1976: The California Angels' groundskeeper finds hundreds of marijuana plants growing in the outfield at Anaheim Stadium. It is believed that they were accidentally planted by fans who attended a concert by The Who.

I guess you could say the field "went to pot"!

March 25th-

1866: Happy Birthday Harry Lyons 1887 Phillies OF 1 game

1879: Happy Birthday John Walsh 1903 Phillies 3B 1 game

1884: Happy Birthday Jimmy Lavender 1917 Phillies P 28 games

1886: Happy Birthday Michael Timothy 'Jimmy' 'Runt' Walsh 1910-13 Phillies Utility 259 games

1900: Happy Birthday Russ Miller 1927-28 Phillies P 38 games

1909: Happy Birthday Emil John 'Dutch' Leonard 1947-48 Phillies P 66 games



1919: Charlotte, North Carolina hosts the Phils spring training for first and only time.

1936: Rest in Peace Arthur Hagan 1883 Phillies P 17 games

1946: Yankees sell Rollie Hemsley C to the Phils

1947: Phils release Roy Hughes IF

1963: Reds sell Johnny Klippstein P to the Phils. After going 7-7 over two seasons with Phils, the 37-year old Klippstein will help the Twins win the pennant in 1965 posting a 9-3 record.



1972: Brewers send Chico Vaughns, minors, to the Phils to complete the trade for Bobby Pfeil 3B/2B (2/8/72)

1972: Happy 36th Birthday Howard Battle 1996 Phillies 3B 5 games

1981: Braves send Gary Matthews OF to the Phils for Bob Walk P. Matthews will hit .301 and compile a .398 on-base percentage in 101 games in his first season with the Phils.



1989: Phils sell John Russell C/OF to the Braves



1993: Twins send Mica Lewis, minors, to the Phils for Jeff Grotewold OF/1B/C

1999: Astros send Marc Ronan C to the Phils for future considerations.

Other Baseball History-

1882: A fence has been erected on the Recreation Ground in San Francisco which forces the left fielder "to play over the fence, causing the players much inconvenience."

1885: A new rule is adopted stating that the pitcher must "do all his throwing to bases before he has taken his stride as if to pitch ball."

1888: The St. Louis Browns open the training season with an exhibition game versus the St. Louis Whites, a new Western Association team. The WA will have clubs in four cities that also have NL clubs.

1891: Albert G. Spalding retires from active participation in the affairs of the Chicago club and the NL. James A. Hart will assume the club presidency.

1893: Louisville is forced to transfer its only three Sunday games because the suburb of Parkland, in which the Colonels' new ballpark is located, does not permit Sunday play

March 25th part 2 of 2-

1910: The Chalmers Auto Company of Detroit offers to award a new car to the batting champion of each league. The National Commission accepts. Nap Lajoie will win a disputed batting title over Ty Cobb in a controversial finish, but Chalmers will award cars to both of them.

1916: An unsigned Tris Speaker arrives at the Red Sox training camp in Hot Springs in time for an exhibition game. Tris goes 4-for-4 with a homer and triple.



1917: John McGraw signs a five-year contract for $40,000 a year plus bonuses. The contract makes him the highest paid figure in baseball.

1917: Babe Ruth pitches four innings against Brooklyn, allowing just one hit, before giving way to a group of inept Red Sox relievers. Brooklyn wins, 11-2, and reigns as "Hot Springs Champs."

1920: In a spring training match between the Yankees and Dodgers, a sweeping inside curve ball by Brooklyn's Little Jeff Pfeffer beans Chick Fewster striking the Yankee SS behind the ear and flattening him. Fewster revives 10 minutes later but soon loses the ability to speak. Taken to the hospital with a skull fracture and a blood clot on his brain, Fewster will recover slowly and return to play in mid-season.

1934: In New Orleans, Babe Didrikson takes the mound again, this time for the New Orleans Pelicans against split squad of the Cleveland Indians. She throws two scoreless innings and lines out in her only plate appearance. In nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, manager Walter Johnson pitches for the other Indian squad against the KC Blues.



1935: The Yankees purchase pitcher Pat Malone from the Cubs. Malone had led the N.L. in wins in 1929 and 1930.

1945: Tryouts are granted to pitcher Terris McDuffie and first baseman Dave Thomas when a group of African-Americans appear at the Dodger offices in Brooklyn. The two players will work out at Ebbets Field in front of Branch Rickey on April 7.

1951: Hall of Fame player/manager Eddie Collins dies in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 63. Collins batted .333 and stole 744 bases over a 25-year career, and batted .328 in six World Series with the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Athletics.



1953: The Browns sign free agent Bob Elliott. The veteran third baseman will play just 48 games before being dealt to the White Sox.

