December 24
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 December 24.
Events[edit]
- 1885 - The American Association champions St. Louis Browns agree to sell the reserve rights of infielder Sam Barkley to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys for $1,000.
- 1928 - Alejandro Oms has his hitting streak snapped at 30 games. It will be the longest streak in the history of the Cuban Winter League.
- 1929 - Francis McQuade is sued by the New York Giants. The club's treasurer, McQuade is accused of trying to "wreck and destroy" the team.
- 1940 - The Cleveland Indians trade veteran outfielder Ben Chapman to the Washington Senators for pitcher Joe Krakauskas. Cleveland also sells pitcher Johnny Allen to the Browns.
- 1949 - Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is found lying unconscious in an alley in Hollywood, CA. The great Old Pete, who was elected to the HoF in 1938, is suffering from epilepsy and is missing one of his ears. He will die from liver disease less than a year later.
- 1959 - The Milwaukee Braves sign 20-year-old Dominican slugger Rico Carty.
- 1967 - While skiing at Lake Tahoe, Boston Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg tears the ligaments in his left knee. Lonborg, who posted a 22-9 record with 246 strikeouts and a 3.49 ERA and received the Cy Young Award, will pitch 12 more seasons in the major leagues, but will not again reach double digits in wins until 1971.
- 1969 - In a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, traded St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood states his refusal to report to the Philadelphia Phillies citing he is not a piece of property to be sold. The MLB Players Association announces it supports Flood's suit against baseball and will pay his legal fees.
- 1974 - St. Louis Cardinals speedster Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year by The Sporting News. He finishes ahead of such sports luminaries as tennis great Jimmy Connors, golfer Johnny Miller, and Dodgers ironman reliever Mike Marshall.
- 1986 - Two free agents sign, Gary Ward with the New York Yankees, and Reggie Jackson with the Oakland Athletics.
- 1990 - The Montreal Expos trade longtime leadoff man Tim Raines to the Chicago White Sox for OF Ivan Calderón and P Barry Jones. In 12 seasons with the Expos, Raines batted .301 and stole 634 bases, the most in franchise history.
- 1992 - The Expos trade 3B Tim Wallach to the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Tim Barker.
- 2002:
- In a deal which prompts a Boston Red Sox official to call the New York Yankees an "evil empire", Cuban defector Jose Contreras agrees to terms on a four-year contract with New York. Contreras, who was considered the top pitcher on Cuba's national team, was declared a free agent after gaining residency in Nicaragua.
- Two free agent pitchers sign contracts, Chad Fox with the Red Sox and Jay Witasick with the Padres. Meanwhile, free agent outfielder Chris Singleton signs with Oakland.
- 2004 - Boston Red Sox catcher and team leader Jason Varitek agrees to a four-year deal to stay in Boston. Joining Mike Menosky, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, Varitek is also named captain of the team.
- 2005 - Veteran reliever Mike Stanton returns to the Washington Nationals, agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract.
- 2008 - One at-bat in a Cuban Serie Nacional game takes 85 minutes - without a rain delay or other interruption. Down 3 - 0 in the 1st, Sancti Spiritus manager Juan Castro summons veteran Dany Gonzalez from the bullpen to face David Remedios of the Industriales. Unfortunately, Gonzalez is ineligible to play because he is the one man on the Sancti Spiritus 27-man roster who is a "scratch" from today's game. Industriales manager German Mesa comes onto the field before Gonzalez throws a pitch, protesting that Sancti Spiritus has violated the rules, as Gonzalez was required to pitch to one batter after coming into the game. To try to prevent a forfeit, Castro tells Gonzalez to stall for time in hopes of bad weather or some other event that would cancel the game before he has officially and illegally faced a batter. After almost an hour and a half, Castro finally allows Gonzalez to pitch to Remedios, who he fans on three pitches. Industriales win the game, 14 - 4, and would have won by forfeit in any case given Gonzalez's illegal appearance.
- 2009 - Relief pitcher Matt Capps signs a contract with the Washington Nationals.
- 2010 - The Padres sign former All-Star OF Brad Hawpe to be their new first baseman, replacing Adrian Gonzalez, who was traded to the Red Sox earlier this month.
- 2013 - The Rakuten Golden Eagles have a change of mind, finally deciding to grant ace P Masahiro Tanaka's wish to be posted in order to join a Major League Baseball team. A number of teams are expected to bid the maximum $20 million for the right to negotiate with the two-time Sawamura Award winner.
