1871 – The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players is founded, setting the stage for the future National League in 1876. The entry fee for a National Association franchise is set at $10.

1884 – The Union Association admits the Boston Reds club organized by George Wright, bringing the number of teams to eight. The UA also decides to stick with the seven-ball walk rule, and the schedule is expanded to 112 games, with the percentage system adopted for determining the champion team. The regular season opens with three games. Baltimore Monumentals pitcher Bill Sweeney throws a five-hit, 7 – 3 victory over the Washington Nationals. It is the first of what will be a season-high 40 victories for Sweeney, 12 more than his closest rival, Hugh Daily.

1886 – The Sporting News, the weekly that will become “The Baseball Paper of the World,” publishes its first issue.

After yesterday’s vicious attack on the groundskeeper’s wife by his troubled outfielder, Tigers owner Frank Navin makes an all-out effort to trade Ty Cobb. Indian skipper Nap Lajoie turns down a straight swap for former league batting champ Elmer Flick, calling the ‘Georgia Peach’ a problem player, and Connie Mack of the A’s, given his already strong outfield, shows only a passing interest.

1911 – Plumbers at work on the drain pipes at Washington’s Griffith Stadium start a fire that burns down the grandstand. Since the water has been shut off, firemen can do nothing. Stands will be rebuilt to play the home opener on schedule.

1919 – The Boston Red Sox, minus holdouts Carl Mays and Babe Ruth, sail from New York aboard the USS Arapahoe. The trip to spring training is stormy and most of the players will be seasick. Ruth will sign on the 21st in New York and leave that night for Florida. Mays, unsigned, will join Ruth and the Sox in Tampa.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Gene Paulette, ordered to appear before Commissioner Landis regarding alleged gambling, decides to retire from Organized Baseball instead. He signs with a Massillon, Ohio semipro team.

The New York Yankees, training in Shreveport, Louisiana, journey to Lake Charles to play a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, based in Orange, Texas. The game is proclaimed “Ruth-Hornsby Day,” but Hornsby hits only a single while Ruth lofts a home run over the short right field fence. The Yankees win, 14 – 5.

1927 – In a battle of Irish managers on St. Patrick’s Day, the St. Louis Cardinals of Bob O’Farrell beat the New York Giants of John McGraw, 3 – 0, in a Grapefruit League contest. Cardinals manager O’Farrell also clouts a home run.

1936 – Much-heralded rookie Joe DiMaggio makes his debut with the New York Yankees, collecting four hits including a triple. The day is marred when the St. Louis Cardinals win, 8 – 7.

1940 – An inter-league exhibition All-Star Game is played in Florida for the benefit of Finland, which has been attacked by the Soviet Union. Over $20,000 is raised, but the Finlanders give up their battle within a few days of the benefit.

Jackie Robinson makes his debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League

Jackie Robinson makes his debut for the Montreal Royals of the International League

1946 – In Daytona Beach, the Brooklyn Dodgers take the field against their minor-league farm team, the Montreal Royals. With Jackie Robinson in the lineup for Montreal, the game marks the first appearance of an integrated team in Organized Baseball in this century. A crowd of 3,100 attends the game at City Island Park, which will be renamed “Jackie Robinson Stadium” in 1990.

The Braves’ spring training game against the Yankees in Bradenton will prove to be the team’s last full one representing the city of Boston. During the sixth inning of tomorrow’s exhibition contest, the club learns the National League has approved its shift next month to Milwaukee, unlike the Junior Circuit’s decision two days ago that denied Bill Veeck permission to move his Browns to Baltimore due to the short amount of time left before Opening Day.

Bill Veeck says that he will accept an offer of $2.475 million for his 80 percent of the St. Louis Browns stock. Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro seeks a syndicate to buy Veeck out. The group will eventually purchase 206,250 shares at $12 per share.

Milwaukee County Stadium will be available to the Boston Braves at a very reasonable rental rate.

ABC network hires former major league star Jackie Robinson as one of its broadcasters on major league baseball

1965 – Jackie Robinson is signed as a member of the ABC-TV major league baseball broadcast team, becoming the first black broadcaster to receive a network position. ABC provides the first-ever nationwide baseball coverage with weekly Saturday broadcasts on a regional basis.

1966 – Pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale play hardball when negotiating with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The duo signs movie contracts showing they are serious about retiring from baseball if their salary demands are not met.

St. Louis Cardinals trade onetime Most Valuable Player Orlando Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves for catcher-first baseman Joe Torre

1969 – The St. Louis Cardinals trade former National League MVP Orlando Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves for catcher/first baseman Joe Torre. The trade will benefit both teams; Cepeda will help the Braves make the playoffs this year and Torre will win the MVP Award in 1971.

1972 – In Caracas, Venezuela, the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates play the first of a three-game series.