1959: Future N.L. President Bill White comes to St. Louis along with third baseman Ray Jablonski from the Giants for pitchers Sam Jones and Don Choate. White will win six consecutive Gold Gloves with the Cardinals plus one more later in Philadelphia.

1962: Elvin Tappe is named as the Cubs first head coach of the season in team's college of coaches plan. Chicago hasn't had a manager since 1960.

1965: Pittsburgh 2B Bill Mazeroski suffers a broken bone in his right foot. He will not start until May

1985: An Illinois judge rules that state and city laws effectively banning night baseball at Chicago's Wrigley Field are constitutional. After being forced to give up a home game during the 1984 NLCS, and threatened with playing future postseason games at another stadium in order to accommodate network television's prime-time schedules, the Cubs had sued to overturn the laws.



1988: Houston trades catcher Robbie Wine to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Mike Loynd. Wine was selected as the 8th overall pick in the 1983 draft. Unfortunately, Wine is never able to produce as he did in college, hitting just .146 in 23 games as an Astro. The Astros will be criticized for not selecting University of Texas standout Roger Clemens, who was chosen by the Red Sox with the 19th pick.

1989: The Indians and Pirates swap shortstops, with Felix Fermin going to Cleveland in exchange for Jay Bell.

1997: Players change places in a big-name trade between the Braves and Indians, who had faced each other in the 1995 World Series. All-Star center fielder Kenny Lofton and reliever Alan Embree are sent to Atlanta in return for 1995 Series hero David Justice and center fielder Marquis Grissom. The swap of the two Gold Glove center fielders and the veteran Justice reduces the Braves' payroll by an estimated 6.8 million dollars.

1997: The Kansas City Royals release Bob Hamelin, the 1994 American League Rookie of the Year. The 29-year-old Hamelin never lived up to his first year, when he smacked 24 homers in strike-shortened season. The Tigers will sign Hamelin to a minor-league contract.



1999: The Mets sign free agent P Orel Hershiser to a contract.

2000: Boston pitcher Juan Pena is hit on the right wrist by a ball off the bat of the Reds Sean Casey during a spring training game. According to the Sox, he suffers a torn MCL in his right elbow and will be out the year.

2002: Miller Park's retractable roof will only be used on a limited basis at the start of season as engineers try to eliminate persistent noise coming from the year-old roof.





2003: Three days prior to Opening Day, the YES Network claims Cablevision has pulled out of a proposed deal signed 17 days ago which would have provided televised Yankee games nearly three million cable subscribers in the NYC metropolitan area. According to a YES Network press release, the giant cable company failed to sign a finalized version of the hand-written document that both parties exchanged on March 12, but Cablevision president ,James L. Dolan, said when YES sent him a revised typewritten draft on two days later, the document contained alterations that he found unacceptable.

2006: The insurance claim filed by the Astros in January to get back approximately $15.6 million of Jeff Bagwell's $17 million guaranteed contract is denied by the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. The insurers cite no adverse change in 37-year old first baseman's condition between the end of last season and the Jan. 31, 2006 policy. Bagwell will seek consultation to find out if removing bone spurs from his shoulder would be beneficial in prolonging his career. The 37-year old first baseman must stay on the injured list all season for the Astros to collect.

2008: Opening Day in Major League Baseball is held in the Tokyo Dome. The game was questionable earlier in the month when the Red Sox planned to "strike" due to disagreements with MLB over payment for coaches who went on the trip.

March 26th-

1888: Happy Birthday Carter Bradley 'Brad' Hogg 1918-19 Phillies P 64 games

1936: Happy 72nd Birthday Harry Norbert Kalas Phillies Play by play announcer 1971-present, replaced Bill Campbell.

http://en.wikipedia.o...

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1937: Rest in Peace Jeremiah Henry 'Jerry' Nops 1896 Phillies P 1 game

1939: Happy 70th Birthday Alvin Edward 'Al' Neiger 1960 Phillies P 6 games



1940: Phils sign, for the third time, Chuck Klein OF as a free agent after he is released by the Pirates



1961: Happy 47th Birthday Michael 'Mickey' Weston 1992 Phillies P 1 game

1977: Phils trade Sergio Ferrer SS/2B/3B to the Yankees for Kerry Dineen OF

1982: Phils release Dave Rajsich P

1984: Cubs send Bill Campbell P and Mike Diaz 1B/OF to the Phils for Gary Matthews OF, Bob Dernier OF and Porfi Altamirano P; Matthews was the MVP of the NLCS last season, while Campbell led the National League with 82 appearances. Dernier will win a Gold Glove in CF for Chicago and help them reach the playoffs. His 45 steals will be the most by a Cub since 1907.

