BR Bullpen:News Archive/2008

2008

• December 20: The 2008 Hoofdklasse awards are given out. Mark Duursma wins MVP honors, Rob Cordemans is Pitcher of the Year for the 5th time and Rikkert Faneyte is Coach of the Year.
• December 8: Joe Gordon is elected to the Hall of Fame.
• November 21: Alex Ramirez and Hisashi Iwakuma are named the 2008 MVPs of the Central League and Pacific League, respectively.
• November 18: Dustin Pedroia is honored as the 2008 AL MVP.
• November 18: Hisanobu Watanabe wins the Matsutaro Shoriki Award for 2008.
• November 17: Albert Pujols is named MVP of the 2008 National League.
• November 16: The Seibu Lions win the 2008 Asia Series. Tomoaki Sato is named MVP.
• November 13: Cliff Lee wins the 2008 American League Cy Young Award.
• November 11: Tim Lincecum wins the 2008 National League Cy Young Award.
• November 9: The Seibu Lions win the 2008 Japan Series. Takayuki Kishi is named MVP.
• November 6: Kwang-hyun Kim is named MVP of the 2008 Korea Baseball Organization season.
• November 5: Mike Johnson is named MVP of the 2008 CPBL.
• November 2: The Uni-President Lions win the 2008 Taiwan Series. Luther Hackman wins MVP honors.
• October 31: The SK Wyverns win the 2008 Korean Series. Jung Choi is named MVP.
• October 29: The Philadelphia Phillies win the 2008 World Series with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5; it is the Phillies' second title in their long history.
• October 8: The Amsterdam Pirates win the 2008 Holland Series in a sweep.
• October 5: Puerto Rico wins the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup. Carlos Rivera wins MVP honors.
• October 1: The SK Wyverns set a new single-season Korea Baseball Organization record for wins as they improve to 82-40.
• September 27: The Regensburg Legionäre win the 2008 Bundesliga pennant, their first title ever. Markus Gienger is MVP of the finals.
• September 21: Alex Ramirez breaks Wally Yonamine's decades-old record for hits by a foreign batter in NPB.
• September 14: Carlos Zambrano throws the first neutral site no-hitter in MLB history.
• September 14: Danesi Nettuno wins the 2008 European Cup Final Four.
• September 13: Francisco Rodriguez breaks the record for saves by earning his 58th of the season; the record had been held by Bobby Thigpen since 1990.
• September 8: Gary Sheffield hits the official 250,000th home run in MLB history, a grand slam.
• September 8: Mark Saccomanno becomes the 20th player to homer on the first pitch he sees in the major leagues.
• September 8: The Boston Red Sox play before their 456th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park, setting a MLB record.
• September 7: The Pittsburgh Pirates become the second team in MLB history to post a losing record for 16 consecutive seasons.
• September 6: T&A San Marino wins their first Serie A1 title. Max De Biase wins Series MVP honors.
• September 3: Instant replay is used for the first time in a major league game, as a home run call by Brian Runge is upheld.
• August 29: Japan wins the 2008 Women's Baseball World Cup.
• August 24: The Mexico City Red Devils win their 15th Mexican League title; Elmer Dessens picks up the decisive victory.
• August 24: Waipahu, HI wins the 2008 Little League World Series.
• August 23: South Korea beats the Cuban national team to win Gold at the 2008 Olympics.
• August 18: Osaka Toin High School wins the 2008 summer Koshien Tournament.
• August 14: A record four consecutive Chicago White Sox batters hit home runs as the Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2.
• August 4: Masahiro Yamamoto joins the meikyukai with his 200th win, the 24th pitcher in NPB history to that figure.
• August 3: South Korea wins the 2008 World Junior Championship, beating the USA 7-0 in the finale. It is their second straight World Junior Championship for South Korea.
• July 31: In the last days before the trading deadline, Jason Bay, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ivan Rodriguez are the biggest stars to switch teams.
• July 30: Ichiro Suzuki reaches 3,000 hits between the major leagues and Nippon Pro Baseball. Only Isao Harimoto had reached 3,000 in NPB alone.
• July 30: Kelly Shoppach ties the major league record with five extra-base hits in a game.
• July 27: Matt Young sets a new Southern League record by collecting hits in 11 consecutive at-bats.
• July 27: The USA wins the 2008 World University Championship, completing a 24-0 summer. The Gold Medal game against Japan is a 1-0 11-inning pitching duel, with both starters working into extra innings.
• July 27: Brad Ziegler breaks the 101-year-old record for consecutive scoreless innings at the start of a MLB career.
• July 23: All eight countries have announced their Olympic Rosters.
• July 15: In the longest All-Star Game in duration (4 hours, 50 minutes), the American League wins 4-3 in 15 innings in the 2008 Midsummer Classic.
• July 13: Chin-Feng Chen sets a Chinese Professional Baseball League record by collecting 13 total bases in a game. He goes deep three times and adds a single, driving in five.
• July 13: The World team pitching staff throws a 3-hit shutout to win the 2008 Futures Game over the USA. Carlos Carrasco gets the win, Shairon Martis the save and Che-Hsuan Lin wins the Larry Doby Award as the MVP.
• July 12: Former big leaguer and longtime New York Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer dies of cancer at age 62.
