- Thread Author
- #67,701
March 22 in Tigers and mlb history:
1888: 3B/C Deacon White signs with the Detroit Wolverines after a prolonged battle with manager Bill Watkins, under whom White had said he'd never play.
1962: A former member of the New York Giants requesting anonymity reveals that Bobby Thomson's home run in the 1951 playoffs against the Brooklyn Dodgers was helped by a sign-stealing clubhouse spy. The spying is claimed to have gone on for the last three months of the season. Thomson, along with former Giants manager Leo Durocher, vehemently denies that he received help, but a source close to the team confirms the spy operation.
1962: At spring training, Yankees slugger Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Rogers Hornsby because the Hall of Famer criticized him in his book My Wars with Baseball.
1972: In one of the best trades in franchise history, the New York Yankees acquire reliever Sparky Lyle from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for 1B/OF Danny Cater. In seven seasons with the Yankees, Lyle will post a 57-40 record with 141 saves and a 2.41 ERA, win a Cy Young Award, and help the team to three World Series.
1976: The California Angels' groundskeeper finds hundreds of marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium. The culprits? Most likely rock fans who attended a recent performance at the stadium by The Who.
1981: American League President Lee MacPhail suspends Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver for removing his team from the field and forfeiting a spring training game to the Kansas City Royals. It is the fourth career suspension for Weaver, who was upset that the umpires did not provide him with an official batting order after Kansas City made numerous substitutions. Weaver's suspension will last three days.
1990: Major league umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games to protest not having been consulted in the revision of the regular season schedule after the lockout. They will return to work on April 1st.
1991: At Sotheby's in New York, a 1909-10 tobacco card in mint condition of Honus Wagner sells for $451,000, with the 10% auction house premium. Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall purchase the rare card.
On the same day, a 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle goes for $49,500, tripling the pre-auction estimate, while a baseball, signed by 12 players at the 1939 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, sells for $20,900.
1996: The Detroit Tigers traded Cade Gaspar (minors), Sean Bergman and Todd Steverson to the San Diego Padres for Raul Casanova, Richie Lewis and Melvin Nieves.
1996: The Detroit Tigers traded Phil Plantier to the Oakland Athletics for Fausto Cruz and Ramon Fermin.
1997: The San Diego Padres traded Jody Reed to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Darr and Matt Skrmetta.
2005: Eleven home runs shy of passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds indicates he may not play this season. The 40-year-old National League MVP, who has had two knee operations and has been implicated in the sport's steroids scandal, cites being physically and mentally "done" and blames the news media for much of his unhappiness, refusing to look in the mirror.
2011: Greg Anderson, personal trainer of Barry Bonds, refuses to testify at the slugger's trial for perjury. He is charged with contempt of court by Judge Susan Illston and is taken into custody, facing a fifth jail term for his consistently uncooperative attitude.
2013: Major League Baseball files a lawsuit against Anthony Bosch and five others connected with the Miami clinic "Biogenesis" that allegedly provided PEDs to a number of players. The suit charges that the defendants "knowingly participated in a scheme to solicit or induce major league players to purchase or obtain performance-enhancing substances in violation of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program." The suit seeks monetary damages and other relief.
2014: New sod is installed at Comerica Park.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C57wNVOXQAAcbZI.jpg
2016: The Detroit Tigers released Melvin Mercedes.
2016: The Rays defeat the Cuban national team, 4 - 1, in a historic exhibition game played at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba. Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro are in attendance as the ballgame, which is the first by a major league team in Cuba since the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series, and only the second since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
2018: Grapefruit League games are usually pretty laid-back affairs, as the final score is of minor concern to players, managers and fans alike. However, today, umpire Tom Hallion is apparently keen on working out the rust from his ejection gesture, as he gives the thumb no less than five times in a meaningless game between the Tigers and Phillies. Things start in the 5th inning when he tosses Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd for supposedly throwing at Odubel Herrera, then in the 8th he gives the heave-ho to Phillies P Parker Frazier for losing control of a slow curve that ends on Derek Hill's leg. When manager Gabe Kapler comes out to point out the absurdity of the call, he is sent off as well. Then in the 9th, it's Pedro Beato who gets his time on the mound shortened for pitching inside to Dylan Rosa, and he's quickly followed to the clubhouse by bench coach Rob Thomson when he attempts to remind Hallion that this is a spring training game and guys are just trying to throw some pitches against live batters.
Tigers players, scouts, and front office birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Marv_Owen
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owenma01.shtml
Marv Owen 1931, 1933-1937, and long time scout into the 1970's.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sinatma01.shtml
Matt Sinatro 1989.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Eddie_Bane
Eddie Bane 2011-2012 scouting dept.