1987: White Sox send Joe Cowley P and cash to the Phils for Gary Redus OF/1B

1988: Phils release Doug Bair P

2003: Tigers return Travis Chapman 3B to the Phils

Other Baseball History-

1919: With ML spring training again delayed in an attempt to cut down expenses, the Cardinals open training in St. Louis at Washington University's Francis Field.

1920: Walter Johnson is wild and hittable in his first intersquad game, hitting three batters and walking 2. One of the batters he hits is Bucky Harris (Phils manager for part of the 1943 season, but was fired in July after calling the team's owner, William Cox, a "jerk? and who will later tell reporters of Cox's gambling which will lead to Cox being banned from baseball) who takes a pitch that glances off the side of his head. Johnson gives up seven runs in three innings.





1936: Tigers sign Hank Greenberg for $20,000 and Red Ruffing comes to terms with the Yankees for $12,000.

1937: On the advice of Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio reduces the weight of his bat from 40 ounces to 36 ounces.

1947: Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau orders Johnny Price off the train at San Diego after Price lets loose two five-foot long snakes on the train from Los Angeles. A coach full of women returning from the American Bowling Congress is extremely upset by the prank. When Tribe owner Bill Veeck says that, "either the snakes go or Price goes," the 35-year-old infielder's days are numbered.

1951: During a spring exhibition game against the University outfielder Southern California at Bovard Field, Mickey Mantle propels a homer estimated at 654 to 660 feet. The shot clears Bovard Field and then goes the width of a practice football field before landing. Mantle highlights the Yankees' first ever West Coast trip with two homers, a bases loaded triple, and 7 RBI as the Yankees flunk the collegians, 15-1.



1952: The Cardinals purchase infielder Gene Mauch from the Yankees.



1957: Yankee manager Casey Stengel is arrested and is released on $50 bail after he allegedly curses at and kicks a newspaper photographer during an exhibition game in St. Petersburg.

1960: Baltimore chief Lee MacPhail moves an Orioles-Reds series scheduled for Havana, Cuba, to Miami. The Reds, with a farm club in Cuba, want the trip, but the Orioles fear increased political unrest in the area.

1969: An indemnity of $540,000 is paid to the Pacific Coast League for the ML invasion of San Diego and Seattle.

March 26th part 2 of 2-

1973: Rest in Peace George 'Gentleman George' 'Gorgeous George' 'Sizzler' Sisler in Richmond Heights, Missouri, at the age of 80. 1915-22, 1924-27 Browns 1B/OF/P/3B/2B 1647 games; 1928 Senators 1B/LF 20 games; 1928-30 Braves 1B/P 388 games; HOF 1939, Father of Dave and Dick- Whiz Kid; Sisler batted .340 with 2,812 hits over a 15-year major league career. In 1920, he set a ML record by collecting 257 hits. Sisler gained election to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

George was unquestionably the finest player in the history of the St. Louis Browns franchise, yet baseball historians have long debated just how good he really was. Like Ty Cobb and Grover Cleveland Alexander, he brought dead-ball skills into the live-ball era and continued to flourish, which endeared him to old-time baseball fans.

http://www.jockbio.co...

George Sisler is considered one of the best-fielding first basemen of his time, but remembered for his ferocious hitting ability. He batted over .400 twice while amassing over 200 hits six times. In 1920, the first baseman played every inning of 154 games, established a major league record with 257 hits, recorded 122 RBI, scored 137 runs, batted .407, and stole 42 bases, on his way to winning his first of two batting titles. Two years later Sisler had a 42 game hitting streak, batting .420 for the year on his way to collecting the newly created A.L. MVP award. Not only was hitting his forte, but he also led the A.L. in stolen bases four times. Sisler's illustrious career came to closure in 1939 with his election into the Hall of Fame.

http://www.cmgww.com/...

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1974: The Red Sox release future Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda and Luis Aparicio as well as pitcher Bobby Bolin. Aparicio, who elects to retire, finishes his career with 2,677 hits and 506 stolen bases and will enter the HOF in 1984. Cepeda will eventually with the Kansas City Royals, where he will complete his major league career in 1974. He will win election to the HOF in 1999.

1976: The A.L. approves the purchase of the new Toronto franchise by Labatt Breweries for $7 million.

1977: After thirteen years in Boston, infielder Rico Petrocelli is released by the Red Sox. Petrocelli retires with 210 home runs and two All-Star appearances.



1977: The Athletics trade former All-Star OF Claudell Washington to the Rangers for P Jim Umbarger, infielder Rodney Scott, and cash.

1979: The Padres and Giants announce that the 1980 exhibition series between the two teams will be played in Tokyo. But Giants owner Bob Lurie leaves the decision up to his players, who reject the agreement.

