2003 in baseball

From Freepedia

The following are the events of the year 2003 that happened world-wide throughout the sport of baseball.

This year in baseball

2000s

2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005</br>2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

1990s

1999 • 1998 • 1997 • 1996 • 1995</br>1994 • 1993 • 1992 • 1991 • 1990

1980s

1989 • 1988 • 1987 • 1986 • 1985</br>1984 • 1983 • 1982 • 1981 • 1980

1970s

1979 • 1978 • 1977 • 1976 • 1975</br>1974 • 1973 • 1972 • 1971 • 1970

1960s

1969 • 1968 • 1967 • 1966 • 1965</br>1964 • 1963 • 1962 • 1961 • 1960

1950s

1959 • 1958 • 1957 • 1956 • 1955</br>1954 • 1953 • 1952 • 1951 • 1950

1940s

1949 • 1948 • 1947 • 1946 • 1945</br>1944 • 1943 • 1942 • 1941 • 1940

1930s

1939 • 1938 • 1937 • 1936 • 1935</br>1934 • 1933 • 1932 • 1931 • 1930

1920s

1929 • 1928 • 1927 • 1926 • 1925</br>1924 • 1923 • 1922 • 1921 • 1920

1910s

1919 • 1918 • 1917 • 1916 • 1915</br>1914 • 1913 • 1912 • 1911 • 1910

1900s

1909 • 1908 • 1907 • 1906 • 1905</br>1904 • 1903 • 1902 • 1901 • 1900

1890s

1899 • 1898 • 1897 • 1896 • 1895</br>1894 • 1893 • 1892 • 1891 • 1890

1880s

1889 • 1888 • 1887 • 1886 • 1885</br>1884 • 1883 • 1882 • 1881 • 1880

1870s

1879 • 1878 • 1877 • 1876 • 1875</br>1874 • 1873 • 1872 • 1871 • 1870

Early Years

1845-1869

See also

Baseball Major League Baseball Minor league baseball Negro League baseball Japanese baseball 2003 in sports

Sources

Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Almanac Baseball Library Baseball Reference National Pastime The Deadball Era

This article is currently under construction

Contents 1 Major League Baseball Final Standings 1.1 American League Final Standings 1.2 National League Final Standings 2 Events 2.1 January-June 2.2 July-December 3 Awards 4 Books 5 Movies 6 Deaths 6.1 January-March 6.2 April-June 6.3 July-September 6.4 October-December

Major League Baseball Final Standings

American League Final Standings

American League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
EAST
1st	New York Yankees	101	61	.623	--
2nd	Boston Red Sox *	95	67	.586	6.0
3rd	Toronto Blue Jays	86	76	.531	15.0
4th	Baltimore Orioles	71	91	.438	30.0
5th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	63	99	.389	38.0
CENTRAL
1st	Minnesota Twins	90	72	.556	--
2nd	Chicago White Sox	86	76	.531	4.0
3rd	Kansas City Royals	83	79	.512	7.0
4th	Cleveland Indians	68	94	.420	22.0
5th	Detroit Tigers	43	119	.265	47.0
WEST
1st	Oakland Athletics	96	66	.593	--
2nd	Seattle Mariners	93	69	.574	3.0
3rd	Anaheim Angels	77	85	.475	19.0
4th	Texas Rangers	71	91	.438	45.0

National League Final Standings

National League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
EAST
1st	Atlanta Braves	101	61	.623	--
2nd	Florida Marlins *	91	71	.562	10.0
3rd	Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	.531	15.0
4th	Montréal Expos	83	79	.512	18.0
5th	New York Mets	66	95	.410	34.0
CENTRAL
1st	Chicago Cubs	88	74	.543	--
2nd	Houston Astros	87	75	.537	1.0
3rd	St. Louis Cardinals	85	77	.525	3.0
4th	Pittsburgh Pirates	75	87	.463	13.0
5th	Cincinnati Reds	69	93	.426	19.0
6th	Milwaukee Brewers	68	94	.420	20.0
WEST
1st	San Francisco Giants	100	61	.621	--
2nd	Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77	.525	15.5
3rd	Arizona Diamondbacks	84	78	.519	16.5
4th	Colorado Rockies	74	88	.457	26.5
5th	San Diego Padres	64	98	.395	36.5

 

* The asterisk denotes the club that won the Wild card for its respective league.

