March 22
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 22.
Events[edit]
- 1886 - Denny McKnight, one of the founders of the American Association, is ousted from the league presidency for his partisan handling of the Sam Barkley case. Wheeler Wyckoff becomes the new AA president.
- 1888 - 3B/C Deacon White signs with the Detroit Wolverines after a prolonged battle with manager Bill Watkins, under whom White had said he'd never play.
- 1889 - The All America team beats Chicago, 7 - 6, in England's Old Trafford Cricket Stadium. The Manchester Guardian says: the "general verdict of the more than 1,000 spectators was that the American game was 'slow' and 'wanting in variety.'"
- 1939 - Rookie outfielder Pete Reiser starts his second spring training game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. After going 0 for 3 yesterday against the Yankees, Reiser belts a home run in his first at bat against the Cardinals, and follows with a walk and two singles. He will have ten straight hits before striking out three times against Yankees pitcher Oral Hildebrand six days later. When Jack Haley relieves Hildebrand, Reiser hits a home run off him. Reiser will go north with Brooklyn and play in an April 15th exhibition against the Yankees in Ebbets Field before being sent to the Triple-A Elmira Pioneers.
- 1947 - In the first televised Mexican League game, the Azules del Veracruz win, 11 - 3, over the Diablos Rojos del México.
- 1962:
- A former member of the New York Giants requesting anonymity reveals that Bobby Thomson's home run in the 1951 playoffs against the Brooklyn Dodgers was helped by a sign-stealing clubhouse spy. The spying is claimed to have gone on for the last three months of the season. Thomson, along with former Giants manager Leo Durocher, vehemently denies that he received help, but a source close to the team confirms the spy operation.
- At spring training, Yankees slugger Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Rogers Hornsby because the Hall of Famer criticized him in his book My Wars with Baseball.
- 1963 - The New York Mets, who finished last in the National League with a 40-120 record in their inaugural season, purchase pitcher Carl Willey from the Milwaukee Braves. Willey will boost a pitching rotation that includes Roger Craig, Al Jackson and Tracy Stallard. The Mets will improve to 51-111 this season.
- 1972:
- The American League approves the sale of the Cleveland Indians by Vernon Stouffer. A group headed up by businessman Nick Mileti purchases the team for an estimated $9.7 million. Mileti also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and the Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association. Stouffer turned down an earlier offer from local business tycoon George Steinbrenner to buy the team, but when the AL owners reject his proposal to have the Indians play some of their games in the New Orleans Superdome, Stouffer decides to sell the team.
- In one of the best trades in franchise history, the New York Yankees acquire reliever Sparky Lyle from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for 1B/OF Danny Cater. In seven seasons with the Yankees, Lyle will post a 57-40 record with 141 saves and a 2.41 ERA, win a Cy Young Award, and help the team to three World Series.
- 1976 - The California Angels' groundskeeper finds hundreds of marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium. The culprits? Most likely rock fans who attended a recent performance at the stadium by The Who.
- 1981 - American League President Lee MacPhail suspends Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver for removing his team from the field and forfeiting a spring training game to the Kansas City Royals. It is the fourth career suspension for Weaver, who was upset that the umpires did not provide him with an official batting order after Kansas City made numerous substitutions. Weaver's suspension will last three days.
- 1990 - Major league umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games to protest not having been consulted in the revision of the regular season schedule after the lockout. They will return to work on April 1st.
- 1991 - At Sotheby's in New York, a 1909-10 tobacco card in mint condition of Honus Wagner sells for $451,000, with the 10% auction house premium. Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall purchase the rare card. On the same day, a 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle goes for $49,500, tripling the pre-auction estimate, while a baseball, signed by 12 players at the 1939 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, sells for $20,900.
- 1993 - Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews are killed, and Bob Ojeda is seriously injured, when the motorboat in which they are riding strikes a pier on Little Lake Nellie near Winter Haven, Florida. Crews and Olin are the first active major leaguers to die since Thurman Munson in 1979.
- 1997:
- The New York Mets, loaded with middle infielders, add two more, acquiring shortstop Manny Alexander and third baseman Scott McClain from the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets give up hard-throwing reliever Hector Ramirez in exchange.
- At spring training, Cincinnati Reds catcher Joe Oliver tears a ligament in his thumb making a tag at home plate, and will need surgery to repair it. Oliver will be out of action until May.
- 1999 - The St. Louis Cardinals announce that starter Matt Morris, expected to be the ace of their pitching staff, will miss the entire season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow.
