Cooperstown gets a little bit larger with the addition of three legendary players from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
MLB History
1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.
1947: The Tigers sell first baseman Hank Greenberg to the Pirates.
1950: Bob Feller voluntarily takes a pay cut after going 15-14 in 1949. Cleveland obliges and slashes his salary from $45,000 to $20,000.
1952: The White Sox accept the resignation of general manager Charlie A. Comiskey Jr. After his request for a raise was turned down.
1969: The Washington Senators name Ted Williams as their new manager. Williams will receive a five-year deal and a reported salary of $75,000 per season. He will guide the Senators to an 86-76 record which is the best mark in the franchise’s history in Washington.
1973: The Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda to serve as their DH for the upcoming season. Boston is the first team to sign a player specifically for the role of DH, which is a new rule that will go in effect in the upcoming season.
2002: Scott Rolen avoids arbitration with the Phillies by agreeing to a one-year, $8.6 million deal. It is the largest contract in team history.
2012: The Rangers sign pitcher Yu Darvish to a six-year deal worth $60 million. The Rangers will pay a record $51.7 million posting fee bringing the total for Darvish’s services to $112 million.
2015: Max Scherzer agrees to a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Nationals.
2016: The Tigers agree to a six-year, $132.75 million deal with free agent outfielder Justin Upton.
2017: Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. Bagwell makes it in on his seventh ballot, while Raines was in his 10th and final year. Rodriguez clears the 75% threshold on his first try.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to make it worth your while, here’s the legend of Greg Maddux and Jeff Bagwell.]
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.