TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

March 18, 1985 -- Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Fame members Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by former commissioner Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos. Ueberroth's ruling will allow both men to pursue employment with major league teams.

'They are free as of today to be employed by baseball, and any type of restriction heretofore placed on them is removed,' Ueberroth said.

Mays was required to quit his job as a coach with the New York Mets in 1979 when he accepted a promotional position with the Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel. Mantle lost his position as a spring training batting instructor with the New York Yankees in 1983 when he was hired in a similar capacity by the Claridge Casino Hotel.

'I am very pleased to be back in baseball even though I didn't think I did anything wrong to leave baseball,' Mays said.

'Like Willie, I know we never did anything wrong,' Mantle added.

Mantle said Kuhn warned him before he accepted the Claridge job that he would have to quit his appearances with the Yankees.

'I have never said anything against him (Kuhn),' Mantle said. 'He warned me ... so I did it with my eyes wide open.'

Ueberroth said he 'found no fault' with Kuhn's strict policy and was only making two exceptions to the rule. But he said he was working on new guidelines concerning affiliations with gambling industries because 'the whole world of gambling is changing.'

Major hotel chains are branching into the casino business and a prohibition of baseball players from their employment would affect 'hundreds,' Ueberroth said.

Kuhn said he would not have lifted the bans had he still been the baseball commissioner, but he also said he understood the new position struck by his successor.

In todays world of FanDuels, Draftkings and gambling in every corner of sports and on every device it is hard to believe this happened to them.

I created a full walk through for you to take a peak at our membership site, Classic Baseball Broadcasts. Here is the link and it has several videos, how tos, what’s in side and a link to the 25 greatest moments you can listen too!

Todays highlights and Historic Days!

March 18, 1942 - Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training in Pasadena, California. Sox manager Jimmie Dykes allows the two to work out but later dismisses the Robinson will have to wait five years before making his major league debut. Dykes will let the two work out with team but will dismiss them, telling them that it was not his decision who could be signed and it will take five more years until Robinson breaks baseballs color barrier.

March 18, 1953 –“Braves Win Last Game for Boston, Milwaukee Loses It.”

When the Braves’ move from Boston is officially approved unanimously by the National League owners, the team is on the field, beating the Yankees in the fifth inning, 3–0. The club now representing Milwaukee, as of 2:33 PM, blows the lead, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Yankees in the Bradenton, Florida exhibition game.

The Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903, when the Baltimore Orioles became the New York Highlanders. The Braves have been in Boston, for 77 years. In a related move, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers move to Toledo, Ohio, where they become the latest incarnation of the Toledo Mud Hens.

The franchise will spend a dozen years in Milwaukee, setting attendance records and appearing in two World Series, before moving to Atlanta, lured by the promise of a brand new state of the art stadium in an area they would be the only big league club

Born: Friday, March 18, 1955 in Merced, CA USA . . . Dwayne Murphy his biggest offensive year came in 1984, when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 88 runs. He was one of the best defensive players in the game, winning six straight Gold Gloves from 1980 to 1985. His signature play became a trademark of sorts for him – his hat blowing off his head on virtually every play he made, from tracking down routine fly balls to making spectacular catches deep in center.

March 18, 1958 -- Emmett Kelly, the Dodgers' resident 'tramp' in Brooklyn, announces his contract has not been renewed to join the team when they begin playing in L.A. this season. The veteran circus performer believes the size of the Coliseum, the club's new home on the West Coast, is just "too big for one clown".

March 18 , 1962  - With Houston Is still three weeks away from it» debut in the National League and the crowds get bigger every week. An estimated 17.000 visited the sites of the Houston Colts’ temporary baseball stadium and the adjacent domed sports stadium, that will be called the Astro Dome, now under construction, Officials of the Colts invited folks out to look the place over after large crowds visited the area the previous two Sundays, Last week a policeman estimated the tournout at 8.500 to 9.000. Ben Gerhart of the police traffic division said most visitors took a look at the stadiums and left A few hundred stayed to hear a broadcast of Houston's Arizona exhibition game on the stadium speaker.

March 18, 1981 — After being declared a free agent because the Red Sox mailed his contract one day past the contractual deadline, Carlton Fisk signs a 5 year - $2.9 million deal with the White Sox. On Opening Day, the 33 year-old catcher will hit an eighth-inning three-run  home run to tie the score, 3-3, that proves to be the difference in Chicago’s eventual 5-3 victory over his old team at Fenway Park.

March 18, 1990 --  Major league players and owners reach a new collective bargaining agreement that will end the 32-day lockout of spring training camps. Highlights of the deal include increasing the clubs' contributions to the players' pension fund, raising the major league minimum salary to $100,000, and a compromise on salary arbitration that leaves 17 percent of players with between two and three years of major league experience eligible.

TRIVIA

TRIVIA: Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle are two of the greatest homerun hitters in MLB history. They played against each other twive in the World Series, in 1951 & 1962. How many total homeruns did they hit?  1,2 3,4, 5, 6,7, 8, or 0

IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!

Know someone who loves baseball like you do? Earn rewards by sharing the Rewind!

 ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA

YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: In 1945, Hal Newhouser became the only pitcher in MLB history to win back-to-back MVP awards. What was his combined win total over those two seasons?

Answer: 54 wins (29 in 1944 and 25 in 1945)

JOIN CLASSIC BASEBALL BROADCASTS TODAY

"Every story in today's newsletter has a broadcast behind it. They're all in the archive, exactly as they sounded on the radio the day they happened. Start your free 7-day trial and hear them tonight."

Get the FREE 7 day trial!