March 11
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 March 11.
Events[edit]
- 1882:
- In retaliation for the "theft" of Sam Wise and Dasher Troy by the National League, the American Association creates a loophole allowing all players either blacklisted or expelled by the NL to join AA clubs after appealing to a special commission.
- The Providence Grays will be selling season tickets for $15 until March 15th, when the price will be raised to $20.
- 1901 - The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw has signed a Cherokee Indian named "Tokohama" to play second base. In reality, Tokohama isn't a Native American; he is an African-American whose actual name is Charlie Grant, who McGraw is trying to pass off as an Indian, but the ruse does not work. Baseball's color line will prevent Grant from ever playing a game for the Orioles.
- 1933:
- During an exhibition game in Los Angeles, CA, a significant earthquake sends the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants scurrying to second base until the tremors stop.
- Rogers Hornsby, out of baseball since being fired as Cubs manager last August, joins the St. Louis Cardinals in spring training as a player. Hornsby will return to second base after a six-year absence from St. Louis.
- 1950 - Katsuki Tokura of the Mainichi Orions hits the first home run in Pacific League history while birthday boy Yoshiyuki Iwamoto of the Shochiku Robins cracks the first homer in Central League history.
- 1953 - Boston Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a ban on the move of any major league franchise to that of a minor league city until October 1st. In two days, he will shock Boston fans and break his own proposed rule by moving his team to Milwaukee.
- 1956 - At Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg there are no maybes about it as Mickey Mantle hits a Grapefruit League pitch from Larry Jackson over the left field wall into the bay. The Yankees top the Cardinals, 4 - 3. Stan Musial contends, "no home run has ever cleared my head by as much as long as I can remember." Mantle will hit another at Al Lang Field on March 20th off Bob Mabe that also lands in the water, and will clock a 500-foot shot in Miami four days later against the Dodgers.
- 1957 - New York Representative Emanuel Celler, whose committee investigated baseball, calls Ford Frick a "czar" who wishes to "gag" officials; Frick had cautioned Major League Baseball owners about commenting on the recent Supreme Court decision on professional American football coming under antitrust rules.
- 1958 - Starting this season, American League batters will be required to wear batting helmets.
- 1959 - The Players Association drops its threat of a strike against the International League.
- 1960 - Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees signs a one-year contract worth $65,000. The new deal represents a $7,000 cut in pay for Mantle, who batted .285 with 31 home runs and 75 RBI for the Yankees in 1959.
- 1970 - Experimental, lively X-5 baseballs are used in all spring training games played in Arizona and Florida. The results are inconclusive.
- 1972 - Hall of Fame outfielder Zack Wheat dies in Sedalia, Missouri, at the age of 83. A .317 lifetime batter, Wheat starred for the Brooklyn Robins. He batted a National League-leading .335 in 1918 and possessed one of the most accurate throwing arms among outfielders.
- 1974 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders the Atlanta Braves to play Hank Aaron in at least two of the team's season-opening three games in Cincinnati. The Braves had planned to bench Aaron on the road in order to increase his chances of hitting his record-breaking 715th home run at home.
- 1981 - Slugger Johnny Mize and Negro Leagues pioneer Rube Foster are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Mize hit .312 with 359 home runs during a 15-year major league career, while Foster served as a pitcher, manager, and Negro League organizer in the first quarter of the 20th century.
- 1988 - California Angels manager Gene Mauch takes a leave of absence for health reasons and is replaced by Cookie Rojas. Mauch will officially announce his retirement on March 27th. Mauch leaves managing with 1,902 wins and 2,037 losses.
- 1991 - Jim Palmer, who is in the Baltimore Orioles' training camp as a non-roster player, has a shaky outing against the Boston Red Sox, giving up five hits and two runs in two innings. Palmer, who retired in 1984, will retire again tomorrow, this time for good, citing a hamstring injury.
- 1999 - The Boston Red Sox sign free agent pitcher Ramón Martinez to a contract, uniting him with his younger brother, Pedro.
- 2001:
- Preston Wilson signs a $32 million, five-year contract with the Florida Marlins. Wilson, the franchise's first 30-30 player, was obtained from the Mets in the Mike Piazza deal in 1998.
- The Yankees formally announce the signing of Cuban defector Andy Morales, a third baseman, to a four-year contract. Morales will wash out and be waived from his minor league team by July. The Yankees will try and sidestep his contract with proof that his listed age of 26 years is really 29.
- 2002:
- The Boston Red Sox hire Grady Little as their new manager.
