This Day In Baseball March 18

Recapping events that took place in the baseball world on this day

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 March 18 in baseball history.

Classic Games and Video Accounts of Historic Moments

 

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Notable Events and Chronology for March 18

1886 – The New York State League admits clubs from Buffalo, Toronto and Hamilton. The inclusion of the Canadian teams causes the league to change its name to the International League.

Harry Heilmann and Frank O’Rourke of the Milwaukee Brewers during spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Harry Heilmann and Frank O’Rourke of the Milwaukee Brewers during spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas

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.

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.

Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland

Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training in Pasadena, California

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).

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).

The Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903

1957 - In what is believed to be the largest offer for a player to date, Cleveland Indians general manager Hank Greenberg reject a million-dollar offer for left-handed pitcher Herb Score from Boston Red Sox GM Joe Cronin. Greenberg refuses, saying that Cleveland is interested in building for the future, not in selling its premier ballplayers. Score won 20 games in 1956 and led the American League with 263 strikeouts. Unfortunately, six weeks later, Score will be struck in the eye by a batted ball by Gil McDougald and will win only 19 more games over the rest of his career.

1957 – In what is believed to be the largest offer for a player to date, Cleveland Indians general manager Hank Greenberg reject a million-dollar offer for left-handed pitcher Herb Score from Boston Red Sox GM Joe Cronin. Greenberg refuses, saying that Cleveland is interested in building for the future, not in selling its premier ballplayers. Score won 20 games in 1956 and led the American League with 263 strikeouts. Unfortunately, six weeks later, Score will be struck in the eye by a batted ball by Gil McDougald and will win only 19 more games over the rest of his career.

Emmett Kelly, the Dodgers' resident 'tramp' in Brooklyn, announces his contract has not been renewed

Emmett Kelly, the Dodgers’ resident ‘tramp’ in Brooklyn, announces his contract has not been renewed

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.

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.

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.

Carlton Fisk Chicago White Sox

Carlton Fisk leaves the Boston Red Sox to sign a free agent contract with the Chicago White Sox

charley_lau

famed batting coach Charley Lau dies from cancer at the age of 50

Mickey Mantle Willie Mays Peter Ueberroth Signed 1985 Sports Illustrated Magazine JSA

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Fame members Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle

1990 – Major league players and owners reach a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the 32-day lockout of spring training camps. Highlights of the deal include increasing the clubs’ contributions to the players’ pension fund, raising the major league minimum salary to $100,000, and a compromise on salary arbitration that leaves 17 percent of players with between two and three years of major league experience eligible.

1991 – California Angels pitcher Jim Abbott, born without a right hand, lashes a 400-foot triple in an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pitcher Rick Reuschel surrenders the three-bagger.

1994 – The Atlanta Braves release All-Star outfielder Ron Gant, who broke his leg in a motorcycle accident over the winter. Gant will sign as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds on June 21st.

2000 – After acquiring reliever Jesse Orosco from the Orioles in a December trade, the Mets send the veteran left-hander to the Cardinals in exchange for utility player Joe McEwing.

After Mark McGwire, who had previously denied the use of steroids, refuses to answer the questions concerning his involvement during the congressional hearings, U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO) wants to remove the slugger’s name given to a stretch of highway in his state. The legislators officially renamed a five-mile segment of Interstate-70 the Mark McGwire Highway as a tribute to ‘Big Mac’ hitting a record 70 home runs in 1998.

In an attempt to be part of a healing process on the campus where 32 students and staff became victims of a deadly shooting spree last April, the Yankees play the Hokies at Virginia Tech’s English Field. George Steinbrenner, moved by coverage of the massacre last spring, donated $1 million to a memorial fund and made arrangements for his team to participate in an exhibition game at the school.

Aaron Boone announces that he will need surgery on a heart valve, possibly ending his major league career. The problem is due to an aortic condition Boone had known about for over a decade.

The Chicago Cubs announce that they will retire number 31 on May 3rd in honor of Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux.

2009 – Infielder Aaron Boone, a free agent signed in December, announces he will have aortic heart surgery and forgo the season. Boone is best known for his home run that decided the 2003 A.L.C.S. for the Yankees over the Red Sox. He was expected to platoon at third base. Successful surgery is performed eight days later. He returns in September but goes hitless in 13 attempts. 

Free-swinging slugger Mark Reynolds (.260, 44, 102) and the Diamondbacks agree to a new three-year, $14.5 million contract. The deal covers the 26 year-old third baseman’s first two arbitration years.

2010 – The Marlins and Mets announce that they will play a three-game series in San Juan, Puerto Rico June 28-30, marking Major League Baseball’s return to Hiram Bithorn Stadium for the first time since the Montreal Expos used it as a part-time home in 2003 and 2004. The series was originally to be played in Miami, FL and is part of an effort by the Marlins to expand their Caribbean fan base.

Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki is giving 100 million yen, equivalent to $1.25 million, towards the relief effort for the earthquake and tsunami which devastated northeastern Japan a week ago.

The Mets release veteran 2B Luis Castillo. While Castillo is coming off a poor season in which he hit only .235 with no homers and 17 RBI, the move is surprising as he is owed over $6 million and there is no obvious candidate to replace him as the starter. On March 20th, the Phillies, worried over Chase Utley’s persisting knee problems, will offer Castillo a minor league contract, but he will fail to make the team, ending his career.

2012 – The Nationals assign top prospect Bryce Harper to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs, where he will likely be the youngest player in the International League and will learn to play centerfield in anticipation of a call-up to Washington expected before the end of the summer. Indeed, the call-up will come earlier than anticipated, on April 29th, and Harper will never look back, earning Rookie of the Year honors in the National League.

The Padres get some bad news as an exam reveals that their best player last season, 3B Chase Headley, broke his thumb while sliding into second base a day earlier. He will be out a month and will miss the start of the season.

Jose Quintana of the White Sox is glad that Cactus League stats do not count after a truly dreadful start against the Athletics: all nine batters he faces reach base, and they all eventually come in to score, before he gets removed, having allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, retiring none. The hits include a long homer by Jed Lowrie and a triple by Sam Fuld. No starter has ever allowed 9 runs without retiring a batter in a major league game, although Hank Borowy managed the dubious feat in a relief outing with the Tigers in 1951.

The 2014 Recinto de la Fama balloting‎ results are announced. Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 National League Cy Young Award winner, leads the voting by a significant margin. Joining him in winning induction are Daniel Fernández (the Mexican League career leader with 1,837 runs), Ricardo Sáenz (the Mexican League double leader with 496 for his career) and Cuauhtémoc Rodríguez (an executive whose teams won eight titles).

2018 – The Twins’ hopes of returning to the postseason are dealt a big blow as SS Jorge Polanco is handed an 80-game suspension for testing positive to a PED, the old-school steroid Stanozolol.

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Major League Baseball Birthdays on March 18

Todays Major League Debuts On  

Major League Baseball Debuts – To see all the Famous Debuts in baseball history check out the famous debut page

 

 

Todays Major League Final Games 

 

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Major League Baseball Deaths On March 18

Major League Baseball Birthdays, Debuts, Final Games and Deaths, on **DATE** 

Todays Birthdays  – – – Check out all the famous Birthdays HERE

 

Major League Baseball Debuts – To see all the Famous Debuts in baseball history check out the famous debut page

 

Major League Baseball – Famous LASTS! Check them all out here!

 

Todays Passings  – – – Check out all the passing here!