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…
The U.S. Court of Appeals rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business, affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling. This effectively dismisses the antitrust suits of Jack Corbett and former Brooklyn Dodgers minor leaguer Walter Kowalski. The $300,000 suit of Corbett, the owner of the El Paso Texans, is based on his belief that he lost money when Major League Baseball prohibited him from signing several players suspended for participation in the Mexican League. Kowalski’s $150,000 suit is based on the general principles of the antitrust and restraint-of-trade laws. Their lawyer in these cases is Frederic Johnson, who also represents player Danny Gardella in his suit against Major League Baseball.
August A. Busch buys the St. Louis Cardinals from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million and pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri.
Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams crash-lands his fighter plane
On February 16, 1953 Ted Williams crash lands in his first Korean War combat mission. A sprained ankle is the only injury for the future Hall of Famer. He returns to the air a day later and flies 39 missions in all. @ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IGp1c3QgY2xpY2sgdGhlIHRhZ3MhICAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsImxpbmtfdG9fdGVybV9wYWdlIjoib24iLCJzZXBhcmF0b3IiOiIgfCAiLCJjYXRlZ29yeV90eXBlIjoicG9zdF90YWcifX0=@
unusual four-way trade is made among the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, and Reds
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