- The Yankees release outfielder Ruben Rivera for stealing Derek Jeter's mitt out of his locker, and selling it on the black market for $2,500. There are rumors that Rivera also took other memorabilia items, such as things belonging to Roger Clemens, but Clemens denies it. Rivera had been signed to a one-year contract for $1 million.
- 2004 - The first game to be played at PETCO Park, the San Diego Padres' new home, establishes a new record for the best-attended game in college baseball history as 40,106 fans watch Tony Gwynn's San Diego State Aztecs beat the University of Hawaii, 4 - 0. The previous mark of 27,673 was established in 2002 when state rivals LSU and Tulane met at the Louisiana Superdome.
- 2006:
- San Diego Padres relief pitcher Doug Brocail undergoes angioplasty. Brocail had complained of chest tightness that radiated into both arms. He was already being treated for an abscessed tooth and asthma.
- The Kansas City Royals complete a five-year deal with outfielder David DeJesus, locking up one of the cornerstones of their youth movement through 2010.
- First baseman Nick Johnson agrees to a $16.5 million, three-year contract extension with the Washington Nationals, a deal that ties him to the club through the 2009 season.
- 2009:
- The Mexican national team wraps up the eighth and final spot in round two of the 2009 World Baseball Classic by annihilating Australia, 16 - 1, to avenge an earlier loss. Jorge Campillo picks up the win, while the offense is fueled by Korea Baseball Organization player Karim Garcia, who goes 4 for 4 with two homers, four runs and four RBI.
- Venezuela tops Team USA, 5 - 3, to avenge an earlier loss and take the Pool C title. Henry Blanco singles, doubles and homers to lead Venezuela; to cap his day, he throws out Derek Jeter stealing in the 9th inning.
- Puerto Rico wins Pool D by beating the Dutch national team, 5 - 0. Jonathan Sanchez and seven relievers combine on the shutout.
- 2011:
- One of the strongest recorded earthquakes in history rocks Japan, with its epicenter in the Pacific Ocean near the city of Sendai, which is also hit by a destructive tsunami caused by the quake. Major leaguers Takashi Saito and Kei Igawa are both from the area most affected and spend the day trying to contact relatives, while Commissioner Bud Selig issues condolences on behalf of Major League Baseball. Yomiuri Giants backup catcher Takanori Hoshi will lose two grandparents to the tsunami.
- A coup in the front office of the Texas Rangers results in Chuck Greenberg, who masterminded the team's purchase from bankruptcy court last summer, resigning as Chief Executive Officer and managing partner in favor of Nolan Ryan. Other members of the ownership group cite philosophical differences as the cause of the rift that pushed Greenberg aside.
- Rockies P Aaron Cook breaks a finger when he accidentally slams a door on his pitching hand and will miss the start of the season.
- 2013 - With a spot in the final round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic at stake, the Netherlands win a back-and-forth battle with Cuba. It is the fourth straight Dutch win over Cuba, dating to the 2011 Baseball World Cup, perhaps Cuba's worst stretch ever against another nation. In today's game, Kalian Sams hits a sacrifice fly off Diosdani Castillo in the bottom of the 9th to score Andruw Jones with the run that ends a 7 - 6 contest. Andrelton Simmons hits a two-run homer in the 8th, Curt Smith gets three hits and Loek van Mil escapes a jam in the top of the 9th to pick up the win. Yulieski Gourriel gets three hits for Cuba but makes a crucial error in the 9th.
- 2015:
- After blowing an 8th-inning lead the day before, Team Europe stuns the Japanese national team with a 6 - 2 win at the Tokyo Dome. Diegomar Markwell (Netherlands citizen, born in the Dutch Antilles, and a star in the Netherlands' top league) gets the win with three shutout innings while Yurendell de Caster (a fellow Antillean) hits a three-run homer. Kalian Sams (Netherlands) again starts the scoring and Alessandro Vaglio (Italy) scores twice. Takahiro Matsuba gives up five runs in three innings for the loss as Europe splits the series, nearly having swept it.
- One year after placing a near-record 17 players on the disabled list, the Rangers get the news they most dreaded, as ace starter Yu Darvish will need to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season and probably more.
- 2017:
- Colombia wins a World Baseball Classic game for the first time in its history as it defeats Canada, 4 - 1, behind the pitching of Julio Teheran and Yohan Pino. Brothers Donovan and Jhonatan Solano account for two runs (one scored by a pinch-runner) and three RBIs between them. For Canada, 41-year-old Eric Gagné makes a remarkable appearance nine years after last pitching in the majors as he gives up no runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief. In the other Pool C game, the Dominican Republic defeats the USA, 7 - 5, in front of a boisterous and record-sized crowd that belies the fact that Marlins Park is in the U.S. Leading 5 - 0 in the 6th, the Americans wilt, the Dominicans' comeback being fueled by a monster home run by Manny Machado. The big blow is a three-run homer by Nelson Cruz off Andrew Miller.
