December 18
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
| Permanent link to Today's Entry | |
| Sources | |
| Baseball Library Chronology | |
| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on December 18.
Events[edit]
- 1884 - Only five clubs attend the "annual" Union Association meeting, one by proxy. The UA will die early in 1885.
- 1885 - The Washington Nationals are admitted to the National League, in place of Providence. The Washington club was displaced in the American Association by the court's decision that the Mets' franchise could not be revoked.
- 1889 - The Brotherhood meets and expels members who have signed National League contracts, including Jack Glasscock, John Clarkson, Kid Gleason, and George Miller. Among those expelled, Jake Beckley, Joe Mulvey, and Ed Delahanty will eventually jump back to the Players League and be reinstated.
- 1903 - At the league meeting, Ban Johnson is reelected American League president and given a raise to $10,000. Also, the AL votes to allow coaches at third base and first base at all times: till now, only one coach was permitted except if there were two or more baserunners. The AL also institutes the "foul strike" rule, used by the National League since 1901: a foul will be counted as a strike unless there are already two strikes.
- 1918 - Duffy Lewis returns from the military, and is traded by the Red Sox to the Yankees. He goes along with front-line pitchers Ernie Shore and Dutch Leonard for P Ray "Slim" Caldwell, Slim Love, Roxy Walters, Frank Gilhooley, and $15,000. The Tigers had turned down a deal for Leonard on the 16th. The Boston Post reports that "it will take a lot to convince Boston fans that they got the best of this one."
- 1920 - On his 34th birthday, Ty Cobb signs to manage the Tigers for $32,500.
- 1936 - The Giants purchase the Albany International League franchise and move it to Jersey City where the team will play in the new Roosevelt Stadium. Recently-retired Travis Jackson will manage the team.
- 1950 - Yankee great Tommy "Old Reliable" Henrich calls it a career as a player. He accepts a coaching position with the Yankees.
- 1952 - In a shake-up of the Cleveland Indians, Hank Greenberg stays on as general manager, while Ellis W. Ryan resigns as president after losing a showdown. Mike Wilson, who buys Ryan's share, will be the Indians' new president.
- 1956 - Former Yankee SS Phil Rizzuto signs as a Yankee radio-TV announcer.
- 1961 - Bill DeWitt is elected president of the Reds, and Stanley Kess, chairman of the board.
- 1969 - The White Sox send veteran left-handed slugger Pete Ward to the Yankees for P Mickey Scott and cash.
- 1973 - The Yankees announce the signing of Dick Williams as manager, precipitating a legal showdown with A's owner Charlie Finley. Two days later, American League president Joe Cronin rules that the Yankees cannot sign Williams.
- 1975 - Chuck Tanner signs a three-year deal to manage the A's.
- 1980 - Ferguson Jenkins is convicted on cocaine possession charges in a Canadian court, but has the verdict immediately erased by Judge Gerald Young because of his years of "exemplary" conduct.
- 1981 - The Reds swap third baseman Ray Knight to the Astros for outfielder Cesar Cedeno.
- 1985 - The Giants trade strikeout-prone slugger Rob Deer to the Brewers for minor leaguers Eric Pilkington and Dean Freeland.
- 1990 - The National League announces the six finalist cities for the two expansion clubs that will join the league in 1993: Buffalo, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Washington, DC.
- 1991 - The Blue Jays sign free agent P Jack Morris to a two-year, $10.85 million contract.
- 1992 - The Cubs sign free agent OF Willie Wilson to a two-year contract and the Mets sign OF Joe Orsulak.
- 1993 - Top Yankees prospect P Brien Taylor, the first overall pick of the 1991 Amateur Draft, injures his shoulder in a bar fight near his home in North Carolina. The injury will require surgery and cause Taylor to miss the entire 1994 season. Taylor, who signed for a $1.55 million bonus will never regain effectiveness and won't make it to the major leagues.
