Today in Baseball History: October 29th

1969 On October 29, 1969, future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver earns the National League's Cy Young Award. Seaver's league-leading 25 wins helped the New York Mets make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, on their way to a World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

1956 On October 29, 1956, the White Sox named future Hall of Famer Al Lopez as their new manager. Lopez guided Chicago to five 90-win seasons and the 1959 AL Pennant.

• 1920 - Boston Red Sox manager Ed Barrow becomes the general manager of the New York Yankees. Barrow led the Red Sox to the World Championship in 1918 and will find even greater season in New York.Hugh Duffy replaces Barrow in Boston.
• 1931 - Lefty Grove, winner of 31 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, is named American League MVP. Grove led the league in strikeouts for the seventh straight season and topped all pitchers in winning percentage,ERA and complete games.
• 1942 - Branch Rickey, the architect of the St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguesystem, resigns as the team's vice president. The future Hall of Famer will become the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
• 1945 - Happy Chandler, who had continued to serve in the U.S. Senate after becoming commissioner, resigns his political office. He will move the commissioner's quarters to Cincinnati.
• 1956 - The Chicago White Sox name future Hall of Famer Al Lopez as their new manager. Lopez replaces Marty Marion, who was fired after guiding the Sox to a third-place finish in the American League.
• 1969 - Tom Seaver, who won 25 games to help lead the Mets to one of the most unlikely World Championships in major league history, is voted the National League Cy Young Award winner.
• 1975 - Fred Lynn of the Boston Red Sox is the overwhelming choice asAmerican League Rookie of the Year. Lynn, who helped the Red Sox to the AL championship, made the All-Star team, hit .331 with 21 home runs and 105 RBI, and led the league in runs (103), doubles (47), slugging percentage (.566) and OPS (.967). A Gold Glove winner as well, he will become the first rookie to win the Most Valuable Player Award later this off-season.
• 1979 - Hall of Famer Willie Mays severs all ties to Major League Baseballafter signing a contract with the Bally Corporation, which is involved with legalized gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey
• 1981 - Bill Giles, Phillies vice president for the past 11 years, heads a group that purchases the club for just over $30 million, the highest price paid to date for a major league club. Giles is the son of long-time National League president and Hall of Fame member Warren C. Giles.
• 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Joaquin Andújar is suspended for the first 10 games of the 1986 season as a result of his World Series Game 7 tantrum during which he twice bumped home plate umpire Don Denkinger. A controvertial call by Denkinger at first base in Game 6 helped to force a seventh game as the Kansas City Royals won the World Series championship.
• 1991 - Buck Showalter replaces Stump Merrill as the manager of the New York Yankees. At age 35, Showalter becomes the youngest active manager in the major leagues. He will manage the Yankees through the end of the 1995 season.
• 2001 - Commissioner Bud Selig says Major League Baseball is considering eliminating two teams by the start of next season. Contraction would include the Montreal Expos and either the Minnesota Twins or the Florida Marlins.
• 2002 - Bringing the total to seven this month, three new managers are named, including Ned Yost (Milwaukee), Ken Macha (Oakland) and Eric Wedge (Cleveland). Being younger than two of his players (Ellis Burks and Omar Vizquel), Wedge, at the age of 34, becomes the youngest non-playing manager in major league history.
• 2007:
  • The SK Wyverns win their first Korean Series, taking the final four games of the 2007 Korean Series after dropping two to the Doosan Bears. The MVP is veteran Jae-hyun Kim, who is coming off a .196 season, clearly the worst in a career in which he topped .300 six times.
  • Nippon Ham Fighters ace Yu Darvish wins the Sawamura Award. He went 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA to help the team win the Pacific League pennant.
• 2008 - The Phillies only need to play three innings to win the 2008 World Series for the second world championship in their history. They outscore the Rays, 2 - 1, during the final three innings to win a rain-suspended Game 5 (begun two days earlier), 4 - 3. J.C. Romero gets his second win of the Series and Cole Hamels is named World Series MVP.
• 2009:
  • The Yankees even the World Series by taking Game 2 at home, 3 - 1, over the Phillies. A.J. Burnett and Mariano Riveracombine for the win while Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui go deep against the Phils' Pedro Martinez.
  • The 2009 Nippon Professional Baseball draft is held. A record 6 of the 12 teams name Yusei Kikuchi, a hard-throwing high school southpaw, with their #1 pick; the Seibu Lions win rights to the highly-coveted prospect. OutfielderHisayoshi Chono is picked for the third time of his career; he is finally taken by the only team he is interested in, theYomiuri Giants, and will sign with them. In 2010, he will be named Central League Rookie of the Year.
• 2011 - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim name Jerry Dipoto as their new General Manager, replacing Tony Reagins.