This Day in Braves History: Atlanta signs Derek Lowe to four-year deal

Braves Franchise History

1959 – John Quinn resigns as general manager of the Milwaukee Braves and immediately accepts a similar position with the Phillies.

1982 – Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Aaron fell nine votes shy of becoming the first-ever unanimous selection and his 97.8 election percentage is second only to Ty Cobb who had 98.2 percent in the inaugural election in 1936.

2009 – The Braves agree to a four-year, $60 million deal with free agent starter Derek Lowe. Atlanta also announced the signing of Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year deal. Lowe will post a 4.57 ERA and a 3.89 FIP in three seasons with the Braves before he is traded to Cleveland. Kawakami posted a 3.86 ERA and a 4.21 FIP in 2009, but was 1-10 with a 5.15 ERA in 2010 and spent the 2011 season pitching in the minors.

MLB History

1922 – Buck Weaver applies for reinstatement to baseball. Weaver, who was one of the eight “Black Sox” players banned for allegedly throwing the 1919 World Series is turned down by Commissioner Landis.

1991 – While playing for the Oakland Raiders, Bo Jackson suffers a career-threatening injury in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

1995 – Baseball’s executive council approves the use of replacement players for spring training and regular season games. With the MLBPA on strike, the owners say they will look to retired players, minor leaguers and amateurs to fill out their rosters.

2011 – The Yankees sign reliever Rafael Soriano to a three-year deal with $35 million.

2014 – Alex Rodriguez files a lawsuit in federal court against Major League Baseball and the MLBPA seeking to overturn the 162-game suspension that he was given two days earlier by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz. Rodriguez will eventually drop the suit and sever the suspension.

2018 – The Astros acquire Gerrit Cole from the Pirates in exchange for Michael Feliz, Jason Martin, Colin Moran and Joe Musgrove.

2020 – Major League Baseball announces that Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch will be suspended for the upcoming season due to their role in the team’s sign-stealing scandal. The team will be assessed a $5 million fine and will lose its top two picks in the next two drafts. Owner Jim Crane fires both Luhnow and Hinch after the announcement.

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