December 29
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 December 29.
Events[edit]
- 1878 - The professional Baseball League of Cuba begins play in Havana, making the Cuban Winter League the world's second oldest professional baseball organization, trailing North America's National League in seniority by only two seasons. Havana wins the first game, 21 - 20, over Almendares in a contest featuring ten men to a side (the extra position was "right short"). The inaugural Cuban championship consists of only three clubs - Havana, Matanzas, Almendares - and Havana wins the trophy with a 4-0-1 record behind the leadership of manager and captain Steve Bellan.
- 1890 - In the Players League, after the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Burghers clubs combine with their National League rivals, Al Spalding buys out Chicago's PL backer, John Addison, for $18,000, some of which goes to pay off unpaid salaries and reimburse players half of their investments. Spalding gets the club's grandstand, equipment, and player contracts.
- 1917 - The Philadelphia Phillies pick up slugger Cy Williams from the Chicago Cubs for Dode Paskert. Williams will win three home run titles with Philadelphia to give him four for his career.
- 1919 - The Boston Red Sox send RF Braggo Roth and 2B Red Shannon to the Washington Senators for P Harry Harper, LF Mike Menosky and 3B Eddie Foster.
- 1932 - Shanty Hogan, who started his career with the Boston Braves, is purchased by the Braves after five years as the regular catcher for the New York Giants. Boston pays $25,000 for Hogan, who will finish his career with a .295 batting average.
- 1933 - New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert refuses to release Babe Ruth from his contract, thus preventing him from becoming the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Ruth will never receive another chance to manage a major league team.
- 1938 - Al Simmons moves to the National League when the Boston Bees buy him for $3,000 from the Washington Senators.
- 1969 - The New York Times reports that former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood will sue Major League Baseball over the reserve clause, which perpetually binds players to their teams. Flood is objecting to being traded from the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies without his consent.
- 1977 - Melissa Ludtke, female Sports Illustrated sports writer, files suit against Major League Baseball, the Yankees and New York City officials for denying her access to the locker room to interview players during the 1977 World Series.
- 2002 - Three blocks away from the blast at Paul Brown Stadium, thousands of spectators cheer as 1,275 pounds of explosives implodes Cinergy Field, which opened in 1970, sending a huge dust cloud down the Ohio River. The structure, formerly known as "Riverfront Stadium", was the site where Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth's career 714 home run record on Opening Day in 1974, and Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time 4,189 hits record in 1985. The site will become the western concourse of Great American Ball Park and will include the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame when it opens in the 2004 season.
- 2005 - Elrod Hendricks is remembered as a "kind, wonderful person" today at a funeral attended by thousands in honor of the man who spent nearly four decades as a catcher and coach with the Baltimore Orioles. Baseball stars Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Lee May, and former Orioles managers Earl Weaver and Mike Hargrove are among those filling the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in tribute to Hendricks, who died December 21st of a heart attack at age 64.
- 2009:
- The Giants sign Mark DeRosa to a two-year deal. The versatile player may be used at third base next season, displacing Pablo Sandoval to first, or could fill in at a number of positions.
- The Mets sign LF Jason Bay to a four-year deal worth approximately $66 million.
- 2011 - Former major league pitcher Rosman Garcia is killed when his car skids off the road and hits a tree outside of Caracas, Venezuela. He was playing for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan League at the time.
- 2014 - The Yankees trade P Shawn Kelley to the Padres in return for P Johnny Barbato.
- 2017 - Wade Davis reportedly agrees to the biggest deal ever offered a relief pitcher as he signs with the Rockies for $52 million over three years. This works out to an annual salary of $17.3 million, besting the $17.2 million given by the Yankees to Aroldis Chapman last year.
- 2021 - At a New Year's Eve party, Iowa Cubs owner Michael Gartner surprises the team's 23 permanent employees by handing each of them a share from the $600,000 profit from the recent sale of the team to Endeavor Group Holdings. Each employee receives an average of $70,000, based on the length of their service with the organization.
- 2022 - The Cubs sign free agent catcher Tucker Barnhart to a two-year deal as a potential replacement for Willson Contreras, who left via free agency earlier in the off-season.
- 2023 - Two free agent pitchers find homes as Lucas Giolito reaches a two-year deal with the Red Sox and Chris Flexen joins the White Sox.
