February 29 in Tigers and mlb history:
1896 - Western League president Ban Johnson asserts that "the Western League has passed the stage where it should be considered a minor league - it is a first-class organization, and should have the consideration that such an organization warrants." Four years later Johnson will act upon this belief, taking the first steps toward moving the WL - renamed the American League in 1900 - to major league status.
1940: The First National Bank of Chicago tries to force a sale of the Chicago White Sox by the heirs of the late J. Louis Comiskey. A judge denies the effort of the club's principal lender, saying that Mrs. Grace Comiskey can keep the club for their 14-year-old son, Charles II, until he is 35.
1956 - The Cleveland Indians are sold for nearly four million dollars. The team's present general manager and former player, Hank Greenberg, is one of the new owners.
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.
1972 - Hank Aaron signs a major league record-breaking contract with the Atlanta Braves, calling for $200,000 annually for three years.
2000: Manager Sparky Anderson, 19th century star Bid McPhee, and Negro League slugger Norman (Turkey) Stearnes are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
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Daughters, Rosilyn Stearnes-Brown & Joyce Stearnes Thompson, in front of a portrait of their father at
Detroit Historical Society #DetroitStars #BlackHistoryMonth
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2004: Photo shoot inside #TigerStadium by Tom Szczerbowski for Getty.
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Tigers players birthdays:
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/courter01.shtml
Ernie Courtney 1903.
Baseball Reference