- 2002 - 38-year-old Dante Bichette announces his retirement after a poor spring trying to make the Dodgers' roster as a bench player. A four-time All-Star, Bichette was a .299 hitter with 274 home runs and 1,141 RBI in a 14-season career with five teams.
- 2005 - Eleven home runs shy of passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds indicates he may not play this season. The 40-year-old National League MVP, who has had two knee operations and has been implicated in the sport's steroids scandal, cites being physically and mentally "done" and blames the news media for much of his unhappiness.
- 2008 - Javy Lopez retires. Lopez hit 260 home runs and slugged .491 in his major league career, producing a 112 OPS+ in 15 seasons. He set a single-season home run record for catchers with 42. A three-time All-Star, Lopez sat out 2007 before managing just a .188 average in his comeback attempt with the Atlanta Braves this spring.
- 2009 - Japan moves to the finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic by wiping out Team USA, 9 - 4. Daisuke Matsuzaka improves to 3-0, while Japan lights up Roy Oswalt for five runs in the 4th inning. Kenji Johjima hits two sacrifice flies in the win.
- 2010:
- The Minnesota Twins sign catcher Joe Mauer, last season's American League MVP, to an eight-year contract worth $184 million. The deal includes a full no-trade clause for the hometown hero, who grew up in St. Paul, MN, and is the fourth-largest in major league history.
- Albert Pujols gives the Cardinals a scare as he is scratched from the line-up for today's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox, suffering from tightness in his lower back. The 2009 National League MVP has already missed a week of work this spring; he undergoes a MRI and receives an anti-inflammatory injection as a precaution. On the positive side of the ledger for the Cards, OF Matt Holliday is back in the line-up after missing two weeks with a strained chest muscle.
- 2011 - Greg Anderson, personal trainer of Barry Bonds, refuses to testify at the slugger's trial for perjury. He is charged with contempt of court by Judge Susan Illston and is taken into custody, facing a fifth jail term for his consistently uncooperative attitude.
- 2012:
- Braves 3B Chipper Jones, one of the greatest switch-hitters of all time, announces that he will retire after this season. Jones, who will turn 40 next month, hopes to remain with the Braves - the only team he has played for - in some capacity after hanging up his spikes.
- New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine gets an early introduction to the fierce rivalry with the Yankees. After the Sox tie a spring training game, 4 - 4, on a squeeze bunt by Jason Repko in the bottom of the 9th inning, Valentine has reliever Clayton Mortensen on the mound ready to pitch the 10th when rival manager Joe Girardi announces that his team is leaving Fort Myers, FL immediately, taking a bus back to their base in Tampa, FL. Girardi later justifies his last-minute decision by the fact that he has used all of the pitchers he had planned to bring into the game, but Valentine is still irked.
- Major League Baseball announces it is setting up a new league for amateur players in the Dominican Republic, in order to give them an opportunity to perform against top competition without having to commit to a professional contract at a very young age. The lack of high school or equivalent competition has hampered the development of the game in the D.R., whose national teams have performed poorly in international competitions in spite of the large number of professional players born in the country.
- Jeff Moorad announces he is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Padres, but will remain a Vice-President in charge of developing the team's relationship with the Fox Sports San Diego network.
- 2013 - Major League Baseball files a lawsuit against Anthony Bosch and five others connected with the Miami clinic "Biogenesis" that allegedly provided PEDs to a number of players. The suit charges that the defendants "knowingly participated in a scheme to solicit or induce major league players to purchase or obtain performance-enhancing substances in violation of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program." The suit seeks monetary damages and other relief.
- 2014:
- Major League Baseball's regular season begins with the first of two games played at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia. The Dodgers defeat the Diamondbacks, 3 - 1, behind a vintage performance from defending Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, and a pair of extra-base hits by OF Scott Van Slyke, including the first homer to be hit in the southern hemisphere. Ironically, Van Slyke is only in the starting line-up because OFs Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp have failed to make the trip. It is the first time a regular season game has been played in Australia.
- The 2014 CPBL season begins with a Uni-President Lions win over the EDA Rhinos, 8 - 4. Ching-Lung Lo gets the win over Andy Sisco while Kuo-Ching Kao is the offensive star.
- 2015 - Yankees prospect Jose Pirela runs into the center field fence at full speed in trying to chase down a drive off the bat of the Mets' Juan Lagares. He suffers a concussion and has to be taken to hospital, but escapes more serious injury. Meanwhile, Lagares circles the bases with an inside-the-park home run.
