On November 3 in Baseball History... 1926 - Ty Cobb resigns as Tigers manager and announces his retirement from the game. Umpire and former Tigers infielder George Moriarty replaces him. Moriarty is the first man to hold baseball's four principal jobs: player, umpire, scout, and manager.
1934 - Although Lou Gehrig wins the Triple Crown with 49 home runs, 165 RBI, and a .363 average, Mickey Cochrane, with two home runs, 76 RBI, and a.320 average, is named American League Most Valuable Player. Dizzy Dean, with a 30-7 record, is chosen as National League Most Valuable Player.
1942 - Ted Williams is the Triple Crown winner in the major leagues, but the writers select second baseman Joe Gordon by 21 votes as American League Most Valuable Player. Gordon of the New York Yankees leads the American League with 95 strikeouts, the most ground balls hit into double plays (22), and the most errors at his position (28). Pitcher Mort Cooper gets the Most Valuable Player honor in the National League.
1953 - The Rules Committee re-establishes the sacrifice fly ruling which credits a batter with a RBI who flies out driving in a run without charging the hitter with a time at bat. The rule had been dropped in 1939.
1960 - Vern Law, who was 20-9 with 18 complete games for the National League champion Pirates, is voted Cy Young Award winner. Warren Spahn finishes second.
1964 - Philadelphia voters approve a $25 million bond issue to build a new sport stadium. Due to cost overruns, a 1967 measure will be needed to authorize an additional $13 million bringing the final price tag to approximately $50 million, making Veterans Stadium one of the most expensive ballparks ever built.
1965 - In a winter league game, A's pitcher Lew Krausse strikes out a record 21 Lara batters as he tosses a one-hitter for Caracas.
1965 - In a unanimous vote, Sandy Koufax (26-8, 2.04, 382) wins the Cy Young Award. The Dodger southpaw also received the honor in 1963 and will be named again next season.
1967 - Boston's Jim Lonborg, who was 22-9 with 246 strikeouts for the American League champions, is named American League Cy Young Award winner.
1968 - Long time Cardinal announcer Harry Caray is struck by a car on a rain-slicked night in St. Louis. The popular personality, who will be ticketed for crossing in the middle of the street, suffers fractures in both legs, a broken and dislocated shoulder, as well as facial lacerations.
1970 - Curt Flood is traded by the Phillies to the Senators for three minor leaguers. The embattled outfielder had refused to go to Philadelphia after the 1969 trade from the Cardinals citing he was not a piece of property to be sold, becoming the first player to seriously challenge the reserve cause.
1970 - Bob Gibson wins the National League Cy Young Award by a 118-51 margin over Gaylord Perry of the Giants. Gibson posted a 23-7 record for the Cardinals.
1971 - In front of a crowd gathered on the U.S. Capitol steps, Pennsylvania lawmakers Hugh Scott and Richard South Schweiker collect their World Series wager made with their fellow senators from Maryland, Charles Mathias Junior and J. Glenn Beall, Jr. As winners of a bet made on the 1971 Fall Classic between the Orioles and Pirates, the two Keystone State senators victorously ride elephants as the losers lead and feed the pachyderms peanuts while carrying shovels to clean the street, if necessary.
1979 - The AL and NL all-star teams depart on an exhibition tour of Japan. The National League squad will take four of seven from the American League counterparts, but the teams will combine to split a pair of games with the Japanese all-stars.
1981 - Brewers reliever Rollie Fingers (28 saves, 1.04 ERA) wins the American League Cy Young Award, collecting 22 of 28 possible first-place votes. The other six go to Oakland's Steve McCatty.
1982 - Pete Vuckovich becomes Milwaukee's second consecutive American League Cy Young Award winner, edging Jim Palmer. Vuckovich (18-6 with a 3.34 ERA for the Brewers) has the highest winning percentage in the majors over the past two seasons.
1987 - Oakland first baseman Mark McGwire, who hit forty-nine home runs, wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award. McGwire is the second player to win that league's award unanimously (Carlton Fisk was the first in 1972).
1988 - The White Sox name Jeff Torborg to replace Jim Fregosi as the team's manager. Chicago's new skipper, who will be named the American League Manager of the Year in 1990, will see his club finish second twice during his three-year tenure in the Windy City, before leaving the team for a short-lived position managing the Mets. 1989 - Lou Piniella is named manager of the Reds, replacing the banned Pete Rose.
1992 - The Reds trade Paul O'Neill and Joe DeBerry, a minor leaguer, to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly. The deal works well for the Bronx Bombers as the popular outfielder will become a team leader playing an vital role in four World Series championships before he retires prior to the 2002 season.
1997 - Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra is the sixth player to be the unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year. Garciaparra, twenty-four, led the American League in hits (209), triples (11), and multi-hit games (68), while also setting the American League rookie record with a 30-game hitting streak.
1999 - In a nine-player deal, the Rangers trade super star Juan Gonzalez along with pitcher Danny Patterson and catcher Greg Zaun to the Tigers for pitchers Justin Thompson, Alan Webb and Francisco Cordero, outfielder Gabe Kapler, catcher Bill Haselman and infielder Frank Catalanotto.
2000 - After being turned down by Yankees third base coach Willie Randolph and their own third base coach, Ron Oester, because of below market contract offers, the Reds hire Bob Boone as manager replacing Jack McKeon. The former catcher and present special assistant to general manager Jim Bowden had a 181-206 record as manager of the Royals.
