<< Yesterday

This Day in Baseball History
November 7th

Tomorrow>>
25 Fact(s) Found
1928 The cash-strapped Braves send player-manager Rogers Hornsby, who will hit .380 along with 39 home runs and 149 RBIs for his new club, to the Cubs in exchange for $200,000 and hurlers Percy Jones, Harry 'Socks' Seibold, Bruce Cunningham, outfielder Fred Maguire, and catcher Lou Legett. Boston owner Emil Fuchs replaces the "Rajah', in the dugout, making him the last person to manage a major league club without professional playing experience until Ted Turner's one-game foray as a skipper, also with the Braves, in 1977.
1963 Easily outpointing runners-up Tiger outfielder Al Kaline and batterymate Whitey Ford, Elston Howard is named the American League's Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first black player honored in the Junior Circuit. Joining Roger Maris (1960-61) and Mickey Mantle (1962), the 34-year-old catcher becomes the third consecutive Yankee to win the MVP.
1964 The Braves receive permission to shift their franchise to another city for the second time in eleven years. Hank Aaron and company left Milwaukee after the 1965 season and moved to Atlanta.
1972 Johnny Bench (.270, 40, 125) wins the National League MVP award for the second time in three years. The Reds catcher joins Mickey Cochrane (1928 A's, 1934 Tigers), Yogi Berra (1951, '54, '55 Yankees), and Roy Campanella (1951, '53, '55 Dodgers) as only the fourth backstop to win the award multiple times.
1973

"The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie. There is no reason why that part of Americana should be withheld from girls" - SYLVIA PRESSLER, explaining her ruling in favor of girls being allowed to play Little League.

Sylvia Pressler, a hearing examiner for the New Jersey Civil Rights Division, makes a ruling that leads to girls' admittance into Little League Baseball, making the Garden State the first to allow girls to play on Little League baseball teams. Before the decision, regulations had prohibited girls from participating with boys in the program.

1973 In a deal that proves beneficial to Chicago, the Cubs trade second baseman Glenn Beckert and minor league prospect Bobby Fenwick to the Padres for outfielder Jerry Morales. Their new fly chaser will spend four productive years in his first tenure with the club, including an All-Star selection in 1977, with their former infielder playing only 73 games before being released at the start of the 1975 season.
1978 Red Sox slugger Jim Rice (.315, 46, 139) wins the American League Most Valuable Player award, taking 20 of 28 first-place votes cast by the BBWAA. Ron Guidry, who posted a 25-3 record for the World Champion Yankees, is the runner-up.
1979 The American League Rookie of the Year Award balloting ends in a tie with Twins third baseman John Castino and Blue Jays shortstop Alfredo Griffin, each receiving seven of the writers' 28 votes. The deadlock will change in the method used for next season's selection.