- 1995 - The Padres sign free agent P Bob Tewksbury.
- 1996:
- Eddie Murray takes his Hall of Fame bat to the Anaheim Angels, agreeing to a one-year contract.
- Red Sox veteran Mike Greenwell signs a one-year contract to play for the Hanshin Tigers. The Sox had designated him for assignment on October 15th, so his leaving Boston after ten years was inevitable.
- 1998 - The Angels sign free agent P Tim Belcher to a two-year contract.
- 2000 - Free agent Sandy Alomar Jr. agrees to a $5.4 million, two-year deal with the White Sox. The former Indians catcher will replace Charles Johnson, who earlier in the day signed to a $35 million, five-year contract for a second stint with the Marlins.
- 2001:
- Filling the void created by Mark McGwire's unexpected retirement, the Cardinals sign first baseman Tino Martinez to a $21 million, three-year contract. After he was replaced in the Yankees lineup by Jason Giambi, the former Bronx Bomber said the Cardinals were his first choice.
- The Indians send troubled P John Rocker to the Rangers in exchange for minor league P Dave Elder. The reliever, not known for his clubhouse diplomacy, will join recently-acquired Carl Everett, who also has had difficulties with management and teammates.
- The Reds, who tried to sign Pokey Reese in April to a four-year, $21 million contract, ship the second baseman and P Dennys Reyes to the Rockies for pitchers Gabe White and Luke Hudson.
- The Royals sign 2B-OF Chuck Knoblauch to a one-year contract.
- 2002:
- After spending the previous six seasons with the Giants, the 2000 National League MVP Jeff Kent (.313, 37, 108 ) signs an $18.2 million, two-year contract with the Astros. The 34-year-old Texas resident's presence on the team moves four-time second base Gold Glove winner Craig Biggio to the outfield.
- In other free agent signings, the Rangers sign OF Doug Glanville to a contract, the Yankees sign 3B Todd Zeile and the Red Sox sign P Mike Timlin.
- 2003 - Adam Kennedy (.269, 13, 49) agrees to an $8.85 million, three-year deal with the Angels. The 28-year-old second baseman has a career average of .277, 36 homers and 229 RBIs during his four years with Anaheim.
- 2004 - Two days after trading pitching ace Tim Hudson (17-8, 4.43 ERA) to the Braves, the A's deal Mark Mulder to the Cardinals for starting pitcher Dan Haren, reliever Kiko Calero and minor league catching prospect Daric Barton. Five of the six players obtained by giving up two-thirds of the team's "Big Three" are expected to be part of the opening day roster for Oakland.
- 2005 - The bat Pete Rose used to hit his 159th career home run in 1985 is acquired by GoldenPalace.com for $103,631.91 during Leland's Winter 2005 Auction. The on-line casino, infamous for placing winning bids for the Dallas Grassy Knoll fence and the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich, plans to raise money for charity by sawing the bat in half to determine if the bat is corked as is widely believed.
- 2009:
- The Yankees sign free agent and former Yankee Nick Johnson to a one-year contract with an option for 2011. He is expected to play DH and bat second in place of Johnny Damon, whom the Yanks announce they will not seek to re-sign.
- Two expensive underarchievers are traded for each other as the Cubs ship troublesome OF Milton Bradley to Seattle for P Carlos Silva, who won only five games in two years after signing a lucrative contract with the Mariners.
- For the second year in a row, the Korea Baseball Organization voids a trade by the Seoul Heroes. The cash-strapped Heroes had decided to send star flyhawk Taek-keun Lee (.311/.408/.467) to the LG Twins for two players and 2.5 billion won. The Heroes have been banned from making trades involving large sums of cash until their franchise fee has been paid off.
- 2010 - Relief pitcher and New England native Dan Wheeler goes home, signing with the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, the Rangers hand minor league contracts to OF Endy Chavez, P Seth McClung and IF Brian Barden, and the Rockies sign 1B Mike Jacobs, also to a minor league deal.
