2001 – Free agent Moises Alou (.331, 27, 108) signs a $27 million, three-year deal with the Cubs. The former Astro All-Star’s presence in the Chicago line-up, along with Fred McGriff and Sammy Sosa, will give the team a fearsome 3-4-5 threesome. The Cubs sign also trade OF Michael Tucker to the Royals in exchange for a player to be named.
Colorado sends Pokey Reese, acquired from the Reds yesterday, to the Red Sox for C Scott Hatteberg. The Sox will make Pokey a free agent by not tendering him a contract and he’ll sign in January with Pittsburgh. Hatteberg will go the same route and sign with the A’s.
Several hours before a midnight deadline, Barry Bonds accepts the Giants’ offer of salary arbitration. San Francisco’s decision to go to arbitration avoids a bidding war for their franchise player, and this season’s National League MVP will be likely worth at least $20 million for one year of service.
1996 – Outfielder Luis Gonzalez and pitcher Mike Magnante are signed to free agent deals. It’s the second go-round in Houston for the popular Gonzalez who, after leaving again, would find a home run stroke and blast 57 for Arizona in 2001 and muscle a bloop single off Mariano Rivera to beat the Yankees in Game Seven of the World Series.
Former minor league umpire Pam Postema files a sex discrimination suit against the National and American leagues, the Triple-A Alliance, and the Baseball Office for Umpire Development.
Toronto Blue Jays sign free agent outfielder-designated hitter Dave Winfield
Yankees P Steve Howe is arrested in Montana on a charge of possession of cocaine. Howe has been suspended from baseball five times for drug and alcohol problems.
The Orioles sign P Rick Sutcliffe as a free agent. The former 1984 Cy Young Award winner was 6-5 with a 4.10 era with the Cubs last season.
1990 – Danny Darwin leaves the Astros, signing a free agent deal with the Boston Red Sox. It is one month after he was named the club’s MVP for the 1990 campaign. Darwin would return via trade for the last two months of the 1996 season.
At a press conference, Tiger management and WJR announce 1991 will be Ernie Harwell’s 32nd and final season in the broadcast booth. The dismissal of the Motor City’s popular play-by-play announcer starts a furor among fans, which includes a threatened boycott of Domino’s Pizza, a business of club owner Tom Monaghan, and the rise of the slogan, “Say It Ain’t So, Bo”, which appears on bumper stickers and T-shirts all over Detroit, referring to Bo Schembechler, the team president and former University of Michigan football coach.