February 15
From BR Bullpen
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| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on February 15.
Events[edit]
- 1889 - The Indianapolis Hoosiers, who have been without a manager since October, finally come to terms with veteran Frank Bancroft to manage them this season.
- 1896 - The Louisville infield is being rebuilt with baselines of blue clay. In addition, blue semicircles will radiate out from first base and third base, joining at second base to form, along with the bottom half of the diamond, a heart.
- 1905 - Accused of throwing games, St. Louis Cardinals righthander Jack Taylor is acquitted by the National League Board of Directors in New York, but he is found guilty of bad conduct and fined $300.
- 1910 - Both major leagues adopt resolutions banning syndicate baseball, which allowed owners to have financial interests in more than one team. The National League votes for a 154-game schedule to open on April 12th, which the American League has already adopted. Other rules: umpires must announce all team changes to spectators; batting orders must be delivered to the umpire at home plate before the game; a batter is out if he crosses the plate from one batter's box to the other while the pitcher is in position to pitch; a baserunner is out if he passes another runner before the latter has been put out.
- 1916:
- The New York Yankees buy Frank "Home Run" Baker from the Philadelphia Athletics for $37,500. He sat out the 1915 season in a salary dispute with Connie Mack.
- With the emergence of Joe Judge at 1B, the Washington Senators sell Chick Gandil to Cleveland for $7,500.
- 1928 - The University of California hosts a top local semi-pro team, the Ambrose Tailors, by using the rules of reversible baseball, invented by Cal coach Carl Zamloch, a former major leaguer. Under these rules, a batter can decide to run to either first or third base when he puts the ball in play, and if he is successful in reaching base, later batters in the inning must follow his lead in running the bases either in normal or reverse order, until the bases are empty again and the choice is left to the batter. The game is a success, with 500 spectators present and significant coverage, but the new rules will not be widely adopted.
- 1931 - The New York Yankees' training site in St. Petersburg is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team's late manager.
- 1940 - The Detroit Tigers' roster lists Hank Greenberg as an OF. The willingness of the team's leading power hitter to switch, at a contract boost, from 1B allows manager Del Baker to find a position for Rudy York. Also on the list are Dick Bartell, picked up from the Chicago Cubs for Billy Rogell and Pinky Higgins, who had been shopped around. The four, along with Barney McCosky and Charlie Gehringer, produce the stuff that will move the Tigers from fifth to first, although its .588 mark will be as low as that of any pennant-winner yet.
- 1945 - Billy Southworth Jr., the son of Cards manager Billy Southworth, is killed when his B29 crashes into the water off Flushing, New York. The 27-year-old was a veteran of 25 missions in Europe, and was the first player in organized baseball to enlist in World War II. The young Southworth was a well-regarded outfielder with the Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) in 1940.
- 1946 - Detroit's Hank Greenberg signs for $60,000 and then marries New York department store heiress Carol Gimbel three days later.
- 1956:
- Pedro Ramos beats the Criollos de Caguas to give Cienfuegos a 4-2 victory in the deciding game of the 1956 Caribbean Series. It will be the first of five consecutive Caribbean Series titles by a team from the Cuban Winter League.
- The Pirates and the Kansas City A's cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham, AL, because of a local ordinance barring black players from playing against white players.
- 1957 - A Boston newspaper claims that Ted Williams never paid his $5,000 fine for spitting at the crowd. It refers to him mockingly as the "Splendid Spitter."
- 1960 - Cienfuegos completes a 6 - 0 sweep to give Cuba the Caribbean Series championship for the fifth straight year. Camilo Pascual wins two, including the Series clincher against the representative of Puerto Rico with a brilliant one-hit shutout. However, this will be the last time the event is held until 1970, due to the dissolution of the Cuban Winter League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, and no Cuban team will again compete in the event until 2014.
- 1980 - The San Diego Padres trade 41-year-old pitcher Gaylord Perry and a pair of minor leaguers (Tucker Ashford and Joe Carroll) to the Texas Rangers for 1B Willie Montanez.
- 1990 - Major League owners refuse to open spring training camps without a new Basic Agreement with the Players' Association, beginning a lockout that will last 32 days and postpone the start of the regular season by one week.
- 1994 - Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a college game. Appearing for Southern California College of Costa Mesa, she five-hits Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, 12 - 1.
- 1999 - The Cincinnati Reds announce that they are dropping their long-standing policy of no facial hair for players. The change is the result of a talk between owner Marge Schott and newly-acquired OF Greg Vaughn.
- 2000:
- The Boston Red Sox sign outfielder Carl Everett to a three-year contract.
- The Oakland Athletics obtain OF Jeremy Giambi from the Kansas City Royals for P Brett Laxton. Giambi joins his brother, Jason Giambi, in Oakland, becoming the sixth brother combo to play for the team. The move is widely hailed as a brilliant one by statistically-minded fans.