All clubs will comply within forty-eight hours to Commissioner Kuhn’s orders to open spring training camps as soon as possible, abruptly ending the 17-day work stoppage. The lockout, initiated by the owners over their concerns about free agency and the free-entry draft, will not impact the start of the regular season.

1976 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders teams to open spring training camps as soon as possible. All teams will comply within 48 hours.

1977 – U.S. Federal Judge Frank McGarr rules in favor of Bowie Kuhn, saying that the baseball commissioner acted within his authority in voiding the 1976 player sales engineered by Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley.

1978 – For a St. Patrick’s Day exhibition game, the Cincinnati Reds wear special green uniforms, rather than their traditional red, starting an annual ritual. The good luck works and the Reds beat the New York Yankees, 9 – 2. The St. Louis Cardinals, among other teams, will be next to follow suit. Although the Reds will never use the uniforms in regular season play, the green colors will become a spring training tradition for the team.

reds green uniforms

Cincinnati Reds wear special green uniforms to commemorate St. Patrick’s Day

Ferguson Jenkins is given his unconditional release ending his 19-year career

Ferguson Jenkins is given his unconditional release ending his 19-year career

1984 – Ferguson Jenkins announces his retirement. The 1971 National League Cy Young Award winner, Jenkins posted a record of 284-226 with 3192 strikeouts and a 3.34 ERA in 4500 innings pitched in a 19-season major career. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1991.

During a Cactus League contest, Carney Lansford is credited with an unusual two-run inside-the-park homer in the A’s 5-3 victory over the Indians in Phoenix. The infielder circles the bases in the fourth inning when Mel Hall’s shirt gets stuck on the fence, preventing the outfielder from playing the ball, that is just barely out of reach, while his teammate, shortstop Julio Franco, closest to the play, is so incapacitated with laughter he is unable to help.

Newly signed Free Agent oft-injured Jack Clark tears calf in spring training

Newly signed Free Agent oft-injured Jack Clark tears calf in spring training

1988 – Recently-acquired slugger Jack Clark tears a calf tendon while hitting a home run for the New York Yankees in an exhibition game. The oft-injured Clark signed a free agent contract during the winter. He will miss the start of the season, but will return to hit 27 home runs with 93 RBI.

1990 – The first game in the history of the Chinese Professional Baseball League is played. The President Lions top the Brother Elephants, 4 – 3. Fu-Ming Tu gets the win and Yung-Tai Sung the first hit. Enrique Burgos notches the first save.

1992 – Pitcher Hal Newhouser and umpire Bill McGowan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

1999 – The Toronto Blue Jays fire manager Tim Johnson and replace him with Jim Fregosi. Johnson had been under fire since admitting he had lied when he said he had seen combat duty in the Vietnam War.

2001 – Third baseman Joe Randa agrees to a two-year contract extension with the Kansas City Royals. Randa batted .304 with 106 RBI for the Royals in 155 games last season.

2005 – During more than 11 hours of hearings by the Committee on Government Reform concerning major league players’ use of steroids, Mark McGwire refuses to talk about the past and does not deny taking performance enhancing drugs. Other players testifying include Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and former big leaguer Jose Canseco, whose recent book, Juiced, prompted the congressional hearing. Palmeiro will be found guilty of steroid usage later this year.

The government of South Korea decides to exempt national baseball team members competing at the World Baseball Classic from mandatory military service as a reward for advancing to the tournament’s semifinals. In a sour note, pitcher Myung Hwan Park tests positive for a banned substance and is thrown out of the Classic.

Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay signs a three-year, $40 million contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2010 season.

Washington Nationals reliever Luis Ayala, who faced only one batter in his final appearance in the WBC, will have reconstructive surgery on his right elbow and is expected to miss the entire season.

The Dodgers lose to the Astros, 12-10, in their last game at Dodgertown, the team’s spring training home since 1948. Eighty-one year old Carl Erskine, who pitched the first game that occurred at Holman Stadium 55 years ago, plays the national anthem on his harmonica before the contest.

South Korea also advances to the semifinals, topping defending champion Japan, 4 – 1. They score three in the 1st against Yu Darvish to put it away. Jung Bong, Suk-min Yoon, Kwang-hyun Kim and Chang-yong Lim combine to hold Japan to one run.

Team USA eliminates the Puerto Rican national team from the 2009 World Baseball Classic while locking up a spot in the semifinals. They trail 5 – 3 entering the bottom of the 9th, but J.C. Romero allows 3 of 4 batters to reach. Fernando Cabrera then walks Kevin Youkilis with the bases loaded and gives up a 2-run single to David Wright to end the game.

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington admits that he tested positive for cocaine last summer and apologizes. He submits his resignation, but top management rejects it.

