Happy 50th birthday to former Giants star Kevin Mitchell. In honor of Mitchell’s golden celebration, check out the video at the bottom of this post of his famous bare-handed catch (with Giants announcers Hank Greenwald and Duane Kuiper behind the mic).
On this date in Giants history…
1883: Both of the New York Major League clubs will play simultaneously at the Polo Grounds. Their fields will be separated by an 8-foot fence.
1958: The Phoenix Giants join the Pacific Coast League. They won the PCL championship that year and two years later moved to Tacoma. After six years in Washington, they came back to Phoenix, and in 1986, became the Phoenix Firebirds. It wasn’t until 1998 that the Fresno Grizzlies would become the Giants’ triple-A affiliate.
1982: Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson win election to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Aaron established a major league record with 755 home runs, while Robinson led the Baltimore Orioles to two World Championships and was named Most Valuable Player in both the American and National Leagues. Aaron falls nine votes shy of becoming the first-ever unanimous selection, and his 97.8 election percentage is second only to Ty Cobb’s 98.2 percent in the inaugural 1936 election. Robinson was also the first African-American manager in major league history, managing the Cleveland Indians from 1975-’77 and, later, the San Francisco Giants from 1981-’84.
1993: Free agent signings include outfielders Todd Benzinger and Mark Carreon by the San Francisco Giants and former Giants pitcher Craig Lefferts by the Texas Rangers.
1994: The Anaheim Angels sign former Giants pitcher Craig Lefferts.
1996: The Florida Marlins sign Cuban pitcher Livan Hernandez to a four-year, $4.5 million dollar contract, which includes a record $2.5 million bonus. Hernandez would later pitch for the Giants from 1999-2002.
And now, on to The Kevin Mitchell Bare-Handed Catch (happy birthday, Kevin):
(Entries courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com)
Original Story:
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January 13, 2012
