December 9 in Tigers and mlb history:
1902: The American League announces purchase of grounds for a stadium in New York, and the next day the National League declares its readiness to make peace.
1923: Traveling to Chicago for the Major League meetings, Wild Bill Donovan, New Haven manager, is killed in a train wreck. Donovan was a pitcher for Detroit and manager for the Yankees and Phils. New Haven president George Weiss had swapped berths with Donovan and escapes with a minor injury. Phillies owner William F. Baker is also on the train, but he is unhurt.
1925: The American League extends Ban Johnson's contract to 1935 and gives him a raise to $40,000.
1925: The Detroit Tigers traded Fred Haney to the Boston Red Sox for Homer Ezzell and Tex Vache.
1925: Nap Lajoie is named commissioner of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League.
1925: Cards player-manager Rogers Hornsby is named the MVP in the National League, gathering 73 out of a possible 80 votes. Hornsby was runner-up in 1924 to Dazzy Vance. Other strong contenders are Kiki Cuyler of the Pirates, Giants' George Kelly; Pirates' SS Glenn Wright.
1930: At its annual meeting, the American League reelects E.S. Barnard to a 5-year term as president. Barnard will pass away next March at the Mayo clinic.
1930: Rube Foster, one of the most prominent figures in black baseball history, dies. The founder of the Negro National League, he excelled as a player, manager, and executive.
1931: Baseball owners, fearful of the effects of the Depression, vote to cut squads from 25 players to 23.
Both leagues will stop awarding MVP trophies.
The National League continues to prohibit uniform numbers.
1936: The American League okays seven night baseball games for St. Louis.
The National League adopts a new design for home plate. It will have beveled edges, the first change in 50 years.
The AL adopts a rule stating that no batter can be batting champion unless he has 400 or more at bats.
1939: Wally Moses is traded by the Philadelphia A's to Detroit for Benny McCoy and George Coffman. The deal is later voided by Judge Landis, who declares McCoy a free agent because of a Tigers cover-up. He gets a $10,000 bonus to sign with the A's.
1941: Although having a 3-C draft deferment due to being the sole support of his family, Bob Feller, last year's American League-leading pitcher with 27 victories for the Indians, becomes the first major leaguer to enlist after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 23-year-old navy recruit has already won 107 major league games.
1953: The leagues meet and raise the minimum salary to $6,000. They also adopt a resolution to set up a committee to weigh ending the pension fund in November of 1955. Hank Greenberg and John Galbreath are on the committee.
Broadcast revenues from World Series and All-Star games are in dispute.
1954: Yogi Berra (.307 BA, 22 HR, 125 RBI) is named AL MVP, narrowly beating Cleveland's Larry Doby and Bobby Avila.
1965: While giving a speech in Columbia, MO, Branch Rickey collapses and dies a few days short of his 84th birthday. Player, manager, an extraordinary judge of baseball talent, and a shrewd trader, he became perhaps the game's most influential executive.
1965: OF Frank Robinson is traded from Cincinnati to the Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and OF Dick Simpson. The Reds' Bill DeWitt defends the trade by labeling Robinson "an old 30," a concept that Robinson will quickly prove wrong.
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1974: The St. Louis Cardinals traded Ike Brookens to the Detroit Tigers for John Young.
1977: The Tigers trade outfielder Ben Oglivie to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jim Slaton and Rich Folkers.
Oglivie will blossom in Milwaukee, winning the home run title in 1980 with 41 long balls. Oglivie had gotten caught in a glut of outfielders in Detroit, but he will become a three-time All-Star for the Brewers.
1977: The Detroit Tigers traded Tom Veryzer to the Cleveland Indians for Charlie Spikes.
1981: the Tigers send pitchers Mike Chris and Dan Schatzeder to the Giants for outfielder Larry Herndon.
The quiet Herndon will be a key contributor to the Tigers for several seasons and is a member of the 1984 World Series Champions.
1981: The Merry-go-round known as the Yankees managerial position continues as one day after announcing that manager Bob Lemon will return next season, the Yankees announce that former manager Gene Michael, whom Lemon replaced on September 6th, will return as manager for the 1983 season.
They won't wait that long, as Lemon will give way to Michael after only 14 games, and Michael himself will be gone before the end of the year.
1985: Kirk Gibson appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Two months later the players union will file a grievance charging the owners with collusion.
