Casey Stengel Takes the Dodgers Job

On February 23, 1934, Casey Stengel signed a two-year contract to manage the Brooklyn Dodgers, replacing Max Carey. Stengel had managed in the minor leagues and was known as a sharp baseball mind with a knack for colorful language. His Brooklyn tenure produced mostly losing records, and the Dodgers fired him after the 1936 season. He managed the Boston Bees with similar results. But Stengel's wilderness years gave him time to refine his approach. When the Yankees hired him in 1949, skeptics laughed. He then won five consecutive World Series titles and became one of the most successful managers in the game's history.

Further back, on February 23, 1888, pitcher James "Pud" Galvin signed with Pittsburgh for $3,000, including a $1,000 advance to get through the winter. Galvin needed the money; off-season income was scarce for players of his era. He had already won 361 games by the time he arrived in Pittsburgh, and he remains the first pitcher to reach 300 career wins. Galvin was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1965.

In 1918, Barney Dreyfuss of the Rules Committee launched a campaign to ban the spitball. The effort gained traction, and the pitch was officially outlawed before the 1920 season, with 17 pitchers grandfathered to continue throwing it for the rest of their careers. The ban helped usher in the live-ball era.

On February 23, 2015, the Boston Red Sox signed Cuban defector Yoan Moncada to a contract that included a $31.5 million signing bonus, the largest bonus ever paid to an international amateur. Moncada was 19 at the time. He was later traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of the package for Chris Sale.