In 1902 it was announced that land had been purchased in New York City for a new baseball stadium. American League Park, as came to be known, was located in northern Manhattan on one of the island’s highest spots which led to its occupants being referred to as the Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders began [...]

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In a sign of just how much things can change in a little over 90 years consider that, on this date in 1914, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics sold baseball’s top position player, Eddie Collins to the White Sox for $50,000. For his part in the deal, Collins got a $15,000 signing bonus and [...]

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On this date in 1937 the Red Sox bought the contract of Ted Williams from the minor-league San Diego Padres. Williams finally made it to the majors in 1939 and led the league in RBIs that year. In 1941 he became the last player to hit over .400 (.406) for a full season. He finished [...]

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In 1960, an ownership group led by the “Singing Cowboy,” Gene Autry was awarded the American League franchise for Los Angeles. Autry is most familiar to today’s generation through the Christmas songs he recorded including “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Frosty the Snowman” and his biggest hit, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed [...]

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In 1996, the executive board of the Players Union approved a collective bargaining agreement which brought regular season, interleague play to the majors. The games started with the 1997 season and, at the time, were considered by many purists to be a sign of the pending apocalypse.
And on this date in 1951 Shoeless Joe Jackson [...]

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Big Lee Smith was born on this date in 1957. At 6 foot 6 inches and 285 pounds (more or less) he was an intimidating presence on the mound. At his peak, his 95 mph fastball left most batters stunned. His best years were with the Cubs, Red Sox and Cardinals. When he retired in [...]

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On this date in 1901, one of the founding clubs of the American League, the Milwaukee Brewers, moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The Browns took their name from the original name of the St. Louis Cardinals.
During their years in St. Louis, the Browns won one pennant in 1944. They lost the World [...]

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On this date in 1981 pitcher Fernando Valenzuela was named NL Rookie of the Year, making it three in a row for the Dodgers. Two other LA hurlers, Rick Sutcliffe and Steve Howe earned the award in ‘79 and ‘80. And yet another Dodger, second baseman Steve Sax, took the title in 1982.
That’s pretty impressive [...]

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On this date in 1964, the Houston Colt 45s became the Astros. The club used their original name for their first two seasons (they joined the NL along with the Mets in ‘62) and changed it when the Colt Firearms Company objected to the sale of team merchandise bearing the trademark. Following the name change, [...]

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Bo Jackson, the first player to be named to the All-Star team in baseball (1989) and the National Football League (1991) was born on this date in 1962. He ended up missing the ‘91 Pro Bowl due a hip injury in a play-off game. That injury ended his NFL career although he continued to play [...]

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