BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1998 The Angels make Mo Vaughn the highest-paid player in baseball when they signed the former Red Sox slugger to a six-year, $80-million free-agent contract that includes an option for a seventh year. The deal, with an average annual value of $13.33 million, surpasses the yearly salaries of Mets catcher Mike Piazza and Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams.

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2002 The Red Sox hire the youngest general manager in major league history. Twenty-eight-year-old Theo Epstein, a lifetime Red Sox fan who grew up about a mile from Fenway Park, becomes the team's eleventh GM since the club first established the position in 1933.

2003 The Cubs trade first baseman Hee Seop Choi (.210, 10, 32) and a minor league player to be named later (Mike Nannini) to the World Champion Marlins in exchange for Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee (.271, 31, 92).

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2004 After spending $67 million to acquire its former president's shares of the Mariners, the Nintendo U.S. subsidiary now owns more than 50 percent of the Northwest franchise. Due to Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle is a favorite U.S. major league team in the Land of the Rising Sun.

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2005 The Phillies trade Jim Thome (.207, 7, 30) to the World Champion White Sox for center fielder Aaron Rowand (.270, 13, 69), and a pair of southpaw pitching prospects, Daniel Haigwood and Gio Gonzalez. The 35-year-old injury-ridden first baseman completed three seasons of his six-year $85 million deal with Philadelphia, helping the franchise establish creditability when the team moved to a new ballpark in 2004.

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2008 Chase Utley, expecting to need four to six months to recover, undergoes arthroscopic hip surgery at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. Despite battling the injury for much of the year, the All-Star Phillies' second baseman played a pivotal role in the team's World Championship this season.

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2008 The Marlins will endure a one-year delay in building their 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium, now set to open in 2012. Club president David Samson cites recent litigation slowed down the start of construction, and now it would not be cost-effective to keep to the original timeline.
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November 22, 1931, Leroy "Satchel" Paige struck out thirteen San Diego batters in a 1-0 win at Los Angeles' White Sox Park. Looks like he is saying, "Look here! They can't hit something they can't see."
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Most hits in the 80’s? This man, Robin Yount.
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Cecil and his grandson
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Vinny Castilla in 1996 and 1997 1996: .304 average, 40 home runs, 113 RBIs, 4 sac flies 1997: .304 average, 40 home runs, 113 RBIs, 4 sac flies
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Tony Gwynn was a .302 lifetime hitter with two strikes.
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November Baseball Birthdays 11/26

1866 Hugh Duffy HOF outfielder (Triple Crown & MLB record .440 batting average, single season 1894 Boston Beaneaters), born in Cranston, Rhode Island (d. 1954)


1905 Bob Johnson outfielder (8 x MLB All Star; Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox), born in Pryor, Oklahoma (d. 1982)


1908 Lefty Gomez HOF pitcher (7 × MLB All-Star; 5 × World Series; Triple Crown 1934, 37; NY Yankees), born in Rodeo, California (d. 1989)


1916 Bob Elliott, MLB player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Braves), born in San Francisco (d. 1966)


1941 Jeff Torborg (Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets), born in Plainfield, New Jersey


1947 Larry Gura KC born in Joliet, Illinois


1947 Richie Hebner born in Norwood, Massachusetts

1950 Jorge Orta second baseman and outfielder (MLB All Star 1975, 80; Chicago White Sox, Royals), born in Mazatlán, Mexico


1955 Bob Walk born in Van Nuys, California

1955 Jay Howell pitcher (NY Yankees, Oakland A's), born in Miami, Florida

1959 Mike Moore born in Eakly, Oklahoma

1960 Harold Reynolds born in Eugene, Oregon

1962 Chuck Finley (California Angels), born in Monroe, Louisiana

1969 Sam Militello born in Tampa, Florida

1976 Brian Schneider (Washington Nationals), born in Jacksonville, Florida

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This Day in Baseball History November 26​

1937 Manhattan Merry Go Round, a musical comedy featuring Joe DiMaggio as himself, premieres today. On the set, the Yankee Clipper meets Dorothy Arnold, who will become his first wife in 1939, and the mother of his only child, Joe Jr.

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1960 Moving from Washington, D.C., to an area near Minneapolis and St. Paul, known as the Twin Cities, the newly-arrived ballclub will be called the Minnesota Twins, becoming the first major league team named after an entire state. The American League's new expansion team in the nation's capital will continue to call the club the Senators but will be an entirely different franchise.

1962 After capturing his second batting title, infielder Pete Runnels is traded by the Red Sox, as he requested, to the Colt .45s. Boston swaps the 34-year-old Texas native, who will hit only .252 next season, for outfielder Roman Mejias, who spends two seasons with Boston in a part-time role before retiring.