1990 Receiving all of the writers' 28 first-place votes, Indian backstop Sandy Alomar, Jr. wins the AL Rookie of the Year, joining Carlton Fisk and Mark McGwire as the only freshmen to be elected unanimously. Yankee's first baseman/DH Kevin Maas and Royals' right-hander Kevin Appier are the runners-up.
1991 The Marlins hire Fredi Gonzalez as the franchise's first minor league manager. The Cuban-born skipper, who will manage the big league club for 3+ seasons beginning in 2007, guides the New York-Pennsylvania League's Erie Sailors to a 40-37 record, finishing second in the Stedler Division.
1995 Major League Baseball agrees with the Fox Broadcasting Company to air regular-season contests on Saturday afternoons for a bit less money paid by CBS for the rights to televise the 1990-1993 seasons of big-league games. Like the format used by The Baseball Network, Fox will offer weekly regionalized telecasts based solely on a viewer's geography.
1997 The new Tampa Bay expansion team names Larry Rothschild as the franchise's first manager. The Devil Rays skipper was the highly respected pitching coach of the World Champion Florida Marlins last season.
2000 Receiving 25 of 32 first-place votes, the BBWAA selected Rafael Furcal as the National League Rookie of the Year. The Braves shortstop, the only player listed on all 32 ballots, easily outdistances Cardinal pitcher Rick Ankiel and Mets outfielder Jay Payton.
2002 The Baseball Writers' Association of America selects A's southpaw Barry Zito (23-5, 2.75) as the American League Cy Young Award winner by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The 24-year-old sophomore, who led the AL in wins, outpoints Red Sox right-hander Pedro Martinez 114 to 96.
2002 The Baseball Writers' Association of America selects Mike Scioscia (World Champions Angels, 99-63) and Tony La Russa (Cardinals, 97-65) as Manager of the Year for their respective leagues. The St. Louis skipper, who also won the award in the American League with the White Sox (1983) and the A's (1988, 1992), joins Braves' field boss Bobby Cox as the only other manager to win the top honors in both leagues.
2003 Thanks to Luis Garcia's ninth-inning, tie-breaking home run, Mexico upset the United States Olympic baseball team in the quarterfinals of the qualifying tournament, 2-1. The loss in Panama means the U.S. squad will be unable to defend its gold medal in Athens next summer.
2005 Closer Huston Street, joining shortstop Bobby Crosby, becomes the second consecutive A's freshman to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, with Phillies' first baseman Ryan Howard copping the honor in the National League. Both players, who were not on Opening Day rosters, got their opportunity to play in the majors this season due to teammates' injuries.
2007 The BBWAA elects St. Louis outfielder Lou Brock and Hoyt Wilhelm, who played with nine different teams, to the Hall of Fame. The Cardinals speedster broke Ty Cobb's record for stolen bases in 1977 with 893 career steals, and the veteran knuckleballer, best remembered for his seasons with the Orioles and the White Sox, appeared in more games than any other pitcher in major league history.
2011 The Royals, clearing a spot in center field for top prospect Lorenzo Cain, trade outfielder Melky Cabrera (.305, 18, 87) to the Giants left-hander for Jonathan Sanchez (4-7, 4.26). The addition of the 29-year-old southpaw bolsters KC's very young starting rotation.
2011 The Twins replace GM Bill Smith, who is given a new role in the organization as an assistant to the new GM and club president, Dave St. Peter, with his predecessor, when the team rehires Terry Ryan on an interim basis. The dismissal marks the first time since 196, when the club left Washington to move to Minnesota, that the franchise has fired a general manager.
2012 Brien Taylor, a former top Yankees pitching prospect who received a record $1.55 million signing bonus, is sentenced to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to distributing crack cocaine. The East Carteret High School's hard-throwing southpaw was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1991 draft but severely injured his pitching shoulder while throwing a punch that missed his opponent when he got into a fistfight two years later.
2012 With a year remaining on his contract, the Mets release outfielder Jason Bay after three disappointing seasons with New York. The move will not save the team any money as they will be responsible for the $21 million owed to the former National League Rookie of the Year, who signed a big free-agent deal with the club in 2009.
2012 After informing their season-ticket holders via e-mail before making an official announcement, the Rockies name Walt Weiss as the sixth manager in the 20-year history of the team. The 48-year-old new skipper, a popular shortstop with Colorado during the franchise's early years, replaces Jim Tracy, who resigned last month.
2013 Rick Renteria becomes the Cubs' 53rd manager in franchise history, the fourth in the previous five years when he signs a three-year contract with two club option years with the last-place team that finished the season with 96 losses. Chicago's new 51-year-old skipper has spent the last three seasons as Bud Black's bench coach in San Diego.
2017 Two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay dies when his ICON A5, a small, single-engine aircraft he is piloting, crashes off the Florida coast into the Gulf of Mexico. The 40-year-old eight-time All-Star right-hander, who retired from baseball four years ago, tossed a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter during his 16-year career, pitching for the Blue Jays and Phillies.
25 Fact(s) Found