On March 18, 1981 — After being declared a free agent because the Red Sox mailed his contract one day past the contractual deadline, Carlton Fisk signs a 5 year – $2.9 million deal with the White Sox. On Opening Day, the 33 year-old catcher will hit an eighth-inning three-run home run to tie the score, 3-3, that proves…
1974 – At Pompano Beach training camp, country singer Charley Pride plays for the Texas Rangers against pitcher Jim Palmer and the Baltimore Orioles. A former Negro League player, Pride grounds out and singles in two at-bats, as the Orioles coast, 14 – 2.
1970 – The Cleveland Indians and Seattle Pilots play an exhibition game with the experimental X-5 ball, which is reported to be five per cent livelier than a regulation ball. The Pilots beat the Indians, 19 – 14. One week later, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders the livelier ball to be discontinued.
1962 – Construction begins on the Astrodome, a short hike from where Colt Stadium is nearing completion. The excavation pit for the domed stadium floor soon becomes a haven for breeding mosquitoes in land that was once marsh fields.
Emmett Kelly, the Dodgers’ resident ‘tramp’ in Brooklyn, announces his contract has not been renewed to join the team when they begin playing in L.A. this season. The veteran circus performer believes the size of the Coliseum, the club’s new home on the West Coast, is just “too big for one clown”.
1953 – The Milwaukee Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903, when the Baltimore Orioles became the New York Highlanders. The Braves have been in Boston, MA for 77 years. In a related move, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers move to Toledo, Ohio, where they become the latest incarnation of the Toledo Mud Hens.
1943 – Due to wartime travel restrictions, spring training camps begin opening in northern locations. Some of the locales include Bear Mountain, New York (Brooklyn Dodgers), French Lick Springs, Indiana (Cubs and White Sox), Asbury Park, New Jersey (Yankees), Medford, Massachusetts (Boston Red Sox) and Wallingford, Connecticut (Boston Braves).
1942 – Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training in Pasadena, California. Sox manager Jimmie Dykes allows the two to work out but later dismisses them. Robinson will have to wait five years before making his major league debut.
1938 – In a trade of first basemen, the Washington Senators send slick-fielding Joe Kuhel to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for easy-going hitter Zeke Bonura.
Ending his holdout, Lou Gehrig, who had originally asked for $50,000, agrees to sign with the Yankees for $36,000 and a $750 signing bonus. The new deal for the Bronx Bombers’ first baseman, last season’s American League MVP, makes him baseball’s highest paid player.
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