December 17
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on December 17.
[edit] Events
- 1888 - Former Detroit players Deacon White and Jack Rowe purchase a controlling interest in the minor league Buffalo club. Though their reserve rights have been sold to Pittsburgh, both men announce plans to play in Buffalo next year.
- 1889 - The PL adopts some new rules, including the 2-umpire system and an increase in pitching distance from 55 1/2 feet to 57 feet. A lively ball is chosen, assuring high scores in the upcoming season.
- 1891 - The American Association passes out of existence after ten years as a settlement is finally reached. Four AA clubs (St. Louis, Louisville, Washington, and Baltimore) join with the National League eight in a 12-club league formally styled "The National League and American Association of Professional Base Ball Clubs." The other four AA clubs are bought out for about $130,000. The NL will allow Sunday games for the first time but will retain its 50 cent minimum admission price.
- 1891 - The American Association disbands. The Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Browns, Louisville Colonels and Washington Senators become part of the 12-team National League.
- 1910 - John Harris sells the Boston National League team to a syndicate headed by William Hepburn Russell, a New York lawyer and city official, for $100,000. The team will be nicknamed the Rustlers after their new owner.
- 1914 - Charles Comiskey pulls a surprise, reaching down to Peoria and naming Clarence "Pants" Rowland, scout and minor league executive, to manage his White Sox.
- 1920 - The American League votes to allow pitchers who used the spitball in 1920 to continue using it as long as they are in the league. The National League will do the same. There will be 17 designated spitters in all, eight in the NL and nine in the AL. For the NL: Bill Doak, Phil Douglas, Dana Fillingim, Ray Fisher, Marvin Goodwin, Burleigh Grimes, Clarence Mitchell, and Dick Rudolph. For the AL: A.W. Ayers, Slim Caldwell, Stan Coveleski, Red Faber, H.B. Leonard, Jack Quinn, Allan Russell, Urban Shocker, and Allen Sothoron.
- 1924 - The Senators add another veteran pitcher to its staff by purchasing Dutch Ruether from Brooklyn. Ruether will go 30 - 13 for his year and a half in Washington.
- 1924 - The Yankees get 4-time 20-game winner Urban Shocker from the Browns for pitchers Milt Gaston, Joe Giard, and Joe Bush. Shocker led the Browns in wins in each of the past five seasons and will be a mainstay on two pennant-winning staffs for New York. Bush had beaten the Browns 17 straight times after losing to them on June 12, 1922.
- 1924 - The Yankees trade three pitchers to the Browns to get back Urban Shocker, a pitcher traded to St. Louis in 1918. Shocker had been a 20-game winner for four consecutive seasons.
- 1928 - National League President John Heydler's designated hitter idea gets the backing of John McGraw, but the American League is against it.
- 1928 - At a joint meeting, a rule is changed that ends the practice of minor league teams selling star prospects to friendly ML clubs for high prices, then getting the players back, forcing another ML club to pay the reputed price for the player. Other changes ban the signing of players under the age of 17 and set a $7,500 price tag on any first-year player.
- 1932 - Sunny Jim Bottomley is traded by the Cardinals to the Reds for Owen Carroll and Estel Crabtree (of Crabtree, Ohio).
- 1935 - Heinie Manush is traded from Washington to the Boston Red Sox for Roy Johnson and Carl Reynolds.
- 1942 - The Yankees trade OF Roy Cullenbine and C Buddy Rosar to the Indians for Roy Weatherly and IF Oscar Grimes. With the draft in mind, all four players are married with one child each. As noted by historian Lyle Spatz, Rosar had been in the doghouse with Joe McCarthy for leaving the team without permission the weekend of July 18-19 to take a police examination in Buffalo. The leave-taking prompted the Yankees to sign vet C Rollie Hemsley.
- 1949 - The Yankees and Detroit swap first baseman, the Tigers getting Dick Kryhoski while New York takes Dick Wakefield, signed by the Tigers in 1941 with a $52,000 bonus.
- 1953 - In a tax-avoidance scheme, the NY Yankees sell Yankee Stadium and Kansas City properties for $6.5 million in a deal with Johnson Corp and the Knights of Columbus, who immediately lease the property back to the Yanks.
- 1957 - The Pasadena City Board confers with the Dodgers on the possible temporary use of the Rose Bowl.
- 1959 - In a child-payment hearing related to his divorce, Ted Williams alleges the Red Sox paid him $60,000, not the reported $100,000. He claims his entire yearly income was $83,000.
