BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1972 At the age of 36 years and 20 days, former Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax, who placed himself on the voluntarily retired list because of an arthritic left arm in 1966, becomes the youngest player elected into the Hall of Fame. The baseball writers also select Yankee legend Yogi Berra and Early Wynn, a 300-game winner.

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1983 Ozzie Smith becomes the game's first $1-million shortstop when the infielder inks a three-year pact with the World Champion Cardinals. The 'Wizard of Ahs,' best known for his outstanding defense, won his third consecutive Gold Glove in the offseason.

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1997 Ivan Rodriguez, avoiding salary arbitration, agrees to a contract worth $6.65 million to catch for the Rangers. 'Pudge' set the record for most doubles by a catcher with 44 last season, and the All-Star receiver also set the major league mark for at-bats by a backstop, with 639, surpassing Johnny Bench's 621, established in 1970.

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1999 During his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton introduces Sammy Sosa, sitting with First Lady Hillary Clinton, a big Cubs fan, in the House of Representatives chamber balcony, calling the Dominican outfielder "a hero in two countries." The Commander-in-Chief salutes the Chicago slugger for his relief efforts in the Dominican Republic after the country was devastated by recent hurricanes.

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2000 Major league owners vote unanimously to consolidate the administrative functions of the National and American leagues, giving the commissioner's office sweeping new powers. To restore competitive balance in baseball, Bud Selig will be allowed to block trades and redistribute the wealth and, under the adopted new constitution, will also be able to fine teams up to two million dollars.

2005 Esteban Loaiza (10-7, 5.70) and the Nationals agree to a one-year, $2.9 million pact. The 33-year-old free-agent pitcher, who was traded by the White Sox to the Yankees last season, could not return to form after an outstanding 2003 season (21-9, 2.90).

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2006 Major league baseball owners unanimously approve the November transaction in which Bob Castellini and two other Cincinnati businessmen bought control of the Reds from previous owner Carl Lindner. According to reports, the trio, including investors Thomas Williams and William Williams Jr., acquired approximately 70 percent ownership of baseball's oldest franchise, believed to be valued at an estimated $270 million.

2006 Theo Epstein, after an eighty-day departure, returns to the Red Sox in a yet-to-be-named capacity. The youngest general manager in baseball history, who assembled a World Champion team in 2004, left Boston disguised in a gorilla costume on Halloween Day, citing the position was not "the right fit."

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2009 Bill Werber, the oldest ex-major leaguer and last living teammate of Babe Ruth, dies at 100. The former infielder, who played for the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, Reds, and Giants, became the first player to appear in a televised game, batting leadoff for Cincinnati in a contest played against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field on August 26, 1939.

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2009 The Diamondbacks and Stephen Drew, brother of major league outfielder J.D. Drew and right-hander Tim Drew, avoid arbitration by coming to terms on a $3.4 million, one-year deal. The 26-year-old shortstop, selected as the team's 15th pick in the 2004 amateur draft, has compiled a .270 batting average during his four seasons with Arizona.

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2010 Jonathan Papelbon inks a deal with the Red Sox for the richest salary ever given to a relief pitcher with just four years of major league service. The 29-year-old reliever, who has 151 career saves for Boston, agrees to a $9.35 million, one-year contract to continue to be the team's closer.

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2010 Avoiding arbitration, Luke Scott and the Orioles agree on a $4.05 million, one-year deal. The 31-year-old outfielder, obtained in a 2007 trade with Houston, hit just .258 last season but had career highs with 25 homers and 77 RBIs.

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2010 Avoiding arbitration for the second consecutive season, Ryan Ludwick (.265, 22, 97) and the Cardinals agree to a $5.45 million, one-year deal. The 31-year-old outfielder, who had nine assists while committing only one error, was named to the National League All-Star squad last season.

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2011 The Twins resign right-handed free-agent Carl Pavano to a $16.5 million deal, keeping the right-hander in Minnesota for two years. The 35-year-old Southington (CT) native led the team in both wins (17) and innings pitched (221) last season, including a league-leading seven complete games.

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2013 Doctors perform life-saving surgery on Carl Pavano, removing his spleen, lacerated five days ago when he slipped on ice and fell onto a handle of a snow shovel clearing snow at his Vermont home. The 37-year-old veteran starting pitcher, who had been amping up his free-agent negotiations with several teams after being recently released by the Twins, says he is determined to pitch again.