- 2011 - The Orioles sign OF Endy Chavez to a one-year deal.
- 2012:
- Oakland signs SS Hiroyuki Nakajima from the Seibu Lions for two years.
- The Mets acquire OF Collin Cowgill from Oakland for IF Jefry Marte
- 2013:
- There is a flurry of trades today, as the Red Sox trade P Franklin Morales back to the Rockies for 2B Jonathan Herrera, the Rockies in turn send P Josh Outman to Cleveland for OF Drew Stubbs, the Orioles trade 3B Danny Valencia to Kansas City for OF David Lough, the Braves acquire C Ryan Doumit from Minnesota for P Sean Gilmartin, and the Astros get 1B Jesus Guzman from San Diego for IF Ryan Jackson.
- On the free agent front, San Diego signs P Joaquin Benoit for two years and $15.5 million, while the Phillies sign P Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona.
- 2014 - The Athletics continue to shed All-Star players, today trading C Derek Norris and P Seth Streich to the Padres in return for Ps Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez.
- 2015 - The Navegantes del Magallanes top the Tigres de Aragua, 4 - 3, with Hassan Peña saving José Mijares's first win of the season. It is Peña's 22nd save of the year, breaking Santos Hernandez's Venezuelan Winter League single-season record, set back in 1997-1998.
- 2017 - Unhappy with the fire sale undertaken by the Marlins in the last few days, C J.T. Realmuto requests that he be traded as well, although this is unlikely to happen given he will not a be eligible for free agency for a few years yet.
- 2020 - Ryosuke Kikuchi wins his eighth straight Gold Glove in the Central League, breaking Hatsuhiko Tsuji's NPB record for consecutive Gold Gloves at second base; Kikuchi was the first CL second baseman to go a season without an error.
- 2021 - The Mets announce the hiring of Buck Showalter as their new manager, in replacement of Luis Rojas who was fired at the end of the past season. For the 65-year-old Showalter it will be a fifth managerial assignment.
- 2022 - One of the most iconic players for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the past nine seasons, 3B Justin Turner, signs a free agent contract with the Red Sox for two years at $22 million.
Births[edit]
- 1844 - Rynie Wolters, pitcher (d. 1917)
- 1860 - John Hamill, pitcher (d. 1911)
- 1864 - Dave Oldfield, catcher (d. 1939)
- 1870 - Bobby Rothermel, infielder (d. 1934)
- 1872 - Bill Clymer, infielder (d. 1936)
- 1880 - Bill Essick, pitcher (d. 1951)
- 1881 - Clay Perry, infielder (d. 1954)
- 1883 - Hub Knolls, pitcher (d. 1946)
- 1886 - Ty Cobb, outfielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1961)
- 1886 - Herbert Murphy, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1888 - Clarence Brooks, minor league catcher and manager (d. 1965)
- 1889 - Buddy Napier, pitcher (d. 1968)
- 1892 - Jimmy Fuller, catcher (d. 1987)
- 1893 - Larry Jacobus, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1893 - Dominic Mulrenan, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1893 - Rinaldo Williams, infielder (d. 1966)
- 1894 - Sam Covington, infielder (d. 1963)
- 1897 - Lance Richbourg, outfielder (d. 1975)
- 1899 - Sam Barnes, infielder (d. 1981)
- 1899 - Johnny Jones, outfielder (d. ????)
- 1902 - Les Burke, infielder (d. 1975)
- 1902 - Joe Buskey, infielder (d. 1949)
- 1902 - Ivy Kirksey, catcher (d. ????)
