Braves Franchise History

1984: The New York Yankees sign Phil Niekro to a two-year contract. Niekro, who went 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA for the Atlanta Braves in 1983, will fill a void in New York’s rotation and allow the team to move Dave Righetti to the bullpen.

2010: The Atlanta Braves sign third baseman Troy Glaus to a one-year deal. Glaus will appear in 128 games while hitting .240/.344/.400 with 18 home runs in his final season in the majors.

MLB History

1920: Red Sox owner Harry Frazer defends selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees by calling his former player “one of the most selfish and inconsiderate men ever to put on a baseball uniform.”

1927: Judge Landis begins a three-day public hearing to investigate the allegation that the Detroit Tigers throw a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox in 1917. Near the end of the 1917 season, some Chicago players contributed about $45 each to reward Detroit pitchers for winning their last series against the Red Sox which helped Chicago win the pennant. No witnesses confirm any part of the story.

1934: The new centerfield bleachers that are under construction at Fenway Park are destroyed by fire.

1957: Jackie Robinson retires rather than move from Brooklyn to the New York Giants thus voiding last December’s trade.

1989: Three weeks after signing a record $1.1 billion network television contract with CBS, Major League Baseball signs a $400 million deal with ESPN that will put 175 games per year on cable television starting in 1990.

1993: Reggie Jackson is the lone player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America to the Hall of Fame. Jackson, whose .262 lifetime batting average is the lowest of any outfielder in the Hall, receives 93.6 percent of the vote. His 563 career home runs make him a hit with voters in his first year of eligibility.

1994: The Mets trade outfielder Vince Coleman to the Royals in exchange for Kevin McReynolds.

1998: Don Sutton is elected to the Hall of Fame on his fifth try. Sutton won 324 games and reached the postseason with three different clubs. He struck out 3,574 batters in 28 seasons.

2010: Randy Johnson announces his retirement, ending a 22-year career that began with the Montreal Expos in 1988. The 6’10” lefthander amassed 4,875 strikeouts, the second-most in major league history after Nolan Ryan, and pitched both a no-hitter and a perfect game while winning five Cy Young Awards.

2011: Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven are elected to the hall of Fame.

2012: The Cubs trade Carlos Zambrano to Miami in exchange for Chris Volstad. Zambrano, who walked out on his team after a rough outing on August 12th, is considered a chronic malcontent in spite of his success over the years and the new regime in Chicago did not want to have to put up with his periodic tantrums.

Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.