1994 – Astros release outfielder Jesse Barfield. The Houston native and former A.L. home run champ had hit just .080 in Kissimmee after playing in Japan the previous season. He stays on to work as a coach.
1994 – Both teams train in Florida, yet the Astros and Rangers spar in a two-game series at the Astrodome as part of their in-state rivalry. Tony Eusebio is the hero in a 6-5 victory, driving in Luis Gonzalez with an eighth-inning double. Astro nemesis Will Clark delivers the game-winner for the Rangers the following day. It’s the first Dome visit for new Houston manager Terry Collins. Afterwards, both teams fly back to Florida.
1994 – The Atlanta Braves release All-Star outfielder Ron Gant, who broke his leg in a motorcycle accident over the winter. Gant will sign as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds on June 21st.
1994 – A poll conducted for the city of Houston at the request of Astros owner Drayton McLane shows 56 percent disapprove of building a downtown domed stadium primarily for the NFL Oilers and the NBA Rockets. Only 24% approve. Among those who disapprove, 49% say a new park is simply “not needed”. Mayor Bob Lanier backs away from supporting the proposed stadium, which sets the scene for the Oilers’ later move to Nashville, TN and the creation of a baseball-only downtown facility for the Astros.
1994 – Eric Show, who won 100 games pitching for the San Diego Padres, dies at age 37 of unknown causes at Rancho L’Abri Drug and Alcohol treatment center near San Diego, California.
1994 – Astros owner and HSA president Drayton McLane slams the idea of a new downtown domed stadium, claiming the Astrodome can be refurbished for half the cost. McLane also complains that the $33 millon dollar estimated payroll for the Astros for 1994 is too high.
On March 4, 1994 — Michael Jordan comes to bat for the first time in a Chicago White Sox uniform. Playing in a spring training game, Jordan taps back to Texas Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver, who tags out the former National Basketball Association star. Jordan will eventually give up baseball after one season in the…
Leonard Coleman, MLB’s executive director of market development, is elected the National League president, replacing the retiring Bill White. The position is eliminated in 1999 making the former banker the last person to hold the position.
After a long campaign by Yankee fans, including owner George Steinbrenner, the Veterans Committee elects Phil Rizzuto to the Hall of Fame, along with the posthumous selection of Leo Durocher. The former infielder and current television broadcaster’s enshrinement causes much debate, given the borderline career stats became especially important to his supporters when Pee Wee Reese, a similar-styled shortstop of the rival crosstown Brooklyn Dodgers, was inducted in 1984.
1994 – Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a college game. Appearing for Southern California College of Costa Mesa, she five-hits Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, 12 – 1.
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