- In Pool D, Venezuela defeats Italy, 11 - 10, in ten innings, after coming back from a 5 - 0 deficit. However, the win is costly as C Salvador Perez injures his knee in a collision with Drew Butera, who is ironically his back-up with the Royals, in the 9th inning with the score tied at 10; reliever Francisco Rodriguez also injures a groin muscle on the same play. In the other game in the pool, Francisco Lindor homers twice to lead Puerto Rico to a 9 - 4 win over Mexico.
- 2018 - One of the few remaining first-rung free agents left unsigned, P Jake Arrieta, inks a three-year deal with the Phillies worth $75 million. Alex Cobb is now the last pitcher still looking for a team.
- 2021:
- Major League Baseball announces that it will be testing out some potential rules changes when the minor league season gets under way. In AAA, the games will be played with bases 18 inches in length, instead of the usual 15, and made of a material that performs better in wet conditions, both in order to limit injuries; in AA, there will be limits on defensive shifts, forcing all infielders to be placed within the infield dirt boundary when play starts; in High-A, pitchers will be required to step off the mound to attempt a pick-off throw; in Low-A, they will be limited to two such throws per plate appearance, and there will also be either a 15-second pitch clock or a robot umpire to call balls and strikes, depending on the league. The objective is for some of these rule change to make their way to the major leagues if they prove successful, which will happen within two years (except for the robot umpire).
- Darryl George wins the Helms Award for the 2020-2021 Australian Baseball League after the Melbourne Aces infielder led the league in runs, triples, RBI, hits and total bases while also setting a record for RBI and grand slams in a game.
- 2022 - With the lockout finally over, transactions can take place again in Major League Baseball and the first two that are announced concern veteran pitchers: Clayton Kershaw re-signs with the Dodgers for one year and Carlos Rodón signs a two-year deal with the Giants.
- 2023:
- In Pool C of the World Baseball Classic at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ, Colombia defeats Mexico, 5 - 4, in a thrilling game. A two-run homer by Reynaldo Rodriguez off Julio Urias, who had been perfect through the first four innings, puts Colombia ahead, 3 - 1, in the 5th, but Mexico comes back twice to tie the game, including on a two-run blast by Randy Arozarena, and force extra innings. Colombia manages to cash in its ghost runner in the 10th on an error by SS Luis Urias, and Guillermo Zuniga manages to strike out Isaac Paredes with the tying run on third base to end the contest. In the other game in the pool, Team USA spoils Great Britain's tournament debut with a 6 - 2 win. A three-run homer by Kyle Schwarber in the 4th is the big blow.
- In a clash of titans in Pool D at LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL, Venezuela defeats the Dominican Republic, 5 - 1, after the Dominicans open the score against Martin Perez after just two batters. But Perez and four relievers, led by three hitless innings by Luis García, shut down the powerful Dominican bats after that. The bottom three hitters for Venezuela - Anthony Santander, Eugenio Suarez and David Peralta - combine to go 5 for 10 and drive in all five runs. In the pool's opening game, Puerto Rico proves to be too much for Nicaragua, making its tournament debut, as it wins, 9 - 1. The islanders score five runs in the bottom of the 5th to break a 1 - 1 tie and never look back. A solo homer by Elian Miranda off Marcus Stroman accounts for Nicaragua's lone run, while four Puerto Ricans have two hits, including lead-off man Francisco Lindor who scores twice and drives in a run.
