March 6 in Tigers and mlb history:
1884: High winds tear off the roof of the Polo Grounds' grandstand.
1907: Philadelphia Phillies owners A.J. Reach and John Rogers are acquitted of damages resulting from the 1903 Baker Bowl disaster. A balcony collapsed at the Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue ballpark, killing 12 and leaving 232 fans injured.
1923: The St. Louis Cardinals announce that their players will wear numerals on their uniforms. The digits will be assigned according to the batting order.
1940: Future Hall of Famer Willie Stargell is born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. Stargell will make his debut in 1962 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He will hit 475 home runs during a 21-year major league career, helping the Pirates to World Championships in 1971 and 1979.
1945: Former Philadelphia Athletics catcher Harry O'Neill is killed in combat during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The 27-year-old O'Neill becomes the second former major leaguer to lose his life in the war. Elmer Gedeon, a one-time outfielder with the Washington Senators, was killed in 1944.
1973: Larry Hisle of the Minnesota Twins becomes the first designated hitter in major league history during an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1978: The Detroit Tigers traded John Valle (minors) and George Cappuzzello to the Cincinnati Reds for Jack Billingham.
1980: Milwaukee Brewers manager George Bamberger suffers a heart attack at the team's spring training camp in Sun City, Arizona. Bamberger will undergo quintuple bypass surgery, and is replaced on an interim basis by one of the team's coaches, Buck Rodgers.
1984 The Free Press profiles Ernie Harwell as he begins his 25th year with the #Tigers.
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1985: Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
1987: Prized free agent Andre Dawson signs a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs worth $650,000, well below his market value. A former Montreal Expos star, Dawson had previously offered to sign a "blank check" contract with Chicago, because collusion prevents him from signing a contract at the market rate for his services.
1995: The Detroit Tigers signed Brian Bohanon as a free agent.
2001: Former Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star second baseman Bill Mazeroski and Negro Leagues pitching great Hilton Smith are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
2005: Suzyn Waldman becomes the first woman to be a full-time color commentator in major league history, making her debut with John Sterling on WCBS-AM 880, the radio flagship of the New York Yankees. The former radio-talk host on WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in United States, was also the first female to broadcast on a national baseball telecast, as well as the first to provide local TV (Yankees) major league play-by-play.
2006: Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett dies in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 45, a day after suffering a massive stroke. Puckett, who led the Minnesota Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, hit .318 with 207 home runs and 1085 RBI over 12 seasons. A 10-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner, Puckett ended his career abruptly due to irreversible retina damage in his right eye.
2010: The Detroit Tigers released Michael Hollimon.
2014: The Detroit Tigers signed Nate Robertson as a free agent.
2014: Dr. Frank Jobe, the pioneer surgeon who performed the first ligament replacement surgery on pitcher Tommy John in 1974 and then popularized the technique that has saved hundred of pitchers' careers, dies in Santa Monica, CA at age 88. He had been a medical adviser to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 50 years, continuing even after his retirement from regular practice in 2008.
2014: Tigers prepare to install new sod at Comerica Park, after old field was removed for the NHL Winter Classic.
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2016: The Commissioner's office overturns the two-game suspension handed to Dodgers IF Chase Utley for a dangerous slide that injured the Mets' Ruben Tejada in last year's NLDS. The decision is because the rules regarding sliding at the time were too vague; they have since been strengthened.
2019: Pitcher Steven Wright of the Red Sox is suspended for 80 games for violating Major League Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Tigers players, coaches, and managers birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/orreljo01.shtml
Joe Orrell 1943-1945.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bob_Swift
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/swiftbo01.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/swiftbo01.shtml
Bob Swift 1944-1953, coach 1953-1954, 1963-1966, manager 1965, 1966.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mierked01.shtml
Ed Mierkowicz 1945, 1947-1948. Was the last living member of the 1945 world champion Tigers.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/halljo02.shtml
Joe Hall 1995, 1997.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/duranro01.shtml
Roberto Duran 1997-1998.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alvarga01.shtml
Gabe Alvarez 1998-2000.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Marcus_Thames
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thamema01.shtml
Marcus Thames 2004-2009.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martile01.shtml
Leonys Martin 2018.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wally_Schang
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schanwa01.shtml
Wally Schang 1931.
Baseball Reference
