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This Day in Baseball History
February 18th

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12 Fact(s) Found
1943 New York entrepreneur William D. Cox purchases the bankrupt Phillies from the National League. In November, the 33-year-old new owner will be banned from baseball 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 to appear in a major league game, tossing two-thirds of an inning for Cincinnati in June, 49 days before his sixteenth birthday.
1954 In their first significant 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 buys the land just north of downtown Los Angeles as a new ballpark site 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 nationally televised celebrity charity softball game at Dodger Stadium, hard-throwing Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive big leaguers, including five future Hall of Famers. The 39-year-old right-hander's victims include Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, and Maury Wills.
1998 Eleven days away from his 84th birthday, long-time baseball announcer Harry Caray dies as a result of complications from a heart attack and brain damage suffered while having Valentine's Day dinner with his wife, Dutchie. The colorful "Mayor of Rush Street" started his career in 1945 with the Cardinals, doing 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 Graeme Lloyd, Homer Bush, and David Wells, the author of a perfect game in May. In his first tenure with the Bronx Bombers, the Rocket will post a 77-36 (.681) record, compiling an ERA of 3.99 during five seasons with New York.
2005 The Venezuelan authorities, during a daring eight-hour police raid, free Ugueth Urbina's mother, Maura Villarreal, who spent five months of captivity surrounded by explosives to keep her from escaping from her imprisonment in a mountain camp. The kidnappers had demanded a $6 million ransom from the Tigers' relief pitcher for his mom's release.
2009 After considering playing for Atlanta, a location 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 The demolition of the last remaining piece of Shea Stadium, the ramp to section 5, occurred at 11:25 a.m., marking the end of the New York venue where the Mets played for 44 years. The old ballpark's footprint will become a parking lot for the team's new home, the $800-million Citi Field, opening 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 Garrett Wittels goes 0-for-4 against Southeastern Louisiana, leaving the Florida International University junior two games short of Robin Ventura's Division 1 record of hitting in 58 consecutive games, established by the future 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