This Date in Baseball

"...we Dodgers even disliked Halloween because its colors were orange and
black." -DUKE SNIDER, Dodger outfielder joking about his Brooklyn's intense
rivalry with the Giants with team colors of orange and black.

1931 The Cardinals release the last legal spitballer and future Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes.
1953 After touring Japan with the Giants, Commissioner Ford Frick compares the level of Japanese play to that of Class A of the American minors.
1957 Yogi Berra says the Yankees returned fine money to players involved in the Copacabana fight.
1979 Orioles' Mike Flanagan (23-9, 3.08) wins the Cy Young Award outdistancing Tommy John (21-9, 2.97).

2001 For the first time since Philadelphia A's Mule Haas hit a game-tying two-run homer in Game 5 of the 1929 World Series, a team comes from behind to tie a Fall Classic game in the ninth and goes on to win in extra innings. Tino Martinez sends the game into overtime with a two-out homer off Diamondbacks' closer Byung-Hyun Kim and Derek Jeter, dubbed Mr. November, wins it after the stroke of midnight with a full count two-out round tripper giving the Bronx Bombers a 3-2 victory and knots the series at two games apiece.
2005 Although offered approximately $4.5 million for a three-year extension, four times the amount of his previous salary, Theo Epstein decides to leave the BoSox after being the youngest general manager to lead a team to a World Championship. The split with team president Larry Lucchino, who hired the 18-year Yale undergraduate as an Oriole intern, then gave him a position with the Padres before bringing the ‘Boy Wonder’ Boston, takes the Red Sox Nation by surprise.

2006 Joining Don Mattingly (Yankees,1987),Cal Ripken Jr. (Orioles,1991), Frank Thomas (White Sox, 1995), Jeff Bagwell (Astros, 1995), Manny Ramirez (Red Sox, 2002), Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols becomes the sixth player to get a perfect score (100) in the annual player rankings. The Elias Sports Bureau rating, which was created as part of the settlement of the 1981 strike to determine compensation for the loss of a free agent, takes into account a player's plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBIs compared to others playing the same positionduring the two past seasons.
2006 The Astros announce the club will not exercise their option on first baseman Jeff Bagwell for the 2007 season, paying instead the $7-million buyout of the first baseman's contract. The 38-year old perennial All-star, who played 2,150 games during his 15 seasons with the team,is the franchise all-time leader in home runs, RBIs and walks.