1919 – With major league spring training again delayed in an attempt to cut down expenses, the Cardinals open training in St. Louis at Washington University’s Francis Field.

1920 – At spring training, Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson is out of control in his first intersquad game, hitting three batters and walking two. One of the batters he hits is Bucky Harris, who takes a pitch that glances off the side of his head. Johnson gives up seven runs in three innings.

1936 – Hank Greenberg signs with the Detroit Tigers to a $20,000 contract, and Red Ruffing accepts $12,000 from the New York Yankees.

1937 – On the advice of Ty Cobb, Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio reduces the weight of his bat from 40 ounces to 36 ounces.

1940 – Slugger Chuck Klein, who was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates, signs for his third stint with the Philadelphia Phillies.

1947 – Cleveland Indians manager Lou Boudreau orders Jackie Price off the train at San Diego after Price lets loose two five-foot long snakes on the trip from Los Angeles. A coach full of women returning from the American Bowling Congress are extremely upset by the prank. After Indians owner Bill Veeck says “either the snakes go or Price goes,” the 35-year-old infielder’s days are numbered.

During a spring exhibition game against the University of Southern California at Bovard Field, Mickey Mantle hits a home run which is estimated to travel 650 feet. The rookie’s performance, which includes a single, triple, and another homer, is one of the highlights of the Yankees’ first ever West Coast trip.

1951 – In an exhibition game at the University of Southern California, Mickey Mantle propels a home run estimated at 654 to 660 feet. The shot clears Bovard Field and then goes the width of a practice football field before landing. Mantle has two homers, a bases-loaded triple, and drives in seven runs as the Yankees flunk the Trojans, 15 – 1.

1952 – The St. Louis Cardinals purchase infielder Gene Mauch from the New York Yankees.

Due to political unrest in the area, the Orioles-Reds series scheduled to be played in Havana is moved to Miami. Cincinnati, which has a farm team in Cuba, wanted the exhibition games to stay on the island, but Baltimore’s team president Lee MacPhail feared for his players’ safety.

1960 – A Baltimore Orioles-Cincinnati Reds series scheduled for Havana, Cuba, is moved to Miami, Florida, by Baltimore chief Lee MacPhail. The Reds, with a minor league club in Cuba, want the trip, but the Orioles fear increased political unrest on the island.

1963 – On an all-or-nothing day for the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax, he gives up long balls to Roberto Clemente and Donn Clendenon, but strikes out 9 Pirates batters in 7 innings, and also gives up six runs. Sandy’s performance probably looks pretty good to Pirate skipper Danny Murtaugh, whose own staff gives up 19 runs, but it doesn’t prepare fans for the four-year run on which Brooklyn’s late-blooming bonus baby is about to embark.

1969 – An indemnity of $540,000 is paid to the Pacific Coast League for Major League Baseball’s invasion of San Diego and Seattle as a result of this year’s expansion.

1973 – George Sisler dies in Richmond Heights, Missouri, at the age of 80. Sisler batted .340 with 2,812 hits over a 15-year major league career. In 1920, he set a major league record by collecting 257 hits, which will last into the next century. Sisler gained election to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

George sisler

Hall of Famer George Sisler dies at the age of 80

luis aparicio

Boston Red Sox release two future Hall of Famers

1974 – The Boston Red Sox dump two future Hall of Famers when designated hitter Orlando Cepeda and shortstop Luis Aparicio are both given their unconditional releases. Aparicio, who elects to retire, finishes his career with 2,677 hits and 506 stolen bases and will enter the Hall in 1984. Cepeda will eventually wind up with the Kansas City Royals, where he will complete his major league career this year. He will win election to Cooperstown in 1999.

American League approves the sale of the Toronto Blue Jays to the Labatts Brewing Company

American League approves the sale of the Toronto Blue Jays to the Labatts Brewing Company

The American League votes to expand to Toronto, awarding a franchise to a group consisting of Labatt’s Breweries (45%), the Imperial Trust, Ltd (45%), and CIBC (10%), who will eventually purchase the rights for the team for $7 million. At first, the decision will appear in peril when President Gerald Ford attempts to put pressure on MLB to give the expansion franchise to Washington, D.C., which has been without a major league team since the Senators moved to Arlington, Texas to become the Rangers following the 1972 season.

1976 – The American League approves the sale of the Toronto Expansion franchise to the Labatt Brewing Company. The transaction is estimated at $7 million.

Infielder Rico Petrocelli is released by the Boston Red Sox after a 13-season career for his only major league club. Petrocelli retires with 210 home runs and two All-Star appearances.

The Oakland Athletics trade All-Star outfielder Claudell Washington to the Texas Rangers for two prospects and cash considerations.

1979 – The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants announce that the 1980 exhibition series between the two teams will be played in Tokyo, Japan. Nevertheless, Giants owner Bob Lurie leaves the decision up to his players, who reject the agreement.

In a spring training deal, the Phillies trade outfielders Gary Matthews and Bob Dernier along with right-handed reliever Porfi Altamirano to the Cubs for right-hander Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz, a utility player. The former Philadelphia fly chasers, who will each receive consideration for the MVP award, both play a pivotal role in Chicago’s first-place finish this season in the National League Eastern Division.

Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line playing for the Dodgers in 1947, is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously by President Reagan. Rachel Robinson, on behalf of her late husband, accepts the award, the highest civilian honor given in the United States.

