November 29
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 November 29.
Events[edit]
- 1910 - The Havana Reds beat the Detroit Tigers, 3 - 0, behind Chiche Gonzalez's five-hitter. Ty Cobb goes 0 for 3 and is caught stealing by Bruce Petway. The story is later blown out of proportion to claim Cobb was caught three times, when in fact this is the only recorded steal attempt he has in five games in Cuba that winter.
- 1916 - In Kansas City, MO, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander face each other for the first time. The exhibition game between the two stars features Zach Wheat, Casey Stengel, Max Carey, Hal Chase and others. The "Johnsons" prevail over the "Alexanders", 3 - 2.
- 1926 - Tris Speaker resigns as Indians manager. Stories of a thrown game and betting on games by Ty Cobb and Speaker gain momentum when Judge Landis holds a secret hearing with the two stars and former P-OF Joe Wood. The story and testimony will not be released until December 21st. Former Tiger P Dutch Leonard wrote to Harry Heilmann that he had turned over letters written to him by Wood and Cobb to American League president Ban Johnson, implicating the two in betting on a Tiger-Cleveland game played in Detroit, MI, on September 25, 1919. He charged that Cobb and Speaker conspired to let Detroit win to help them gain third-place money. At a secret meeting of AL directors, it was decided to let Cobb and Speaker resign with no publicity. But, as rumors spread, Judge Landis takes charge of the matter and holds the hearings, at which Leonard refuses to appear. Cobb and Wood admit to the letters, but say it was a horse racing bet, and contend Leonard is angry for having been released to the Pacific Coast League by Cobb. Speaker, not named in the letters, denies everything. Public sympathy is with the stars, but the matter will remain unresolved until January of next year.
- 1932 - The New York Giants release pitchers Waite Hoyt and Clarence Mitchell.
- 1936 - Judge Landis declares Lee Handley and Johnny Peacock of the Cincinnati Reds free agents. They had been covered up on minor league teams by the Reds.
- 1939 - Judge Landis fines Brooklyn, Detroit, and the St. Louis farm club, Columbus, for manipulating player contracts. He frees seven farmhands.
- 1957 - Mayor Robert Wagner forms a four-member committee to find a replacement for the Dodgers and Giants in New York City.
- 1962:
- After 61 years, the American Association (AAA) folds, with some of the franchises being absorbed by the International League and the Pacific Coast League. The PCL adds the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, Denver, CO and Oklahoma City, OK clubs and drops the Vancouver, BC club. The International League adds the Indianapolis, IN and Little Rock, AR clubs. As a result, both leagues became ten-club leagues. The American Association will re-form after expansion in 1969.
- Major league officials and player representatives agree to return to a single All-Star Game in 1963. The players' pension fund will receive 95 percent of the one game's proceeds (rather than 60 percent of two games).
- 1964 - The Red Sox trade first baseman Dick Stuart to the Phillies for pitcher Dennis Bennett.
- 1965 - The Yankees trade utility player Phil Linz to the Phillies for Ruben Amaro.
- 1966:
- The Dodgers trade two-time batting champ Tommy Davis and outfielder Derrell Griffith to the Mets for outfielder Jim Hickman and infielder Ron Hunt.
- A circuit court jury in Chicago, IL awards Jim Brewer $100,000 in damages stemming from his 1960 on-field fight with Billy Martin in which Martin broke his jaw with a punch.
- The Yankees trade 3B Clete Boyer to the Braves for OF Bill Robinson and 39-year-old P Chi-Chi Olivo.
- 1967:
- The White Sox reacquire SS Luis Aparicio, with OF Russ Snyder and 1B/OF John Matias, from Baltimore for pitchers Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson and IF Don Buford.
- The Indians trade OF Chuck Hinton to the Angels for OF Jose Cardenal.