Events

January-June

• January 22 - David Ortiz is signed by the Boston Red Sox, where he will start a successful and productive career.

• April 4 - Sammy Sosa hits his 500th career home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Scott Sullivan in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park, becoming only the 18th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 or more home runs, as well as the first Hispanic to do so.

• May 5 - Matt Stairs' home run off Houston Astros pitcher Wade Miller was estimated at 461 feet, making it the longest home run in the history of Minute Maid Park.

• May 11 - Rafael Palmeiro hit his 500th career home run off Cleveland Indians pitcher David Elder, becoming only the 19th player in major leagues history to hit 500 or more home runs.

• May 28 - Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit home runs off Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first inning, as the Atlanta Braves become only the second team in big league history to begin a game with three consecutive home runs. On April 13, 1987, San Diego Padres's Marvell Wynn, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk did the same in the bottom of the first inning off SF Giants starter Roger Mason.

• June 11 - Houston set a major league record for combined pitchers in a no-hitter with six, against the Yankees. The pitchers were Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner.

• June 13 - Yankees' pitcher Roger Clemens becomes the 21st pitcher in MLB history to win 300 games and only the 3rd pitcher to record 4,000 career strikeouts as he defeats the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2.

July-December

• July 15 - At U.S. Cellular Field, the American League won the All-Star Game, beating the National League, 7-6. Hank Blalock connected for a two-run, pinch-hit home run off Éric Gagné in the eighth inning to lead the rally. Garret Anderson was named the MVP. He came just one triple shy of hitting for the cycle after going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Brendan Donnelly was the winning pitcher, while Keith Foulke got the save.

• September 5 - Mike Maroth of the Detroit Tigers became the first major league pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 games in a season when Detroit lost to Toronto 8-6. Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings. Oakland's Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.

• September 10 - St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa became the eighth manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins as the Cardinals beat Colorado, 10–2. The 58-year-old La Russa has posted a 2,000-1,782 record in 25 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis.

• September 14 - At Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers set a franchise record for losses as they drop their 110th loss to the Kansas City Royals, 7-2. The 1996 Tiger squad finished the season with a 53-109 record.

• September 17 - In Boston Red Sox 7-0 loss to Tampa Bay, Todd Walker's ninth-inning double is the Red Sox's 608th extra base hit of the season, breaking the major league record set by the 1996 Mariners.

• September 20:
  • Unlike this season when the Montreal Expos played twenty-five percent of its home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the players vote to play their entire 2004 home schedule in Montreal. The MLB owners, who collectively own the franchise, have been considering moving the Expos permanently to Washington D.C., Portland, Oregon or Monterrey, Mexico or continuing the present format by having the team split home games between different locations (Puerto Rico or Mexico and Montreal).
  • Second baseman Marcus Giles hit a home run off Brad Penny's 3-2 pitch, as the Atlanta Braves tie the National League record by having six players to hit at least 20 home runs in season. Along with Giles, Javy López, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and Vinny Castilla equals the mark established by Eddie Mathews (32), Hank Aaron (32), Joe Torre (27), Felipe Alou (23), Mack Jones (31) and Gene Oliver (21) of the 1965 Milwaukee Braves.

• September 22:
  • Detroit set an American League record with its 118th loss, falling 12-6 to Kansas City. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) had held the record.
  • Second baseman Alfonso Soriano broke a major league season-record by hitting his 13th leadoff home run of the year in the New York Yankees' 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.

• October 25 - In Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, Josh Beckett, on three days' rest, pitched a 2–0, five-hits shutout over the New York Yankees, to give the Florida Marlins its second championship in 11 seasons. Beckett received MVP honors.