- 2001:
- The Yanks sign Henry Rodriguez to a one-year contract. The agreement was reached a month ago and "O Henry" is already listed in the team's spring training program, but it had not been made official until today.
- The Padres sign free agent P Bobby Jones to a one-year contract for $625,000. Jones left the Mets after more than seven seasons, declining a Mets offer of salary arbitration that would have netted him, at worst, $2 or $3 million. Last year Jones, 11-4, made $5.25 million. Jones will lose 19 games this season.
- 2002 - San Diego Padres OF Mike Darr is killed in an early-morning accident when his car rolls over in Phoenix near the team's spring training camp. Surviving is pitcher Ben Howard, who was sitting in the back seat wearing a seatbelt.
- 2003 - One day after the Chunichi Dragons released him in return for an undisclosed payment, the Red Sox acquire Kevin Millar (.306, 16, 57) from the Marlins. The 31-year-old 1B/OF, who had originally agreed to a two-year, $6.2 million deal to play in Japan, had a change of heart after at first rejecting Boston's waiver claim for him made in January.
- 2006:
- Former Los Angeles Dodgers starter Jeff Weaver (14-11, 4.22) agrees to a one-year contract with the other team with Los Angeles in its name. The deal for the last major player left on the free agent market is worth $8,325,000, and the 29-year-old right-hander can earn an additional $600,000 in performance bonuses for innings pitched and game starts with the Angels.
- According to Adam Katz, Sammy Sosa's agent, the 37-year-old slugger probably will retire 11 round trippers shy of becoming the fifth major leaguer to hit 600 home runs. Earlier, the Dominican outfielder rejected a non-guaranteed contract from the Nationals that included performance bonuses.
- 2010:
- Washington signs speedy outfielder Willy Taveras to a minor league contract. Coming off a disappointing season with the Reds in which he hit .240 with 1 home run and 15 RBI, Taveras was recently designated for assignment by the Athletics.
- The Rangers also add an outfielder renowned for his speed, inking Endy Chavez to a minor league deal. He is coming off knee surgery, the result of an on-field collision with SS Yuniesky Betancourt on June 19th that ended his 2009 season after 54 games; he is not expected to be ready for Opening Day.
- 2011 - The Mets bring back a figure from the past, signing reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal coupled with an invitation to spring training. Isringhausen is attempting a comeback from Tommy John surgery at age 38. He was part of the Mets' vaunted "Big Three" in the mid-1990s along with Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson: the minor league standouts were supposed to anchor the Mets' pitching staff for the next decade, but all three fell victim to arm injuries, and none of them had much success in the Big Apple.
- 2012:
- Major League Baseball announces that it will void the contract reached by the Baltimore Orioles with teenage Korean pitcher Seong-Min Kim on January 30th. The Korea Baseball Association filed a formal protest after the signing, alleging that the O's have breached protocol by inking Kim without obtaining prior clearance from Korean baseball authorities.
- Major League Baseball sets up a vetting committee chaired by Bill Bartholomay, chairman emeritus of the Atlanta Braves and including six other major league owners, to evaluate the merits of the various bids to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eleven groups have cleared the initial round of qualification. The final choice is to be made by current owner Frank McCourt, who will first select five bidders to be submitted to the newly-formed committee for approval; the final sale also requires the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross. The complex process must be completed by April 30th, when McCourt is required to pay a $131 million divorce settlement to his ex-wife Jamie.
- 2014 - P Mark Mulder's comeback attempt after five seasons out of the game ends on the first day of spring training with the Angels, as he ruptures an Achilles tendon in routine flexibility drills.
- 2018 - With spring training camps opening for major league teams, two more belated signings of free agents are announced. The Orioles sign P Andrew Cashner to a two-year deal worth $16 million and the Blue Jays add P Jaime Garcia for one year for $10 million.
- 2019 - The Yankees sign their young ace Luis Severino to a four-year contract extension for $40 million, with an option for a fifth year at $12.25 million.
- 2022 - Testimony by four former teammates of Tyler Skaggs, who died of a drug overdose while a member of the Angels in 2019, paint a very bleak culture of a clubhouse where oxycodone was widely consumed, as well as other drugs and alcohol. The four - Mike Morin, Matt Harvey, Cam Bedrosian and C.J. Cron - point to Eric Kay, the former Angels employee who is accused of providing the drugs to Skaggs, as a frequent supplier. The four have been offered immunity in return for their testimony, but their future in baseball is likely to be negatively affected.
- 2023 - Bally Sports, owners of the broadcast rights for 14 MLB teams, fails to make an interest payment of $140 million, asking for a grace period of thirty days. It is widely expected that the cable network will fail to meet the new deadline and will be forced to file for bankruptcy. Commissioner Rob Manfred tells reporters that contingency plans are in place and that if Bally is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations, MLB will terminate the deals and take over production of broadcasts and make them available to consumers via streaming or local cable.