- 1971 - In three blockbuster deals, the Cubs trade P Ken Holtzman to the A's for OF Rick Monday; the Giants trade P Gaylord Perry and SS Frank Duffy to the Indians for P Sam McDowell; and the Reds trade 1B Lee May, 2B Tommy Helms, and OF Jimmy Stewart to the Astros for 2B Joe Morgan, OF Cesar Geronimo, and P Jack Billingham. This last trade, criticized in the Cincinnati press, is one of the best in Reds history, and puts the wheels on the Big Red Machine, as future Hall of Fame member Morgan will win two MVP Awards with the team.
- 1975 - Two Orioles standouts, with a combined total of 24 Gold Glove Awards, are each honored for the last time. Brooks Robinson and Paul Blair are the two making swan songs on The Sporting News fielding team, while outfielders Garry Maddox and Fred Lynn both win the award for the first time.
- 1976 - The Yankees sign free agent Reggie Jackson to five-year, $3.5 million dollar contract. During "Mr. October"'s tenure, the Bronx Bombers will win four division titles, three pennants and two World Series.
- 1979 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn lets Billy Martin off with a warning, following the October 23rd barroom altercation with a marshmallow salesman.
- 1990 - A consortium of Canadian investors led by Montreal Expos president Claude Brochu agrees to buy the club from Charles Bronfman for a reported $85 million, assuring that the team will remain in Montréal, QC.
- 1992 - Marge Schott is quoted in today's New York Times as saying, that Adolph Hitler was initially good for Germany, that her references to "niggers" were in jest, and that she couldn't understand why the word "Jap" was offensive. The major leagues will appoint a four-man committee to investigate Schott and will eventually suspend her for her insensitive and inappropriate remarks.
- 1993 - Hiromi Matsunaga declares his rights as a free agent. He will become the first player to switch teams under NPB's new free agency rules, joining the Daiei Hawks.
- 1994 - The Marlins trade OF Carl Everett to the Mets in exchange for 2B Quilvio Veras.
- 1995 - The Dodgers trade 2B Miguel Cairo and 3B Willis Otanez to the Mariners in exchange for 3B Mike Blowers.
- 1995 - Charley Smith, the player traded to the Yankees from the Cardinals for Roger Maris in 1967, dies at age 57.
- 2000 - The Phillies sign free agent P Rheal Cormier to a three-year contract worth $2.9 million.
- 2002 - The Reds and Padres reach an agreement to trade Ken Griffey, Jr. for Phil Nevin, but Nevin, with a no-trade clause in his contract, nixes the deal. He says he will only agree to a trade to a West Coast team that trains in Arizona. Griffey tore a tendon in his knee during the first week of last season, setting up another season limited by leg injuries. He also pulled a hamstring and strained hip muscles, limiting him to 70 games, a .264 average, 8 homers and 23 RBIs. In a week, the White Sox will turn down an offer of Griffey for Magglio Ordonez.
- 2008 - The 2008-2009 Cuban season opens on a bad note for last year's champs. Santiago de Cuba loses, 11 - 3, to Pinar del Rio. Last year's MVP, Alexei Bell, is injured in his first plate appearance when a Yunieski Maya pitch hits him in the face. Luis Giraldo Casanova wins his managerial debut.
- 2010:
- The Dodgers sign IF Juan Uribe to a three-year, $21 million contract. Uribe was a hero of the San Francisco Giants' recent conquest of the World Championship, and hit the home run that clinched the win over the Phillies in the NLCS.
- The Rangers sign C Yorvit Torrealba to a two-year deal.
- 2011:
- The Samsung Lions win the 2011 Asia Series, the first non-Japanese team to win an Asia Series. After falling 9 - 0 to the Softbank Hawks in their first meeting this Series, they win 5 - 3 when it counts. Won-sam Jang gets his second win of the Series to take MVP honors, while Sho Iwasaki loses on one day's rest.
