On January 9 in Baseball History...

    1903 - Baltimore's defunct American League franchise is sold to Frank Farrell and Bill Devery for $18,000 and is moved to New York. The Manhattan team will be first known as the Highlanders before being officially renamed the Yankees in 1913

    1952 - The Marines announce their plan to recall Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams, who missed three years in the majors due to serving in WW II, back to active duty. The bomber pilot, who will fly 39 missions over Korea and survive a crash-landing after being shot down by the enemy, will play briefly at the start of the season, but will not return to the Boston lineup on a full-time basis until late in the 1953 season.

    1960 - In the first episode of Home Run Derby ever aired, Mickey Mantle overcomes an 8–2 deficit to beat Giants superstar Willie Mays, 9-8, when he goes deep in the bottom of the ninth at LA’s Wrigley Field. The ‘Say Hey Kid’, who had hit four homers before the Yankee slugger stepped up to the plate, agrees to double their $500 side bet when he is ahead by five runs in the seventh, enabling his opponent to walk away with both the winning and losing share of the contest.


    1961 - Ending two months of negotiations, the Twins of the American League agree on a $500,000 indemnity payment to the American Association for entering the minor league's territory in Minnesota. The settlement paves the way for the team, formerly known as the Senators, to move from Washington, D.C., and play their home games in the Minnesota/St. Paul area.

    1976 - Charles Ruppert, Giants vice president and son-in-law of Horace Stoneham, announces the sale of the team to a Toronto group for $13.3 million. Outrage by the fans prompts San Francisco mayor George Moscone to get a preliminary injunction preventing the move.

    1984 - Braves pitcher Pascual Perez is arrested for coc@ine possession in his native Dominican Republic. Under local law he will remain in jail until his trial, forcing him to miss the beginning of the season. Perez maintains that he was given the packet by a woman he did not know and was unaware of what it contained.

    1989 - Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in their first year of eligibility. Bench and Yaz, who faced each other in the classic 1975 World Series, each spent their entire careers (40 years combined) with one club. Bench set new standards for catchers both offensively (348 home runs) and defensively (10 straight Gold Gloves). Yastrzemski hit 452 home runs, collected 3,308 hits, and won the 1967 Triple Crown.

    1990 - In their first year of eligibility, Jim Palmer (three-time AL Cy Young Winner) and Joe Morgan (two-time NL MVP) are elected to the Hall of Fame. The Orioles' right-hander compiled a 268-152 (.638) record while spending his entire 19-year career in Baltimore, and the diminutive second baseman, best known for his years with the Big Red Machine, finished his 22-year tenure in the big leagues with a batting average of .271 playing with five dfferent teams.

    1990 - A spring training lockout of major league players will begin February 15 unless there is a new agreement according to an announcement made by the owners. The work stoppage will last 32 days.

    2001 - The Expos agree to a one-year contract with RDS and TSN to telecast 55 games (46 on RDS, 12 on TSN and 3 on both) this year. The approximately $2 million pact with French-language Reseau des Sports ends the year-long local television blackout which resulted in the departure of Dave van Horne, a respected play-by-play announcer, and the loss of the team's main sponsor, Labatt Brewery, which cited the lack of local TV rights as a factor in ending its 15-year relationship with the club.

    2001 - Hoping to fill the void creating by Manny Ramirez's departure to Boston, the Indians sign Juan Gonzalez to a one-year, $10-million deal. After turning down a $143 million, eight-year extension with the Tigers last year, the two-time American League MVP leaves the Detroit after hitting .289 with only 67 RBIs in a disappointing injuried-plagued season.

    2002 - Signing a $27 million deal with the Astros, Billy Wagner becomes one of baseball's highest-paid relievers. The thirty-year old will get $8 million in each of the next three seasons with a $9 million club option for 2005 with a $3 million buyout.

    2002 - Postseason spark plug Craig Counsell (.275, 4, 38) signs a three-year, $7.25 million deal with the Diamondbacks. Cut by the Dodgers in 2000, the NLCS MVP played the infield in 141 games for the World Series champion Diamondbacks last season.

    2005 - Carlos Beltran (.267, 38, 104) becomes the tenth $100 million player in major league history when the 27-year old native of Puerto Rico agrees to a seven-year deal for $119 million with the Mets. The five-tool outfielder, who had his market value increase in the postseason by helping the Astros come within a win of their first World Series appearance in franchise history, goes to New York after Houston refuses to include a no-trade clause in their very attractive monetary offer to keep him on the club.