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1992: The Detroit Tigers signed Mike Moore as a free agent.
1996: The Detroit Tigers drafted Jeff Berblinger from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1996 rule 5 draft.
1996: The Seattle Mariners drafted Tarrik Brock from the Detroit Tigers in the 1996 rule 5 draft.
1996: The Oakland Athletics drafted Frank Catalanotto from the Detroit Tigers in the 1996 rule 5 draft.
1996: The Detroit Tigers drafted Alejandro Freire from the Houston Astros in the 1996 minor league draft.
1996: The Detroit Tigers drafted Jose Macias from the Montreal Expos in the 1996 minor league draft.
1996: The Colorado Rockies drafted Jeff McCurry from the Detroit Tigers in the 1996 minor league draft.
1996: The Detroit Tigers traded Jeff Berblinger to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Hernaiz (minors) and Deivi Cruz.
1997: The Detroit Tigers signed Luis Gonzalez as a free agent.
2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Jason Smith as a free agent.
2009: The Detroit Tigers signed Robinzon Diaz as a free agent.
2011: The Nationals send P Collin Balester to Detroit for P Ryan Perry.
2011: The Detroit Tigers signed Octavio Dotel as a free agent.
2013: The Veterans Committee unanimously elects three managers who were highly successful in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to the Hall of Fame: Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre were fixtures in the postseason over the period, combining for 8 World Series titles and 10 Manager of the Year awards. In addition to their overlapping careers, LaRussa, Cox and Torre rank 3rd, 4th and 5th on the all-time list of managerial wins, behind Connie Mack and John McGraw.
2015: The New York Yankees traded Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for Luis Cessa and Chad Green.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed A.J. Achter as a free agent.
2016: The Detroit Tigers signed Omar Infante as a free agent.
2018: The results of the Veterans Committee voting for the 2019 Hall of Fame Election are announced: relief pitcher Lee Smith is a unanimous selection, and OF/DH Harold Baines joins him by being named on 12 of the 16 ballots. Lou Piniella falls just short, with 11 votes. While Smith's election had been widely anticipated, that of Baines comes as a surprise, given that he had done quite poorly in the original BBWAA voting.
2019: The Baltimore Orioles selected Marcos Diplan off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
2019: News leaks out that the Nationals have reached a deal with P Stephen Strasburg, MVP of the last World Series, who became a free agent the day after the Nats' World Series win. Strasburg exercised an option to decline the remaining years on his contract in order to test his value on the open market. The deal is rumored to be for $245 million over 7 years.
2019: The annual winter meetings open in San Diego, CA. In addition to the usual talk about potential trades and free agent signings, one major issue is on the table this year, a proposed Minor League Reorganization that would see the elimination of 41 teams that are part of organized baseball. The proposal is highly controversial given that many successful teams with long histories are on the chopping block. The reasons given by Major League Baseball for this proposal are to ensure that all minor league facilities are up to grade, and that the savings generated by having fewer teams will serve to increase salaries for the remaining minor league players.
2019: The Baltimore Orioles selected Marcos Diplan off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
2019: The Milwaukee Brewers selected Ronny Rodriguez off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
2020: Al Michaels, who served as the lead baseball broadcaster for the ABC television network in the late 1970s and during the 1980s, working both regular season games on Monday Night Baseball and World Series games in alternate years, is honored as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
2023 -
Shohei Ohtani agrees to the largest contract in
MLB history - and possibly in all of sports history - with a ten-year deal with the
Dodgers worth $700 million. The reigning
AL MVP will not be available to pitch in
2024, after undergoing
Tommy John surgery, but will be the Dodgers' DH.
Tigers players and coaches birthdays:
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Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Steve Larkin. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Steve Larkin 1934.
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Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Chuck Kress. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Chuck Kress 1954.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Bob Hazle. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Bob 'Hurricane' Hazle 1958.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Ed Romero. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Ed Romero 1990.
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Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Juan Samuel. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Juan Samuel 1994-1995, coach 1999-2005.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Todd Van Poppel. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Todd Van Poppel 1996.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Chris Truby. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Chris Truby 2002.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Adam Wilk. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Adam Wilk 2011-2012.
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Bruce Rondón. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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Bruce Rondon 2013, 2015-2017.
Tigers players and coaches who passed away:
Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Bill Donovan. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
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'Wild' Bill Donovan 1903-1912, 1918, coach 1918.
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