1991: Texas State Senators pass a bill to rename a part of State Highway 288 the "Nolan Ryan Expressway." The highway passes near the Astrodome on its way through Ryan's boyhood hometown of Alvin.

1991: Pinch-hitter Dan Lehrman of Ball State ties an NCAA record by hitting two homers in the same inning in a 13-8 victory over Indians-Purdue.

1995: The season opens, reduced to 144 games.

1996: Voters in San Francisco vote 2-to-1 in favor of a privately-funded stadium to replace Candlestick Park, the windy 36-year-old home of the Giants. The passage of the measure, the first step towards building the 42,000 seat bayside park, exempts the Giants from the waterside height restrictions. Plans call for the park to be ready for Opening Day, 2000.

1997: The Marlins acquire OF Cliff Floyd from the Expos in exchange for P Dustin Hermanson and OF Joe Orsulak.

2000: In 17.6 seconds the Kingdome is demolished into a mound of rubble over 65 feet high thanks to 21.6 miles of detonation cord and 5,800 holes filled with gelatin dynamite.



2001: The Mets trade P Mark Leiter to the Rockies for P Brian Rose. Rose will make three appearances for the Mets before being waived to the Marlins

March 27th-

1856: Happy Birthday Jim Tyng, born in Philadelphia, 1888 Phillies P 1 game

1899: Happy Birthday Martin Van Buren 'Marty' 'Buddy' Walker, born and died in Philadelphia, buried in North Cedar Hill Cemetery Philadelphia; 1928 Phillies P 1 game

1906: Happy Birthday Fred Tauby (Taubensee) 1937 Phillies OF 11 games

1911: Happy Birthday Walter 'Tarzan' Stephenson 1937 Phillies C 10 games

1915: Happy Birthday Newell 'Newt' Kimball 1943 P 34 games

1932: Happy 76th Birthday John Wesley 'Wes' Covington 1961-65 Phillies OF 522 games; member 1957 Braves World Series winning team; member 1958 Braves and 1966 Dodgers NL Pennant winning teams.



1946: Happy 62nd Birthday Mike Jackson 1970 Phillies P 5 games

1947: Braves trade Don Padgett C to the Phils for Andy Karl P

1948: Phils sell Charley Schanz P to the Yankees and the Yankees send Butch Wensloff P to the Phils for future considerations.

1951: Happy 57th Birthday Richard David 'Dick' Ruthven 1973-75, 78-83 Phillies P 207 games; 1981 NL All-Star, member 1980 Phillies World Series winning team, 1978 Phillies Division winning team.



1955: Rest in Peace Frank Roth 1903-04 Phillies C/1B/2B/3B 149 games

1963: Rest in Peace Wilfred Edgar 'Fritz' Knothe 1933 Phillies 3B/2B 41 games

1968: Happy 40th Birthday Tom Quinlan 1994 Phillies 3B 24 games



1978: Mets trade Jackson Todd P to the Phils for Ed Cuervo minors

1979: Phils sign Rudy Meoli SS/2B/3B as a free agent and the Mets send Nino Espinosa P to the Phils for Riche Hebner 3B/1B and Jose Moreno OF/2B



1996: Phils release Mike Walker P

1998: Phils sign Matt Whiteside as a free agent P

2004: Tigers sell Pablo Ozuna OF/3B/2B to the Phils

2006: Phils lose to the Red Sox 3-2 in a game featuring a war of words between Josh Beckett P and Ryan Howard 1B which almost leads to a bench clearing brawl.

For a moment yesterday at Bright House Networks Field it looked as if they might come to blows. Howard flied out to deep center field in the sixth inning off Beckett. Howard paused when he hit the ball, which made it look as if he was posing for a home run.
Beckett didn't like that, and told Howard as much as he returned to the dugout.

"I'm running back to the dugout, and he starts popping off," Howard said. "Starts telling me, 'Pimp it.' " - a slang term for showing someone up.
"Then he threw in a couple words. So I said some stuff back. For me it was over."

"It's not like I wanted to fight," Beckett said. "I just wanted to make the point that you look like a jackass when you do that and you're out. I think I used the word idiot, I don't know. . . . He didn't do that last year when he was rookie of the year and hit a bunch of home runs. I guess you get one year in the big leagues, and you change."

Howard took his spot at first base in the top of the seventh, and Beckett started talking again from the Red Sox dugout. Beckett made his way up the dugout steps, so Howard walked toward him and dropped his glove.

"He started walking toward the stairs, so I wasn't going to be a punk about it," Howard said. "If he was going to come up there and if he was to going do it, he was going to do it."
Said Beckett: "That was my fault. It was the heat of the battle. I should have let it die."
The Phillies cleared their bench, and the bullpens emptied. The Sox remained in their dugout, and no punches were thrown.

