Joseph Darst vows to fight losing the hometown Browns to Baltimore. The St. Louis mayor’s efforts will not be enough to prevent the franchise shifting cities when the team shareholders drop their suit against Bill Veeck and approve the move to the east coast after learning the club will be bankrupt if it stays put.
1953 – Braves owner Lou Perini announces he will seek permission from the National League to move his franchise from Boston to Milwaukee. The day will become known as “Black Friday” in Beantown.
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.
The Dodgers defeat the A’s, 4-2, in the first game played in Holman Stadium, their Grapefruit League ballpark at the team’s spring training complex in Vero Beach, better known as Dodgertown. Fifty-five years later, Carl Erskine, the game’s starting pitcher, will return to play the national anthem on his harmonica as an 81 year-old at the club’s last game at the storied facility.
1953 – OF Jim Rice is born in Anderson, SC. He will gain fame as a slugger with the Boston Red Sox, starting with an outstanding rookie campaign in 1975, when he will finish second to teammate Fred Lynn for the Rookie of the Year Award. He will be the American League MVP in 1978 and retire in 1989 with 382 homers and 1451 RBI, having played his entire career with the Sox. Rice will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 2009, in his last year of eligibility.
On March 3, 1953, Boston Braves owner Lou Perini blocks an attempt by the St. Louis Browns to move their franchise to Milwaukee. Since Perini owns the Braves’ minor league affiliate in Milwaukee, he is allowed to invoke “territorial privilege” in preventing the Browns from relocating to Wisconsin. Stating he has not been offered enough…
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