Births[edit]
- 1854 - Mike Lawlor, catcher (d. 1918)
- 1863 - Charles Matthews, outfielder (d. 1926)
- 1869 - Harry Colliflower, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1870 - Herm McFarland, outfielder (d. 1935)
- 1874 - Fred Frank, outfielder (d. 1950)
- 1874 - Cy Swaim, pitcher (d. 1945)
- 1877 - Norwood Gibson, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1878 - Bill Pounds, pitcher (d. 1936)
- 1879 - Joe Stewart, pitcher (d. 1913)
- 1884 - Atsushi Kono, Japanese Hall of Fame pitcher (d. 1946)
- 1885 - Joe Dunn, catcher (d. 1944)
- 1886 - Fred Link, pitcher (d. 1939)
- 1900 - Rusty Pence, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1903 - Buster Ross, pitcher (d. 1982)
- 1903 - Art Ruble, outfielder (d. 1983)
- 1905 - Joe Mellana, infielder (d. 1969)
- 1905 - Ron Sharpe, Baseball Australia Hall of Fame player (d. 1972)
- 1906 - Bill Lawrence, outfielder (d. 1997)
- 1910 - Ernesto Aparicio, winter league infielder (d. 2006)
- 1911 - Jim Bucher, infielder (d. 2004)
- 1912 - Yoshiyuki Iwamoto, NPB outfielder and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 2008)
- 1913 - Horace Appling, minor league player (d. 1974)
- 1913 - Jim Whatley, minor league first baseman and college coach (d. 2001)
- 1918 - Lyman Bostock, infielder; All-Star (d. 2005)
- 1918 - Ed Fernandes, catcher (d. 1968)
- 1918 - Pat Stasey, minor league outfielder and manager (d. 2005)
- 1921 - Robert O'Connell, minor league outfielder and manager (d. ????)
- 1923 - Bob Motley, minor league umpire (d. 2017)
- 1925 - Frank Murray, minor league infielder (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Hyung-sik Park, South Korean national team player (d. 2005)
- 1930 - Bobby Winkles, manager (d. 2020)
- 1931 - Rupert Murdoch, owner
- 1933 - Glenn McMinn, minor league pitcher (d. 2017)
- 1933 - Jack Spring, pitcher (d. 2015)
- 1945 - Dock Ellis, pitcher; All-Star (d. 2008)
- 1947 - Nancy Faust, organist
- 1948 - Cesar Geronimo, outfielder
- 1952 - Koji Minoda, NPB infielder
- 1954 - Timothy Kelly, minor league pitcher; scout
- 1955 - Larry Landreth, pitcher
- 1956 - Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive (d. 2020)
- 1958 - Larry Ray, outfielder (d. 2023)
- 1959 - Phil Bradley, outfielder; All-Star
- 1959 - Chuck Hensley, pitcher
- 1959 - Eddie Rodriguez, coach
- 1961 - Bryan Oelkers, pitcher
- 1964 - Otis Green, minor league outfielder and pitcher
- 1965 - Steve Reed, pitcher
- 1967 - Dwayne Hosey, outfielder
- 1967 - Tony Reagins, general manager
- 1968 - Gar Finnvold, pitcher
- 1970 - Pedro Castellano, infielder
- 1970 - Mike Shirley, minor league outfielder
- 1971 - Rod Henderson, pitcher
- 1971 - Sang-Hoon Lee, pitcher
- 1972 - Timmy Keenan, Japanese national team infielder
- 1972 - Salomon Torres, pitcher
- 1974 - Bobby Abreu, outfielder; All-Star
- 1974 - Mike Jost, umpire
- 1974 - Cheng-Wei Lin, CPBL infielder
- 1975 - Ariel Sanchez, Division Elite pitcher
- 1976 - Roderick Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles national team player
- 1976 - Koji Mise, NPB pitcher
- 1976 - Nate Teut, pitcher
- 1977 - Eric Ireland, minor league pitcher
- 1978 - Sen-Yi Chou, CPBL infielder
- 1978 - Kevin Reese, outfielder
- 1980 - Gerik Baxter, minor league pitcher (d. 2001)
- 1980 - Trey Dyson, minor league player
- 1980 - Chris Burke, outfielder
- 1980 - Rich Hill, pitcher
- 1980 - Dan Uggla, infielder; All-Star
- 1981 - Braydon Bartle, South African national team pitcher
- 1981 - Wu-Hsiung Pan, CPBL outfielder
- 1982 - Brian Anderson, outfielder
- 1983 - Lance Beus, minor league pitcher
- 1983 - Travis Foley, minor league player
- 1983 - Jeff Kunkel Jr., scout
- 1983 - Justin Lowery, minor league outfielder and manager
- 1984 - David Korber, Austrian national team pitcher
- 1984 - Frank Mata, pitcher
- 1984 - Kyung-eun Noh, KBO pitcher
- 1984 - Anupong Tongsanit, Thai national team outfielder
- 1985 - Eduard Mráz, Extraliga player
- 1986 - Jeremy Hefner, pitcher
- 1986 - Tobias Imboden, Swiss national team pitcher
- 1986 - Seung-hwan Ji, South Korean national team pitcher
- 1986 - Maksym Lisnytskyi, Ukrainian national team pitcher