2016 The Reds announce that Pete Rose will become the 86th member inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. Also, the Cincinnati native, banned from baseball for gambling on the sport, will be honored by having his #14 uniform, which he wore from 1963-78 and 1984-86, retired and will have a statue of him dedicated at Great American Ball Park.

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"Somebody asked me one time, 'What's it like hitting off of Koufax?' --- I said you ever drink coffee with a fork?" ~ Pittsburgh #Pirates legend Willie Stargell
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Ernie Banks at the plate. Johnny Bench catching
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Ty Cobb meets with Tigers Stars Harvey Kuenn and Al Kaline before a 1956 game in Detroit
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Baseball Birthdays January 20
1876 William Veeck, Sr sportswriter and baseball executive (Chicago Cubs president, 1919-33), born in Boonville, Indiana (d. 1933)

1912 Walter Briggs Jr sports executive (owner Detroit Tigers 1952-56), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1970)

1946 Johnny Oates catcher, 1970-81 (Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and 3 other teams), and manager, 1991-2001 (Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers), born in Sylva, North Carolina (d. 2004)


1964 Ozzie Guillén shortstop and manager (3-time MLB All Star; Chicago White Sox), born in Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela


1965 Brad Brink pitcher (SF Giants, Philadelphia Phillies), born in Roseville, California


1970 Marvin Benard outfielder (SF Giants), born in Bluefields, Nicaragua


1971 Brian Giles outfielder (MLB All Star 2000, 01; Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, SD Padres, born in El Cajon, California


1975 David Eckstein, born in Sanford, Florida


1981 Freddy Guzmán born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic


1983 Geovany Soto born in San Juan, Puerto Rico


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This Day in Baseball History
January 20th
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1871 Ivers Whitney Adams incorporates the Boston Red Stockings with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, who had founded and managed the Cincinnati Red Stockings, America's first professional baseball team. The franchise will compile a 225-60 (.789) record and win four pennants during its five-year existence in the National Association.

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1882 Kentucky lawmakers revise the ruling, which inadvertently banned playing baseball in the commonwealth. The poorly written legislation would have prevented the Louisville Eclipse from playing their inaugural season in the American Association.

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1906 Henry Mathewson signs with the Giants, but the right-hander's performance will not remind anyone of his more talented older brother, Christy, when the right-hander, in his only start, walks 14 batters to establish a National League record. The 19-year-old will appear in only three major league games over the next two seasons, compiling a 0-1 record and two saves while posting an ERA of 4.91 during his 11 innings of work in the major leagues.

1947 Negro League standout Josh Gibson, sometimes referred to as the 'black Babe Ruth,' suffers a stroke at a movie theater, dying a few hours later at his mother's house at 35. The future Hall of Fame catcher will be put to rest in an unmarked grave for nearly three decades in Pittsburgh's historic Allegheny Cemetery until the placement of a small plaque in 1975, thanks to the efforts of fellow HOFer Willie Stargell and members of the community.

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1966 Ted Williams, who compiled a .344 career batting average playing with the Red Sox for 19 seasons, receives 282 votes out of 302 ballots (93.4%) cast by the writers of the BBWAA for induction into the Hall of Fame. The 'Splendid Splinter' becomes the first American League position player selected in his first year of eligibility.

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1984 Mets fans are shocked as the franchise loses future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver for the second time. The White Sox draft the unprotected 'Tom Terrific,' who rejoined the team last season after being traded away to Cincinnati in 1977, as compensation for losing Dennis Lamp, a Type A free agent, to the Blue Jays.

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1997 Former outfielder Curt Flood, who played most notably with the Cardinals, dies of throat cancer at 59. After being traded to the Phillies in 1969, the baseball pioneer refused to play for Philadelphia and challenged the owners' reserve clause, taking the matter as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, where he lost the case but laid the groundwork which would lead to free agency in professional sports

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2001 George W. Bush becomes the 43rd President of the United States. The former Texas Ranger owner, who had a scant 1.8 percent share of the team at the beginning of the venture, and his partners bought the Texas franchise from Eddie Chiles in 1989 for $86 million.

