Ruth and DiMaggio meet for the first time
On January 24, 1938 – Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio shake hands as they meet for the first time on at a sports banquet in New York City. Sports writer Bill Corum (center) looks on.
Joe DiMaggio begins a contract holdout that will last for nearly three months
On January 21, 1938, future Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio begins a contract holdout that will last for nearly three months. After meeting with New York Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert and general manager Ed Barrow, DiMaggio rejects a one-year offer of $25,000. DiMaggio counters by asking for $45,000. The holdout will last until April 20,…
Larry MacPhail is coaxed back into baseball by the Dodgers
After resigning as the Reds’ general manager at the end of the 1936 season, Larry MacPhail is coaxed back into baseball by the Dodgers. The Brooklyn Board of Directors, anxious to improve the club’s poor performance on the field and to reverse its financial woes, sign the fiery innovator to a contract that gives him complete control of the franchise.
Curt Flood is born
On January 18, 1938 Curt Flood is born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California, Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland’s McClymonds High School as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. All three would eventually sign professional contracts with the Cincinnati Reds He is a seminal figure in MLB history for refusing…
Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame
1938 – Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame, as the only player to get the required 75 percent of the Baseball Writers Association of America votes. In a 20-season major league career, Alexander posted a 373-208 record with 2198 strikeouts and a 2.56 ERA, including 30 or more wins in three seasons.
future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey is born in Mobile, Alabama
On January 10, 1938 — Future Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey is born in Mobile, Alabama. McCovey will hit 521 home runs during a career that includes tenures with the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics.
Before a gathering of writers, players and executives in Baltimore, Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Klein and Charlie Keller, representing the American League, National League and International League respectively, try out the balls to be used in the new season. The Sporting News reports that “… regarding the dead ball, as adopted by the National League, and the lively ball, as retained by the American and International Leagues… the NL ball has a distinctly ‘dead’ sound coming off the bat, compared to the livelier AL ball.”
Before a gathering of writers, players and executives in Baltimore, Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Klein and Charlie Keller, representing the American League, National League and International League respectively, try out the balls to be used in the new season. The Sporting News reports that “… regarding the dead ball, as adopted by the National League, and the lively ball, as retained by the American and International Leagues… the NL ball has a distinctly ‘dead’ sound coming off the bat, compared to the livelier AL ball.”