- 1906 - Dick Coffman, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1908 - Jimmy Pattison, pitcher (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Coaker Triplett, outfielder (d. 1992)
- 1915 - Johnny Barrett, outfielder (d. 1974)
- 1916 - Curtis Hollingsworth, pitcher (d. 1988)
- 1918 - Lefty Bowe, pitcher (d. 2016)
- 1919 - Herman Watts, pitcher (d. 1960)
- 1922 - Svend Jessen, minor league infielder, manager (d. 2008)
- 1924 - Herb Gorman, pinch hitter (d. 1953)
- 1929 - Gino Cimoli, outfielder; All-Star (d. 2011)
- 1930 - Mike Baxes, infielder (d. 2023)
- 1930 - Bill Skowron, infielder; All-Star (d. 2012)
- 1937 - Billy Boner, minor league catcher (d. 2021)
- 1938 - Mike White, outfielder
- 1939 - Gary Johnson, minor league infielder and manager (d. 2012)
- 1939 - Zoilo Versalles, infielder; All-Star (d. 1995)
- 1944 - Steve Hovley, outfielder
- 1947 - Drew Coble, umpire
- 1947 - Toshiaki Moriyasu, NPB pitcher (d. 1998)
- 1950 - Carlos Alfonso, coach
- 1950 - Avery Morris, minor league outfielder
- 1951 - Orlando Ramirez, infielder
- 1952 - Ted Alfieri, Italian Baseball League infielder
- 1953 - Jimmy Arline, minor league outfielder (d. 2011)
- 1953 - Roy Howell, infielder; All-Star
- 1954 - Ken Dominguez, minor league manager
- 1955 - Jeronimo Blanco, scout
- 1955 - Jim Clancy, pitcher; All-Star
- 1957 - Choung-Hau Chiang, CPBL outfielder
- 1958 - Tsugio Kanazawa, NPB pitcher
- 1958 - Scott Nielsen, pitcher
- 1961 - Scott Bailes, pitcher
- 1961 - Dave Hengel, outfielder
- 1961 - Mark Martinez, college coach
- 1961 - Marco Antonio Vázquez, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1961 - Ed West, minor league pitcher
- 1961 - David White, minor league pitcher
- 1962 - Lázaro Valle, Cuban league pitcher
- 1963 - Jim Czajkowski, pitcher
- 1963 - Chun-Liang Wang, CPBL infielder
- 1965 - Willie Blair, pitcher
- 1965 - Toshio Suzuki, NPB catcher
- 1966 - Eric Cooper, umpire (d. 2019)
- 1969 - Joe Randa, infielder
- 1970 - Mike Gulan, infielder
- 1970 - Todd Johnson, minor league player
- 1972 - Blake Mayo, minor league pitcher
- 1972 - Chris Seelbach, pitcher
- 1974 - Lance Carter, pitcher; All-Star
- 1974 - Brandon Reed, minor league pitcher
- 1974 - Jose Rodriguez, pitcher
- 1977 - Jose Acevedo, pitcher
- 1977 - Mike Meyer, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1977 - Alan Porter, umpire
- 1978 - Won-seop Kim, KBO outfielder
- 1978 - Wen-Bin Yu, CPBL pitcher and coach
- 1981 - Jeremy Accardo, pitcher
- 1981 - Garrett Broshuis, minor league pitcher
- 1982 - Maximilian Scholdan, Austrian national team outfielder
- 1983 - Jordan Brown, outfielder
- 1984 - Josh Rodriguez, infielder
- 1984 - Daisuke Tanaka, NPB catcher
- 1985 - Manuel Alvarez, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Stephen Brown, Great Britain national team infielder
- 1986 - Chris Carter, outfielder
- 1986 - Rob Kienle, scout
- 1987 - Rex Brothers, pitcher
- 1987 - Chun-Wah Chan, Hong Kong national team infielder
- 1987 - An-Ya Cheng, Taiwan women's national team infielder
- 1987 - Ryan Lockwood, drafted outfielder
- 1987 - Jeffrey Lorick, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Rudy Owens, pitcher
- 1988 - Jarus Inobio, Philippines national team outfielder
- 1989 - Koya Chinen, CPBL pitcher
- 1989 - Taylor Jungmann, pitcher
- 1989 - Sun-bin Kim, KBO infielder
- 1990 - In-wook Jeong, KBO pitcher
- 1990 - Micah Johnson, infielder
- 1991 - Alexander Blagoev, Bulgarian national team pitcher
- 1991 - Kai-Wen Cheng, CPBL outfielder
- 1991 - Takuya Kinoshita, NPB catcher
- 1991 - Janna Loudoun, Australian women's national team outfielder
- 1992 - Scott Barlow, pitcher
- 1992 - Eric Haase, catcher
- 1992 - Dong-yeon Kang, KBO pitcher
- 1993 - Byron Buxton, outfielder; All-Star
- 1994 - Timoteo Solaita, American Samoa national team outfielder
- 1995 - Brendan McKay, pitcher/designated hitter
- 1995 - Luis Liberato, outfielder
- 1995 - Chi-Che Tsai, CPBL pitcher
- 1996 - Michael Grove, pitcher
- 1996 - Adonis Medina, pitcher
- 1997 - Ronald Acuna, outfielder; All-Star
- 1997 - Grant Hartwig, pitcher
- 1997 - Brandon Marsh, outfielder
- 1999 - Sean Burke, pitcher
- 1999 - Joey Cantillo, pitcher
- 1999 - Sean Fekete, Hungarian national team pitcher-infielder
- 2000 - Fei-Lin Chen, CPBL infielder
- 2001 - John Matanguihan, Philippines national team outfielder
Deaths[edit]
- 1877 - Archie Bush, umpire (b. 1846)
- 1899 - Fred Truax, outfielder (b. 1868)
- 1904 - John Clapp, catcher, manager (b. 1851)
- 1918 - Ed Mincher, outfielder (b. 1850)
- 1931 - C.V. Matteson, pitcher/outfielder
- 1933 - Fred Robinson, infielder (b. 1856)
- 1940 - John Kiley, outfielder (b. 1859)
- 1943 - Bill Conway, catcher (b. 1861)
- 1951 - Spencer Abbott, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1877)
- 1951 - Joe Ohl, pitcher (b. 1888)
- 1955 - George Caster, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1955 - Pancho Pepe Cróquer, announcer (b. 1920)
- 1960 - Paul Fagan, minor league owner (b. 1893)
- 1960 - Art Nehf, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1970 - Zell Miles, outfielder (b. 1909)
- 1974 - Harry Hooper, outfielder; Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
- 1975 - Bob Allen, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1976 - Ned Harris, outfielder (b. 1916)
- 1977 - Leniel Hooker, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 1977 - Michio Nishizawa, NPB infielder and pitcher; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1921)
- 1981 - Jake Brown, outfielder (b. 1948)
- 1981 - Kaichi Masu, NPB outfielder and manager (b. 1908)
- 1986 - Bill Shanner, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1988 - Greg Ferguson, drafted pitcher (b. 1966)
- 1990 - Charlie Gibson, catcher (b. 1899)
- 1997 - Ted Bond, infielder (b. 1904)
- 2001 - Bill Howerton, outfielder (b. 1921)
- 2003 - Nico Tromp, Hoofdklasse catcher (b. 1930)
- 2004 - Glenn Vaughan, infielder (b. 1944)
- 2010 - Phil Cavarretta, infielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1916)
- 2010 - Ann Cindric, AAGPBL player (b. 1922)
- 2012 - Kevin Zaug, minor league pitcher (b. 1978)
- 2013 - Pedro Septién, writer; Salon de la Fama (b. 1916)
- 2014 - Joe Reardon, minor league pitcher (b. 1927)
- 2015 - Evelio Hernandez, pitcher (b. 1930)
- 2021 - Ho-bong Yin, KBO pitcher (b. 1958)
- 2022 - Mark Batchko, minor league catcher (b. 1953)
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