"If I had got it, if I was going to pimp it or whatever, he would have known," Howard said of the fly out. "But I was looking up to try to see where the ball was and I started running. . . . The dude is a good pitcher. He had good stuff. His stuff was working nice. But that's just uncalled for. Let it go." Phillies righthander Cory Lidle was irritated that Beckett made such a big deal about it.

"Everyone I've ever talked to who has played with Josh Beckett says no one likes him," Lidle said. "And that's why. There's no reason for him to say anything. He chooses to, and people don't like him for it."

Philadelphia Inquirer, March 27, 2006

Other Baseball History-

1879: Miller Huggins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A second baseman adept at getting on base, Huggins will led the National League in walks four times, score 100 or more runs three times, and regularly collect 30 or more stolen bases and an on base percentage near .400. He will start as a player-manager with the Cardinals before heading to the Yankees in 1918. Huggins will led the Yankees to six American League pennants and three World Series titles, and his "Murderers' Row" club, which won 110 games before sweeping the 1927 WS, has been considered one of the greatest teams history. Huggins will be selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1964.

March 27th part 2 of 2-

1886: The Cincinnati Reds announce that the pennant they won in 1882 will be flown at home games this season "for luck."

1889: The final game of the tour is played in Dublin. The group sails for America the next day after playing 28 games overseas.

1890: The application of an all-black club made up of ex?Cuban Giants is rejected by the Inter-State League.

1897: Cleveland Spiders president Frank DeHaas Robison proposes that NL teams chip in to pay the 1896 salary of New York star Amos Rusie, who refused to play due to a contract dispute. Robison and other NL officials want to avoid Rusie's lawsuit, in which he seeks free agency. Although New York president Andrew Freeman vehemently opposes the NL plan, the $3,000 payment is made and Rusie rejoins the Giants

1902: The nickname Cubs is coined by the Chicago Daily News, when an unbylined column notes that, Frank Selee will devote his strongest efforts on the team work of the new Cubs this year. In three years, the Cubs will replace the Colts as the nickname for Chicago's N.L. club.

1917: The Red Sox beat Brooklyn, 11-2 in Hot Springs. For tomorrow's game in Memphis, players on both teams will sport numbers on their sleeves, the idea of Robins' owner Charles Ebbets. His reasoning is that fans in non-major league cities would be unfamiliar with the players.

1935: With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the bases loaded at Asahi Field, Russell Hinaga singles plating the winning run to give the San Jose Asahis a 3-2 victory over the visiting Tokyo Giants. The visitors will avenge their loss to the 'Morning Suns', a Japanese American semi-pro team, the following season.

1938: White Sox SS Luke Appling, sliding into 2nd in an exhibition game against the Cubs, fractures his right leg in two places and will miss almost half the season. He'll return July 8.

1941: The Yankees sell P Steve Sundra to the Senators. Sundra, 11-1 in 1939, slipped in 1940 to 4-6.

1948: Hank Greenberg, who tormented the Indians for most of his career as a member of the Tigers, is hired as Cleveland's farm club director by Bill Veeck.

1961: In a spring training game Cardinals P Larry Jackson suffers a broken jaw when hit by a fragment of Dodger Duke Snider's broken bat. Jackson will be sidelined four weeks.

1973: Twins' pitcher Jim Perry becomes the first player to use the '10 and 5 rule' when he okays his own trade to the Tigers for minor league pitcher Dan Fife and cash. Perry, a 24-game winner in 1970, will win 14 games for the Tigers in 1973.



1973: Two days before his 29th birthday, the Braves release former 30-game winner Denny McLain. In a career which spanned ten years, McLain compiled a 131-92 record with an ERA of 3.39 McLain won the American League Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1969.



1978: A's owner Charley Finley cancels the deal that would have sent the A's to Denver, under the sponsorship of oilman Marvin Davis. Objecting to some of the details, Finley decides to call off negotiations.

1982: The Mariners sign 43-year old Gaylord Perry to a one-year contract. Perry needs only three victories to reach the 300 win mark.

1984: J.R. Richard is released by the Astros, ending his professional baseball career. Richard was 0-2 with a 13.68 ERA in six starts for Tucson (Pacific Coast League) last season. The hard-throwing Richard had been the Astros' top pitcher before suffering a stroke during the 1980 season.



1986: Major league baseball's Rules Committee votes to change the designated hitter rule for the World Series, allowing a DH to be used in all games played in the A.L. club's home park. Since 1976, the DH had been used in all games in alternating years.

