February 28
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 28.
Events[edit]
- 1900 - John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson sign contracts with the Baltimore Orioles of the National League. When the long-rumored move by Baltimore to disband occurs, the two players are assigned to the Brooklyn Superbas, but they will refuse and sit out the first third of the season instead. Finally, McGraw and Robinson are sold to the St. Louis Cardinals.
- 1903 - A syndicate headed by Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss and James Potter buys the Philadelphia Phillies from John Rogers and A. J. Reach for $170,000. It will be another seven years before ownership interest in more than one team is prohibited.
- 1926:
- Arriving for spring training, a chastened John McGraw announces that he is through with the real estate business. McGraw's involvement with Pennant Park last year cost him more than $100,000.
- At Crescent City, Florida, a train carrying several Cleveland Indians players derails. No players are injured and pitcher George Uhle sleeps through the incident.
- 1929 - The Chicago White Sox send veteran outfielder Bibb Falk to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for catcher Chick Autry. Falk will hit over .300 in each of his three years with Cleveland.
- 1941 - The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants open the spring training schedule with a 4 - 3 Brooklyn victory in Havana, Cuba. Pitcher Paul Dean takes the loss.
- 1946 - Alex Carrasquel, Chicago White Sox pitcher, signs a three-year contract with the Mexican League - the first shot in the event that will dominate baseball even more than the return of World War II veterans.
- 1955 - The National League fines the Milwaukee Braves $500 for opening their spring training camp before the official March 1st date.
- 1959 - Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees ends his holdout after one day. Mantle agrees to a salary of $72,000 and a bonus of $2,000. He had been asking the Yankees for $85,000 after batting .304 with 42 home runs and 97 RBI in 1958.
- 1968 - Lena Blackburne dies in Riverside, New Jersey, at age 81. A former major league infielder and manager, Blackburne has been the source for his eponymous rubbing mud, used by umpires in both leagues to reduce the shine on new balls. He leaves the mud business to his boyhood friend, John Haas.
- 1985 - Pitcher Rick Reuschel, who is considered washed up by most observers, signs as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He will spend the first two months of the season in the minors. After being called up in May, Reuschel will win 14 games for Pittsburgh and gain the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award.
- 1986 - In Major League Baseball's sternest disciplinary move since the 1919 Black Sox were banished for life, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year's suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquin Andújar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined ten percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.
- 1989 - The Veterans Committee elects Red Schoendienst and Al Barlick to the Hall of Fame. Schoendienst served as a second baseman and manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Barlick was a major league umpire for over 29 seasons.
- 1991 - In the first salary arbitration case in Nippon Pro Baseball history, the Chunichi Dragons face off against Hiromitsu Ochiai.
- 1999 - Diamondbacks pitcher Kenny Robinson is killed in a car crash. Teammate John Rosengren, who was the driver, is arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the alcohol-related accident. Robinson pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals from 1995 through 1997.
- 2000 - American League umpire John Hirschbeck is elected as the first president of the World Umpires Association, which was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board a few days ago.
- 2002 - Major League Baseball announces it has rehired five umpires who had resigned during the 1999 season as part of the ill-fated strategy concocted by Richie Phillips and the Major League Umpires Association. They are Gary Darling, Bill Hohn, Larry Poncino, Larry Vanover and Joe West. Four other umpires, Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Terry Tata, and Frank Pulli, are allowed to retire with back pay.
- 2011:
- Wally Yonamine dies of cancer. Yonamine was the first American to play in Nippon Pro Baseball after World War II and later was the first American to manage in NPB. Yonamine was also the first Japanese-American to play in the National Football League, doing so in 1947, four years before he would become a pioneer in Japan.
- Cardinals hurler Adam Wainwright undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss the season.
- Some notable names make their spring training debuts. 2010 amateur draft #1 pick Bryce Harper fans twice in a Nationals win over the Mets. Miguel Cabrera makes his first appearance since his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and goes 0 for 2 with a walk in a Tigers victory.
- 2013 - Elvis Andrus adds his name to the list of baseball's most bizarre injuries, as he is scratched from the Rangers' line-up before a Cactus League game because of "sensivity and muscle soreness" in his left shoulder, the result of an elaborate tatoo commemorating his late father, reaching from the top of his shoulder to his biceps.
- 2015 - The Australian Baseball League has its Baseball Gala. Aaron Miller of the Adelaide Bite wins the Helms Award given to the circuit's most valuable player after leading the 2014-2015 ABL in average, OBP and slugging, while Perth Heat infielder Joey Wong takes home the Gold Glove.
