MLB History
1935 – Lou Gehrig signs a contract with the Yankees worth a reported $30,000.
1937 – The New York Giants open their spring training camp in Havana, Cuba.
1953 – Ted Williams safely crash-lands his Panther Jet after flying a combat mission in Korea.
1970 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the suspension of Tigers pitcher Denny McLain for his involvement in a bookmaking operation. The suspension will begin April 1 and will last for three months.
1977 – The A’s sell pitcher Paul Lindblad to the Rangers for $400,000, calling into question Bowie Kuhn’s policy on the selling of players. Kuhn had previously voided the A’s sale of players in 1976 as “not in the best interest of baseball,” but did not specify the maximum mount in a player sale.
1983 – Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration case with the Dodgers. Valenzuela is the first player to be awarded a $1 million salary through the arbitration process.
1987 – Vida Blue announces his retirement from baseball a month after signing a free agent contract with Oakland.
1995 – The Toronto Blue Jays assign manager Cito Gaston and his coaching staff to work with minor league players until the strike is settled.
2002 – 37-year old Jose Canseco signs a minor league deal with the Montreal Expos. However, he will be released before the end of spring training.
2016 – The FBI arrests agent Bart Hernandez on charges of human trafficking and conspiracy stemming from his association with two convicted fraudsters and their role in extorting large amounts of money from Cuban players seeking to defect to the United States. A lawsuit filed by Leonys Martin prompted the investigation.
2018 – The Red Sox sign J.D. Martinez to a five-year, $110 million contract.
2019 – Manny Machado signs the largest free agent contract in history by agreeing to a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.