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12 Fact(s) Found
| 1943 | New York entrepreneur William D. Cox purchases the bankrupt Phillies from the National League. The 33 year-old new owner will be banned from baseball in November by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis when he admits to making some "sentimental" bets on his team during the season. |
| 1944 | After getting permission from his parents and high school principal, 15-year old Joe Nuxhall, a Hamilton, Ohio native, signs a contract with the Reds a day after playing in a high school basketball game. The not so old "Ol' Left-hander" will become the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, tossing 2/3 of an inning for Cincinnati in June, 49 days before his sixteenth birthday. |
| 1954 | In their first major trade since moving from St. Louis, the Orioles, formerly known as the Browns, exchange outfielders with the Senators sending Roy Sievers to Washington for Gil Conan. Sievers will spend five solid seasons in the nation’s capital, making the All-Star squad twice, and Conan playing less than two seasons in Baltimore, compiles a .266 batting average with three home runs appearing in 155 games. |
| 1960 | Walter O'Malley completes the purchase of land just north of downtown Los Angeles as the site of a new ballpark for his transplanted Brooklyn club. The Dodger owner paid a reported $494,000 for the property at Chavez Ravine, believed to be worth $92,000 at the time. |
| 1967 | During a special softball exhibition game, pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive major leaguers, a group that includes five future Hall of Famers. The victims include Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Maury Wills. |
| 1998 | Long time baseball announcer Harry Caray dies at the age of 84 after suffering a heart attack four days earlier while having Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife, Dutchie. The colorful "Mayor of Rush Street" started his career in 1945 with the Cardinals and also did play-by-play for the A’s, White Sox, and the Cubs during his 52 years in the broadcast booth. |
| 1999 | The Blue Jays trade Roger Clemens to the Yankees for David Wells, Graeme Lloyd, and Homer Bush. |
| 2005 | After five months of captivity in a Venezuelan jungle surrounded by explosives to keep her from escaping, Ugueth Urbina’s mother, Maura Villarreal, is rescued during a daring eight-hour police raid. The kidnappers had demanded $6 million ransom from the Tigers’ relief pitcher for his mom’s freedom. |
| 2009 | After considering to play for Atlanta, a location which is closer to his family, Ken Griffey Jr. agrees to a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. The 39-year old outfielder joins a list of superstars, Babe Ruth (Boston), Willie Mays (New York), and Hank Aaron (Milwaukee), to choose the city where they played with their first team as the place to end their major league career. |
| 2009 | At 11:25 a.m., the last remaining piece of Shea Stadium, the ramp to section 5, is demolished marking the end of the New York ballpark where the Mets played for 44 years. The space will become a parking lot for the team’s new home, the $800-million Citi Field, which will open in April. |
| 2011 | The Orioles officially announce the signing of Vladimir Guerrero after the 36-year-old passed his physical. The team's new everyday designated hitter, who batted .300 with 29 homers and 115 RBIs with the American League Champion Rangers last season, agrees to a one-year, $8 million deal to play in Baltimore. |
| 2011 | In the first game of the season, Garrett Wittels goes 0-for-4 against Southeastern Louisiana, leaving the Florida International University junior two games short of Robin Ventura's Division l record of hitting in 58 consecutive games established by the former major leaguer in 1987. The overall NCAA mark is 60 straight games set by Damian Costantino playing for Division III Salve Regina from 2001-03. |
12 Fact(s) Found