Braves Franchise History
2008 – Javy Lopez announces his retirement. Lopez hit 260 home runs in his career and set the single-season home run record for catchers with 43 in 2003. He appeared in over 1,100 games with Atlanta while hitting .287/.337/.491 with 260 home runs. He had stints with Baltimore and Boston after leaving Atlanta.
2012 – Chipper Jones announces that he will retire at the end of the season.
MLB History
1962 – A former member of the New York Giants says that Bobby Thomson’s home run was aided by a sign-stealing clubhouse spy. The accuser says that the spying has gone on for the last three months of the season. Thomson and Giants manager Le Durocher denied the claim.
1963 – The New York Mets acquire pitcher Carl Willey from the Milwaukee Braves. New York will improve from a 40-120 record in their inaugural season to 51-111 in their second season.
1972 – The American League approves the sale of the Cleveland Indians to a group headed by businessman Nick Mileti for a reported $9.7 million.
1981 – American League President Lee MacPhail suspends Orioles manager Earl Weaver for removing his team from the field and forfeiting a spring training game against the Royals. Weaver was upset that the umpires did not provide him with an official batting order after Kansas City made several substitutions. His suspension will last three days.
1990 – Major League umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games after not having been consulted on the revision of the regular season schedule following the lockout. They will return to work on April 1.
2002 – Dante Bichette announces his retirement. Bichette, who is 38-years old, had been competing for a spot on the Dodgers bench.
2010 – The Minnesota Twins signed catcher Joe Mauer to an eight-year, $184 million contract.
2011 – Greg Anderson refuses to testify at Barry Bonds’ perjury trial.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.
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