- 2016 - One of the last unsigned free agents on the market, Ian Desmond, finds at least a temporary home by signing a one-year deal with the Rangers for $8 million. It's a major pay cut for Desmond, who turned down a $15.8 million qualifying offer from the Nationals before realizing the demand for his services was much less than he anticipated. However, he will make the best of a bad situation by earning an All-Star berth as a centerfielder for the Rangers.
- 2017 - The Nationals and Astros cut the ribbon on their new shared spring training facility, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, FL. Commissioner Rob Manfred is on hand for the inauguration of the state-of-the-art $150 million facility.
- 2018 - Boston Red Sox owner John Henry officially petitions the city of Boston, MA to rename Yawkey Way, which is located just outside Fenway Park. The street was named after former owner and Hall of Fame member Tom Yawkey, but history has not been kind to its namesake's memory, as he is widely blamed for delaying the integration of the team, making them the last major league franchise to have am African-American player in its line-up, twelve years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line.
- 2021 - The first games of spring training are played today, a glimpse of normality after one year of upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. MLB is planning to play a full season this year, and there are some spectators present, with crowds limited to 25% of ballpark capacity.
- 2022:
- In a surprise announcement, Miami Marlins President Derek Jeter steps down from his position and also gives up his ownership share in the team, after four seasons at the helm. He explains that: "the future of the franchise is different than the one I signed up to lead." This leaves day-to-day operations in the hands of two women, General Manager Kim Ng for baseball dealings, and Caroline O'Connor for all business matters.
- On what was supposed to be the deadline imposed by MLB for the two sides to reach a settlement to the 2021-2022 lockout that would preserve the integrity of the upcoming season, the parties meet for the eighth straight day without success. However, there is enough progress that after 16 hours of talk, the two sides agree to resume these tomorrow and give themselves a further five hours to reach an agreement.
- WBSC Europe announces that all Russian and Belarussian teams are banned from competitions in 2022 due to the two countries' invasion of Ukraine. Belarus was slated to play in the 2023 European Championship Qualifiers and teams from those countries have played in the CEB Cup and Federations Cup in recent years. Russia will also lose its spot in the 2023 European Championship.
- 2023 - The Pirates and Orioles do it sandlot style in their Grapefruit League game in Bradenton, FL. After the top of the 9th, the host Pirates are officially the winners, 7 - 4, but the two teams decide to play the bottom of the inning in order to give their players more game action, so the Bucs come to bat - even though the umpires have now left the field. Orioles catcher Maverick Handley does double duty as home plate umpire so that pitcher Ofreidy Gomez can face live hitters on his scheduled pitching day. The half-inning concludes with no additional scoring as Gomez works his way around a single.
Births[edit]
- 1865 - Jack Easton, pitcher (d. 1903)
- 1867 - Joe Yingling, pitcher (d. 1903)
- 1872 - Gene McAuliffe, catcher (d. 1953)
- 1875 - George Gillpatrick, pitcher (d. 1941)
- 1879 - Bill Francis, infielder (d. 1942)
- 1881 - Moose McCormick, outfielder (d. 1962)
- 1881 - Terry Turner, infielder (d. 1960)
- 1885 - J. Vincent Jamison, Jr., minor league executive (d. 1954)
- 1885 - Tom Walsh, catcher (d. 1963)
- 1886 - Al Humphrey, outfielder (d. 1961)
- 1887 - Joe Fautsch, pinch hitter (d. 1971)
- 1888 - Judson Hyames, college coach (d. 1949)
- 1892 - William Baynard, outfielder (d. 1971)
- 1893 - Sam Mayer, outfielder (d. 1962)
- 1896 - Homer Ezzell, infielder (d. 1976)
- 1896 - Jud Wilson, infielder, manager; All-Star, Hall of Fame (d. 1963)
