This Day in MLB History: The Pirates draft Roberto Clemente

MLB History

1954 – The Pirates draft Roberto Clemente from the Triple A roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1957 – Mickey Mantle edges out Ted Williams to win the MVP Award in the American League. Mantle hit .365 with 34 home runs. Williams led the AL with a .388 average, 38 home runs and a .731 slugging percentage. Two Chicago writers listed Williams ninth and 10th on their ballots.

1960 – The American League proposes that both leagues expand to nine teams in 1961 and begin interleague play. Expansion will take place in the American League in 1961, but interleague play won’t happen until 1997.

1961 – Frank Robinson becomes the first Red player in 21 years to win the MVP Award.

1968 – Johnny Bench beats out Jerry Koosman for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Bench is the third Reds player to win the award in the last six years.

1972 – Johnny Bench wins his second MVP Award for the National League.

1977 – Andre Dawson wins the Rookie of the Year Award by one vote over Steve Henderson.

1983 – The Players’ Association fires executive director Kenneth Moffett after barely a year on the job and replaces him with Donald Fehr.

1989 – Kirby Puckett agrees to a three-year, $9 million deal with the Twins and becomes the first player with an average salary of $3 million per season.

2004 – The Washington National League franchise announces that its team will be known as the Nationals.

2010 – The Mets hire Terry Collins as their new manager replacing Jerry Manuel.

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