Births[edit]
- 1860 - James Morris, pitcher/outfielder (d. 1925)
- 1861 - Joe Flynn, outfielder (d. 1933)
- 1882 - Frank Delahanty, outfielder (d. 1966)
- 1884 - Lou Fiene, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1885 - Gus Salve, pitcher (d. 1971)
- 1889 - Bill McAllester, catcher (d. 1970)
- 1890 - George Aiton, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1892 - Dave Skeels, pitcher (d. 1926)
- 1892 - Monroe Sweeney, umpire (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Joe Smith, catcher (d. 1974)
- 1894 - Hank DeBerry, catcher (d. 1951)
- 1895 - Clyde Barnhart, outfielder (d. 1980)
- 1904 - Bill Sweeney, infielder (d. 1957)
- 1911 - Bill Knickerbocker, infielder (d. 1963)
- 1920 - Thomas Favors, outfielder (d. 2001)
- 1924 - Robert Seebold, minor league outfielder (d. 2012)
- 1926 - Gale Miller, umpire (d. 2008)
- 1926 - Tom Upton, infielder (d. 2008)
- 1927 - Ted Del Guercio, minor league outfielder (d. 2006)
- 1930 - Frank Dezelan, umpire (d. 2011)
- 1930 - Bill Lore, minor league pitcher (d. 2014)
- 1934 - Ramon Conde, infielder (d. 2020)
- 1937 - George Perez, pitcher
- 1938 - Ron Kabbes, minor league infielder
- 1939 - George Farson, minor league catcher and manager (d. 2010)
- 1939 - Wayne Huizenga, owner (d. 2018)
- 1940 - Rudy Abbott, college coach (d. 2022)
- 1941 - Diógenes Belliard, Dominican national team outfielder
- 1941 - Bruce Brubaker, pitcher
- 1941 - John Upham, pitcher
- 1943 - Steve Adair, college coach (d. 2001)
- 1946 - Ken Rudolph, catcher
- 1951 - Rick Ingalls, scout
- 1952 - Dennis Werth, infielder
- 1956 - Dave Ford, pitcher
- 1958 - Fu-Jung Yeh, CPBL pitcher
- 1959 - Mike Brown, outfielder
- 1959 - Mitch Zwolensky, minor league pitcher and manager
- 1960 - Jim Wilson, designated hitter
- 1961 - David Bresnahan, minor league catcher
- 1962 - Devon White, outfielder; All-Star
- 1964 - Craig Grebeck, infielder
- 1964 - Curt Hasler, coach
- 1964 - Rod Nichols, pitcher
- 1965 - John Baggs, college coach (d. 2009)
- 1966 - Luis de los Santos, infielder
- 1967 - Gabriel Rodriguez, minor league pitcher
- 1969 - Joe Ciccarella, minor league pitcher
- 1969 - Scott Ruffcorn, pitcher
- 1969 - Hiroshi Shibahara, NPB catcher
- 1972 - Jim Brower, pitcher
- 1972 - Vladimir Petrov, Russian national team pitcher
- 1973 - Tomas Perez, infielder
- 1973 - Andrei Starov, Russian national team outfielder
- 1974 - Emil Brown, outfielder
- 1974 - Mark Mills, Great Britain national team pitcher
- 1974 - Richie Sexson, infielder; All-Star
- 1975 - Tom Jacquez, pitcher
- 1975 - Jason Pearson, pitcher
- 1975 - Ron Walker, minor league infielder (d. 2004)
- 1975 - Jaret Wright, pitcher
- 1977 - Jimmy Journell, pitcher
- 1977 - Josh Laxton, minor league pitcher
- 1977 - Jack Wilson, infielder; All-Star
- 1979 - Matt Knox, minor league player
- 1980 - Alan Sarmiento, Guam national team player
- 1980 - Charles Talanoa, minor league pitcher
- 1980 - Shane Wallace, minor league player
- 1981 - Marcos Yepez, minor league infielder
- 1982 - Brad Davis, catcher
- 1982 - Tony Giarratano, infielder
- 1982 - Kevin Hart, pitcher
- 1983 - Takashi Kamoshida, NPB pitcher
- 1984 - Filip Berecka, Croatian national team outfielder
- 1984 - Muhammad Ahsan Bilal, Pakistani national team outfielder
- 1984 - Matt Dahlin, minor league pitcher
- 1984 - Tim Gustafson, minor league pitcher
- 1985 - Jose Lozada, minor league infielder