1987 – The Philadelphia Phillies trade outfielder Gary Redus to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for pitcher Joe Cowley.

1991 – Pinch-hitter Dan Lehrman of Ball State University ties an NCAA record by hitting two home runs in the same inning in a 13 – 8 victory over Indiana-Purdue.

1996 – Voters in San Francisco vote 2-to-1 in favor of a privately-funded stadium to replace Candlestick Park, the windy 36-year-old home of the Giants. The passage of the measure, the first step towards building the 42,000 seat bayside park, exempts the Giants from the waterside height restrictions. Plans call for the park to be ready for Opening Day, 2000.

1997 – The Florida Marlins acquire outfielder Cliff Floyd from the Montreal Expos in exchange for pitcher Dustin Hermanson and outfielder Joe Orsulak. The emergence of young super-prospect Vladimir Guerrero has made Floyd expendable.

1998 – Free agent second baseman Mark Lemke signs a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox.

2000 – In just 17.6 seconds, the Kingdome is demolished into a mound of rubble over 65 feet high thanks to 21.6 miles of detonation cord and 5,800 holes filled with gelatin dynamite.

2001 – In a trade of pitchers, the Colorado Rockies send Brian Rose to the New York Mets in exchange for Mark Leiter. Rose will make three appearances for the Mets before being waived to the Florida Marlins.

2006 – St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Larry Bigbie is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks with a stress fracture of his left foot, and Seattle Mariners starting center fielder Jeremy Reed has a broken bone in his right wrist and could miss six weeks.

Alberto Callaspo, subbing at 3B for Alex Gordon, who broke his thumb in the Royals’ third game of the spring, also injures himself, pulling a muscle in his right side during batting practice and is doubtful for Opening Day. Injuries have come in bunches for the Royals this spring, as CF Rick Ankiel and P Gil Meche have also been sidelined.

Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts plays his first game of the spring after being sidelined by a bad back. He strikes out three times against the Twins¸ but says he feels great and is on track to be in the line-up on Opening Day.

The 2010 Central League season begins. Tetsuya Utsumi allows 4 runs and fans 10 in 8 innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to victory against Yakult. Kenji Johjima goes 3 for 4 with 4 RBI to lead his new team, the Hanshin Tigers, to a win over Yokohama. Finally, Kenta Maeda allows one hit in eight innings to give the Hiroshima Carp the win against Chunichi.

2011 – Veteran P Mike Hampton announces his retirement, ending an attempt to make the Arizona Diamondbacks’ staff. Once one of the most durable and consistent starters in the game, he began a string of injuries in 2005 that stunted the last six years of his career. He retires with a record of 148-115.

2012 – José Dariel Abreu homers for the sixth straight game, tying a Cuban Serie Nacional record, and is gaining on Alfredo Despaigne in the home run race. Today’s blow comes off Yamichel Pérez.

2013 – Sic transit gloria. Barely a week after completing a tremendous 2013 World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic by beating Puerto Rico in the championship game, P Samuel Deduno is reassigned to minor league camp by the Twins and will begin the year with the AAA Rochester Red Wings.

2015 – Brady Aiken, the first overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft who failed to reach an agreement with the Houston Astros, announces that he has undergone Tommy John surgery and will be out of action for a year. It is particularly tough news for Aiken, who decided not to go to college in order to be eligible for this year’s draft; any club who selects him now will be making a big gamble, and is unlikely to make an offer anywhere near what Aiken turned down last year.

2016 – In the first of two exhibition games played in Mexico City, the Astros defeat the Padres, 11 – 1, thanks to back-to-back homers by Carlos Correa and Tyler White in the 4th. The series is part of an effort by Major League Baseball to increase its visibility in Mexico, whose growing middle class makes it a potential future location for a major league team.

2019 – This spring’s trend of major league teams locking up key players with long-term deals continues. Following recent extensions granted to Mike Trout, Chris Sale and Justin Verlander, among others, today the Mets agree to a five-year extension with ace P Jacob deGrom for $137.5 million, while the Cubs ink Kyle Hendricks until 2023 for an extra $55.5 million.

2011 – X-rays reveal that shortstop Clint Barmes has a broken left hand after it was hit the night before in an exhibition game against the Yankees. The initial diagnosis is 4-to-6 weeks of healing needed, which will cause him to miss the first month of the season. 

1999 – Roger Clemens tosses six innings of no-hit ball but the Astros storm back to topple the New York Yankees, 7-5. Clemens had been the subject of intense trade talks during the off-season as the Astros tried to swing a swap with the Toronto Blue Jays to bring the multiple Cy Young Award winner home to Texas. Ultimately, Clemens was sent to New York. 

1991 – State Senators pass a bill to rename a part of State Highway 288 the “Nolan Ryan Expressway”. The highway passes near the Astrodome on its way through Ryan’s boyhood hometown of Alvin. 

1977 – Astros obtain outfielder Willie Crawford and infielder Rob Sperring from San Francisco for infielder Rob Andrews. After the season, outfielder Art Gardner is sent to the Giants to complete the deal. 

1968 – Future Astro teammates Shane Reynolds and Jose Vizcaino are born. Reynolds is born in Bastrop, LA. Vizcaino is delivered in San Cristobal, DR. They would play together in Houston for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.