Births[edit]
- 1858 - David Allen, Negro League player (d. 1931)
- 1860 - Cub Stricker, infielder, manager (d. 1937)
- 1862 - Joe Weber, outfielder (d. 1921)
- 1865 - Bill Fagan, pitcher (d. 1930)
- 1866 - Billy Hamilton, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1940)
- 1867 - Charlie Reilly, infielder (d. 1937)
- 1869 - John Conway umpire (d. 1932)
- 1869 - Charlie Irwin, infielder (d. 1925)
- 1876 - Carlton Molesworth, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1886 - Ed Kusel, pitcher (d. 1948)
- 1888 - Frank Betcher, infielder (d. 1981)
- 1891 - Cecil Grigg, college coach (d. 1968)
- 1892 - Al Braithwood, pitcher (d. 1960)
- 1895 - Jimmy Ring, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1897 - Art Johnson, pitcher (d. 1982)
- 1897 - Chuck Wolfe, pitcher (d. 1957)
- 1898 - Bobby LaMotte, infielder (d. 1970)
- 1900 - George Earnshaw, pitcher (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Larry Goetz, umpire (d. 1962)
- 1904 - Oscar Estrada, pitcher (d. 1978)
- 1904 - Red Ryan, umpire (d. 1981)
- 1905 - Hal Lee, outfielder (d. 1989)
- 1906 - Bob Cremins, pitcher (d. 2004)
- 1907 - Shintaro Fukushima, executive; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 1987)
- 1909 - Dee Miles, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1914 - Earl Bumpus, pitcher/outfielder (d. 1985)
- 1918 - Clarence Isreal, infielder (d. 1987)
- 1918 - Lorenzo Ponza, inventor (d. 2004)
- 1919 - Ducky Detweiler, infielder (d. 2013)
- 1920 - Vernon Thoele, minor league infielder and manager (d. 2010)
- 1923 - Ken Hofmann, owner (d. 2018)
- 1926 - Bubba Harris, pitcher (d. 2013)
- 1927 - Buddy Hicks, infielder (d. 2014)
- 1928 - Don Asmonga, minor league pitcher (d. 2014)
- 1932 - Footer Johnson, pinch hitter
- 1938 - Chuck Estrada, pitcher; All-Star
- 1942 - Bill Henry, pitcher (d. 2022)
- 1943 - Don Arlich, pitcher
- 1943 - Joe Moeller, pitcher
- 1945 - Ross Moschitto, outfielder
- 1945 - Naoki Takahashi, NPB pitcher
- 1948 - Ron Cey, infielder; All-Star
- 1949 - Kenneth Caldwell, minor league infielder (d. 2019)
- 1950 - Rick Auerbach, infielder
- 1950 - Jung-Kuei Chen, Chinese Taipei national team outfielder
- 1950 - Larry Yount, pitcher
- 1951 - Tommy Cruz, outfielder
- 1952 - Leonel Carrión, coach
- 1952 - Bill VanBommell, minor league pitcher
- 1954 - Larry Payne, minor league pitcher
- 1955 - Lew Olsen, minor league pitcher
- 1956 - Ray Cosey, pinch hitter
- 1957 - Glenn Dooner, minor league pitcher
- 1957 - Marti Wolever, scout
- 1959 - Joe Hesketh, pitcher
- 1961 - Mark Davidson, outfielder
- 1962 - Rolando Roomes, outfielder
- 1963 - Barry Jones, pitcher
- 1964 - Kevin Burdick, minor league infielder
- 1966 - Dan Hartleb, college coach
- 1966 - Melido Perez, pitcher
- 1968 - Luis Mercedes, outfielder (d. 2019)
- 1969 - Jun-ho Jeon, KBO outfielder
- 1969 - Brian Williams, pitcher
- 1971 - Terry Jones, outfielder
- 1974 - Sean Smith, minor league player
- 1974 - Ugueth Urbina, pitcher; All-Star
- 1975 - Rafael Medina, pitcher
- 1976 - Robelquis Videaux, Cuban league outfielder
- 1977 - Alex Gonzalez, infielder; All-Star
- 1977 - Matt Randel, NPB pitcher
- 1977 - Trevor Urban, minor league outfielder
- 1978 - Steve Fitch, minor league player
- 1979 - Marcos Castillo, minor league pitcher
- 1979 - Javier Colina, minor league infielder and manager
- 1979 - Bryan King, coach
- 1979 - Luis Ugueto, infielder
- 1980 - Julio Jimenez, minor league pitcher
- 1980 - Don Kelly, infielder
- 1980 - Il-yeop Kim, KBO pitcher
- 1981 - Luis Bolivar, minor league infielder and manager
- 1983 - Jun-suk Choi, KBO infielder
- 1983 - David Maroul, minor league infielder
- 1983 - Russell Martin, catcher; All-Star
- 1984 - Mitchell Boggs, pitcher