- 2016:
- The Rays defeat the Cuban national team, 4 - 1, in a historic exhibition game played at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba. Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro are in attendance as the ballgame, which is the first by a major league team in Cuba since the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series, and only the second since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
- The Dodgers announce that OF Andre Ethier will be out at least three months with a fractured right tibia, the result of fouling a ball off his leg on March 18th.
- 2017 - The United States wins the 2017 World Baseball Classic by defeating heretofore unbeaten Puerto Rico, 8 - 0, in the finals played at Dodger Stadium. Tournament MVP Marcus Stroman gives the U.S. a great start with six innings of one-hit ball, and Ian Kinsler hits a two-run homer off Seth Lugo in the 3rd. Two more runs chase Lugo in the 5th, and the U.S. puts the game away with a three-run outburst in the 7th. Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Crawford drive in two runs each and Nolan Arenado scores twice. It is the U.S.'s first win in four editions of the World Baseball Classic, and Puerto Rico second straight loss in the finals.
- 2018 - Grapefruit League games are usually pretty laid-back affairs, as the final score is of minor concern to players, managers and fans alike. However, today, umpire Tom Hallion is apparently keen on working out the rust from his ejection gesture, as he gives the thumb no less than five times in a meaningless game between the Tigers and Phillies. Things start in the 5th inning when he tosses Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd for supposedly throwing at Odubel Herrera, then in the 8th he gives the heave-ho to Phillies P Parker Frazier for losing control of a slow curve that ends on Derek Hill's leg. When manager Gabe Kapler comes out to point out the absurdity of the call, he is sent off as well. Then in the 9th, it's Pedro Beato who gets his time on the mound shortened for pitching inside to Dylan Rosa, and he's quickly followed to the clubhouse by bench coach Rob Thomson when he attempts to remind Hallion that this is a spring training game and guys are just trying to throw some pitches against live batters.
Births[edit]
- 1853 - George Barnum, umpire (d. 1937)
- 1854 - Myron Allen, outfielder (d. 1924)
- 1856 - Bill McClellan, infielder (d. 1929)
- 1867 - Jack Boyle, infielder (d. 1913)
- 1867 - Nick Reeder, infielder (d. 1894)
- 1868 - Ed Fuller, pitcher (d. 1935)
- 1869 - George Bausewine, pitcher (d. 1947)
- 1880 - Ernie Quigley, umpire (d. 1960)
- 1881 - Bill Chappelle, pitcher (d. 1944)
- 1889 - Tillie Shafer, infielder (d. 1962)
- 1890 - Bienvenido Jiménez, infielder (d. ????)
- 1892 - Lew Wendell, catcher (d. 1953)
- 1896 - Chick Holmes, pitcher (d. 1954)
- 1897 - Luke Urban, catcher (d. 1980)
- 1898 - Clarence Lindsay, infielder, manager (d. 1944)
- 1902 - Goldie Holt, coach, minor league player and manager (d. 1991)
- 1904 - Bob Elson, announcer (d. 1991)
- 1905 - Dave Thomas, infielder (d. 1968)
- 1906 - Manuel Chávez, minor league infielder; Salón de la Fama (d. 1988)
- 1906 - Marv Owen, infielder (d. 1991)
- 1906 - Moose Solters, outfielder (d. 1975)
- 1906 - Overton Tremper, outfielder (d. 1996)
- 1907 - Johnny Scalzi, pinch hitter (d. 1962)
- 1909 - Ed Cole, pitcher (d. 1999)
- 1910 - Oliver Grosselin, college coach (d. 1972)
- 1910 - Nora Listach, outfielder (d. 1987)
- 1913 - Charles Petersen, minor league outfielder and manager (d. 2013)
- 1913 - Hank Steinbacher, outfielder (d. 1977)
- 1915 - Norm Branch, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1915 - Wataru Nonin, NPB infielder and manager (d. 1991)
- 1918 - Bill Butland, pitcher (d. 1997)
