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- February 20 (new)
February 20 (new)
Billy Ball comes to Oakland - February 20
TODAY ON THE DAILY HIGHLIGHT
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Willie Mays becomes the game’s highest paid player
February 20, 1963 — After leading the Giants to the pennant, Willie Mays becomes the game’s presently highest paid player, signing a $100,000 contract, a ten-thousand dollar increase from last season. The 31 year-old outfielder, who slugged a major league-leading 49 home runs last year, joins Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams in inking a six-figure deal.
Game of the DayGame 7 1952 World Series
New York Yankees vs Brooklyn Dodgers,
Billy Martin makes a game saving catch!
Did you know?
February 20, 1962, New York Mets Manager Casey Stengel announces 65-year old Rogers Hornsby will be the New York Meta hitting instructor and third base coach. Hornsby batted .424 for the 1924 St Louis Cardinals and hit over 400 for five seasons and unmatched mark in history. The ‘62 Mets posted a team batting average of .240 and Hornsby will pass away in 1963 less than a year later.
🎙️ Classic Baseball Moment of the Day! 🎙️
Don Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history?
With Classic Baseball Broadcasts, you can relive these legendary moments through the actual radio calls that made history!
Relive baseball history, one play at a time. Dive into the archives and feel the magic of baseball’s golden era.
Trivia:
Billy Martin managed five teams (and ironically he had 5 stinks as the Yankee manager) which team did he have the highest career winning % with?
Oakland
Detroit
New York
Minnesota
Texas
Hint: The answer is below
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
February 20, 1923 - Future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson becomes president and owner of the Boston Braves. Mathewson purchases the team for $300,000 with New York attorney Judge Emil Fuchs and Bostonian James McDonough. The deal does not include Braves Field, which still belongs to James Gaffney. There are also 85 minority stockholders.
February 20, 1963 — The Chicago Cubs put an end to their radical “College of Coaches” system and hire Bob Kennedy as manager. Under Kennedy, the Cubs will sport a respectable record of 82-80 this season.
February 20, 1980 — The Oakland Athletics sign Billy Martin to a two-year contract for $125,000 as manager. Martin, who was fired by the Yankees only four months earlier, will popularize the notion of “Billy Ball” with the A’s and lead the team to a split-season crown in 1981. He will compile a 215-218 record and destroy the young arms of several would be long term starting pitchers. His style also allowed Ricky Henderson to run free on the bases and set the all-time record for stolen bases in a season.
Quote of the day:
"All I know is, I pass people on the street these days and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye."
- oft-cited quote by Billy Martin as Yankee manager
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys
Bill Gullickson, Clyde McCullough, Frankie Gustin, Jim Wilson, Roy Face, Sam Rice, Tom Buskey and tommy Henric
Debuts
None today
Final Games
None Today
Passings
Bill Rigney, Casey Wise, Curt Gowdy, Joe Gibbon, Kevin Collins, Stan Williams and Sly Johnson
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Trivia Answer: Minnesota .599, New York .591, he also finished in first place with every team he managed except Texas. Overall he won 55% of his games, 2 Pennants and 1 World Series as a manager.