- The Red Sox hire Bobby Valentine to be their new manager. He was most recently an analyst for ESPN, but has also managed the Texas Rangers and New York Mets for long stretches, in addition to spending seven years as a skipper for the Chiba Lotte Marines, leading them to one Japan Series title.
- The Royals sign former Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton to a one-year contract. He was limited to 14 games last year because of elbow problems and is expected to become the set-up man for Joakim Soria, but will take over as closer when Soria goes down with an injury in spring training.
- 2012:
- The Pirates outbid the Yankees to sign C Russell Martin to a two-year contract for $17 million, leaving the Yanks with a huge hole behind the plate.
- The Nationals obtain CF Denard Span from the Twins for minor league P Alex Meyer. The move means that Rookie of the Year Bryce Harper will move to a corner spot.
- 2015 - The Tigers sign free agent pitcher Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year contract worth $110 million.
- 2016 - OF Yoennis Cespedes re-signs with the Mets for four years and $110 million. This averages out to $27.5 million per year, the most ever for a position player. He had opted out of the remaining two years of his contract to have another stab at free agency, but he will contribute very little to the team over the course of the deal, due to a spate of injuries.
- 2021:
- The free agent signing frenzy continues as the Rangers make their third large signing of the off-season, inking SS Corey Seager for ten years and $325 million, while the Mariners add P Robbie Ray for five years at $115 million. The rumored deal between P Max Scherzer and the Mets is confirmed, for three years and $130 million, while the Braves add P Kirby Yates for two years and $8.25 million even though he did not pitch a single inning for the Blue Jays, who had given him a large contract before last season. Meanwhile, the Dodgers, reeling from the departure of both Seager and Scherzer, sign reliever Daniel Hudson, as a small consolation prize.
- Ariel Miranda wins the KBO MVP for 2021 after leading the league in ERA and setting a new record with 225 strikeouts, breaking the mark held by Dong-won Choi for 37 years. He is the third straight foreigner to win KBO MVP after only four players in the seasons before that. Eui-lee Lee wins KBO Rookie of the Year; the 19-year-old was 4-5 with a 3.61 ERA.
- 2023 - Devin Williams wins the Trevor Hoffman Award as the best relief pitcher in the National League for the second time, after doing so as a rookie in 2020; he went 8-3 with 36 saves and an ERA of 1.53 as the closer for the Milwaukee Brewers. In the American League, the winner of the equivalent Mariano Rivera Award is Félix Bautista of the Baltimore Orioles, who was 8-2, 1.48 with 33 saves before his season was ended in late August by a torn elbow ligament.
Births[edit]
- 1861 - Shadow Pyle, pitcher (d. 1908)
- 1864 - Bill Sowders, pitcher (d. 1951)
- 1869 - Bert Abbey, pitcher (d. 1962)
- 1873 - Jake Weimer, pitcher (d. 1928)
- 1876 - Walt McCredie, outfielder (d. 1934)
- 1878 - Tom Hughes, pitcher (d. 1956)
- 1884 - Hutch Campbell, infielder (d. 1946)
- 1885 - Scotty Alcock, infielder (d. 1973)
- 1885 - Jack Wanner, infielder (d. 1919)
- 1889 - Carl Weilman, pitcher (d. 1924)
- 1893 - Carter Elliott, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1893 - Charlie Snell, catcher (d. 1988)
- 1894 - Charlie Mason, outfielder (d. 1974)
- 1895 - Jack Enright, pitcher (d. 1975)
- 1896 - Joe DeBerry, pitcher (d. 1944)
- 1898 - Red Shea, pitcher (d. 1981)
- 1901 - Buddy Crump, outfielder (d. 1976)
- 1904 - Maurice Young, pitcher (d. 1984)
- 1905 - Harlan Pyle, pitcher (d. 1993)
- 1908 - Harry Griswold, minor league catcher and manager (d. 1973)
- 1908 - Pat Simmons, pitcher (d. 1968)
- 1909 - Gus Brittain, catcher (d. 1974)
- 1909 - Jack Thornton, infielder (d. 2002)
- 1910 - Ed Leip, infielder (d. 1983)
- 1913 - Harry Boyles, pitcher (d. 2005)
- 1914 - Joe Orengo, infielder (d. 1988)
- 1915 - Albert Smith, minor league infielder (d. 1981)
- 1915 - Armando Torres, pitcher (d. ????)
