TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - MARCH 8TH

1900 - NL decides to go with 8 teams They exclude Baltimore, Cleveland, 

Louisville & Washington (in 1953 Boston Braves move to Milwaukee).

1930 - Babe Ruth signs 2-year contract for $160,000 with NY Yankee 

GM Ed Barrow, wrongly predicts "No one will ever be paid more than Ruth".
1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.

1939 - Jim Bouton, Newark NJ, pitcher (NY Yankees)/author (Ball Four) is born.
1941 - First baseball player drafted into WW II (Hugh Mulcahy, Phillies).

1942 - [Dick] Richie Allen, baseball player (AL MVP 1972) is born.
1951 - International Table Tennis Federation bans Egypt (for refusing to play Israel).

1968 - 6 year old Tommy Moore scores hole-in-one in golf (Hagerstown, Md).
1971 - Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali in 15, retains 

Heavyweight boxing title at Madison Square Garden.

1986 - Martina Navratilova is first tennis player to earn $10 million.

1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936) dies.
1999 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914) dies.
2007 - John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach.. (b. 1947) dies.