On February 26, 1969, Boston Red Sox star and American League batting champion Carl Yastrzemski becomes the highest-paid player in league history. Yaz signs a one-year deal worth $115,000. In 1968, Yaz batted a league-leading .301 and also paced the AL with 119 walks. He will reward the Red Sox by hitting 40 homeruns and…
1969 – A pension plan for Major League Baseball is agreed on, with players to receive $5.45 million per year. They also get a percentage of television revenues, a reduction in the years necessary to qualify for a pension from five to four (retroactive to 1959), and a lowered minimum age for drawing a pension from 50 to 45.
Hall of Famer Ted Williams makes a return to baseball by signing a five-year contract to manage the Washington Senator
On February 4, 1969, 42-year-old Bowie Kuhn is named commissioner, succeeding Spike Eckert. Kuhn receives a one-year contract paying him $100,000. Major league owners turned to Kuhn after failing to agree on either of two other candidates, Mike Burke of the New York Yankees and Charles Feeney of the San Francisco Giants. The early favorite,…
February 2, 1969 – Pitchers Stan Coveleski and Waite Hoyt are voted into the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Stan Coveleski learned control as a youngster by throwing rocks at tin cans that swung from a tree. Though he pitched a shutout in his first big league start with the Athletics in…
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