• July 10: Wei-Lun Pan throws a no-hitter and walks none against the Chinatrust Whales but fails to get the first perfect game in CPBL history thanks to an error by Kuo-Ching Kao.
• July 7: The Chicago Cubs lead all major league clubs with seven players selected to the 2008 All-Star Game.
• June 28: For the fifth time since 1900, a MLB team wins despite getting no hits. Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo no-hit the Dodgers but lose 1-0 thanks to two errors and a sacrifice fly.
• June 25: Fresno State wins the 2008 College World Series. The lowest seed ever to win, Fresno State also had the most losses of any CWS champion. The underdog Bulldogs top the University of Georgia, 2 games to 1 in the finals.
• June 23: Felix Hernandez is the first American League pitcher to hit a grand slam since Steve Dunning last accomplished the feat in 1971.
• June 22: The two 2008 European Cups are won by Corendon Kinheim and FC Barcelona. It is the first time more than one European Cup was played in a year.
• June 10: Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the 6th player in MLB history to hit 600 home runs when he connects off Mark Hendrickson.
• June 6: Jin-woo Song becomes the first pitcher in Korea Baseball Organization history to strike out 2,000 batters.
• June 5: The 2008 amateur draft is held. Tim Beckham is the first pick, followed by Pedro Alvarez.
• May 31: Manny Ramirez hits his 500th major league home run, the 24th player in history to reach that figure.
• May 25: Omar Vizquel sets a new major league record for career games played at shortstop, breaking the mark held by Luís Aparicio.
• May 24: Enorbel Márquez of the Solingen Alligators throws a 16-strikeout perfect game against the Bonn Capitals.
• May 19: Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox throws a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.
• May 12: Asdrubal Cabrera turns the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history.
• May 3: John Shelby III hits three home runs in a game to tie the all-time Carolina League record.
• April 30: Julio Franco announces his retirement from baseball at age 49. He had been playing for the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League and had last played in the Major Leagues in 2007.
• April 23: The Chicago Cubs win their 10,000th game, the second MLB franchise to reach that figure; only the Giants had done so before.
• April 22: John Smoltz becomes the 16th major league pitcher to attain 3,000 career strikeouts.
• April 21: Santiago de Cuba sweeps Pinar del Río in the 2007-2008 Cuban Serie Nacional finals.
• April 12: Tomoaki Kanemoto joins the meikyukai with his 2,000th hit in NPB.
• April 12: Fausto Álvarez becomes the oldest player in Hoofdklasse history, at 47 years and 5 months. He breaks Stan Bahnsen's record of 47 years and 4 months. In the Opening Day win for Amsterdam, the veteran slugger goes 4 for 4 with a home run.
• April 5: Alexei Bell sets a Cuban postseason record with three hits in one inning. Santiago de Cuba scores a record 15 runs in the second inning of their 23-12 run in the semifinals.
• April 1: The independent South Coast League suspends its operations after only one season of play.
• March 30: In the first regular-season game played in Washington's new Nationals Park, Ryan Zimmerman hits a 9th-inning walk-off home run to propel the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
• March 25: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Oakland Athletics 6-5 in 10 innings in the Major League Baseball season opener at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. It is the earliest opening day in MLB history.
• March 19 Yulieski González wins his 15th straight game of the 2007-2008 Serie Nacional season. This is a new record for consecutive wins in a Serie Nacional campaign.
• March 18: Pedro Luis Lazo wins his 235th game in the Cuban leagues, breaking the record held by Jorge L. Valdés.
• March 15: Alexei Bell sets a new Cuban Serie Nacional single-season home run record with 29 and also becomes the first 100-RBI man in league history.
• March 15: Georgia Southern University sets a NCAA record with 14 home runs in one game, a 26-8 win over Columbia University.
• March 13: In the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, Canada, South Korea and Taiwan clinch the final three spots in the 2008 Olympics.
• March 6: Jonder Martínez throws the first no-hitter for La Habana in three decades in the Cuban Serie Nacional.
• February 9: The Western Australia Heelers win the 2008 Claxton Shield. The MVP is Mark Kelly, a former minor leaguer.
• February 7: The Tigres del Licey win the 2008 Caribbean Series, their record 10th Caribbean Series title. Ramon Ortiz wins the Caribbean Series MVP Award, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 11 2/3 IP.
• February 3: The 2008 Cuban All-Star Game is played. The Occidentales beat the Orientales, 6-5. Yosvani Peraza is named MVP after hitting the winning home run in the bottom of the 9th.
• February 2: The 2008 Caribbean Series begins. In day one action, Miguel Tejada breaks the record for career Caribbean Series home runs.
• February 1: Johan Santana becomes the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history, finalizing a $137.5 million, 6-year deal.
• January 29: The Tigres de Aragua (pictured) win their 4th Venezuelan Winter League title in the past five years under Buddy Bailey's management.
• January 27: The Yaquis de Obregón take their first Mexican Pacific League flag in 26 years, beating the Mazatlan Deer in the playoffs 4 games to 1.
• January 25: The Águilas Cibaeñas win the Dominican League pennant for their record 20th title. Rafael Furcal provides the winning homer and Nelson Figueroa gets the win in the championship game.
• January 11: Koji Yamamoto and Tsuneo Horiuchi are voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
• January 8: Goose Gossage is voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.