Classic Baseball Daily Highlights

Born: Sunday, February 05, 1928 in Roulette, PA USA He was the kind of player who’s worth doesn’t always show up in the box score, but yet his determination and aggressiveness to win made him one of the most valuable players on the world championship of 1960. Don Hoak, nicknamed Tiger by Dodger pitcher Clem Labine because he was always starting fights, was a solid fielder who twice led the circuit...

February 4, 1957, manager Joe McCarthy and outfielder Sam Crawford are elected to the Hall of Fame. McCarthy, the winningest manager in history, won nine pennants and four consecutive World Championships with the New York Yankees. Crawford, one of the greatest hitters of the dead-ball era, finished his career with 309 triples, first on the all-time list. Some have challenged Sam Crawford's sta...

Fredric Michael Lynn was born on February 3, 1952 He arrived on the big league scene like a bolt of lightning through the evening sky. Fred Lynn played in his first game on September 5, 1974 and proceeded to smash major league pitching to the tune of a .419 batting average and a .698 slugging average over his first 15 games. He followed that up with one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time,...

February 2, 1969 – Pitchers Stan Coveleski and Waite Hoyt are voted into the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Stan Coveleski learned control as a youngster by throwing rocks at tin cans that swung from a tree. Though he pitched a shutout in his first big league start with the Athletics in 1912, it was the spitball he later learned in the Minor Leagues. in 1913-1915, earning a perman...

Feb 1 1875 Billy Sullivan born is born, he will debut in 1898. Despite being a notoriously poor hitter, Billy Sullivan is generally regarded as one of the best defensive catchers of the Deadball Era. In 1901, Sullivan jumped to the Chicago White Sox of the new American League and was the catcher in the circuit's first game, collecting a pair of hits in an 8-2 Chicago victory over the Cleveland...

On January 31 1927 – National League President John Heydler rules that Rogers Hornsby cannot continue to both hold stock in the St. Louis Cardinals and play for the New York Giants. Seemingly oblivious, the Cards’ board of directors, meeting in St. Louis, votes stockholders a 10% dividend, earning Hornsby $2916 for his 1167 shares. Hornsby had a fabulous stretch from 1921-1925. For that five-year...

January 30, 1930 Sandy Amoros is born in Matanzas, Cuba At 20 he made the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games, Amorós led Cuba to a Gold Medal with 6 home runs in 7 games. He then turned to America to turn pro, first playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues in 1950 and in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 1951, he will finally debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers August 22, 1...

On January 29 1971 — In accepting the Tris Speaker Award from Houston sportswriters, Roberto Clemente gives a speech which, apart from being called by many of those in attendance “the best talk any baseball player ever made,” is the source of Clemente’s most famous – if oft misquoted – assertion: “If you have an opportunity to accomplish something that will make things better for someone coming be...

On January 28, 1968 — Goose Goslin, a former Washington Senator and Detroit Tigers Tiger outfielder who retired with a career .316 batting average after playing in five World Series, and Kiki Cuyler, a .321 career hitter who won four stolen base crowns while running the bases for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs, are elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Veterans Committe...

On January 27 1927 -- Citing accuser  Dutch Leonard's  refusal to appear at the hearings of January 5th,  Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis  issues a lengthy decision clearing  Ty Cobb  and  Tris Speaker  of any game-fixing charges. Landis orders the Philadelphia Athletics to reinstate Cobb and the Washington Senators to restore Speaker. Both are then made free agents. Philadelphia owner  C...

On January 26, 1963, Alarmed by such increased home run numbers across the Majors, Ford Frick convinced the owners to agree to having the strike zone widened before the 1963 season. The zone will stretch from the top of the batter’s shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The committee hopes the return to the 1950s strike zone will result in a decrease in runs scored. The results will exceed the com...

On January 25, 1943, the Yankees sell future Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez to the rival Boston Braves. Gomez will never pitch in a game for the Braves, who decided to release the veteran southpaw. Gomez will eventually sign with the Washington Senators. Gomez will make 1 start for the Senators, and never pitch again allowing 3 runs over 4.2 innings.  Years before Joe DiMaggio came out of SF, the Bay A...

