1. materials characteristic of baseball and the culture of baseball; 2. collectible baseball Americana
2002
New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada signs a five-year contract with the club. Terms of the pact are not announced, but Posada was asking $7.75 million in arbitration, which would have made the 30-year-old the second best-paid catcher in MLB history.
1962
San Francisco Giants star and all-time great Willie Mays signs the largest contract in MLB, reportedly $90,000 for the 1962 season. Mays will earn it all in 1962, when he hits .304 with 49 home runs and 141 RBI, helping the Giants win the National League pennant.
1935
The Washington Senators receive pitcher Bump Hadley from the St. Louis Browns in a trade for catcher Luke Sewell, who is passed on to the Chicago White Sox. Sewell will be an All-Star in 1937.
1972
The BBWAA elects Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, and Early Wynn to the Hall of Fame. One year earlier, the writers had failed to elect anyone to the Hall. Koufax makes it in his first try and, at 36 years of age, is the youngest honoree in history.
2001
Free agent Jose Canseco agrees to terms with the Angels. The incentive-laden contract ranges from $200,000 to $5 million based on plate appearances as a DH. He is released March 28, but will get into 76 games with the White Sox for his final MLB season.
1963
For the thirteenth and final time in his career, #Braves left-hander and future Hall of Famer, Warren Spahn, has a twenty-win season as he beats the #Phillies, 3 – 2. #HOF
1961
Los Angeles’s Lee Thomas ties the #MLB record with nine hits in a doubleheader, five in the first game and 4, including three home runs, in the second. Thomas ties the American League record with 19 total bases in a doubleheader. But Kansas City’s #Athletics win both games from the #Angels, 7 – 3 and 13 – 12.
…Continue readingOn This Day: September 5
1965
The #Cubs beat the #Cardinals, 5 – 3, at Wrigley Field, as Ernie Banks hits his 400th home run off Curt Simmons in the 3rd. Simmons served up the 400th home run of Willie Mays in 1963. Banks will end the season with 28 home runs and 106 RBI.
1958
Dick Stuart’s two-run, tie-breaking 450-foot homer puts Pittsburgh over the Chicago #Cubs, 4 – 2. Stuart’s clout, along with an earlier two-run blast by Bill Mazeroski, takes the surging #Pirates to their 20th win in 28 games, moving them from last place on July 22nd to third place.
1954
In a throwing contest between Jimmy Piersall and Willie Mays before a #RedSox-#Giants charity game, Piersall hurts his arm. He leaves the game midway. He wakes up the next day with a sore arm that stays with him a year, and he will never throw quite as well again.