- 1986 - Pat Farrell, minor league catcher
- 1988 - Niko Gallego, minor league infielder
- 1988 - Yu-Ching Lin, CPBL pitcher
- 1989 - Bryan Harper, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Bryan Penalo, minor league pitcher
- 1990 - Hao-Chun Chiu, CPBL pitcher
- 1991 - Odubel Herrera, outfielder; All-Star
- 1991 - Steve Pollakov, minor league catcher
- 1991 - Jordan Thliveris, Greek national team infielder
- 1992 - Enderson Franco, pitcher
- 1993 - Chase De Jong, pitcher
- 1994 - Dustin Fowler, outfielder
- 1994 - Brian Navarreto, catcher
- 1994 - Chris Okey, catcher
- 1995 - Sean Guenther, pitcher
- 1995 - Seiya Inagaki, Japanese national team infielder
- 1996 - Markus Melendez, Bundesliga catcher
- 1997 - Kuo-Hao Chiang, CPBL pitcher
- 1998 - Michael Brewer, minor league pitcher
- 1998 - William Woods, pitcher
- 1999 - Juan Bidau, minor league infielder
- 1999 - Tzu-Chiang Lee, CPBL pitcher
- 2000 - Julio Rodríguez, outfielder; All-Star
- 2005 - Salik Hasan, Pakistani national team player
- 2005 - Yahya Hasan, Pakistani national team player
Deaths[edit]
- 1888 - Asa Brainard, pitcher (b. 1841)
- 1916 - Ed Doheny, pitcher (b. 1873)
- 1918 - Jack Love, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1881)
- 1924 - Bill White, infielder (b. 1860)
- 1928 - Mort Scanlan, infielder (b. 1861)
- 1930 - Sandy Piez, outfielder (b. 1888)
- 1930 - Ginger Shinault, catcher (b. 1892)
- 1930 - George Stutz, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1935 - Harley Payne, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1936 - Bill Prough, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1937 - Willie Spearman, pitcher (b. 1899)
- 1938 - George Blackburn, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1947 - George Blaeholder, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1948 - Larry Hoffman, infielder (b. 1878)
- 1952 - Bob Meinke, infielder (b. 1887)
- 1962 - Tiny Graham, infielder (b. 1892)
- 1965 - Alex Main, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1966 - Richard King "King Tut", infielder and entertainer (d. 1904)
- 1977 - Jimmy Brown, infielder; All-Star (b. 1910)
- 1978 - Walt Alexander, catcher (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Ed Albrecht, pitcher (b. 1929)
- 1979 - Bill Plummer, minor league pitcher (b. 1901)
- 1980 - Kuo-Cheng Hsieh, executive; Taiwan Baseball Hall of Fame (b. 1912)
- 1980 - Art Reinholz, infielder (b. 1903)
- 1981 - Don Plarski, outfielder (b. 1929)
- 1988 - John Happenny, infielder (b. 1901)
- 1988 - Earl Mossor, pitcher (b. 1925)
- 1993 - Shirley Jameson, AAGPBL outfielder (b. 1918)
- 2004 - Ken Burkhart, pitcher; umpire (b. 1916)
- 2004 - Gus Niarhos, catcher (b. 1920)
- 2007 - Henry Bartolomei, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1922)
- 2008 - Dardo Hermann, Dominican national team outfielder (b. 1933)
- 2010 - Steve Boros, infielder, manager (b. 1936)
- 2011 - Rosman Garcia, pitcher (b. 1979)
- 2014 - Dick Hager, scout (b. 1929)
- 2014 - Ernie Novack, minor league pitcher (b. 1930)
- 2014 - Bob Usher, outfielder (b. 1925)
- 2015 - Frank Malzone, infielder; All-Star (b. 1930)
- 2015 - Ed Mayer, pitcher (b. 1931)
- 2016 - Chris Cannizzaro, catcher; All-Star (b. 1938)
- 2019 - Neal Watlington, catcher (b. 1922)
- 2020 - Ben Mateosky, minor league outfielder (b. 1930)
- 2020 - George Vass, writer (b. 1927)
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.