- 1916 - Mel Steiner, umpire (d. 1997)
- 1920 - Bob Wolff, broadcaster (d. 2017)
- 1922 - Lynn Lovenguth, pitcher (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Minnie Minoso, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Fame (d. 2015)
- 1924 - Irv Noren, outfielder; All-Star (d. 2019)
- 1926 - Bill Currie, pitcher (d. 2013)
- 1927 - Gene Saragnese, minor league pitcher (d. 2008)
- 1927 - Vin Scully, broadcaster (d. 2022)
- 1929 - Nino Escalera, outfielder (d. 2021)
- 1931 - Paul Pettit, pitcher (d. 2020)
- 1937 - George Thomas, outfielder
- 1939 - Jim Derrington, pitcher (d. 2020)
- 1939 - Dick McAuliffe, infielder; All-Star (d. 2016)
- 1941 - Bill Freehan, catcher; All-Star (d. 2021)
- 1941 - Roberto Rodriguez, pitcher (d. 2012)
- 1943 - Dan McGinn, pitcher (d. 2023)
- 1944 - Tsuyoshi Oshita, NPB infielder
- 1946 - Jerry Stitt, college coach
- 1950 - Mike Easler, outfielder; All-Star
- 1950 - Otto Velez, outfielder
- 1951 - Gary Wheelock, pitcher
- 1955 - Dale Tilleman, scout
- 1956 - Rick Anderson, pitcher
- 1956 - Joe Price, pitcher
- 1957 - Dennis Burtt, pitcher
- 1959 - Marc Arnouts, First Division pitcher
- 1959 - Brian Holton, pitcher
- 1960 - Howard Johnson, infielder; All-Star
- 1962 - Logan White, minor league pitcher
- 1962 - Kazuhiko Yamashita, NPB catcher
- 1966 - Enrique Cortés, Division Honor infielder
- 1966 - Tim Stargell, minor league infielder
- 1966 - Shuji Yoshida, NPB pitcher
- 1967 - Bob Hamelin, designated hitter
- 1967 - Brad Hassinger, minor league pitcher
- 1968 - Allen Battle, outfielder
- 1968 - Pedro Martinez, pitcher
- 1969 - Mariano Rivera, pitcher; All-Star
- 1970 - Craig Clayton, minor league infielder/pitcher
- 1970 - Bill Mobilia, minor league infielder
- 1970 - Steve Rodriguez, infielder
- 1971 - Gabriel Orozco, minor league pitcher
- 1972 - Sloan Smith, minor league outfielder
- 1976 - Takashi Ogasawara, NPB pitcher
- 1977 - Jason Alfaro, infielder
- 1978 - Felipe Alou Jr., minor league outfielder and manager
- 1979 - Francis Beltran, pitcher
- 1979 - Vince Harrison, minor league infielder and manager
- 1980 - Jobu Morita, NPB infielder
- 1980 - Ryan Mulhern, minor league player
- 1980 - Brian Wolfe, pitcher
- 1981 - Saxon Omandac, Philippines national team outfielder
- 1981 - Guillermo Quiroz, catcher
- 1982 - Mike Butia, minor league player
- 1982 - Michael Madsen, minor league pitcher
- 1983 - Craig Gentry, outfielder
- 1984 - Nat Ballenberg, minor league coach
- 1985 - Alex Castillo, minor league player
- 1985 - Jittiphong Chong-on, Thai national team infielder
- 1986 - Henry Sanchez, minor league infielder (d. 2017)
- 1988 - Brett Hambright, drafted catcher
- 1988 - Russell Wilson, minor league infielder
- 1989 - Ben Hughes, minor league pitcher
- 1989 - Nicolas Migeot, First Division pitcher
- 1990 - Jordan Parr, minor league infielder
- 1990 - Justin Parr, minor league outfielder
