February 28 in Tigers and mlb history:
1900: John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson sign contracts with the Baltimore Orioles of the National League. When the long-rumored move by Baltimore to disband occurs, the two players are assigned to the Brooklyn Superbas, but they will refuse and sit out the first third of the season instead. Finally, McGraw and Robinson are sold to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1904: The Detroit Tigers purchased Frank McManus from the Brooklyn Superbas.
1916: Future HOFer Sam Crawford on the cover of Baseball magazine.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0fxJ8oWoAEEm1s.jpg
1931: Ban Johnson dies in St. Louis, at age 57. Johnson had served as the founder and first president of the American League from 1901 to 1927. He was a dynamic and dictatorial leader until subdued by the advent of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who took office as the first Baseball commissioner in January 1921. Johnson will gain election to the Hall of Fame in 1937.
1955: The National League fines the Milwaukee Braves $500 for opening their spring training camp before the official March 1st date.
1959: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees ends his holdout after one day. Mantle agrees to a salary of $72,000 and a bonus of $2,000. He had been asking the Yankees for $85,000 after batting .304 with 42 home runs and 97 RBI in 1958.
1968: Lena Blackburne dies in Riverside, New Jersey, at age 81. A former major league infielder and manager, Blackburne has been the source for his eponymous rubbing mud, used by umpires in both leagues to rub down new balls. He leaves the mud business to his boyhood friend, John Haas.
1986: In Major League Baseball's sternest disciplinary move since the 1919 Black Sox were banished for life, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year's suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquin And?jar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined 10 percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.
1989: The Veterans Committee elects Red Schoendienst and Al Barlick to the Hall of Fame. Schoendienst served as a second baseman and manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Barlick was a major league umpire for over 29 seasons.
1992: The Detroit Tigers signed Steve Ontiveros as a free agent.
2000: American League umpire John Hirschbeck is elected as the first president of the World Umpires Association, which was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board a few days ago.
2002: Major League Baseball announces it has rehired five umpires who had resigned during the 1999 season as part of the ill-fated strategy concocted by Richie Phillips and the Major League Umpires Association. They are Gary Darling, Bill Hohn, Larry Poncino, Larry Vanover and Joe West. Four other umpires, Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Terry Tata, and Frank Pulli, are allowed to retire.
2005: The Detroit Tigers signed Dewayne Wise as a free agent.
2011: Miguel Cabrera makes his first appearance since his drunk driving arrest and goes 0 for 2 with a walk in a Tigers victory.
2018: Boston Red Sox owner John Henry officially petitions the city of Boston, MA to rename Yawkey Way, which is located just outside Fenway Park. The street was named after former owner and Hall of Fame member Tom Yawkey, but history has not been kind to its namesake's memory, as he is widely blamed for delaying the integration of the team, making them the last major league franchise to have an African-American player in its line-up, 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Lil_Stoner
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stoneli01.shtml
Lil Stoner 1922, 1924-1929.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/samforo01.shtml
Ron Samford 1955, 1957.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bellch02.shtml
Chad Bell 2017-2018.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/goodrni01.shtml
Niko Goodrum 2018-present.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dizzy_Trout
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/troutdi01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/633b991e
Dizzy Trout 1939-1952.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Harvey_Kuenn
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kuennha01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a79cd3a2
Harvey Kuenn 1952-1959.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sturdto01.shtml
Tom Sturdivant 1963.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Alex_Johnson
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsal01.shtml
Alex Johnson 1976.
Baseball Reference