- 1964 - The Yankees fire long time television and radio voice Mel Allen. This well known broadcaster popularized the 'going, going, gone' home run call and often said 'how about that' to describe happenings on the ball field.
- 1968 - The owners announce they will increase contributions to the players' pension fund by $1 million to $5.1 million per year. Players vote down the proposal 491 - 7.
- 1975 - Bill Veeck, who became the owner of the team yesterday, fires manager Chuck Tanner and selects old friend Paul Richards to manage the White Sox.
- 1975 - Bill Veeck fires Chuck Tanner and hires old friend Paul Richards, 67, to manage the White Sox. Tanner then accepts a 3-year contract to manage Oakland.
- 1992 - The Twins sign free-agent DH/outfielder Dave Winfield. Last season for the World Champion Blue Jays, the St. Paul native hit .290 and had 108 RBIs and 26 home runs.
- 1992 - The Twins sign free agent DH - OF Dave Winfield to a 2-year contract. Winfield returns to his home town.
- 1993 - Rickey Henderson returns to the A's signing a two-year $8.6 million dollar contract.
- 1993 - The Athletics sign OF Rickey Henderson.
- 1995 - The Orioles acquire P Kent Mercker from the Braves in exchange for pitchers Joe Borowski and Rachaad Stewart.
- 1995 - The Royals obtain SS Jose Offerman from the Dodgers in exchange for P Billy Brewer.
- 1996 - David Wells signs a 3-year $13.5 million contract with the Yankees.
- 1996 - The Red Sox sign P Chris Hammond, 5 - 8 last year with the Marlins.
- 1998 - The Pirates sign free agent P Pete Schourek to a 2-year contract.
- 1998 - The Orioles sign free agent P Xavier Hernandez to a 2-year contract.
- 1999 - The Mariners sign all-time Japanese League saves leader Kazuhiro Sasaki to a 2-year contract.
- 1999 - The Orioles sign free agent C Greg Myers to a 2-year contract.
- 1999 - The Dodgers sign free agent and former Dodger star P Orel Hershiser to a contract.
- 2000 - City and club officials announce plans for the financing and construction of a new, downtown Miami retractable roof ballpark for the Marlins. The state-of-the-art $385 million stadium, which will be a 40,000-seat facility with 60 luxury suites, includes a 40-year lease and an agreement to rename the team the Miami Marlins.
- 2001 - The Yankees sign free agent OF Rondell White, who played for the Cubs this past year, to a 2-year contract.
- 2001 - The Indians sign free agent SS Ricky Gutierrez to a 3-year contract.
- 2002 - After bringing the Giants to the brink of a world championship, Russ Ortiz (14-10, 3.78) is traded by the Giant to the Braves for sophomore southpaw Damian Moss (12-6, 4.11) and minor league prospect Manuel Mateo. The 27-year old right-hander left Game 6 with 5-0 margin, but the Giants bullpen was unable to hold the lead and lost the series to the Diamondbacks in seven games.
- 2002 - The Cubs sign free agent OF Troy O'Leary to a one-year contract for $750,000.
- 2002 - The Braves sign free agent P Paul Byrd to a 2-year contract.
- 2003 - After agreeing to basics weeks ago, the Yankees and 35-year old Gary Sheffield (.330, 39, 132) finalizes a $39 million, three-year deal which includes $13.5 million in deferred money and a $13 million team option for 2007. The seven-time All-Star outfielder played with Braves last year and has spent time with the Padres, Marlins and Dodgers after breaking in with the Brewers in 1988.
- 2004 - A three team deal which including Diamondback southpaw Randy Johnson and pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii traded to the Yankees, Dodger outfielder Shawn Green and pitcher Brad Penny being sent to the Diamondbacks with Jose Vazquez and prospects going to the Dodgers. The blockbuster transaction falls apart as Los Angeles backs out at the eleventh hour.
- 2004 - The last place Mariners continue to sign impact free-agents in hopes to improve upon last season's poor performance (63-99) as the team signs 25-year-old Adrian Beltre (.334, 48, 121) to a $64 million, five-year deal. The former Dodger third baseman joins Richie Sexson, a free agent Seattle signed to a four-year, $50 million contract two days ago.