1987: In what will turn out to be an extremely lopsided trade, the Mets send catcher Ed Hearn and minor leaguers Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo to the Royals in exchange for David Cone and minor leaguer Chris Jelic. Cone will blossom into one of the N.L.'s better starters, posting a 20-3 record for the Mets in 1988.



1989: Sports Illustrated exposes Pete Rose's gambling activities. The article alleges 'Charlie Hustle' bet from the Riverfront dugout using hand gestures with an associate. Rose will eventually agree to a lifetime ban from MLB as part of an agreement with Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.



1992: The Brewers trade Gary Sheffield to the Padres for pitcher Ricky Bones and minor leaguers Jose Valentin and Matt Mieske.

1992: A lawsuit is filed against Mets P David Cone by three women charges him with exposing himself to them while in the bullpen at Shea Stadium.

1993: The Cubs put 2B Ryne Sandberg (broken hand) and SS Shawon Dunston (lower back rehab) on the DL. The two will miss opening day for the first time in nine years together.





1994: The Orioles trade 1B David Segui to the Mets in exchange for P Tom Wegmann and SS Kevin Baez.

1995: The National Labor Relations Board files for an injunction to restore previous work rules to the game.

2000: The Blue Jays sign former Rookie of the Year OF Marty Cordova to a contract.

2000: The White Sox obtain SS Jose Olmedo from the Indians for future considerations. Tomorrow, they option SS Mike Caruso to Charlotte

2002: After being told he would not be an everyday player, thirty-seven year old Jose Canseco is given his release by the Expos. The 1988 American League MVP, who needs 38 homers to reach 500, batted .258 and hit 16 home runs for the White Sox last season while appearing in 76 games.

2002: In need of relief help, the Cubs trade RHP Julian Tavarez and three prospects to the Marlins for reliever Antonio Alfonseca and RHP Matt Clement. The three prospects -- C Ryan Jorgensen, and pitchers Jose Cuetro and Dontrelle Willis -- are rated among the Cubs' top 20 prospects. Alfonseca will replace the injured Tom Gordon.

2006: Two days after minor league umpires said they intend to strike, management's lawyer denied that unfair labor practices have been committed.

March 28th-

1884: During am exhibition game between the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association and the Phils, lone umpire William McLean is taunted without mercy by fans of both local clubs. He finally loses it late in the game. - McLean grabs a bat and hurls it into the stands. A fan is struck, but not hurt. - The angry umpire is arrested after the game, but charges are soon dropped.

1901: Phillies owner John Rogers files for an injunction prohibiting Nap Lajoie, Bill Bernhard, and Chick Fraser from playing for any other team-the most serious legal test of the reserve clause to date.

1907: Happy Birthday Walt Masters 1937 Phillies P 1 game

1911: Happy Birthday Clarence Pickrel 1933 Phillies P 9 games

1916: Phils beat the Cubs 3-1 and complete a sweep of the series in St Petersburg.

1936: Happy Birthday Jimmie Coker 1958, 60-62 C 99 games



1945: Dodgers sell Whit Wyatt P to the Phils for $20,000

1946: Rest in Peace Charles Philip 'Chick' Fullis 1933-34 Phillies OF/3B 179 games; member 1934 Cardinals World Series wining team



1947: Rest in Peace Johnny 'The Crab' Evers 1917 Phillies 2B/3B 56 games; Evers stole 324 bases over an 18-year career; 1902-13 Cubs, 1914-17, 29 Braves, 1922 White Sox 1784 games; member 1907-08 Cubs and 1914 Braves World Series winning teams, member 1906 Cubs NL Pennant winning team; HOF 1946

An excellent bunter, accomplished base stealer, and pesky left-handed hitter who usually had the National League's best walk-to-strikeout ratio after his first few seasons, Johnny Evers was considered one of the Deadball Era's smartest and best all-around players, but he was just as well known for his fiery disposition. The star second baseman's nickname, "The Human Crab," was originally bestowed due to his unorthodox manner of sidling over to ground balls before gobbling them up, but most baseball men considered it better suited to his temperament than his fielding. A 5'9", 125 lb. pepper-pot with a protruding jaw that came to be a symbol of the man, for he was always jawing about something, Evers developed a reputation as a troublemaker by squabbling regularly with teammates, opponents, and especially umpires. "They claim he is a crab, and perhaps they are right," said Cleveland Indians manager Joe Birmingham. "But I would like to have 25 such crabs playing for me. If I did, I would have no doubts over the pennant. They would win hands down."

http://bioproj.sabr.o...



