- 1926 - Eddie Plank, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1875)
- 1927 - Charlie Bennett, catcher (b. 1854)
- 1935 - Joe Moffett, infielder (b. 1859)
- 1947 - Jack Glasscock, infielder, manager (b. 1857)
- 1949 - Ted Scheffler, outfielder (b. 1864)
- 1953 - Lenny Metz, infielder (b. 1899)
- 1957 - Bugs Reisigl, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1960 - Uke Clanton, infielder (b. 1898)
- 1962 - Max Bishop, infielder (b. 1899)
- 1964 - Henry Baldwin, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1967 - Jake Propst, pinch hitter (b. 1895)
- 1976 - Carey Selph, infielder (b. 1901)
- 1977 - Sal Madrid, infielder (b. 1920)
- 1989 - Sparky Adams, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1990 - Tony Conigliaro, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1945)
- 1991 - Joe Munson, outfielder (b. 1899)
- 1994 - Jim McKnight, infielder (b. 1936)
- 1995 - Woody Williams, infielder (b. 1912)
- 1999 - Johnnie Wittig, pitcher (b. 1914)
- 2001 - Phil Collier, writer (b. 1925)
