Portal:Baseball/Anniversaries/February 19
Events
- 1892 - Dan Brouthers signs a contract to play with the Brooklyn Grooms. It will be his fifth team in five years.
- 1935 - Lou Gehrig signs a contract with the New York Yankees for $30,000, $7,000 less than he asked for, but still making him the highest-paid player.
- 1942 - Hal Trosky retires from baseball.
- 1953 - Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet after flying a combat mission in Korea. The plane was hit by enemy fire.
- 1957 - The Kansas City Athletics trade Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan, Clete Boyer, Curt Roberts and Wayne Belardi to the Yankees for Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman, Jack Urban, Irv Noren, Billy Hunter and Milt Graff.
- 1970 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the 3-month suspension of Detroit Tigers Denny McLain, effective April 1, for McLain's alleged involvement in a bookmaking operation.
- 1977 - The Oakland A's sell Paul Lindblad to the Texas Rangers for $400,000.
- 1983 - Fernando Valenzuela wins his salary arbitration case with the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first player to win a $1 million salary through that process.
- 1987 - After signing a contract as a free agent with the A's less than a month earlier, Vida Blue unexpectedly retires from baseball.
- 1988 - The San Diego Padres sign veteran Dickie Thon, released by Houston a month earlier.
Births
- 1853 - George Miller, catcher (d. 1929)
- 1855 - John Morrill, infielder, manager (d. 1932)
- 1883 - Harry Curtis, catcher (d. 1951)
- 1890 - Larry Chappell, outfielder (d. 1918)
- 1891 - Weldon Wyckoff, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1898 - Uke Clanton, infielder (d. 1960)
- 1900 - John Kane, infielder (d. 1956)
- 1900 - Oscar Roettger, infielder (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Dick Siebert, infielder; All-Star (d. 1978)
- 1917 - Chuck Aleno, infielder (d. 2003)
- 1917 - Hub Kittle, coach (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Dave Niehaus, broadcaster; Hall of Famer
- 1935 - Russ Nixon, catcher, manager
- 1938 - Bob Sadowski, pitcher
- 1939 - Jackie Moore, catcher, manager
- 1939 - Jim Weaver, pitcher
- 1940 - Bill Kelso, pitcher
- 1943 - Gail Hopkins, infielder
- 1944 - Chris Zachary, pitcher (d. 2003)
- 1951 - Walt Jocketty, general manager
- 1957 - Dave Stewart, pitcher; All-Star
- 1959 - Keith Atherton, pitcher
- 1959 - Tim Burke, pitcher; All-Star
- 1962 - Álvaro Espinoza, infielder
- 1965 - Wayne Rosenthal, pitcher
- 1967 - Keith Kessinger, infielder
- 1971 - Miguel Batista, pitcher
- 1974 - Juan Díaz, infielder/designated hitter
- 1982 - Chris Stewart, catcher
Deaths
- 1888 - Live Oak Taylor, outfielder (b. 1851)
- 1947 - Hooks Warner, infielder (b. 1894)
- 1948 - Bob Groom, pitcher (b. 1884)
- 1956 - Ray Demmitt, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1961 - Red Smith, infielder (b. 1900)
- 1969 - Doc White, pitcher (b. 1879)
- 1974 - Frank Miller, pitcher (b. 1886)
- 1977 - Mike González, catcher, manager (b. 1890)
- 1978 - Phil Paine, pitcher (b. 1930)
- 1981 - Sam Barnes, infielder (b. 1899)
- 1983 - Frank Colman, outfielder (b. 1918)
- 1984 - Bill Shores, pitcher (b. 1904)
- 1996 - Charlie Finley, owner (b. 1918)
- 2008 - Bob Howsam, general manager (b. 1918)