March 14
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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Events, births and deaths that occurred on March 14.
Events[edit]
- 1883 - In a Northwestern League meeting, Peoria moves to ban black players in order to prevent Toledo from playing star catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker. After an "exciting discussion" the motion is withdrawn and Walker is allowed to play.
- 1894 - A U.S. Immigration Inspector in Buffalo, NY asks the Treasury Department if baseball is a "recognized profession" in order to determine if Buffalo has violated the alien contract labor law by signing two Canadian players. Before the inspector gets a reply, Buffalo decides to play only American residents.
- 1932 - The Cincinnati Reds acquire catcher Ernie Lombardi, outfielder Babe Herman, and infielder Wally Gilbert from the Brooklyn Dodgers for catcher Clyde Sukeforth and infielders Tony Cuccinello and Joe Stripp. Herman will bat .324 in one season in Cincinnati following the trade (he will later return to the club for two seasons), but Lombardi makes the trade a steal. Lombardi will bat .311 in ten seasons in Cincinnati, winning a batting title and MVP Award in 1938.
- 1950 - Kozo Naito gets the first win in Hiroshima Carp history, beating the Kokutetsu Swallows, 16 - 1, in front of 10,000 fans in a home game.
- 1953 - St. Louis mayor Joseph Darst vows to fight losing the hometown Browns to Baltimore.
- 1954 - Hank Aaron makes his first spring training start for the Milwaukee Braves in an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox. Aaron, taking advantage of an injury suffered by starting outfielder Bobby Thomson, raps out three hits, including a home run. The noise of the contact is so loud that Ted Williams runs out of the Boston clubhouse to see who can make that sound with a bat. Aaron will eventually start for the Braves on Opening Day and will go on to hit a respectable .280 with 13 home runs and 58 RBI in his rookie season.
- 1956 - 50-year-old pitching star Satchel Paige signs a contract to play for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League. Paige also agrees to manage the team this season. By year's end, he will be pitching in the International League for the first of three straight years with the Miami Marlins.
- 1960 - Kirby Puckett is born in Chicago, Illinois. Puckett will make his major league debut in 1984, when he hits .296 for the Minnesota Twins. Over a 12-year career, Puckett will bat .318 with 207 home runs and 1,085 RBI, helping the Twins to two World Championships. He will win election to the Hall of Fame in 2001.
- 1961 - The National League expansion franchise in New York names future Hall of Famer George Weiss as team president. Weiss retired as general manager of the Yankees in 1960.
- 1969:
- Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente injures his left shoulder when he attempts a diving catch of a foul fly in a game against the Red Sox in Bradenton, FL. After waiting ten days for the shoulder to improve with no results, Clemente will return to Puerto Rico to consult his private trainer/chiropractor, Arturo Garcia.
- Former major leaguer Heinie Zimmerman dies in New York, NY at the age of 82. The one-time Triple Crown winner was banned from baseball in 1919 for his alleged involvement in fixing games. Research conducted for the publication of the Baseball Encyclopedia in 1969 will show that he had not in fact led the National League in RBI in 1912, and the Triple Crown banner will also be stripped away from him - only to be restored in 2013 when definitive research demonstrates that he did lead the league in RBIs that year.
- 1991 - The California Angels obtain DH Dave Parker from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for OF Dante Bichette. Parker will be released by the Angels before the end of the season, and will finish his 19-year major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays, while Bichette will turn into one of the decade's most feared hitters while playing for the expansion Colorado Rockies.
- 1993 - The Cincinnati Reds announce that Schottzie 02, the St. Bernard dog owned by Reds president Marge Schott, is being banned from the field at Riverfront Stadium for the season.
- 1995 - The Players Association announces that it will not settle the strike if replacement players are used in regular season games, and if results are not voided.
- 2003:
- Milwaukee Brewers TV/Radio play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker is named the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting. The 68-year-old former back-up catcher, who joined the Milwaukee broadcast crew in 1971, is best known for the humor he has brought to the game through his starring role in the cult movie Major League and the beer commercial in which the phrase Must be in the front row! has become a familiar cry in ballparks around the country.
- Dependent on passing a physical, free agent Kenny Lofton agrees to a one-year pact to play with the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. Lofton will start in center field, moving Brian Giles to left field with LF Reggie Sanders going to right.
- Able to maintain the organization's "long-standing philosophy", which lets Cablevision customers choose whether or not to receive paid programming, the cable giant agrees to a one-year interim deal to offer the YES Network to New York Yankees fans for a fee, ending a bitter and costly year-long feud. The arrangement makes YES a premium channel instead of basic cable channel, which the new network had previously mandated, and would have made every subscriber pay for the channel regardless of the viewer's choice.
