On February 27, 1970, a threat to Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks is removed when the FBI arrests Lawrence Bankhead in Chicago. Bankhead is charged with making threatening phone calls to the future Hall of Famer.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the suspension of Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain
Originally aired February 17, 1970, this clip features coverage of Denny McLain, pitcher of the Detroit Tigers. This story covers the news of an impending article in Sports Illustrated regarding alleged activities of McLain consorting with gamblers. At the time this story broke, McLain was the two-time reigning Cy Young award winner and less than…
A day after his 27th birthday, Paul Edmondson and his girlfriend are killed in an automobile accident in San Barbara, California when his automobile skids on a rain-slicked U.S. Route 101 and crashes into oncoming traffic. The White Sox had hoped their sophomore right-hander would become the fourth starter in the team’s rotation, after compiling a misleading 1-6 record last season.
1970 – The National League offices begin their move from Cincinnati, OH to San Francisco, CA. The transfer will be completed February 23rd.
Earle Combs, a southpaw-swinging outfielder who spent his entire career with the Yankees, compiling a lifetime .325 batting average during his 12 years with New York, and Jesse Haines, a right-hander who posted a 210-158 (.571) record during his 18 years with the Cardinals, are selected by the Special Veterans Committee to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The group also elects former commissioner Ford Frick, who campaigned for a Hall of Fame that would honor baseball’s greatest baseball players when he became the National League president in 1934.
1970 – Pitcher Miguel Fuentes, at age 20, is shot and killed during a bar fight in Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico. On October 2, 1969, against the Oakland Athletics, Fuentes pitched what will turn out to be the last inning in the history of the Seattle Pilots.
On January 25, 1970, future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro is taken to a hospital to undergo an emergency appendectomy. In 1969, Niekro won 23 games for the Atlanta Braves and finished second in the National League’s Cy Young voting. Perhaps as a result of the surgery, Niekro will fall off to 12-18 in 1970.
1970 – Shortstop Lou Boudreau achieves election to the Hall of Fame, receiving 232 of a possible 300 votes from the BBWAA. Boudreau led the American League eight times in fielding percentage, won a batting title, and was named AL Most Valuable Player as player-manager of the 1948 World Champion Cleveland Indians.
January 17, 1970: The Washington Senators select Bill Madlock in the 5th round of the 1970 amateur draft. As a September call-up in 1973, he bats .351 in 21 games for the Texas Rangers. In the offseason he is dealt to Chicago Cubs for legendary pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. He wins batting titles for the…
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