This Weekend in Baseball History

November 27th, 2012: Marvin Miller, the former Steelworkers Union official who turned the Major League Baseball Players Association into the most successful labor guild in the U.S., dies at age 95.  It would take another eight years before the man who reinvented the labor-management relationship in pro sports would be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

November 27th, 1991: The Mets sign 1st baseman Eddie Murray as a free agent. Though he averages 22 homers and 96 RBIs the next two seasons, the Mets never come close to a playoff spot or the .500 mark.


November 27th, 1985: Vince Coleman, who stole 110 bases for the pennant-winning Cardinals, is unanimously named National League Rookie of the Year.


November 27th, 1974: Bake McBride of the Cardinals is named the National League Rookie of hte Year.


November 27th, 1974: Yankee owner George Steinbrenner gets a two-year suspension from commissioner Bowie Kuhn for making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and others.


November 27th, 1972: In what turned into one of the Yankees most one-sided trades of the decade, New York sends Jerry Kenny, Rusty Torres and Charlie Spikes to the Indians for backup catcher Jerry Moses and Graig Nettles, who becomes a star 3rd baseman on two World Series championship teams.


November 27th, 1967: Six weeks after the Mets announced they'd hired Gil Hodges away from the Senators to be their new manager, they send pitcher Bill Dennehy to Washington as compensation. 


November 27th, 1956: Don Newcombe, off his 27 win season for the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers, is named the first-ever winner of the Cy Young Award.


 

November 28th, 1994: The Astros trade pitcher Pete Harnisch to the Mets for a pair of minor leaguers. The Long Island native flops for his home town team, going 10-20 the next couple of seasons.


November 28th, 1977: Bob Meusel, who played in six World Series for the 1920s Yankees, dies at age 81. A .311 in 10 New York seasons, he averaged 15 homers and 101 RBI a year.


November 28th, 1958: The Red Sox sign Long Island, New York high school star Carl Yastrzemski for a $100,000 bonus. Three years later, he'd replace Ted Williams in left field -- and eventually join him in Cooperstown.


 

November 29th, 1976: Reggie Jackson signs a five-year, free agent contract with the Yankees. He'd be a key figure in four division winners, three American League pennant winners and two World Series champions -- and gain the forever nickname, Mister October. 


November 29th, 1972: Tommy Agee, whose playing time and performance fell off dramatically after the Mets picked up Willie Mays, is traded to the Astros for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris.

November 29th, 1971: In a trade that helps cement the Reds place among the best clubs of the decade, the Astros sent Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, and Denis Menke to Cincinnati for Tommy Helms, Lee May, and Jimmy Stewart.

November 29th, 1966: The Mets trade 2nd baseman Ron Hunt and outfielder Jim Hickman to the Dodgers for Tommy Davis.

(Tommy is seen here with fellow Dodger Joe Pignatano and Dodger Talk host Ken Levine at the club's celebration of its 50th anniversary in Los Angeles.)


November 29th, 1966: The Yankees trade 3rd baseman Clete Boyer to the Braves for prospect Bill Robinson, who flops in the Bronx. Boyer enjoys a career resurgence with Atlanta, while Robinson eventually finds success with the Phillies and Pirates.


November 29th, 1965: The Yankees trade utilityman Phil Linz to the Phillies for shortstop Ruben Amaro.

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