This Day In Baseball January 23

January

On January 23 on this day in baseball history, there were over 75 notable events.  There were Over 58 Birthdays and 26 Deaths, all on January 23 on this Day In Baseball history.

 

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1881 – Third baseman Jerry Denny is feted at a benefit in his hometown of San Francisco, CA just before he leaves for the East Coast to launch a professional career that will last into the 20th century.

1887 – In Alameda, California, Dave Foutz and a touring team based in Louisville are accused of throwing a game against another touring team of Eastern pros. These exhibitions and the local California League competition are making for a lively winter in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1888 – Harry Spence is hired to manage the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the National League.

1912 – The Imperial Japanese Army announces it will send a baseball team to the Philippines to play with American soldiers; a U.S. team may go to Japan.

1921 – The Pittsburgh Pirates obtain veteran SS Rabbit Maranville from Boston. They give up OF Billy Southworth, OF Fred Nicholson, IF Walter Barbare, and $15,000.

Ban_Johnson,_1905

American League President Ban Johnson takes an indefinite leave of absence due to health problems

1928 – Alfonso (Chico) Carrasquel is born in Caracas, Venezuela. Carrasquel, the first in a great line of Venezuelan shortstops that includes Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillen and Omar Vizquel, will become the first Hispanic to appear in an All-Star Game, in 1951, at Briggs Stadium.

Hack Wilson

Brooklyn Dodgers acquire future Hall of Fame outfielder Hack Wilson

1934 – Joey Amalfitano is born in San Pedro, CA. He’s the Opening Day second baseman for the first Houston Colts in 1962 and bats .237 for the season. He becomes a longtime major league coach and manager.

1936 – Don Nottebart is born in West Newton, MA. He would toss the first no-hitter in franchise history in 1963. 

1950 – The Associated Press picks the 1914 Miracle Braves as the greatest sports upset in the 20th century.

1951 – Guido Rujo sells his interest in the Boston Braves to co-partners Lou Perini and Treasurer Joe Many.

billy evans

Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans dies in Miami, Florida

pete runnels

The Washington Senators trade shortstop Pete Runnels to the Boston Red Sox

Lawyer Melvin Belli wins a breach-of-warranty suit against the San Francisco Giants on the grounds that his box seat at Candlestick Park is too cold. Belli’s suit contends that the seat he bought in 1960, at the cost of $1,597, was supposed to have radiant heating.

Pitcher Bob Feller and infielder Jackie Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their first year of eligibility.

Pitcher Bob Feller and infielder Jackie Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their first year of eligibility.

1967 – The St. Louis Cardinals name future Hall of Famer Stan Musial as their new general manager.

1968 – Outfielder Joe Medwick is voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In his brilliant 17-season career Medwick was a .324 hitter with 205 home runs and 1383 RBI. A ten-time All-Star, in 1937 he won the Triple Crown and was named the National League MVP.

Nineteenth century players Mickey Welch and Mike Kelly are selected by the Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee for enshrinement in Cooperstown. ‘Smiling Mickey’, who posted a 307-210 (.594) during his 13 years in the National League, and ‘King Kelly’, baseball’s first matinee idol, will be joined Billy Evans, nicknamed ‘The Boy Umpire’, who, at age 22, became the youngest arbitrator in major league history.

ralph kiner

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner gains election to the Hall of Fame

1976 – Brandon Duckworth is born in Salt Lake City, UT. He posts a 1-3 record in spot duty during the 2004 and 2005 campaigns. 

Willie Mays, considered one of the greatest players of his generation, is elected to the Hall of Fame

Willie Mays, considered one of the greatest players of his generation, is elected to the Hall of Fame

fred lynn angels

Boston Red Sox trade onetime American League MVP Fred Lynn and pitcher Steve Renko to the California Angels

1992 – Houston signs outfielder Pete Incaviglia and reliever Doug Jones as free agents. Jones would become the club MVP that season, leading the team with 11 wins and 36 saves with a 1.85 ERA. He either won or saved over half of Houston’s victories that year. Incaviglia wasn’t too bad either, hitting .266 with 11 homers in part-time duty while tying the club record with seven RBIs in a game against the Giants. 

1992 – A group calling itself The Baseball Club of Seattle announces that it will attempt to buy the Mariners for $100 million. Some $75 million of the money will come from Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan.

2005 – After signing 30-something veterans Turk Wendell and Dave Burba to spring contracts, the Astros really get “old school”, inking 44-year-old lefthander John Franco to a one-year $700,000 deal. The 21-year veteran comes to Houston in second place all-time for career saves (424) and appearances (1,088) but is released with a 0-1 record after 31 games. 

Reds general manager Dan O’Brien is surprised when he is fired with spring training schedule to begin in the next few weeks. Cincinnati’s new owner Bob Castellini makes it clear performance is not the reason for the team’s former GM’s dismissal, but wanted to place his ‘own person’ in the position.