- 2006:
- Two games are played today in Round Two of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. In Pool One, at Angel Stadium, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka allows one hit in five shutout innings, and Japan beats Mexico, 6 - 1, to put the United States in danger of being eliminated before its next game. If Japan beats South Korea, the US team could be eliminated from contention before even playing Mexico.
- In Pool Two, Daniel Cabrera pitches four hitless innings with seven strikeouts, and the Dominican Republic one-hits Venezuela to advance to the semifinals with a 2 - 1 victory at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
- The Washington Nationals can keep their nickname. Major League Baseball settles a lawsuit with a company that says it owns the trademark rights to the name Washington Nationals. Designs for a 41,000-seat ballpark for Washington are also unveiled by District of Columbia officials, a glass-and-steel structure clad in pale stone chosen to complement the world famous skyline of the nation's capital.
- Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona agrees to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2008 season.
- 2008 - Though the three spots for Beijing have already been clinched in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, the final day is an exciting one as there are three one-run games and one close slugfest. In the most notable close call, tournament champion Canada needs ten innings to beat Germany, 2 - 1. Soft-throwing André Hughes silences the Canadian bats most of the day. In the 10th, Dirk Fries issues a bases-loaded walk to Emerson Frostad to score Emmanuel Garcia with the winner. Mexico edges Spain, 2 - 1, with Cristhian Presichi scoring both runs as Mexico has a surprisingly tough time with Spanish ace Manny Olivera. Australia beats South Africa, 13 - 10, after South Africa had scored four runs in its first six games combined. Tom Brice scores four times in the win. Finally, South Korea tops Taiwan, 4 - 3, in a match-up of Beijing-bound teams. Youngster Kwang-hyun Kim gets the win while South Korea takes advantage of three defensive lapses by Taiwan's infield in the 2nd inning.
- 2009:
- The second round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic begins. Puerto Rico stuns Team USA with a 11 - 1, seven-inning mercy rule romp. Javier Vázquez allows one run in five innings while his teammates pound Jake Peavy and company. Carlos Beltrán goes 3 for 3 with a walk, steal, homer, three runs and two RBI to lead a strong offense.
- The Dutch national team allows only three hits to Venezuela but they are homers by Miguel Cabrera and José López and a triple by Endy Chávez, leading to three runs. Carlos Silva and three relievers hold the Netherlands to one run.
- 2010 - The Dodgers crush an All-Star team from the Chinese Professional Baseball League, 11 - 1, at Kaohsiung Stadium to complete their three-game tour in Taiwan. Josh Towers, Josh Lindblom and Jon Link, who are fighting for spots on the Dodgers' pitching staff, all impress manager Joe Torre.
- 2011 - A's closer Andrew Bailey leaves a game after experiencing discomfort while throwing. The team announces that he is headed to visit Dr. James Andrews in Alabama with what is described as "tightness in the forearm". Bailey already underwent Tommy John surgery after tearing a ligament in his elbow in 2005, and missed the second half of last season with an elbow injury. The A's will get some good news a day later when Dr. Andrews confirms that the injury is indeed only a strained forearm.
- 2012:
- The Royals suddenly find themselves short of catchers when expected starter Salvador Perez suffers a torn knee ligament while warming up Jonathan Sanchez prior to today's Grapefruit League game. He plays one inning, then leaves in pain and will need to undergo surgery. The injury comes three weeks after another backstop, Manny Pina, had to undergo surgery for torn cartilage, leaving the Royals with only two experienced catchers, Brayan Pena and non-roster invitee Max Ramirez, both of whom have been career back-ups.
- The bidding to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from bankrupt owner Frank McCourt is down to four groups. Surprisingly, all the groups with strong ties to baseball or to the Los Angeles, CA area have been eliminated, leaving hedge-fund billionaire Steven Cohen as the front-runner. He is expected to hire long-time major league manager Tony LaRussa in a senior executive position if his bid, rumored to be worth $1.6 billion, is successful.
- 2013:
- The Dominican Republic edges the USA, 3 - 1, to win the third spot in the 2013 World Baseball Classic final round. With the game tied at one in the 9th, pinch-hitter Erick Aybar singles off Craig Kimbrel to score Nelson Cruz with the winner; Aybar scores an insurance run on a Jose Reyes hit. Fernando Rodney then goes 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th for his fourth save of the Classic. The US is still alive, but it must win a make-or-break game tomorrow against Puerto Rico.
