The history of sports is both vast and rich, thanks to the existence of so many different events and the longevity associated with them. With so much history to cull through, We offer the opportunity to look back and see what memorable things happened or milestones were reached on January 30 in baseball history. …
2017 – Commissioner Rob Manfred issues a ruling in the case of an employee of the St. Louis Cardinals caught for hacking into the scouting database of the Houston Astros. The Cards are fined $2 million, which they must pay to Houston, and also surrender two top picks in the upcoming amateur draft to the Astros. The guilty former employee, Chris Correa, incurs a lifetime ban. This is on the top of the 46-month prison sentence and $279,000 fine he received after pleading guilty to federal charges last July.
As the result of ruling handed down by commissioner Rob Manfred, the Cardinals will relinquish their top two picks in this year’s amateur draft and pay the Astros $2 million as punishment for hacking into Houston’s email system and scouting database. Chris Correa, the former Redbirds scouting director, who pled guilty in federal court to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, is placed on baseball’s permanently ineligible list, after being sentenced to serve 46 months in prison.
2016 – The Diamondbacks acquire SS Jean Segura from Milwaukee in a deal for P Chase Anderson, 2B Aaron Hill and prospect Isan Diaz. P Tyler Wagner also heads to Arizona in the trade.
2015 – The Braves trade two pitchers, David Hale and Gus Schlosser, to the Rockies in return for two catching prospects, Jose Briceno and Chris O’Dowd.
2014 – P Mark Appel, the top pick in last year’s amateur draft and one of the top prospects in the game, undergoes an emergency appendectomy. The Astros are confident he will have recovered in time for the start of spring training in two weeks, but he’ll struggle in the first half of the season.
2013 – Magallanes wins the 11th Venezuelan League title in its history by disposing of Lara, 11 – 9, in the Game 7 of the finals. Pablo Sandoval is the hero, going 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and a homer; the “Kung-Fu Panda” finishes the series with a .300 average, 3 homers and 9 RBI and is named MVP of the finals. Luis Jimenez opens the scoring with a 1st-inning homer for Lara, which takes a 2 – 0 lead, but Endy Chavez replies with a solo shot in the bottom of the frame, then Magallanes tallies three runs in each of the next three innings to run away with the score. Carlos Maldonado hits a three-run blast in the 2nd, Juan Rivera a two-run shot in the 3rd, Sandoval’s homer goes for two runs in the 4th, and is followed by another long ball by Hector Gimenez that makes it 10 – 5. Lara scores a few late runs, but not enough to turn the game’s tide. Reliever Jean Machi gets credit for the win.
The Orioles announce that they have extended 14 invitations to non-roster players for the upcoming spring training, including veteran Ps Armando Galarraga, Pat Neshek and Willie Eyre and C Ronny Paulino.
Escogido wins the Dominican League championship, taking Game 9 of a tightly-fought finals by a score of 6 – 5 over Aguilas Cibaeñas. Andy Dirks drives in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to give Escogido the 14th title in team history.
The Caribes de Anzoátegui win the Venezuelan League title with an 8 – 7 win over Tigres de Aragua in the seventh game of the finals. Series MVP 1B Luis Jimenez and OF Cesar Suarez hit 1st-inning homers to give the Caribes the lead they will never relinquish, and C Josh Kroeger adds a three-run blast. Reliever Alex Herrera is the winner and José Cabrera gets the save.