- 1986 - Pat McAnaney, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Mike Bolsenbroek, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Zibo Zhang, China Baseball League pitcher
- 1988 - Pedro Báez, pitcher
- 1988 - Vince Belnome, infielder
- 1988 - Griff Erickson, minor league catcher
- 1988 - Ji-woong Yoon, KBO pitcher
- 1989 - Clint Vondrak, umpire
- 1990 - Ryosuke Kikuchi, NPB infielder
- 1990 - Ryan Rua, infielder
- 1992 - Max Ayarza, minor league infielder
- 1992 - Luke Barker, pitcher
- 1992 - Iori Miura, Japanese women's national team outfielder
- 1992 - Mariandy Torres, Cuban women's national team outfielder
- 1993 - Matthew Festa, pitcher
- 1993 - Jordan Procyshen, minor league catcher
- 1994 - Richard Alzinger, Austrian national team outfielder
- 1994 - Avery Sullivan, minor league coach
- 1995 - Joe Jacques, pitcher
- 1996 - Glenn Otto, pitcher
- 1996 - Ernesto Pino, Spanish Baseball League pitcher
- 1997 - Carlos Hernández, pitcher
- 1998 - Jacob Lopez, pitcher
- 1999 - Sherten Apostel, infielder
- 1999 - Justin Connell, minor league outfielder
- 2000 - Erubiel Armenta, minor league pitcher
- 2001 - Po-Wei Hsu, CPBL catcher
- 2001 - Maro Miljanić, Croatian national team designated hitter
- 2003 - Cheng-Hung Lee, CPBL pitcher
- 2004 - Jackson Chourio, outfielder
Deaths[edit]
- 1881 - Joseph Conselyea Pinckney, pre-MLB player (b. 1821)
- 1892 - Cinders O'Brien, pitcher (b. 1867)
- 1893 - Clarence Dow, outfielder (b. 1854)
- 1920 - Ed Poole, pitcher (b. 1874)
- 1922 - Joe Gerhardt, infielder, manager (b. 1855)
- 1923 - Steel Arm Dickey, pitcher (b. 1896)
- 1930 - Bob Barr, pitcher (b. 1856)
- 1935 - George Rooks, outfielder (b. 1863)
- 1941 - Pi Schwert, catcher (b. 1892)
- 1944 - Bill Duzen, pitcher (b. 1870)
- 1945 - Sam Mertes, outfielder (b. 1872)
- 1946 - Ed McDonald, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1949 - Eric McNair, infielder (b. 1909)
- 1950 - William Gallagher, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1952 - Pete Daglia, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1953 - Jock Menefee, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1953 - Fred Toney, pitcher (b. 1888)
- 1954 - Bill Bradley, infielder, manager (b. 1878)
- 1959 - Dinty Gearin, pitcher (b. 1897)
- 1963 - Alpha Brummage, college coach (b. 1880)
- 1963 - Joe Judge, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1963 - Farmer Ray, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1970 - Bill Kerksieck, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 1971 - Clyde Barfoot, pitcher (b. 1891)
- 1971 - Pelayo Chacón, infielder; manager (b. 1888)
- 1972 - Zack Wheat, outfielder; Hall of Famer (b. 1888)
- 1973 - Pete Schmidt, pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1973 - Ralph Shropshire, catcher (b. 1911)
- 1975 - Lefty Clarke, pitcher (b. 1896)
- 1976 - Larry Gardner, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1979 - Beattie Feathers, minor league player and manager (b. 1908)
- 1980 - Stan Klopp, pitcher (b. 1910)
- 1981 - Vince Gonzales, pitcher (b. 1925)
- 1987 - Fred Lucas, outfielder (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Bots Nekola, pitcher (b. 1906)
- 1988 - Lee Daney, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1990 - Roy Schalk, infielder (b. 1908)
- 1995 - Don Manno, outfielder (b. 1915)
- 1996 - Charles Soos, minor league pitcher (b. 1964)
- 2002 - Al Cowens, outfielder (b. 1951)
- 2003 - Alta Cohen, outfielder (b. 1908)
- 2011 - Tex Dargiewicz, minor league outfielder (b. 1931)
- 2012 - Hub Andrews, pitcher (b. 1922)
- 2020 - Ted Cox, infielder (b. 1955)
- 2020 - Jarrod Patterson, infielder (b. 1973)
- 2020 - Steve Peterson, college coach (b. 1951)
- 2022 - Marcel de Bruijn, Hoofdklasse pitcher (b. 1945)
- 2024 - Gene Lippold, minor league pitcher (b. 1934)
We're Social...for Statheads
Every Sports Reference Social Media Account
Site Last Updated:
Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter
Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE
Your All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database
Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more.