    2006 - The Baltimore Orioles traded Nate Spears and Carlos Perez to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Corey Patterson.

    2007 - The New York Yankees traded Randy Johnson and cash to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Alberto Gonzalez and Steven Jackson.

    2008 - The Mayo Smith Society names Magglio Ordonez as the winner of its annual King Tiger Award for his contributions on and off the field. The international organization for Detroit fans revived the honor in 2004, a tradition which was started and maintained by various fan clubs from 1961 to 1980.

    2009 - The Chicago Cubs signed Milton Bradley as a free agent.

    2012 - The Baseball Writers’ Association of America elects former Reds' infielder Barry Larkin as its only player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in July. The Cincinnati shortstop, who received 86.4 percent of the scribes' votes, will be joined by Ron Santo, who was selected posthumously last month by the Golden Era committee.

    2012 - The Chicago White Sox signed Hector Gimenez as a free agent.

    2014 - The Chicago White Sox signed Dylan Axelrod as a free agent.

    2014 - The Tampa Bay Rays signed Jayson Nix as a free agent.

    2015 - The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Charlie Leesman as a free agent.




    Baseball Birthdays on January 9...

    1860 - Olin, Frank
    1868 - Payne, Harley
    1872 - Cross, Lem
    1876 - Wolfe, Barney
    1882 - Bliss, Jack
    1887 - Hoch, Harry
    1888 - Carmichael, Chet
    1892 - Lee, Billy
    1894 - Townsend, Ira
    1895 - French, Ray
    1897 - Keefe, Dave
    1899 - Conroy, Bill
    1900 - Barnes, Frank
    1911 - Tyack, Jim
    1916 - Stanceu, Charley
    1917 - Echols, Johnny
    1918 - Anderson, Ferrell
    1919 - Sproull, Charlie
    1924 - Hall, John
    1931 - Dietzel, Roy
    1935 - Duliba, Bob
    1936 - Navarro, Julio
    1936 - Terry, Ralph
    1939 - Grilli, Guido
    1944 - Thoenen, Dick
    1952 - Hopkins, Don
    1952 - Wallis, Joe
    1953 - DeJesus, Ivan
    1953 - Mankowski, Phil
    1955 - Rockett, Pat
    1958 - Bordley, Bill
    1959 - Nixon, Otis
    1964 - Javier, Stan
    1968 - Kramer, Tom
    1969 - Jean, Domingo
    1970 - Mathews, T.J.
    1972 - Powell, Jay
    1973 - Holbert, Aaron
    1975 - Cloude, Ken
    1978 - Fossum, Casey
    1982 - Pena, Tony
    1983 - Boggs, Brandon
    1983 - Dolsi, Freddy
    1983 - Funneman, Tyler
    1984 - Richardson, Dustin
    1989 - Molina, Nestor
    1991 - Guerrero, Tayron
    1995 - Moya, Gabriel



    Baseball Deaths on January 9...

    1900 - Kessler, Henry
    1913 - Crosby, George
    1924 - Hodson, George
    1934 - Werden, Perry
    1939 - Pelouze, Louis
    1941 - Smith, Fred
    1948 - Jahn, Art
    1949 - McIntire, Harry
    1953 - Carney, Pat
    1954 - Shelton, Skeeter
    1957 - Gleason, Billy
    1968 - Strelecki, Ed
    1970 - Collins, Ray
    1971 - Flick, Elmer
    1973 - Lary, Lyn
    1973 - Cypert, Al
    1975 - Fullerton, Curt
    1975 - Cruise, Walton
    1979 - Haines, Hinkey
    1983 - Palmer, Eddie
    1983 - Spence, Stan
    1989 - Terry, Bill
    1990 - Chandler, Spud
    1994 - Temple, Johnny
    1996 - Tremper, Overton
    1996 - Freed, Roger
    2003 - Landrum, Don
    2005 - Mabe, Bob
    2007 - Callahan, Ben
    2009 - Roberts, Dave
    2009 - Williams, Frank
    2011 - Sisler, Dave
    2015 - Locke, Chuck
    2016 - Rautzhan, Lance