- The Baseball Australia Hall of Fame class of 2013 is announced. They are 1980s outfielder Geoffrey Martin (1982 Claxton Shield MVP and 1988 Olympics player), 19th Century infielder and manager Joe Quinn (the only Australian-born major leaguer prior to 1986), 1960s pitcher Donald Rice (a four-time Claxton Shield All-Star), 19th Century player Sydney Smith, and 1960s-1970s catcher Garry Thompson (a six-time Claxton Shield champion with South Australia).
- 2017 - Tetsuto Yamada hits a pair of home runs to lead Japan to an 8 - 5 win over Cuba in second-round action at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. The game is tied 5 - 5 in the 8th when pinch-hitter Seiichi Uchikawa hits a sacrifice fly, before Yamada puts the game away with a two-run blast. In the other second-round pool, Puerto Rico ends the Dominican Republic's run of 11 straight wins with a 3 - 1 win at Petco Park. The game has particular meaning for the Puerto Ricans, given they lost to the D.R. in the finals of the 2013 WBC. The D.R. starts off strong as its first three hitters reach base against Orlando Roman in the 1st, but a strikeout and a double play highlighted by a laser throw by RF Eddie Rosario keep them from scoring. Rosario then puts his team ahead with a ground-rule double that scores Javier Baez in the 4th, and Puerto Rico's pitchers limit the powerful Dominicans' scoring to Nelson Cruz's 2nd-inning solo homer.
- 2018 - Minor League Baseball announces some changes to the rules that will be used throughout the minor leagues starting this season. First, there will be a limit of six mound visits per game in AAA, similar to the rule change just introduced in Major League Baseball; lower classifications will allow more visits: eight in AA and ten in Class A. A 15-second pitch clock will be introduced with the bases empty, and 20 seconds with men on base. Finally, a variation of the Schiller Rule will be used beginning in the 10th inning, as each half inning will start with the batter preceding the first batter of the inning already on second base. That last rule was already in use in some Rookie-class leagues.
- 2019 - Commissioner Rob Manfred announces rule changes for the coming season. While the idea of a pitch clock has been dropped for the time being, other measures adopted include: lowering the number of mound visits from six to five, following the successful introduction of the rule in 2018; a shorter break between innings; making the July 31st trading deadline a hard one, with no trades allowed for the two remaining months of the season; a shift in procedure for nominating starters in the All-Star Game and additional bonuses for participants in the Home Run Derby; beginning next season, a clear roster limit, with 26 during the first five months and 28 for September, with all teams being required to respect the limits; and a minimum of three batters faced for relief pitchers, barring injury or the end of the half-inning, also starting with the 2020 season.
- 2022:
- In a clear sign that they have given up on the possibility of re-signing team icon Freddie Freeman, who is currently a free agent, the Braves trade four players to the Athletics to acquire All-Star 1B Matt Olson. The most recognizable name going the other way is OF Cristian Pache.
- In another major trade, the Reds send 3B Eugenio Suarez and OF Jesse Winker to the Mariners in return for P Justin Dunn, OF Jake Fraley, P Brandon Williamson and a player to be named later.
- 2023:
- In Pool C of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Canada plays an almost flawless game in shutting out Colombia, 5 - 0. Noah Skirrow pitches five innings for the win, his defense turns four double plays, and Otto Lopez leads the offense with a triple and homer, resulting in two runs scored and three RBIs. In the other game, Great Britain puts up a valiant effort against Mexico but loses, 2 - 1, as C Alexis Wilson drives in both runs. Wilson was slated to be the team's bullpen catcher until Alejandro Kirk pulled out of the tournament when the birth of his first child was delayed. Canada and Mexico are now both 2-1 and will face off tomorrow for a second-round berth.
- Pool D action sees the end of the tournament for Nicaragua, which musters just one run (as they had in all four of their contests) - despite seven hits off Venezuelan starter Eduardo Rodríguez, who lasts only two innings. Their staff mostly contains Venezuela's mighty offense, but they fall, 4 - 1, a two-run single by Eugenio Suárez being the game-winning hit. In the other game, one day after being the victims of a perfect game, Israel finally breaks a string of 30 consecutive batters making outs when Spencer Horwitz singles to lead the 3rd against the Dominican Republic, but he is the only batter to reach base as the Dominicans score ten runs for a mercy rule seven-inning one-hit shutout. Manny Machado, with a long homer and a two-run single, and Julio Rodríguez, with a two-run double, are the offensive stars for a star-studded Dominican team that has been underwhelming until now in the tournament.