- 1991 - Jose Rosario, minor league infielder
- 1992 - Kevin Matthews, minor league pitcher
- 1993 - Dean Deetz, pitcher
- 1993 - Myeong-sin Kim, KBO pitcher
- 1995 - Katsuki Azuma, NPB pitcher
- 1995 - Sebastián Vega, Chilean national team pitcher
- 1995 - Carlos Vidal, minor league outfielder
- 1998 - MJ Melendez, catcher
- 1998 - Wei-Chun Weng, CPBL pitcher
- 2000 - Edgardo Rodriguez, minor league catcher
Deaths[edit]
- 1895 - Pacer Smith, minor league pitcher (b. 1853)
- 1901 - Jim Sullivan, pitcher (b. 1867)
- 1906 - Jim Foran, infielder (b. 1847)
- 1912 - Harry Leach, umpire (b. 1863)
- 1916 - Bob Unglaub, infielder, manager (b. 1880)
- 1923 - Frank Pears, pitcher; umpire (b. 1866)
- 1929 - Jimmy Whelan, pinch hitter (b. 1890)
- 1933 - John Humphries, catcher (b. 1861)
- 1936 - Ri Jones, infielder (b. 1859)
- 1941 - Ed Hahn, outfielder (b. 1875)
- 1942 - Bob Bescher, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1952 - Arlie Latham, infielder, manager (b. 1860)
- 1954 - Al Lawson, pitcher (b. 1869)
- 1962 - Red Kress, infielder (b. 1907)
- 1963 - Arch Reilly, infielder (b. 1891)
- 1969 - Bun Hayes, pitcher (b. 1903)
- 1972 - Bernie Neis, outfielder (b. 1895)
- 1973 - Tom Hamilton, infielder (b. 1925)
- 1973 - Bob Smith, owner (b. 1894)
- 1974 - Al Moore, outfielder (b. 1902)
- 1978 - Kelly Searcy, minor league and Negro League pitcher (b. 1931)
- 1978 - Al Williamson, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1980 - Bill Dunlap, outfielder (b. 1909)
- 1982 - Al Cicotte, pitcher (b. 1929)
- 1982 - Mays Copeland, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 1987 - Spencer Alexander, outfielder (b. 1916)
- 1988 - Earl Bolyard, minor league outfielder (b. 1912)
- 1992 - Tuck Stainback, outfielder (b. 1911)
- 1994 - Charley Smith, infielder (b. 1937)
- 1998 - Jim Turner, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1903)
- 1999 - Tom Herrin, pitcher (b. 1929)
- 2001 - Marcelino Lopez, pitcher (b. 1943)
- 2001 - Norihiro Mizutani, NPB pitcher (b. 1950)
- 2003 - Jim Carlin, outfielder (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Jim Duffy, umpire (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Harry Danning, catcher; All-Star (b. 1911)
- 2005 - Vic Power, infielder; All-Star (b. 1927)
- 2006 - Lou Haneles, minor league catcher and manager (b. 1916)
- 2006 - Pete Mikkelsen, pitcher (b. 1939)
- 2007 - Ralph Beard, minor league infielder (b. 1927)
- 2010 - Segal Drummond, minor league infielder (b. 1931)
- 2014 - Dick Bresciani, executive (b. 1938)
- 2014 - Ora Lindau, USA national team player (b. 1919)
- 2015 - Ramon de los Santos, pitcher (b. 1949)
- 2016 - Larry Nowlin, college coach (b. 1953)
- 2018 - Dick Naylor, college coach (b. 1940)
- 2021 - Don Demeter, outfielder (b. 1935)
- 2021 - La Marr Hoyt, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1955)
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.