Author: Bill Grimes

I'm from Chicago. I worked in broadcast journalism for much of the 1970's and 80's. In 1990 I became a litigation consultant, retiring in 2017. Around 2005 I recall flipping through the sports section of the newspaper coming across "On this day in baseball history Willie Mays hit his 600th home run." I enjoyed the one-liners, but I wanted more. I wanted a story. I took my news reporting skills and started researching and telling baseball stories, one for every day of the year. TodayinBaseball.com is the result.

DEC 29 – The Bithorn Mystery

DECEMBER 29, 1951 | EL MANTE, MEXICO • It was a mystery then. It’s a mystery today. A one-time rising star for the Chicago Cubs was shot and killed in El Mante (Ciudad, Mante in Spanish) Mexico on this date in 1951.

Thirty-five year old Hi Bithorn, a native of Puerto Rico, was playing in the Mexican Winter League trying to make a comeback when he was killed.

According to an article written by Jane Allen Quevedo for the Society of American Baseball Research, the Bithorn family believes Officer Cano’s motive for shooting Bithorn was because he wanted to steal his car.

According to several articles in The Chicago Tribune in the days after the shooting, Bithorn was broke and trying to sell a car for cash. El Mante policeman Ambrosio Castillo Cano asked Bithorn for the car’s registration papers. There was an altercation and Bithorn was shot in the stomach. Cano said Bithorn attacked him.

According to an article written by Jane Allen Quevedo for the Society of American Baseball Research, the Bithorn family believes Officer Cano’s motive for shooting Bithorn was because he wanted to steal his car.

For some unknown reason, Bithorn was driven to a hospital more than 80 miles away. He died enroute. Cano was charged with homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Bithorn was a shining star early in his career. He came up with the Chicago Cubs in 1942. He won 18 games in ’43, including a league leading 7 shutouts. It was the midst of World War II and Uncle Sam called. He missed the 1944 and ’45 seasons.

The luster Bithorn showed before entering the military wasn’t there when he got out in 1946. He bounced around the majors for a couple years, pitching two innings for the Chicago White Sox in 1947 until a sore arm put him out of action. He would never pitch in the major leagues again.

His attempt at a comeback in the Mexican Winter League ended violently, but the Bithorn mystery lives on. The largest baseball stadium in Puerto Rico is named after Hi Bithorn.

Contributing sources:
The Chicago Tribune, January 1-5, 1952
Hi Bithorn stats

DEC 28: BLOCKBUSTER trade

DEC 28, 1994 | HOUSTON, TEXAS / SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA • The Houston Astros and San Diego Padres closed the deal on one of the biggest trades in baseball history on this date in 1994. Twelve players, 6 from each team, switched uniforms.

Among the big names involved, the Padres got third-baseman Ken Caminiti and outfielder Steve Finley. The Astros got outfielder Derek Bell and a young pitcher by the name of Pedro Martinez. More in a moment.

Unfortunately for Houston, the promising young Pedro Martinez they got from San Diego was Pedro A. Martinez, not Pedro J. Martinez.

The Padres got the better part of the deal. Caminiti had some solid years with the Astros, but his best years were in San Diego. The same for Steve Finley. His best years were after he left Houston.

The Astros got several productive years out of Derek Bell after getting him from San Diego. Unfortunately for Houston, the promising young Pedro Martinez they got from San Diego was Pedro A. Martinez, not Pedro J. Martinez.

Pedro J. is the Pedro Martinez who went on to win 219 games, 3 Cy Young awards, appear in 2 World Series, winning 1, and make 8 All-star teams.

The Pedro Martinez Houston got from San Diego on this date in 1994 didn’t win or save a single game for the Astros. He retired in 1998 at the age of 28.

From Houston to San Diego 
Ken Caminiti
Steve Finley
Andujar Cedeno
Roberto Petagine
Brian Williams

From San Diego to Houston
Derek Bell
Pedro A. Martinez
Phil Plantier
Doug Brocail
Ricky Gutierrez
Craig Shipley

Contributing sources:
The New York Times, December 29, 1994, by Murray Chase
Baseball-Reference.com
9 biggest baseball trades

December 12: NL wanted DH first

DECEMBER 12, 1928 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – The designated hitter [DH], that polarizing rule the American League loves and the National League hates, was initially suggested on this date in 1928, more than 90 years ago! But the tables were most distinctly turned.

National League… yes, National League… president John Heydler pushed the idea at the 1928 winter meetings in Chicago because, “the public has tired of the endless shifts in lineups due to the inability of pitchers to hit.” Heydler went on to tell his fellow owners, “The average pitcher not only is helpless at bat, but when they happen to get to base they are not inclined to run. They want to conserve their energy for pitching purposes.”

American League owners got a big laugh from the idea. “After laughing themselves sick,” Edward Burns wrote in the next day’s Chicago Daily Tribune, “the magnates went on record as being officially against the idea.” The idea was the designated hitter, the “DH,” although at the time it was referred to as the “Ten-Man Team” rule.

How ironic that 45 years later, in 1973, the American League would enact the DH and the National League would want nothing to do with it.

Contributing sources:
“Magnates give Heydler idea a great big laugh,” by Edward Burns, Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 13, 1928
“Heydler tells details of ‘Ten Man Team’ idea,” by Irving Vaughan, Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 15, 1928

OCT 28, 1979: BILLY & THE MARSHMELLOW SALESMAN

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Billy Martin was fired as manager of the New York Yankees on this date after getting into a fight with a marshmellow salesman. It was the second time he got fired by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Martin would be fired and re-fired three more times by Steinbrenner before his managerial career ended.

Martin liked to fight as a player too. He had several well-publicized altercations. There was a brawl at the Copacabana Nightclub in Manhattan involving several other Yankees. Martin was soon let go from the Yankees for being a bad influence.

He charged the mound at Wrigley Field in Chicago one day in 1960 while playing for the Cincinnati Reds. He thought Chicago Cubs pitcher Jim Brewer was throwing at him. Brewer ended up in the hospital with a broken cheekbone.

Martin also had fights with, among others, Jimmy Piersall, Tommy Lasorda, Dave Boswell, and he had to be held back from getting into a fight with his own player, Reggie Jackson.

Martin showed brilliance as a manager. In 16 seasons he won 5 division championships, 2 pennants and 1 World Series, but his erratic behavior – fueled mostly by drinking too much – didn’t keep him at the helm of any team very long.

Martin was killed on in a single-vehicle accident after leaving a bar near his home on Christmas Day 1989.

Contributing sources:
New York Times, October 29, 1979
Billy battled opponents, himself, by Nick Acocella, Special to ESPN.com

Oct 7, 1969: Curt Flood remembered for what he would not do

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – Curt Flood was a pretty good baseball player. He broke in with the St. Louis Cardinals at the age of 18. He had a .293 lifetime batting average and won several Gold Glove awards. Flood did a lot for the Cardinals. He is most remembered for what he would not do.

Flood was traded from St. Louis to the Philadelphia Phillies on this date in 1969. He wouldn’t go. Flood didn’t like that he had no control over where he played. If a team traded a player to another team, that’s where the player went. That was the essence of the “reserve clause.” Flood balked, “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.”

Flood’s case against the reserve clause went all the way to the U-S Supreme Court. While the court ruled against Flood in 1972, the decision altered the landscape which soon allowed much freedom of movement by the players – and much higher salaries.

Contributing Sources:helping
Kurt Flood https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/floodcu01.shtml
“Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball” by Leonard Koppett