This Date in Baseball

"Having Willie Stargell on your ball club is like having a diamond ring on your
finger." CHUCK TANNER Stargell's manager

1899 The National League announces starting next season there will be two umpires working each game.
1931 Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert buys the International League's Newark franchise. The Bears will be very successful and will send many players to the Bronx.

1934 Bucky Harris is hired again in Washington replacing manager Joe Cronin, who has been sold to Boston. The 'Boy Wonder' previously managed the Senators to American League championships in 1924 and 1925.
1951 The Japanese Pacific League All-Star team beats Lefty O'Doul's All-Stars, 3-1. It is the first time an American professional team has lost to professional players of another country.
1958 New York's mayor Robert Wagner announces the preliminary plans for the Continental League. Chairman William Shea implies that the new third major league might raid National and American League rosters.
1968 Edging out Pete Rose, Bob Gibson (22-9, 268 , 1.12 ) wins the National League MVP award.

1974 Steve Garvey wins the National League MVP Award. The Dodger first baseman had a .312 BA, with 21 home runs and 111 RBIs .
1978 The Yankees sign pitcher Luis Tiant as free agent to a two-year $875,000 contract.
1979 For the first time in major league history two players are named co-winners of National League MVP award as Cardinal first baseman Keith Hernandez shares the honor with outfielder Pirate Willie Stargell.
1984 Ryne Sandberg (314, 19, 84) becomes the first Cub to win the National MVP League Award since Ernie Banks did it in 1959.
1989 After 16 years with the same team, Jim Rice is released by the Red Sox. The Boston outfielder retires from the game with a career .298 average with 382 home runs.
1990 Bob Welch (27-6, 2.95,127) wins the American League Cy Young Award. The A's hurler wins are the most in the majors since 1972 when Steve Carlton won that many for the last place Phillies.

1996 Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti is the fourth unanimous winner of the National League MVP.
1997 Rockies outfielder Larry Walker (.366, 49, 130) is named the National League MVP becoming the first Canadian in either league to win the honor.
1998 The ball thrown by Red Sox hurler Howard Ehmke and hit by Babe Ruth for first home run hit in Yankee Stadium is sold at an auction for 126, 500 (110,000 bid + 15% commission). Mark Scala found the 1923 historic ball ago in the attic of his grandmother's home several years ago.
2000 Becoming the first pitcher to win the American League Cy Young award unanimously in consecutive years, Red Sox hurler Pedro Martinez (18-6,1.74) has copped the 'top pitcher' honor three of the last four seasons.
2001 Randy Johnson (21-6, 2.49, 372) wins his fourth Cy Young Award, his third straight as a member of the Diamondbacks. The 'Big Unit', who also won the honor in 1995 with the Mariners, is the second pitcher to win three consecutive Cy Young awards joining Greg Maddux who won four in a row from 1992-95.
2002 The Giants select former Expo veteran skipper Felipe Alou to replace Dusty Baker as their new manager. The 67-year-old Dominican Republic native compiled a 691-717 record during his ten years at the helm with Montreal and was selected as the National League Manager of the Year in the 1994 strike-shortened season.

2003 Eric Gagne, who saved 55 consecutive games for the Dodgers, becomes the ninth reliever to win a Cy Young Award. The runner up is Jason Schmidt of the Giants, the pitcher with the NL’s best won-lost percentage (17-4, 77%) and who also had an ERA of 2.34 to lead the circuit.
2006 Delmon Young is suspended for 50 games by the International League for throwing a bat which hit a replacement umpire in the chest. The Devil Rays' top prospect, the brother of Tiger star Dmitri Young, was selected as the minor league player of the year by Baseball America in 2005.
2006 The Mets stage a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the construction of the 45,000-seat ballpark which will replace Shea Stadium in 2009. The new $800 million ballpark, named CitiiField in association with Citigroup Inc., will be reminiscent of Ebbets Field and will feature a statue of Jackie Robinson in a rotunda which will be named after the immortal Brooklyn Dodger infielder.
2006 Tigers right-hander Jason Verlander (17-9, 3.63) cops the AL Rookie of the Year Award award receiving 26 of a possible 28 first place votes cast by the BBWAA. The 23-year old hard-throwing hurler becomes the first starting pitcher to win the freshman award since Yankee newcomer Dave Righetti accomplished the feat 1981.