Two troubled outfielders are in trouble again. Seattle’s off-season acquisition, Milton Bradley, is ejected from an exhibition game for protesting a strikeout call from umpire Dan Bellino, while the Nationals’ Elijah Dukes, who has seen his career derailed by legal and behaviorial problems, is released because of poor hitting. He had been expected to be Washington’s starting right fielder this year.

2011 – Injured Philles All-Star 2B Chase Utley is absent from spring training today, visiting a specialist to look at his injured right knee, which has kept him off the playing field since the beginning of camp. As the knee is apparently not healing, surgery is becoming more likely, and no one in the Phillies’ front office dares to set a timetable for Utley’s return to the line-up. He will only play his first game on May 23rd.

2012 – Padres OF Carlos Quentin receives MRI results on his ailing knee and the news is not good, as he faces immediate surgery. While he will miss the start of the season, having surgery now should ensure that he will be healthy for the bulk of the year, once he has worked himself back into playing shape.

2013 – Puerto Rico defeats two-time champions Japan, 3 – 1, in the first semi-final of the 2013 World Baseball Classic to earn a spot in the finals for the first time. Alex Rios hits a two-run homer off Atsushi Nohmi in the 7th for the key blow. Mario Santiago gets his team off to a good start by shutting out the Japanese into the 5th inning, then five relievers combine to finish the job. Mike Aviles drives in the first run against Kenta Maeda in the 1st and is on board for Rios’s shot. Takashi Toritani triples and scores for Japan in the 8th, but it’s not enough as Fernando Cabrera picks up the save by retiring Kaz Matsui for the game’s last out.

2015 – Agent Scott Boras lashes out at the Cubs, convinced that they want to send the hottest prospect in baseball, 3B Kris Bryant, to the minor leagues to start the season. Boras is convinced this is simply a cost-cutting move that makes no sense if the Cubs really want to win. Fans are also clamoring to see Bryant make the team, given he’s leading all players with 6 homers in spring training games so far. However, team President Theo Epstein explains that he is concerned that Bryant needs more work on his defense before he’s ready for the Show.

2016 – Groups B and C of the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers get under way. In Mexicali, Baja California, the Czech national team gives host Mexico a run for its money, only losing 2 – 1 after allowing a pair of 1st-inning runs, while in the other game, it takes 10 innings for Nicaragua to best Germany, 5 – 4, on a walk-off double by Alex Blandino. In the other group, playing in Panama City, Colombia launches its bid for a first participation in the main tournament, with an emphatic 9 – 2 win over Spain; Colombia draws 12 walks to pad its run total. In the final game, host Panama defeats France, 9 – 2, behind two homers and four RBIs by veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz.

Puerto Rico qualifies for the final round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic by defeating Team USA, 6 – 5, in a second-round game. The undefeated Puerto Ricans score four times against Marcus Stroman in the 1st as their first six batters all collect singles. The U.S. manages to chip away at the lead with three runs in the middle innings, thanks in part to solo homers by Buster Posey and Adam Jones, but Puerto Rico adds two more runs in the bottom of the 6th. The U.S. makes a last push in the 9th when Brandon Crawford hits a two-run triple with two outs, but Edwin Diaz ends the game by striking out Josh Harrison.

The Yankees no-hit the Tigers in a Grapefruit League game, 3 – 0. Masahiro Tanaka strikes out 6 in 4 1/3 innings, Chasen Shreve completes the 5th inning, and rookie Jordan Montgomery completes the feat with four perfect innings.

In the sort of weirdness that only happens in spring training, the Rangers play a couple of innings against the Royals with a double play combination composed of Rougned Odor at second base and Rougned Odor at shortstop. It is a first time the two brothers, who share a first name but have different middle names, have played together in a professional game.

Not to be outdone, the Blue Jays field a line-up straight out of the 1990s in their 11 – 3 win over the Canadian junior national team. The team features an infield of Clemens, Biggio, Bichette and Guerrero, with Dwight Smith Jr. in left field and Grudzielanek at DH. They are all sons of major leaguers, except for Grudzielanek, who is Mark’s nephew. Joining them by pitching a perfect 8th inning in 17-year-old Braden Halladay, son of the late Roy Halladay, who qualifies to play for the Canadians by virtue of having been born in Toronto, ON.

2008 – Dodgertown in Vero Beach, FL, which was home for 60 years to the Dodgers, bids them farewell. The Astros make Dodger fans bluer in the finale with a 12-10 win, keyed by five home runs including a game-winning two-run shot from Nick Gorneault in the ninth. 

1998 – Reliever Bryan Harvey asks for his unconditional release from the Astros training camp, ending a comeback bid for the former two-time All-Star. 

1976 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ends a labor lockout that threatens to delay the start of the regular season. Training camps are opened and America’s Pastime plays as usual during America’s bicentennial.