October 20 in Tigers and history:
1909: Ty Cobb surrenders to police in Cleveland on charges stemming from a felony assault earlier in the year. Accompanied by Tiger owner Frank Navin, Cobb enters a not guilty plea and pays a bond for release. Cobb would later plea guilty to a lesser charge and pay a fine. In August he’s assaulted a black man outside a Cleveland hotel.
1924: Kansas City Monarchs manager Jose Mendez takes the mound to spin a three-hit, 5 - 0 shutout over Hilldale to win the tenth and final game of the first Negro League World Series. Loser Nip Winters had pitched the first three Hilldale wins.
1935: Hank Greenberg is named American League MVP. Wes Ferrell finishes second in the ballot. Another great year for "Hammerin Hank", as he leads the league in Homeruns 36, RBI with 170, and total bases with 389. Hank is also among the league leading top 3/5/10 in every offensive category.
1947: Radio rights for the World Series sell for $475,000 for three years. Every franchise but Pittsburgh has sold 1948 TV rights. The New York Giants get $400,000 for radio-TV rights from Chesterfield.
1951: Joe DiMaggio accompanies Lefty O'Doul's All-Stars on a tour of Japan. They will win 13 of the 15 games played.
1960: Coach Ralph Houk is named to succeed Casey Stengel as manager of the New York Yankees. He briefly led the team during the season when Stengel was hospitalized.
1967: The Detroit Tigers released Jerry Lumpe.
1967: The Detroit Tigers released Johnny Podres.
1981: In a World Series rematch of the 1977 and 1978 teams, the Yankees take Game 1 over the Dodgers, 5 - 3. Bob Watson hits a three-run home run in the 1st inning as pitcher Ron Guidry goes seven innings for the win. Goose Gossage closes down a Dodgers rally in the 8th.
1988: Orel Hershiser pitches a four-hitter and Mickey Hatcher and Mike Davis hit two-run home runs to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5 - 2 victory over the Oakland Athletics and the World Series title in five games.
Hershiser becomes only the third player to win the MVP honors in both the League Championship Series and the World Series. The win gives the Dodgers their first World Championship since 1981, becoming the only team to win more than one World Series in the 1980s.
1990: The Cincinnati Reds complete one of the biggest upsets in major league history, beating the heavily-favored Oakland Athletics, 2 - 1, to win the World Series in four games. Pitcher Jose Rijo, with 9th-inning help from Randy Myers, wins his second game of the series.
1994: Tim Belcher of the Detroit Tigers granted free agency.
1994: Eric Davis of the Detroit Tigers granted free agency.
1999: Boston eye doctor Carmen Puliafito offers free surgery for Major League umpires during the postseason after umpires blow three calls against the Red Sox during the ALCS.
Puliafito, who chairs the ophthalmology department at the Tufts University School of Medicine, suspects some umpires are secretly nearsighted. "That's the only explanation I have for these three horrible calls."
2004: The Boston Red Sox become the first team in major league history to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games, by beating New York at Yankee Stadium, 10 - 3, in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Johnny Damon hits two home runs, including a grand slam in the 4th inning, backing up the solid pitching of Derek Lowe. Boston joins the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders, both of the National Hockey League, as the only teams in the history of North American professional sports to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a seven-game series.
2008: The Detroit Tigers released Angel Castro.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bruce_Campbell
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bruce_Campbell
Bruce Campbell 1940-1941.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bill_Froats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/froatbi01.shtml
Bill Froats 1955.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/collida02.shtml?redir
Dave Collins 1986.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/heinkdo01.shtml
Don Heinkel 1988.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Juan_Gonzalez
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzaju03.shtml
Juan Gonzalez 2000.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/verasjo01.shtml
Jose Veras 2013.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/greenpa01.shtml
Paddy Greene 1903.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/skopejo01.shtml
John Skopec 1903.
from Baseball Reference
