1991 – Jim Palmer, who is in the Baltimore Orioles’ training camp as a non-roster player, has a shaky outing against the Boston Red Sox, giving up five hits and two runs in two innings. Palmer, who retired in 1984, will retire again tomorrow, citing a hamstring injury.
On March 7, 1991, Hall of Famer James “Cool Papa” Bell dies at the age of 87. An outfielder with blazing speed, Bell played in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1946. Bell entered the Hall of Fame in 1974, joining fellow Negro Leagues stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Monte Irvin in…
1991 – Bill Veeck, the colorful owner of the Browns, Indians and White Sox (twice), and Yankees great Tony Lazzeri are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
1991 – Potential buyers of the Astros, Ben Love and six others, approach Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers to own a share of the team. The group includes Drayton McLane. Ryan declines, citing that an active player cannot also be a team owner.
1991 – Astros owner John McMullen announces he has cleared the way for Houston to host the 1992 Republican National Convention at the Astrodome. The GOP has already selected Houston but there are details to resolve. National League President Bill Giles and Players Union chief Donald Fehr both voice their disapproval of the proposed 30-day road trip that the Astros will take in order to free up the Dome for the convention.
1991 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens signs a four-year $21,521,000 contract extension, making him baseball’s highest-paid player.
Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors votes unanimously to make all players on baseball’s permanently banned list ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration
1991 – While playing for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, Bo Jackson suffers a career-threatening injury in an American Football Conference playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Originally diagnosed as a pulled thigh muscle, the Kansas City Royals learn of the severity of the injury just as spring begins. They will release Jackson shortly after, fearing that his baseball career is over, and he’ll sign with the Chicago White Sox.
1991 – The Detroit Tigers obtain catcher Mickey Tettleton from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitcher Jeff Robinson.
1991 – In one of the most unbalanced trades ever made in major league history, the Baltimore Orioles send pitchers Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch and outfielder Steve Finley to the Houston Astros for first baseman Glenn Davis. Davis, who averaged 27 home runs in six seasons playing in the Astrodome with Houston, will hit only 24 homers in three injury-filled years as Schilling becomes one of the most dominant pitchers in the game and Harnisch and Finley develop into solid major league players.
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