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1962 The Dodgers trade pitcher Stan Williams (14-12, 4.46) for Yankee first baseman Bill Skowron (.270, 23, 80). 'Moose' will hit .385, including a home run in Game 2, against his former teammates in Los Angeles' four-game sweep of the Bronx Bombers in next season's Fall Classic.

Moose and Stan the Man
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1963 Pete Rose, who still shares a room with his brother in their childhood home located seven miles from Crosley Field, is named the National League Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old Reds second baseman collects 17 of the 20 votes cast by the BBWAA, with Mets infielder Rookie Hunt named on two of the ballots and Phillies right-hander Ray Culp listed on the other.

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1974 Catfish Hunter, who claims his contract was violated by the A's for failing to pay $50,000 into a long-term annuity fund, meets with an arbitrator and team owner Charlie Finley in New York. Peter Seitz of the American Arbitration Association will eventually rule in favor of the right-hander, making the Oakland hurler the first big-name star in modern times to become a free agent.

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1975 Receiving 22 of the 24 writers' first-place votes, Fred Lynn easily outdistances Royals' first baseman/DH John Mayberry for the American League's Most Valuable Player award. The 22-year-old Red Sox flycatcher becomes the first player in baseball history to win the MVP after being named Rookie of the Year in the same season.

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1980 Philadelphia third baseman Mike Schmidt (.286, 48, 121), garnering all of the writers' 24 first-place votes, wins the Most Valuable Player Award. Joining outfielder Chuck Klein (1932) and pitcher Jim Konstanty (1950), the 30-year-old slugger becomes the third Phillies player, the first in team history to be selected unanimously, to cop the prestigious prize.

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1986 The Yankees trade 24-year-old right-hander Doug Drabek, Logan Easley, and Brian Fisher to the Pirates for veterans Rick Rhoden, Cecilio Guante, and Pat Clements. The Bronx Bombers will regret sending their rookie starter to Pittsburgh after winning the 1990 Cy Young Award, posting a 22-6 record for the Bucs.

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1996 With the owners' approval of the collective bargaining agreement, regular-season interleague play and revenue sharing become a reality. The landmark agreement voted down 18-12 three weeks ago is ratified overwhelmingly by a 26-4 majority.

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2003 The A's trade catcher Ramon Hernandez and disgruntled flychaser Terrence Long to the Padres for outfielder Mark Kotsay, hoping to add punch to their outfield. The deal is contingent upon Kotsay's cranky back getting a clean bill of health.

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2004 Easily outpointing Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield, Vladimir Guerrero, receiving 21 of the 28 first-place votes, cops the American League MVP Award after signing as a free agent with the Angels the offseason. The Mets missed an opportunity to ink the 28-year-old former Expos when the team refused to guarantee his salary based on the opinion of their medical staff.

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2007 The Cubs re-signed 30-year-old free agent Kerry Wood to a one-year, $4.2 million deal, including additional incentives for closing games. The fragile former right-handed starter, who turned down multi-year offers from other clubs to stay with Chicago, will have an opportunity to become the club's closer.

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2009 Citing his age and the lack of stamina needed to do the job well, legendary Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard officially retires, having not doing a game since doing a game since 2007. The 99-year-old 'Voice of Yankee spent more than 50 seasons behind the microphone introducing lineups that have included Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Derek Jeter.

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2010 The Dodgers complete their starting rotation by signing Jon Garland to a $5 million, one-year deal that includes a club option for an additional season. The 31-year-old right-hander joins the formidable foursome of Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, and Ted Lilly.

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2011 Before playing two regular-season games against the A's to open the major league season in Japan, MLB announces the Mariners will face the Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants in exhibition contests on March 22 and 23. Seattle features former Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki, who signed a three-year deal with the team in 2001.

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Shohei Ohtani emotional after Ichiro Suzuki retires​

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Sparky and Bench
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Today In 1975: Boston #RedSox star Fred Lynn becomes the first Rookie of the Year to be named the American League MVP in the same season! (21 HR - 105 RBI - .331 BA - .401 OBP)
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A Kansas City Athletics gimmick, they had a rabbit come up through the ground to give balls to the umpire
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Today In 1927: Lucky kids crowd around baseball legends Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig on the sidelines of the #NotreDame vs. #USC football game at Soldier Field, Chicago!
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“Ever thrown a ball 100 mph? Everything hurts. Even your ass hurts. I see pictures of my face & say, ‘Holy shit’, but that’s the strain you feel when you throw. I had one of those faces you look at & say ‘Man he’s an asshole.’ Could be, depends if you pissed me off" Bob Gibson
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5 Negro Leagues greats who could knock the STUFFING out of the baseball: Josh Gibson, Turkey Stearnes, Mule Suttles, Oscar Charleston & Willard Brown.
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