February 3
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 3.
[edit] Events
- 1886 - Albert Spalding begins a sporting goods company with $800. He will become the manufacturer of the first official baseball as well as the tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football.
- 1900 - Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park Ball Grounds in Baltimore. John McGraw's men camp around a fire at third base. Ned Hanlon, his former manager in Baltimore in the 1890s, now manager of Brooklyn and still president of the Baltimore club in the National League, has forces camped around first base.
- 1920 - A meeting in Kansas City results in the birth of the Negro National League. Chicago American Giants owner Rube Foster spearheads the formation of the league, which will consist of eight franchises: Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABCs, Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and St. Louis Giants.
- 1934 - The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns decide to cease broadcasting home games. The teams hope the move will result in better attendance at their ballparks.
- 1942 - Major League owners hold a meeting to discuss regulations to be used during World War II. The owners decide to have each team play 14 night games, except for the Washington Senators, which will be permitted 21 games under the lights at Griffith Stadium. Two All-Star Games will be played, one with a military All-Star team. Curfews are set for night games with no inning to start after 12:50 A.M.
- 1965 - Milwaukee Braves officials propose a $500,000 payment to county officials if the club's lease to play in Milwaukee can be terminated a year early. The offer is refused.
- 1975 - Billy Herman, Earl Averill and Bucky Harris are selected for the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Herman was a ten-time All-Star second baseman who batted .304 in 15 seasons and played in four World Series. Averill batted .299 or better in nine of his first ten seasons and finished as a .318 career hitter. Harris managed the Senators to two pennants in his first two seasons as a player-manager and was a career .274 hitter.
- 1977 - The Special Committee on the Negro Leagues elects Martin Dihigo and shortstop Pop Lloyd to the Hall of Fame. Dihigo, a dominant pitcher born in Cuba, also was a infielder and outfielder from 1923 to 1945. Lloyd, a standout shortstop and dangerous hitter, played in the Negro Leagues from 1906 to 1932.
- 1978 - Under the financial reorganization of the club, Steve O'Neill becomes the principal owner of the Cleveland Indians.
- 1979 The Minnesota Twins trade infielder Rod Carew to the California Angels for outfielder Ken Landreaux and three lesser players. Carew, who hit .333 for the Twins in 1978, will hit .318 for the Angels in 1979. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
- 1987 - The Montreal Expos send relief ace Jeff Reardon and catcher Tom Nieto to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for pitcher Neal Heaton, catcher Jeff Reed, and two minor leaguers. Reardon will save 31 games for the Twins in 1987 and help the franchise to its first World Championship.
- 1998 - The New York Yankees replace recently resigned general manager Bob Watson with Brian Cashman.
- 1999 - After 16 years of doing local telecasts, the New York Mets do not ask Tim McCarver to return to the broadcast booth. Tom Seaver will replace the highly regarded broadcaster and will assume other duties within the organization.
- 2002 - New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada signs a five-year contract with the club. Terms are not announced, but Posada was asking for $7.75 million in arbitration which would make the 30-year-old the second best-paid catcher in major league history.
- 2006:
- Miguel Tejada hit a three-run home run to help the Dominican Republic's Licey Tigers rally past Mexico's Mazatlan Reindeer, 10 - 6, in the Caribbean World Series. In the second game, Marco Scutaro hit a grand slam to propel the Caracas Lions of Venezuela to a 6 - 1 victory against Puerto Rico's Carolina Giants. Scutaro and his Caracas teammates are 2-0 in round-robin play. The Dominican Republic is also undefeated after two games, and the two teams square off tomorrow night.
- The Boston Red Sox finished up their deal for slick-fielding shortstop Alex Gonzalez, plugging their last big hole after a major offseason upheaval. Gonzalez, who spent his first eight major league seasons with the Florida Marlins, will reportedly get a one-year contract worth $3 million. An All-Star in 1999, Gonzalez also helped the Marlins win the World Series in 2003. He committed 32 errors in the last two seasons (16 each), compared to the 30 committed by Edgar Renteria in his only season with the Red Sox.
- The San Francisco Giants renamed their stadium as a result of continuous changes in the corporate world that pay handsomely for sports naming rights, giving the stadium its third identity since the ballpark opened in 2000. The Giants ballpark is changing its name to AT&T Park beginning in March. The stadium was originally called Pacific Bell Park and was later renamed SBC Park. AT-and-T Park is scheduled to host the All-Star Game in 2007.
- 2008:
- The Tigres del Licey top the Yaquis de Obregón in a 11-inning, 2-1 contest in the 2008 Caribbean Series. Center fielder Jose Bautista homers in the second and hits a sacrifice fly in the 11th to score Yordany Ramirez, driving in both of Licey's runs. Nelson Figueroa throws over 9 innings of work for the Yaquis in their upset bid before he is finally yanked in the 10th.
- A rocky start from Andrew Lorraine gives the Aguilas Cibaeñas two runs as Lorraine is wild from the get-go, walking leadoff man Rafael Furcal on four pitches. The Aguilas go on to a 3-1 win over the Tigres de Aragua behind six different pitchers. Francisco Cruceta gets the win and Arnie Munoz the save.