Awards

• Most Valuable Player
  • Alex Rodriguez (AL)
  • Barry Bonds (NL)

• Cy Young
  • Roy Halladay (AL)
  • Éric Gagné (NL)

• Rookie of the Year
  • Angel Berroa (AL)
  • Dontrelle Willis (NL)

• Manager of the Year
  • Tony Peña (AL)
  • Jack McKeon (NL)

Books

• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, written by Michael Lewis, is an examination of the present-day Oakland Athletics as run by their general manager Billy Beane, and how the application of sabermetric principles has allowed the A's to be competitive despite having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

Movies

Deaths

January-March

• January 9 - Don Landrum, 69, Major League Baseball outfielder who played with for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants.

• February 12 - Haywood Sullivan, 72, former major league player, manager, general manager and owner.

• February 17 - Steve Bechler, 23, a pitching prospect with the Baltimore Orioles.

• March 14 - Al Gionfriddo, 81, a former Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder who robbed Joe DiMaggio of a home run in Game 6 the 1947 World Series, preserving a Dodgers 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees.

• March 19 - Joe Buzas, 84, who spent more than 60 years in baseball as a player for the New York Yankees, managing in minor leagues, and who at the time of his death, had operated 82 minor league franchises in his 47 years as a owner.

April-June

• April 19 - Chris Zachary, 59, a former major league pitcher who played with the Houston Colt .45s & Astros, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

• May 6 - Art Houtteman, 75, who in a 12-season major leagues career pitched for the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles.

• June 1 - Johnny Hopp, 86, an All-Star outfielder who played in five World Series in his 14-year career.

• June 18 - Larry Doby, 79, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the first black player in the American League.

July-September

• July 27 - Bob Hope, 100, made a name in comedy and the movies, but he also had a connection to baseball as a part-owner of the Cleveland Indians, and performing in 1993 his signature song Thanks for the Memories, as the Indians ended 60 years of games at Municipal Stadium.

• August 7 - Mickey McDermott, 74, a major league pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals.

• August 21 - Ken Coleman, 78, a one-time voice for the Boston Red Sox for 20 years.

• August 23 - Bobby Bonds, 57, a former major league outfielder and the father of Barry Bonds, who compiled 332 home runs and 461 stolen bases in a 14-year career with the Giants, Yankees, Angels, White Sox, Rangers, Indians, Cardinals and Cubs.

• August 30 - Claude Passeau, 94, a former major league pitcher who posted a 162-150 record with a 3.32 ERA in a 13-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, and who playing for the Cubs, pitched a one-hit shutout in Game 3 of the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

• September 25 - George Plimpton, 76, an author who prior to the second 1960 All Star Game pitched against the National League (he retired Willie Mays), later wrote a book about the experience, Out of My League, and in 1985 wrote a fictitious story for Sports Illustrated on Sidd Finch; a baseball pitching prospect with a 168 mph fastball.

October-December

• October 10 - Johnny Klippstein, 75, who pitched in the major leagues for 18 years and posted a 101-118 record as a starter and reliever for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Redlegs & Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers.

• October 12 - Joan B. Kroc, 75, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, who inherited the San Diego Padres when her husband died in 1984, and sold the team in 1990.

• November 5 - Dernell Stenson, 25, a promising young outfielder who played with the Cincinnati Reds, was found dead in Chandler, Arizona had been shot and apparently run over.

• November 6 - Spider Jorgensen, 84, a five-year career outfielder who debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on the same day that teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier (April 15, 1947).

• November 15 - Earl Battey, 68, a four-time All-Star and twice a Gold Glove Award winner, who major league lasted 13 seasons as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins.

• November 18 - Ken Brett, 55, the brother of Hall of Famer George Brett and the youngest pitcher in World Series history.

• November 24 - Warren Spahn, 82, the Hall of Fame pitcher who won more games than any other left-hander in major league history (363).

• December 27 - Ivan Calderón, 42, an All-Star outfielder who played in the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos, was shot to death in his homeland, Puerto Rico.