Births[edit]
- 1849 - Candy Nelson, infielder (d. 1910)
- 1850 - Denny Mack, infielder, manager (d. 1888)
- 1855 - Bill Holbert, catcher, manager (d. 1935)
- 1857 - Joseph Wiley, infielder (d. 1924)
- 1860 - Billy O'Brien, infielder (d. 1911)
- 1864 - Pit Gilman, outfielder (d. 1950)
- 1864 - Lew Phelan, manager (d. 1933)
- 1865 - Tom Sexton, infielder (d. 1934)
- 1867 - Frank Meek, catcher (d. 1922)
- 1869 - Billy Rhines, pitcher (d. 1922)
- 1871 - Ben Conroy, infielder (d. 1937)
- 1875 - Wilbur Murdoch, outfielder (d. 1941)
- 1878 - Butch Rementer, catcher (d. 1922)
- 1880 - Lou Polchow, pitcher (d. 1912)
- 1884 - Jud Daley, outfielder (d. 1967)
- 1886 - Bert King, minor league outfielder (d. 1949)
- 1886 - Walt DeVoy, outfielder (d. 1953)
- 1888 - Hub Pernoll, pitcher (d. 1944)
- 1891 - Dave Gregg, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1894 - Gene Layden, outfielder (d. 1984)
- 1897 - Bruce Hitt, pitcher (d. 1973)
- 1898 - James Crump, infielder (d. 1986)
- 1898 - Bill McCall, pitcher (d. 1943)
- 1900 - Marty McManus, infielder, manager (d. 1966)
- 1902 - Basilio Rosell, pitcher; Salón de la Fama (d. 1994)
- 1905 - Jack Rothrock, outfielder (d. 1980)
- 1908 - Santos Amaro, minor league outfielder; Salón de la Fama (d. 2001)
- 1908 - Alphonso Cox, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1914 - Joe Fillmore, pitcher (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Bill Hoskins, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1975)
- 1914 - Red Marion, outfielder (d. 1975)
- 1914 - Claude Miller, pitcher (d. 1974)
- 1917 - Abel Francisco Cano, writer; Salon de la Fama (d. 1983)
- 1917 - Chuck Schramm, minor league player (d. 2012)
- 1918 - Arnold Carter, pitcher (d. 1989)
- 1919 - Riley Stewart, pitcher (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Bill Kennedy, pitcher (d. 1983)
- 1928 - Earl Smith, outfielder (d. 2014)
- 1932 - Dick Conway, minor league catcher (d. 1951)
- 1932 - Keiji Osawa, NPB outfielder and manager; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1934 - Bob Banna, college coach (d. 2018)
- 1936 - Herb Brown, college coach
- 1936 - Modesto Verdura, Cuban National League pitcher (d. 2019)
- 1941 - Rubén López, Puerto Rican national player (d. 2016)
- 1942 - Bob Raudman, outfielder (d. 2020)
- 1942 - Dick Yencha, minor league infielder
- 1944 - John Miller, infielder (d. 2023)
- 1946 - Ron Law, pitcher (d. 1994)
- 1947 - Billy Crystal, actor
- 1947 - Mike Strahler, pitcher (d. 2016)
- 1948 - José Antonio Huelga, Cuban league pitcher (d. 1974)
- 1950 - Dave McKay, infielder
- 1953 - Tim Ireland, infielder
- 1954 - R.J. Harrison, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1954 - Corky Palmer, college coach (d. 2022)
- 1955 - Bret Paris, minor league infielder
- 1956 - Butch Wynegar, catcher; All-Star
- 1957 - Steve Lake, catcher
- 1957 - Ty Waller, infielder
- 1960 - Jerry Willard, catcher
- 1960 - Kirby Puckett, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 2006)
- 1962 - Oswald Boermans, Belgian national team infielder
- 1963 - Mike Rochford, pitcher
- 1964 - Naoya Masuda, NPB infielder
- 1965 - Kevin Brown, pitcher; All-Star
- 1966 - Billy Paul Carver, minor league catcher
- 1969 - Vicente Garibaldo, minor league infielder
- 1969 - Scott Higgins, umpire
- 1969 - Jalal Leach, outfielder
- 1970 - Brent Gates, infielder
- 1973 - Robert Dodd, pitcher
- 1974 - Adam Taylor, minor league catcher
- 1977 - Darren Blakely, minor league outfielder
- 1978 - Mike Calitri, coach
- 1978 - Matt Kata, infielder
- 1979 - Yuichi Hisamoto, NPB pitcher
- 1979 - Jose Antonio Nunez, pitcher
- 1980 - Omar Moreno Jr., minor league outfielder
- 1981 - Bobby Jenks, pitcher; All-Star
- 1981 - Hao-Yi Yu, college coach
- 1982 - Andrey Kripochin, Russian national team outfielder
- 1983 - Eli Iorg, minor league outfielder