- 2004 - Although the terms of the deal are not made public, Edgar Renteria (.287, 10, 72) inks a four year contract believed to be worth $40 million with the World Champion Red Sox. The former Cardinal shortstop, who made the last out in the World Series ending Boston's 86-year drought, replaces fellow Colombian Orlando Cabrera, the player obtained in July in the Nomar Garciaparra trade.
[edit] Births
- 1859 - Bill Hutchison, pitcher (d. 1926)
- 1867 - Babe Doty, pitcher (d. 1929)
- 1867 - Jack Wadsworth, pitcher (d. 1941)
- 1875 - Jim McHale, outfielder (d. 1959)
- 1876 - Roy Patterson, pitcher (d. 1953)
- 1880 - Cy Falkenberg, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1883 - Rebel Oakes, outfielder, manager (d. 1948)
- 1886 - Jack McAdams, pitcher (d. 1937)
- 1889 - Ben Harris, pitcher (d. 1927)
- 1893 - Bert Yeabsley, pinch hitter (d. 1961)
- 1896 - Jim Mattox, catcher (d. 1973)
- 1898 - Red Lutz, catcher (d. 1984)
- 1898 - Oscar Tuero, pitcher (d. 1960)
- 1900 - Karl Swanson, infielder (d. 2002)
- 1914 - Dave Smith, pitcher (d. 1998)
- 1918 - Dale Jones, pitcher (d. 1980)
- 1919 - Johnny Kucab, pitcher (d. 1977)
- 1920 - Mike Schultz, pitcher (d. 2004)
- 1926 - Ray Jablonski, infielder; All-Star (d. 1985)
- 1934 - Kent Hadley, infielder (d. 2005)
- 1935 - Cal Ripken, manager (d. 1999)
- 1936 - Jerry Adair, infielder (d. 1987)
- 1936 - Rollie Sheldon, pitcher
- 1938 - Leo Cardenas, infielder; All-Star
- 1947 - Charlie Sands, designated hitter
- 1957 - Mark Dempsey, pitcher
- 1957 - Bob Ojeda, pitcher
- 1959 - Bryan Clutterbuck, pitcher
- 1959 - Marvell Wynne, outfielder
- 1963 - Chris Jones, minor league player
- 1967 - Steve Parris, pitcher
- 1967 - Rafael Valdez, pitcher
- 1968 - Curtis Pride, outfielder
- 1969 - Rudy Pemberton, outfielder
- 1970 - Mike Cather, pitcher
- 1971 - Bret Hemphill, catcher
- 1975 - Brandon Villafuerte, pitcher
- 1976 - Edwin Almonte, pitcher
- 1976 - Jason Dellaero, infielder
- 1976 - Eric Eckenstahler, pitcher
- 1976 - Juan Aracena, minor league player
- 1978 - Alex Cintron, infielder
- 1978 - Chase Utley, infielder; All-Star
- 1979 - David Kelton, outfielder
- 1982 - Juan Mateo, pitcher
- 1982 - Rodolfo Navarro, minor league player
- 1990 - Henry Moreno, minor league player
[edit] Deaths
- 1916 - Scoops Carey, infielder (b. 1870)
- 1916 - Elias Peak, infielder (b. 1859)
- 1927 - Bill Gilbert, pitcher (b. 1868)
- 1933 - Charlie DeArmond, infielder (b. 1877)
- 1947 - Lee Viau, pitcher (b. 1866)
- 1953 - Walt DeVoy, outfielder (b. 1886)
- 1953 - Lou McEvoy, pitcher (b. 1902)
- 1954 - Red Proctor, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1955 - Rube DeGroff, outfielder (b. 1879)
- 1956 - Ona Dodd, infielder (b. 1886)
- 1957 - Fritz Ostermueller, pitcher (b. 1907)
- 1958 - Les Scarsella, infielder (b. 1913)
- 1959 - Del Young, outfielder (b. 1885)
- 1961 - Ping Bodie, outfielder (b. 1887)
- 1968 - Hank Severeid, catcher (b. 1891)
- 1970 - Jim Park, pitcher (b. 1892)
- 1975 - Kerby Farrell, infielder, manager (b. 1913)
- 1985 - Elmer Bowman, pinch hitter (b. 1897)
- 1985 - Ken O'Dea, catcher; All-Star (b. 1913)
- 1989 - Zeb Eaton, pitcher (b. 1920)
- 1991 - Jesse Flores, pitcher (b. 1914)
- 1995 - George Cox, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 2006 - Larry Sherry, pitcher (b. 1935)
- 2008 - Dave Smith, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1955)