Baseball Reference
1888: 3B/C Deacon White signs with the Detroit Wolverines after a prolonged battle with manager Bill Watkins, under whom White had said he'd never play.
1962: A former member of the New York Giants requesting anonymity reveals that Bobby Thomson's home run in the 1951 playoffs against the Brooklyn Dodgers was helped by a sign-stealing clubhouse spy. The spying is claimed to have gone on for the last three months of the season. Thomson, along with former Giants manager Leo Durocher, vehemently denies that he received help, but a source close to the team confirms the spy operation.
1962: At spring training, Yankees slugger Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Rogers Hornsby because the Hall of Famer criticized him in his book My Wars with Baseball.
1972: In one of the best trades in franchise history, the New York Yankees acquire reliever Sparky Lyle from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for 1B/OF Danny Cater. In seven seasons with the Yankees, Lyle will post a 57-40 record with 141 saves and a 2.41 ERA, win a Cy Young Award, and help the team to three World Series.
1976: The California Angels' groundskeeper finds hundreds of marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium. The culprits? Most likely rock fans who attended a recent performance at the stadium by The Who.
1981: American League President Lee MacPhail suspends Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver for removing his team from the field and forfeiting a spring training game to the Kansas City Royals. It is the fourth career suspension for Weaver, who was upset that the umpires did not provide him with an official batting order after Kansas City made numerous substitutions. Weaver's suspension will last three days.
1990: Major league umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games to protest not having been consulted in the revision of the regular season schedule after the lockout. They will return to work on April 1st.
1991: At Sotheby's in New York, a 1909-10 tobacco card in mint condition of Honus Wagner sells for $451,000, with the 10% auction house premium. Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall purchase the rare card.
On the same day, a 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle goes for $49,500, tripling the pre-auction estimate, while a baseball, signed by 12 players at the 1939 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, sells for $20,900.
1996: The Detroit Tigers traded Cade Gaspar (minors), Sean Bergman and Todd Steverson to the San Diego Padres for Raul Casanova, Richie Lewis and Melvin Nieves.
1996: The Detroit Tigers traded Phil Plantier to the Oakland Athletics for Fausto Cruz and Ramon Fermin.
1997: The San Diego Padres traded Jody Reed to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Darr and Matt Skrmetta.
2005: Eleven home runs shy of passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds indicates he may not play this season. The 40-year-old National League MVP, who has had two knee operations and has been implicated in the sport's steroids scandal, cites being physically and mentally "done" and blames the news media for much of his unhappiness, refusing to look in the mirror.
2011: Greg Anderson, personal trainer of Barry Bonds, refuses to testify at the slugger's trial for perjury. He is charged with contempt of court by Judge Susan Illston and is taken into custody, facing a fifth jail term for his consistently uncooperative attitude.
2013: Major League Baseball files a lawsuit against Anthony Bosch and five others connected with the Miami clinic "Biogenesis" that allegedly provided PEDs to a number of players. The suit charges that the defendants "knowingly participated in a scheme to solicit or induce major league players to purchase or obtain performance-enhancing substances in violation of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program." The suit seeks monetary damages and other relief.
2014: New sod is installed at Comerica Park.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C57wNVOXQAAcbZI.jpg
2016: The Detroit Tigers released Melvin Mercedes.
2016: The Rays defeat the Cuban national team, 4 - 1, in a historic exhibition game played at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba. Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro are in attendance as the ballgame, which is the first by a major league team in Cuba since the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series, and only the second since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
2018: Grapefruit League games are usually pretty laid-back affairs, as the final score is of minor concern to players, managers and fans alike. However, today, umpire Tom Hallion is apparently keen on working out the rust from his ejection gesture, as he gives the thumb no less than five times in a meaningless game between the Tigers and Phillies. Things start in the 5th inning when he tosses Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd for supposedly throwing at Odubel Herrera, then in the 8th he gives the heave-ho to Phillies P Parker Frazier for losing control of a slow curve that ends on Derek Hill's leg. When manager Gabe Kapler comes out to point out the absurdity of the call, he is sent off as well. Then in the 9th, it's Pedro Beato who gets his time on the mound shortened for pitching inside to Dylan Rosa, and he's quickly followed to the clubhouse by bench coach Rob Thomson when he attempts to remind Hallion that this is a spring training game and guys are just trying to throw some pitches against live batters.
Tigers players, scouts, and front office birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Marv_Owen
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owenma01.shtml
Marv Owen 1931, 1933-1937, and long time scout into the 1970's.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sinatma01.shtml
Matt Sinatro 1989.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Eddie_Bane
Eddie Bane 2011-2012 scouting dept.
Baseball Reference
Last edited: