UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Category: ARCHIVE
DEC 8 – Yanks trade HR king
DECEMBER 8, 1966 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK • On this date in 1966 Roger Maris, the man who broke Babe Ruth‘s single season home run record less than five years earlier, was traded from the New York Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for light-hitting infielder Charley Smith. The Yankees had just endured its first last place finish in 42 years
1966 American League Standings
W L
Baltimore 97 63
Minnesota 89 73
Detroit 88 74
Chicago 83 79
Cleveland 81 81
California 80 82
Kansas City 74 86
Washington 71 88
Boston 72 90
New York 70 89
General Manager Lee MacPhail was determined to shake things up. He traded starting third-baseman Clete Boyer to the Atlanta Braves ten days earlier.
Roger Maris didn’t tear up the National League for the Cardinals in ’67 (.261, 9 HR’s, 55 RBI), but the team won the World Series with him as its regular right fielder. Maris was a part-time right fielder in ’68 when the Cardinals again got to the World Series, losing to the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3. Maris retired after the ’68 season.
The Yankees didn’t get to the post-season for ten more years, making the playoffs in 1976, winning the World Series in 1977.
CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The New York Times, New York, NY, December 9, 1966
Roger Maris stats
DEC 1: Image change
DECEMBER 1, 1964 | HOUSTON, TEXAS • The Houston “Colt .45s” officially became the “Astros” on this date in 1964. It was quite a change in image, from a symbol of the old west to the city’s modern image as home to NASA and the space program.
The new name coincided with the team’s new home, the world’s first ever indoor baseball stadium. It was initially called the Harris County Domed Stadium. It later became known as the Astrodome. It was also unofficially referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”
Playing baseball inside created problems during the 1965 inaugural season. The original design called for real grass. Sunlight was allowed in through semi-transparent synthetic glass panels in the dome so the grass would grow. But the players quickly discovered that the hundreds of panels created such a glare that they couldn’t see fly balls.
The solution was to paint over the synthetic glass panels, but then the grass wouldn’t grow. Hence, synthetic grass (Astroturf) was developed, but it took a while.
There were times during the 1965 baseball season when the grounds crew had to paint parts of the playing surface green because the grass had died off. It wasn’t until midway through the 1966 season that there was enough Astroturf to blanket the entire surface of the playing field.
Contributing source:
Astrodome
Nov 8: It’s the Shirts!
NOVEMBER 8, 2007 | ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ road to the 2008 World Series started on this date in 2007. More than 7,000 fans showed up at Straub Park in St. Petersburg on a Thursday in November to usher in the age of the Rays, no longer named for a sea creature, but for the ever-present bright light in the sky. There were a number of games during the 2007 regular season where the Devil Rays struggled to get 7,000 fans in the seats.
But this was a new day.
According to the St. Petersburg Times 18 Rays players and a couple former players showed off new uniforms with a new logo and a new name. The players, the manager and the fans were impressed. Veteran Devil Ray Carl Crawford told the Times, “It feels like a fresh start.” Manager Joe Maddon (current Chicago Cubs manager) said, “[They] have a classic look to them… you’re always looking for that symbolic moment to really move on to that next area… getting to the playoffs, et cetera.”
Et cetera ended up being the 2008 World Series. The Devil Rays won just 66 games in 2007 and came in last in the American League East. The following year the Rays with a new name and new uniforms won 97, knocked the White Sox and Red Sox out of the playoffs to get to the World Series, which they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 1.
CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
St. Petersburg Times, November 8, 2007
Nov 4: Tale of 2 franchises
NOVEMBER 4, 2016 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – The Chicago Cubs were welcomed home by millions on this date in 2016 after winning their first World Series Championship in 108 years.
How long is 108 years? Well, the last time the Cubs were the last team standing was 1908. The New York Yankees had yet to win their first World Series in 1908. In fact they weren’t even called the Yankees yet. They were known as the Highlanders.
Which shows how dominant the New York Yankees have been over the decades. Also on this date in 2009 the Yankees won their 27th World Series Championship.
Did you know the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series the Yankees had won none? In fact they weren’t even called the Yankees. They were the New York Highlanders in 1908.
CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2009_WS.shtml
Cubs post-season results