- The 23rd Cuban All-Star Game is held in front of over 28,000 fans at Guillermón Moncada Stadium. The Occidentales (Western League) top the Orientales (Eastern League) in an exciting 6-5 game. The 2007-2008 Serie Nacional home run leader, Alexei Bell, clouts a 3-run first-inning homer off of Yulieski González, to get the Orientales going. The Occidentales rallied with five runs in the bottom of the third, with two RBI apiece by Eriel Sánchez and Ernesto Molinet. The game was 5-5 entering the bottom of the 9th, when Yosvany Peraza hit a walk-off home run against Jorge Longa. Peraza wins MVP honors. Alexei Gil is the winning pitcher.
[edit] Births
- 1851 - Live Oak Taylor, outfielder (d. 1888)
- 1860 - Gene Derby, catcher (d. 1917)
- 1872 - Lou Criger, catcher (d. 1934)
- 1879 - Ralph Savidge, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1880 - Newt Randall, outfielder (d. 1955)
- 1882 - Frank Barberich, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1885 - Slim Sallee, pitcher (d. 1950)
- 1890 - Larry MacPhail Hall of Famer (d. 1975)
- 1896 - Chicken Hawks, infielder (d. 1973)
- 1901 - Ernie Maun, pitcher (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Joe Stripp, infielder (d. 1989)
- 1915 - Buck Ross, pitcher (d. 1978)
- 1916 - Daniel Canónico, Venezuelan League pitcher and manager
- 1916 - Mike Garbark, catcher (d. 1994)
- 1918 - Sid Schacht, pitcher (d. 1991)
- 1921 - Red Durrett, outfielder (d. 1992)
- 1922 - Jim Dyck, outfielder (d. 1999)
- 1925 - Harry Byrd, pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1931 - Glenn Cox, pitcher
- 1934 - Noboru Akiyama, NPB pitcher and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 2000)
- 1935 - Don Kaiser, pitcher
- 1935 - Dick Tracewski, infielder, manager
- 1944 - Wayne Comer, outfielder
- 1944 - Celerino Sanchez, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1947 - Joe Coleman, pitcher; All-Star
- 1949 - Bake McBride, outfielder; All-Star
- 1951 - Mike Wallace, pitcher
- 1952 - Fred Lynn, outfielder; All-Star
- 1953 - Ronald Williamson, minor league catcher (d. 2004)
- 1957 - Don Welchel, pitcher
- 1961 - Joe Kucharski, minor league pitcher
- 1961 - Freddie Toliver, pitcher
- 1962 - Joe Klink, pitcher
- 1965 - Rich Scheid, pitcher
- 1966 - Paul McClellan, pitcher
- 1967 - Luis Iglesias, minor league infielder
- 1969 - Terry Bradshaw, outfielder
- 1971 - Scott Klingenbeck, pitcher
- 1971 - Eric Owens, outfielder
- 1973 - Ryan Long, outfielder
- 1976 - Dong-joo Kim, KBO infielder
- 1976 - Bart Miadich, pitcher
- 1977 - Luis D. Figueroa, minor league infielder
- 1980 - Skip Schumaker, outfielder
- 1980 - Li Zhang, Chinese national team pitcher
- 1981 - B.J. Garbe, minor league outfielder
- 1981 - Shea Douglas, minor league player
- 1983 - Ricardo Rojas, minor league player
- 1986 - Hung-Wen Chen, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Pim Walsma, Hoofdklasse pitcher
[edit] Deaths
- 1901 - Tom O'Brien, outfielder (b. 1873)
- 1927 - Billy McLean, umpire (b. 1835)
- 1930 - Gus Sandberg, catcher (b. 1895)
- 1936 - Andy Boswell, pitcher (b. 1874)
- 1938 - Mike Donovan, infielder (b. 1881)
- 1942 - Happy Finneran, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1942 - Frank Luce, outfielder (b. 1896)
- 1943 - Jake Virtue, infielder (b. 1865)
- 1950 - Dick Spalding, outfielder (b. 1893)
- 1953 - Frank Donnelly, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1955 - Fred Brown, outfielder (b. 1879)
- 1961 - Dana Fillingim, pitcher (b. 1893)
- 1968 - Jake Pitler, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1977 - Chi-Chi Olivo, pitcher (b. 1928)
- 1978 - Pete Compton, outfielder (b. 1889)
- 1978 - Roy Flaskamper, infielder (b. 1901)
- 1978 - Mike Herrera, infielder (b. 1897)
- 1982 - Hugo Klaerner, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 1983 - Trader Horne, pitcher (b. 1899)
- 1988 - Jocko Thompson, pitcher (b. 1917)
- 1989 - Dick Bass, pitcher (b. 1906)
- 1990 - Erv Kantlehner, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1991 - Walter Brown, pitcher (b. 1915)
- 1999 - Leo Schrall, college coach (b. 1907)
- 2000 - John Leovich, catcher (b. 1918)