- 1983 - Wardell Starling, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Randor Bierd, pitcher
- 1984 - Yeon-oh Choi, KBO catcher
- 1985 - Steve Hill, catcher
- 1985 - Paul Nardozzi, minor league pitcher
- 1985 - Jamie Lehman, minor league pitcher
- 1986 - Chris Anderson, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Alejandro Astorga, minor league pitcher
- 1987 - Blaine Hardy, pitcher
- 1988 - Akira Masuda, Peruvian national team player
- 1988 - Josh Stinson, pitcher
- 1988 - Jose Urena, minor league player
- 1988 - Coty Woods, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Felix Brown, minor league infielder
- 1989 - Marwin Gonzalez, infielder
- 1993 - Franklin De La Rosa, French Division I pitcher
- 1993 - Darryl George, minor league infielder
- 1993 - Lombardo Padilla, Honduran national team infielder
- 1994 - Javkhlan Ulziibayar, Mongolian national team infielder-pitcher
- 1994 - Tim Veraghtert, Hoofdklasse catcher
- 1996 - Ricardo Castillo, Hungarian national team infielder-catcher
- 1997 - Brandon Lockridge, outfielder
- 1997 - Angel Lopez, minor league catcher
- 1998 - Douglas Lanza, minor league catcher
- 1999 - Meng-Yuan Yang, CPBL pitcher
- 2000 - Jack O'Loughlin, pitcher
- 2001 - Faenza Bishop, New Zealand national team catcher
- 2001 - Wentao Zhang, Chinese national team infielder
- 2003 - Bjay Cooke, minor league infielder
- 2003 - Suepsak Somsuai, Thai national team pitcher
- 2004 - Hyun-seok Jang, minor league pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1905 - Pete Meegan, pitcher (b. 1862)
- 1910 - Bert Brown, minor league infielder (b. ~1882)
- 1910 - Mike Hines, catcher (b. 1862)
- 1920 - Louis Schrader, umpire (b. 1850)
- 1922 - Danny Hoffman, outfielder (b. 1880)
- 1928 - Nat Hudson, pitcher (b. 1859)
- 1933 - Willie Mills, pitcher (b. 1877)
- 1937 - Rudy Kling, infielder (b. 1870)
- 1943 - Bubbles Anderson, infielder (b. 1904)
- 1952 - Fred Tschudin, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1922)
- 1956 - Lena Styles, catcher (b. 1899)
- 1961 - Ben Adams, Olympic pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1963 - Charlie Harris, infielder (b. 1877)
- 1966 - Lee Magee, outfielder, manager (b. 1889)
- 1967 - Eddie Hunter, infielder (b. 1905)
- 1968 - Paul Carpenter, pitcher (b. 1894)
- 1969 - Heinie Zimmerman, infielder (b. 1887)
- 1970 - Jim Levey, infielder (b. 1906)
- 1974 - Alex Pompez, Negro League owner; Hall of Fame (b. 1890)
- 1975 - Tracy Baker, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1978 - Kent Greenfield, pitcher (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Al Wickland, outfielder (b. 1888)
- 1981 - Robert Abel, minor league executive (b. 1897)
- 1984 - Johnny Enzmann, pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1986 - Harold Arlin, announcer (b. 1895)
- 1988 - Zeb Terry, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1992 - Glenn Liebhardt, pitcher (b. 1910)
- 1992 - Dave Snowden, pitcher (b. 1898)
- 1995 - Charlie Letchas, infielder (b. 1915)
- 2003 - Al Gionfriddo, outfielder (b. 1922)
- 2003 - Ron Shoop, catcher (b. 1931)
- 2008 - Leon Revolinsky, minor league pitcher (b. 1912)
- 2008 - Matt Zidich, minor league pitcher, outfielder (b. 1927)
- 2010 - Mark Austry, minor league infielder (b. 1977)
- 2012 - Kihachi Enomoto, NPB infielder; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1936)
- 2013 - Samuel Coppola, minor league outfielder (b. ~1931)
- 2013 - Jack Curran, minor league pitcher (d. 1930)
- 2016 - June Peppas, AAGPBL player (b. 1929)
- 2017 - Arleene Noga, AAGPBL infielder (b. 1924)
- 2021 - Eulogio De La Cruz, pitcher (b. 1984)
- 2021 - Eddie Muna, Guam national team infielder (b. 1968)
- 2021 - Coot Veal, infielder (b. 1932)
- 2024 - Jim McAndrew, pitcher (b. 1944)
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