April 2 in Tigers and mlb history:
1869: Hughie Jennings is born in Pittston, PA. Jennings will be a standout shortstop before making a successful transition to manager. He will lead the Baltimore Orioles National League club to four straight appearances in the 19th century Temple Cup World Championship Series from 1894 to 1897;
and the Detroit Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants from 1907 to 1909. Jennings will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1945.
1874: At the fourth meeting of the National Association in Boston, the batter's box is officially adopted. It is also decided that expulsion will be the penalty for any player betting on his own team and any player betting on any other team will forfeit his pay.
1908: The Mills Commission determines that Abner Doubleday originated the game of baseball. In its final report, the seven-man commission states that: "The first scheme for playing baseball, according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, NY, in 1839."
1918: The New York Yankees purchase first baseman "Tioga" George Burns from the Detroit Tigers and immediately trade him to the Philadelphia Athletics for outfielder Ping Bodie.
1931: At Engel Stadium, Miss Jackie Mitchell strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game held in Chattanooga, TN. The 17-year-old girl, a member of the Chattanooga Lookouts roster, also walks Tony Lazzeri in Chattanooga's 14 - 4 loss to the New York Yankees. In 1933 Mitchell will pitch for the House of David team.
1941: San Francisco (PCL) purchased Tom Seats from the Detroit Tigers.
1945: Don Sutton is born in Clio, AL. Sutton will make his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966 and will win 324 games over a 23-year major league career. He will gain election to the Hall of Fame in 1998.
1952: New York Giants slugger Monte Irvin breaks his ankle sliding into third base during an exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians in Denver, CO. The injury will force him to miss most of this season.
1959: Detroit returns minor league prospect Maury Wills to the Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.
1962: The Minnesota Twins acquire first baseman Vic Power and pitcher Dick Stigman from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for pitcher Pedro Ramos.
1968: Tony Conigliaro returns to the Boston Red Sox with vision trouble. He will miss the entire season, a consequence of his beaning last year.
1972: Former Dodgers star and Mets manager Gil Hodges collapses just minutes after completing a round of golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, and dies of a heart attack. The popular Hodges dies just two days before his 48th birthday. Hodges had guided the Mets to their "miraculous" 1969 World Series championship.
1973: The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Charlie Sands to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Zachary.
1976: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased Lerrin LaGrow from the Detroit Tigers.
1976: The Oakland Athletics trade two key members from their recent World Series championship teams, sending outfielder Reggie Jackson and pitcher Ken Holtzman along with minor leaguer Bill VanBommell to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for outfielder Don Baylor and pitchers Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell.
1981: The Detroit Tigers released Mike Warren.
1984: Rusty Kuntz and Rod Allen claim the Tigers' final 2 roster spots
1990: The Detroit Tigers traded Chuck Everson (minors) to the Kansas City Royals for Jerry Don Gleaton.
1990: The Detroit Tigers released Wayne Housie..
1993: The San Diego Padres selected Phil Clark off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
1995: The longest strike in major league history comes to an end. Having the first 23 days of this major league season canceled and 252 games of the last season lost, the owners accept the players' March 31st unconditional offer to return to work. The players' decision to return to work is made after a US District Court issued an injunction restoring terms and conditions of the expired agreement. Teams will play 144-game schedules. The strike had begun on August 12, 1994.
1996: Detroit Tigers first baseman Cecil Fielder steals the first base of his eleven-year major league career. His theft of second base comes in the 1,097th game that Fielder has played, establishing the longest duration a player had ever gone without a stolen base.
1998: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Eddie Gaillard off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
1998: By hitting a home run in Colorado's 6 - 4 victory over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark, Ellis Burks sets a major league record by having homered in 33 different stadiums.
2001: For the first time in major league history, a Japanese position player participates in a regular season game. Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, hitless in his first three at-bats, singles in the 7th inning to ignite a two-run rally, and bunts for another single in the 8th in his debut at Safeco Field.
He will go on the be both the American League Rookie of the Year and MVP this year. Ichiro has an amazing career with 10 consecutive seasons of 200+ hits, including a ML record 262 in 2004, and 10 consecutive Gold Gloves which ties Al Kaline and Ken Griffey Jr. for most in American League history.
2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Cristhian Martinez as an amateur free agent.
2003: The Detroit Tigers become the first major league team to have four pitchers make their big league debuts during the same game. Rookie starter Jeremy Bonderman, who gives up gives up six runs on nine hits in four innings, is followed by rookies Wilfredo Ledezma, Chris Spurling and Matt Roney in the 8 - 1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
2005: The Detroit Tigers traded Steve Colyer to the New York Mets for Matt Ginter.
2007: The Tigers unveil their 2006 AL championship banner on Opening Day. They lose to the Blue Jays 5-3 in 10 innings.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D21SJ3SWoAA2Yp_.jpg Cringe holds the banner.
2009: The Arizona Diamondbacks traded Brooks Brown to the Detroit Tigers for James Skelton (minors).
2010: The Detroit Tigers released Kory Casto.
2011: The Boston Red Sox traded a player to be named later to the Detroit Tigers for Brent Dlugach. The Boston Red Sox sent Pedro Perez (minors) (April 2, 2011) to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.
2011: The Commissioner's office demands that the New York Yankees stop relaying hand signals from the stands to their hitters at New Yankee Stadium, something which is expressly prohibited by a directive from Major League Baseball. GM Brian Cashman apologizes to Joe Garagiola Jr. and says the team will comply.
2011: Ichiro Suzuki breaks the franchise hit record for the Seattle Mariners in the Mariners' 6 - 2 win over Oakland. Ten years to the day after his first major league hit, Ichiro collects safety number 2,248, passing Edgar Martinez, with an infield single that drives in the winning run in the 9th.
2013: The Detroit Tigers signed Blaine Hardy as a free agent.
2014: Ian Kinsler hits his first home run as a Tiger and wins it with a walkoff single in the 10th.
2016: The Detroit Tigers released Rafael Lopez.
2019: Returning to Washington, DC for the first time since signing a record free agent contract with the Phillies this spring, Bryce Harper is welcomed with a very loud chorus of boos before each of his at-bats. He has the last laugh, however, as he collects 3 hits, including a massive 458-foot two-run homer off Jeremy Hellickson in the 8th, to lead the Phils to an 8 - 2 win over the Nationals.
Tigers players and managers birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Hughie_Jennings
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jennihu01.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/jennihu01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c9d82d83
Hughie Jennings 1907, 1909-1910, 1912, 1918, manager 1907-1920.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Ed_Siever
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sieveed01.shtml
Ed Siever 1901-1902, 1906-1908.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moranha01.shtml
Harry Moran 1912.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pippeco01.shtml
Cotton Pippen 1939-1940.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Billy_Pierce
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/piercbi02.shtml
Billy Pierce 1945, 1948.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsea01.shtml
Earl Johnson 1951.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dick_Radatz
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/radatdi01.shtml
Dick Radatz 1969.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Pete_Incaviglia
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/incavpe01.shtml
Pete Incaviglia 1991, 1998.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tom_Gage
Tom Gage Tigers beat writer Detroit News 1979-2015.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Matty_McIntyre
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcintma01.shtml
Matty McIntyre 1904-1910.
Baseball Reference