- 2015 - Daniel Murphy, hero of the 2015 NLCS, signs a three-year $37.5 million free agent deal with the Nationals.
- 2020 - The Nationals find a nice package under their Christmas tree as they obtain 1B Josh Bell from the Pirates in exchange for two young pitchers, Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean. The Nats have a gaping hole at 1B, as all three players who manned the position last season are now gone. They hope that Bell, who was one of the top hitters in the National League in 2019, will bounce back to that level after an off-season.
- 2022 - Only days after a physical exam turned up an issue that voided Carlos Correa's $350 million with the Giants, the exam performed on behalf of the Mets, who swooped in when the Giants deal fell apart and offered him $315 million, turns up a similar issue. The concerns appear to stem from an ankle injury Correa sustained while playing in the minor leagues in 2014.
- 2023 - The Mariners sign DH/C Mitch Garver, a member of the Rangers' recent championship team, to a two-year free agent contract.
Births[edit]
- 1853 - Charles Maddox, umpire (d. 1917)
- 1859 - Joe Crotty, catcher (d. 1926)
- 1860 - Al Johnson, owner (d. 1901)
- 1862 - Joe Quinn, infielder, manager (d. 1940)
- 1869 - Zeke Wilson, pitcher (d. 1928)
- 1877 - Del Howard, infielder/outfielder (d. 1956)
- 1880 - John Brackenridge, pitcher (d. 1953)
- 1884 - Ernie Groth, pitcher (d. 1950)
- 1884 - George Zackert, pitcher (d. 1977)
- 1886 - David MacMillan, college coach (d. 1963)
- 1886 - Henry Mathewson, pitcher (d. 1917)
- 1889 - Ed McCreery, pitcher (d. 1960)
- 1889 - Bill Otis, outfielder (d. 1990)
- 1890 - Tod Sloan, outfielder (d. 1956)
- 1894 - Buck Lai, minor league infielder (d. 1978)
- 1899 - Tex Burnett, catcher, manager (d. 1962)
- 1905 - Milt Dunnell, writer (d. 2008)
- 1910 - Lloyd Johnson, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1912 - Thad Christopher, outfielder (d. 1973)
- 1912 - Dave Coble, catcher (d. 1971)
- 1913 - Arthur Allyn Jr., owner (d. 1985)
- 1913 - George Jeffcoat, pitcher (d. 1978)
- 1913 - Owen Scheetz, pitcher (d. 1994)
- 1914 - Kelly Wingo, minor league infielder and manager (d. 2001)
- 1915 - Frank Trechock, infielder (d. 1989)
- 1916 - Jack Graham, infielder (d. 1998)
- 1923 - Bob Batten, minor league player (d. 2018)
- 1923 - Bud Miller, umpire (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Pete Grammas, minor league infielder (d. 2014)
- 1930 - Evelio Hernandez, pitcher (d. 2015)
- 1933 - Coco Gómez, Cuban league catcher and manager (d. 2033)
- 1933 - Frank Tanana Sr., minor league outfielder (d. 1995)
- 1934 - Robert Underwood, Negro League infielder (d. 2011)
- 1937 - Larry Foster, pitcher (d. 2023)
- 1937 - Gene Johnson, minor league infielder (d. 2014)
- 1937 - Takayuki Hata, NPB pitcher
- 1938 - Bobby Henrich, infielder
- 1943 - Al Stanek, pitcher (d. 2018)
- 1946 - Lázaro Santana, Cuban league pitcher
- 1949 - Frank Taveras, infielder
- 1951 - John D'Acquisto, pitcher
- 1957 - Victor Cruz, pitcher (d. 2004)
- 1960 - John Costello, pitcher
- 1962 - Yoshiaki Ishimoto, NPB pitcher
- 1964 - Carlos Diaz, catcher
- 1964 - Tim Drummond, pitcher
- 1966 - Mo Sanford, pitcher
- 1966 - Shigeki Wakabayashi, Japanese national team infielder
- 1968 - David Allen, minor league pitcher
- 1968 - Brian McKeon, minor league pitcher (d. 1998)
- 1968 - Kirt Ojala, pitcher
- 1969 - Dennis Gray, minor league pitcher
- 1971 - Alex Cabrera, infielder
- 1971 - Dè Flanegin, Hoofdklasse outfielder-infielder
- 1971 - Cliff Foster, minor league pitcher
- 1971 - Delfino Mejia, minor league pitcher
- 1974 - Keith Luuloa, infielder
- 1974 - Kevin Millwood, pitcher; All-Star
- 1974 - Jamey Wright, pitcher
- 1975 - Christopher Jimenez, Philippines national team infielder
- 1976 - Jonas Degerstedt, Elitserien infielder
- 1977 - Matt Ginter, pitcher
- 1978 - Edgar Arismendi, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Franklin Bravo, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Ramon Castillo, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Danny Ortega, minor league catcher and manager
- 1979 - Joe Valentine, pitcher
- 1981 - Jérôme Sana, First Division infielder
- 1982 - Sang-ho Chung, KBO catcher
- 1982 - Yuk-Ming Ng, Hong Kong national team infielder
- 1982 - Jesus Silva, minor league pitcher
- 1983 - Gregor Blanco, outfielder
- 1985 - Matt Rizzotti, minor league infielder
- 1985 - Andrew Romine, infielder
- 1987 - Josué Peley, minor league catcher
- 1990 - Brandon Tierney, minor league infielder
- 1992 - A.J. Ladwig, pitcher
- 1993 - James Norwood, pitcher
- 1994 - Miguel Castro, pitcher
- 1994 - Elniery García, minor league pitcher
- 1994 - Yale Hughes, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1994 - Manuel Nunez, minor league pitcher
- 1994 - Fernando Romero, pitcher
- 1995 - Gabriel Clovier, Brazilian national team pitcher
- 1995 - Miguel Puello, Colombian national team pitcher
- 1996 - Nicholas Padilla, pitcher
- 1997 - William Contreras, catcher; All-Star
- 1997 - Kelvin González, minor league pitcher
- 1998 - Yung-Chen Lu, CPBL pitcher
- 2001 - Tobias Kiefer, Austrian national team pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1894 - Charlie Duffee, outfielder (b. 1866)
- 1902 - Seaman Lichtenstein, pre-MLB player (b. ~1824)
- 1913 - John Donnelly, infielder (b. 1850)
- 1913 - Chief Sockalexis, outfielder (b. 1871)
- 1915 - John Doyle, pitcher (b. 1858)
- 1927 - Al Myers, infielder (b. 1863)
- 1930 - Henry Lannigan, college coach (b. 1863)
- 1936 - Ren Deagle, pitcher (b. 1858)
- 1938 - Luke Lutenberg, infielder (b. 1864)
- 1938 - Bill Yohe, infielder (b. 1878)
- 1939 - Molly McMahon, minor league infielder (b. 1882)
- 1945 - Hughie Miller, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1947 - Joe Cobb, pinch hitter (b. 1895)
- 1953 - Pinch Thomas, catcher (b. 1888)
- 1955 - Jake Boultes, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1956 - Del Howard, infielder/outfielder (b. 1877)
- 1957 - Hal Reilly, outfielder (b. 1894)
- 1958 - Jim Boyle, catcher (b. 1904)
- 1959 - Bill Friel, infielder (b. 1876)
- 1963 - Skipper Roberts, catcher (b. 1888)
- 1968 - Johnnie Heving, catcher (b. 1896)
- 1975 - Russ Lyon, catcher (b. 1913)
- 1977 - Fern Shollenberger, AAGPBL player (b. 1923)
- 1978 - George McQuinn, infielder; All-Star (b. 1910)
- 1978 - Bill Rodgers, infielder (b. 1887)
- 1979 - Bert Wells, scout (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Bob Habenicht, pitcher (b. 1926)
- 1981 - Joe Kracher, catcher (b. 1915)
- 1987 - Nino Espinosa, pitcher (b. 1953)
- 1997 - Chummy McNeil, British national team infielder and manager (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Lou Heyman, minor league catcher (b. 1920)
- 2001 - Hank Soar, umpire (b. 1914)
- 2002 - Harley Bowers, journalist (b. 1921)
- 2004 - Johnny Oates, catcher, manager (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Xavier Rescigno, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Henry Hyde Jr., minor league pitcher (b. 1950)
- 2005 - Herman Purcell, pitcher (b. 1923)
- 2009 - Stan Benjamin, outfielder (b. 1914)
- 2010 - Bill Wilhelm, college coach (b. 1929)
- 2012 - Brad Corbett, owner (b. 1937)
- 2016 - John Barfield, pitcher (b. 1964)
- 2017 - Jerry Kindall, infielder (b. 1935)
- 2020 - Melvin Aaron, college coach (b. 1949)
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