- 1984 - Nate Schierholtz, outfielder
- 1985 - Bryan Henry, minor league pitcher
- 1985 - Russ Mitchell, infielder
- 1986 - Fautino De Los Santos, pitcher
- 1987 - Rob Scahill, pitcher
- 1988 - Carlos Alonso, minor league infielder
- 1988 - Caleb Clay, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Mark Canha, infielder
- 1990 - Enzo Muschik, Bundesliga outfielder
- 1990 - Michael Roth, pitcher
- 1992 - Jorge Soler, outfielder; All-Star
- 1993 - Sébastien Neumann, French Division I pitcher
- 1994 - Kent Blackstone, minor league infielder
- 1994 - Tzu-Wei Lin, infielder
- 1995 - Federico Celli, minor league outfielder
- 1995 - Jose Rosario, minor league pitcher (d. 2016)
- 1997 - Nino Kruhek, Croatian national team player
- 1997 - Meibrys Viloria, catcher
- 1999 - José López, pitcher
- 1999 - Esteury Ruiz, outfielder
- 2000 - Elvis Luciano, pitcher
- 2004 - Yu-Cheng Wu, Taiwanese national team pitcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1898 - Harry Stees, minor league player (b. ????)
- 1903 - Phil Reccius, infielder (b. 1862)
- 1910 - Bug Holliday, outfielder (b. 1867)
- 1922 - Pete Childs, infielder (b. 1871)
- 1925 - Duke Farrell, catcher (b. 1866)
- 1931 - Billy Kinloch, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1936 - Bill Grahame, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1940 - Chick Fulmer, infielder (b. 1851)
- 1940 - Ray Morgan, infielder (b. 1889)
- 1942 - George Ziegler, pitcher (b. 1866)
- 1943 - John Deering, pitcher (b. 1879)
- 1945 - Steve Behel, outfielder (b. 1860)
- 1945 - Billy Southworth Jr., minor league outfielder (b. 1917)
- 1946 - George Starnagle, catcher (b. 1873)
- 1954 - John Callahan, pitcher (b. 1874)
- 1954 - Duke Gillespie, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1955 - Lynn Nelson, pitcher (b. 1905)
- 1955 - Tom Tennant, pinch hitter (b. 1882)
- 1959 - Red Andreas, minor league infielder and manager (b. 1879)
- 1959 - Bruce Caldwell, outfielder (b. 1906)
- 1959 - Lefty Houtz, outfielder (b. 1875)
- 1961 - Joe Bean, infielder (b. 1874)
- 1963 - Bump Hadley, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1963 - Harlin Pool, outfielder (b. 1908)
- 1964 - Fred Trautman, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1972 - Pep Goodwin, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1977 - Diomedes Olivo, pitcher (b. 1919)
- 1978 - Claude Hayslett, pitcher (b. 1912)
- 1981 - Cotton Pippen, pitcher (b. 1911)
- 1991 - Julio Gonzalez, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 1994 - Ray Blemker, pitcher (b. 1937)
- 1994 - Doc Bracken, pitcher (b. 1915)
- 1999 - Eddie Zydowsky, minor league player (b. 1919)
- 2000 - Bob Ramazzotti, infielder (b. 1917)
- 2002 - Mike Darr, outfielder (b. 1976)
- 2002 - Duane Johnson, minor league outfielder (b. 1978)
- 2004 - Raúl Mendoza Mancilla, writer; Salon de la Fama (b. 1926)
- 2004 - Lawrence Ritter, author (b. 1922)
- 2006 - Bob Rich, minor league executive (b. 1913)
- 2007 - Terry Enyart, pitcher (b. 1950)
- 2007 - Buddy Hancken, catcher (b. 1914)
- 2011 - Joe Frazier, outfielder, manager (b. 1922)
- 2011 - Candy Robinson, minor league pitcher and college coach (b. 1940)
- 2015 - Wendell Kim, coach (b. 1950)
- 2015 - Henry Meyer, minor league outfielder (b. 1917)
- 2016 - Bonifacio Aponte, minor league pitcher (b. 1953)
- 2016 - Alcibíades Colón, minor league outfielder (b. 1919)
- 2016 - Dave Adlesh, catcher (b. 1943)
- 2016 - Virgil Jester, pitcher (b. 1927)
- 2017 - Ron Orlandi, minor league catcher (b. 1928)
- 2018 - Tom Brewer, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1931)
- 2019 - Sal Artiaga, minor league executive (b. 1946)
- 2021 - Gregorio Pérez (b. 1941)
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