March 11 in Tigers and mlb history:
1901: The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw has signed a Cherokee Indian named "Tokohama" to play second base. In reality, Tokohama isn't a Native American; he is an African-American whose actual name is Charlie Grant, who McGraw is trying to pass off as an Indian, but the ruse does not work. Baseball's color line will prevent Grant from ever playing a game for the Orioles.
1933: During an exhibition game in Los Angeles, CA, a significant earthquake sends the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants scurrying to second base until the tremors stop.
1933: Rogers Hornsby, out of baseball since being fired as Cubs manager last August, joins the St. Louis Cardinals in spring training as a player. Hornsby will return to second base after a six-year absence from St. Louis.
1953: Boston Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a ban on the move of any major league franchise to that of a minor league city until October 1st. In two days, he will shock Boston fans and break his own proposed rule by moving his team to Milwaukee.
1956: At Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg there are no maybes about it as Mickey Mantle hits a Grapefruit League pitch from Larry Jackson over the left field wall into the bay. The Yankees top the Cardinals, 4 - 3. Stan Musial contends, "no home run has ever cleared my head by as much as long as I can remember."
Mantle will hit another at Al Lang Field on March 20th off Bob Mabe that also lands in the water, and will clock a 500-foot shot in Miami four days later against the Dodgers.
1957: New York Representative Emanuel Celler, whose committee investigated baseball, calls Ford Frick a "czar" who wishes to "gag" officials; Frick had cautioned Major League Baseball owners about commenting on the recent Supreme Court decision on professional American football coming under antitrust rules.
1958: Starting this season, American League batters will be required to wear batting helmets.
1959: The Players Association drops its threat of a strike against the International League.
1960: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees signs a one-year contract worth $65,000. The new deal represents a $7,000 cut in pay for Mantle, who batted .285 with 31 home runs and 75 RBI for the Yankees in 1959.
1970: Experimental, lively X-5 baseballs are used in all spring training games played in Arizona and Florida. The results are inconclusive.
1972: Hall of Fame outfielder Zack Wheat dies in Sedalia, Missouri, at the age of 83. A .317 lifetime batter, Wheat starred for the Brooklyn Robins. He batted a National League-leading .335 in 1918 and possessed one of the most accurate throwing arms among outfielders.
1974: Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders the Atlanta Braves to play Hank Aaron in at least two of the team's season-opening three games in Cincinnati. The Braves had planned to bench Aaron on the road in order to increase his chances of hitting his record-breaking 715th home run at home.
1981: Slugger Johnny Mize and Negro Leagues pioneer Rube Foster are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Mize hit .312 with 359 home runs during a 15-year major league career, while Foster served as a pitcher, manager, and Negro League organizer in the first quarter of the 20th century.
1984: Freep feature on Alan Trammell.
https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/11036...g&name=600x314
1988: California Angels manager Gene Mauch takes a leave of absence for health reasons and is replaced by Cookie Rojas. Mauch will officially announce his retirement on March 27th. Mauch leaves managing with 1,902 wins and 2,037 losses.
1991: Jim Palmer, who is in the Baltimore Orioles' training camp as a non-roster player, has a shaky outing against the Boston Red Sox, giving up five hits and two runs in two innings. Palmer, who retired in 1984, will retire again tomorrow, citing a hamstring injury.
1996: The Florida Marlins traded Randy Veres to the Detroit Tigers for Matt Brunson (minors).
2002: The Detroit Tigers signed Matt Miller as a free agent.
2002: The Yankees release outfielder Ruben Rivera for stealing Derek Jeter's mitt out of his locker, and selling it on the black market for $2,500. There are rumors that Rivera also took other memorabilia items, such as things belonging to Roger Clemens, but Clemens denies it. Rivera had been signed to a one-year contract for $1 million.
2015: One year after placing a near-record 17 players on the disabled list, the Rangers get the news they most dreaded, as ace starter Yu Darvish will need to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season and probably more.
2018: One of the few remaining first-rung free agents left unsigned, P Jake Arrieta, inks a three-year deal with the Phillies worth $75 million.
2021: Major League Baseball announces that it will be testing out some potential rules changes when the minor league season gets under way.
In AAA, the games will be played with bases 18 inches in length, instead of the usual 15, and made of a material that performs better in wet conditions, both in order to limit injuries;
in AA, there will be limits on defensive shifts, forcing all infielders to be placed within the infield dirt boundary when play starts;
in High-A, pitchers will be required to step off the mound to attempt a pick-off throw;
in Low-A, they will be limited to two such throws per plate appearance, and there will also be either a 15-second pitch clock or a robot umpire to call balls and strikes, depending on the league.
Some of these rule change may eventually make their way to the major leagues if they prove successful.
Tigers players birthdays:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rublear01.shtml
Art Ruble 1927.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lawrebi01.shtml
Bill Lawrence 1932.
Tigers players who passed away:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/barfocl01.shtml
Clyde Barfoot 1926.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nekolbo01.shtml
Bots Nekola 1933.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcnaier01.shtml
Eric McNair 1941-1942.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cowenal01.shtml
Al Cowens 1980-1981.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/patteja01.shtml
Jarrod Patterson 2001.
Baseball Reference
