This Date in Baseball

"Men may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very
secret to eternity itself, but for me, the ultimate human experience is to
witness the perfect execution of the hit and run." -BRANCH RICKEY, Hall of Fame
baseball executive

1950 Branch Rickey signs a five-year deal with the Pirates to be the club's executive vice president and general manager. The 'Mahatma's' magic doesn't seem to work as the Bucs will compile a 269-501 (.349) record during his tenure in Pittsburgh.

1969 For the first time in Cy Young Award voting history a tie occurs with Tiger Denny McLain (24-9, 2.80) and Oriole Mike Cuellar (23-11, 2.38) receiving equal votes from the BBWAA for being the best pitcher in the American League.
1974 Mike Marshall becomes the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. The 'Iron Man' set major league records for penmen with innings pitched (206), game appearances (106), consecutive games (14) and games finished (83) .
1976 After having a career year with the Twins, reliever Bill Campbell becomes one of the first players to cash in on the new free-agent system. The Michigan native signs with the Red Sox for big money (four-year, one-million dollar contract).
1984 Willie Hernandez joins Rollie Fingers as the only other reliever to win the MVP award and Cy Young Award in the same season. The Tiger closer had edged out fellow relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry for the top pitching prize a week ago.
1987 The Reds trade pitcher Ted Power and shortstop Kurt Stillwell to the Royals for pitcher Danny Jackson and shortstop Angel Salazar.
1997 On the day he is named the AL Manager of the Year, Davey Johnson resigns as Orioles skipper. Although the team’s had the best record in the American League (98-64), the relationship between Johnson and owner Peter Angelos continued to deteriorate during the season.
1997 For a second time, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America name Dusty Baker as the NL Manager of the Year. The Giant skipper, who led his to team to a surprising 90-72 record, was first honored in 1993, and will win it again in 2002.
2000 Mariner closer Kazuhiro Sasaki (2-5, 3.16, 37 saves) becomes the second-oldest major leaguer to win rookie of the year honors as the 32-year old captures the American League honor. Boston Braves rookie Sam Jethroe was 33 days older than the Japanese reliever when he won the National League award in 1950.
2001 Denying its a negotiating ploy, Commissioner Bud Selig is given the authority to "begin the process" of eliminating two 'to be announced' teams by the major league owners by a 28-2 vote. Donald Fehr, the Players Association executive director, calls the action of possibly eliminating the Expos, Twins or Marlins most imprudent and unfortunate and the worst manner in which to begin the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement.
2002 Citing Dusty Baker's reluctance to stay with the organization, an unhappy general manager Brian Sabean announces the Giant skipper of the last 10 years will not be back to manage in San Francisco next season. The National League pennant-winning skipper has supposedly expressed an interest in the Cubs and Mariners.

2002 Thirty-nine year old southpaw Randy Johnson wins his fifth (fourth consecutive with the Diamondbacks) Cy Young Award. The 'Big Unit' with 24 victories, 334 strikeouts and an 2.32 era becomes the first National League hurler since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to win pitching equivalent of the triple crown.
2006 After refusing to remove his Los Angeles Dodgers hat at a City Council meeting, Charles Littleton recieves 50,000 volts into his body as he is TASERed by Saginaw (MI) police. The 22-year old Saginaw Valley State University student, who was attending the meeting to gain extra credit for a sociology class, became unruly, according to police, after being asked to take off his baseball cap.