On January 24, 1939, the baseball writers select  EddieCollins ,  Willie Keeler  and  George Sisler  to the Hall of Fame.  George Sisler never played on a pennant winner and he wasn't a slugger, but in spite of that he earned a reputation as the best first baseman in the first 30 years of the 20th century. The greatest player in St. Louis Browns' history, he twice batted over .400, and his...

On January 23 1962 -- Pitcher Bob Feller and infielder Jackie Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their first year of eligibility. Jackie Robinson burst onto the scene in 1947, breaking baseball's color barrier and bringing the Negro leagues' electrifying style of play to the Majors. He quickly became baseball's top drawing card an...

On January 22 1976 — Pitchers Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon are voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Roberts led the National League in starts and innings pitched for five straight seasons and was tops in victories for four consecutive years on his way to 286 career wins. Lemon earned 20 victories six times and won 207 career games. Robin Roberts was the ace of...

Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Full Dizzy Dean playlist - Dizzy Dean Show, Dean interviews, Dean game broadcasts, games he played in (1934 WS and 37 AS Game) over 25 Dizzy Dean specials. Join the email list: Join Here On  January 21 , 1953, pitcher  Dizzy Dean  and outfielder  Al Simmons  are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame...

Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Join the email list: Join Here On January 20 1966 — The Baseball Writers Association of America elects former Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams to the Hall of Fame. Williams, the last major league batter to hit .400, receives 282 of a possible 302 votes. He won the Triple Crown twice, the Amer...

Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Join the email list: Join Here On January 19, 1945, media reports say that Stan “The Man” Musial will enlist in the U.S. military for duty in World War II. Musial will miss the entire 1945 season before returning to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946. Since big league ball wasn’t played any further we...

Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Join the email list: Join Here On January 18, 1950, star right-hander Bob Feller tells the Cleveland Indians that he should receive a cut in pay after a subpar 15-14 season in 1949. The Indians agree to the suggestion, cutting the future Hall of Famer’s pay by $20,000. Feller will receive a salary...

Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Join the email list: Join Here On January 17, 1934, the New York Giants come to contract terms with National League Most Valuable Player Carl Hubbell. “The King,” who won league honors unanimously in 1933, will earn $18,000 for the upcoming season. The Giants will be well rewarded as Hubbell will l...

Don Wilson's Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/don-wilson-page/ Jan 5 1975 – Houston Astros pitcher Don Wilson is found dead of monoxide poisoning in his garage in Houston, a suicide victim at age 29. The Astros will retire his uniform number 40. This show features a great article from the Sons of Same Horn on Don Wilson  Don Wilson bio  Events on Jan 5   The End of the 1967 No Hitter again...

On  January 4 , 1942 — Rogers Hornsby becomes the 14th player selected to the Hall of Fame, getting 78 percent of the vote, while both Frank Chance (58%) and Rube Waddell (54%) miss out.   Mentioned in this episode: Classic Baseball Broadcasts Classic Baseball Broadcasts Mentioned in this episode: Post Roll March 26 New CBB Podcast Intro

January 3, 1920, The details of the Babe Ruth to New York sale are revealed. The Red Sox owner received $100K plus a $300K note to remortgage Fenway Park. But what about the play?  We take a deeper look into the trade on the Daily rewind.  Start Listening today to 2500+ games and interviews FREE to start! www.classicbaseballbroadcasts.com Join the email list: Join Here Mentioned in this episode: C...

On January 2, 1918, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquire outfielder Casey Stengel and infielder George Cutshaw from the Brooklyn Robins for 3 players - pitcher Burleigh Grimes, Al Mamaux, and infielder Chuck Ward. Stengel will play only two seasons with the Pirates before moving on to Philadelphia, but will eventually enjoy his true success as a manager. Grimes will win 158 games during a nine-year stin...

On January 1, 1923, 19th century star Wee Willie Keeler dies at the age of 50. Having promised his fans and former teammates he’d live to see 1923, Wee Willie Keeler dies on New Year’s Day of that year as a result of heart failure. The five-foot, four-and-a-half-inch Keeler amassed 2,932 hits, and won consecutive batting titles in 1897 and 1898. He batted .341 over a 19-year career, placing him in...