- 1898 - Jake Miller, pitcher (d. 1975)
- 1899 - Lil Stoner, pitcher (d. 1966)
- 1900 - Hop Bartlett, pitcher (d. 1972)
- 1900 - Doc Wood, infielder (d. 1974)
- 1901 - Bill Holland, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1973)
- 1906 - Al Baker, pitcher (d. 1982)
- 1907 - Pete Daglia, pitcher (d. 1952)
- 1907 - Lefty Holmes, pitcher (d. 1987)
- 1909 - Lefty Bertrand, pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1909 - Whitey Hilcher, pitcher (d. 1962)
- 1909 - Bill Sadler, infielder (d. 1987)
- 1912 - Marc Filley, pitcher (d. 1995)
- 1914 - Tony John, scout (d. 1991)
- 1916 - Howie Krist, pitcher (d. 1989)
- 1918 - Francis Abercrombie, minor league pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1918 - Jim Cullinane, minor league infielder and manager (d. 1992)
- 1918 - Bob Howsam, general manager (d. 2008)
- 1919 - Shan Deniston, umpire (d. 2020)
- 1923 - Bunny Mick, minor league outfielder, infielder and manager (d. 2005)
- 1928 - Teun Gaartman, Hoofdklasse outfielder (d. 2022)
- 1928 - Dick Kokos, outfielder (d. 1986)
- 1928 - George Maloney, umpire (d. 2003)
- 1929 - Ed Albrecht, pitcher (d. 1979)
- 1930 - Frank Malzone, infielder; All-Star (d. 2015)
- 1930 - Dolan Nichols, pitcher (d. 1989)
- 1930 - Ron Samford, infielder (d. 2021)
- 1930 - Luther Scarborough, USA national team pitcher (d. 2008)
- 1932 - Takeshi Suzuki, NPB infielder (d. 2004)
- 1933 - Tsutomu Edamura, NPB outfielder (d. 2020)
- 1933 - Huan-Fa Hu, Chinese Taipei national team pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1933 - Bill Kern, outfielder
- 1935 - Bill Haller, umpire (d. 2022)
- 1940 - Joseph Fugere, umpire (d. 2014)
- 1942 - Paul Alspach, minor league pitcher
- 1942 - Enzo Lauri, Serie A1 pitcher
- 1947 - Marty Perez, infielder
- 1948 - Tom Gamboa, coach
- 1948 - Mark Wiley, pitcher
- 1949 - Jim Kremmel, pitcher (d. 2012)
- 1951 - Rufino Linares, outfielder (d. 1998)
- 1951 - Tom Spencer, outfielder
- 1951 - Jim Wohlford, outfielder
- 1952 - Orlando Alvarez, outfielder (d. 2016)
- 1952 - Eddy Orrizzi, Serie A1 catcher
- 1954 - John Poloni, pitcher
- 1955 - Archie Amerson, minor league outfielder
- 1958 - Dave Pano, scout
- 1958 - Dallas Williams, outfielder
- 1961 - Felix Tejeda, minor league pitcher
- 1963 - Tony Adamson, Australian national team infielder
- 1965 - Gabby Rodriguez, minor league pitcher
- 1966 - Keith LeClair, minor league outfielder (d. 2006)
- 1968 - Mike Milchin, pitcher
- 1969 - Richard Hunter, Nicaraguan national team outfielder (d. 2020)
- 1969 - Mark Tranberg, minor league pitcher
- 1970 - Stephan Rapaglia, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1971 - Todd Pridy, minor league infielder
- 1973 - Mat Erwin, minor league catcher (d. 1997)
- 1974 - Xiaoyu Jiang, China Baseball League outfielder
- 1975 - Juan Moreno, pitcher
- 1975 - Hsien-Neng Peng, TML infielder
- 1975 - Ricky Stone, pitcher
- 1976 - Bobby Madritsch, pitcher
- 1977 - Chip Gosewisch, minor league catcher
- 1977 - Victor Hernandez, minor league outfielder
- 1977 - Sung-heon Hong, KBO catcher
- 1978 - Cesar King, minor league catcher
- 1978 - Christian Parra, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Brian Reith, pitcher
- 1978 - Sam Swenson, minor league outfielder
- 1979 - Evel Bastida-Martinez, minor league infielder
- 1979 - Javier Calzada, minor league pitcher
- 1979 - Kyohei Makita, NPB umpire
- 1979 - Brendon Thomas, minor league pitcher
- 1980 - Domingo Castro, minor league infielder
- 1981 - Brian Bannister, pitcher
- 1982 - Norbert Lokhorst, Hoofdklasse infielder
- 1982 - Maarten Mulder, Hoofdklasse pitcher
- 1983 - Kyle Aselton, minor league pitcher
- 1983 - Panagiotis Cheikalis, Greek national team infielder
- 1983 - Alexandre de Jesus, Brazilian national team pitcher
- 1983 - Tug Hulett, infielder
- 1983 - Jeff Niemann, pitcher
- 1983 - Trent Oeltjen, outfielder
- 1984 - Uuganmyagmar Battulga, Mongolian national team infielder
- 1984 - Michael Dempsey, South African national team outfielder
- 1984 - Andrew Urena, minor league pitcher
- 1985 - L.J. Gagnier, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Seung-min Hur, KBO outfielder