1954: Phils trade Dick Young IF and $50,000 to the Dodgers for Bobby Morgan IF

1955: Rest in Peace Tom 'King of the Umpires' Lynch 1884-85 Phillies OF/C 26 games

1958: Rest in Peace Charles Herbert 'Chuck' 'Hoosier Hammerer' Klein 1928-33, 36-39, and 40-44 Phillies OF/1B -1 game; Chuck dies at the age of 53. Klein batted .320 with 300 home runs and 1201 RBI s over a 17-year career. He enjoyed his best season in 1933, when he won the National League's Triple Crown; HOF 1980; umpired one game in May 1942; member 1935 Cubs NL Pennant winning team; 1933-34 NL All-Star

Chuck Klein was a powerful hitter, who captured four home run championships, two RBI titles and the Triple Crown, all with the Phillies. He finished his career with a .320 average and an even 300 homers. Along with his batting prowess, Klein was also a superb defensive right fielder who still holds the modern single-season mark with 44 assists in 1930. After the 1932 season, Klein was named the National League MVP. In 1936, he became the first National League player in the 20th century to slug four home runs in a game.

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Gehrig, Ruth, Klein, and Foxx

1967: Happy 41st Birthday Shawn Boskie 1994 Phillies P 19 games



1972: Rest in Peace William Austin 'Cy' Moore 1933-34 Phillies P 71 games

1979: Phils trade Dan Boitano P to the Brewers for Gary Beare P

1982: Phils trade Steve Dunnegan minors to the Astros for Dave Roberts Utility

1985: Phils return Ed Olwine P the Mets

1989: Expos trade Victor Rosario SS/2B to the Phils for Tim Sossamon minors

2000: Expos sell Mickey Morandini 2B to the Phils

March 28th part 2 of 3-

2002: Phils trade Reggie Taylor OF to the Reds for a player to be named later; Phils get Hector Mercado P on 3/30/02

2004: Padres send Clay Condrey P to the Phils for future considerations



2006: Phils send Aquilino Lopez P to the Padres for minor leaguers Matt Thayer and Trey Johnston.

Other Baseball History-

1889: Indianapolis trades P Jim "Egyptian" Healy to Washington for veteran P Jim Whitney.

1907: Popular Boston Pilgrims OF Chick Stahl, who replaced Jimmy Collins as manager of the now named Red Sox at the end of the 1906 season, commits suicide while traveling with the team in West Baden Springs, IN. After breakfast he returned to his room and drank four oz. of carbolic acid. He left a note: "Boys, I just couldn't help it. You drove me to it." Cy Young reluctantly agrees to start the season as Boston's manager, but there will be three others during the year.

http://www.thedeadbal...

1913: The St. Louis Browns make an unusual 'trade,' sending infielder Clyde ?Buzzy? Wares to a minor league team in exchange for the rental of a stadium. The Montgomery Black Sox will allow the Browns to use their stadium during spring training-rent free. Wares will return to the Browns later in the season. Wares led the PCL shortstops in errors in 1911-12 with a total of 199.

1927: In a final exhibition match between last year's series opponents, the Yanks score four in the first off the Cards' Grover Cleveland Alexander. Then Alex shuts down the Yanks until leaving in the 8th, and the Cards score two in the 9th to win 6-4. Both teams use their regular lineups, the only teams to make no starting changes from last year's teams. The four runs off Alexander are the first the 40-year-old veteran has allowed in 15 innings of spring work.



1928: 42 year old Rabbit Maranville breaks his leg sliding home in an ST game against the New York Yankees. The Boston Braves infielder and future Hall of Famer is out for the season. Rabbit had broken his leg earlier in a 1926 spring training accident.

1931: Hall of Fame executive Ban Johnson dies at the age of 67. Johnson served as the first president of the American League, guiding the 'junior circuit' until 1927. Johnson will win election to the Hall of Fame in 1937



1937: Trying to see if a new "dead ball" is better than the existing one, the new sphere is tried in a game between the Red Sox and the Senators. The Sox outslug the Nats, 13-12, as Cronin drives in six runs. Last week the ball was used in a game between the Giants and Bees with much the same result. On April 12, the White Sox and Pirates will test the new ball, with the Sox winning 9-6, though the longest hit is a double.

1940: During a 10-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field in LA, White Sox vet 2B Jackie Hayes catches a cinder in his eye. The eye will become infected and though he finishes the season, he loses the sight in the eye. In 1943 he will lose the sight in both eyes.

1953: Rest in Peace James Francis 'Jim' Thorpe 1913 -15 Giants, 1917 Reds, 1917-19 Giants, and 1919 Braves OF/1B 289 games; member 1917 Giants NL Pennant winning team.