2001 - In Game 6, the Diamondbacks get 21 hits in the first six innings against the Yankees to set a record for hits in a World Series game. The previous record of 20 was established by the 1921 Giants (Game 3 vs Yankees) and the 1946 Cardinals (Game 4 vs Red Sox).
2003 - ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine will return to Japan to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines, the club which fired himafter a solid second-place finish in 1995. The former Mets and Ranger skipper signs a three-year deal with an option for two more years worth an estimated $6.4 million.
2005 - SBC announces the San Francisco home of the Giants will getting its third name in three years. The corporation will adopt the better known AT&T brand for its identity as the result of the likely merger of the two companies planned for later this year.
2006 - In an effort to bring America's national pastime to a country which has a population of over 1.3 billion potential fans, MLB officials announce an office will be opened in China to help promote the game. The possibility of the sport playing a regular-season opener in Beijing is raised by Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.
2006 - Greg Maddux wins his sixteenth Gold Glove award, tying the mark held by former Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson and pitcher Jim Kaat for the most ever won by one player. The Braves right-hander will extend the major league mark to 18 when managers and coaches again select him in 2007 and 2008 as the best fielding pitcher in the National League.
2008 - Ruben Amaro Jr., the team's assistant GM for a decade, is named to replace Pat Gillick as the general manager of the recently crowned World Champion Phillies. The former bat boy signs a three-year deal to run the club five days after Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay in the Fall Classic to win its second title in franchise history.
2008 - The Brewers exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron (.243, 25, 70). The 35-year old three-time Gold Glove outfielder committed only one error in 119 starts for the Brew Crew last season.
2009 - George W. Bush throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Yomiuri Giants' 7-4 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters in Game 3 of the Japan Series. The former American president, who bounces the ball in the dirt before it is snagged, enjoys the game in a private box with former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, home run king Sadaharu Oh, and John Roos, the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
2009 - At Citizens Bank Park, Chase Utley ties Reggie Jackson’s 1977 record with his fifth home run of the World Series, going deep twice in the Phillies' 8-6 victory over the Yankees in Game 5. The Philadelphia second baseman becomes the second player to have two multi-homer games in the Fall Classic joining Royals' outfielder Willie Aikens who accomplished the feat against the Phillies in 1980.
2010 - Reminiscent of the scene when the team moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958, tens of thousands of Giants fans pay homage to their heroes as the city celebrates the accomplishment of the World Champions with a ticker-tape parade. First baseman Aubrey Huff delights the fans at Civic Center by pulling out his “rally thong” while addressing a raucous crowd at Civic Center.
2013 - Brad Ausmus, who has never managed or coached a professional baseball team, is introduced as the Tigers new skipper, replacing veteran manager Jim Leyland. The 44-year-old Dartmouth graduate, a former all-star catcher just three years past his playing career, signs a three-year contract with a team option for the 2017 season.
2014 - The Chicago White Sox claimed J.B. Shuck from the Cleveland Indians on waivers.
2016 - The Chicago White Sox released Daniel Webb.
Baseball Birthdays on November 3... 1856 - McCormick, Jim
1860 - Trumbull, Ed
1863 - Hanna, John
1866 - Staley, Harry
1871 - Hayner, John
1875 - Geier, Phil
1876 - Rockenfield, Ike
1878 - Clarkson, Walter
1881 - Baldwin, O.F.
1881 - Hickey, Jack
1885 - Lennox, Ed
1886 - Southwick, Clyde
1886 - Fisher, Bob
1890 - Kopf, Larry
1895 - Willson, Kid 1895 - Walkup, Jim
1898 - Summa, Homer
1908 - Phillips, Red
1917 - Gilmore, Len
1917 - Hodkey, Eli
1918 - Feller, Bob
1919 - Jorgensen, Spider
1921 - Flager, Wally
1927 - Richards, Fred
1936 - Robinson, Earl
1936 - Herrscher, Rick
1945 - Holtzman, Ken
1945 - Johnson, Jim
1946 - Hill, Garry
1946 - Heintzelman, Tom
1948 - Kreuger, Rick
1951 - Evans, Dwight
1953 - Herndon, Larry
1953 - Thompson, Bobby
1955 - Corey, Mark
1956 - Welch, Bob
1962 - Corbett, Sherman
1963 - Christopher, Mike
1968 - Quantrill, Paul
1969 - Robinson, Kenny
1971 - Young, Danny
1971 - Lawton, Matt
1972 - Benitez, Armando
1978 - Martinez, Anastacio
1984 - Dickson, Brandon
1984 - Herrera, Jonathan
1986 - Wilson, Alex
1987 - Seager, Kyle
1987 - Tepera, Ryan
1988 - Moncrief, Carlos
1990 - Younginer, Madison
Baseball Deaths on November 3... 1892 - Smith, Edgar
1925 - Frock, Sam
1938 - Dorsey, Jerry
1938 - Scott, Milt
1945 - Smith, Elmer
1946 - Taylor, Ben
1951 - Hovlik, Joe
1952 - Smith, Frank 1953 - Chapman, John
1955 - Merritt, John
1956 - Jones, John
1958 - Sand, Heinie
1958 - Eubank, John
1960 - Wallace, Bobby
1961 - Maguire, Freddie
1968 - Stephens, Vern 1970 - Kellett, Red
1972 - Voyles, Phil
1974 - Wood, Doc
1976 - Brazill, Frank
1981 - Jurisich, Al
1982 - Fisher, Ray
1986 - Middleton, John
1990 - Russell, Jack
1992 - Berger, Boze 1992 - Van Cuyk, Chris
1997 - Brown, Bud
2011 - Alou, Matty
2011 - Forsch, Bob