- 1987 - Jung Choi, KBO infielder
- 1987 - Aaron Thompson, pitcher
- 1987 - Matthew Williams, minor league pitcher
- 1988 - Aroldis Chapman, pitcher; All-Star
- 1988 - Joo-hwan Choi, KBO infielder
- 1988 - Hemantha Pushpasiri, Sri Lankan national team catcher
- 1989 - Chad Bell, pitcher
- 1989 - Jason Halman, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1989 - Kazuki Nishijima, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Neftali Soto, infielder
- 1989 - Michael Stephan, Bundesliga infielder
- 1992 - Niko Goodrum, outfielder
- 1994 - Yonathan Daza, outfielder
- 1995 - Randy Arozarena, outfielder; All-Star
- 1995 - Miguel Egea, Puerto Rican national team outfielder
- 1995 - Dylan Hoffman, college coach
- 1996 - Floris Timmer, Hoofdklasse pitcher
- 1997 - Diego Fabiani, Serie A1 pitcher
- 1997 - Chih-Yuan Lai, CPBL pitcher
- 1997 - Kevin Riello, Argentinian national team pitcher
- 1998 - Daniel Chibana, Brazilian national team outfielder
- 1998 - Ryan Zeferjahn, pitcher
- 2003 - Tzu-En Tung, CPBL infielder
- 2004 - Yotsaphol Artdee, Thai national team catcher
- 2005 - Kilian Redle, Bundesliga catcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1894 - Peter McNabb, pitcher (b. 1865)
- 1903 - Mike Lehane, infielder (b. 1865)
- 1914 - Art Sladen, outfielder (b. 1859)
- 1917 - Parson Nicholson, infielder (b. 1863)
- 1922 - Walt Walker, catcher (b. 1860)
- 1934 - John Irwin, infielder (b. 1861)
- 1935 - Harry Schafer, infielder (b. 1846)
- 1941 - Wilson Collins, outfielder (b. 1889)
- 1943 - Bill Paasch, umpire (b. 1859)
- 1947 - Ike Fisher, catcher (b. 1871)
- 1947 - Clarence Stephens, pitcher (b. 1863)
- 1954 - Fred Hutchinson, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1958 - Henry Smoyer, infielder (b. 1890)
- 1961 - Woody Abernathy, minor league outfielder (b. 1908)
- 1963 - Eppa Rixey, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1891)
- 1963 - Charlie Spearman, catcher (b. 1891)
- 1964 - Guy Ousley, infielder (b. 1910)
- 1968 - Lena Blackburne, infielder, manager (b. 1886)
- 1971 - Lou Chiozza, infielder (b. 1910)
- 1972 - Dizzy Trout, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1915)
- 1973 - Syl Simon, infielder (b. 1897)
- 1977 - Julie Bowers, catcher (b. 1926)
- 1982 - Roy Sherid, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1988 - Harvey Kuenn, infielder, manager; All-Star (b. 1930)
- 1992 - Ron Roncetti, scout (b. 1911)
- 1995 - Wally Millies, catcher (b. 1906)
- 1996 - Augie Guglielmo, umpire (b. 1915)
- 1997 - Les Munns, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 1997 - Hal Turpin, minor league pitcher (b. 1902)
- 1999 - Kenny Robinson, pitcher (b. 1969)
- 2003 - Jim Fridley, outfielder (b. 1924)
- 2008 - Shinichi Etoh, NPB outfielder and manager (b. 1937)
- 2009 - Tom Accardo, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1922)
- 2009 - James Atkins, pitcher (b. 1921)
- 2009 - Tom Sturdivant, pitcher (b. 1930)
- 2011 - Scott Cary, pitcher (b. 1923)
- 2011 - Harvey Dorfman, author (b. 1935)
- 2011 - Stan Holmes, minor league outfielder (b. 1960)
- 2011 - Wally Yonamine, NPB outfielder; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1925)
- 2013 - Pedro Treto Cisneros, minor league Executive; Salon de la Fama (b. 1939)
- 2013 - Yo-Yo Davalillo, infielder (b. 1928)
- 2013 - Ruut Jongeling, Hoofdklasse player (b. 1927)
- 2013 - Moon Mullen, infielder (b. 1917)
- 2014 - Dick Spady, minor league pitcher (b. 1929)
- 2015 - Gordie Gillespie, college coach (b. 1926)
- 2015 - Alex Johnson, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1942)
- 2017 - Dave Rosenfield, minor league executive (b. 1929)
- 2019 - Hee-ryeon Kim, South Korean national team infielder (b. ????)
- 2019 - Huub Kohl, Hoofdklasse infielder and manager (b. 1945)
- 2020 - Johnny Antonelli, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1930)
- 2022 - Randy Davis, college coach (b. 1956)
- 2022 - Ike Delock, pitcher (b. 1929)
- 2023 - Jean Faut, AAGPBL pitcher (b.1925)
- 2023 - Fred Marolewski, infielder (b. 1928)
- 2024 - Héctor Ortíz, catcher (b. 1969)
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