- 1918 - Joe Craig, outfielder (d. 1991)
- 1918 - Carl Miles, pitcher (d. 2016)
- 1921 - George Crowe, infielder; All-Star (d. 2011)
- 1921 - Charley Grant, minor league infielder (d. 1988)
- 1921 - Ken Olson, minor league pitcher (d. 2013)
- 1924 - Lee Eilbracht, college coach (d. 2013)
- 1926 - Billy Goodman, infielder; All-Star (d. 1984)
- 1926 - Wataru Noguchi, NPB infielder and pitcher
- 1927 - Paul Stuffel, pitcher (d. 2018)
- 1928 - Paul Schramka, outfielder (d. 2019)
- 1929 - Joe DeLucca, scout (d. 2020)
- 1932 - Peter Box, Australian national team player (d. 2018)
- 1932 - Al Schroll, pitcher (d. 1999)
- 1933 - Frank Dolson, writer (d. 2006)
- 1934 - Víctor Saíz, minor league umpire; Salon de la Fama
- 1935 - Gene Oliver, catcher (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Frank Pulli, umpire (d. 2013)
- 1940 - Dick Ellsworth, pitcher; All-Star (d. 2022)
- 1943 - Ron Wojciak, minor league catcher (d. 1966)
- 1944 - Matt Galante, manager
- 1948 - Jake Brown, outfielder (d. 1981)
- 1948 - Armando Capiró, Cuban league outfielder
- 1948 - Ralph Dickenson, coach
- 1948 - Carlos Velazquez, pitcher (d. 2000)
- 1949 - Terry Wilshusen, pitcher (d. 2000)
- 1952 - Eddie Bane, pitcher
- 1952 - Bob Costas, announcer
- 1952 - Eric Rasmussen, pitcher
- 1953 - Dan Boitano, pitcher
- 1953 - Yuji Kasama, NPB catcher
- 1956 - Doug Stokke, minor league infielder
- 1957 - Rodger Bastien, minor league infielder
- 1960 - Scott Bradley, catcher
- 1960 - Matt Sinatro, catcher
- 1962 - Takao Iida, Japanese national team infielder
- 1963 - Rich Monteleone, pitcher
- 1964 - Joe Padilla, umpire (d. 2013)
- 1965 - Claudio Cecconi, Serie A1 infielder
- 1965 - Glenallen Hill, outfielder
- 1965 - Ty Nichols, minor league infielder
- 1966 - Sean Berry, infielder
- 1966 - Luis Natera, minor league infielder and manager
- 1967 - Josh Lowery, minor league outfielder
- 1968 - Ramon Martinez, pitcher; All-Star
- 1969 - Ilya Bogatyrev, minor league infielder
- 1971 - Jeremy McGarity, minor league pitcher
- 1972 - Ron Caridad, minor league pitcher
- 1972 - Cory Lidle, pitcher (d. 2006)
- 1972 - Kevin Lidle, minor league catcher
- 1974 - Luis Molina, scout
- 1974 - Osvaldo Oliva, minor league player
- 1974 - Jason Phillips, pitcher
- 1975 - C.J. Thieleke, minor league infielder
- 1976 - Lung-Wei Kao, CPBL pitcher
- 1976 - Selwyn Langaigne, minor league outfielder
- 1976 - Marc Marsch, Bundesliga outfielder
- 1977 - Pat O'Sullivan, minor league infielder
- 1978 - Jo-Hui Feng, CPBL pitcher (d. 2018)
- 1978 - Jeremy Griffiths, pitcher
- 1979 - Juan Uribe, infielder
- 1981 - Dong-hwa Cho, KBO outfielder
- 1982 - Jérôme Dussart, French Division I catcher
- 1982 - Michael Morse, infielder/outfielder
- 1983 - Jordan Bert, French Division I outfielder
- 1983 - Tom Lyons, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - George Delgado, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Fernando Nishimura, Brazilian national team player
- 1984 - Joe Smith, pitcher
- 1985 - Romain David, French Division I infielder
- 1985 - Larry Day, minor league catcher and manager
- 1985 - Justin Masterson, pitcher; All-Star
- 1985 - Michael Fisher, minor league infielder
- 1986 - Dexter Fowler, outfielder; All-Star
- 1987 - Ike Davis, infielder
- 1988 - Wei-En Lin, CPBL infielder
- 1988 - Derek McCallum, minor league infielder
- 1989 - Alan Sanchez, minor league outfielder
- 1990 - Brett Marshall, pitcher
- 1990 - Luis Mateo, minor league pitcher
- 1990 - Kristoffer Sjöberg, Elitserien player
- 1990 - Andrew Susac, catcher
- 1990 - Brian White, minor league catcher and manager
- 1991 - Shurendell Mujica, minor league infielder
- 1992 - Eric Brenk, Bundesliga infielder
- 1992 - Daniel Catalan, Division Honor outfielder
