1990Â â Astros Special Assistant Donald Davidson dies in Houston at age 64. Only four-feet-tall after contracting a childhood illness, Davidson spent 50 years in baseball, working his way up from batboy to baseball executive. Davidson came to Houston in 1976 and served a number of front-office roles. His body was donated to science.Â
1990 â A plan to allow starting pitchers to earn victories with only three innings pitched (because of the abbreviated spring training period) is scrapped, but teams will be allowed to open the regular season with 27-man rosters instead of the allowed maximum of 25.
1990 â Gambler Howard Spira is arrested for extorting money from New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who paid Spira $40,000 in January. The Commissioner will suspend Steinbrenner because of his relationship with the unsavory caracter.
1990 â Major league umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games to protest not having been consulted in the revision of the regular season schedule after the lockout. They will return to work on April 1st.
1990 â Major league players and owners reach a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the 32-day lockout of spring training camps. Highlights of the deal include increasing the clubsâ contributions to the playersâ pension fund, raising the major league minimum salary to $100,000, and a compromise on salary arbitration that leaves 17 percent of players with between two and three years of major league experience eligible.
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