BlueBaron

1953- Joseph Darst, mayor of St. Louis, vows to fight losing the hometown Browns to Baltimore.

1954- In an exhibition game against the Red Sox, Hank Aaron gets three hits in his first start with the Braves.

1961- The Mets lure former Yankee general manager George Weiss out of retirement to become the club's first president. The iron-fisted executive had been the Yankees' general manager from 1947 to 1960.

1995- The NLRB announces it will charge major league baseball owners with two counts of unfair labor practices.

2003- Able to maintain the organization's "long standing philosophy", which lets Cablevision customers choose whether or not to receive paid programming'' , the cable giant agrees one-year interim deal to offer YES Network to New York Yankees fans for a fee ending a bitter and costly yearlong feud. The arrangement makes YES a premium channel instead of basic cable channel which the new network had previously mandated and would have made every subscriber pay for the channel regardless of the viewer's choice.

2003- Vladimir Guerrero is suspended for three regular-season games and Marlin starter Brad Penny for five due to igniting an exhibition game bench-clearing brawl earlier in the week . After being hit in the chest by Marlins' starter first inning pitch, the Expo All-star outfielder, with his bat in his left hand swung his right fist around Matt Treanor, the Florida catcher trying to restrain him, missing Penny, who retaliated with punch which also missed its mark.

2003- The Brewers' TV/radio play-by-play announcer, Bob Uecker is chosen for induction into the broadcasters' wing of the Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. The 68-year-old former back-up catcher, who joined the Milwaukee broadcast crew in 1971, is best known for the humor he has brought to the game through his starring role in the cult movie Major League and the beer commercial in which the phrase``Must be in the front row!' has become a familiar cry in ballparks around the country.

2003- Dependent on passing a physical, free agent Kenny Lofton agrees to a one-year pact to play the Pirates this season. The 35-year-old leadoff man would most likely start in center moving Brian Giles to left field with left fielder Reggie Sanders going to right.

2006- Terry Francona agrees a two-year contract extension keeping the skipper at the helm through 2008. The Red Sox manager replaced Grady Little in December 2003 and promptly brought Boston to its first World Championship in 86 years

2006- Washington D.C. officials unveil the designs for a new home for the Nationals scheduled to be opened in 2008. The glass-and-steel 41,000-seat ballpark, will feature pale stone chosen to complement the well-known skyline of the nation's capital.