Jim Thorpe was the greatest all-around athlete of the Deadball Era. In addition to playing major-league baseball for six seasons, the 6'1", 185 lb. Thorpe was an Olympic champion in the pentathlon and decathlon and the greatest American football player in history according to a 1977 Sport magazine poll. One sportswriter called him the "most marvelous creation fashioned in human likeness that has ever inhabited the earth," but others described him as simple-minded, lazy, averse to training, and unable to hold his liquor. Thorpe's disappointing baseball career--he played in 289 National League games and hit only .252 with seven home runs and 29 stolen bases--demonstrated what multi-sport athletes like Michael Jordan have since discovered: that mere possession of superb natural tools doesn't guarantee success on the diamond. "I can't seem to hit curves," Jim admitted. "I believe I could hit .300 otherwise."

http://bioproj.sabr.o...

March 28th part 3 of 3-

1969: The Cubs purchase Charley Smith from the Giants, which had acquired the well-traveled third baseman last December 6. Smith reinsures his knee and will retire after a few at bats.

1976: Media sources report a potential blockbuster trade between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. According to the rumor, the deal will send Tom Seaver to the Dodgers in exchange for another future Hall of Famer, Don Sutton. Mets fans respond negatively to the proposed deal, perhaps influencing management to call off the trade. Seaver will remain with the Mets until 1977, when he is traded to the Cincinnati Reds.

http://www.nydailynew...

1977: The Rangers' Len Randle, angry for having been benched during spring training, attacks 50-year-old manager Frank Lucchesi (1970-72 Phillies Manager), sending him to the hospital with a shattered cheekbone. Lucchesi helped precipitate the incident by calling the usually good-natured Randle a punk. Randle, who will receive a 30-day suspension, became upset when Lucchesi demoted him as the team's starting second baseman. On April 26, the Rangers will trade Randle to the New York Mets for infielder Rick Auerbach and cash.

1978: The Oakland A's release veteran first baseman Dick Allen (1963-69, 75-76 Phillies), ending his stormy 15-year career. Allen finishes with 351 home runs, 1119 RBIs, a lifetime average of .292, and a .534 slugging mark. The highlight of Allen's career occurred in 1972, when he earned the MVP Award with the Chicago White Sox.



1985: The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated contains a fictitious article about a Mets pitching prospect named Sidd Finch, whose fastball has been timed at 168 miles per hour. Author George Plimpton offers bogus quotes from real-life members of the Mets, as well as several staged photos, and fools readers nationwide.



1986: The Boston Red Sox acquire designated hitter Don Baylor from the New York Yankees for outfielder-designated hitter Mike Easler. Baylor will hit 31 home runs and drive in 94 runs, helping the Red Sox to the AL East title.

1986: The Yankees waive pitcher Phil Niekro four days shy of his 47th birthday.



1989: American League umpire Nick Bremigan, 43, dies of a heart attack.

1990: A plan to allow starting pitchers to earn victories with only three innings pitched (because of the abbreviated spring training period) is scrapped, but teams will be allowed to open the regular season with 27-man rosters instead of the allowed maximum of 25.

1991: Methodist College defeats Maryville, 43-0, to set an NCAA record for runs in a game. The previous record of 42 had been set by King College in 1902. Methodist scores 15 runs in the 1st inning, and strokes 34 hits in the contest, including seven by Brandon Bridgers.

1996: Kirby Puckett is taken to the Ft. Myers Hospital after he awakes with his vision affected by a career-threatening malady. He has a black dot in front of his left eye and his vision is diagnosed as 20/200. Puckett, who hit .360 in spring training, will undergo surgery on April 17

1999: In Cuba, the Orioles beat the Cuban National team, 3-2 thanks to a Harold Baines 11th inning game-winning hit. It is the first time a U.S team has played in Cuba since the 1950's. The two teams will play a rematch at Camden Yards in Baltimore on May 3.



2001: The Yankees trade 36-year-old Glenallen Hill, who hit .297 with 29 homers last season, to the Angels for minor-league OF Darren Blakely. Hill, taking the place of the just-released Canseco, will go 9-for-66, spend five weeks on the DL, and get his release June 1.

2001: The Pirates acquire P Omar Olivares from the A's for a player to be named. It's Omar's 8th team in eight years.

2001: The Padres give up on P Matt Clement, sending him to the Marlins for OF Mark Kotsay. San Diego also throw in Omar Ortiz, a 1999 first round pick.

2003: The commissioner's office announces teams will pay tribute to the U.S. Armed forces during the seventh-inning stretch of all home openers by having "God Bless America" performed. Although the song been part of all games since the September 11th terrorist attacks, it will only be heard in major league ballparks at the homer openers, Sundays, and holidays games.

2003: Halliburton Plaza opens next to Minute Maid Park, showcasing the team's history and featuring action statues adorned with the uniform numbers of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio turning a double play.

2006: Infielder Tony Graffanino is claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals, returning to the team that traded him to the Boston Red Sox eight months ago.