Braves Franchise History

1995 – Braves replacement player Dave Shotkoski is held up while out for a walk in West Palm Beach during spring training. Shotkoski is murdered by the assailant. Fellow replacement player Terry Blocker will help the police track down Neal Douglas Evans, who was out on parole. Evans will receive a 27-year jail sentence after entering a guilty plea.

2012 – Chipper Jones will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee and will begin his final season on the injured list.

MLB History

1933 – Babe Ruth takes a pay cut of $23,000 from his previous salary of $75,000 due to the Great Depression.

1959 – The Redlegs and Los Angeles Dodgers play an exhibition game in Havana, Cuba.

1961 – The New York State Senate approves $55 million in funding for a new stadium to be built at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York. The park will be named Shea Stadium. After playing their first two seasons at the Polo Grounds, the Mets moved to Shea in 1964 and played there until the end of the 2008 season.

1970 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders a halt of the use of X-5 balls, which are much too lively for major league play.

1972 – The Reds trade pitcher Tony Cloninger to the Cardinals in exchange for second baseman Julian Javier.

1982 – Fernando Valenzuela ends his holdout and reports to Dodgers camp. After earning just $42,500 during his rookie season, in which he won the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards, Valenzuela had asked for a raise to $1 million, but the Dodgers renewed his contract for $350,000 instead.

2001 – Tim Belcher announces his retirement after 14-seasons in the majors. Belcher logged over 2,400 innings for seven teams while producing a 4.24 ERA with 1,519 strikeouts.

2015 – Hector Olivera signs a six-year deal with the Dodgers worth $62.5 million.

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