- 1992 - Hidayat Ullah, Pakistani national team catcher
- 1993 - Kade Scivicque, minor league catcher
- 1994 - Drew Anderson, pitcher
- 1994 - Edwin Díaz, pitcher; All-Star
- 1994 - Daniel Robertson, infielder
- 1994 - José Valdespina, minor league pitcher
- 1995 - James Meeker, pitcher
- 1996 - Ernie Clement, infielder
- 1996 - Tristan Gray, infielder
- 1996 - Grant Holmes, pitcher
- 1997 - Andrés Sotillet, minor league pitcher
- 1997 - Hiroshi Suzuki, NPB pitcher
- 1998 - Michael Massey, infielder
- 1999 - Danilo Bermúdez, Nicaraguan national team pitcher
- 1999 - Bryan Chi, minor league pitcher
- 2000 - Rodolfo Bone, minor league catcher
- 2000 - Leandro Emiliani, minor league infielder
- 2001 - Alanis Rodríguez, Puerto Rican women's national team outfielder
Deaths[edit]
- 1897 - Dave Anderson, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1902 - Johnny Ryan, outfielder (b. 1853)
- 1904 - Art McCoy, infielder (b. 1864)
- 1905 - Gus Krock, pitcher (b. 1866)
- 1912 - Ed Kenna, pitcher (b. 1877)
- 1918 - Jim Holdsworth, infielder/outfielder (b. 1850)
- 1940 - Libe Washburn, outfielder (b. 1874)
- 1942 - Bob Vail, pitcher (b. 1881)
- 1944 - Claude Hendrix, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1947 - Tony Von Fricken, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1949 - Bert King, minor league outfielder (d. 1886)
- 1949 - Jake Livingstone, pitcher (b. 1880)
- 1953 - Michael Driscoll, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1954 - Harry LaRoss, outfielder (b. 1888)
- 1954 - Frank Metz, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1885)
- 1957 - Charlie Babington, outfielder (b. 1895)
- 1960 - Gordon Rhodes, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1961 - Lewis Woolfolk, pitcher (b. 1896)
- 1962 - Lee DeMontreville, infielder (b. 1875)
- 1962 - Joe Martina, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1969 - Floyd Speer, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 1973 - Bill McCorry, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1976 - Masanobu Yamaguchi, NPB outfielder (b. 1916)
- 1980 - Ray Foley, pinch hitter (b. 1906)
- 1980 - Tatsuo Saeki, high school official; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1892)
- 1983 - Don Savidge, pitcher (b. 1908)
- 1985 - Arthur Allyn, Jr., owner (b. 1913)
- 1985 - Marty Baier, minor league infielder (b. 1963)
- 1985 - Frank Sancet, college coach (b. 1907)
- 1992 - Allen Bryant, pitcher (b. 1918)
- 1993 - Steve Olin, pitcher (b. 1965)
- 1996 - Pete Whisenant, outfielder (b. 1929)
- 2000 - Lilio Marcucci, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1922)
- 2001 - Newt Kimball, pitcher (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Denio Canton, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 2005 - Clyde Miller, college coach (b. ????)
- 2005 - Takao Sato, NPB outfielder and manager (b. 1931)
- 2007 - Don Dennis, pitcher (b. 1942)
- 2007 - Kenya Hunt, minor league outfielder (b. 1972)
- 2007 - Dong-hee Park, KBO pitcher (b. 1968)
- 2007 - Willard Schmidt, pitcher (b. 1928)
- 2010 - Jim Colzie, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 2011 - Chick DiCola, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1925)
- 2011 - Normie Roy, pitcher (b. 1928)
- 2012 - Fred van Leeuwen, Hoofdklasse umpire (b. ????)
- 2012 - Mickey Sullivan, college coach (b. 1932)
- 2013 - Joe Burt Scott, outfielder (b. 1920)
- 2017 - Winston Blenckstone, minor league owner (b. 1944)
- 2017 - Dallas Green, pitcher, manager (b. 1934)
- 2017 - Mark Higgins, infielder (b. 1963)
- 2019 - Art Mazmanian, college coach (b. 1927)
- 2021 - Antoine Loock, Hoofdklasse umpire (b. 1974)
- 2022 - Toshizo Sakamoto, NPB infielder (b. 1943)
- 2024 - Chuck Seelbach, pitcher (b. 1948)
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.