On March 21 in Baseball History…
1908 – Ty Cobb signs with Detroit for $4,000 plus an $800 bonus if he hits over .300. He will collect the bonus with a league-leading .324.
1962 – Philadelphia retires pitcher Robin Roberts number 36.
1966 – The Astros and Dodgers play a spring training game at the Astrodome, marking the first time a major league game was played on an artificial surface.
1968 – Royals is chosen as the name of the new Kansas City American League franchise.
1977 – Mark Fidrych, the 1976 Rookie of the Year, rips the cartilage in his left knee and will undergo surgery 10 days later. The injury will effectively end the fabled career of the Bird.
1978 – Right before the season, the Padres fire manager Alvin Dark, replacing him with pitching coach Roger Craig.
1986 – The Yankees announce that their most celebrated off-season acquisition, 26-year-old pitcher Britt Burns, will not pitch at all this season because of a chronic deteriorating hip condition. He never again pitches in the major leagues. Burns had won 18 games for the White Sox the previous season.
1986 – The Pirates are sold by the Galbreath family to a public-private group, Pittsburgh Associates, a consortium of the City of Pittsburgh and local businesses/