The Indians, avoiding salary arbitration, sign Rafael Betancourt (5-1, 1.47) to a $5.4 million, two-year deal. The 32 year-old right-handed reliever was used primarily last season as an eighth-inning set-up man for Cleveland’s closer, Joe Borowski.

Troy Tulowitzki (.291, 24, 99 ) and the Rockies agree on a $31 million, six-year deal which includes a club option for 2014. The second baseman of the National League champs was runner-up for Rookie of the Year award, narrowly outpointed (128-126) for the BBWAA honor by Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun.

A group headed by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and including a number of prominent business people from the Dallas, TX-Ft. Worth area purchases the Texas Rangers from Tom Hicks for a price rumored to exceed $500 million. Ryan will continue as team President, while attorney Chuck Greenberg will be managing partner and Chief Executive Officer. The corporation will be known as Rangers Baseball Express, in honor of Ryan’s famed fastball. Because of complications caused by Hicks’s bankruptcy proceedings, the deal will not be finalized for another six months.

The Orioles reach a one-year deal worth $6 million with former star shortstop Miguel Tejada. Tejada, who put up great numbers while playing for the Orioles from 2004 to 2007 before being traded to the Houston Astros, will move to third base.

Two veteran left-handed sluggers are signed today, Jason Giambi by the Colorado Rockies and Matt Stairs by the San Diego Padres. Both have become mainly pinch-hitters by this point of their careers.

2011 – The Toros del Este take advantage of three costly errors by the Estrellas Orientales in the 7th inning to score all their runs, winning, 4 – 2, to claim a five-game sweep in their best-of-nine series for the Dominican League championship. Jairo Asencio is the winner, with Julio Manon getting the save, while Eulogio de la Cruz is charged with the loss.

Aragua takes the first game of the Venezuelan League finals, 2 – 0, over La Guaira. Yusmeiro Petit alows only 4 hits over 6 scoreless innings, and C Wilson Ramos opens the scoring with a run-scoring single in the 7th, making a winner of reliever Wilfredo Ledezma; Les Walrond is the hard luck loser.

The Blue Jays ink 44-year-old Omar Vizquel, the all-time major league leader in games played at shortstop, to a minor league contract that will have him compete with Mike McCoy and Luis Valbuena to be the Jays’ utility infielder. Meanwhile, the Orioles sign utility player Wilson Betemit to a one-year deal.

Caguas moves to within one win of the Puerto Rican League title with a 4 -2 victory over Mayagüez. Michael Nix pitches 6 strong innings while Johnny Monell Jr. hits a two-run homer and Carlos Rivera adds a pair of doubles and scores twice.

Coming off the best season of his career, free agent OF Scott Hairston signs a two-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.

In the Venezuelan League finals, Magallanes win the opener, 5 – 2, over Lara. World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval opens the scoring by driving in Endy Chavez with a single in the 1st and collects another RBI in the 7th. Chavez and Juan Rivera add solo homers to make a winner of Carlos Zambrano; Ken Ray is tagged with the loss.

Obregón draws first blood in the Mexican Pacific League finals, scoring three times in the 1st on their way to a 5 – 3 win over Mexicali in Game 1. Luis Mendoza strikes out 11 in picking up the win over Jorge Campillo, while Luis Ayala gets the save. Carlos Valencia has 3 RBI for the winners.

2014 – The Rays sign closer Grant Balfour for two years at $12 million. He had signed as a free agent with the Orioles earlier this off-season, but the Birds backed out of the deal after a physical exam.

Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, one of the best hitting shortstops ever and the most popular player in the history of the Chicago Cubs, dies at age 83.

The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inducts three candidates. Catcher Atsuya Furuta is the only player inducted, with over 2,000 hits, 1,000 runs, 1,000 RBI and two Central League MVP awards to his credit. The other inductees were noted for organizational efforts: Kazuo Hayashi had started Little League Baseball in Japan, while Ryohei Murayama had helped start the National High School Baseball Championship.

The Marlins sign free agent OF Ichiro Suzuki to a one-year contract while P Ryan Vogelsong re-signs with the Giants for one year also.

2017 – The Rays trade 2B Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers in return for P Jose De Leon.

The Estrellas Orientales win their first Dominican League title in 51 years, defeating the Toros del Este 5 games to 1 in the finals. Nestor Cortes throws six shutout innings in Game 6, while Odrisamer Despaigne, Roman Mendez and Jumbo Diaz add one apiece. Jose Siri drives in two to lead a balance offense in a 4-0 win, while Paolo Espino takes the loss.

The Mariners offer a minor league contract to 45-year-old outfielder and living legend Ichiro Suzuki. While the Mariners released him last May, Ichiro has not officially retired and has made it clear that he would love to play for the M’s when they open the season in his native Japan on March 20th.

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Major League Baseball Birthdays on January 23 

Major League Baseball Deaths On January 23