2006 With the encouragement of President George W. Bush, a former major league owner, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control approves baseball's second application to allow Cuba to play in the World Baseball Classic games in the United States. With the issues of potential espionage by Cuban spies accompanying the team and money going to the Castro government resolved, the Olympic champs will be one of the 16 teams to compete in the WBC.

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2006 At the introductory news conference, Bob Castellini, the new Reds' owner, makes it clear that he plans to be a hands-on CEO on his first day on the job. Promising the fans a championship, the Cincinnati produce proprietor intends to work out at the Great American Ball Park daily until he understands how a baseball front office operates.

2006 "I think it's the No. 1 accomplishment because you can only become an American citizen once, but you can be a World Series champion a few times." - OZZIE GUILLEN, White Sox skipper, comparing gaining United States citizenship with winning the Fall Classic.

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Ozzie Guillen, the first foreign-born manager to win a World Series, spends his 42nd birthday becoming an American citizen. During the ceremony, others sworn in as citizens of the United States include the White Sox skipper's wife, Ibis, and their 19-year-old son, Oney, a student at Chicago's North Park University.

2006 Danny Graves, the only major leaguer born in Vietnam, travels to Quang Tri province just south of the DMZ to dedicate the country's first baseball field. Removing seventeen explosive devices between home base and the outfield, using money donated from Major League Baseball and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, helps transform the former soccer field into a diamond for the Le Loi High School.

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2009 Jonathan Papelbon, avoiding arbitration, agrees to a one-year contract with the Red Sox. The 28-year-old All-Star closer has compiled a career 1.84 ERA, the second-best in big league history among pitchers with at least 200.0 innings, trailing only Meriden, Connecticut's Ed Walsh mark of 1.82.

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2009 The Dodgers, avoiding arbitration, sign Russell Martin to a one-year deal. The 25-year-old catcher, a two-time All-Star, will make $3.9 million after making $500,000 last season.

2009 Adam LaRoche signs a $7.05 million, one-year contract with the payroll-poor Pirates. The 25-year-old first baseman's deal, which avoids the need for arbitration, will most likely be the second richest in Pittsburgh this season, slightly less than shortstop Jack Wilson's $7.25 million.

2009 Avoiding arbitration, Ryan Madson and the Phillies reach a preliminary agreement on a $12 million, three-year contract. The right-handed reliever, who posted a 3.05 ERA in 76 games out of the bullpen last year, finished the season as the setup man for closer Brad Lidge, who was perfect in 48 save opportunities.

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2009 The Mariners obtain DavidAardsma from the Red Sox in exchange for minor league southpaw Fabian Williamson. Seattle plans to use the 27-year-old right-hander, a first-round draft pick in 2003, out of the bullpen.

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2012 The Nationals, avoiding salary arbitration, sign Mike Morse to a reported two-year contract extension. The 29-year-old outfielder/infielder, who had been asking for $5 million, led the team in batting (.303 average), home runs (31), and runs batted in (95) last season.

2014 The Tigers and Justin Upton agree on a reported six-year, $132.75 million deal. The addition of the 28-year-old three-time All-Star outfielder and the free-agent signing of right-hander Jordan Zimmermann in late November make Detroit the second franchise to spend $100 million or more on two free agents in a single offseason.

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Josh Gibson
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Jeff Bagwell
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Dale Murphy
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Baseball Birthdays January 21
1922 Sam Mele outfielder/manager (Minnesota Twins record 102 wins 1965), born in Astoria, New York (d. 2017)


1948 Dan Morrison umpire (World Series 1992; MLB All Star Game 1988; AL C'ship Series 1989, 96, 99), born in Glasgow, Kentucky (d. 2023)

1952 Mike Krukow pitcher (MLB All Star 1986 SF Giants; Chicago Cubs) and broadcaster (KNBR [with Duane Kuiper] SF Giants), born in Long Beach, California


1966 Chris Hammond pitcher (Braves, Florida Marlins)


1968 Tom Urbani, pitcher (St Louis Cards, Detroit Tigers), born in Santa Cruz, California


1969 Rusty Greer, Ft Rucker AL, outfielder (Texas Rangers)


1972 Alan Benes, Evansville IN, pitcher (St Louis Cardinals)
1979 Byung-Hyun Kim, player
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